Lunar New Year's eve

Gui Yao actually had no idea how things had gotten to this point. However, when she saw the three-hundred-year-old turtle slowly appear at the gate of the general's mansion, she was so angry that she was speechless.

The tabby cat in my arms stretched happily.

"Since we want to have a good New Year, the family must be neat and tidy." After it said that, it stepped on Guiyao, and the little bell swayed behind its butt, and finally squatted on the turtle's shell.

Guiyao really wanted to call it ancestor.

The next second, she just hugged her chest and looked at Ren Beixi who was peeling bamboo shoots beside her. She looked closer at him with her watery almond eyes and squinted.

The preparations for the New Year's Eve dinner have reached the final stage. The lady-in-waiting has sent many of the former servants to the general's mansion to help. The uncle and aunt who are staying there have also volunteered. Sometimes when Ren Beixi went out to purchase, Guiyao, who felt cold and didn't want to go out, sat in the kitchen and watched the couple cook for most of the day.

I didn't notice so many interesting things when I first returned to my body.

What's so good about it?

Gui Yao rubbed her hands together and said, "Can I help you?"

Ren Beixi didn't look like someone who could cook, and he wasn't very good at it at first. At most, when he was guarding the border, he had a good grasp of the doneness of food. Also, because of the guidance of his brother Ren Zhong, he was able to find some rare but delicious fruits and meats in the north.

During the summer he spent in Xiaohe Village, he systematically learned to cook under the guidance of his uncle. After returning to Xianyu City from the capital last year, he began to monopolize the kitchen.

The man pulled out the knife stuck in the wooden stake with his backhand, and dealt with the bamboo shoots skillfully. After a while, he took the cucumber that Guiyao had washed.

Then there are tomatoes, potatoes, and pumpkin.

It was just past noon and the kitchen was crowded with people, but Ren Beixi was sitting alone where he was chopping wood. Gui Yao, who was beside him, curiously played with his knife while he was picking vegetables. This "fruit knife" was custom-made for Ren Beixi, and now there was some rust on the edge.

Guiyao didn't make trouble. She just chopped it a few times in the air and then let it go.

Ren Beixi was amused by her.

His voice was deep: "I will drive Miaomiao and Lihua away tonight."

He raised his eyes nonchalantly, looking at Guiyao's rosy cheeks, feeling quite satisfied. After a whole year of feeding her, and seeing that she was eager to move, he often took her to exercise, and finally raised Guiyao to have rosy lips, white teeth and a healthy body.

Gui Yao pinched her face a little aggrievedly.

She had a reference in her mind. She was not thin in her previous life, so when she was first restricted by the mind-reading notebook, she always felt that she had to gasp for breath after walking a few steps. She was about to get better, but then she had another ordeal in Xiaohe Village.

But now she is really healthy, and her face is also rounder.

She wasn't shy about what she was going to do that night.

One day wouldn't make a difference.

But tonight is the New Year’s Eve dinner, with hotpot, barbecue and stir-fried dishes, so she is bound to be greedy again.

She casually took out a knife to peel an apple, but forgot to wash it. She could only suck it to let Mo Mo, who didn't know what he was doing, come over. Mo Mo looked at Gui Yao in confusion: "What are you doing with your claws... You actually suck it, do I understand what you are saying?"

Guiyao hit the dog's head with her right hand, and was a little dazed when she saw him take away the apple.

Yesterday, Jiuchong and Pinyue went out for a trip. When they came back, she found out that the system had followed them to Chaochun Tower. She didn't know why they agreed to let Xiaomao go with them to such a dangerous place.

After returning home, Guiyao went to pour canned food for the kittens who were temporarily staying in the general's mansion as usual.

The system came over with a meow, "Host, host, are you really not going to take me to the north? It will be much less fun without me."

Gui Yao was slightly startled when she heard this. After a while, she squatted down seriously and touched the tabby cat's head.

"You are now everyone's favorite little lynx. If you suddenly disappear, Pin Yue and the Madam will be sad."

"Besides, Ren Beixi and I cannot reveal our identities on this trip. Even if we go on a trip like an ordinary couple, without even bringing Xiao Hui and Pin Yue, I still need you to help me take care of Xiao Gu and Shen Yuan."

The kitten lay heavily at her feet, its short tail hitting Guiyao's calves.

Originally, in her mind, the system was more important than the responsibility, and even more important than the tabby cat. However, the kitten had been by her side for a year, and now when she touched its head, she felt a faint sense of guilt in her heart, like a parent who was about to abandon her child and go out on a date.

But no matter how much the tabby cat acted coquettishly, there was nothing it could do.

