"Oh dear, look at you, it's good enough that you came to our house, why did you bring anything?"

"Come on, everyone, come inside and sit down. Look at all these young men and women, they're such rare treats!"

Zhang Shuzhen, who was chopping chives, quickly wiped her hands with her apron and stepped forward to take the things from Zhou Qinglan's hands.

Then, he took Zhou Qinglan's hand very affectionately and led her into the east room.

Sheng Xiping, Gao Haining, and the others also followed into the east room.

Nowadays, most households don't have much furniture.

The Sheng family was relatively better off; Sheng Liancheng knew a little about carpentry and could make some things himself.

At the end of the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room, there was a pair of boxes with floral and willow-leaf patterns, and on top of the boxes were stacks of quilts.

The cleaned bedding was neatly stacked on top, covered with a white curtain embroidered with flowers symbolizing wealth and prosperity.

A five-drawer chest was placed against the east wall on the ground, with a thermos and a tea mug on top.

Further north, there are rectangular panels and tables standing against the wall.

The Sheng family used a kang table for meals. After finishing their meals, they would clean it up and place it against the wall to avoid getting in the way.

Above the chest of drawers hung two glass photo frames, which were covered with many photos.

There are group photos of the eight members of the Sheng family, photos of Sheng Liancheng taking his wife and children back to his hometown a few years ago and taking photos with the elderly in the family, and even a photo of the baby on his 100th day.

A chubby little boy sat on a chair covered with a tablecloth, with two little girls standing on either side.

It's obvious at a glance that this is a photo of the two girls from the Sheng family with their sixth son, Sheng Xitai.

"That was a photo of my sixth brother on his 100th day."

"Don't be fooled by how steadily he sits up there; actually, my mom is hiding behind the tablecloth, tugging at Lao Liu's clothes."

Seeing that Zhou Qinglan kept looking at the photo frame, Sheng Xiping assumed she was curious about the photos and explained to her.

Actually, Zhou Qinglan wanted to know which photo was of Sheng Xiping when he was a child, but how could she say that? She could only smile sheepishly.

"Auntie has been so beautiful since she was young. No wonder people say that she is the most beautiful woman in our Qianchuan Forest Farm."

"Yunfang and Yunfei both resembled their aunt; they're both quite pretty." Zhou Qinglan turned to Zhang Shuzhen and praised her.

"Oh dear, my face is all wrinkled, I'm no longer a beauty."

I love looking at you young girls; look at you, each one as beautiful as a flower.

Zhang Shuzhen was so amused by Zhou Qinglan's praise that she couldn't stop smiling and held onto Zhou Qinglan's hand tightly.

"Auntie, is there anything else you haven't cooked? Let's cook together. Uncle Sheng should be home from get off work soon."

Zhou Qinglan looked up at the clock on the wall. It was a little past five o'clock. The small repair shop should close at five-thirty.

With so many of them here, they can't just sit around waiting to eat. They should lend a hand and do something helpful.

"No need, no need, it's almost done. I'll just stir-fry the chives, chicken, and mushrooms, and then stir-fry some wood ear mushrooms and eggs."

When Zhou Qinglan first came to the Sheng family, Zhang Shuzhen had no right to ask the young lady to do any work.

Zhang Shuzhen held Zhou Qinglan down and made her sit down. She then told Sheng Xiping to quickly brew a pot of tea and make some sweet soup for the girls.

"Fengying, you stay with Qinglan. You and the others can sit inside and chat. The food will be ready soon."

Zhang Shuzhen turned around and gave Tang Fengying a quick instruction before hurrying out to cook.

How could Zhou Qinglan and the other girls sit comfortably in the house waiting for their meal? They all went to the kitchen to help.

Seeing that she had no other choice, Zhang Shuzhen could only let the girls have their way.

Everyone was chatting and laughing as they worked in the kitchen; it was quite lively.

As they were talking, Sheng Liancheng returned from the small repair shop, and Sheng Xi'an and Sheng Xikang also finished school.

Even Sheng Xitai, who was out playing with a group of kids, came into the house with them.

It's likely that his older siblings had given Sheng Xitai some instructions beforehand, because the boy didn't talk nonsense or rush to ask for food after entering the house today.

Instead, he obediently greeted Gao Haining, Wang Jianshe, and others before going to wash his hands.

Originally, Zhang Shuzhen planned to have Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xiping stay in the east room to have dinner with Gao Haining and the others, while she herself would take the five children to the west room to eat.

As a result, Zhou Qinglan and Tang Fengying both said that they didn't drink or smoke, so they would feel more comfortable staying in the west room with Zhang Shuzhen.

Zhang Shuzhen thought that would work, since the dishes were all the same anyway.

There weren't enough tables at home, so they used a tabletop in the west room with two wooden stools underneath.

So Zhang Shuzhen sent her second and third sons to the east room for dinner, while she, along with her two daughters and youngest son, ate with the girls.

Dinner was unexpectedly plentiful.

After the snake meat was chopped into sections, it was split open again, so the pieces weren't that big.

Farmhouse food isn't too fancy, so I simply made a braised dish. The reddish-brown broth coated the meat pieces, making them look incredibly tempting.

When Zhang Shuzhen cooked the dish, she added some dried ginger and wine to remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor, so the stewed snake pieces tasted particularly good and were not fishy at all.

The willow root fish is braised with homemade soybean paste, and sprinkled with scallion and garlic leaves before serving, making it very fragrant.

Fine-scaled fish is very delicious and doesn't need many seasonings. Just stewing it is enough to make people want to swallow their tongues.

Stir-fried tree mushrooms with chives is also delicious. The tree mushrooms are tender and smooth with a unique mushroom aroma. Paired with chives, the freshness is even more pronounced. One bite tastes even better than meat.

Crucian carp and tofu soup has a milky white broth, with the freshness of the fish complementing the softness of the tofu.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!