On the river bank, Dalang, who was fishing with his younger brothers, sisters and guests, suddenly smelled a strong aroma of barbecue.

In the blink of an eye, a fish swam past his feet.

Qi Xianguan shouted: "Da Lang, fish! Fish!"

He looked so anxious, as if he wished he could go down to the river himself to help him catch the fat fish that he had finally found.

Unfortunately, Shitou and Agu had just warned him not to go down to the river to avoid catching a cold.

Even though the sun was out in the sky at this time of year, the river water was still icy cold. Not only was Qi Xianguan unable to go down into the river, but the two young masters of the Song family were also begged by their servants not to go down into the river.

However, Dalang and his two siblings had no restrictions. They picked up their homemade harpoons, rolled up their cotton pants, and went into the river.

The river water was not too cold and was half as shallow as in summer. The water on the river beach where we fished was only as deep as Si Niang's thighs.

But she and Sanlang were just there to make up the numbers. They stood on a big rock with wooden forks and directed their older brothers to catch fish.

Erlang was not very good at catching fish, so he followed his eldest brother with a fish basket. He would put up one fish every time Dalang caught one. The important thing was to participate.

So when Dalang, the main player, was distracted, all the children looked at him with concern.

The second son of the Song family said regretfully: "Da Lang, you just missed a big fat fish."

Qi Xianguan was much less polite and asked directly: "Dalang, why did you lose focus just now?"

Dalang sniffed his nose. It smelled so good. He looked at his friends on the shore in surprise: "Don't you smell the strong aroma of meat? It smells so good that I am drooling."

Hearing his words, everyone raised their noses and sniffed, as if there really was something there.

Si Niang's eyes lit up, and she boldly guessed, "Could it be that A Niang and the others have already finished it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sanlang jumped off the stone, waded back to the shore, quickly put on his shoes and ran towards the lotus courtyard.

As he ran, he said, "I'll go help you guys first! I'll call you when I'm done!"

That being said, Dalang and the others couldn't wait for him to come back and notify them. They looked at each other and, needless to say, they tacitly started to finish their work, put on their shoes, and hurried to the Lotus Courtyard with half a frame of fish in their hands.

Before we even arrived at the place, the delicious barbecue smell hit our noses, making us salivate.

When the adults saw them, they waved to them to come over and try the freshly baked lamb kebabs.

There are not only meat dishes, but also vegetarian dishes. If you are tired of eating meat, two skewers of vegetarian dishes will relieve your greasy feeling.

Sanlang let out a howl and looked at the adults who were already sitting at the table eating with their mouths full of oil, his eyes full of annoyance.

Qin Yao saw the fish basket in Erlang's hand, and while handing the grilled skewers to the brothers and sisters, she asked with a smile:

"Did you catch any fish?"

"Yes, yes!" Si Niang answered for her brother. Her hands were busy, she lifted the skewers and put them into her mouth, jumping up and down because of the delicious taste. "Mother, it's delicious. Can we have barbecue next time?"

"Okay." Qin Yao nodded and took the fish basket handed to her by Erlang. Five or six small fish, each two fingers wide, were struggling slowly in it due to lack of water.

"Awang, kill it and roast it!" Qin Yao ordered.

Awang agreed, and the children cheered and gathered around to watch the fish being killed. They squeezed each other and pushed each other, vying for the first bite of grilled fish.

Miss Song and the two young masters were older, so they were too embarrassed to argue, but they just followed behind and watched eagerly.

Qi Xianguan had only taken two bites of the barbecue when Liu Ji conscripted him into the army. He was given a charcoal stove and a plate of skewers. "The teacher's skewers will be given to you, little brother."

"What about you?" Qi Xianguan quickly grabbed him.

Liu Ji pointed at Song Zhang seriously, "Junior brother, you have to entertain the guests. Mr. Song has been busy since his first visit. I haven't had time to sit down with him and drink a cup of tea. Can you understand that, little senior brother?"

Qi Xianguan: "Okay then."

He picked up the barbecue and placed it on the iron net. He imitated Qin Yao's movements of flipping the meat and shook his head happily. This barbecue was quite fun.

"Lord Song!" Liu Ji came to Song Zhang, who was skewering meat, with a laugh. He naturally took the skewers from Song Zhang's hand and put them aside, then pulled him to the front of the cliff to wash his hands with mountain spring water.

Liu Ji applied the Awang brand soap to him and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sir. How can you ask people to work as soon as guests come? I am not polite, please forgive me."

Song Zhang pulled his hand out of Liu Ji's and smiled awkwardly, "Mr. Liu, you are too polite. We were the ones who bothered you first. Besides, it's more fun to do the barbecue by ourselves. What do you think?"

"Yes, yes, you can have enough food and clothing if you do it yourself." Liu Ji smiled and washed the bubbles off his hands. He shook his hands and took out the handkerchief from his arms and handed it to Song Zhang, "Master, wipe your hands."

Song Zhang glanced at the handkerchief. It was clean and quite elegant.

He took the handkerchief, wiped his hands, and gave it back to Liu Ji, "Thank you."

Liu Ji waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. We've been busy all morning. Let's go to the teacher's place and take a break together?"

Song Zhang couldn't refuse. He had wanted to meet Gong Liangliao in the first place, but unfortunately the old man seemed to have a bad temper. From the time they met until now, he had only bowed to him from a distance.

Now that the opportunity has come, even though he feels that Liu Ji is a bit flattering, he still follows him.

As long as Liu Ji was there, the atmosphere was never dull. With his help, Song Zhang and Gong Liangliao were finally able to talk to each other.

From time to time, Qin Yao could hear loud laughter from people behind her. She couldn't concentrate on eating the barbecue and couldn't help but look back a few times.

I don't know what Liu Ji said, but Gong Liangliao laughed so hard that his face turned red. Song Zhang couldn't help laughing and put his arm around his shoulder, as if they were very good friends.

"It's been a long time since I've seen my brother laugh so happily."

Mrs. Song smiled faintly and suddenly said with emotion, "Since I followed him to Kaiyang County, he has been busy with official duties. He always said that we would go out for an outing after he finished this matter, but we never waited. After finishing one thing, there was another."

"In a blink of an eye, my three-year term is about to end, and I finally have these few days of free time before leaving."

Qin Yao paused while grilling the meat, feeling a little surprised. Is her term of office about to expire?

Yes, in the blink of an eye, three years have passed.

Qin Yao asked tentatively, "From what Madam said, Lord Song is about to leave Kaiyang County?"

Madam Song nodded, and said reluctantly, "Yes, the news of the transfer has been passed down. I will leave Kaiyang County and go to Qingzhou Prefecture to take up my post after the New Year."

Mrs. Song did not say what position it was because it had not been determined yet. She only knew where she would be transferred to for the time being.

But Qin Yao saw that Mrs. Song's expression showed more joy than sorrow, and guessed that Song Zhang was going to be promoted.

After a slight hesitation, Qin Yao put aside the disappointment in her heart and smiled, "Then I have to congratulate my wife in advance."

Mrs. Song smiled and nodded, inviting Qin Yao to visit them in Qingzhou Prefecture when she was free.

Qin Yao agreed immediately, but they both knew that Zijing Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture were very far apart, and it would be difficult for them to meet again in the future. (End of this chapter)