Chapter 81 (Mutton Pot)

The next morning

Yan Qiushu woke up. She had a good sleep this time and she felt much more energetic when eating breakfast.

This morning I made fried dumplings and dumpling soup.

Wheat dumplings are different from simple dumplings. They are much larger in size than ordinary dumplings, about as long as a palm. The outer skin is crispy and soft, not hard. There is a lot of filling inside, but the outer skin is also very thick.

It looks like a big fat dumpling, with pointed ends and a plump middle. You can eat it directly with your hands. If you pinch it, you can feel the filling inside the dumpling.

It tastes a bit crispy, but more soft.

The dumpling skin itself has a salty taste, but it is a light taste. Once you eat the filling inside, the taste comes out. The filling is leeks, eggs, some meat and black fungus.

Because the portion is large, the filling of the dumplings cannot be too monotonous.

Yan Qiushu was in a good mood and ate with big mouthfuls. After one bite, the tip disappeared, revealing the stuffing inside. After another bite, the leeks, fungus, eggs and meat were all mixed in her mouth. It seemed that some pepper powder was sprinkled on it. In addition to the taste and saltiness of the ingredients themselves, there was also a numbing feeling.

The portion was huge and filled her mouth. After she finally finished eating it, she felt it was a bit dry. After eating two more bites, Yan Qiushu scooped up a spoonful of the dumpling soup.

With a sip, the hot soup went down your throat.

The lumps that drip through the colander are not big. You can get a lot of them in one mouthful. You don't need to chew them, just swallow them into your stomach.

Yan Qiushu was sweating while eating, but she was reluctant to stop. The feeling of filling her stomach with big mouthfuls of food was so satisfying.

The main reason is that this night was too long.

From five or six o'clock on the first day to seven or eight o'clock on the second day.

Fourteen hours have passed in total, and the little food I ate last night has long been digested.

When she was almost done eating, she finished the last mouthful of dumpling soup, swallowed the last bit of dumpling tip, and looked at Shui Xuan: "Let's go out for a while!"

She went to ask the young man and asked Mrs. Xiao to help testify. I think she would not refuse, but I don’t know whether the young man agreed or not. It would be quite embarrassing for her to go and talk about such things.

Shui Yu did not move immediately, but said: "Mrs. Xiao told you to have breakfast and go to her place. The matter you mentioned has been taken care of."

Yan Qiushu: “???”

Finished?!

Yan Qiushu quickly wiped her mouth and went over without delay. However, she almost forgot that there was a problem with her foot and she staggered, further injuring her ankle!

Shui Yu ran over and supported her.

When they arrived at Madam Xiao's courtyard, Yan Qiushu hesitated for a moment, fearing that several masters were all there, which would be a bit embarrassing. Although this matter should be announced to the public, it would not be convenient for her to announce it in person.

But when I walked in, I found that there was no one else in the yard.

Nanny Huang had been waiting for a long time, smiling warmly: "Young lady, please come quickly, the Madam is waiting."

Noticing her limping gait, he was startled: "What's wrong with you, girl?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I just accidentally fell last night." Yan Qiushu smiled and followed her into the house.

Shui Yan and Nanny Huang did not come in.

Mrs. Xiao was sipping tea. When she saw her coming, she immediately asked about her ankle. After learning that it was not serious, she waved to her and said, "Come and sit down."

Yan Qiushu sat down obediently, and the next second she couldn't wait to speak: "Aunt, is it really done? Who is the candidate? Is he easy to control?"

"Don't worry, I'll be obedient." Madam Xiao showed her a kind smile, took out a jade pendant from her sleeve, and said softly: "This is his personal belongings, most people can recognize it when they see it, if you wear it on your body, everyone will understand."

Yan Qiushu's heart shuddered, and something that she had deliberately suppressed began to stir, but she told herself that she must have been overthinking it.

How could Mrs. Xiao do such a thing so casually?

After all, it's about my son's happiness.

She stretched out her hands hesitantly, but before she could reach out, Madam Xiao had already very straightforwardly pressed the jade pendant into her hand: "Take it!"

Yan Qiushu felt something was wrong the moment she started.

This thing is actually warm!!!

It couldn't have been warmed up in Mrs. Xiao's hands in such a short time, right?

Yan Qiushu's eyes widened as she stared at the thing in her hand. She held it with the back, and the feel of it alone was excellent. The color of the jade pendant was light green, and it looked very beautiful under natural light.

When she turned it over, she noticed that the front of the jade pendant was not engraved with a pattern, but a word!

But the word looked a bit complicated and she couldn't figure out what it was.

It just looks familiar.

Of course no matter what, a man who can have this thing is definitely not a poor scholar!

Yan Qiushu's heart was beating fast at this moment, and her cheeks were slightly hot, but she didn't dare to really believe it, so she asked softly: "Aunt, who is the owner of this jade pendant?"

