“I’m serious. Have dinner with me tonight, Little Jasmine. I can make you one of my specialties...”

Mu Nanyan fell silent for a moment. In her previous life, she’d been a shut-in who only knew how to play games, and she wasn’t exactly great at cooking.

You couldn’t call her food bad, but you couldn’t call it good, either.

With cooking like that, there was no way she’d impress someone like Liya, who’d been pampered in the Demon Clan.

Damn it. Cooking skills were supposed to be a must-have cheat ability for any transmigrator trying to win over girls.

Sumimasen, I really can’t cook at all.

Mu Nanyan had the face of a married woman—and she really was one—but she had a clear-eyed understanding of her own cooking skills.

“What?”

“Let’s just have something simple. It’s not about what we eat, but who we eat with. Don’t you think?”

Mu Nanyan gave an awkward smile. Her specialty was tomato and egg stir-fry. But this was another world, and there was no mention of tomatoes anywhere in Mu Nanyan’s memories.

There were some berries that looked a bit like tomatoes, though. No one ate them—they grew wild, and most were bitter and astringent. Only a few tasted good.

In Mu Nanyan’s memories, she’d always been wary of berries. When she was little, she’d once sneaked some because she was hungry, and nearly got poisoned into a complete idiot.

If she really had been poisoned by berries, wouldn’t she have turned into a beautiful idiot?

“I don’t want to have dinner with you.”

That was what Liya said, but her body told a different story. She stayed right where she was, turning her face slightly away. A faint blush colored her adorable cheeks, as if she were embarrassed.

Aww, cute.

Looks like she’s the type who needs me to make the first move. All right, then. You did obediently call me “Mother Empress” just now, after all.

“But I want to have dinner with Little Jasmine. And if you can, talk with me a little more, okay? I get lonely too.”

Mu Nanyan spoke to Liya in a coaxing, almost childlike voice, as if she were the one begging for attention. It almost seemed like Liya was her mother.

“All right, all right. Stop making that face. I get it. So, what should we eat?”

Liya waved a hand in displeasure. She looked disgusted on the surface, but deep down, she was secretly looking forward to it. After all, Mu Nanyan was very good with her hands, and the red bean glutinous rice balls she’d made had left Liya wanting more.

She still had a few tucked away, too precious to eat.

Would something else taste as good as those red bean glutinous rice balls? Could it bring back even a little of the taste she remembered?

“I didn’t prepare anything in particular, so let’s just have something simple.”

Mu Nanyan felt a little awkward. Given the Demon Clan’s standards, if Liya went back, the maids would probably prepare a lavish meal for her.

But you probably won’t get anything particularly good to eat here with me. At least I can make something fresh, though.

“Could you do me a favor and pick some wild berries?”

After thinking it over, Mu Nanyan decided that since she only knew how to make tomato and egg stir-fry, that was what she’d make.

It was an ordinary dish in her previous life, but who knew? Maybe it would have some special effect here.

“I can, but... you’re not planning to make me eat those, are you?”

“You’ll find out when you bring them back. Little Jasmine’s shadow can help you with something like this, can’t it?”

“Don’t make the Shadow Legion do something so pointless.” Liya sighed. “So, what kind of berries am I supposed to pick?”

“These.” Mu Nanyan grabbed some paper and a pen, then quickly drew a round, plump, lifelike berry.

It wasn’t colored in, but it was still easy to recognize.

“These? They don’t taste good. They’re bitter and astringent, and if you eat too many, your mouth goes numb.”

“Use this picture to find them. See? Look for ones that are round and plump, especially the ones that are a deep purplish red.”

“...”

Liya took the drawing and gave Mu Nanyan a skeptical look, but she still obediently ordered her shadow to go look for them.

Without even realizing it, Liya had already started to trust Mu Nanyan.