40 White Pepper Pork Tripe and Chicken Stew
◎The real matchmaker appears◎
Jiang Qinglan had just opened the curtain when he saw a tall figure standing in the room.
She wore an indigo round-necked, wide-sleeved gown, and a cluster of jasmine flowers with green leaves were inserted on the jade crown.
He must have come in the rain, and there was still some moisture on his temples, giving him a somewhat elegant look like the rustling of bamboo in the drizzle.
Jiang Qinglan's heart stagnated.
After a brief hesitation, she perked up and put on a polite smile: "What a rare guest, Mr. Lu, what would you like to eat?"
Lu Fei looked at it carefully.
She wore a lotus-colored short shirt and a matching apron over a three-pleated skirt of sky-blue.
A pink dress pulled her sleeves up high from behind her neck, revealing her snow-white arms. She also wore a lotus-colored headscarf on her head.
She had taken off all her hairpins and jewelry, not even a single earring, and looked like a cook's maid.
But she had a smile on her face again, and seemed very satisfied with her life.
Lu Fei had mixed feelings in his heart, and he didn't know whether he felt more distressed or relieved.
After a long moment, he lowered his eyes, pursed his lips and said, "I'm here to return this." He handed over an envelope.
Jiang Qinglan took it and looked at it: the banknote was for 2,500 taels! It turned out that Lu Fei had come to return her dowry.
On the day she first arrived, Old Madam Lu chased her and her sisters out of the house. She mentioned her dowry, but Old Madam Lu was vague, saying it had all been spent on ginseng and other things.
That day, in Jiangmi Lane, Lu Fei mentioned that the Lu family was in trouble and hadn't come out yet. She knew then that the dowry was to fill the hole in the Lu family.
Based on her later inquiries into Lu Fei's character, she knew he would definitely pay it back. However, she didn't expect it to be so soon.
Holding these banknotes, she thought with some sadness: If only she could get this money sooner, she could buy the Jiang family's old house. How happy Tuantuan would be...
Wait, two thousand five hundred taels?! She sensed something was wrong.
In the past, she had carefully checked and found that Jiang Yuan might have intended to die long ago, and the Jiang family had almost spent all their wealth to buy this dowry for the original body.
Converted into silver, it's about 1,500 taels...
So... the extra ones?
"Mr. Lu, there is no need to lie to me." Jiang Qinglan smiled and handed back a silver note worth one thousand taels.
"Now, I'm a businessman, and I know how to calculate money very well. I can't accept a penny less, and I can't accept a penny more either."
Lu Fei stared at her for a while, refusing to take the banknote. After a moment of silence, he said insincerely:
"Since we last met, I haven't heard of your recent situation. After asking around, I learned that you've opened a shop here. How have you been these days?"
His eyes were like deep pools, half affectionate and half bitter.
Jiang Qinglan suddenly rushed in, and if he wasn't careful, he would be addicted to it and unable to extricate himself.
By this time, she believed that he also loved the original body deeply. Unfortunately, the original body was dead, and the mistakes he made could no longer be undone.
Suppressing her chaotic thoughts, she smiled brightly, revealing her snow-white, sticky teeth: "Very good."
Because she was speaking the truth, her smile was quite touching. She looked around the restaurant and said contentedly, "This is my ideal life."
Lu Fei also tilted his head and slowly followed her gaze:
On the counter, there is a smiling lucky cat; several pots of jasmine flowers exude a rich fragrance...
Just at this moment, a little girl of eight or nine years old popped her head out from behind the store door.
She held a covered earthen bowl in her hand and said timidly, "Mrs. Jiang—"
Jiang Qinglan waved at her and said with a friendly smile, "Sister Chun is here. Would you like to buy some pork and carrot porridge?"
She nodded at Lu Fei again and said, "We still need to clarify the matter of the banknotes. Mr. Lu, please sit down and relax. I will be back soon."
