The bald man rubbed his hands together, his smile now tinged with flattery. Si Wang, who was secretly glancing at him, let out a soft hum and buried his head in Ye Wenxue's arms, trying to snatch a spot from Yuan Yuan.
Before the bald man could speak, Old Master Xu came over carrying a bag of things and placed it in front of Ye Wenxue: "Here, this is a gift for your child. You can't refuse it, you have to accept it."
They were sitting closest to each other, and when they peeked out, their expressions froze for a moment.
She slowly looked away, pretending not to see it.
Sanyuan blinked, took out one of the items, and his eyes widened immediately: "The Great Learning?"
Sanyuan buried his head in the cloth bag and looked carefully. He was even more surprised. He had plenty of books for beginners at home. What he lacked were the Four Books and Five Classics and more advanced books.
Xu Lin clearly had this in mind, and gave away all the treasures he had kept at home that he was reluctant to take out, as a gift for Cheng Dingfang's children.
"How can this be allowed?" Ye Wenxue frowned.
Books are valuable these days, especially these books which don't look like handwritten copies but rather printed versions, with fewer errors and omissions, making them even more valuable.
Xu Lin smiled and said, "It's nothing. These are all books I read when I was young. Some of my thoughts and handwriting are still preserved in them. I hope the children won't find them offensive."
"How could I dislike it?" Before Siwang, who was tired of studying, could pout, Dazhuang, who had brought over ginger soup from the bamboo kitchen, took a deep breath and looked extremely serious.
Dazhuang carried two bowls of ginger soup into the house, placing one in front of Siwang and giving the other to Ye Wenxue:
"Mother, drink a bowl of ginger soup to warm yourself up. I'll bring Yuanyuan another bowl. As for Shuangshuang and Sanyuan, you two can go to the kitchen to eat."
The two bowls of ginger soup he brought were actually for Ye Wenxue and Yuanyuan.
But Da Zhuang could tell from Si Wang's expression that he had become rebellious. Fearing that he would say something reckless that would upset Uncle Xu, he stuffed ginger soup into Si Wang's mouth.
Shuangshuang and Sanyuan said "Oh," and obediently jumped off the stool and went to the kitchen.
Sanyuan glanced regretfully at the books in Dazhuang's hands before Shuangshuang forcibly dragged them away.
Dazhuang solemnly bowed to Xu Lin and Old Master Xu: "Uncle Xu, these books you gave me are too valuable. I shouldn't have accepted them, but... I really can't refuse them. I can only thank you for your gift!"
If one wants to embark on the path of the imperial examinations, the Four Books and Five Classics are indispensable, not to mention the insights of a scholar in his youth contained in the books, which are even more precious to Dazhuang.
Xu Lin smiled and asked Grandpa Xu to help Dazhuang up: "I know you are intelligent and I have high hopes for you. I hope you can lead your younger brothers and sisters to achieve the best academic results."
Ye Wenxue interjected proudly, "Of course! My kids are all very smart; they're sure to rise to great heights in the future!"
Dazhuang smiled sheepishly, his gaze lingering on the book.
With deep emotion, Old Master Xu got onto the kang (a heated brick bed) with teary eyes.
"Hey, hey, doesn't anyone care about making money... no, doesn't anyone care about fire baskets and braziers?" the bald man interrupted, dissatisfied.
Zhiwang nodded silently.
After telling Zhiwang what to do, Ye Wenxue took Yuanyuan next door to ask Old Madam Xu and Baldy's mother to help take care of her, and then called Baldy to cook together.
Bald-headed mother held the tender little Yuan Yuan in her arms, forcing a smile on her dry face: "This child, Sui Nian, has never cooked before, so why don't I help out?"
Before Ye Wenxue could speak, the bald man quickly stopped her: "Mother, please sit down. Let Ye Laoda be the head chef, and I'll just assist him."
After much persuasion, the bald man finally convinced his mother to stay, and then followed Ye Wenxue on a tour of the kitchen and vegetable garden.
Seeing that a lot of palm-sized chives had sprouted in the vegetable garden, Ye Wenxue quickly came up with an idea: "Go, cut some chives, wash them, chop them, and mince some meat. We'll make dumplings."
