Chapter 119 No wonder the little guy has gained weight
Feng Jing hadn't quite understood what was said yet, and while he was talking, the smell of food was already wafting from the outer room.
Today, to entertain Mr. Song, Li Qiqiao would naturally be the chef, and all the dishes she cooked were her specialties.
There were pork intestines with vinegar, stir-fried pork shreds, pork belly with pickled cabbage and tofu, braised pork ribs with scallions, fried shrimps, braised spare ribs, stewed chicken with hazel mushrooms, fish-flavored egg dishes, and pickled cucumber cubes and cold potato shreds to relieve the greasy feeling. There
were a total of ten dishes, and two wooden tables had to be put together to barely fit them all.
After setting up the table, Feng nodded at Feng Miao, who was drooling, and said, "Mr. Song and the others haven't come to the table yet. You dare to try to eat."
Feng Miao nodded obediently. As soon as his mother left the room, he grabbed everything with his little hands, stuffing fat intestines and ribs into his mouth, making Nuobao laugh secretly and Feng Jing shake his head.
At this time, Feng had already gone out to greet Mr. Song and Mrs. Jin. She asked Jiang Fengnian to invite the village chief and his wife and Doctor Wu.
"Yesterday, it was the village chief who took the lead in protecting our Nuobao and was beaten with a stick. Mother didn't have time to thank him. Doctor Wu helped Nuobao get medicine. Please invite everyone to take it together." Feng took off her apron and said.
The village chief was sore from being beaten that he wanted to eat something oily to replenish his body. Doctor Wu's Fushantang hadn't started eating either, so they all rushed over excitedly and gathered in the yard to talk.
In the house, Xiao Nuobao waited and waited but the meal didn't start. He was so greedy that he kept licking his lips. Soon he couldn't help but imitate his fifth brother and grabbed a fried shrimp to chew for a while.
After Old Song and the others entered the house, Xiao Nuobao hurriedly put the remaining half shrimp into Chun Ge'er's mouth, and then greeted them one by one with a sweet smile.
"Grandpa Song, Grandpa Village Chief, Grandpa Wu, Aunt Tian Mei, you are all here~"
This is the good thing about the little guy, his little mouth is particularly sweet.
When everyone heard this, they were so happy that they felt dizzy before they even sat down to drink.
Several grandfathers stretched out their hands, vying to hold the little Nuobao. In the end, it was Old Song who was the first to hold Nuobao and sat down on the kang.
After the Jiang family members sat down, everyone picked up their chopsticks and ate the dishes.
The village chief and Doctor Wu admired Li Qiqiao's cooking skills.
Especially Doctor Wu.
Since Yang Er's wife went to work at Fushan Hall, Li Qiqiao no longer went to cook. Doctor Wu was so greedy that he always came to the door of the Jiang family to smell the fragrance at mealtime. Now he wanted to cook two more bowls of rice.
Even Old Song, who was used to eating delicacies from land and sea, couldn't help but have his eyes light up: "The taste of these dishes is even better than that of the cook in my house. I think even if she opened a restaurant in the city, she would be more than enough."
Little Nuobao took the fat intestines from his chopsticks and said proudly: "Grandpa Song, you don't know yet, this is the food cooked by Nuobao's second sister-in-law. The villagers in the village have eaten the food cooked by the second sister-in-law, and there is no one who doesn't praise it!"
Li Qiqiao's face turned red like an apple after being praised by her sister-in-law.
"That's right, Nuobao likes to eat the dishes cooked by my sister-in-law. Every time he eats until his belly is full, he will not leave the table." Jiang Fengnian deliberately exposed his shortcomings.
When everyone heard it, they all laughed.
Doctor Wu suddenly realized and clapped his legs: "No wonder, I was wondering why Nuobao was getting heavier and heavier. It seems that this is all due to your second sister-in-law's good cooking skills."
"Hahaha!" The village chief and others couldn't help laughing happily, their eyes full of pampering for Nuobao.
