In the kitchen, Ma Fuquan was cooking, Lai Xi was lighting the fire, Yang Jinyu was chatting with the Taifu and his son in the dining hall, and Meixiang was waiting by the side, serving tea and water.
There was a brazier under the dining table, and Guoguo was lying beside it with his eyes closed. When Huo Jincheng saw Guoguo, he remembered Ah Man's repeated instructions to him, asking him to check on Qiu Ge and Mao Qiu on her behalf and tell them not to forget him.
He asked Meixiang and learned that Maoqiu was in the east room with Dabao, and Qiuge was in his own den next to the stable. He got up and planned to go check on Qiuge first. When he came out, he ran into Jian Ning coming from the east room. They chatted as they walked towards the kitchen. When he saw Ma Fuquan cooking with quite a bit of skill, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Brother Ma is actually in the kitchen. I never thought I'd be able to."
Most of the chefs in the imperial kitchens and restaurants of the Great Banquet Dynasty were men, but there were almost no men cooking in ordinary households. Not only was he surprised, but Ding Youtian was also stunned when he saw him when he came in. He had thought that he was the only man cooking in the entire Dingjia Village.
Ding Youtian can cook, but only to the extent that he can cook well and be edible.
Jian Ning knew that Ma Fuquan could cook, otherwise she wouldn't have left her spatula and ran away. She stepped forward to replace Ma Fuquan and asked them to go to the dining hall to talk with the tutor. Huo Jincheng said, "I'm going to go see Brother Qiu. I promised Man'er."
"Brother Huo," Ding Youtian called out to him, "Doesn't my daughter have anything else to say to us?"
Huo Jincheng was very upset.
She glanced at him sideways, snorted unhappily, and walked towards the stable with a wave of her sleeves.
The meal was ready and served. Jian Ning returned to the kitchen to get the food box, intending to deliver the meal to Blind Liu first, but Ding Youtian came over.
"I'll go and see him off. I have something to say to Master."
"Okay, be careful on the way and don't spill the soup."
"know."
When Ding Youtian arrived at Blind Liu's house, Blind Liu had just entered the house and the charcoal fire had not yet been lit. He put down the food box, brought out the food one by one and arranged them, then took the charcoal basin aside, took a bamboo tube to blow up the fire, and then brought it to his feet.
"Master, the weather is getting colder day by day. Wouldn't it be better if you could just come to my place when you get home? I wouldn't have to make this trip every day."
Blind Liu poured wine into his glass. He glanced at him and asked, "Will this trip tire you to death?"
"I'm worried that you won't have a hot meal. You can just come to my place..." Ding Youtian paused, then suddenly said, "Master, you don't know the Grand Master and don't want to meet him, do you?"
"Tsk!" Blind Liu scoffed, took a sip of wine to warm himself up, and then said calmly, "I'd like to meet him. It's a great honor for an old country boy like me to meet the Grand Tutor. The key is whether he wants to recognize me. You being his master is a very popular thing."
Ding Youtian felt that what he said made sense, nodded, and said, "That's true."
"What is that?" Blind Liu paused, "Get lost!"
Ding Youtian felt that his master's temper was getting weirder and weirder after being scolded for no reason. After walking a few steps, he remembered another thing and turned back.
"Master, did you take all those Fog Mountain Weirdos on the shelf to the bookstore?"
"Can't take it?" Blind Liu took a piece of food with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. After chewing a few times and swallowing it, he looked up at him and said, "I, an old blind man, wrote this. Take it if you want."
"If many people copy this, and it falls into the wrong hands, it might cause some disaster."
"What are you afraid of? I'm an old blind man, all alone. Even if that day comes, the worst that can happen is death! Even if I die, as long as my books are still circulating in this world, I won't have lived in vain."
Ding Youtian felt a surge of heat all over his body when he heard this. He said in a resounding voice, "You still have a disciple. You're not alone. If that day ever comes, I will do everything in my power to protect you. I will never let anyone hurt you, no one!"
After he said that, he turned and left.
Blind Liu stared blankly at the wine glass for a long moment before putting it down without drinking. After a moment, he picked it up, brought it to his lips, and finally put it down again...
When Ding Youtian returned, he didn't see Jian Ning and Dabao at the dinner table. Jian Ning and Dabao were eating in the east room with the others. There was only one table in the dining hall, which couldn't accommodate so many people. Jian Ning had wanted to have Dabao eat at the same table with the Taifu and the others. He was a boy who loved reading and was sure to have a career in the government. It wouldn't hurt for him to listen to their conversation more.
But then she thought that it would be better not to treat children differently, so she called Dabao over.
Ma Xiaomai and the other two returned early after dinner to listen to stories. Yang Jinyu, concerned about the affairs of Pu Ren Hall, had been away with Huo Jincheng for over half a month, so he excused himself and left. Huo Jincheng and the Grand Tutor listened to Jian Ning finish a story about the Three Kingdoms before leaving.
Before leaving, Huo Jincheng asked Meixiang to stay. He heard from his father that there were only three bedrooms in the house in the town, and Meixiang would have no place to sleep, so he asked her to stay.
Meixiang was naturally overjoyed. Just one day later, she sensitively noticed that the relationship between Ding Youtian and Jian Ning seemed to be different from before. Not only did she have this feeling, but Huo Jincheng also felt it.
He couldn't tell what was different, but he just felt that this couple was different from before.
On the way back, the Grand Tutor suddenly asked Huo Jincheng, "Do you still remember what the maid from the Pingnan Wang family looked like?"
Huo Jincheng was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Father, are you asking about the eldest daughter of the Duan family?"
The Grand Tutor stroked his beard and said "hmm".
"Why are you asking about her?"
"Just ask if you still have any impression."
Huo Jincheng thought about it, and the image that came to mind was the appearance of Erniu and Sanniu. The first time he accompanied his parents to the General's Mansion, the eldest daughter of the Duan family was about the same age as Erniu and Sanniu are now. That day, he was reluctant to go because he was thinking about going to the farm to see the foal being born. His mother coaxed him into going, and on the way, she told him that she was taking him to see his young wife. So he felt reluctant and didn't even look at the daughter of the Duan family.
After so many years, he really couldn't remember what she looked like. He just vaguely felt that she looked similar to Erniu and Sanniu, but her personality was like Da Niu, taciturn and quiet.
That day, his mother asked him to take Duan Xinning to the garden to swing. Perhaps out of the boy's mischievous mentality, Huo Jincheng deliberately swung the swing very high. He thought Duan Xinning would scream or cry like his sister, but Duan Xinning giggled and whispered to him to swing higher.
He felt bored and refused to push her, making an excuse that he was going to catch dragonflies. After that, he ran away without caring whether she was happy or not. She jumped off the swing and tried to chase him, but she fell off the swing, hurting her forehead and bleeding profusely.
He remembered that she had covered her forehead and comforted him, telling him not to be afraid, that she had fallen on her own and it had nothing to do with him.
He had no recollection of whether she later confessed that he was the cause of her fall, but he thought that after losing so much blood, there would probably be a scar on her forehead.
"I don't have any impression. I can't remember." Huo Jincheng glanced at his father and said, "Wasn't she kidnapped by her enemies? Is there any news about her being found?"
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