Grandma Li immediately left her two little children behind and hurried out to greet them.
Granny Chang quickly called Xiao Dong and Wan Qiu, who were under the eaves, to carry the child into the house. Then she rushed forward and took Old Lady Li's arm.
Jiayin saw her grandmother standing at the door looking around from afar. Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, she was the first to jump down, rushing forward to hug her grandmother's arm. "Grandma, I'm back!"
"You naughty girl, you're so disobedient! Once you throw something out, you don't know when to come back!" Old Mrs. Li carefully examined her granddaughter and was relieved to see that she was unharmed.
Before she could speak again, she saw her eldest son sitting in another carriage, which turned into the back of the village, with ten guards following behind.
So she asked in surprise, "Did your uncle take someone to Doctor Zhang's place? What happened to you in the city?!"
Jiayin, afraid of being scolded, blinked her big eyes and quickly changed the subject. "Grandma, it's nothing, we'll talk about it later."
"We've been busy all day and rushed back, so none of us have eaten. We're starving! Grandma, please have some mercy and give us a bowl of rice first!"
After saying that, she held her hands up in a strange manner, making her look like a beggar, which made the old lady both laugh and cry.
Grandma Li slapped her granddaughter's hand away and scolded, "You're always trying to fool me. Wait until you've eaten your fill and then we'll see where you can hide!"
Despite saying that, she still felt sorry for her granddaughters and grandsons, so she quickly called the servant to the kitchen and gave him instructions to prepare the meal.
The weather has been dry and cold these past few days, and with nothing much to do, my family started making dumplings.
I made a lot of fillings, including sauerkraut and pork, cabbage and pork, beef and radish, and mutton and scallion. In short, I made a lot of all the fillings that my family likes to eat.
When it gets dark, set up a wooden board in a corner of the yard and cover it with a large, clean piece of oil paper.
After wrapping the dumplings, rinse them in cold water and sprinkle them on top. They will freeze solid in less than 15 minutes. Then put them into a clean basket.
In this way, no matter how many months they are left, as long as the ice shell does not melt, the dumplings will not dry out or spoil.
At times like today, when there's a sudden need to prepare a meal for dozens of people, these frozen dumplings come in very handy.
There were three large pots and one small pot in the kitchen, all burning at the same time.
Two large pots were used to boil dumplings, and the remaining two were used for stewing and stir-frying.
In less than half an hour, the hot meal was ready.
The Lu family's twenty guards carried two basins of dumplings and a bucket of dumpling soup back to the east wing to eat.
As for Jiaren and the others, Old Lady Li felt sorry for them having been outside in the cold all day, so she decided to move the dining table to the warmer east room.
Jiayin, afraid of being scolded, also happily joined her brothers at the table to eat.
She had originally invited Ye Shan, Zheng Sanjiang, and Zheng Liu.
Unfortunately, Ye Shan and Zheng Sanjiang stubbornly adhered to the rules and refused to sit at the table.
Zheng Liu, however, was thinking about Zheng Yi and Zheng San and refused to stay.
Finally, they all went to the kitchen to eat.
Mu Xu, however, did not stand on ceremony. When Jia Ren invited him, he readily sat down at the lower seat.
Grandma Li's favorite thing was when the children gathered together and ate heartily.
She smiled and carried the basin, quickly adding a spoonful of dumplings to any child whose plate was empty.
Jiayin glanced up occasionally and almost choked on her own saliva.
Grandma looks just like a woman feeding pigs, and they're like those squealing, squealing piglets scrambling for food...
Grandma Li was unaware that her granddaughter had seen through her, and she continued to diligently "feed the pigs."
When she got to Mu Xu's side, she couldn't help but add two more spoonfuls, and said reproachfully, "What kind of errand did the Marquis send this child out to do? How come the child is so thin from hunger?"
"While the Marquis is away and there are no errands to run, I should eat a few more meals at home and fatten myself up!"
Mu Xu stared at the plate full of dumplings, listening to Old Li's heartbroken complaints. He hesitated for a moment before picking up his chopsticks and then began to eat heartily.
The last time he ate dumplings was on his birthday.
At that time, his mother's illness was not so serious, so he cooked and prepared the dough and filling himself, and he ate two whole plates of it.
Fearing he might overexert himself, his father took him for a walk in the yard, while his mother sat under the eaves, laughing the whole time…
After several years, he ate dumplings again. They weren't made by his mother, but because of her nagging, they tasted the same to him!
Perhaps fearing that the masters might find the table full of meat dumplings a bit too much, the kitchen brought out a few more plates of freshly made chive and egg dumplings!
In winter like this, leafy greens are already a rare treat, let alone fresh chives!
Cat Brother ate one and cheered, "Chive and egg dumplings are still the best!"
As soon as he said that, everyone started putting their chopsticks into the plate.
Jiayin ate one, then turned around and saw that Mu Xu hadn't touched his chopsticks, so she picked up two more for him and urged, "Brother Mu, hurry up and eat! If you wait any longer, my seventh brother will snatch them all!"
Cat immediately protested, "Little sister is biased! Big brother and the others ate too, why are you only criticizing me!"
Jiayin quickly grabbed two for herself before saying, "Even the four of them combined don't eat as much as you!"
"So what if I eat a lot? I won't gain weight no matter how much I eat!" Cat Brother shook his head proudly and ate even faster.
Jiayin was instantly heartbroken; the dumplings in her mouth no longer tasted good, and she gave up immediately.
Although she has gained weight, grown taller and thinner, she still needs to consciously control her diet on a daily basis.
Because if she eats too much oily food, she will still gain weight.
For pretty clothes, and to escape being a chubby girl, she gave up countless delicious foods...
"Grandma, look at my seventh brother! He bullied me!" Jiayin hugged her grandmother and complained, feeling wronged.
Grandma Li glared at her grandson and stood up for her granddaughter, saying, "Don't listen to your seventh brother's nonsense, my Fu Niu'er isn't fat at all!"
"Eat more. You're growing right now. If you delay your growth, you'll regret it later."
"Your seventh brother is just jealous of you. Even if he's as skinny as a monkey, it won't help him wear pretty dresses!"
Everyone couldn't help but look at Cat Brother, imagining what he would look like in a skirt, and then burst into laughter!
Cat Brother was already used to his grandmother's favoritism. He shrugged helplessly and continued to swing his chopsticks around.
Soon, the plates and bowls were empty, and everyone had eaten and drunk their fill.
Jiayin was somewhat thinking about the little girl who sold glutinous rice balls.
The Wu family's assassins wanted to use this child as a decoy, but fearing she might talk nonsense, they gave her a drug to make her mute.
She took the little girl's pulse right there in the shop, but she wasn't really sure what to do.
Therefore, I had my uncle take the child to Doctor Zhang's place as well.
Although both the child and her mother were murdered by the Wu family's killers, the root cause still lies with her.
Moreover, she had also studied medicine, so she couldn't turn a blind eye, both for public and private reasons.
At the very least, we need to help this child heal his throat...
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