The couple has now changed their surname to Li after him, and they spend their days tending their small courtyard without any real work.
It's a good opportunity to send them to find out about the Gong family. The couple seems honest and law-abiding, and they won't arouse suspicion or vigilance...
Although Li Lao Er was concerned, since his elder brother had taken over the matter, he had nothing to do, so he went to the valley.
Tao Hongying continued studying her recipes; the Dong family had already delivered the message.
The matriarch of the Dong family liked to eat dumplings, and the children liked to eat cucumbers, so she simply ordered cucumber and egg dumplings as the staple food.
So, we didn't need to cook dinner at home, so we just made dumplings and let her taste them too.
Hui Niang had finished her work at home, so she brought her child over to help.
Women of all ages gathered together, chatting and laughing as they made dumplings, creating a lively scene.
Jiayin sat between the two twins, ostensibly to look after the children, but in reality, she treated them like two big toys.
The kang (heated brick bed) was warm, and the two children, having been unwrapped, kicked their little feet freely, occasionally spitting out a few bubbles of saliva.
Jiayin took a pastry and nibbled on it slowly, occasionally waving it in front of them. "Aren't you tempted? This is a pastry, it's so fragrant and sweet, it's a pity you can't eat it!"
Whether the two chubby babies understood or not, their mouths were practically watering.
Jiayin laughed so hard she rolled on the floor, then changed her mind, "How about this, I'll give you the snacks, and you give me your toes, okay?"
The two chubby babies excitedly pawed and kicked, and Jiayin took it as their agreement.
So she took one chubby foot in each hand and started nibbling on the left and then the right.
Having finally had her fill, she stuffed half a pastry into her mouth.
Finally, she patted her empty hands and mumbled, "Oh dear, I forgot, you're too little to eat snacks! We'll give them to you when you're older!"
The two chubby babies were stunned for a moment, as if they realized they had been tricked, and then they opened their mouths and burst into tears!
The people around who had been secretly watching were now laughing hysterically.
"Fu Niu'er is so naughty, look how much she's made the two children drool!"
"Exactly, the two kids are going to suffer when they grow up. With an older sister like that, who knows how much they'll be bullied!"
"They got to eat our toes for nothing, and they didn't even get to eat their snacks. Look how wronged they are."
Jiayin was caught secretly bullying the little girl. Her face turned bright red, and she chuckled as she quickly moved away, afraid that her mother would catch her and spank her.
Hui Niang held her son and daughter, fed them a few mouthfuls of milk, and finally calmed them down.
She couldn't stop smiling. "These two little devils are so noisy at night, their father and I can't sleep well. It's good to let Fu Niu'er teach them a lesson, otherwise they'll be even more unruly when they grow up."
Jiayin ran over, hugged Huiniang's neck from behind, and gave her a big kiss. "Master is the best!"
Hui Niang smiled happily, but she didn't forget to remind her, "Fu Niu'er, play for two more days. Once I'm done with my work, you'll have to pick up your studies and needlework again."
Jiayin immediately deflated like a punctured balloon and lay down, refusing to cooperate.
Everyone laughed even harder. Tao Hongying gently tapped her daughter's head with a rolling pin, "You're so lazy! You're more energetic than anyone else when it comes to eating, drinking, and having fun, but you slack off as soon as it comes to studying or needlework!"
The old lady, unusually, didn't defend her granddaughter and chimed in, "That's right, in two years, be careful your junior brothers and sisters will be more skilled than you! You'll be so embarrassed then!"
Jiayin covered her ears and rolled around on the kang (a heated brick bed), clearly determined to continue her act of cheating!
Just as things were getting lively, the Marquis and Li Lao Er came in together from outside.
Jiayin immediately jumped up, rushed over, and pretended to cry loudly.
"Godfather! Waaah, Godfather, why did you only just come back? Mother and Grandma said Fu Niu'er is stupid and they don't want Fu Niu'er anymore!"
The Marquis picked up the chubby girl and couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't worry, even if your mother and grandmother don't want you, you still have your godfather! Your godfather has plenty of food at home, so he won't worry about you eating too much."
With abundant grain, do we eat a lot?
Jiayin blinked twice, then suddenly realized what she meant and kicked her chubby little legs in anger, "Godfather, you called me a pig?!"
Everyone could no longer hold back and burst into laughter!
After finally calming the chubby girl down, the Marquis quickly pulled out a sash from his bosom. It was woven with bright red silk thread, with a small rabbit the size of a child's palm strung through the middle.
The rabbit is made entirely of pearls, except for its eyes, which are made of rubies. It is exquisitely cute.
Jiayin spotted it at a glance, cheered and snatched it in her hand, gave her godfather a big kiss and ran to show it off to her grandma and mother.
"Grandma, Mom, look at my rabbit! My rabbit!"
The old lady, with flour on her hands, tapped her granddaughter's chubby cheek with her forehead and laughed, "Little money-grubber, you were just being naughty, but now that you've got something good, you're all smiles!"
Jiayin smiled and clumsily tried to tie the ribbon around her waist, but couldn't manage it, so she had to run to her godfather for help.
While helping the chubby girl, the Marquis asked, "Aren't you going to hold a full-month celebration for Dayong's two children?"
Hui Niang quickly replied, "Building the courtyard is too busy. Dayong said we should celebrate together when the baby is one year old."
The Marquis nodded, then said to the old lady, "Auntie, I've arranged for two people to accompany you on outings or in carriages. They'll be sent over in a few days."
The old lady beamed and readily agreed, "Great! There really isn't anyone in the family who can go out with us. Especially since the second son has to go to court, Ye Shan usually helps out."
The group chatted and laughed, and soon the dumplings were wrapped and sent to the kitchen.
Could it be that since the Marquis has returned, Li Lao Er has invited the village chief, Uncle Zhao, the镖头 (bodyguard Liu), and Doctor Zhang to come over and have some fun together?
Tao Hongying also busied herself, preparing several more dishes, including dumplings with four different fillings, which filled the table.
Tao Hongying still felt it wasn't enough, and asked the Marquis, "Could the Marquis stay at home for a few more days this time?"
The Marquis shook his head, "We'll be returning to the military camp after breakfast tomorrow."
Tao Hongying thought for a moment, but didn't say anything.
When people gather together, they always have endless things to talk about, making the atmosphere even more lively.
Li Yong is going to the military camp tomorrow, so Li Laosi will stay at home for a few more days. He told everyone about the remaining tasks, and they all agreed without hesitation.
In the neighboring Cui family courtyard, because Granny He had gone back to help the Li family, only Shui Ling was there to look after the Gong siblings.
While she was ladling out dumpling soup, she lingered to watch the commotion for a while.
After the Gong siblings finished eating the dumplings, Gong Yu patted his bulging belly. He hadn't eaten so much in a long time, and the food was so delicious.
He couldn't help but look at his sister and say, "Sis, these dumplings are so delicious! Even better than Mom's..."
Gong Yunshu patted her younger brother's head and responded softly.
Gong Yu cautiously asked again, "Sister, can we stay here forever? The people here are so kind; they treated our injuries and even made dumplings for us..."
Gong Yunshu paused for a moment before saying, "Take your medicine and go to sleep early. You don't need to worry about these things."
Two updates so far, and another one around 6 PM.
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