After saying that, she took the earthen bowl from Chunjie'er's hand, and then took the little man's hand, carefully stepped over the wooden threshold, led the man to sit on the wide bench, and then went to the back kitchen.
This Chun Jie'er is the eldest daughter of the He family opposite the Baji Bridge.
The He couple sells some small items such as needles and thread.
After closing his stall, He Langjun would go to places like Zhongwa and Xihu to help out at tea shops, selling tea along the streets. Sometimes he would stay up all night, and the work was very tiring.
They set up a stall at noon and were too busy to handle it.
Chun Jieer came to Xinghua Restaurant to buy some porridge, went back to let her younger brothers and sisters eat it first, and then went to take the meal to her parents.
Jiang Qinglan came out of the kitchen carrying a bamboo basket and said with a smile:
"Chun Jie'er, be careful when you go up the Eight-Character Bridge. Don't fall. If the porridge spills, that's fine. We still have some. But if the earthen bowl breaks and you cut your hand, that's a big deal."
Chun Jie was used to doing rough work, so she didn't fall down just carrying a basket. She just stared with her black eyes wide open:
"Madam, can ten cents buy so many things?"
She poked it with her hand and found that the oil paper package was bulging and exuded the aroma of braised meat.
When Fang smelled it, she couldn't help but inhale.
Jiang Qinglan squatted down, his eyes level with the little girl, and said with a smile:
"Oh, thank you for that. We have some leftover braised chicken legs from yesterday in the restaurant, and we've put up a 'Braised Today' sign, so we'll have to braise them fresh today."
"What are we going to do with the rest? Your sister Tuantuan and the rest of us are going to eat so much that they're sick of it."
"We don't have pigs at home, we only have a few chickens. We can't let the chickens eat the meat, right? That would be against the will of Heaven."
"It just so happens that you're the first customer to come in at noon, so I'm giving them to you. Five of them, one each for your father, your mother, you, your second sister, and your youngest brother."
Speaking of her younger brothers, she gave another serious instruction:
"Don't give yours to your brother. Tomorrow I'll test the taste of your chicken drumstick."
When Chun Jieer heard that it was chicken legs, her saliva was about to flow out, and she didn't understand what the word "Oh my God" meant.
After listening to her patiently, he nodded heavily and said, "Yes!" After thanking her, he grabbed the basket and ran away.
Jiang Qinglan followed her for two steps. Seeing her happily step onto the Eight-Character Bridge, her skeletal body feeling empty in the baggy clothes, he felt a little uneasy.
But she paused on the bridge and shouted, "Sister Jiang, I'll bring the basket back later!"
Under the autumn sun, the little girl smiled with her eyes curved.
Jiang Qinglan also smiled and shouted back, "No rush, any time is fine."
Only when she saw the man get off the bridge and enter the house did she feel relieved and go back into the house.
By the southeast window, a green figure sat alone, like reeds growing in a quiet lake and white birds flying over cold mountains, adding a bit of desolation to the vast desert.
Jiang Qinglan's smile froze: Oh, I forgot about this person!
I nodded to him and was about to go over when someone called out at the door: "Madam..."
She could only give a wry smile and said to Lu Fei, "Please wait a little longer, my dear!"
Lu Fei looked carefully. In addition to Chun Jie'er, there were three people who came to the house at noon to buy porridge, all of whom bought it to take home.
There were two other tables of people who ordered soup and stir-fried dishes and ate in the restaurant.
The people dining in the restaurant seemed to have great confidence in her cooking skills. After she introduced the dishes with a smile, they just told her to serve whatever was available.
Seeing her coming in and out, busying around, he thought to himself:
Business was so brisk even at noon, so how exhausted would she be at night? Could her hands, so accustomed to tuning instruments and spicing incense, handle so much work?
Jiang Qinglan welcomed and saw off guests, pocketed money, and even gave away chicken legs for charity. He felt very happy, but he didn't know that he would be pitied again.
Now, she finally has some free time.