It wanted to climb onto Guiyao's knees and rub against them, but its neck was suddenly lifted up, and then its butt was quickly lifted up steadily by a big hand.

Gui Yao touched her ears when she saw this. Normally, in this situation, the tabby cat would accuse Ren Beixi loudly, but Ren Beixi obviously couldn't hear her.

But today, the little tabby just bared his teeth at Ren Beixi angrily.

Ren Beixi was slightly surprised. After letting go, he only saw the angry back of the big fat cat.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll go and comfort him later."

The matter should have ended there, but when she woke up this morning, Susu, the chinchilla who was supervising the work at the foot of the cliff in Wuhua City, suddenly landed in front of the general's mansion. Gui Yao stared at her, but had no idea what Susu was thinking.

Then there's the big turtle.

Gui Yao finally realized that something was wrong. She couldn't open the animal mind-reading notebook in her mind no matter what.

And she could only hear the voice of this tabby cat.

She sighed.

When she lowered her eyes, Ren Beixi took her hands to the front of the pool and rubbed them and washed them clean.

Normally at this time, a deep "like" might float out of Ren Beixi's heart, but now... well, it can still be seen that he likes me very much. Gui Yao narrowed her eyes. Although her husband looks very calm, his thoughts are very easy to understand.

Ren Beixi was confused.

I just feel that the lady is either looking cute when she is sad or looking cute when she is smiling today.

In short, it's very cute.

Gui Yao looked at Ren Beixi's expectant expression in confusion, narrowed her eyes, and spoke carefully.

"Should I be shy now?"

"Um."

"Because you said in your heart that you like me?"

"Um."

She withdrew her hand that had been wiped dry by the man with a handkerchief, bit her lip, and felt even more conflicted. She had originally wanted to tease Ren Beixi, but when she looked up at the man, she could clearly see a hint of teasing in his dark eyes, and she also understood that if she told Ren Beixi that she could not read minds, she would definitely be teased by this man tonight.

Guiyao learned from her mistakes.

She picked up the dish that had been prepared on the side with her backhand. The best strategy was to run away. However, the man reached into her collar and she cried out in surprise from the cold. She glared at him with red eyes, "I'm busy at the mansion. I have to meet guests later."

"Meeting a guest?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she received a question in return. Gui Yao fell silent, and saw some complicated emotions in the man's eyes.

Ren Beixi's voice was deep: "Yaoyao wanted to put the basket back in the kitchen so the cooks could prepare the meat, then go find the tabby cat in the room and threaten it with canned food to make it tell the truth, right?"

Guiyao blinked.

Is this so detailed and accurate?

This is not right.

Obviously, Gui Yao only thought for less than half a second before coming to an absurd conclusion.

"Can you read minds?" She looked straight at Ren Beixi, her mind in a mess. One moment she was worried about how to defeat the system, and the next moment she was worried about whether this thing would affect Ren Beixi. But now seeing his calm look, she just wanted to bite him.

But the man said, "I heard you wanted to eat grapes this morning, and I thought you were so tired last night and woke up early."

Gui Yao was silent: "You don't have to tell me this."

"But Madam not only didn't wake up, she even held onto my arm and wouldn't let go, and yet I heard you talking again."

Ren Beixi lowered his eyes and touched Gui Yao's hair, then narrowed his eyes as he looked at her sitting on his lap.

He was indeed in a good mood.

"What did you hear?" Gui Yao put her fingers on her knees and glared at him.

Ren Beixi said in a deep voice: "Guess."

Gui Yao blinked pitifully, but her earlobe was covered by the man's slightly hot big hand. The winter in Xianyu City was cold, but she didn't like to wrap too many things like scarves on her head, and her face was always frozen red. When she returned to the room, she wanted to find Ren Beixi to rub her face.

She tried to ask: "I wanted to eat grapes, but I was chewing your arm, so I ate them, so I should..."

How come you really analyzed it?

The snow on the treetops above her head seemed to tremble because of her anger.

Guiyao was held on the back of the neck by the man and kissed.

They were all brief kisses, but he kissed the upper lip and wanted to kiss the lower lip, the slightly red nose tip, the cold cheeks, and finally under the trembling long eyelashes. Gui Yao wanted to bite the man's lips again viciously.

This is what it feels like to ask for trouble.

The bamboo basket that was originally at her side was overturned by Guiyao's kicked legs. She looked at Ren Beixi with a dazed look.

"Husband, prepare the food well..."

The words of begging for mercy came out of her trembling mouth, Gui Yao's eyes were red, but there was only one thought in her mind.

Before tonight.

I must, I must, I must resolve the issue of Ren Beixi's ability to read minds.

wrong.

Guiyao blinked.

