After Hu Xu left, Song Qiao stood in front of the door and savored the meal for a while, then closed the door and walked briskly back to the backyard. He drank two bowls of mutton soup with freshly baked pancakes.
Delicious!
Seeing Hu Xu coming back with a rabbit, the Hu family was a little surprised.
After explaining the rabbit's origins, Hu Xu said to his mother, "When the rabbit is ready, ask Song Qiao to come over and eat with us."
"Okay." Mother Hu took the rabbit and weighed it. "It's quite fat. How about making silken rabbit? I'm going to make bacon too."
Hu Xu said, "You decide."
"That's it." Mother Hu happily carried the rabbit to the kitchen.
Hu Jin tugged at Hu Xu's sleeve and asked, "When did you and Ah Qiao become so familiar with each other?"
"Familiar?" Hu Xu thought about his interactions with Song Qiao and found it quite normal. "Isn't this how all neighbors get along?"
"Really?" Hu Jin didn't believe it. In the past, the two of them were just acquaintances, but now he could even invite her to his home for dinner. It was obviously very different from before.
It can be seen that Hu Xu looked calm, so Hu Jin did not dare to ask further questions for fear of making things worse.
But my mind can't help but wander.
The figure of Song Qiao appeared in her mind, and she pulled him over to be with her silly brother. It turned out that they were quite a match.
"Let's eat." After Hu's mother came back, she invited the family to sit down and eat.
Brother-in-law Hu served a bowl of soup and placed it in front of her. The delicious aroma of the mutton offal soup brought Hu Jin back to her thoughts that had flown eight hundred miles away. She couldn't wait to pick up the bowl and take a sip.
“So fresh!”
————Dividing Line————
After the winter solstice, it is the Lesser Cold and Greater Cold again, and the weather is getting colder day by day.
As the Laba Festival was approaching, it was time to eat the silk-wrapped rabbit and smoked meat made by Hu's mother.
Silk-wrapped rabbit is made by skinning and removing the internal organs of a rabbit, marinating it with soy sauce, beans, peppercorns, peppercorns, ginger, garlic, and spices, tying it with hemp rope, and then smoking it with pine and cypress leaves for half an hour, and finally hanging it under the eaves to dry.
The preparation method is roughly the same as that of smoked meat, but the seasoning needs to be spicier, so that the shredded rabbit tastes better.
When you are ready to eat, remove the rabbit, boil it, clean the skin, and steam it until cooked. Then untie the hemp rope, chop the rabbit meat into small pieces, and pair it with crispy beans and wine. It tastes so good.
Now that the silk-wrapped rabbit is ready and it’s the New Year’s Day, it’s time to treat Song Qiao to the meal he owes.
Having made up her mind, Hu's mother went to the yard to find her son and tell him the message.
Hu Xu has read all the books he should have read recently, but he still feels that something is missing. After thinking carefully, he doesn't know what is missing, so he goes to ask Yuan Zuzhi for advice.
Yuan Zuzhi did not explain his doubts, but just asked him to walk out of the study and figure it out on his own.
Self-realization...
Hu Xu stood in the yard, looking at the sky framed by the roof, and felt that his heart was also framed by the vast knowledge.
"Ah Xu."
Hearing his mother's call, Hu Xu finally broke free from his repressed thoughts and quickly responded, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Mother Hu smiled and said, "Go and see if Ah Qiao is home. If she is, invite her to dinner on the New Year's Day."
"Eat?" Hu Xu remembered that Song Qiao had promised to treat her to a meal when he bought her the rabbit, so she replied, "I know. I'll go right away."
After saying that, he went out to find Song Qiao.
Song Qiao is not here.
Hu Xu saw that the door was locked, so he guessed that the person must have gone out to deliver flowers.
During the solar terms, many people want to spend money.
The Song family is good at growing orchids and has made a living by selling orchids for generations.
The precious and rare orchids are quite expensive and are usually supplied to the homes of officials and wealthy people. When Song Qiao goes out to deliver flowers, he usually sends them to these places.
Ordinary orchids are also sold at a low price, and ordinary people can afford them.
When the weather is good, Song Qiao will go out to sell her goods. When there are night markets or temple fairs during the solar terms, she will also go out to set up a stall.
Recalling that when the father and daughter first moved in, Song's father was in charge of these matters and Song Qiao followed.
Now she is able to work on her own and takes charge of the jobs of selling and delivering flowers, while Song's father stays in the mountains to look for and grow flowers.
Both father and daughter live a down-to-earth and diligent life, and they live a good life... I guess it's a good life for now.
Thinking of Song Qiao's empty yard, her figure going out early and coming back late, and her stubborn and helpless look when Song's father was injured, Hu Xu couldn't help but sigh slightly.
Song Qiao is too strong-willed, so strong that it makes people admire him, but at the same time it makes people feel sorry for him.
Since the person was not there, Hu Xu had to find another time to come.
But because he was confused and felt a little bored, and didn't want to go back to his room and sit there alone, he said goodbye to Hu's mother and went into the bustling city.
He wandered aimlessly, going to the market, the river, the bookstore, the rice shop, the private school, the temple...
But I haven't heard the truth.
Where does one learn from? Where does one go after completing their studies? Is it simply to pass the imperial examinations and bring honor to one's family? Or is it to benefit the people?
But when he faced the countless people working hard for their survival, he felt at a loss.
The sages taught how to be a king, a minister, and a human being, and how to govern the world. But if those principles were placed before the people, they would not be able to exchange for a single penny they needed.
Looking at the vendors bargaining in front of him, Hu Xu thought that if he went up to them and talked about the saintly ways, he would probably only be met with contempt and ridicule.
Why is it so popular?
A question gradually came to Hu Xu's mind.
He stood on the busy street, vaguely grasping the crux of the matter. In his mind, the arguments and refutations of each other swirled back and forth, finally becoming a tangled mess, impossible to make any sense of.
"Hu Xu?"
A voice brought him back to his senses. He looked in the direction of the voice and found it was Song Qiao.
Song Qiao walked towards him, carrying a basket on his back. "The market is about to close. What are you doing standing here like an idiot?"
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