Running a Food Stall to Support My Deceptive Omega - Chapter 32.2

Although her dreams kept replaying the shocked expressions of everyone after Rong Heng said she was her mistress.

But Rong Heng’s soft “Wifey” calls lingered in her ears like hands, sometimes tugging her ears, sometimes stroking her cheeks.

It made her lose all sense of direction, knowing only how to smile foolishly.

When she woke up, the corners of her mouth were stiff.

Mu Jinyu: …

Illuminated by the bright morning light, she sat on the bed in a daze, moving her aching mouth, feeling it was a bit ridiculous.

No, she couldn’t let Rong Heng keep calling her that; she should still make Rong Heng change it.

She looked at Rong Heng, who was still sleeping soundly beside her, and didn’t wake her, planning to talk about it later.

After getting up and washing, Mu Jinyu went out happily to buy a sheep. She still remembered Rong Heng’s wish to eat mutton.

However, after laughing for a while, she snapped out of it and immediately straightened her mouth, telling herself not to laugh.

But she couldn’t keep it straight for long; the corners of her mouth would automatically rise again. She couldn’t control it at all.

Just like that, laughing one moment and not the next, she arrived at the meat market.

One had to go to the meat market early—at least before dawn—to snatch the first batch.

That was the freshest time with the best selection.

But Mu Jinyu had been busy all night, so she couldn’t get up that early. Being able to arrive at the meat market in the morning was already not easy.

Looking at the array of meat hanging from iron hooks, she searched for a long time before finding two or three stalls that still had mutton.

After comparing the mutton at these stalls, Mu Jinyu bought half of a relatively small sheep, planning to make roasted sheep at home.

To make roasted sheep, she also had to buy many spices and firewood. Mu Jinyu rushed to the spice shop and the firewood shop without stopping.

She asked the firewood shop worker to deliver the wood to her home at noon, while she carried the spices to the blacksmith shop to rent an iron rack for roasting the sheep.

The Great Rong Kingdom loved eating mutton, so whole roasted sheep were naturally popular.

However, ordinary families were lucky to eat whole roasted sheep once or twice a year, so they wouldn’t specifically prepare an iron rack for it.

The blacksmiths took the opportunity to make several iron racks to rent out to people in the county who wanted to roast sheep.

Sometimes they even rented them to various restaurants.

On ordinary days, they might not care for this small change, but when mutton was in season, they could earn quite a bit of extra silver.

Mu Jinyu’s hands were full of things, and the basket on her back held over ten catties of mutton. She really couldn’t carry the iron rack as well.

She let the worker from the blacksmith shop follow her to deliver the rack to her doorstep. Only after she went inside and put everything down could she free her hands to move the rack into the yard.

Between putting things away and moving the rack, the yard was filled with clattering sounds.

Rong Heng, who was still sleeping soundly in the room, slowly opened her eyes. After rolling around on the bed a few times, she remembered she was going to eat mutton today and immediately got up and went to the yard.

Seeing the half-sheep on the stove—the meat a healthy red color—her mouth hung open, and she let out a small gasp of surprise!

It looked even more delicious up close.

She circled the sheep several times. If the mutton wasn’t still bloody, she would have gone up to take a few bites.

After looking at the sheep, she quickly walked to Mu Jinyu’s side and circled her.

She was very happy that Mu Jinyu hadn’t lied to her.

As soon as Mu Jinyu saw her, the smile on her lips couldn’t help but appear. She greeted her and told her to go wash up quickly and wait to eat roasted sheep.

Dealing with half a sheep was still quite troublesome.

Mu Jinyu put the sheep into a large pot, drew water from the well, and poured it into the pot until the mutton was submerged.

She began to use a newly bought loofah sponge to vigorously scrub the sheep.

The sheep had just been slaughtered by the butcher and still had many bloodstains on it; it needed to be thoroughly cleaned.

However, just scrubbing to remove the blood wasn’t enough.

Mu Jinyu used a small knife to make several cuts in the thick parts of the mutton.

Only then did she take out the large wooden basin she always used. She put a handful of scallions, a handful of cornus berries, a handful of garlic, and a handful of ginger into the basin without hesitation.

The red and green ingredients filled the entire bottom of the basin.

Then she grabbed four or five handfuls of salt and sprinkled them in, kneading the ingredients to ensure the salt was fully attached, forcing out the juices from the ingredients.

This juice was incredibly fragrant—pungent and spicy—and tasted good on anything.

Next, she poured in soy sauce and half a jar of wine, continuing to mix the ingredients.

She let the inherent aroma and spiciness of the ingredients blend together, emitting a scent that made one’s mouth water constantly.

This large basin of juice was the key to removing the gamey smell of the mutton.

So when making it, one must not skimp on ingredients; there must be enough juice to completely remove the gamey odor.

Once the juice was fully extracted, Mu Jinyu poured the entire basin into the pot. She grabbed a large handful of the mixed ingredients and began rubbing them onto the mutton.

The juice flowed down the sheep ribs like water on stairs, penetrating the gaps cut in the ribs and coming into close contact with the meat.

While taking away the gamey smell, it also added a spicy and savory flavor to the mutton.

One could imagine how delicious the final roasted ribs would be.