He took his armband and apron, went to Lu Fei, and said politely as if he were talking to an ordinary friend:
"I'm really sorry. That's what running a shop is like. You never have time to relax."
She noticed that there was a bowl of drink on his table and thought to herself: Hui Niang is really thoughtful.
But she didn't know that the drink was brewed by Zhang Yue Niang.
Lu Fei observed Jiang Qinglan for a long time and had a lot to say.
Here, seeing her welcoming guests, serving dishes, and settling the bill with a sweet smile and tactful manner, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
After a long while, he sighed softly and said:
"You should accept this extra one thousand taels. I feel guilty towards you, and the Lu family has also let you down. This little money is nothing. In the future, if you need anything, as long as you ask, I will..."
"Mr. Lu—" Jiang Qinglan interrupted him, smiling and shaking his head.
She pushed the banknote firmly in front of him and said, "You still don't understand me. I will never accept this money."
Lu Fei felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if a sharp knife was piercing his flesh.
In the past, he understood her very well, but now, he really didn't understand her at all. However, this was his own fault and he deserved it.
After a long while, he finally said in a hoarse voice: "You...are not the same as before."
He was just sighing casually, but this simple sentence made Jiang Qinglan feel horrified.
One of the reasons why she had to keep a distance from Lu Fei was that, apart from Tuan Tuan, he was the person who was most familiar with her original body.
Tuan Tuan is young and easy to fool, but Lu Fei is a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination twice and was a palace examiner, so he can't be fooled.
What if she gets exposed? How will she explain it?
There was no explanation, and they thought she was a wandering ghost, so they either asked a witch or a Taoist priest to perform a ritual, or even burned her to death. What should they do?
She slowly put away her smile, suppressed her fear, and for the first time showed her fear in front of Lu Fei:
"The Jiang family has encountered such a great disaster. If I hadn't changed, how could I have survived until today?"
She raised her eyes and looked at him coldly, "I didn't know you would change, Mr. Lu."
Suddenly, Lu Fei's face turned pale, he looked like a deathly ashes, his body swayed slightly, and he seemed to be unable to stand.
After a while, he suppressed the fishy-sweet taste in his mouth and said with great difficulty: "You are right."
A draught occasionally blew through the hall, bringing a bone-chilling chill. It turned out that Zhang Yueniang was going to the front hall and had opened the curtains, letting in the wind.
Seeing the strange expressions on their faces, she shrank her head and retreated.
The goal was achieved. Seeing Lu Fei's miserable look, Jiang Qinglan forced a smile:
"Water has no fixed state, and people have no fixed shape. I know you have your difficulties. Now, we are both doing well, so you don't have to worry about it anymore."
Lu Fei's face was pale and he didn't comment.
He slowly took the banknote, shook his head, and asked in a low voice: "Will you marry again?"
Jiang Qinglan took a deep breath and said, "I'm determined to observe three years of mourning for my parents. As for what happens in the future, no one knows."
In fact, her intention in saying this to Lu Fei was the same as when she said this to Madam Sun - to ask him not to bother her for at least the next three years.
But when Lu Fei heard it, the meaning changed.
He thought that she was not interested in Xie Linchuan and used the excuse of mourning to reject him.
Lu Fei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, crossed his hands in a deep salute, and was about to leave.
"Mr. Lu—" Jiang Qinglan called out to him, "You came here in the rain. Why don't you have a bowl of white pepper pork tripe and old chicken stew to drive away the cold before you leave?"
Lu Fei turned his head, his eyes full of astonishment, and he seemed to be trying hard to hide his ecstasy.
Seeing his expression, Jiang Qinglan regretted it again——
Oh, she is a modern person who likes to be polite and courteous. Well, he must have misunderstood her again!
She had no choice but to make up for it, saying in a businesslike manner, "We have a new product on the market, and we're offering discounts to new customers. After the discount, it's one penny a bowl."