Mrs. Xiao said calmly, "Didn't you see it? It has the ancient Chinese character 肖 on it. Keep it. You were the one who wanted it so anxiously. When I went to ask Lao Liu, I was also very anxious. I didn't sleep well last night."

At this moment, Yan Qiushu could clearly feel that her face seemed to have exploded, and it suddenly became so hot that she was completely at a loss.

It turned out to be Xiao Waiting!

Mrs. Xiao actually sacrificed her son like this?

"Aunt, this...I..." Yan Qiushu was confused and speechless.

Although she had some extravagant hopes, she was also rational enough. She felt that her relationship with Xiao Wai Ting had not reached that level, so she could find any other man.

Furthermore, if things really developed to that point in the future, she believed that given the character of the Xiao family, they would not mind her pretending to be engaged.

But he didn't expect that the candidate for the fake role was given to him by Mrs. Xiao.

Yan Qiushu felt something was not right, as if she was forcing someone to get married?

Could she deny that she felt somewhat happy when she found out it was Xiao Waiting?

This feeling made her feel even more like she was forcing a marriage. Yan Qiushu's face became hotter and hotter. She wanted to explain that she really was not forcing a marriage, but she didn't know where to start. After all, this matter might be ridiculous in the eyes of Mrs. Xiao.

Mrs. Xiao had never expected that the person in front of her would blush so much. She didn't look fair and tender at all, and even her fingers seemed red. Seeing that the girl was so anxious that tears came out, she hurried over to comfort her, "Don't be anxious. What are you afraid of? If you really don't like Lao Liu, you can break up after two years. Anyway, he agreed to it himself. I didn't force him."

Yan Qiushu felt relieved after hearing this, but her face became even hotter and her palms began to sweat.

It turned out that he agreed.

She pursed her lips and smiled, trying to calm herself down, and then she heard Mrs. Xiao say:

"But I think that although this engagement was a bit hasty, the fact that the Sixth Brother agreed to it shows that he is somewhat interested in you. I saw it a long time ago. This child usually listens to you. You told him not to eat too fast, and then the Fifth Brother wrote to me complaining that he ate like a nobleman in the army. If you don't dislike the Sixth Brother, why don't you try to get along with him for a while? If it works, you can get married next year."

Yan Qiushu pursed her lips and tightly grasped the jade pendant in her hand. Her fingertips turned pale from the force. Her heart was beating so hard that it seemed like it was going to jump out of her throat.

Do you want to agree?

She wanted to, but was also a little worried.

Fortunately, Mrs. Xiao noticed her concern, rubbed her head, and said gently: "Okay, let's think about this later. I think you are so anxious, so let's sign the engagement certificate first, and then go to the government to register. Then you can stay at the manor for two days, and I will let the old manor bring someone to deliver the betrothal gifts and formally propose marriage."

She handed over a red book in a hard case.

At this time, engagement involves exchanging engagement letters and writing them. What's more important is sending it to the government for registration. But before that, the betrothal gift has to be given. Of course, the order has been changed now, but it doesn't matter.

But Yan Qiushu was an orphan and lived in the Xiao residence. It would be bad for a woman's reputation and against the rules to marry her at the Xiao residence.

Fortunately, Yan Qiushu had her own house at this time, otherwise she would have to ask the Xiao family to prepare a house for her.

As she muttered, she opened the engagement book. There were no page numbers, only a few lines of words written on one page. At the top were the words "Marriage Book", and below were the birth dates of Yan Qiushu (Yan Shu), who was now Yan Qiushu's pseudonym, and Xiao Huaiting, as well as a passage - the two of them were in love and, after discussion by the elders of both parties, were engaged on May 12, the eighteenth year of Jian'an...

The right side is blank, and the left side is the Xiao family seal, which can replace the signature.

But Yan Qiushu didn't have this, nor did she have any elders, so she could only sign by herself.

Huang Ma Ma smiled and handed over the brush: "Don't worry, young lady, my wife is a good mother-in-law!"

Yan Qiushu's hand holding the pen trembled and she almost dropped the pen. She took a deep breath and carefully wrote her name: Yan Shu.

It seemed as if Yan Qiushu took a long time to write these two short words.

After confirming that it is correct, press your fingerprint.

Madam Xiao blew on the paper and waited for it to dry before handing it to Madam Huang: "Take it to Madam Shao and ask her to deliver it to the government office."

Huang Ma Ma responded loudly, "Okay, I'll go right away."

She walked away holding the cardboard.

Yan Qiushu lowered her eyes and wiped the red color off her fingers with the silk of her hand. Her fingertips were trembling slightly. If it was someone else, she would definitely not do this, but the name written on the engagement certificate was Xiao Huaiting's.

