Let Go of that Eunuch! [Fantasy/Humor | COMPLETED]

10. Salted Egg Yolk

A/N: Video for reference only, not actually a trailer for this story... though for some reason it matches a little (spooky!). Anyhow I'm looking forward to watching this drama "The Rise of Phoenixes" when it's released later in the year 😅

~•~

I sneeze, a puff of flour rising from where I was kneading it on the stone table. Hand making mooncakes was a lot more difficult than I originally thought. The first batch I made looked more like flatcakes than mooncakes. The second batch were burnt so badly that even the rangy palace cat that dropped down from the rafters chucked up a hairball after sniffing it. This was my third try and luckily the mooncakes were starting to look a lot more like what the vendors sold in the street.

I used a toothpick to create a complicated pattern. There were two versions of my delicious mooncakes: one was a chibi version of me with large puppy dog eyes and the other was a grumpy looking mini Director. Lan's version included two salted egg yolks in the center for extra nourishment. Just sayin'... 😏

Anyhow, I was sure once they were baked, the patterning would become fairly indistinguishable. But when I took them out of the oven, the patterning was even more prominent. Just as I was about to throw the mooncakes out (Buddha, please forgive this humble follower for wasting food. Buddha: You say this while throwing it in the bin? *Anger*), a pale hand grabs my wrist, effectively stopping my movement. I look up, almost dropping the plate.

Lan Shen Yu catches it gracefully, studying the contents before placing them back onto the stone table.

"...Are these meant to be mooncakes, Xiao Jin Zi?"

My cheeks redden. "Yes, but they're not the final version. These cakes are not for the Director."

"Oh?" Lan studies the mooncakes, "but they seem to resemble... me?"

"Aha ha ha, you must be seeing things!!! They are supposed to be the smiling face of the moon 🌝"

"Hmmm," his lifts my hand to his lips and oh my gawwwd *#^%&! "Sweet." He comments, his tongue licking the rest of the floury powder from my fingertips.

"You-you..." I stutter, completely lost for words.

Still holding my wrist, he removes the mooncakes from his pet turtle's reach, much to the dismay of turtle-san who was just about to take a bite out of the baked goods.

"Bring them to me." He orders in a shadowy voice. He flicks out the ends of his robe, looking over his shoulder at me. "All of them."

I pause outside Director Lan's room, the mooncakes arranged neatly on the plate. Given the situation, I tried to put the ones with my face on the top. Hopefully the Director would be too full to eat the others. In Chinese tradition, families were supposed to reunite at mid-autumn. Many people would travel for days just to make it back home in time for the festival meal. The full moon cast a cold light over the courtyard, so large and round that it seemed like if I were to reach out, I would be able to touch it. I wondered if my parents were enjoying their reunion dinner without their unlucky daughter.

I knock on the door and it creaks open a crack. Director Lan's back was faced towards me. A huge trunk full of gold ingots was open, glowing softly in the lamp light. His fingers run over the gold slowly, as though he was stroking them.

I place the mooncakes on the table where two jugs of rice wine were already empty.

"Director-"

Two arms close tightly around my waist.

"Gold ingots..." his mumbles, his chin resting lightly on my shoulder. His breath smelled lightly of alcohol.

"Director Lan, you are drunk." I state the obvious.

He shakes his head. "Don't steal my gold ingots!"

"..." 😑

Seriously? This guy was drunk and still worrying about his mountain of gold ingots!