…
After Lu Fei left, Jiang Qinglan was in a good mood and held the banknote in his hand and looked at it again and again.
One thousand five hundred taels! That's a huge sum! I can even buy a house with it!
Zhang Yue Niang came to chat with her and asked who Lu Fei was, and she actually replied "an old friend".
Afterwards, she excitedly called Wang Huiniang to discuss with her how to spend the money.
In the past few months, they had made a lot of money from the shop. With this money, they could buy the land and the building of the Xinghua Restaurant.
She always felt that it was inconvenient to work in the restaurant during the day and return to Jiangmi Lane at night.
For example, if it rained heavily that day, they couldn't go to the restaurant and it couldn't open.
When winter comes and it snows, the wind blowing on your face feels like a knife. Who would want to go out?
She thought: first use the money to buy the two shops, then buy the vacant land behind the restaurant and build a yard for accommodation.
It would be better if business, accommodation, food and drink could be combined together.
Wang Hui Niang agreed with what she heard. The next day, she went out to inquire about the price of land and shops, and to find a foreman to repair the house.
Jiang Qinglan was not idle either.
Now that the weather is getting colder, the old stewed dishes, cold dishes, and iced drinks are no longer suitable. We need to switch to some autumn-appropriate dishes that moisten the lungs and warm the body.
Everyone in the Xinghua Restaurant was busy. Who could have imagined that there would be so many uninvited guests in the past two days?
That day, Jiang Qinglan was discussing the autumn menu with Zhang Yueniang when a gentle voice rang out: "Madam Jiang—"
She looked up.
A graceful girl stood in front of the store, with double buns, a turquoise short jacket, and a floral blue folded skirt, with a faint and appropriate smile on her face.
"My name is Suqin, and I work for Princess Anguo."
"The princess invites you, Madam Jiang, to come to her house for a chat."
Princess Anguo?
Jiang Qinglan was startled. Ever since she came here, she had always wanted to make a living in the market, not have anything to do with these noble ladies.
For this purpose, she has deliberately controlled the scale of the Xinghua Restaurant until now, and the food she serves is suitable for the tastes of ordinary people.
According to her plan, when her business grows bigger, she will retreat behind the scenes.
Now, how did Princess Anguo know her?
As far as she knew, Princess Anguo was the only elder sister of the current emperor.
Back then, while the late emperor was away on military campaigns, the Southern Tang took advantage of the situation and advanced on Lin'an. The pregnant empress led the concubines to flee to the Western Mountains. While the palace maids panicked, the seven-year-old princess remained unfazed, earning her a reputation as a legend.
After Emperor Chengping ascended the throne, he relied heavily on his elder sister and even allowed her to participate in political affairs in his early years.
Such a wise princess has nothing to do with her, so why would she meet her?
Suppressing her chaotic thoughts, she asked Suqin:
"I am terrified to be summoned by the Princess. I dare to ask you, sister, why did the Princess summon you?"
Suqin smiled and said, "It's nothing serious."
"The princess has been enjoying tea lately. She's had the matcha taro milk you make and wants to try it herself."
"But it never worked, so I thought I'd invite the tea maker to my house to ask for the secret."
After that, she presented two bags of silver:
"The princess specifically instructed that if my wife goes with us, the store will be closed."
"Here are two bags of silver. One is for my wife's travel expenses, and the other is to compensate for the loss of closing the shop today."
Seeing her humble attitude and kind tone, Jiang Qinglan felt a little relieved.
As for learning how to make tea, sometimes rich and idle people have the leisure time to do so.
Moreover, according to the maid, the eldest princess was a kind person who cared about her servants.
At first, when someone from the Prince of Dongping's palace came to invite her, she refused because of their arrogant attitude and the fact that they wanted her to be a cook and live in the palace all day.
This time, I'm just going there for a visit, not staying in the princess's mansion permanently.
Moreover, she vaguely heard that the eldest princess spoke on behalf of the Jiang family after the Jiang couple passed away.