Mu Jinyu then pried open the sheep’s legs and stuffed a handful of the scallion-ginger-garlic-cornus mixture into the slits in the leg meat.

The meat on the legs was thick and firm; it wouldn’t absorb the flavor without careful marinating.

Rong Heng, who had already washed up, was watching her. Initially, she stayed very close, smacking her lips at the mutton, already imagining the joy of biting into a large sheep leg.

However, the juice used to remove the gamey smell was made with ginger, cornus berries, and wine—all spicy and irritating things.

After watching for a while, Rong Heng felt her eyes burning and hurting, and tears involuntarily filled them.

She couldn’t even see the mutton clearly.

She let out a soft “uh,” raised her hands to wipe the corners of her eyes, and quickly moved away from the large pot of mutton.

Mu Jinyu’s eyes were actually being stung as well. However, while she was kneading the mutton, her body was leaning back, and her head wasn’t directly over the pot.

Since she wasn’t in direct contact with the pungent fumes, she wasn’t as affected.

She only felt some discomfort in her eyes but didn’t feel like crying.

She saw Rong Heng standing to the side, constantly rubbing her eyes. The corners and undersides of her eyes were rubbed red, making her two red moles even more prominent. Her eyes were watery, looking as if she had been wronged and had just cried.

She averted her gaze and said, “Go apply some cold water; it will feel better in a moment.”

Rong Heng placed her fingers under her eyes, looked at her somewhat aggrievedly, nodded, took out her face towel, soaked it in the well water, and applied it over her eyes.

However, she was still reluctant not to look at Mu Jinyu, so she would take off the towel after a while to continue watching Mu Jinyu’s movements.

Then she would apply it for a while and take it off to watch again, repeating the process.

Seeing this, Mu Jinyu quickened her kneading.

After applying the juice to every piece of meat, she worked hard to curl the half-sheep up and submerge it in the juice in the pot.

Soaking it for about fifteen minutes would allow the mutton to absorb more flavor and make it more fragrant when roasted.

After soaking the meat, she went to Rong Heng’s side, rinsed the towel again with cold water, folded it neatly, and placed it over Rong Heng’s eyes.

“Don’t worry; I’ll continue once your eyes stop hurting.”

Rong Heng, who had been a bit restless and anxious because of her stinging eyes, quieted down and sat obediently on a small stool.

Waiting for time to pass minute by minute.

Sitting like this was a bit boring. After a while, her body leaned toward Mu Jinyu.

Eventually, she leaned on Mu Jinyu’s shoulder, playing with one of Mu Jinyu’s braids in her hand.

The weather today was excellent, with the sun shining brightly—the perfect time to eat some roasted meat, have a drink, and bask in the sun.

As they sat there with nothing to do, Mu Jinyu felt it was a good time to talk.

She brought up the old subject again, “Do you know what ‘mistress’ means?”

The head leaning on her shoulder shook, and the soft hair brushed against her neck, making her a bit uneasy.

But Mu Jinyu still tried to be serious and explained to Rong Heng.

“A mistress usually refers to a person that someone who is already married keeps outside, having an improper relationship.

That person is called a mistress.”

“It is wrong.”

She explained it in simple terms, and Rong Heng understood immediately.

So that’s what a mistress means?

Her face, covered by the wet cloth, turned toward Mu Jinyu as if she were looking at her.

Rong Heng’s thin lips moved slightly, “So you are already married.”

Mu Jinyu: ?

“What?” She couldn’t help but ask.

She hadn’t expected Rong Heng to say that.

She thought that once Rong Heng knew the meaning of mistress, she would realize they weren’t in that kind of relationship.

Who would have thought Rong Heng’s logic would be so peculiar?

Helpless, Mu Jinyu could only say, “We are together day in and day out; don’t you know whether I am married?”

This rhetorical question stumped Rong Heng.

Indeed, Wifey was with her every day, never leaving her side.

In that case, it should be she and Wifey who were married?

Which meant Wifey was keeping a mistress outside!?

At this, Rong Heng immediately sat up straight, letting the silk scarf on her face fall. Her eyes, which had just been treated, were even redder now, and she glared at Mu Jinyu with a mix of grievance and hurt.

Her upturned eyes were like little hooks, always carrying a bit of a sting.

She condemned Mu Jinyu in disbelief, “You are keeping a mistress outside behind my back.”

Mu Jinyu: …

What on earth is all this?

Why can’t she get over this mistress business?

Mu Jinyu’s speech quickened as she explained urgently, “I am not keeping a mistress, nor am I married. I meant that you and I are not in that kind of relationship.”

Having it said so bluntly, Rong Heng finally understood what Mu Jinyu was trying to express.

She withdrew her glare.

She believed Mu Jinyu; if Mu Jinyu said she wasn’t married, then she wasn’t.

That meant, despite being with Mu Jinyu every single day, it wasn’t a marriage, and she was being kept outside by Mu Jinyu.

Then she really wasn’t a mistress.

At most, she was just… just… what?

Rong Heng thought for a long time but couldn’t find an answer. She asked, “Then what is our relationship?”

Mu Jinyu replied instantly, “We are relatives; you should tell everyone that when you go out.”

Rong Heng suddenly realized and whispered to herself, “So Wifey and I are relatives.”

Mu Jinyu: !