After being scolded, Shen Yuan reluctantly put down her abacus and said to Xiao Ling, "You should go back to sleep early! Otherwise, Grandma will beat me with a feather duster!"
Xiao Ling stared silently at Shen Yuan without moving.
Seeing this, Granny Liu tapped Shen Yuan's head and said, "He's your half-helper. If you, the master, don't sleep with him, who will dare to?"
"Alright, alright!" Shen Yuan sighed, looking like she was about to surrender. "I'll go to sleep too!"
After she finished speaking, she looked up and her eyes met Xiao Ling's. She saw a faint smile in his narrow eyes.
Shen Yuan pouted. Xiao Ling and Granny Liu were working together in perfect harmony, completely controlling her.
As December began, heavy snow fell continuously for several days. By the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, it had snowed for seven or eight days straight.
The snow outside the pharmacy was piled up in a thick layer. Although people shoveled the snow every day, the snow on the road was still up to the ankles of pedestrians, making it difficult to walk.
Most shops in the market were closed, except for Shen Yuan's pharmacy, which remained open because the colder the weather, the more people were getting sick, and people were coming in droves to buy medicine.
"Sister Yuanyuan, I'm back from delivering the medicine!"
A little girl with two braids lifted the thick curtain and walked into the pharmacy, covered in snow. She shook off the snowflakes stuck to her hair and then skipped over to Shen Yuan.
Seeing Tian Tian, Shen Yuan bent down and rubbed her little face, which was red from the wind and snow. "Is it very cold outside?"
"It's not cold!" Tian Tian patted her coarse cotton coat adorned with rabbit fur and said with a grin, "The cotton coat that Sister Yuan Yuan bought for me is so warm! It's like there are little suns inside that glow, making me feel all cozy. I'm not even cold when I'm sleeping in a snowdrift!"
Seeing Tian Tian's eyes curving into crescents, Shen Yuan couldn't help but chuckle.
The only difference between that cotton coat and ordinary clothes was that the collar had an extra layer of rabbit fur to protect the neck. Otherwise, it was no different from other cotton coats. It was made of two pounds of cotton and three feet of cloth.
It wasn't as magical as Sweetie said.
However, this was the first piece of clothing that Shen Yuan bought for Tian Tian after she came to the pharmacy. Tian Tian liked it very much and thought it was perfect in every way.
"Oh right! This is a string of copper coins that the tofu shop owner gave me, a total of one hundred and twenty coins, sister, please keep it safe!" Tian Tian took out a string of copper coins from her bosom, counted them, and then handed them to Chen Yuan.
Shen Yuan accepted the money and asked, "After taking the medicine for two days, are they feeling any better?"
"That auntie told me she's almost better!" Tian Tian said, then turned to look at the packaged medicine packets on the counter. "Are these the medicines Uncle Wang's family on Dong'an Street needed? My sister has already packed them; I'll go deliver them!"
With that, Tian Tian grabbed the medicine bag, stuffed it into her arms, and ran out in a flash.
Shen Yuan only had time to say one sentence: "Slow down, be careful the snow is slippery!"
Seeing Tian Tian's figure disappear, Shen Yuan lowered the curtain and shook her head helplessly. Five days ago, heavy snow collapsed the bamboo shed where Tian Tian lived, leaving her nowhere to go, which is why she came to Shen Yuan's pharmacy.
After arriving at the pharmacy, Tian Tian got up very early every day. Before Shen Yuan had even finished washing up, she had already prepared breakfast for the whole family.
The little girl, only eight years old and not much taller than the stove, could stir-fry vegetables while adding firewood to the stove, cooking three dishes by herself and then making a big pot of sweet potato porridge.
Even Shen Yuan thought she worked more efficiently than an adult.
After breakfast, Tian Tian took over Xiao Ling's task of delivering medicine, carrying several bags of medicine herself from the south of the city to the north.
Shen Yuan also wanted to tell Tian Tian not to work so hard, but she also understood that if Tian Tian wasn't allowed to work, she wouldn't be able to live here with a clear conscience.
So Shen Yuan could only let her be.
Not long after 1-3 PM, it was completely dark. Shen Yuan closed early today because she had checked the almanac and it was an auspicious day for moving.
The two-story house in the backyard has been completely built, and all four rooms upstairs and downstairs are furnished with brand-new furniture.
Therefore, Shen Yuan planned to hold a simple housewarming banquet in the backyard.
This morning she bought several kilograms of beef and mutton at the market and cooked two large pots of broth in advance to cook the meat slices.
When Tian Tian returned after delivering the medicine, the food was just ready.
Seeing the copper pot on the charcoal fire, Tian Tian curiously lay on the table, staring intently at the bubbling meat soup inside.
"The meat is here!" Shen Yuan brought the sliced beef and mutton to the table.
Looking at the novel dishes, Tian Tian asked, "Sister Yuan Yuan, what's cooking in this copper pot? It smells so good!"
"These two copper pots contain beef bone soup and mutton bone soup, respectively. I stewed the beef bone soup with white radish, and I added a warming and deodorizing herbal packet to the mutton bone soup. You can drink two bowls of mutton soup to warm yourselves up later."
"After we finish the soup, we'll blanch the meat slices. These plates of beef and mutton were chilled in snow and sliced very thinly. Just blanch them in the soup for a few seconds, then dip them in some sesame sauce and they're ready to eat! You all have to eat a lot!"
As they were talking, Shen Yuan had already arranged all the meat and vegetables.
Shen Yuan and Granny Liu didn't know many people in Jian'an City. In addition, the relocation banquet was held during a heavy snow, so Shen Yuan kept it very simple. She didn't inform the neighbors, nor did she inform Old Master Murong and Doctor Jiang. She only left the pharmacy's helpers to eat in the backyard. Including herself, Tian Tian, Xiao Ling, and Granny Liu, there were a total of five people.
Five people sat around a table.
Looking at the boiling bone and meat soup in the copper pot, Xiao Ling couldn't help but glance at Shen Yuan again.
Hot pot is a Beijing cuisine, how come Shen Yuan knows how to make it?
Just then, Shen Yuan had already served everyone the broth. She handed the bowl of mutton soup with scallions and cilantro to Xiao Ling: "Try it and see how it tastes!"
The meat broth, stewed to a milky white color, and sprinkled with bright green scallions and cilantro, is incredibly tempting.
Xiao Ling picked up the porcelain bowl and gently blew on it before putting the broth into his mouth. The unique and rich aroma of mutton soup instantly filled his mouth, with a subtle hint of peppery spiciness that lingered in the aftertaste, making it unforgettable.
Xiao Ling put down the porcelain bowl and nodded to Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan knew that Xiao Ling was saying the soup was delicious.
She curled her lips into a smile. This hot pot was a dish from the capital. She had seen how it was made countless times when she was a kitchen servant in the princess's mansion, so she learned how to make it.
However, this dish was only popular in the capital city because Jian'an City was located in the south, and the people there did not like to eat beef and mutton. Therefore, the dish of copper pot hot pot did not spread to Jian'an City.
When she brought out the copper pot, Tian Tian was very curious because she had never seen it before. However, Xiao Ling's expression was strange, as if he could tell at a glance that the dish came from the capital.
Seeing Xiao Ling finish the bowl of mutton soup in one gulp, Shen Yuan lowered her eyes without making a sound.
Xiao Ling must have many secrets she doesn't know!
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