But before she could think of anything, she suddenly heard a huge burst of firecrackers, crackling and startling her.

Mrs. Xiao soothed him, "These are firecrackers. They let everyone know that someone in our Xiao family is engaged. When the engagement certificate is brought back later, the guests will come up to ask about it. Then tell others and everyone will know about it."

Yan Qiushu pursed her lips and smiled: "Aunt, thank you for your concern."

Mrs. Xiao smiled gently and shook her head: "Don't worry, why should I worry? If you two really succeed, it will be much easier for me as your daughter-in-law."

Yan Qiushu coughed lightly, feeling uncomfortable, and quickly stood up: "Aunt, then the matter is settled, I will go back first."

"Okay, go ahead." Mrs. Xiao nodded.

Yan Qiushu wiped the sweat from her forehead and limped away with Shui Yu's help. When they walked out of the yard, Shui Yu said vaguely, "Miss, so this is what happened. Are you going to marry the Sixth Young Master?"

"Engagement!" Yan Qiushu corrected with a blushing face.

Shui Yu snickered, "That's about right. No wonder you've been so distracted these past two days. I was wondering if something was wrong."

Yan Qiushu also smiled and said nothing more.

Shui Yu was excited, and if she hadn't had someone to support her, she would have jumped up.

God knows when she was first sent to serve Yan Qiushu, those cunning maids, especially Shulu, laughed at her for following a useless master in the future, and how miserable she was. Now, when I think about it, I wonder how they looked when they heard the news?

Unfortunately, Shuilu was no longer in the house, so she could not see her.

"Girl, this is a great event. We must celebrate it well."

Yan Qiushu frowned, thought for a moment, and shook her head, "Who should I celebrate with?"

Shui Yu was stunned. Although she didn't know Yan Qiushu's true identity, she knew that both her parents had passed away, and she had no brothers or sisters, let alone other relatives. She felt sad immediately. Although she was a slave, she actually had parents.

They all worked as servants in the Xiao family, but they were not in the same place.

It was precisely because they were loyal enough to the Xiao family that they were able to come to the Xiao family's inner courtyard to serve.

The woman in front of her was about the same age as herself, but she had no relatives and no one to talk to about the important things in her life. She mustered up her courage and said softly, "If you don't mind, you can celebrate with me and Madam Xu."

Yan Qiushu smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll have to ask you to help me celebrate. I won't cook today."

Shui Yu smiled and nodded: "Okay, you just wait and eat. The Madam will probably receive a lot of guests at noon. Your status has changed now, so it will be difficult for you to go there. I and Madam Xu will be in charge of the lunch!"

Yan Qiushu gladly accepted.

She was sent to the room to rest, while Shui Yu and Nanny Xu went to think about food. Knowing that Yan Qiushu had just been engaged to the sixth young master of the Xiao family, she specially cooked a red egg for her to eat.

It is said to be a custom.

However, Yan Qiushu only needed to give eggs to the people in her own yard. After she had given them the eggs, eggs were also delivered from the main kitchen. In other words, everyone in the mansion had a share. Even people outside the Xiao mansion, such as those in the food court and the farm, were said to have received some.

So when they heard the sound of firecrackers, everyone was still wondering what was going on.

Now everyone knows about this.

Nanny Xu was busy all the time, and suddenly asked, "The Sixth Young Master is back. Does that girl have to leave the Xiao Mansion? Did the Madam say anything about this?"

In this era, according to the rules, engaged couples are not allowed to live under the same roof for a long time.

They are not engaged, the man is in the outer courtyard and the woman is in the inner courtyard, and they have no other relationship. The two of them cannot meet alone at will. The people of the Great Zhou are open-minded, so there is no problem.

After the engagement, they are an engaged couple, and their relationship is a little ambiguous, but it is hard to explain if they live under the same roof.

But Yan Qiushu had no elders, and she was afraid that the child didn't know about this. It didn't matter to a man, but it would be detrimental to a woman's reputation. The Xiao family was a famous family in Da Zhou, and she was afraid that others would gossip about it. People's words were scary.

Shui Xuan also remembered this rule and shook her head in confusion: "I have been living with the girl all this time, and I haven't heard that she is going to move out? The lady probably hasn't said anything, should I go and remind the girl?"

Madam Xu nodded and said, "Then tell the young lady when you are helping her to sleep at night. But if she moves out, I can't go with her."

Although Nanny Xu is a nanny, she is still young. After giving birth to her child, she returned to the workplace, but she did not want to be too far away from her child. If Yan Qiushu did not live in the Xiao family, she would not be able to accompany the child every night if she went there.

Shui Yu nodded in understanding: "I will tell the girl, it's okay, when the girl gets married in a while, Madam Xu will definitely have to go over to serve her."

