Seeing this, Hongmei quickly dropped the bamboo pole, ran around most of the pond, and pulled Zhou Chenyu up: "Oh, my little aunt, are you alright?"
Zhou Chenyu spat out the muddy water in her mouth, looked at her muddy body, and laughed, saying it looked worse than crying: "I'm not doing well."
Hongmei was both amused and exasperated. "What can I say about you? How could someone so big and careless fall into this?"
After Hongmei finished speaking, Zhou Chenyu could no longer hold back his emotions.
"Alright, alright, don't cry." Hongmei smiled as she took off her straw hat, her tone as gentle as when she usually coaxed her son. "Just think of it as when you were a kid and got muddy. It's no big deal. Let's go back. I'll take you back."
Zhou Chenyu and Hongmei braved the heavy rain to return home. Some of the mud had been washed away by the rain, but when Baoyu saw her return covered in mud and with conspicuous green duckweed scattered in her hair, he immediately laughed until tears streamed down his face.
"Hahaha, hahahahaha!"
Hongmei gave her a reproachful look and teased, "You little rascal, your sister is in such a state, and you can still laugh?"
"..." Zhou Chenyu saw Baoyu's unrestrained smile and swallowed her bitterness.
Why did she laugh at him that afternoon too?
It's all retribution.
"What happened?" Li Xiuju came out anxiously. Hongmei put her straw hat aside and explained what had happened. In the end, even Li Xiuju couldn't help but laugh at her act of falling into the pond.
However, although Zhou Chenyu fell into the pond, he was better off than Baoyu in that the bathwater was already boiled, so he didn't have to catch a cold.
She used three buckets of warm water to wash herself from head to toe before she felt clean. After washing, she went into the main room, where the food was already on the table.
A plate of stuffed tofu: tender tofu stuffed with minced meat, pan-fried until golden brown, then drizzled with a prepared sauce, and simmered over low heat until the sauce is absorbed into the tofu before serving.
A pot of wolfberry and lean pork soup, simmering in a clay pot, nourishes the lungs and moisturizes the eyes, yet the method is extremely simple. Simply boil a ladle of clean, sweet well water, add lean pork, skim off the foam, and then sprinkle with fresh wolfberries.
Zhou Chenyu rubbed his hands together, which were itching to eat. "Grandma, you've made one of my favorite dishes again today."
Li Xiuju laughed and pushed the stuffed tofu in front of the two children, saying, "When I was mixing the meat filling, I put salt in, so the meat filling might be a bit salty, and this soup is bland."
"Really? Then I'll try some on your behalf!" Baoyu reached out with his chopsticks and picked up a piece of tofu. The tofu was so tender that it split in two.
"You think you can eat for us? Look, there's food right in front of you, but you can't even get any." Zhou Chenyu scooped stuffed tofu into a bowl with a spoon, and Baoyu followed suit, grumbling and cursing.
Zhou Chenyu put the whole stuffed tofu into a bowl, but she couldn't eat it all at once. She picked up a small piece to taste. The tender tofu melted in her mouth, and the juicy tofu also had a salty and savory flavor.
After finishing the tofu, I served myself a bowl of soup.
This wolfberry leaf is quite magical. After being blanched in boiling water, its color becomes even greener and more vibrant. Its taste is different from the sweetness of ordinary green vegetables, and its texture is a bit prickly. People who don't like it think the taste is strange and unpalatable, while people who like it can't get enough of it.
Zhou Chenyu is the latter; he even prefers wolfberry leaves to lean meat.
Li Xiuju wasn't sure, "Are the tastes alright?"
One dish is slightly salty, and the other is slightly bland; they're just right together.
"They're all delicious." Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu shook their heads at the same time, and Li Xiuju finally breathed a sigh of relief.
There wasn't much stuffed tofu, so the vegetables were all gone first. Zhou Chenyu had picked all the leaves out of the wolfberry and lean pork soup, leaving only some lean meat at the bottom of the clear broth.
After finishing their meal, the mother and her two children rested around the table. Zhou Chenyu remembered that extremely important matter and looked at them, "Tomorrow is market day. We agreed to have a big meal on the street. Have you decided what to eat? I promised to treat you. It's a rare treat, so tell me quickly, or you'll miss this opportunity!"
Li Xiuju's legs were not very strong, and this time she only wanted to go to the city to make a silver bracelet and buy some cloth to make clothes for the winter. She didn't care about food.
She looked at Baoyu and smiled, "What would you like to eat?"
"Me?" Baoyu grinned happily. "Mother, Sister, I have a place to go. How about we go to Jixianglou Restaurant?! Hu Zi keeps telling me that their braised lamb trotters and deep-fried spring goose are so delicious. It's making my mouth water. I'm determined to have some, no matter what, and see if he'll still brag about it in front of me!"
Jixianglou?
Upon hearing the word "third son," Li Xiuju slapped Baoyu hard. "You child! Jixianglou is the best restaurant in Qingshui Town. A meal there would cost several hundred coins. Don't you care about the money? Don't you care about your sister? She's worked for three people at the Tang Mansion, and you're spending the money she earned like this?"
“I…” Baoyu pursed his lips, somewhat regretting mentioning this place. “Then how about we go somewhere else?”
Seeing that his enthusiasm had immediately wilted, Zhou Chenyu put her arm around his shoulder and said, "The old lady's word doesn't count, mine does. Tomorrow we'll go to Jixiang Restaurant and splurge!"
Baoyu's eyes widened in disbelief. "Sister, really?!"
"When have I ever lied to you? Just go to Jixianglou!" Zhou Chenyu glared at him irritably.
At that moment, Baoyu looked at his sister's angry face and thought she was as beautiful as a fairy. "Sister, from now on, in my eyes, you are the best sister in the world!"
After he finished speaking happily, he immediately stood up, humming a little tune, and took over all the work of clearing away the dishes.
Li Xiuju stared at Baoyu's impetuous manner, afraid that he would get too excited and smash the bowl. "Chenyu, little brother is being silly. How can you not understand? Jixianglou is a place for high-ranking officials and nobles. Why are we wasting our money there?"
Zhou Chenyu didn't earn those three taels of silver easily. She knew Li Xiuju was worried that the money wasn't being used wisely, but what could she do when she was a time traveler?
A balance between work and rest aligns with her values!
Zhou Chenyu earnestly reasoned with the old lady, "Grandma, from selling sweet soup to working at the Tang mansion, we've earned more than three taels of silver in the past few months. A meal costs a few hundred coins, and we still have a lot left. We've worked so hard for so long, let's all have a good meal together to reward ourselves, so we'll have the strength to work when autumn and winter come, right? Besides, there are still six months until the New Year, and Baoyu and I will definitely be able to earn that money back."
Baoyu chimed in, "That's right! My sister is so clever. In a while, I'll go hunting in the deep mountains too! If I'm lucky enough to run into a wild boar, I can earn back my money in no time."
Since both children said so, a trip to Jixianglou was a must. Even though Li Xiuju was reluctant to spend the money, she didn't want to spoil her children's fun, so she indulgently said, "Alright, alright, let's go to Jixianglou!"
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