Now, the noble person has come to invite her personally, but she still refuses to go. Isn't that ungrateful and ungrateful?
After thinking about it, she agreed and apologized to Suqin: "Sister, please wait a moment. I will change my clothes."
But he refused to accept the two bags of silver.
…
The carriage at the Princess's Mansion was extremely spacious.
The inner walls were vermilion, adorned with gilded bronze clouds, phoenixes, and flowers. Pearl curtains hung down from all sides, and white vines were adorned with flowers.
The small table is filled with flowers, fruits, candied fruits and snacks...
It was the first time for Jiang Qinglan to deal with the upper class of feudal society.
While marveling at the luxurious carriage, she also pondered over how she should walk, how she should bow, and how she should speak, which made her feel anxious.
However, I later realized that her worries were unnecessary.
Arriving at the Princess's residence, they walked among the flowers and willows, and through the winding corridors, until they entered a quiet place, where they saw a middle-aged woman sitting upright on a brocade stool in front of the window.
She wore a wide-sleeved jacket of clear blue Wu silk and a three-pleated skirt of platycodon purple Shu brocade. A crown of floribunda flowers towered over her head, covered by a green veil that reached down to her shoulders.
The two golden hairpins extending from her temples, one on the left and one on the right, shone brightly, making her look even more elegant and noble.
Seeing someone coming, she slowly tilted her head and smiled.
Jiang Qinglan was distracted for a moment, and suddenly remembered a few lines of poetry:
“What a magnificent and elegant figure! He is unique and outstanding in the world. He is gentle and tender in the world, yet carries a lofty aspiration in the sky.”[1]
Just as she was about to kneel, the eldest princess came forward and lightly supported her arm: "I heard that your waist was injured, and it hurts when you bend over. Let's forget about the formalities."
After saying that, he motioned for her to sit in the armchair next to him.
Jiang Qinglan was suspicious. She had injured her waist? How could she not know about it? Where did the princess hear about it?
But sitting is better than kneeling.
Besides, she is a modern person. Except for being naughty as a child and being punished by her parents to kneel, she has never kneeled before anyone else.
At that moment, the eldest princess said so, why should she be ungrateful? She didn't dwell on it anymore and sat down on the chair generously.
The eldest princess smiled and began to ask her how to make matcha taro milk.
Ah, speaking of this, Jiang Qinglan had a lot to say:
"Matcha powder is good, and milk is readily available, but the taro paste needs to be made fresh, and the blending of the three ingredients also needs to be controlled..."
The maidservants were clever and had brought up milk, powdered sugar, steamed taro paste, and other items early. Cups, plates, bowls, spoons, and chopsticks of all kinds filled the table.
Jiang Qinglan spoke and did it, smiling and laughing. How to pound the taro paste, how to add purple potato powder to color it...
The eldest princess listened carefully and asked questions from time to time.
At last, as the light of day grew dim, she concluded, "I think this is much easier than making tea in the palace."
Jiang Qinglan smiled and said, "Your Highness is absolutely right!"
Making tea requires roasting, grinding, and whisking. It is elegant, but once you make one cup, the tea leaves are gone.
"Our small shop is full of vulgar habits of ordinary people. So we thought, let's keep it simple."
The eldest princess shook her head slightly, and her flower crown trembled slightly.
"As for you, I know you're not a common merchant or a vulgar person."
Jiang Qinglan's heart trembled.
She just doubted that it was a bit strange for a princess to invite a merchant woman into her house for no reason and teach her how to make tea.
Do you really have other intentions?
Now, is it about her father?
Sure enough, the eldest princess said:
"Madam Jiang, you are the daughter of Jiang Yuan. You were once a beautiful girl from a prominent family, a daughter of a wealthy family. Now you have fallen into poverty and your life has been turned upside down. Have you ever blamed the emperor or your father?"
Immediately, a huge wave of emotion rose in Jiang Qinglan's heart.