"Yes, they are engaged and will be married soon. I wonder if the Sixth Young Master's first child will be a boy or a girl? I really hope there will be no more wars. All the people in the family were killed in the war..." Nanny Xu's voice was choked with sobs as she spoke.

Shui Yu's eyes also darkened.

They were all servants of the Xiao family and had watched with their own eyes as this family finally prospered. However, the Xiao family members passed away one after another, and most of those left behind were orphans and widows. As slaves, they felt sorry for such a kind-hearted master.

But they couldn't worry about these things.

When Yan Qiushu was having lunch at noon, many familiar maids and servants came to congratulate her, leaving her stunned. She had only been resting in the room for half a day, and yet the day had changed so much?

Fortunately, Nanny Xu was well prepared and handed out red envelopes one by one, and everyone was smiling.

Yan Qiushu was stunned: "Madam Xu, you paid for this red envelope out of your own pocket?! Why didn't you tell me? I totally forgot!"

She hadn't thought of this, mainly because the shock she had received before was too great.

Nanny Xu smiled and said, "Miss, you are young and don't understand these things. As your nanny, I naturally have to take care of you. This is my duty."

Yan Qiushu was actually not young anymore, but she was alone in her previous life and had little exposure to these things, so she didn't know. Now that she knew, she decisively opened her own small treasury. In addition, she reimbursed the red envelope money she had given out before, and kept a lot of it with them as a reserve fund, in case they needed it in the future.

"Thank you, young lady!" The two men accepted the money generously and took her to sit in the house. "The kitchen just sent a leg of lamb. I was planning to make something else, but I was afraid that it would go bad, so I made a lamb hotpot. Although it's a little hot, there's ice in the house, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Yan Qiushu sat down obediently. Shui Yu brought an old Beijing copper hot pot to the table, and Aunt Xu brought some side dishes and a portion of seasoning.

The copper hot pot is filled with mutton cubes cut into square shapes, but the soup is not clear, but semi-turbid. There is nothing special about it, but there is a faint fragrance.

The stove in the middle of the hot pot was very hot, and soon the water boiled, and the meat pieces were cooked and boiling.

After a while, when Yan Qiushu could no longer hold back, the fragrance began to appear.

It was the same fragrance she had smelled before, but it was a little stronger, not too strong or too heavy, and yet it had a freshness that made her salivate.

Yan Qiushu has a strong taste and usually eats mostly Sichuan cuisine or various fried fast foods. She has only eaten this light mutton hotpot once in modern times, but perhaps because of the restaurant's cooking skills, she did not enjoy the meal.

Because mutton has a strong smell, it is easy to become unpalatable if not handled properly.

Usually covered with heavy-flavored seasonings, this light-flavored pot is more challenging.

But Aunt Xu is actually a good cook, but Yan Qiushu has always eaten what she likes, which left Aunt Xu with no room to show her talents. Now, she finally has this.

"Young lady, try it." Aunt Xu stood up and used a spoon to serve her a bowl of soup: "At the beginning, before adding anything, drink a sip of this soup first. It's very delicious!"

Yan Qiushu held the bowl in both hands, blew on the rim of the bowl, and then took a small sip.

Hot!

This soup is really hot, but after it wears off, what remains between your lips and teeth is not the strong spicy flavor, but a light yet very comfortable salty and fresh taste.

It's not strong, but it makes her want to drink more!

Yan Qiushu hurriedly said, "Give me another bowl."

"Okay." Nanny Xu responded with a smile, and served another bowl. Then she added some water to the pot, and after it boiled again, she served her a large bowl of mutton.

Yan Qiushu picked up a piece, blew on it twice, and then couldn't wait to put it in her mouth.

But I found that the mutton was unusually tender!

There was no smell of mutton, and the meat was tender. Her teeth could easily bite through a large piece of meat. It tasted similar to the soup, light and fresh. It didn't feel tasteless while chewing. On the contrary, the salty and umami taste seemed to become stronger as she ate more!

Yan Qiushu ate it in one mouthful, and then took a sip of the soup. She was already sweating all over. Aunt Xu reminded her, "Take some of the sauce. It's specially made for this mutton hotpot."

Yan Qiushu nodded and let the mutton cubes roll twice in the sauce-colored dipping sauce. After all six noodles were dipped in it, she put it into her mouth.

In this way, the sauce lowers its temperature.

The umami taste is a little less, but it still feels the same as the original, tender and fragrant.

Compared to eating it directly at first, the lamb dipped in sauce has a stronger salty taste, and the tender meat mixed with the dipping sauce makes it less likely to make your tongue tired.

Yan Qiushu was eating so much that her legs were swinging happily under the table. She smiled brightly at Aunt Xu and said, "This pot is so delicious! When winter comes, we can eat it every few days. It won't be cold at night!"

Aunt Xu also smiled and nodded: "Okay!"