Life After Being Claimed by the Disabled Dragon Lady - Chapter 101

Long Ling planned to make the takeaway pastries into the shape of peach blossoms. Each petal pastry, when put together, could form a complete flower. She would also pair them with her homemade wine.

Last time, she used flour and butter for the crispy crust of the egg yolk pastry, which tended to crumble easily. This time, Long Ling decided to use glutinous rice flour and yam, which would result in a finer and fresher texture.

Mina was no longer the novice she once was; she had learned many dishes and could cook most of them. She was now the head chef at the Mist Tavern in Lepa Town and had trained several kitchen assistants.

She brought two assistants along to help make the pastries, and Nora, as Long Ling’s maid, also joined the work in the kitchen.

Violet needed to stay by Long Ling’s side. Seeing the Duchess there, Mina and the other maids couldn’t help but feel constrained, not daring to speak loudly.

Long Ling had to ask Mina to help her roast the glutinous rice. She tasked the others with grinding the glutinous rice flour, and steaming and mashing the yam into a paste. Long Ling then took Violet’s hand and went outside.

Elina had set up a table and chairs in the garden and placed a warm stove nearby. Violet sat beside her, watching Long Ling skillfully carve molds.

Violet asked curiously, “What flower are you carving now?”

Long Ling blew away a pile of wood shavings and eagerly showed Violet, “Peach blossoms. I also carved some stamens on them. Doesn’t it look good?”

Sometimes Violet had to admit that Long Ling always had unique and imaginative ideas.

Before meeting Long Ling, she had never eaten so many varieties of novel pastries and delicious food.

Violet admired the exquisite pattern carved by those clever hands and couldn’t help but ask, “It looks very nice. Why didn’t you make it into the heart shape like last time? That pattern is simpler.”

Long Ling grinned, “Practice makes perfect. It’s all the same to me. I’ll finish carving soon. Later, I’ll mix the glutinous rice flour with the cooked sugar-glazed yam paste, add some peach jam, put it in this mold, and steam it.”

In these moments, Long Ling always had a sense of peaceful warmth. Violet rested her head on Long Ling’s shoulder, “That sounds very troublesome.”

Long Ling curled up her lips and continued carving the mold, “It’s not troublesome. Do you want to try? You just need to press the mold firmly.”

Violet raised an eyebrow, “Okay.”

Since Violet wanted to join in, Long Ling planned to add some strawberry juice to the glutinous rice flour later to make the color look pinker and prettier.

Long Ling sped up her carving, quickly finishing all four molds.

After a while, Mina finished processing the glutinous rice flour and yam paste. Long Ling went to boil some sugar glaze, mixed it with the sifted glutinous rice flour and yam paste, and divided it into two portions.

The small portion for Violet to play with was placed in a separate large bowl. Long Ling poured some dragon fruit juice into it. After stirring, the color became a lovely pink.

Violet noticed that the bowl Long Ling gave her was smaller than the one she took for herself, and she was slightly displeased, “Why aren’t you making the same as me?”

Long Ling explained, “I was afraid you’d get tired. Try your hand at this first. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it, and I can finish the rest with them.”

Violet felt like Long Ling was treating her like a child. She wasn’t completely useless.

She watched Long Ling start making pastries, then washed her own hands, picked up one of the molds, grabbed a handful of glutinous rice flour, put a small spoonful of peach jam inside, pressed it down a few times, and quickly produced a beautiful peach blossom pastry.

The tender pink peach blossom pastry looked very appetizing.

Violet signaled Long Ling to look. Long Ling’s eyes sparkled, and she immediately applauded, “That’s wonderful. It looks so good.”

The little Strawberry Dragon was being overly fawning.

Yet, the molds were all carved by Long Ling herself, and Violet had only put the glutinous rice flour into them.

Violet recalled when she first met the little dragon. Long Ling would constantly say she missed her, and clung to her wherever she went, even asking her to accompany her for breakfast.

At that time, she thought Long Ling was a well-behaved little dragon, but later, during an argument, she called her the Big Evil Dragon.

The memory still made her angry.

Violet narrowed her eyes and continued making the peach blossom pastries without changing her expression.

Long Ling hadn’t realized that the Big Evil Dragon was already bringing up old scores. She kept showering Violet with compliments, “Only my dear wife can make such beautiful peach blossom pastries. You’re so amazing. You’ve already made two in a moment.”

Violet’s slender finger suddenly pressed against Long Ling’s lips, “No more praising. Are you still secretly thinking I’m the Big Evil Dragon?”

That was ancient history, how could the Big Evil Dragon still remember it?

Long Ling’s thick eyelashes blinked rapidly. She looked away nervously and denied, “No, how could I? You are the most perfect woman in my heart. I love you so much.”

Violet snorted, “Tell me the truth.”

Long Ling looked at her, innocent and pure, “Do you really want to hear the truth?”

Violet nodded, “Yes.”

Long Ling’s moist eyes were crystal clear. She made a heart shape with her hands for Violet and said sweetly, “I now think you are the best dragon in the world, the most beautiful woman, my dear wife.”

Violet pinched her cheek, “You have to keep thinking that.”

The glutinous rice flour on Violet’s fingertips-stained Long Ling’s cheek, making her look like a little kitten.

