After several dishes were served, the stir-fried pork with green peppers was quickly devoured.
Seeing this, Li Xiuju smiled with satisfaction, "I picked a bunch of green peppers today, and there are still many in the garden. Since you all love this dish so much, we'll cook it a few more times while you're at home these days."
"Great! Great!" Baoyu replied excitedly, but as if he hadn't had enough, he picked up the plate again and mixed some of the remaining broth from the twice-cooked pork with green peppers into his rice.
With the mixed mushroom and tofu stew and the green pepper and pork stir-fry, Zhou Chenyu ate two large bowls of rice. Clutching her round belly, she noticed there was still some Five-Finger Peach Bone Soup left in the pot, so she guiltily added another bowl.
The clear and refreshing bone broth not only relieved the greasiness of the pork belly and the spiciness of the green peppers, but also retained the coconut milk aroma of the five-finger peach, making it taste wonderful.
Zhou Chenyu finished the soup in the bowl again and let out a satisfied burp.
Seeing that the children had almost finished eating, Li Xiuju gazed at the bright moon outside the courtyard and thought for a moment, "The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a rare opportunity for the whole family to reunite. When you go to the market tomorrow to buy festival supplies, why don't you come to Chenjia Village and invite Tongsheng to our house for dinner?"
“He has been an orphan since childhood. What good things can a grown man do for the festival? You can invite him to our house, we can slaughter a chicken, kill two rabbits, buy a piece of pork, and cook some good dishes to eat together.”
Chen Tongsheng helped them many times and even recognized Li Xiuju as his godmother, which was common knowledge in the whole village. It was perfectly normal for his godson to come to their house for a meal.
Zhou Chenyu replied, "Okay."
The prey was sold, and the money was earned.
After dinner, Zhou Chenyu took a hot shower and lay down on the bed. Outside the window, in the dense forest not far away, came the sound of falling leaves and breaking branches, as if someone was moving through the forest.
However, there were sounds of Huangdou gnawing on bones and grinding its teeth outside the door, so it could definitely detect any movement beforehand.
Zhou Chenyu wrapped herself tightly in the blankets, closed her eyes comfortably, and thought, "Tomorrow I can finally sleep in."
Zhou Chenyu kept her word and slept until she naturally woke up, although it was only a little after eight o'clock, which was still much earlier than usual when she got up before dawn.
It's already quite late.
Baoyu also woke up around this time.
Knowing they were exhausted, Li Xiuju didn't wake them and instead prepared breakfast first.
After the siblings finished washing up and returned to the main room, they found steamed sweet corn and sweet potatoes, a pot of thick white porridge, and a plate of spicy and crunchy stir-fried pickled radish on the table.
Zhou Chenyu took a sip of porridge to warm her stomach, picked up a few pieces of dried radish, and took a bite. The radish was crunchy and the sour and spicy flavor was very appetizing. With it, she finished the bowl of porridge in a few mouthfuls.
Li Xiuju went back to her room and brought out her money pouch. She then explained the contents of the incense, paper money, and mooncakes to be used for the festival, saying, "Keep the money safe and don't lose it."
Finally getting to eat the mooncakes he'd been craving all night, Baoyu grinned and said, "Mother, don't worry. Even if I lose them, my sister will be watching over me."
After he finished speaking, Baoyu was beaten twice by Li Xiuju and Zhou Chenyu.
After Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu finished breakfast, they simply wrapped up Old Zhang's rusty kitchen knife and went out.
Baoyu asked, puzzled, "Sister, why do you carry a knife with you when you go out?"
Zhou Chenyu held it in her hand, "It belongs to someone else, I'm returning it to them."
Chen Tongsheng's village, Chenjia Village, was on the way to the city. After leaving Zhoujia Village, they went to Chen Tongsheng's place beforehand.
Although Chen Tongsheng had visited their home several times, they knew nothing about it.
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu entered Chenjia Village and asked the villagers for directions. The villagers kindly led them to their door, whereupon they learned where Chen Tongsheng's house was.
The house is located in the center of the village, with a main road leading straight to the door. Next to it is a starfruit tree, which is covered with a dense bunch of green and yellow starfruit, some of which have fallen to the ground and rotted.
The sun rose above the eaves, and his front door was ajar. Chen Tongsheng was chopping wood with an axe.
"Young scholar, someone is looking for you." The guide knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Chen Tongsheng put down his axe, wiped his sweat, looked up, and upon seeing them, laughed heartily, "Hey, how did you find my place? Don't just stand there outside, come in and sit down."
Zhou Chenyu teased him, "What? You're not welcoming us?"
Chen Tongsheng stamped his foot and scoffed, "How dare I?"
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu walked around the courtyard. Chen Tongsheng thanked the guide and returned. Seeing them standing there like two wooden figures, he became anxious: "We're all family. Why are you being so polite with me? Just make yourselves at home and come in and sit down!"
"Brother Chen, we'll only be here for a little while, so don't bother with all this," Baoyu said with a smile.
Chen Tongsheng frowned, just about to prepare tea and snacks, "Since you're already here, why only stay a little while?"
Zhou Chenyu hid under the eaves, petted the big black dog, and explained to him in detail the purpose of her visit.
Chen Tongsheng took out a cloth to wipe the sweat from his neck, and looked troubled. "It's such a holiday, it's not appropriate for me to go over and freeload a meal."
Baoyu was displeased. "Brother Tongsheng, what's wrong with it? It's just one more person and one more pair of chopsticks. It'll be more lively when everyone gets together."
“That’s right.” Zhou Chenyu checked the time. “We’ve delivered the message, haven’t we? This is the old lady’s order: if we don’t see you tomorrow, my brother and I will come to find you in person.”
Hearing these threatening words, Chen Tongsheng shook his head and laughed, "Go, go, go, I'll go, okay? You all don't mind me, I'm going to eat my fill."
After delivering the message, Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu headed into the city. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the streets were even more bustling than the day before.
After buying the items Li Xiuju specified, they went into a noodle shop to fill their stomachs. Unexpectedly, they ran into Hongmei and her son, Huzi and his mother, who were also looking for food.
They were all neighbors who knew each other, and a few of them hit it off immediately and sat down at a table, chatting and laughing, having a great time.
After they finished eating and rested for a while, they followed Hongmei and Huzi's mother and bought some pastries that they couldn't usually get. They filled a whole basket before they showed any intention of going home.
With someone traveling with him, Zhou Chenyu felt relieved and patted him on the shoulder, "I still have some things to take care of. You and Sister Hongmei go back first."
Baoyu frowned and asked, "Sister, if you're not going back, where are you going?"
"I'll return the items to their rightful owner and then come back, don't worry."
Zhou Chenyu brandished the kitchen knife she had been carrying all the way, blended into the crowd of shoppers, went back to the store where she had bought mooncakes, bought two tubes of mooncakes, wrapped them up, and headed towards Old Zhang's house.
Zhou Chenyu had only been to Old Zhang's house once. On the way, she wandered through streets and alleys, and after a few dead ends, she saw a tree branch leaning over the wall, which brought back some memories. Only then did she slowly find her way to Old Zhang's house.
"Uncle Zhang, are you home?" Zhou Chenyu knocked on the door from outside.
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