To the right is an arched doorway and a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. Mingxiu goes through the doorway and sees a picnic area behind it.

"How about it? Not bad, right? This is my secret weapon! Look, over here is a huge bamboo forest where you can dig for bamboo shoots. Over here is a plum grove where you can see plum blossoms in winter. Over here is a pond and a chicken farm where I also raise fish, chickens, ducks, and geese. And then there's this vegetable garden, where I've planted lots of vegetables. I've also planted easy-to-grow fruit trees in the corners and edges, and some are even hidden inside. When people come over to visit, they can go treasure hunting! Isn't that great?" Zheng Shuang said proudly.

Mingxiu nodded repeatedly: "It looks good, it's more than just good, you've done a fantastic job, it's so pleasing to the eye."

"Hehehe, I'm glad you like it. Go up to the second floor and take a look. There's an open-air balcony on the second floor where I've also grown some flowers and plants. You can also drink coffee and enjoy the scenery there."

Mingxiu followed her around and exclaimed sincerely, "Wow, your house is really nice! I think you'll definitely have no problem finding customers in the future!"

"That's good. By the way, my grandparents also live here. It's late today, so they've already gone to bed. I'll let you meet them tomorrow morning. You can stay in the room upstairs; the view is better there." Zheng Shuang said, putting all of Mingxiu's luggage into the room.

Mingxiu nodded: "Okay, that black suitcase is full of all the things I packed for you. You can open it and see, it can hold everything."

"Okay, then you should get some rest early today." Zheng Shuang waved and left.

Mingxiu went inside and looked at the interior decoration, which looked quite nice. Satisfied, she washed up and went straight to bed.

The next morning, Mingxiu listened to the birds chirping outside, stretched, and slowly opened her eyes to get up.

Looking out the window at the scenery, Mingxiu took a deep breath; the air here was so fresh.

Mingxiu tidied herself up and came downstairs. Looking at the two elderly people sitting in the middle of the courtyard, she knew that these were Zheng Shuang's grandparents.

"Good morning, Grandpa and Grandma! You're both up so early!" Mingxiu greeted them with a smile.

"You got up pretty early too. I thought you were going to sleep until almost noon." Zheng Shuang teased Mingxiu with a smile: "Grandpa and Grandma, this is the friend I told you about yesterday. Her name is Mingxiu. You can just call her Mingxiu."

When Mingxiu heard Zheng Shuang's earlier words, she scratched her head a little embarrassedly. It was true that she liked to sleep. She hadn't lived with them before, so she didn't know. But when they went on trips together, Mingxiu was always the last one to get up. Hearing Zheng Shuang's later words, she quickly nodded: "Yes, Grandpa and Grandma can just call me Mingxiu."

"Alright, alright, you're all good children. Are you hungry? There's food in the kitchen, go and eat first," Grandma Zheng said, holding Mingxiu's hand. Grandpa was also watching with a smile.

Mingxiu nodded and went straight to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Looking at the scallion pancakes and the wheat, rice and red date porridge inside, Mingxiu swallowed hard. The crispy and crunchy appearance looked really tempting.

"Isn't it pretty good? This was made by my grandma herself, picked from the vegetable garden behind the house. The eggs are from her own free-range chickens. Didn't you bring me a lot of pickled vegetables? Seeing those reminded me of this. Hurry up and try it to see if it's good." Zheng Shuang said as she walked over.

Mingxiu nodded happily, took a bite of the crispy pancake, and then gave Zheng Shuang a thumbs up. This pancake was absolutely delicious, just as good as the one made by the head chef at Yonghe Palace.

Mingxiu finished her breakfast happily and looked at Zheng Shuang next to her, saying, "When are we leaving to pick them up?"

"Let's go in the afternoon. Their flights are both at 2 PM, so they'll arrive around 6 or 7 PM. We can pick them up at 3 PM," Zheng Shuang said after calculating the time.

"Okay," Mingxiu nodded. "Then will you show me around?"

"Why are you wandering around? Since you have nothing to do, why don't you do some work? Go to the vegetable garden and pick some more vegetables, and I'll cook you a good meal at noon."

Mingxiu blinked, thought the idea was good, and set off with the shopping basket Zheng Shuang had given her.

It was already quite late when I got back yesterday, so there were many places I didn't get a good look at. But this morning, I saw that there really were a lot of vegetables growing there.

Mingxiu picked a lot of vegetables in the garden, then looked at the grapevines planted at the foot of the wall, their lush black grapes making her mouth water. They looked pretty good.

I walked over, picked two bunches, and went back.

Zheng Shuang laughed when she saw it. It's good that she looks so comfortable.

Mingxiu felt very comfortable there. She went to the sink in the kitchen, washed the vegetables, and then washed the grapes. She sat on the sofa next to her and started showing off the grapes.

The grapes grown in Mingxiu's space are all sweet because she doesn't like sour grapes, so there aren't any sour ones. But the grapes in Zheng Shuang's house are all sweet and sour, and now that we're eating them, they actually taste really good.

Mingxiu ate a plate of grapes with satisfaction, and by the time Zheng Shuang came back and saw it, Mingxiu had almost finished eating.

Zheng Shuang felt a pang of jealousy watching this: "Eat less, or you won't be able to eat lunch later."

Mingxiu patted her stomach: "Don't worry, you have to trust in the abilities of a good cook. This little bit of food won't fill your stomach at all. Go ahead and do it with confidence."

What can Zheng Shuang do but obediently continue cooking?

For lunch, they had braised goose in an iron pot and steamed pork ribs. Mingxiu swallowed hard as she looked at the huge portions of food and asked Zheng Shuang, "Is it necessary to make so much food for just the four of us? Can we finish it all?" She knew that Zheng Shuang had a big appetite, and she also knew that Zheng Shuang had an even bigger appetite, but even the two of them plus their grandparents couldn't possibly eat this much.

Zheng Shuang sighed helplessly. "Don't worry, it's not just for us to eat." With that, she took some vegetables out of the basket and put them in, then looked at Mingxiu and said, "Let's go, come with me to deliver the vegetables."

Mingxiu followed along, still a little confused. On the way, Zheng Shuang explained things to Mingxiu.

There was a family whose parents were not at home. They used to live with their grandparents, but the grandparents passed away a few days ago. The two children had no food to eat, and their parents had not returned home yet. So, Zheng Shuang had been cooking for them during this period.