In the kitchen, there was flour that the bandits bought every three days. After kneading the dough, they took a bamboo stick of moderate thickness and rolled it into a thin, even wrapper. Then they added fine salt and minced ginger to the chive and meat filling and mixed it well. They called Xu Lin, Zhi Wu, Zhi Wang, and several children to make dumplings together.
The group looked at each other, bewildered: "Dumplings... how do we make them?"
Ye Wenxue demonstrated how to wrap a few dumplings, and Dazhuang Sanyuan and Zhiwang quickly grasped the trick. After wrapping two or three, the dumplings they wrapped afterward looked exceptionally good.
Xu Lin, whose eyes were still not fully healed, was at a loss for what to do: "..."
Just as he was about to try it out, Lan Qing, who was peeking from the kitchen doorway, stopped him. Lan Qing rolled up her sleeves and washed her hands: "I'll do it."
Xu Lin raised his chin smugly. So what if you don't have children? An adopted daughter is still a daughter!
Ye Wenxue didn't have time to deal with him. She sent everyone inside with the filling and half-rolled dumpling wrappers, telling them not to block the way in the kitchen.
The bald man was instructed to chop up the pig's trotters, separate the wild boar meat from the bones, and stew the ribs with the corn, radishes, and yams that Ye Wenxue brought from home.
She also found some fresh tofu in the kitchen and added it to the pork rib soup to add a meaty flavor.
The wild boar meat was cut up without any processing, and the meat had a slightly fishy smell. When Ye Wenxue stewed the soup, she made a special effort to add ginger and scallions to remove the fishy smell, and skimmed off the foam before adding corn, carrots, and yams.
The pig's trotters are chopped, boiled until tender, and then fried to make them crispier. Heat oil in a wok, add ginger and garlic to sauté until fragrant, then add the cleaned pig offal. Stir-fry the offal with a spicy sauce around the edge of the wok, then add spring water and simmer.
Even the pork belly wasn't spared; Ye Wenxue turned it into braised pork, each piece distinct and each grain fragrant and smooth.
Although it couldn't quite match the taste Ye Wenxue remembered, it was still about five or six parts similar.
The bald man, who was helping out, looked on with increasing urge to eat, wishing he could bury his head in the pots.
Especially when the bald man saw the duck being processed while cursing, after chopping it into pieces, he only added a little lard to the pot before stir-frying the duck until the moisture dried out and setting it aside. Then he added oil, ginger, and garlic to the pot, along with Ye Wenxue's pickled radish and ginger, which were very sour.
After stir-frying it briefly, add the half-stir-fried duck. With a sizzle, the sour taste and the aroma of duck meat burst forth at the same time, filling the air around the bamboo house with a refreshing fragrance.
The bald man swallowed hard, his hands itching to move, but Ye Wenxue forcibly stopped him: "Go start a fire."
The bald man was unwilling to give up: "...Boss Ye, your cooking skills seem to be pretty good."
Ye Wenxue glanced at him, continuing to stir-fry: "Practice makes perfect."
No one is born with cooking skills; everyone learns them gradually through practice.
To ensure her five children were well-fed and healthy, Ye Wenxue worked hard to learn, even compiling recipes for every dish she had ever tried and experimenting with them one by one.
Fortunately, she was clever and learned quickly, and two of the ducks at home were still left.
There aren't many people this time, so two tables should be enough, one for adults and one for children.
Ye Wenxue cooked a few more dishes and asked some of the older children to take the cooked dishes into the house. She stayed in the kitchen and cooked half of the chive and pork dumplings, saying she would cook the other half later if she was afraid she wouldn't be able to finish them.
Xu Lin rested in the main bamboo house, which had plenty of space and could easily accommodate two tables.
Once the food was laid out and everyone was seated, Ye Wenxue, seeing the surprised yet eager looks in their eyes, said with satisfaction, "No need for further words, let's..."
Before he could finish speaking, the bamboo door of the main house was kicked open, and a sharp shout came through the wind:
"How dare they occupy my place! And they even dare to cook so much delicious food, it's simply outrageous!"
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