Shen Yuan cooked two plates of meat in the copper pot, but instead of eating them right away, she drizzled sesame sauce on them, sprinkled them with chopped green onions, and then ladled out a casserole of mutton soup and put them all into a food box.
She carried the food box out the door, and after walking a few steps, she entered the empty shop across the street.
The people in the shop saw Shen Yuan and quickly got up to greet her, "Miss Shen, it's snowing so heavily outside, what brings you here?"
"It's just a short walk." Shen Yuan smiled at Haitang and took out all the beef and mutton from the food box.
"I made hot pot tonight, and I brought some for you to try. See if it's good."
"Anything made by Miss Shen must be delicious!"
Haitang gestured for Shen Yuan to sit down. Shen Yuan noticed more than a dozen dishes on the table and asked, "Did you do a food tasting again today?"
Haitang nodded slightly: "These were all made with hibiscus and daffodils. We didn't finish them at noon, so we reheated them and ate them again in the evening!"
Shen Yuan picked up a clean pair of chopsticks and tasted all the dishes on the table.
Hibiscus and Narcissus stood behind Begonia, nervously watching Shen Yuan. Only when Shen Yuan put down her chopsticks and said "okay" did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Miss Chen, do you really think our cooking is delicious?"
"Hmm." Shen Yuan nodded in agreement, and added, "Although they are leftovers, they taste very good. You two have made great progress these past few days. The taste of these dishes is already close to my grandma's level. I don't think I need to find a chef anymore. Sister Furong and Sister Shuixian are the best chefs!"
Upon hearing this, Hibiscus and Narcissus rubbed their hands together sheepishly.
After arriving here, Shen Yuan's words to them were mostly encouragement and praise. These were things they had never experienced at Zui Chun Lou.
Back when they were learning their craft at Zuichunlou, Madam Hua would either beat or scold them. Even though they had practiced the piano and dance very hard, Madam Hua was still not satisfied. So they could only practice even harder. Even if their hands were rubbed raw and bleeding from the strings, even if their knees and ankles were covered with bruises and blisters from practicing dance, they would grit their teeth and continue to persevere.
Even so, Hua's mother still didn't say a kind word.
She would either scold them for being stupid or foolish, or for not being charming or alluring enough to serve more customers and earn more money for Zuichunlou.
In order to survive, to avoid being outdone by the other women in the building, and to avoid being treated as useless trash by Madam Hua, they had no choice but to work even harder to entertain customers.
But while watching them work so hard to entertain customers, Mama Hua would secretly curse them as lowly bastards.
It seems that no matter what they do, they are wrong.
Recalling these past events, both Hibiscus and Narcissus felt a pang of sadness.
"Sister Furong, Sister Shuixian," Shen Yuan said, taking their hands. "And Sister Haitang, Sister Hehuan, Sister Dujuan, and Sister Chuntao. Please sit down and have a bowl of the mutton soup I brought!"
Shen Yuan lifted the lid of the casserole and served everyone a bowl of soup.
Seven people sat around the fire, each holding a bowl of hot soup, drinking it slowly and leisurely.
Haitang suddenly felt that this bowl of meat soup was even more delicious than the delicacies from Zuichunlou!
Seeing that the charcoal fire in the brazier was about to go out, Shen Yuan picked up a stick and turned the charcoal over. Suddenly, a cloud of ash smoke rose up, which was a bit choking.
Haitang was sitting downwind and coughed repeatedly from the choking fumes.
Shen Yuan patted her back for her. "These charcoal pieces produce a lot of smoke, unlike the silver wire charcoal used in your Zuichunlou."
"Silver thread charcoal is official charcoal, which is not something that people like us can enjoy. It's just that the sons of officials who often come to Zuichunlou are afraid of getting cold, so they gave Zuichunlou a smuggling quota and deliberately sold it to Zuichunlou at double the price to make a profit."
Haitang cleared her throat and said, "Now that Miss Shen has provided us with lodging and even given us charcoal to warm us and keep us warm from the wind and snow, this is already a great kindness!"
What does it matter to them whether it's charcoal, silver wire, or carbon? It's not important to them. What matters is that they can stand tall and be good people.
Shen Yuan wasn't too surprised to hear Haitang say that.
She had been watching these girls' changes closely.
After wiping away their rouge and powder, their clothes and appearance are now very simple. They don't even have a single flower in their hair; they just use a few strips of cloth to tie their hair back.
But she looks even prettier than she did at Zuichunlou.
Shen Yuan thought that it was probably because the smiles on their faces were genuine. When there is a real smile on your face, your features don't look like a mask, but can radiate natural beauty.
Back at the pharmacy, the wind and snow intensified.
Shen Yuan stood at the entrance of the pharmacy, watching the snowflakes dancing in the sky, and reached out to catch them.
The snowflakes landed in my palm, felt cool, and melted quickly.
Shen Yuan frowned. One or two snowfalls are a sign of a bountiful year.
But this continuous rain is not a good sign.
As the saying goes, a major epidemic is sure to follow a heavy snowfall... Thinking of this, Shen Yuan suddenly realized that she had forgotten something very important.
She quickly went inside, put on a cloak, and then turned and ran into the snowstorm.
Watching Shen Yuan's hurried figure, Granny Liu couldn't help but say, "It's so late, where is she going again? It's snowing so heavily outside, and she's all alone..."
Before Granny Liu could finish speaking, Xiao Ling followed closely behind, holding an oil-paper umbrella.
Seeing this, Granny Liu felt relieved.
Under the moonlight, the snowflakes shimmered with a crystal-clear light, like beautiful glazed tiles piled on a roof.
But the snow kept falling heavier and heavier, piling up a foot high on the roof and eventually causing it to collapse.
With a loud crash, the roof beam, which had collapsed under the weight of the snow, broke in two and fell from the roof, waking Chu Yuning from her sleep.
He was wrapped in a blanket, staring at the fallen wooden stakes and broken tiles on the ground. His sleepy eyes suddenly widened, and he grabbed Chu Qiuyue, who was still asleep, and ran outside.
The two had just run out of the house when the entire house collapsed with a loud crash.
The shattered tiles kicked up a cloud of dust.
Chu Qiuyue burst into tears, "Brother, brother, what happened? Waaah, it was so scary! We were almost crushed to death!"
"The snow was so heavy that it collapsed the roof."
Chu Yuning's expression was indifferent. He looked at the collapsed house, a hint of ferocity in his eyes.
God is so stubborn, he just keeps doing the opposite of what he wants!
He braved the wind and snow to get back to Chujia Village, only to find his house collapsed as soon as he arrived!
"Where are we going to sleep tonight?" Chu Qiuyue tugged at Chu Yuning's sleeve and began to whine, "Brother, why don't we go back to Jian'an City and stay at an inn? The houses in the city are all made of blue bricks, they certainly won't collapse so easily!"
Having spent several months in Jian'an City, Chu Qiuyue was no longer used to the village environment.
If it weren't for Aunt Zhao being arrested, being expelled from the manor, and having to bury Chu Chunhua, she wouldn't want to return to this Chu Family Village!
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