Aunt Taohua led Xiaohe, Baozhu, Qinglu and Xing'er to put the food on the table.
There are braised pork, braised fish, hot and sour cabbage, braised prawns, stir-fried mushrooms, fried eggplant, peanuts soaked in vinegar, dried tofu with chili peppers, yam and pork ribs soup, and red date chicken soup.
There was also eight-treasure rice and spring rolls, which was even more sumptuous than her farewell banquet.
The meal for Ling Yi and his friends was exactly the same as that for the old lady, except that the servants' meal was missing a few meat dishes.
It’s not that the old lady treated them harshly, but Aunt Taohua insisted that rules are rules and cannot be broken.
Besides, aren’t they the ones who deal with the leftover food from the host family?
If you make too much, you won’t be able to finish it, and it won’t taste good tomorrow.
The old lady thought about it and agreed.
Although Xiao He and the others felt sorry, they were also content. They excitedly set the table and went downstairs.
The Ling family does not need servants to serve them when they eat, they can eat the New Year’s Eve dinner in the big kitchen.
Everyone has been looking forward to this day for a long time.
Before being sold, I could only eat a little meat at home, but today I can eat as much meat as I want.
I can only say that the masters are generous.
The old lady looked at the lively scene and nudged the old man to ask him to say a few words.
The old man looked away from the braised prawns, thinking that he had been sidelined, so what else could he say.
But it was not good to offend the old lady, so he smiled and said: "Our Ling family has experienced from peak to trough this year, but we did not fall into despair. Instead, we worked together to overcome the difficulties.
Now, we have taken root in Qingshan Village. The eldest, second, and third children have their own livelihoods, and everything is thriving."
The old man didn't say that everything was thanks to his second grandson, for fear that the eldest and third sons would feel uncomfortable.
But how could Ling Weiyuan and Ling Weicun not know that all the money they had was earned thanks to the second son's daughter-in-law.
If it weren't for Chi Xingyue, they might not have been able to have such a delicious New Year's Eve dinner.
The old lady raised her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes and said with a smile: "Alright, let's eat. Eat as much as you can today, don't be polite!"
These words were said to Fu Huanping and others.
Everyone nodded and started eating only after the old man and the old lady started eating.
They ate and talked at the same time, without any airs of "don't talk while eating, don't talk while sleeping".
Fu Huanping ate the delicious braised pork and felt that the injury was not in vain.
In the kitchen, Xiao He and a few others were also chatting.
"I used to think being a slave was miserable. I was always beaten and scolded. My parents sold me, and I hated them so much.
Now that I have such a good life, I no longer hate it, and I am even a little grateful."
"If your parents come looking for you, will you still recognize them?"
Xiao He shook her head. "Those few taels of silver I earned from selling my body severed my relationship with my family. When we meet again, we'll just be strangers."
Now my life belongs to the Ling family. As long as the old lady doesn't drive me away, I will stay in Rongsiyuan for the rest of my life."
"Me too. My second young master's wife treats me very well. Not only does she give me delicious food, but she also cares about me and lets me boil fewer pots of water and sleep more."
Baozhu looked proud, and Chi Xingyue said that this was just her imagination and rumor. She never said that, but she did not treat Baozhu harshly.
Qinglu also said, “I really envy Sister Baozhu for being able to work in Qingfeng Courtyard.
I'm doing well in Tinglan Courtyard. There are not many people in the third room, so there's not much work to do on a daily basis.
Even if there are guests who come to stay occasionally, we have Sister Xiaohe and Sister Xing'er to help us, so life is still quite easy."
Xing'er had a mouthful of meat, and after swallowing it with great difficulty, she said, "There's less to do in Zhegui Courtyard.
Mr. and Mrs. Shu did whatever they could do on a daily basis, and I just cleaned and did the laundry.
Doctor Cheng cleans the east room himself and only occasionally calls me over to help grind some medicine powder.
I feel much more comfortable than when I was in Jiangning Prefecture."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was patted on the head by Aunt Taohua.
His voice was stern, but his eyes were doting: "Don't talk nonsense, just know it in your heart!"
Xing'er laughed and picked up a piece of braised pork for Aunt Taohua and another piece for Lanlan.
The little girl ate until her mouth was full of oil, and she even had time to thank him: "Thank you, Sister Xing'er, you eat too!"
Xing'er concentrated on eating and no longer joined in the maids' conversation.
Zhaocai, Shunzi and Qizi held back their laughter as they listened to them bragging, and they also felt in their hearts that the past six months had been completely different from what they had imagined.
Fortunately, they chose to follow Jinbao to Youzhou.
Fortunately, they did not covet the freedom promised by the butler and survived all kinds of natural disasters.
Fortunately, the family that bought them was the Ling family. They were brave and resourceful and made arrangements in advance. Even though they were exiled, they were not greatly affected and still had a place in Qingshan Village.
The servants chattered, but finished the New Year's Eve dinner very quickly.
Aunt Taohua led everyone to wash the dishes before returning to the house and standing by waiting.
The old lady was so engrossed in the gossip that she didn't even want to use her chopsticks anymore and just stared at Chi Xingyue.
Chi Xingyue bravely told the old lady a classic scene from an ancient Chinese novel, which made the old lady sigh and feel surprised at the same time, and she even forgot to eat.
After Chi Xingyue finished speaking, he suddenly realized that the table was empty.
Xiao He and the others brought the heated food to the table. The old lady quickly took a few bites and asked Chi Xingyue, "What happened next?"
"Later, there was no later. We came to Youzhou, and I don't know what happened to the Miss Xu and the scholar from the Wei family!"
The old lady tilted her head and asked Geng Suhua, "Have you heard of this?"
Geng Suhua shook her head, still wondering in her heart, she had been in Jiangning Prefecture for so many years, how come she didn't know that there was a family surnamed Xu in Tonghua Lane?
Chi Xingyue lowered his head and suppressed his laughter, not daring to say that he had made it up.
Ling Jiheng recognized it. Well, isn't this the ancient Chinese novel that Chi Xingyue listened to when she was bored in the space? It was even a strange novel.
Even Fu Huanping became curious and planned to wait until spring came and ask the merchants and escorts whether the Xu and Wei families had escaped the natural disaster and whether the marriage was cancelled because of the girl who sold herself in the street to bury her father.
The old lady coughed lightly and said, "Listen up, don't bring any women of unknown origin into your home from now on. Even if you cry poor and act pitiful, you're not allowed to do that!"
Chi Xingyue immediately raised his hand: "If it really doesn't work, let them sign a contract to sell themselves. With a contract, we can control it."
She had read novels in which many shameless and greedy young girls would take advantage of the rich families' desire for fame and face to force them to take them into their homes.
Afterwards, he looked for opportunities to cause trouble, turning the house upside down and even destroying the family.
It is not clear whether real life will be as tragic as in novels, but Chi Xingyue feels that setting rules in advance can avoid conflicts in the future.
Sure enough, this statement was unanimously agreed to by everyone. Although they didn't think it would happen, they nodded in agreement.
Unexpectedly, a few years later, someone actually knelt at the Ling family's door and begged for shelter. If they hadn't remembered Chi Xingyue's trick, they would have really let a wolf into their house.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
