Chapter 82: Color Change

Lu Yao divided the things up, taking everything from Chu Xiangning and the others. The rest was naturally up to Lu Yao to arrange as she pleased.

Chu Xiangning and the others didn't expect that they also had it, and didn't want to embarrass the other party, so they politely thanked them.

"Everyone who sees it gets a share," Lu Yao said. "Without you, we wouldn't have been able to pick them all so quickly."

After hearing this, Chu Xiangning readily accepted it.

Sometimes, being too polite can actually create distance between people.

Everything was packed up and everyone was ready to get in the car and continue on their journey. Lu Yao called out to the three cats playing nearby.

Not knowing what had happened, the three of them squatted on the roadside with their heads down.

"Haohao, Yueyue, Xiaobao, what are you doing?" Lu Yao stepped forward. "Get ready to get in the car and go."

When the three little guys heard Lu Yao's voice, they suddenly came back to their senses and covered their mouths with their hands at the same time.

Lu Yao laughed, "What kind of game are you guys playing?"

The three of them shook their heads.

Lu Yao raised her eyebrows and looked at their hands. Seeing the purple marks on them, she instantly understood what was going on.

She did not expose them, but just rubbed their heads with amusement, and together with her husband, carried them one by one into the carriage.

Seeing the three little ones still covering their mouths even after getting on the carriage, Lu Yao couldn't help but tease, "How long do you plan to keep covering your mouths?"

The three little ones shook their heads. Their mouths were too ugly and they couldn’t let their mother/Aunt Lu see them.

They would ask their uncle later, and they would definitely be able to think of a solution before getting off the bus.

Seeing the little ones acting so mysteriously, Lu Yao leaned close to Haohao's ear and whispered, "Mom has already guessed it."

Xiao Yunhao: ???

Xiao Yunhao: !!! (ΩДΩ)

Mother, how can you be so smart?

His head drooped instantly. Would his mother think he was a disobedient child?

Lu Yao didn't expect Haohao's mood to become depressed because of her words. She felt a little regretful. She didn't want to leave a bad impression on the child because of a joke.

She coughed lightly, then leaned close to Haohao's ear and said mysteriously, "Haohao, let me tell you a secret."

Haohao raised his eyes to look at his mother, "What?"

Lu Yao didn't keep the secret: "Mulberries can be used as dye to make very beautiful clothes."

"Really?" Xiao Yunhao's eyes suddenly widened.

"Is mother lying to you?" Lu Yao pointed at her lips. "She just ate a lot of mulberries, and her lips have changed color."

Haohao was afraid that his mother would see his lips and eyes, so he didn't dare to look at her. Now after hearing her say that, he looked up and saw that although his lips were not as exaggerated as his sister's, they were a little bit too.

Mother's lips also changed color, and Xiao Yunhao's heart relaxed. He slowly took his hand away and said happily: "Me too."

It turns out my mom has it too.

Lu Yao rubbed the little guy's head and said, "Don't worry, it will fade away after washing."

Xiao Yunhao nodded heavily and finally got into the carriage with peace of mind.

Lu Yao shook her head in amusement. This child was precocious, thoughtful, and overthinking.

She sighed. She had thought things had changed over the days, but now it seemed there was still a long way to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The carriage started again. Not far behind them was the silhouette of a large army. Lu Yao looked at the sky.

The weather is getting warmer and it gets dark later than before, but in the mountains, the roads at night are dangerous, so you still need to prepare early.

On the next part of the journey, they encountered other things. Not only that, Meng Hu, who was riding in front, also killed two hares and three pheasants.

I can have a snack in the evening.

As the sun was setting, they came to a flat open space with a lake nearby. Meng Hu did not hesitate and immediately decided to spend the night there.

Lu Yao and others chose a relatively flat place to park the carriage and built two stoves directly next to the carriage.

I don’t know what the temperature will be at night. If it’s too cold, it will be much warmer if I stay close to the fire.

In addition to the carriage that Lu Yao and his companions were riding in, there were a total of several carriages escorting the officers and soldiers. There were two more carriages following them, and they were also parked next to Lu Yao and his companions' carriage. In this way, the soldiers would gather here to rest, which was absolutely safe for Lu Yao who was standing by.

We have been working together for a long time, so there is no need for further arrangements, and everyone is busy with their own things.

It was still some time before dark, so Lu Yao had plenty of time. She planned to make a sumptuous meal. In addition to the main dish, braised rabbit meat, she also made a pheasant soup. In addition, there were stir-fried vegetables, smashed cucumbers, braised meat, two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a soup. In this wilderness, it was quite a feast.

As for the person in charge, he brought some steamed buns from the post station, which he steamed in a pot and immediately became soft.

Due to the climate, the post station only prepared steamed buns for one day, so they had to make them themselves for the rest of the journey.

The food was almost ready, and they finally saw the main force, but since it was a long journey, they would probably still have to walk for a while.

Lu Yao didn't waste any time and continued to collect firewood with Rong Yanhui.

Not only do they have to prepare for tomorrow morning, but they also have to consider the large temperature difference between day and night. If it is too cold at night, they will have to light a fire to keep warm.