Long Ling felt an itch on her cheek and rubbed it against Violet’s palm, “Shall we continue making the peach blossom pastries?”

Violet was touched by her cuteness, and all her anger dissipated, “Okay.”

She reached out and wiped the glutinous rice flour off Long Ling’s face. The flour fell onto the ground, looking the same color as the surrounding white snow.

Long Ling’s hands were very nimble, and the flower pastries were quickly finished. Violet also made a small portion. A little honey was brushed on them, and after steaming, they were placed into the gift boxes for the takeaways.

The top layer of each gift box contained four pastries, packaged in a paper box, and a bottle of fruit wine from the estate.

The bottom layer contained the double dragon ornament cast in gold that Violet had prepared, along with a magic raw stone from the special ruby mine. They were an excellent choice for crafting accessories or making magic wands.

In the evening, the guests were all returning to their residences. Violet and Long Ling distributed the takeaway gifts together, receiving thanks from many dragons.

Violet was feeling sleepy after distributing the gifts. Long Ling knew that Violet tended to be drowsy during pregnancy and couldn’t be left alone, so she lay down on the bed with her.

She held Violet in her arms, tucked the blanket around her, and circled Violet with her dragon tail, contributing all her body heat to warm Violet.

Violet soon fell into a deep sleep, and Long Ling was not tired, but her heart was warm. She touched Violet’s lower abdomen, which hadn’t changed much compared to before. The thought of a new little life appearing made a shallow smile spread across her lips.

Perhaps because she was too warm, Violet soon didn’t want to nestle in her arms and tried to expose her hand outside. Long Ling gently pulled Violet’s hand back and placed it back under the blanket.

After several repetitions, Violet transformed into her dragon form and pushed Long Ling away with her dragon wings. Long Ling had to wrap herself around her again, tucking the restlessly moving Violet back into the blanket.

There was no dragon egg yet, and she wondered where the egg would be squeezed in to sleep later.

Long Ling looked at the large bed she shared with Violet and couldn’t help but wonder if she should prepare a separate spot for the dragon egg later.

While Long Ling and Violet were deep in their dreams, the group of dragons who received the takeaway gifts couldn’t wait to open them on their way back.

They had never smelled such fragrant pastries before. Just smelling the aroma made the whole dragon feel as if they were floating in mid-air.

Upon opening the outer paper packaging, these fragrant pastries still maintained their just-out-of-the-steamer shape, coming together like a blooming peach blossom.

Not only did they look exquisite, but when tasted, they were unlike the usual excessively sweet creams. The light sweetness of the glutinous rice flour mixed with the sweet sugar glaze and the smooth texture of the yam. After eating, the scent of peach blossoms lingered in their mouths, as if spring had arrived.

With a bite of the pastry and a sip of the fruit wine, the dragons felt utterly content. The deliciousness made it hard to believe this food existed on the continent of Od.

After finishing the first layer of pastries, the dragons were left wanting more. Upon opening the first layer, they expected a second layer of pastries, but there was none—only priceless gems and gold.

All the dragons were about to burst into tears. This was the most delicious pastry they had ever eaten in their lives, and there were only four pieces.

They wanted to use gold coins to buy them from others, but not a single dragon was willing to give up the delicious pastries.

The dragons wanted to go back and claim another takeaway gift, but they had already left the Illidari Estate. When they lingered near the entrance, Butler Marcia informed them that all the gifts had been distributed and that Duchess Violet was resting and would not see guests until her holiday ended.

The dreams of all the dragons were shattered.

After Violet’s honeymoon ended, she returned to work at Gliss Harbor. Early one morning, she received many letters of greeting from relatives.

These letters mentioned the beautiful and lovely little pastries in the takeaway gifts and asked where they could be purchased.

Violet curled her red lips, a sense of pride rising in her heart.

The little Strawberry Dragon who made the pastries was now married to her. Of course, these dragons wouldn’t be able to purchase anything.

Violet wrote a reply.

[Long Ling made them by hand. You can ask her if she is willing to make them for you again.]

After receiving the reply, the group of dragons knew they might be able to eat the delicious pastries again, and they swarmed to find Long Ling.

Long Ling had been planning to open a tavern in Gliss Harbor, but seeing so many dragons frantically placing orders, the tavern seemed like it could be directly converted into a pastry shop.

“I will consider opening a pastry shop.”

“We are so looking forward to it, Long Ling. Please open it quickly. We all really want to eat them. We can pay the deposit first.”

After all, they were relatives and so enthusiastic, and Long Ling soon received a large number of deposits.

She hadn’t even finished unpacking all her and Violet’s wedding gifts yet.

However, Long Ling already had experience in opening a shop, and opening a few more shops was only a matter of time.

Long Ling had already trained her subordinate at the Livor Continent tavern into a manager, who was responsible for operations. Long Ling just needed to return once a month to check the accounts and collect the money. The pastry shop in Gliss Harbor could also begin preparations.

Currently, her focus was on Violet. Regarding the pastries, as long as she had the recipe and supervised the processing, she could train others to do the work.

Long Ling’s daily routine was to drop off and pick up Violet from work, stew tonics for Violet, and deliver some finished desserts for Violet’s afternoon tea.