Chapter 21 Unlike her, Xie Yunshuo had doubts...
The sun was setting in the west, and the sky looked the same as it did yesterday when Jiang Si entered the palace, with clouds and mist covering the sky, and the curtain was dyed blue with smoke.
Because the general's mansion covers a large area and has a large courtyard, when you look up, there is nothing obstructing the view. The sunset is vast, stretching out like a scroll across the sky.
The reflection makes people's cheeks seem to be stained with a light blush, making them look naturally charming.
Jiang Si's mood continued to improve. She sat upright on the stone bench, gently using a bamboo fork to stir and separate the osmanthus flowers, picking out the withered and damaged ones.
The layers of osmanthus flowers in the bamboo winnowing basket gradually turned golden and clean, and each flower was plump and tender.
The sweet fragrance of osmanthus lingers around the busy women, and such moments make people feel relaxed and comfortable both physically and mentally.
Although for most wealthy families, such things are just trivial matters.
But in Jiang Si's view, daily life is full of ups and downs.
It is only with the presence of flowers that the ordinary life seems precious.
It is precisely because of the fragmented and personal busyness that wearing gold and silver, having fun and enjoying oneself seem so fun.
Jiang Si likes both things. She can indulge in extravagance and enjoy herself, or she can calm down and pick osmanthus flowers.
When Xie Yunshuo had packed everything, the clouds in the sky were gradually swallowed by blue.
It was as if someone had been adding blue paint to the brush washer over and over again, making the hue increasingly rich and gloomy.
Lanterns were lit one after another in each house and courtyard of the general's mansion, and the lanterns in Xian Yi's residence were also hung up.
But Jiang Si and the others haven't stopped yet.
After being picked, the osmanthus flowers should be separated. For flowers used for food, the surface dust should be washed away with mountain spring water.
Because it was night, if there was any water left on the flowers, they would easily rot, so the fire had to be used to dry the moisture from the petals.
It was already past dinner time, and Xie Yunshuo saw that Jiang Si seemed determined to finish everything she needed to do today in one go.
Xie Yunshuo instructed Yan Qing, "Go and invite Madam to dinner. Let the maid handle the rest."
He didn't expect that she, as the master, would do all these things by herself, even to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep.
Not only does he do everything himself, but he also does it very seriously.
Seeing this scene, Xie Yunshuo was confused again.
It is rumored that Jiang Si was not a virtuous person. Every year at the various Qiqiao Festivals, flower viewing parties, and cooking shows, she was unknown and was hidden in the crowd, never standing out.
But today, when she was taking care of the osmanthus flowers, she did everything herself, and she was a completely different person.
From the corridor outside the house where Xie Yunshuo was standing, he could only see Jiang Si's back, which was slim and graceful with a long neck.
Yan Qing went to invite her to dinner and said a few words. She put down the things in her hands and said, "It's almost done. I still have some things to do. Can you help me keep an eye on it first?"
Then she washed her hands and went back into the house alone.
The food was already served in the room. Jiang Si had been concentrating on her work and hadn't noticed she was hungry. But when she smelled the fragrance of the food, she realized she was starving.
“What’s for dinner?” she asked.
Since the stability of the previous generation, the common people changed from two meals a day to three meals a day, but they ate light meals for dinner, usually some steamed dishes, mixed vegetables, some single cakes, and porridge to fill their stomachs.
Some women are also accustomed to having tea and snacks for dinner, eating them early to keep their stomachs full so that they can go to bed when it gets dark.
However, in the general's mansion, dinner was not much different from lunch. There were always a few meat dishes on Xie Yunshuo's table at every meal.
The dinner consisted of roasted venison cooked with spices from the Western Regions, so Jiang Si could smell the distinct aroma.
After washing her hands, she came to the dining table and sat down, opposite Xie Yunshuo as usual.
This eight-immortal table used for dining has been replaced with a larger one in accordance with Xie Yunshuo's instructions.
If the seats are replaced with benches, two people can sit on one side without feeling crowded.
The two of them sat opposite each other at such a spacious square table, which was filled with dishes. I don’t know how Xie Yunshuo felt about it, but Jiang Si seemed to like it quite a lot.
The table was spacious, and she and Xie Yunshuo were further apart.
A small table is more likely to create a warm feeling, while a large table is far away and alienated, which is more suitable for them, a fake couple who have no feelings or loyalty.
Because she was hungry, after sitting down, Jiang Si concentrated on eating the food.
She ate slowly and without saying a word, and ate quite a bit.
For some reason, perhaps because of her repeated praise today and the hustle and bustle in the yard, Xie Yunshuo's mood warmed up and he no longer had the same fluctuating emotions as before.
He thought that if the two of them could treat each other peacefully and not quarrel, their lives would be easier in the future.
But while he was thinking this, Jiang Si stopped speaking.
Jiang Si noticed that Xie Yunshuo looked at her frequently.
She was different from him. She felt that he was looking at her frequently. When she raised her eyes, she saw that Xie Yunshuo was indeed looking at her.
Jiang Si was puzzled.
He is an extremely proud man, usually ignoring others, especially with her. To put it nicely, he keeps his distance from her, and to put it bluntly, he keeps his distance from her and doesn't want to get involved with her.
What does it mean that he keeps looking at me now?
In fact, it is because, although both of them have the same tough temperament, their underlying qualities are still different.
