After learning where the badge had gone, Xu Jiang felt a new affinity for Lou Yunchun. Recalling the past, she pulled out strands of sweetness from the smallest details, wrapping her heart tightly like a cocoon.
She said that after receiving the invitation, although she felt happy, she was still uneasy in her heart. However, after entering the house, she felt comfortable and at ease everywhere, without any sense of compulsion.
It's hard to say how much effort and thought Lou Yunchun put into this before he carefully calmed her uneasy heart.
Xu Jiang watched him carefully put the badge back in its place and couldn't help but move closer to him. Seeing her like this, Lou Yunchun's heart softened and he watched her quietly.
Xu Jiang raised her hand to touch the bump on his head, and the feeling dissipated a lot, making her feel relieved. Lou Yunchun took advantage of the situation and placed her hand on his face, feeling the tingling sensation caused by the thin calluses on her hand, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
Xu Jiang laughed and said, "She really has become a moon slave."
The two were being intimate when they suddenly heard voices outside. It was Yin Yin and the servant coming back.
Yin Yin asked, "Master, are you here?"
Lou Yunchun responded: "What's the matter?"
Yin Yin replied, "The master sent someone to ask you to go to Plum Garden to meet the guests."
Xu Jiang withdrew his hand and said softly, "Go."
Lou Yunchun was unwilling to leave. After a long while, he was finally pulled out of the door by Xu Jiang.
As soon as he left the room, he immediately changed into a different person, his face becoming stern again. He handed Xu Jiang over to Yin Yin, and told her to take good care of her before heading out to the garden.
Yin Yin saw Xu Jiang's eyes were full of water and tenderness, and she leaned towards her, "Sister, why do I think you are more beautiful than before?"
Xu Jiang smiled and pinched her: "Even the bean paste and ribs are not as sweet as you."
Yinyin was delighted, and then she pulled her out to the outer garden, saying as they walked, "There's a servant cleaning the lotus pond. I heard they dug out a lot of tender lotus roots and caught a lot of fish. Let's go and take a look."
When Xu Jiang heard about this, he also became interested and said, "Let's go."
Before they even went out of the second gate, the little maids in the yard caught up with them and hugged Xu Jiang as they went out, laughing.
Go out, follow the stream around the Natural Pavilion, pass two water pavilions, and cross a waterfall before you reach the lotus pond.
The lotus pond was called Outang, and the two powerful characters on the stone tablet were clearly Lou Jing's handwriting. Before I even reached the pond, I heard the cheerful noises of servants and maids.
"The fish are coming."
"Where are you throwing it, you little bastard?"
"Ouch, my skirt!"
As soon as Xu Jiang and his group arrived and had not yet settled down, a fat fish fell from the sky and landed at Yin Yin's feet.
Several little girls were blown away and scattered like birds and beasts. Then they ran to the shore and threw mud at the servants in the lotus pond.
Yin Yin quickly took Xu Jiang to hide aside and said angrily, "Oh, these unruly girls and boys, they don't even watch out for others." After saying that, she pulled the hem of her skirt and looked at the mud splashed on her.
Xu Jiang took a look at her and said, "It's okay, just one or two mud spots. They will come off after they get wet and wiped." She then looked at the servants rolling around in the lotus pond and couldn't help but laugh too.
"This lotus pond needs to be cleaned every two years. The lotus roots are sweet and the fish are fat. One cleanup is enough to feed the family for a month."
"Wouldn't that be bad?"
"It's too much. What can I do? I always eat half and the other half goes bad."
Xu Jiang thought for a moment and said, "If we can't finish all the lotus roots, we can make lotus root powder. It's durable and easy to eat."
"Lotus root starch?" Yin Yin's round eyes were full of confusion. "How do you eat this?"
"Have you ever tried kudzu powder?"
Yin Yin nodded.
"It's almost the same way, but lotus root starch is smoother and more delicate than arrowroot starch, and tastes sweeter."
Yinyin swallowed her saliva, and asked with anticipation in her eyes, "Is lotus root starch difficult to make?"
Seeing her greedy look, Xu Jiang couldn't help but laugh. Then, thinking that Lou Yunchun liked sweet things, this lotus root powder might suit his taste, she said, "It's not difficult."
Yinyin cheered and begged, "Sister, the banquet is still early and we are free. Why don't you teach us how to make lotus root starch?"
"It won't be ready to eat right after it's made." But then he remembered that the house had a greenhouse, so he said, "If we work hard, it will only take two or three days."
"Two or three days is nothing. I can wait."
Xu Jiang smiled and said, "Okay then."
Seeing that she agreed, Yin Yin immediately pulled her to the edge of the lotus pond and shouted to the boys and girls, "Hurry up, stop playing around, Sister Xu is going to teach us how to make lotus root powder. I heard it's delicious. Hurry up and pick up the fish and dig out the lotus roots."
When they heard that they were going to make food, the servants and maids cheered and started to get moving.
Seeing this, Xu Jiang smiled and warned, "Try not to dig up the lotus root too hard. If mud gets in, the noodles you make will be mixed with sand, and they won't taste good or look good."
"Okay." The servants responded one after another, and then began to pick up fish and dig lotus roots.
As they were digging, they started to compare themselves, sometimes to see who dug longer, sometimes to see who broke less.
There were quite a few fish thrown ashore, mostly carp and crucian carp. Yin Yin asked a few servants to bring four or five water tanks, and together with the little girls, she picked up the fish and raised them in the water tanks.
Xu Jiang also wanted to go, but because her clothes were not convenient, she could only watch from the side, thinking: If I had known this would happen, I would have dressed more neatly and come here.
After a while, the fish filled four or five tanks. Xu Jiang walked around the tanks, looking at the open fish mouths, and almost imagined a fish feast in his head.
"Yinyin, how do you usually eat the fish you clean?"
"Master believes in keeping healthy, so he stews it more often. Sometimes he also uses it to make fish sashimi and pickled fish." Yin Yin's face showed a hint of disgust. "I don't like fish. It's too fishy."
"Can you finish all this?"
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