Xu Lai continued eating the meat-filled rice dumpling she had just eaten, and asked with some confusion, "Are sweet rice dumplings really that good? I really can't eat them."

Zhao Qingyun peeled open the zongzi, took a bite, and said, "Our family basically makes sweet ones every year. My grandmother likes sweets."

Xu Lai took a bite of the fragrant meat-filled rice dumpling and said, "Meat-filled rice dumplings are still the best."

She recalled the online debate between the North and South, where Southern netizens said tofu pudding was sweet, while Northern netizens said it was savory, and Southerners ate savory rice dumplings, while Northerners ate sweet ones.

Zhao Qingyun should be considered a northerner, right? Xu Lai asked, "Do you prefer your tofu pudding sweet or savory?"

Zhao Qingyun thought for a moment and said, "I accept either way."

Xu Lai wanted a definite answer, so she said, "No, you have to choose one."

He chuckled, “I really can’t choose, because I’m influenced by my grandmother and my mother, so I’m a bit of both North and South.”

Hearing him say that, Xu Lai didn't press him any further. This debate between North and South regarding sweet versus savory flavors seemed to be unsolvable.

The next day, she packed up the zongzi and beef, stir-fried some cured meat, packed two portions of each, and sent them to Xu Yan and Xia Ning respectively.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, a proper festival. There is a small river in the town, and every year there is a dragon boat race.

A few days ago, she saw people piling up stones downstream of the river. She was a little puzzled at the time, but today she realized that it was to store water so that the dragon boats could move in the water.

The dragon boat race was about to start, and she was just about to call her grandparents to come and watch when she saw them getting out of Zhao Qingyun's car, with Grandma Jiang there too.

Xu Lai waved in that direction and said as she walked, "I was just about to call you over when I saw you."

Grandma took her hand and said, "I didn't want to move, but Qingyun said she wanted to join in the fun and that we wouldn't have to walk, so your grandpa and I came."

With a whistle, the five dragon boats set off. Xu Lai looked at the river and saw that most of the dragon boat rowers had their arms exposed and were only wearing vests.

She couldn't help but mutter, "How do those people train? Those muscles... no, no, they're a bit scary."

Zhao Qingyun happened to be right behind her. Xu Lai's voice reached his ears with the sound of the wind. He looked over in surprise. Did she not like muscular people?

The dragon boat race ended quickly, with the top three teams receiving prizes of three thousand, two thousand, and one thousand respectively.

The last two winners will receive a consolation prize of a grass carp each.

After watching the game, everyone dispersed. Xu Lai got on her electric scooter and told Zhao Qingyun to go first, but he wasn't in a hurry and said, "You go first."

She bought the groceries when she sent the package in the morning. Today she's going to make braised pork trotters, braised chicken with potatoes, steamed ribs, boiled shrimp, and a mixed stew.

Blanch the chopped pig's trotters in boiling water, rinse them with warm water, stir-fry them in a pan to caramelize the sugar, add cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and dried chili peppers, then transfer them to a clay pot and simmer.

The chicken used for the braised chicken with potatoes was a free-range chicken raised at home. Last night, while the chicken was sleeping in its cage, Grandma caught the big rooster.

Grandpa prepared the chicken this morning, so she just had to do the cooking. She chopped the chicken into pieces, put it in a pot of cold water, added a four-piece deodorizing kit, blanched it, rinsed it with warm water, and then added rock sugar to caramelize it.

When it's almost done stir-frying, add two tablespoons of light soy sauce, one tablespoon of dark soy sauce, and three tablespoons of soybean paste. Add water and simmer. Add potatoes fifteen minutes before it's done.

Steam the ribs while making the last dish. This way, the ribs will be tender and have a sweet flavor.

The mixed stew is a local specialty, made by cooking wood ear mushrooms, daylily buds, fried tofu, ham sausage, shredded eggs, mushrooms, and quail eggs together. They also add pig intestines, but she doesn't like to eat them and is too lazy to prepare them.

When I was a child, I would go to banquets with my grandparents. As soon as this dish was served, it was snatched up by the kids at the table. They didn't take anything else, just the ham sausage.

Back then, she often couldn't get any, so her grandfather would put the sausages on his plate at the table where he was drinking and bring them to her.

She put all the ingredients in and stir-fried them until they were just cooked through. Then she added water to boil them. Meanwhile, she boiled water in another pot and blanched the shrimp.

After all the dishes were ready, she brought them to the table and called everyone to eat. Zhao Qingyun poured her a drink and said, "Thank you for your hard work in making so many dishes."

Xu Lai waved her hand: "Oh, what's the big deal? Cooking for one person is cooking, cooking for everyone is cooking too. Besides, I think cooking is quite interesting, but I just don't like washing dishes."

Grandma Jiang pointed at Zhao Qingyun and said, "Then you should ask him. He's a clean person and he's very efficient at washing dishes."

Xu Lai smiled and said, "That's perfect, it complements each other."

She took a few sips of her drink, but felt unwell, so she said, "Grandpa, can you share some of your wine with me?"

Zhao Qingyun had seen her drink several times. He used to drink at business dinners too, but he drank less at home. Sometimes he would have a small glass of red wine, which helped him sleep.

But he hadn't tried this homemade liquor before. When Xu Lai poured the liquor, she noticed his gaze and said, "Want to try some? It's rice wine made by Grandma. The alcohol content shouldn't be too high, right? The effects will wear off after a bit of wind."

Zhao Qingyun licked her lips, somewhat wanting to try it, so she got up, grabbed a disposable cup, and said, "Pour me half."

Xu Lai poured him a glass that was about eight-tenths full, saying, "That little bit isn't enough. We always pour wine to the brim here, so I'll just give you a glass that's about eight-tenths full for now."

Zhao Qingyun raised his glass and first toasted Grandpa Xu, then Grandma Xu, then the old lady, and finally Xu Lai.

She was also generous, drinking a third of the wine in one go. After Zhao Qingyun toasted everyone, the wine in her cup was already half empty.

Xu Lai stood up and said, "I won't toast them one by one. I wish all the grandpas and grandmas good health and all the best." When it was Zhao Qingyun's turn, she paused and said, "May you be successful in your career and find a partner soon."

"As for me, I'm in good health now," she concluded.

Zhao Qingyun initially felt that everything was normal, but he was a little agitated. After washing the dishes, he felt dizzy and sat down in the chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Xu Lai was slightly tipsy, but not drunk. One cup of this rice wine wouldn't make her drunk.

She was just about to ask him what was going on when she saw him lying on the chair, his hand against his forehead, and one hand fanning himself by pulling on his collar.

Xu Lai walked over and asked, "Are you alright? Are you drunk?"

Zhao Qingyun grunted, feeling a little dizzy, which was a sign that he was drunk.

Xu Lai squatted down to look him in the eye. Their breaths mingled, and both of them smelled faintly of alcohol, making it hard to tell whose breath it was for a moment.

She said slowly, "Then let me make you some honey water. It's all my fault, why did I let you drink so much alcohol?" He and his grandfather were drinking heartily, so she poured him two more glasses.

At this moment, Zhao Qingyun could only think, "Is this the kind of wine that can dissipate with a gust of wind? It doesn't seem like it."