Seeing Yun Mo and Ling Chuan coming, Grandpa Luo stood up and greeted them with a smile, saying, "It's enough for you to just come. Why bring any gifts?"
Many guests had already arrived in the main hall, including men and women, old and young, all looking at the two curiously.
Yun Mo handed the gift in her hand to the nanny beside her generously, "It's just a small token of my respect, Uncle Luo, I wish you good health and a long life!"
After Yun Mo finished speaking, Ling Chuan also said a few words of birthday wishes, which made Uncle Luo so happy that his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Okay, okay, thank you. Please sit inside and have some tea and some snacks. We will have to wait a while before leaving."
"Um."
After sitting down, Yun Mo subconsciously observed and found that there were not many guests. They seemed to be relatives or close friends of Uncle Luo. Everyone was very kind and greeted the couple with a smile.
While they were talking and laughing, Xie Xia and a young boy came in, each carrying two bamboo baskets.
Uncle Luo saw it and couldn't help asking, "Bao'er, what are you and Dongdong carrying? Why is it so heavy?"
Xie Xia placed the bamboo basket in front of Uncle Luo and opened the lid of one of them.
Uncle Luo looked over and laughed heartily, "Hahaha, this is great, this is a good birthday gift."
Seeing how happy Mr. Luo was, others came forward curiously.
"Oh, it's a hairy crab!"
"With such a large size, one of them must weigh 5 or 6 taels, right?"
In this era, hairy crabs are not particularly rare, but they are generally eaten by rich people. Compared to hairy crabs, which are expensive and have only two taels of meat, poor people prefer chicken, duck, fish and pork, which can fill their stomachs and are nutritious.
However, supplies are relatively scarce now. Hairy crabs weighing 5 or 6 taels are top-grade ingredients, usually supplied to the rich and powerful in upper society. Ordinary citizens cannot buy them even if they have money.
At around 7:30, all the guests arrived and everyone went to the yard to take their seats.
There are three large round tables in total, and in the center of each table there is a large plate of red hairy crabs.
In addition to the hairy crabs, the other dishes on the table are equally delicious.
He has everything, including those that fly in the sky, run on the ground, and swim in the water. He is extremely wealthy.
Xie Xia and Yun Mo were arranged to sit at the same table, with Xie Xia sitting on the left of Yun Mo and Ling Chuan sitting on the right of Yun Mo.
Perhaps because she was afraid that Yun Mo would feel restrained, Xie Xia would greet her from time to time.
"Gastrodia elata soup is good. I specially asked someone to bring back wild Gastrodia elata from Yi City. It can calm the nerves and nourish the brain. I often use it to make tea at home."
After Yun Mo finished her soup, Xie Xia asked her again, "Do you want to eat hairy crabs?"
"Yeah, food."
Hearing Yun Mo's answer, Xie Xia reached out and took the largest hairy crab and placed it in front of her.
“Can you peel it?”
Yun Mo: "...Thank you, Sister Xia, I can do it myself."
In Yun Mo's impression, Xie Xia was aloof and cold. Unexpectedly, she also had a considerate side in private, which made her very flattered.
Perhaps noticing her discomfort, Xie Xia nodded slightly, "There are a lot of dishes. If you can't finish them, just throw them away. Eat more. Don't be restrained."
So you were afraid that she would feel embarrassed to eat?
Yun Mo smiled gratefully at the other party and said, "I won't be polite."
"That's good."
Xie Xia glanced at Ling Chuan on her right, "Take care of your people yourself. I'm going to go talk to my great uncle."
"good."
Seeing that other guests at the table had started eating hairy crabs, Yun Mo also picked up the one in front of her. Just as she was about to break off the crab legs, Ling Chuan suddenly reached out and took the hairy crab from her hand.
"Momo, let me help you peel it. The crab shell is hard and it's easy to scratch your hands."
Yun Mo looked at him and asked casually, "Can you peel a hairy crab?"
After she finished speaking, she realized that this sentence was not appropriate. Just as she was about to say something to remedy the situation, she heard the man reply: "I can peel it."
"We were so poor that we had nothing to eat. My brother and I often went to the small ditches in the countryside to catch crabs and river shrimps, but the crabs in the ditches were not this big."
"Can you touch it now? It's the kind of crab that lives in the ditch."
Seeing that she was interested, Ling Chuan hurriedly said, "If you want to eat, Zhou Xiaowei and I will go get some tomorrow."
Thinking that tomorrow is the weekend, Yun Mo said directly: "Let's go together tomorrow. I'll call Zeng Fang as well."
"good."
"Where are you going tomorrow?"
It happened that Xie Xia came back to her seat to eat, heard the conversation between the two, and asked casually.
"We plan to go to the ditch in the countryside to catch wild crabs and river shrimps. Sister Xia, do you want to go and relax?"
"Okay, what time?"
Yun Mo was just being polite, but she didn't expect Xie Xia to be so impolite.
"Nine o'clock."
"good."
The next day, Yun Mo had just returned home after walking Dabai and Erbai, when she found Xie Xia already at the door.
Seeing the two big geese in front of her, Xie Xia raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“You raise geese?”
"Yes, they are Dabai and Erbai." After introducing them, Yun Mo asked in surprise, "Sister Xia, why are you here so early?"
It's not even 8 o'clock yet.
Xie Xia patted her bag and said, "I was afraid that I would forget the time while doing the questions, so I came here early and do the questions at your house for a while, and then I will leave with you guys."
The most terrifying thing in the world is not that others are better than you, but that those who are better than you work harder than you.
Xie Xia belongs to the latter.
After entering the door, Xie Xia casually looked around the courtyard, with a look of appreciation on her face, "Your courtyard is very elegantly maintained."
"It's not well maintained. It's not as spacious and magnificent as Mr. Luo's yard. Sister Xia, have you had breakfast?"
"I've eaten. Just find a place for me to write the test paper."
Yun Mo pointed at the stone table, "Usually I'm either there or in the house, where do you like to be?"
Xie Xia thought for a moment and chose the stone table.
Hearing the two people talking, Ling Chuan came out of the kitchen and was not too surprised to see Xie Xia.
On the contrary, Xie Xia was a little surprised to see Ling Chuan, probably because she was surprised to see Ling Chuan wearing an apron and holding a spatula, looking like a househusband.
"Thank you, classmate. Welcome to my home."
Hearing Ling Chuan's greeting, Xie Xia nodded, "Hello, sorry to bother you."
Yun Mo hurriedly introduced them to the two of them.
After the introduction, Ling Chuan went back to the kitchen to continue making breakfast, while Yun Mo led Xie Xia to the stone table and then went into the kitchen to make tea.
"Momo, do you want to make breakfast for your classmate?"
"Do a little."
"good."
Xie Xia was a person with strong self-discipline. Even in an unfamiliar environment, she was not affected at all. She soon immersed herself in studying. She didn't even raise her head when Yun Mo put the tea in front of her.
Seeing this, Yun Mo didn't say anything to disturb her. She put the tea down and turned around to do her own thing.
Breakfast was ready quickly, mung bean porridge and scallion pancakes.
Lingchuan is very strong and the dough he kneads is strong and elastic. He uses a rolling pin to roll the dough into a thin sheet as thin as a piece of paper, applies oil on it, sprinkles it with chopped green onions, rolls it up, presses it into a round cake half a finger thick, and fryes it in a frying pan over low heat.
The fried scallion pancakes are golden in color and crispy layer by layer. They are cut into small triangular pieces with a knife. Just looking at them will make you salivate.
(End of this chapter)