For Jiang Si, the matter of praising Xie Yunshuo was over. When it was over and everything returned to normal, she would just let it go as it was.
But for Xie Yunshuo, those things that happened in the afternoon gave him the illusion that the relationship between the two of them had eased and they could stop being at loggerheads.
She is different from Jiang Si.
This is his home, Jiang Si is his wife, and as the head of a courtyard, Xie Yunshuo hopes that his life can be as close to that before he got married, and return to the freedom of being alone.
But Jiang Si was an outsider who married into the family. She took the attitude of making the best of things and living from day to day, doing things as she pleased and being more free and easy.
Therefore, Jiang Si was neither hurried nor slow, with an empty mind.
She did not take any action, which made Xie Yunshuo have doubts.
However, this subtle emotion was not noticed by him at this moment. He just couldn't help but speak first and asked her, "Are you going to deal with all the osmanthus flowers today?"
Jiang Si put down her chopsticks, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, wiped her mouth and rinsed it, and waited until all the post-meal matters were taken care of before she spoke.
During this period, her calm attitude made Xie Yunshuo feel a little strange.
Even though he had known about this before, he knew that Jiang Si didn't take him seriously.
Not only did they not take him seriously, they even rejected him.
But when he really felt her indifference from the details, Xie Yunshuo, a favored child who had never suffered any loss or setback, felt a clear sense of discomfort.
Especially when Xie Yunshuo changed his mind, Jiang Si remained where she was. Such a difference makes it difficult for people not to compare or care.
Jiang Si didn't answer for a long time, and his heart was still hung on that strange emotion.
It's like she's holding my heart.
But because the two of them were not on good terms, he felt it was strange to ask even one more question, so he could only wait.
Jiang Si replied, "Yes, I will be busy for a while tonight to dry the flowers. Flowers for making sachets and drying wine do not need to be dried."
She thought about these things and spoke slowly and carefully, but she did not stop talking to Xie Yunshuo because of the grudge she had with him.
Instead, when he asked, she told him in detail, and said several sentences in total, which invisibly calmed down the strange emotion that Xie Yunshuo had been feeling after waiting for her for a long time.
Xie Yunshuo just nodded without saying anything.
But Jiang Si didn't care at all.
She stood up, turned around and went to do her work, leaving Xie Yunshuo still sitting at the dinner table, not noticing that he hadn't even finished his meal yet.
Just now, Xie Yunshuo was thinking about something and waiting for Jiang Si to speak. He had no intention of eating, so he put his chopsticks aside.
Jiang Si didn't notice whether Xie Yunshuo didn't want to eat or had already eaten. She thought he was the same as her.
Since she had already left, Xie Yunshuo couldn't continue eating, as it would be inappropriate.
His face darkened with helplessness, and he called for someone to come and rinse his mouth and clear the meal.
Normally, Xie Yunshuo could return to his study after dinner.
The study has been decorated and all his clothes and belongings have been moved there, so he no longer needs to come to the main room.
But when I think about having a late dinner, I’m afraid I’ll have to go to bed late too, and the night will be long with nothing to do.
Thinking that Jiang Si wanted to bake osmanthus flowers, he stayed in the main room and did not leave.
Compared with life in the military camp, returning to the general's mansion, especially when there was nothing to do, seemed too lonely and quiet.
There were many soldiers in the military camp. On idle nights, a bonfire would be lit next to the tents. Xie Yunshuo and the soldiers would compete in sword fighting, drink, simulate battles on the sand table, and discuss military strategies.
The days pass by with a strong aftertaste like soju.
In this large courtyard, it was so quiet that one didn't know what to do.
In the past, if Xie Yunshuo felt bored, he would invite two or three friends to drink and watch a play.
In the past few days after the marriage, they couldn't go anywhere. If Jiang Si didn't do these things today and didn't bother Guihua, Xie Yunshuo would find it even more boring.
He asked Ningshuang to light three lamps, took a book and sat on the kang to read.
After a while, I heard some noise coming from outside.
The maids had to be quiet when doing things, and only when Jiang Si was present did they dare to laugh and talk freely.
They were in the teahouse now, washing osmanthus flowers with clean spring water, piling them on the fire, and placing them in bamboo baskets to dry out the moisture.
This part of the work did not require as much seriousness and concentration as picking osmanthus flowers in the afternoon, so the women talked more to each other.
The night was quiet, and the voices of Ningshuang and the others could be vaguely heard. They seemed to be discussing with Jiang Si how to use these osmanthus flowers.
What else is needed to make osmanthus cake and brew osmanthus wine?
Everyone knows that doing these things is just a matter of following the same steps and is not a difficult task, but each household has a different approach.
Xie Yunshuo heard Jiang Si's voice again.
She seemed to be saying that she wanted to prepare some rock sugar made from pear juice.
This was the first time everyone had heard of pear juice rock sugar, so they gathered around Jiang Si and listened to her talk about it in detail.
Different from how she treated Xie Yunshuo, Jiang Si never put on airs even when facing a group of maids.
She patiently told everyone, "Rock sugar made with pear juice has a refreshing sweetness that can dispel the slightly bitter taste of the dried osmanthus flowers in the osmanthus wine after being soaked for a long time. If we don't have it, we can make some ourselves."
Xie Yunshuo sat in the middle room and could vaguely hear most of the sounds through the window.
He was originally concentrating on reading a book, but before he knew it, he had been reading a page for a quarter of an hour without turning it over.
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