How should she answer this? Blame it? Thunder, lightning, rain, and dew are all the grace of the emperor. How could she dare to blame it? To say she didn't blame it would seem too fake.
Why did the princess say that?
Jiang Yuan had originally been smitten because she denounced the strategy of "emphasizing culture over military power." Could it be that the court was making some new moves? Was someone trying to exploit her father's death?
In just a short moment, several thoughts raced through her mind, and she suddenly knelt down and bowed deeply:
"I heard that Your Highness has taken great care of the Jiang family after my parents passed away. I am deeply grateful."
The eldest princess smiled and shook her head: "I didn't do anything, it's just that some people are anxious."
But he didn't ask her to stand up, meaning he was waiting for her to speak again.
Jiang Qinglan then said, "What Your Highness just said is a major matter of the imperial court, which I do not understand."
"But I know that the peace and prosperity of the world today, and the grace bestowed upon the world, are all due to the emperor. He is a man of great accomplishments, and he has his own strategies, but also his own reasons."
“And the commoner girl’s father was a scholar, with his own character and what he insisted on upholding: ‘to establish a mind for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages, and to bring peace to the world for all eternity’[2].”
"This result now is my father's own choice."
"As for the common people—"
"Before he sacrificed his life for justice, my father entrusted me to someone else instead of giving me a piece of silk. This was because he wanted me to live well."
"As his daughter, I cannot let him down. Even if I have to part ways with that family for various reasons, I must live my own sincere and wonderful life."
"The official, my father, and I are all right. We are just doing our duty."
In fact, what Jiang Qinglan said was Hegel's classic tragic ethics: the confrontation between two one-sided ethics.
Basically, from your perspective, you're right; from my perspective, you're right too. But tragedy strikes.
In her past life, she had studied a lot of Western literary theories. She never expected that they would still be useful today.
Sometimes birds would call for clear skies, and at dusk they would peek through the eaves and chatter, their chirping and chirping making the room seem even quieter.
The princess was silent for a long moment, pondering her words about "setting your mind and destiny" and "fulfilling your duty" before she said, "You are so young, yet so insightful."
No wonder he has such high aspirations and is determined to marry you.
However, she said the last sentence in her heart, and no one heard it except herself.
…
Since the beginning of autumn, there has been abundant rainfall, but the torrential downpours of summer have turned into continuous drizzle.
At dusk, when it was drizzling, Jiang Qinglan boarded a carriage and left Princess Anguo's mansion.
The princess looked out the window at the raindrops falling all over the sky and asked Suqin, "What do you think of Madam Jiang?"
Suqin said respectfully, "When I first met Madam Jiang, I just felt that she was quite kind. I can't say anything else."
The eldest princess was unusually talkative. "You haven't met her father. He's a corrupt scholar, always rigid in his words and deeds. He'd die if the emperor gave him even the slightest punishment."
She shook her head: "He actually gave birth to a daughter like Madam Jiang."
"What a good kid. Not only does he think clearly, but there's light and love in his eyes. People like him are so rare."
There was one more thing she hadn't said: Madam Jiang, she reminded her of Madam Xie when she was young.
——
The half-day trip to the Princess's Mansion didn't bring any changes to Jiang Qinglan's life. She was too busy now.
As the weather cools, summer braised and cold dishes become less popular and should be replaced with warming stews. The stove is no longer so hot, so stir-frying can be arranged.
For breakfast, Jiang Qinglan was still determined to sell porridge to save money, but he wanted to switch it to the fish and vegetable porridge.
As the saying goes, in autumn you should eat "three whites" and drink "three porridges".
Different places have different definitions for the "Three Whites," but they all refer to yam, pear, lotus root, white radish, and lily bulbs, the white seasonal vegetables of autumn.
"Three porridges" refers to the porridge made from them.
"Three white foods and three porridges" have the effects of moistening the lungs, nourishing the stomach, and enhancing immunity, and are suitable for autumn tonic.