Lu Mingxiu and Mo Zhu had already taken the three little ones there. When Lu Yao and Rong Yan came back to join them, the three little ones were so happy that little Yueyue even suggested a competition.

Lu Yao didn't refuse. She immediately put the firewood in her hand into her husband's hand and challenged the three little brats, "I'm very powerful, you better be careful."

In order to avoid bullying the weak, Lu Yao also said that she would fight the three of them alone.

As soon as these words were spoken, the little ones immediately stopped working.

Although they are small, they will never allow themselves to be looked down upon.

"Mom, you definitely can't beat the three of us." Little Yueyue put her hands on her hips.

Xiao Yunhao nodded and suggested, "Mother, how about you and Daddy come together?"

They cannot win unfairly.

"Oh, these little guys are so arrogant." Lu Yao decided to let these little guys face the reality and let them know that they should not underestimate their opponents.

"How about your uncle and dad be your referees?" Lu Mingxiu suggested.

Although Rong Yanhui couldn't stand his elder brother-in-law who always liked to curry favor with the children and their mother in front of him, he could only be angry but not say anything. There was nothing he could do, because these were the only relatives of his younger sister Yao.

He nodded in agreement: "There's a prize for first place."

“Wow!”

When the three little guys heard about the prize, they cheered with joy. They must win!

Seeing the three little guys working so hard, Lu Yao finally gave the firewood she had picked up to Rong Yan to take back there, not wanting to really beat them.

Mainly because she was afraid that her three children would cry.

Ahem, of course, the main reason is that children need to build self-confidence, and nothing is more meaningful than interactive competitions in parent-child activities.

There were rewards for winning, and in the end, Rong Yan gave each of them a piece of candy.

Lu Yao's space had a lot of candy, but for the sake of their children's dental health, they rarely asked for it. So, when Haohao and Yueyue saw that there was candy to eat, they were very happy.

It can be seen how important sugar is to children.

But when it came to Xiaobao, the candy couldn't be delivered.

Sugar was a scarce commodity in that era, and ordinary people might not be able to eat something sweet twice a year.

Xiaobao's family was not particularly wealthy, but they were not poor either. They usually had no shortage of sugar, but he had heard from his grandmother how precious sugar was. He thought it was a great benefit for him to be able to ride in the carriage, but now he was absolutely not allowed to take these things.

Rong Yanhui didn't give the other party too much time to hesitate and directly stuffed it into his arms, "This is your prize for victory."

"If you return it again, we won't be able to compete together." Seeing that the child still wanted to return it, he threatened directly.

Sure enough, no matter how many times other words are said, they are not as effective as this one.

The main group finally arrived. After Lu Yao distributed the dinner to everyone, she started to eat dinner with her family.

As expected, the dinner received unanimous praise from everyone.

Especially, they were given a big bunch of fruits after the meal, which made them even more satisfied.

"I didn't expect that I could be treated like this when I'm away from home. I'm so happy."

"When I go back and tell my wife about the food I've been eating these days, she probably won't believe it."

"Who says it's not? Who would have thought that they could have such a life while on a mission?"

"Our general is truly wonderful."

"The best decision I made in my life was to follow the general without hesitation."

"Cherish it, there won't be many good days like this again."

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell silent. How could they forget that in ten days at most, they would complete their mission and would have to part ways with the girl from the Rong family.

The mood of everyone present suddenly became depressed.

"How can we live without the food from Rong's sister?"

"What do you think? If we ask her to prepare more sauces and stews for us, would that be okay?"

Someone immediately thought of a solution.

"It would be best if I could learn how to do it, so that I wouldn't have to worry about going hungry no matter who I go out with."

"Do you even need to tell me this? The general and the others have already made arrangements with others."

"Really? That's great."

"As long as there's something delicious, I can go out every day."

“…”

These people spoke very quietly, but the environment was empty and they were not far apart. Lu Yao had sharp ears and eyes, so she could hear everything clearly.

Well, considering that their family has received special care from the lovely soldiers, she will definitely prepare lots of delicious food for them.

Well, some recipes are also necessary.

Lu Yao did not keep these recipes for herself.

Originally, these things did not belong to her. As a porter, she felt that the things of the flower growers deserved to be known and promoted by more people.

After dinner and cleaning up, Lu Yao did not rest immediately. Instead, she continued to light the fire and started to make mulberry sauce.

It is very simple to make mulberry sauce.

Remove the stems, clean and drain the mulberries, marinate them with white sugar and rock sugar for a while, wait until the mulberries have seeped out moisture, put them in a pot, bring to a boil and then simmer over low heat.

Cook until the mulberries are soft, add lemon juice to enhance the fragrance and preserve it, continue stirring, and when the jam becomes thick and has little moisture, add honey, turn off the heat, and continue stirring for a few minutes. The sour and sweet mulberry jam is ready.

In order to increase the viscosity of the mulberry sauce and make it taste better and look better, Lu Yao also added some malt sugar.

Everyone watching her brew it couldn't help but marvel at it. It turns out it can be done this way?

It looks delicious, but I don’t know what it tastes like.

The next day, when they learned to eat jam between fluffy buns, they realized that the taste was simply amazing.

Of course, these are all later stories, so let’s not talk about them for now.