Little Nuobao turned around unwillingly, deliberately pointing her little butt towards Doctor Wu and others, with her little mouth pouting so high that she almost hung a bottle of oil.
In order to coax her, Old Song peeled two big shrimps and shook them in front of her mouth: "Okay, we won't laugh anymore, Nuobao, come and eat the fried shrimps, otherwise Grandpa Song will eat it himself."
Although little Nuobao still pouted, her little mouth was very honest.
Seeing that Old Song was about to take the shrimp away, little Nuobao was reluctant to let it go, so she bit it all off angrily.
Old Song was busy eating this meal.
He held Nuobao on his lap, either peeling shrimps for her or trimming the fat off the pork belly for her.
But that was not all, for every bite of meat, Old Song would personally feed Nuobao. Seeing her mouth drooling with delight, he felt more satisfied than if he had eaten it himself.
Originally, the village chief and Doctor Wu were jealous of Old Song's status and were more reserved in their jokes, but Old Song treated Nuobao the same way as they did when doting on her, which brought them closer.
At the dinner table, people soon started to joke and the atmosphere became more lively.
The village chief and Jiang Fengnian were talking about this year's crops.
Mrs. Feng and Doctor Wu were chatting about the trivial matters of Fushantang.
Old Song listened while feeding the child, and would say a few words when he was interested.
At this time, Doctor Wu was curious about the recent situation in Changbai City, so he asked: "Duke, I heard that you came from Changbai City this time. I wonder if the customs market there is still bustling, and are there many caravans?"
As he spoke, Doctor Wu took a sip of rice wine and recalled the past when he followed the caravan to Changbai City to practice medicine when he was young.
But Mr. Song shook his head: "There is no customs market there. It was closed half a year ago. Our people have not traded with merchants from the Beibei Kingdom for a long time." "
Why is that?" Doctor Wu was surprised.
Changbai City is a border area, very close to Beibei, a vassal state of the Nanji Kingdom.
The Southern Dynasty was very commercial, so decades ago, it established many customs markets on the border to allow civilian caravans and merchants from vassal states to trade with each other, and even reduced customs taxes.
Song Laoyou was helpless and said, "What else can we do? It's all because of the emperor's words. Previously, several ministers submitted memorials to the emperor, saying that no matter how much business the customs market has, not much tax can be collected into the national treasury. Instead, more people and garrison troops have to be sent to manage the customs market. So it was stopped just like that."
Doctor Wu clenched his chopsticks regretfully, "How can it be done like this? There are few people in Changbai City. No matter they make a living by growing crops and selling vegetables, or running restaurants and teahouses, many local people rely on the caravans that come every year to earn more money and improve their lives."
Jiang Fengnian also frowned.
"No wonder I rarely saw products from the small country of Pibei in Yuncheng this year. It was because the customs market was closed. There are many people in our Nanji country who rely on the customs markets for their livelihood. It is estimated that there will be many more people, so we have to switch to other jobs."
They all revealed their dissatisfaction in their words. After all, in recent years, the court has been paying less and less attention to the survival of the people.
Old Song lowered his eyes and remained silent.
There have been many absurd things in the past two years, not just the closure of the customs markets.
As for the Ministry of Revenue, they just instigated the emperor to cancel the customs market, and then turned around and transferred a larger amount of money from the national treasury on the grounds that the customs market was closed and it was difficult to purchase special products from various countries. They called it the purchase of special products for the palace.
The officials in the court knew that this was an excuse for the Ministry of Revenue to be greedy.
But the six ministries were all venting their anger. Not to mention others, even the imperial master could only barely check and balance them, and others dared not say anything.
Old Song frowned. If it was just that, it would be fine, but when he went to Changbai City this time, he found that an important official was behind the scenes, kidnapping women and selling them to the north. It was really abominable.
But before finding out the mastermind, it is not appropriate to say too much about this matter.
Old Song shook his head and could only lift up the wine bowl, tilt his head back and drink it, swallowing his bitterness in his heart.
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