After Gu Zhiyuan's move, Sun Zhou became much more obedient. He was afraid that Gu Zhiyuan would dig another pit for him, which would be terrible.
So he shut up and got to work. He not only cut open the snails' tails, but also washed the soaked smoked meat and smoked fish. After asking Xu Ningyan's request, he chopped them into small pieces.
Then, like a lackey, he peeled garlic and chopped chili peppers, emphasizing that he didn't consider himself an outsider and worked hard.
For dinner, Xu Ningyan cooked a pot of cured pork and potato rice, a stew of smoked pork and bamboo shoots, a steamed smoked fish, a big pot of spicy stir-fried snails, a stew of cured pork cheek skin and green broad beans, and served with two kinds of green vegetables.
Sun Zhou still had a conscience. He hadn't collected all those snails by himself, so he discussed with Xu Ningyan whether they could share half of them. He would take them back for his brothers to try after they finished eating.
Those brothers had long heard that Xu Ningyan's cooking skills were quite good, and they really wanted to go over for a meal, but Gu Zhiyuan refused them all.
In Gu Zhiyuan's words, with their bottomless appetites, even ten canteen chefs would be exhausted, let alone a little girl like Xu Ningyan. How could she possibly manage with just two hands? Don't even think about it!
Only Sun Zhou, with his thick skin, could occasionally freeload a meal. Every time he went back, he would boast about it. Sun Zhou had been punished several times for this, but he still enjoyed it.
Everything else aside, there was definitely too much of this spicy stir-fried snails. If the three of us finish it, we'll probably be spending all night in the toilet.
That's why Sun Zhou shamelessly made this request.
Xu Ningyan readily agreed, as making too much would be a waste if they couldn't finish it all.
Therefore, a large portion was separated and placed in a small steel pot to simmer, allowing the flavors to penetrate more thoroughly. In a while, Sun Zhou could take the pot and all.
Sun Zhou was probably really happy, with such good snacks to go with his drinks, and he downed half a bottle of baijiu by himself.
By the end, they were all a bit drunk, and one of them grabbed Gu Zhiyuan and exclaimed, "Old Gu, thanks to you, otherwise we don't know when we would have been able to complete this mission! We might have ended up spending half our lives in this small county! Even if we could go back to the capital, wouldn't it be a shame to return empty-handed and be talked about behind our backs?"
"We'll go back in style this time, and we'll be all high and mighty! Let's see what those bastards in the capital dare to say!"
"Old Gu, what level of merit do you think we'll get when we get back this time?"
"Old Gu, when you get back, your father and the rest of the family will probably be furious—"
...
Seeing that Sun Zhou was getting more and more incoherent, Gu Zhiyuan scooped him up and said, "You've had too much to drink. I'll take you home!"
As he spoke, he helped Sun Zhou up and started walking outside.
Sun Zhou was still struggling: "I'm not drunk! With these snails, I can still down another bottle, woof—" Then he stopped abruptly, lowered his head, and leaned on Gu Zhiyuan's shoulder without moving.
Xu Ningyan brought out the pot of spicy snails and, seeing this scene, swallowed hard: "Is Brother Sun alright? No, wait, is he still alive?"
Gu Zhiyuan smiled with a murderous look on his face: "It's okay, he's fine! Just give me the pot, I'll take him back first. Leave the table and dishes there, I'll clean them up when I get back. You've been busy all day, go boil some water and wash up first."
Xu Ningyan nodded, handed the pot to Gu Zhiyuan, and watched him carry the pot in one hand and Sun Zhou in the other as he walked outside.
Although that's what Gu Zhiyuan said, if it were before, Xu Ningyan would definitely have left it to Gu Zhiyuan to deal with when he came back.
But aren't they all leaving here to go back to the capital? Xu Ningyan felt embarrassed to just sit and wait for Gu Zhiyuan to clean up the mess.
I quickly tidied up the mess on the table, put the bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen, put some baking soda in the boiling water in the pot, washed them clean, drained the water, and put them in the cupboard.
All the snail shells in the yard were collected, and then dumped together with the kitchen garbage at the garbage dump at the entrance of the alley.
When I got back, I sprinkled the wood ash on the ground again, otherwise it would have a fishy smell and attract flies and mosquitoes in this weather.
By now, the bathwater was ready, and she lit a bundle of mugwort in the yard to repel mosquitoes.
As expected, when Gu Zhiyuan returns, he will probably have to explain the situation to her. There are a lot of mosquitoes tonight, and if she doesn't use mugwort to fumigate, she might get anemia from being bitten by mosquitoes.
Because Sun Zhou had drunk too much and couldn't ride his bike properly, and there was also a pot of spicy snails to eat, Gu Zhiyuan walked him there, working up a sweat in the process.
They thought someone would take Sun Zhou away, but instead a bunch of people rushed out, snatched the pot of snails from Gu Zhiyuan's hands, and then swarmed around to eat them, barely managing to fight.
No one cared about Sun Zhou at all.
Gu Zhiyuan tossed Sun Zhou onto the bed inside the house and didn't bother with him anymore. He gave a few instructions and headed home.
When I got home, I saw that the yard had been cleaned up and was still filled with the fragrance of burnt mugwort.
On the table was a plate of bright yellow loquats, two cups of tea, and a dish of dried fruit.
Xu Ningyan had already finished showering, changed into short-sleeved pajamas, and was sitting at the table, drying her hair with a towel.
Seeing Gu Zhiyuan return, he stood up: "Did you send it back?"
Gu Zhiyuan nodded. A gust of wind carried her fragrance over. Gu Zhiyuan, who had also shared a drink with Sun Zhou, couldn't help but feel a little restless upon smelling the fragrance.
However, after taking two steps closer, Xu Ningyan smelled the strong stench of alcohol on Gu Zhiyuan and couldn't help but cover her nose: "There's still some hot water. You should go take a shower and change your clothes. You smell terrible!"
Gu Zhiyuan smelled the odor on himself and couldn't help but frown.
In the southeast corner of the yard, a simple shower room was built, which makes it more convenient to shower in the summer.
Holding soap and carrying two buckets of water, she went into the bathroom. The room was filled with steam and the faint scent of Xu Ningyan lingered.
Gu Zhiyuan smiled wryly, looked down at himself, then composed himself, quickly took a shower, changed his clothes, and came out.
Xu Ningyan held a palm-leaf fan in her hand, slowly fanning herself, while her lackey lay beside her, nibbling on a bone.
When Gu Zhiyuan sat down and looked at the composed Xu Ningyan, he felt his throat go dry and suddenly didn't know what to say.
After a moment of silence, he picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and moistened his throat.
The tea was at the perfect temperature. After taking a sip, Gu Zhiyuan cleared his throat. "A-Ning, I was planning to explain everything to you tonight. I didn't mean to hide anything from you; I just wanted to give you a proper explanation. I didn't expect Sun Zhou to be so quick to speak—"
The more he talked, the more annoyed he became. Seeing that Xu Ningyan remained silent, he secretly made up his mind that he would definitely teach Sun Zhou a lesson when he got back.
He cleared his throat again, as if on cue: "I am indeed from the capital. I wasn't sent to Jingshan County because of my family background, but to investigate a spy case. To avoid suspicion, I was sent to Jingshan County as a member of the 'Five Black Categories'..."
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