Jiang Qinglan first ordered two kinds of porridge: yam, snow pear and red dates porridge and lotus root and pork ribs porridge.
One is sweet, the other is salty, one is sweet fruit porridge, and the other is meat porridge, so diners can choose.
The braised dishes and cold dishes in the evening are suitable for summer, so they are all removed.
The alternatives are light nourishing soups, such as: white pepper pork tripe stewed with old chicken, old duck soup, fish head and tofu stew, etc.
Add some stir-fried seasonal vegetables, such as spinach, okra, and lotus root.
When the ingredients are just right, we'll recommend a dish of the day, such as: steamed/braised/baked hairy crab, braised rice with matsutake mushrooms and ham, roasted lamb with cumin, firewood-cooked chicken and cowpea...
Isn’t it beautiful?
Autumn is really a season for foodies!
Drinks also need to be adjusted.
There is no need to buy ice anymore. Change the summer matcha style to the autumn sweet soup style and make some red date milk sago pudding, milk taro paste red bean soup, etc.
Then use slogans about beauty, skin care, lung moistening and health benefits.
With Zhang Yueniang's craftsmanship and Jiang Qinglan's modern marketing thinking, there is no need to worry about sales.
After careful discussion, Jiang and Zhang removed the bamboo signs for braised pig's trotters and hung up new names of dishes and drinks.
When she was first at the Jiang family, she was under Jiang Yuan's strict supervision, so Xu had already learned to read. So, when Jiang Qinglan wrote the banner for ice-cold lemonade, she tried her best to think and was able to read it.
However, Jiang Qinglan's educational philosophy was completely different from Jiang Yuan's. She believed that Tuantuan was still young and that it was most important for her to have a happy childhood, so she was a little lax about her literacy.
In the past few months, Tuantuan has become semi-illiterate again.
But when she saw the new menu, she couldn't help showing off and read out proudly:
"Big - beetle - insect -"
"Old-bird-soup-"
Hairy crabs. Duck soup.
Jiang Qinglan and Zhang Yueniang were both well-versed in literature and couldn't help but smile at each other after hearing this.
Seeing that Tuantuan was in high spirits, they didn't have the heart to discourage her.
At this moment, Hu Zi came back from Qingping Academy with his schoolbag.
Hearing this, he stood by the door and laughed so hard he fell over. "Big beetle! Old bird soup! Hahahaha! Jiang Tuantuan, you are truly the most educated person in the world!"
Tuantuan knew very well that he was mocking her, and her face instantly turned red with anger.
But after thinking about it, she also laughed out loud, scratching her face with her hand and said:
"My sister calls your mother Sister Hui, so what should you call her? And what should you call me? Good nephew, why don't you call me Auntie and let me hear it!"
In fact, they didn't distinguish between generations, calling each other sisters, brothers, and sisters randomly. Only at this time, Tuantuan liked to use this to make fun of Huzi.
Hu Zi immediately retorted, "Bah! River grouper, fathead fish, stupid and dumb. I'll go catch it from the river and fry it in oil later!"
Tuantuan was a bit of a double-faced person to begin with, and these days, she had been arguing with Huzi and had perfected her skills.
Hearing this, she not only did not get angry, but instead said in a servile manner: "Okay, okay, let's go fishing together!"
He chased Hu Zi like a dog chasing a rabbit.
Jiang Qinglan knew that Hu Zi was cautious and would not take Tuan Tuan to slack off. He smiled and watched the two children playing, thinking it was interesting.
Little did they know that just when they were relaxing, someone would suddenly become extremely anxious and their heart would jump out of their chest.
【Author’s words】
[1] Tao Yuanming, “Idle Feelings”.
[2] Zhang Zai, “Hengqu Qulu”.
[3] Zhou Bangyan’s “Su Mu Zha”: Birds call for clear skies, peeking through the eaves at dawn to chat.
It's so cold, I don't know when the harvest will come. [Please][Empty bowl]
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