Xiao Yunying originally planned to spend the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month at home in a simple way, without going to the city to join in the festivities.

To everyone's surprise, on the morning of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Ling Qi arrived with the vegetable driver and respectfully presented his invitation.

Xiao Yunying took the invitation: "What is it?"

Upon opening it, she discovered that Chen Yuanyao had invited her and the children to go to the city to admire the lanterns on the night of the fifteenth.

Xiao Yunying was conflicted. She was too lazy to go, but it was easy to see from the words in the post that Chen Yuanyao was eagerly anticipating her visit, and she didn't want to spoil Chen Yuanyao's mood.

She quite liked this lively and cheerful girl.

Seeing her expression, Ling Qi seized the opportunity to say, "I heard that a wealthy merchant has bought a lot of fireworks and will set them off at night. Miss Xiao, have you ever seen fireworks? They are so beautiful and colorful when they are set off. It would be a real pity to miss them."

Xiao Yunying closed the invitation. What a joke! What kind of fireworks hadn't she seen?

However, fireworks are indeed a rare thing in this world. She didn't know if the children had ever seen them before, and she wanted to show them.

"If we're going to see the lanterns and fireworks, will we need to stay overnight in the city? Are there any inn rooms available now?"

Ling Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that Miss Xiao was willing to go.

He replied, "Don't worry, Miss. The Second Miss has already made all the arrangements. You just need to go and have some fun."

Since Chen Yuanyao was so considerate, she couldn't keep refusing: "Okay, go back and tell Yuanyao that I'll go see her tomorrow afternoon."

Ling Qi had completed the task assigned to him by the Second Miss and was completely relieved: "Then I will come to pick you up tomorrow afternoon."

Xiao Yunying said politely, "You don't need to come too early. We can only watch the fireworks at night anyway. Thank you for your trouble. I'll bring you something delicious later."

After seeing Ling Qi off, Xiao Yunying went into the kitchen and scooped out two ladles of peanuts from a small basin.

Stir-fry in a pan until cooked, peel off the outer shell and rub off the red skin, crush with a rolling pin, mix with lard melted in a double boiler and white sugar, stir well, and put into the supermarket refrigerator for later use.

Then I made a sesame filling using a similar method.

The outer skin is made by kneading glutinous rice flour with warm water into a dough, letting it rest for about 15 minutes, pinching it into small pieces, making a groove in the palm of your hand, wrapping the filling inside, pinching the opening closed, and rolling it into a round shape.

Xiao Yunying put the cooked glutinous rice balls in the freezer at the supermarket to save for tomorrow.

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On the morning of the fifteenth, we ate tangyuan (sweet rice balls). The soft and sticky glutinous rice skin was filled with sweet and delicious peanut and sesame fillings, which the children loved.

Xiao Yunying served them glutinous rice balls, habitually instructing them, "If you like them, I'll make more later. Don't eat too much, as these are hard to digest."

Then he gently instructed Luo Xin, "Be careful when you eat it. Blow on it after you bite it open so you don't burn yourself."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Luo Li let out a cry of pain, sticking out her tongue and gasping for breath.

Xiao Yunying laughed at the gluttonous boy without any politeness, and said to Luo Xin, "Xin'er, did you see that? A little idiot got burned."

Luo Xin knew her mother was joking with her, and went along with it, saying, "I see, Third Brother is an idiot."

Luo Li was so embarrassed that she didn't know how to refute. She wrinkled her nose at Luo Xin and then lowered her head to blow on the glutinous rice ball.

Ever since the children learned yesterday that they were going to see fireworks, they have been in a state of excitement, especially the two younger ones, who kept asking when they were going to leave while playing.

After lunch, without Xiao Yunying's prompting, everyone eagerly tidied themselves up and waited for the carriage to arrive before setting off.

Xiao Yunying calmly packed the things she was going to bring to the Chen siblings: "No need to rush, I'll call you when the carriage arrives."

Not long after, she heard Luo Li calling her from the courtyard: "Mother, the carriage is here."

"I heard you."

Xiao Yunying carried the packed cloth bag out of the kitchen, called the children to go out together, put the things on the carriage, and locked the gate behind her.

After she got into the carriage, she took out two bulging oil paper packages from the puppet show and gave them to Ling Qi.

"Here, this is a snack for you."

Ling Qi pressed the slightly oily paper package and asked, "What's this?"

"I made beef jerky and shredded beef strips, which are sweet and spicy. I don't know if you'll like them."

"I like everything Miss Xiao makes."

As Ling Qi spoke, she tried to put the beef shreds into her bosom, but Xiao Yunying stopped her: "Wait a minute, the shredded beef in the lantern-shaped sauce is oily, let me put it in your pocket first, and I'll give it to you when we get off the bus."

Ling Qi reluctantly handed the paper package back; anyone who didn't know better would have thought that Xiao Yunying had taken it and wouldn't give it back.

It snowed lightly yesterday afternoon, and some of it melted today. The dirt road was a bit muddy, so the carriage was moving slowly. By the time we arrived at Huiweilou, it was almost evening.

They got out of the car in front of Huiweilou. Xiao Yunying held Luo Xin's small hand and glanced at the guests in the lobby.

Perhaps because there was a lantern festival today, the restaurant was packed with people.

The person in charge of taking orders carefully studied the menu and selected the dishes they wanted to eat; those who arrived early had already started eating.

The three-day event has long since ended, but the restaurant still maintains a high level of popularity, indicating that the initial launch was quite successful.

On her way to the Cloud Pavilion on the third floor, Xiao Yunying responded to the greetings from the shopkeeper and the waiter, and awkwardly touched her nose.

As a former office worker, she was always the one who would greet her boss first. Now that she's the boss herself, she's finding it a bit hard to adjust.

The door to the private room was open, so Xiao Yunying didn't knock. Ling Qi announced from behind her, "Young Master, Miss Xiao has arrived."

Then he made a gesture toward the cloth bag in her arms.

I can't forget you.

Xiao Yunying quickly gave Ling Qi his share of snacks and went into the private room.

The people on both sides greeted each other. When Chen Yuanxuan saw the cloth bag in Xiao Yunying's arms, his eyes widened instantly, and he got off the stool: "Sister Yunying, what delicious food did you bring this time?"

The bag wasn't heavy, so Xiao Yunying handed it to him directly: "Didn't your older brother give me some beef before the New Year? I made some beef jerky and shredded beef. You can divide it among yourselves."

Chen Yuanxuan, holding the cloth bag, responded and then ran to Luo Xin, saying, "Little sister Xin'er, I bought you a new toy. Do you want to go take a look?"

Xin'er looked up, saw her mother nod, and said softly, "Okay, thank you, Brother Xuan."

After Chen Yuanxuan pulled Luo Xin to the small tea table, Luo Li stood to the side with a wrinkled face.

It feels like someone is trying to steal his sister away from him.

No, he had to watch over his sister; she was his sister, and he couldn't let someone else take her away.

Thinking of this, Luo Li strode over to the small tea table.