At the Spring Festival banquet, Xu Jiang's menu consisted of only four dishes: a mixed mugwort, a mugwort pancake, a mugwort scrambled egg, and a mugwort porridge.

The porridge on the stove simmered in the clay pot, and the sound of chopping wood could be heard from the courtyard. Xu Jiangxiu smiled as she cleaned and chopped the wormwood and poured it into the porridge. After stirring, she added a little cooking oil to thicken the porridge and a pinch of salt to season. The wormwood porridge was ready.

To make Artemisia capsicum pancakes, add chopped Artemisia capsicum to eggs, salt, and chopped green onions, mix well, then add flour and water to make a batter, and bake it into a thin pancake.

Scrambled eggs with wormwood and mixed wormwood with eggs are both simple to make. For the former, mince wormwood with eggs and stir-fry with lard. For the latter, blanch the wormwood with water, add vegetable oil, dogwood oil, and chopped green onions, ginger, and garlic, and mix.

These four dishes seek freshness rather than refinement, and only a rough style can capture the true flavor.

After all the dishes were prepared, Xu Jiang divided another portion into a box and waited for Lou Yunchun to return to his house, and then took it back to Lou Jing and his wife as a token of gratitude.

Xu Jiang set the table and went to call Lou Yunchun, only to find that all the firewood piled in the yard had been chopped by him and was being neatly stacked in a row under the eaves.

She looked at him for a long while before calling out, "Zhaoyue, come and eat."

Lou Yunchun turned around and smiled at him, "I'm coming."

The fire is dim, the aroma of wine is lingering, a small spring banquet and a pot of farm rice wine dispel the last chill of winter and bring people into the warm spring.

Xu Jiang calculated the days and found that there were still two days until the beginning of spring, so this small banquet to welcome the spring was just in time.

"You must be tired after chopping so much wood." She filled a cup of rice wine for Lou Yunchun and said, "Have a cup first to relieve your fatigue."

Lou Yunchun held up the wine cup, his hands trembling slightly. Seeing this, Xu Jiang took the cup and fed him a drink, sighing as she fed him, "As long as there's enough firewood to burn, why chop so much? It's hurting your strength. Your shoulder will hurt tomorrow."

Lou Yunchun drank the glass of wine slowly, and finally pursed his lips, feeling a little unsatisfied.

Xu Jiang simply replaced his chopsticks with a spoon, fearing that he would not be able to pick up the food.

"Which one do you want to eat first?"

"Bread." Xu Jiang served him some food. Lou Yunchun took a bite and looked up, saying, "You eat too."

Xu Jiang smiled, "Okay."

By the time the two of them had finished all the delicious food on the table, it was already late at night.

The imperial examination is approaching, and Lou Jing needs to assist with the affairs related to the examination. Lou Yunchun will inevitably need help, so it is not a good idea for him to stay for long.

After putting away the dishes, Lou Yunchun went to untie the horse, and Xu Jiang followed behind with the food box and sent him out of the yard.

After Lou Yunchun stepped on the stirrup and mounted his horse, Xu Jiang handed the food box to him and instructed him, "Tell Mr. and Mrs. Lou to be well for me."

"Yeah." Lou Yunchun took the lunch box, but was reluctant to leave.

"What's wrong?"

"I have something for you."

"What?"

"Hold out your hand."

Xu Jiang looked up and stretched out her hand obediently. Lou Yunchun took it, pulled her over, and leaned over to touch her soft lips.

"Leave."

The smiling voice dissipated in the night wind. When Xu Jiang came to his senses, he only had time to catch a fleeting figure under the wind lantern on the eaves.

Her lips were burning, her face was scorching, and she finally covered her face and quietly closed the door, fearing that she would embarrass the night.

Lou Yunchun returned home, but the door would not open for a long time. The servant inside the door said in embarrassment: "Master, it's not that I don't want to open the door for you, but the master has ordered you to reflect on your mistakes outside tonight."

Reflect? Lou Yunchun was silent for a moment, then knocked on the door and said, "Give him something for me, and then come back and tell me."

"What is that?" The servant opened the door a little and peeked in, only to see a food box before him. He saw the familiar pattern on the box and quickly opened the door to take it. "Master, wait a minute. I'll take it to the master right away."

The servant took the food box and slammed the door shut.

Lou Yunchun stood outside the door waiting. Not long after, the sound of a servant's brisk footsteps came from inside the door.

"Master, the master asked you to go to the study and wait for him. He said that he would like you to help organize the files later." The servant opened the door and saw his master's soul floating in the air, in a daze. "Master?"

Lou Yunchun finally came back to his senses and stepped into the room, "I understand."

In the inner courtyard of the Lou residence, in the greenhouse, Lou Jing served a bowl of Artemisia argyi porridge and handed it to Madam Lou with a smile, "Madam, try this first-harvest Artemisia argyi and see if it is fresh."

Mrs. Lou took it, tasted it carefully first, and then finished the whole bowl of porridge one spoonful after another.

"how?"

She nodded. "Delicious."

Lou Jing picked up another piece of cake and gave it to her. "Try this cake again. It looks delicious too."

Mrs. Lou ate a small piece and could not eat anymore. "I'm full, you can eat." She didn't have a big appetite and had already had dinner. After eating the bowl of porridge, she felt a little bloated. If she ate more, she was afraid that she would not be able to sleep well at night.

Seeing that she really couldn't eat any more, Lou Jing poured himself another bowl of porridge and began to eat it slowly and leisurely. As he ate, he praised: "Madam Xu's cooking skills are really amazing. She can make simple snacks taste delicious."

Speaking of Xu Jiang, Madam Lou's face softened a bit, "Her cooking skills have always been very good."

Whenever Xu Jiang sent gifts during the solar terms, as long as they were food, they were all to her and Lou Jing's liking, and it was obvious that much thought had gone into their preparations.

Thinking of his own unruly son who often went to eat for free, Lou Jing couldn't help but feel jealous. This brat had a better appetite than him. At the same time, he felt relieved that this lonely duck had finally found a human heart and found a companion to build a nest.

Lou Jing sighed, "Luckily it was her, otherwise our boy would have lived a lonely life."

A trace of guilt flashed in Mrs. Lou's eyes. This son was too much like her. She had been raised in a temple since she was young due to family changes, and she had developed a cold heart. If she had not met Lou Jing, she would have spent her whole life alone in the temple, living a lonely life.

After marrying Lou Jing, she had this son, but she didn't know how to get close to him or educate him. In addition, Lou Jing was busy with his official career at the time and could not take care of him.

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