"Did you hear that?" She poked Ren Beixi's face with her index finger.

All men think about.

"Why?"

Gui Yao gritted her teeth and said, "If you act dumb at this time, I'll lock you up and feed you to Mo Mo tonight."

The big black dog who had just finished eating an apple was caught in the crossfire.

Ren Beixi let go of Guiyao.

She quickly landed on the ground, bent down to pick up the vegetables, and washed them in the spring nearby. She looked at the tall man following behind her and asked curiously, "So what did I say?"

"A secret." The man's voice was smiling.

“I seem to be able to hear only Yaoyao’s inner voice.”

Gui Yao said nothing, but tried her best to restrain her mind from having random thoughts. However, the more she did this, the more strange ideas popped up in her mind.

For example, does Ren Beixi know that the tabby cat in their house is his brother?

Ahhhh don't think about it anymore.

She held the bamboo basket with a sad face. There were so many people around tonight, and she wanted to meow in her heart to everyone she saw. It would be too embarrassing if the guy next to her heard it.

Ren Beixi was holding another bamboo shoot that he had not had time to process, and the two of them walked back to the kitchen.

He watched Gui Yao fleeing to arrange for the men.

"Yaoyao." The man said in a deep voice.

The dozen or so cooks who were busy in the kitchen all slowed down their work.

Everyone knows that the most interesting people in Xianyu City right now are the two owners of the general's mansion. Ever since the young couple settled the affairs of the new mansion, they can always be seen walking hand in hand on the streets.

Half of them are temporary workers hired to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

Compared to working as a waiter in a crowded restaurant near the end of the year, it would be better to work swiftly in this high-paying general's mansion, preparing and serving food, and taking care of the cats and dogs in the general's mansion, and...

The general and his wife are such a perfect match.

Although Gui Yao temporarily lost her ability to read minds, after two days of getting along with them, she roughly understood what these people were thinking.

She cleared her throat.

"What are you doing?" She raised her head slightly, put her hands behind her back and asked Ren Beixi seriously, "Looking at the sky, it should be noon. Let's go change clothes. We still have guests to entertain in the evening."

The General's Mansion is located at the end of Nanchang Street, next to the river. At night, you can hear the gurgling sound of water in the tributary. It is also located on the side of the mountain. From the back kitchen, you walk into the path and look at the flowers until you reach your home. The snow has quietly stopped on the top of the mountain.

But when I looked up, I felt the sunlight entering my eyes.

"It's a good day today." Gui Yao took Ren Beixi's hand and went back to the bedroom. She took off the cloak she was wearing casually and put on a cassia green double-breasted jacket.

The hydrangea ball of white hair pinned in the bun is very cute.

Ren Beixi changed into a straight robe.

Gui Yao looked at him, his back straight and his sleeves fluttering in the wind, and curved her eyes: "Happy New Year! It seems that in the future, I can add some azurite and dark blue to the new clothes I make, which will look particularly beautiful."

What he said was true, so the general's wife suddenly had an idea.

She pulled Ren Beixi and walked out of the courtyard gate and into the depths. The original land of this mansion was a warehouse used by the general's mansion to store idle items.

When Guiyao just returned to Xianyu City, she asked the lady for some flower seeds. When she wanted more, Ren Beixi brought her to get them.

So Guiyao fell in love with this good position at first sight.

Directly deduct it to build a mansion.

The planning and design of the new general's mansion was supervised by Gui Yao herself. It was surrounded by mountains, rocks, bamboos, and rippling water. Here was a study full of flowers, and there was a reception room wrapped with vines.

Going further in, there is a suddenly open flat land, and the snow on the grass has melted slightly.

Well... there are two uninvited guests.

Momo and Miaomiao are fighting.

It was a fight, but it wasn't really a physical fight. The big black dog just wanted to lick the big white cat's beautiful fur with his tongue. Whenever his nose rubbed against it, he was scratched. However, he didn't stop even after being hit. He kept turning around and trying to rub against the kitten. Naturally, he got threatening meows and scratches in return.

The new general's mansion was not far from the old general's mansion, but it was not convenient for the elders to run back and forth, and Li Yuqing himself also preferred some quiet time.

But animals are different. They like to follow their owners, so they often carry Miaomiao back and forth, here in the morning and back in the evening. The only thing they see is the tabby cat, which they chase away and don't let get close to Miaomiao.

The system complained: "How disrespectful to the elders."

Thinking of this, Guiyao, who was picking wintersweets nearby, curiously asked Ren Beixi, "Can you hear what I'm saying about the system in my head?"

