The red bean and jujube flavored rice dumpling was actually a little too sweet for the Fourth Prince, but after he finished eating the whole dumpling, he found that it wasn't as cloying as he had imagined.
Fourth Master slowly finished a red bean and jujube rice dumpling. When he looked up, his mother and her two children were looking at him expectantly. Fourth Master felt a slight throbbing in his chest and a warm current flowed through him.
Before he could say anything, Li Chenjiao, who was sitting next to him, suddenly poured a cup of warm tea and served it to him. She hadn't expected that Fourth Master would eat the whole zongzi in one go.
There are still two more zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) made by the children. Even if we disregard the possibility that Fourth Master might eat the same ones, and even if he eats the ones made by the two children, there are still two zongzi left...
Pressing Li Chenjiao's stomach with both hands, she was already half full after eating three zongzi. She would be completely full after drinking about half a bowl of soup.
Fourth Master has a better appetite than Li Chenjiao, but even he would probably struggle to finish three zongzi.
After taking a couple of sips, the two children beside him were already urging him to continue picking out zongzi.
Fourth Master then started picking through the pile of less attractively wrapped zongzi.
Li Chenjiao sat on the side, watching Fourth Master pick up one without saying a word. Only after Fourth Master picked it up did she reach out and pick up another one from next to the one he had just taken.
"How about your mother peels one for you?"
Fourth Master noticed Li Chenjiao's actions, glanced at the plate of rice dumplings again, and when he looked away, a hint of a smile inevitably appeared in his eyes.
The Fourth Master received a fresh meat zongzi this time, but since he had just eaten a sweet one, eating a fresh meat zongzi now felt a bit off.
He took a bite, then suddenly remembered something and reached out to hand the tightly wrapped rice dumpling, with only half of its tip showing, to Li Chenjiao.
Li Chenjiao had just finished peeling the zongzi and used chopsticks to cut it in half for the children to try. She had peeled a plain white zongzi, which had nothing inside, but the two children still ate it with great relish.
As Li Chenjiao turned around, she bumped into the zongzi that Fourth Master was offering to her. Li Chenjiao wasn't used to eating meat zongzi, so she only frowned slightly, took a small bite, and then refused to eat any more.
Fourth Master raised an eyebrow slightly, not angry, and withdrew his hand to eat it himself.
In his eyes, Li Chenjiao was a big eater, but that's true. Being a big eater doesn't mean you like to eat everything, and that's not hard to understand.
For Li Chenjiao, zongzi is inherently sweet, and if it is mixed with fresh meat, cured meat or egg yolk, then the taste of the zongzi itself is not pure.
Li Chenjiao has never really liked eating meat-filled rice dumplings since she was a child, but that doesn't mean she can't eat them.
I can eat it, but I don't like it.
The two children quickly finished the white rice dumpling. Fourth Master pondered, "The white rice dumpling was wrapped by Aman, and the meat rice dumpling was wrapped by Wanwan?"
The little girl's eyes lit up with joy: "Father is so amazing, he guessed everything correctly!"
The little girl was afraid that the flavor of the rice dumpling would be mixed, so she didn't add anything extra. But if you look closely, you'll see that the white rice dumpling is wrapped in a very cute shape, small and delicate.
The one that was wrapped by Wanwan was a bit rougher; Fourth Master didn't even need scissors, he just pulled the thin rope off with a flick of his hand.
Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the Fourth Prince ate all sorts of novel and fancy zongzi in the palace. For him, the taste was no longer important. No matter how many delicacies there were, they could not compare to the plate of different-looking zongzi in front of him.
Just by looking into the eyes of the mother and her two children, the Fourth Master seemed to feel a sense of satisfaction.
Li Chenjiao had a poor appetite and could barely eat two or three zongzi. The two children shared a plain zongzi and a meat zongzi. The second princess didn't like it very much. Halfway through her meal, she glanced at her mother and father across from her and silently gave the zongzi to her younger brother.
The Fourth Prince didn't even look up, silently shoveling the meat-filled rice dumpling into his bowl, and then doing the same thing to the Second Princess, shoveling the red bean and jujube rice dumpling into her small bowl.
How big could the two children's appetites be? The Fourth Prince was the first to finish eating, but he didn't put down his chopsticks right away. Instead, he waited out of the corner of his eye until his sister put down her chopsticks before putting them down himself.
Li Chenjiao ate some other things as well. Seeing that the two children seemed to have eaten their fill, Li Chenjiao and the Fourth Master exchanged a glance before waving their hands to let the nannies take the two children away first.
Oh, just before leaving, the siblings suddenly stopped behind the screen.
The siblings turned around together and asked in unison, "When is Father coming back?"
The siblings haven't forgotten about this incident.
Fourth Master was taken aback, while Li Chenjiao beside him smiled helplessly and didn't say anything.
Fourth Master pondered for a while, but still couldn't give the two children a definite answer: "Father will return when the lotus flowers bloom."
This is a somewhat vague statement; the lotus flowers bloom in June, and they also bloom in July.
Li Chenjiao saw through it but didn't say anything. She thought to herself that the two children would probably interpret Fourth Master's words as meaning that he would return when the first lotus flower bloomed. Hmph...
Li Chenjiao wondered how Fourth Master would handle the situation.
Having received the answer, the two children happily left.
Only Li Chenjiao and Fourth Master remained in the flower hall. Li Chenjiao suddenly felt thirsty: "Go and get some plum juice..."
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince frowned slightly and subconsciously asked, "The wine that Lady Niohuru sent last time..."
Li Chenjiao was taken aback by what the Fourth Master said, followed by a feeling of guilt.
She had already finished the plum wine that Lady Niohuru had sent last time; it tasted really good.
Plum wine and green plum drink don't sound like they have the same name at all.
Li Chenjiao twitched her lips, waved for Qiu Hu to fetch it, and patiently explained to Fourth Master, "It's an iced drink brewed in the small kitchen, it's for drinking, there's no wine in it."
She avoided Niohuru Gege. She vaguely sensed the Fourth Prince's hidden hostility when he mentioned Niohuru, which was rather strange. What hostility could the Fourth Prince possibly have towards Niohuru?
According to the storybook, shouldn't it be that she and Niohuru were hostile to each other?
Li Chenjiao couldn't figure it out at first, so she simply stopped thinking about it.
After hearing Li Chenjiao's explanation, Fourth Master's expression clearly softened. He slightly raised his chin and said, "Then have someone bring it up."
Li Chenjiao rolled her eyes at the Fourth Prince after hearing this: "I have already sent someone to bring it over."
Fourth Master didn't say anything about acting on his own initiative at this moment, he just touched his nose.
Just now, Old Li and Chen Jiao mentioned something about green plum drink. It's likely that only the word "green plum" reached Fourth Master's ears. Fourth Master's question just now can be said to have been out of instinct.
After asking the question, Fourth Master himself felt it was inappropriate. He touched his nose and changed the subject, saying, "Did you and the children enjoy the zongzi today?"
Eat well...
Li Chenjiao blinked, suppressing a laugh: "Yes, yes, Aman and I really did eat well..."
Well, what Fourth Master meant to say was that Li Chenjiao and the children had put in a lot of effort to make the dumplings well, but I don't know what he was thinking to say that the food was good...
Li Chenjiao silently suppressed a laugh.
Even the Fourth Master couldn't help but chuckle as he reflected on it.
This made Li Chenjiao even less afraid of the Fourth Master.
Li Chenjiao only managed to stop laughing when the plum drink was served.
Fourth Master coughed twice, regaining his composure.
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