Ethan Sullivan thought for a moment and continued, “Later, seven dwarfs wanted to rescue the princess. They became short because they were picky eaters, and the queen kicked each of them out one by one…”

　　Grace said gloomily, “Brother, I want to eat.”

　　It was almost noon. Ethan Sullivan cheerfully lit the small stove and started cooking.

　　Right now, only Ethan Sullivan and the two new women lived in the front yard, and the current custom in the Song Dynasty was two meals a day—there was no such thing as lunch.

　　Smoke curled up from the kitchen. Ethan Sullivan added shredded meat and stir-fried it with cabbage. Although he didn’t use much seasoning, the quality of the ingredients made it very fragrant.

　　He made two dishes, and finally finished with an egg soup.

　　He brought out the table, and Grace struggled to carry a small stool. When she saw the two women at the door looking over in surprise, she smiled proudly.

　　“Brother, let’s eat.”

Chapter 0010 Taking Action

　　“This is… madam, is this really stir-fried food?”

　　The maid’s voice was a bit loud, which made Ethan Sullivan a little unhappy.

　　If the house weren’t so cramped, he wouldn’t want to eat outside either.

　　Eating was fine, but being watched made him uncomfortable.

　　There was surprise in Alice’s eyes, but she still looked indifferent.

　　“Fanlou has it too.”

　　Ethan Sullivan heard this and was dismissive.

　　He knew about Fanlou’s stir-fried dishes. According to those who had eaten there, it was nothing special…

　　Thinking of this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

　　Could he get rich and buy a house by selling stir-fried dishes?

　　“Brother, let’s eat!”

　　After hearing the story about the princess being punished by the queen for not eating properly, Grace ate both dishes today and felt she was trying hard.

　　But Ethan Sullivan was distracted.

　　He ate his lunch without much appetite, finally mixing the egg soup with the leftovers and eating it all together.

　　After a nap, Ethan Sullivan woke up a bit dejected and gave up on his get-rich-quick plan.

　　It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get rich, but he had no backing. If he rashly revealed all kinds of stir-fried dishes, he could definitely make money, but the risk of being killed for his wealth would be even greater.

　　He hesitated.

　　“Brother!”

　　Grace was very well-behaved, reading after getting up.

　　Ethan Sullivan smiled, pushed aside his worries, and went to guide her in practicing calligraphy.

　　In the afternoon, Ethan Sullivan brought out the carrying pole, loaded one end with ingredients for making potstickers that night, along with a small table and chairs, and let Grace and Hannah sit in the other end.

　　“Let’s go!”

　　This was Grace’s favorite way to travel. She grabbed the edge of the basket and smiled at the approaching Alice.

　　There was a hint of cold indifference in Alice’s eyes.

　　All the way to the night market, the vendors made faces at him but didn’t come over to greet him.

　　Someone, probably unable to hold it in any longer, ran over with an oil-paper package.

　　“No one will say anything, don’t worry.”

　　The oil-paper package was placed in the basket where Grace was sitting, and the person quickly ran off.

　　They didn’t want to reveal his identity!

　　After setting up the stall and preparing the dough, Ethan Sullivan opened the oil-paper package to find two fried quails.

　　He didn’t really like eating this, but it was hard to refuse a kind gesture, so he sat by the stove and ate the quail first.

　　As he was eating with his head down, a bowl of wine was placed on the counter.

　　The person said in a muffled voice, “Young man, you need to learn to drink, or where will your spirit come from?”

　　Ethan Sullivan was taken aback, then nodded to express his thanks.

　　The night market vendors weren’t lacking in a sense of right and wrong; it was just that the Song Dynasty’s repeated defeats in foreign wars had made everyone habitually timid.

　　He continued making potstickers as usual, but Ethan Sullivan felt a bit more at ease.

　　There were many people buying potstickers, and Ethan Sullivan even saw two new ruffians.

　　He just glanced at them, then lowered his head and kept working.

　　Then…

　　He slowly looked up and glanced at the two ruffians again, cursing Abraham Brooks in his heart.

　　—Wouldn’t it be better to do things openly?

　　—What’s with this undercover stuff? Just hearing it sounds like trouble.

　　—If I have time, I’ll teach you how to behave properly!

　　But damn, that ruffian was clearly a petty official!

　　Ethan Sullivan swore that one of those two ruffians was the petty official who came to deliver a message the other day and even called the patrol office to threaten him.

　　This undercover work is so unprofessional!

　　That petty official-ruffian slowly made his way to the front of the line, disgracing the ruffians who never queued.

　　“Mr. Brooks asks if you’re willing to be a petty official. If you are, you can take the exams in the future.”

　　The old guy still wants to trick me!

　　Ethan Sullivan shook his head and said in a low voice, “Your act is so fake, Abraham Brooks will definitely kick you out later.”

　　“So what should I do?”

　　“Act closer, best if you sleep together for a while.”

　　The petty official looked flustered, took the potstickers, and left—without paying.

　　Ethan Sullivan saw him leave with the real ruffian, arms around each other’s shoulders, and decided not to bother chasing after him.

　　Hope you don’t turn gay.

　　He was busy at the front, while Grace sat at the back tracing characters, occasionally glancing at the bustling scene outside.

　　Hannah dozed off in front of Grace, and eventually just used Grace’s shoes as a pillow and fell asleep.

　　After Ethan Sullivan closed up shop, a man walked over timidly.

　　“What do you want?”

　　Ethan Sullivan recognized this man; he had run alongside him that night.

　　So he greeted him kindly.