To be honest, Gui Yao had previously given Ren Beixi a brief account of the mind-reading notes with the system's consent, but she did not reveal that the tabby cat was the system, and that the system was Ren Zhong's business.

She looked at Ren Beixi with some curiosity, but saw him shaking his head.

"I seem to be able to only hear Yaoyao's thoughts about me."

"For example?"

Ren Beixi hesitated: "Are you sure you want to listen?"

In short, when Gui Yao, who was asking for trouble, bit her lip and went to the door to wait for customers, she happened to meet Jiang Gu who had arrived early. Jiang Gu reached out and pinched Gui Yao's face, and tried with the back of his hand. Just as he was about to show concern, he saw Ren Beixi nodding slightly behind her, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Gu said seriously: "Brother-in-law, today is such an important day, don't bully her."

Ren Beixi felt a little helpless. Ever since he didn't recognize Jiang Gu when he first met her and just called her brother-in-law, he has always been her brother-in-law.

He did not refute Jiang Gu's accusation of bullying, nor did he refuse Gui Yao's request not to bully her.

Instead, Gui Yao's face turned redder and she let her go in first.

It was not for anything else, but just that a round dog head popped out from the bridge at the ferry. Dahuang ran to Guiyao, and Guiyao stared at her and couldn't help laughing. It seemed that she had lost her mind-reading ability for a while and couldn't even adapt to small animals.

"Happy New Year."

Huang Shiyu was wearing an earring on his head, probably a gift from his former brothers in Huxia Village. Sure enough, Hua Nian behind him was also wearing the same earring and saluted Gui Yao and Ren Beixi in a proper manner with a smile.

Gui Yao touched Huanian's head.

This child is now studying in Xianyu City and writes beautiful poems. She once showed them to a curious tabby cat, and it praised her poems earnestly. However, Guiyao couldn't explain them to Huanian, so she could only say them through Ren Beixi's mouth.

As a result, it was heard by Ren Beixi who happened to be returning home.

Ren Beixi earnestly praised her for her great appreciation of poetry, but Gui Yao still had no way to explain. She could only study hard for more than a dozen of the most popular poetry and books in the An Dynasty. Now, she can occasionally go to the study class organized by Xianyu Mansion to tutor her homework.

Another "Happy New Year."

There was another person who got off the boat. It was Gao Shun, who was rescued by Huang Shiyu during Laba Festival.

Gui Yao had heard about this in the past few days. Ren Beixi said, "He and Huang Shiyu hit it off immediately. He has been doing the last round of inspections for the New Year these past few days. Don't worry, Yaoyao. Jiang Gu is a well-known merchant in Xianyu City and is not an ordinary target."

Is it a case of familiarity at first sight, or is it a matter of profit?

She was not actually too worried. Brother Huang was a kind person, and it would not be a bad thing if he was appreciated by Gao Shun.

"Happy New Year. We've put some Pai Gow and Leaf Games in the yard. You can play together later when there are more people."

Gui Yao waved her hand and turned back.

Suddenly, a hand warmer was thrown into her arms. She was startled and followed her gaze to see Jiuzhong wearing a bamboo hat and shaking the letter in his hand in front of the carriage.

Kunou: "Take it, I'm going to play cards."

Ren Beixi took the letter and opened it, while Guiyao instructed Pinyue beside her, "There will be many people tonight. When the time comes, you can ask your new apprentice to arrange for the coachmen, guards, and maids to sit together for dinner."

Seeing Pin Yue nodded, she returned the hand warmer to her and smiled a little embarrassedly: "No need for this, I have my husband to warm my hands."

Pinyue nodded, turned around and entered the mansion with Jiuchong.

To be honest, I don’t really like Guiyao.

The way this couple gets along is too much like a frivolous old father and his independent and strong-willed daughter.

"I used to rely too much on mind-reading on important days like this. Now that I've lost this skill, I'm really worried about what might happen."

Let’s talk about business.

Ren Beixi nodded.

He heard it.

However, the young couple put in a lot of effort in preparing the New Year's Eve dinner tonight. In order to prevent everyone from being bored before the meal, they even invited a troupe of actors to set up a stage in the yard.

It was the place where Mo Mo and Miao Miao had fought before.

Now the two cats and two dogs were squatting obediently at the door. When my aunt came, she found the scene particularly humorous and couldn't help laughing, covering her mouth.

"Girl Gui, the cat in Xiaohe Village has given birth to kittens. When you go home to see it, do you want to catch one and raise it?"

Guiyao heard what her uncle said and quickly shook her head.

After counting, there is at least one cold-fearing bird and one cold-fearing chinchilla in the house now.

There are also chickens that are afraid of the cold.

Golden Pheasant.

"…This house is already crowded enough."