We had originally planned to have only fish for dinner, but since it was my cousin’s first visit, the dishes couldn’t be too monotonous, so Meng Tao cooked eight dishes.

Boiled fish, stewed venison, braised rabbit meat, cured chicken stewed with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with green onions, garlic-stirred Chinese cabbage, smashed cucumber, and fish ball soup.

A combination of meat and vegetables, and some wine. There were several bottles of Wuliangye and Moutai in Director Shen's glass cabinet. Meng Tao did not touch his, and used a ceramic jar to fill the space with two kilograms of peach blossom wine.

There are a lot of peach blossom wine, chrysanthemum wine, and pear blossom wine in the space, ten ceramic jars of different sizes, weighing more than a thousand pounds. They were first soaked with high-proof rice wine from the Xingyang County Winery, and later more than twenty jars of high-proof liquor were imported from Y Province. Only a few of them were used, and the rest had to be used to soak until enough petals were collected.

In the morning, Meng Tao talked to Zhang Fu on the phone and asked him to put another batch of wine into the small warehouse. Since there was a lot of space, he could just store more for backup.

Meng Tao was thinking about selling the more than a thousand kilograms of brewed flower wine to exchange for money someday, so today when her family was having dinner, she took it out to try how it tasted.

When Shen Yu and the other two returned home, they saw a table full of food and wine and smelled the rich food aroma that filled the entire house. They suddenly felt even hungrier and could eat an entire cow.

Shen Yu took Meng Tao to introduce her to Xu Hengkai: "My wife, Meng Tao, also known as Taohua."

Xu Hengkai looked at Meng Tao and nodded: "I heard grandma call you Taotao, that's nice. I'm your eldest cousin, Xu Hengkai."

Meng Tao shouted, "Hello, cousin."

Xu Hengkai took out a small ball of cloth from his coat pocket. It looked like a blue plaid handkerchief and handed it to Meng Tao: "This is for you. A meeting gift."

Meng Tao: “…”

A man's handkerchief? She was too embarrassed to take it.

Shen Yu took it and opened it for her. It turned out to contain a pearl slightly larger than a longan. It was round and full, translucent, and exuded a charming faint halo. Meng Zhehan watched from the side and said, "This deep-sea pearl is at least several decades old. It is very rare."

Xu Hengkai said: "We came from the sea and encountered low tide. I stepped on a mother-of-pearl oyster and slipped. I smashed it open and picked up this."

Shen Yu gently placed the pearl in Meng Tao's palm.

Meng Tao held the beautiful pearl in her hands, and was amazed. What woman doesn't love pearls? Moreover, such a large natural deep-sea pearl will be very valuable in the future, and it will be even more prestigious to wear it as jewelry.

She said to Xu Hengkai sincerely: "Thank you, cousin, I like it very much!"

Xu Hengkai curled the corners of his lips: As long as you like it.

Meng Zhehan opened his black briefcase and said, "Sister, I have a gift for you too."

Meng Tao smiled and said, "No need, you've given me enough gifts."

"This is a wedding gift. It was prepared a long time ago. My brother just went back to the dormitory to get it."

Meng Zhehan handed Meng Tao a palm-sized wooden box. It was square in shape, with a simple and rough appearance. The wood was also jet black. It felt heavy in the hand. Meng Tao looked through it but didn't know how to open it.

Shen Yu told her: "This is called Lu Ban Box, it's not easy to open."

Meng Tao was surprised: "So this is the Luban Box? I've read about it in a book. It's a magical and interesting thing. I didn't expect that I have one."

He thanked Meng Zhehan again: "Thank you, brother."

"Do you like it?"

"Shall I teach you how to open it?"

"No, I want to keep it and study it slowly."

As they were talking, Director Shen came back. He was surprised and happy to see Xu Hengkai. After a few pleasantries, Shen Yu and Meng Tao set the table, served the soup, and asked everyone to wash their hands and sit down to eat dinner.

Director Shen picked up the soup bowl, drank a sip of the soup first, praised Dian Kuo, and took a bite of the fish ball. He narrowed his eyes immediately and said, "Tao Tao, did you make these fish balls yourself?"

"Yes, I learned it from Master Jiang and the others last time. Is it delicious?"

"Great! Fresh, chewy, and not at all fishy... Our Taotao is so smart. She can learn anything. She is truly a student who is better than her teacher!"

"Dad, if it's delicious, just eat more." Meng Tao reminded with a smile. Director Shen was busy tasting the food and making comments. Shen Yu, Xu Hengkai and Meng Zhehan all ate two bowls of fish ball soup without saying a word.

The cooked fish balls were as big as ping-pong balls. They ate them one at a time like rice dumplings. After they were finished, they served more. A large bowl of fish ball soup was filled to the bottom in a blink of an eye.

When Director Shen saw that his favorite fish balls were almost gone, he quickly took a soup spoon to fill the bowl and added two spoonfuls for Meng Tao.

Looking at the other pot of boiled fish fillets, it was also mostly empty. He laughed in his heart: Well, these are three hungry wolves, and he and his daughter-in-law are fighting for food from the wolves' mouths.

Xu Hengkai and Meng Zhehan were indeed very hungry. They were extremely nervous during the mission and had not had a single sip of hot soup for three days and three nights. They had to survive by eating some dry food. When they saw the table full of delicious food, they could still endure it, but when they tasted the delicious food, they really couldn't control themselves. What's more, the portions Meng Tao had made were big enough, so they had to fill their stomachs first.

At noon, Shen Yu and Meng Tao shared a bowl of egg fried rice and two bowls of noodles. There was meat sauce as a side dish, but later Meng Tao fed him a handful of cherries, which were sour and stimulated digestion, making him hungry.

Halfway through the meal, everyone felt full. Shen Yu opened the lid of the pottery jar, and a strange aroma of wine wafted out. Although Meng Zhehan was a knockout, it did not prevent him from identifying the aroma of the wine, and he praised: "Good wine!"

Shen Yu filled each person's glass with wine. The white porcelain cups were filled with light pink wine, which looked like amber and as translucent as crystal. It was very beautiful and attractive, and it had a profound and refreshing aroma. Everyone couldn't help but want to taste it immediately. They raised their glasses and clinked them together. Before Shen Yu could stop her, Meng Tao had already imitated Xu Hengkai and drank it all in one gulp.

Meng Zhehan laughed. How could he hold his sister back when she was so brave? He also finished it in one gulp.

Shen Yu can drink a lot, so he naturally won't fall behind.

Only Director Shen tasted it slowly and praised it: "The fragrance is far-reaching, mellow and sweet, and it goes down the throat smoothly and silkily. It's beautiful beyond words! What kind of wine is this?"

Xu Hengkai said, "It has a faint floral scent, is it apricot blossom wine?"

Meng Zhehan: "It's not apricot blossoms, it should be peach blossoms, peach blossom wine."

Meng Tao smiled and said, "It's not peach blossom wine. Peach blossom wine would have a stronger aroma. This is just ordinary peach blossom wine."

She was embarrassed to say that it was the peach blossom wine that she brewed with her crude technique. Fortunately, the peach blossoms grown in the space were close to fairy products and had spiritual energy nourishing them. Otherwise, if she had done it that way, the peach blossom wine would not have been brewed successfully.

This was also what she understood after she accidentally came across a book about wine brewing in the library and read it.

"If this wine is just average, then there will be no good wine in the world." Xu Hengkai picked up the pottery jar: "I have to drink a few more cups."

Meng Zhehan also moved his glass over: "Yes, it's good wine. I'm not drunk yet, you can continue."

(End of this chapter)