After cleaning up, Duan Tingxuan asked Duan Xinqi what happened, and saw that the second sister was very excited and spoke in a very orderly manner. The young marquis listened and watched carefully, and his heart was full of sighs. He sighed at his wife's wit and kindness, and sighed at the liveliness of the second sister now, who was not like the reserved and cowardly girl before. It can be said that this was all thanks to Nuannuan.
Just as he was sighing, Xiangyun brought in a little maid. When she saw Duan Tingxuan, she knelt down and kowtowed. Her cheeks were still red and swollen. Xiangyun said, "Our grandmother said that the grandfather said the other day that there were too few servants in Chunfeng Garden and that more people would be sent. This is the maid who serves the Second Madam. Her name is Xing'er. Because she did something that did not meet the Second Madam's wishes, she was beaten like this. Grandma said that since the Second Madam doesn't like her, she should be brought to Chunfeng Garden to serve. Please tell the grandfather and the second grandfather and let him explain to the Second Madam. Don't think that our grandmother is overbearing. This is all for the Second Madam's sake. The maid is easily angry when she is not satisfied."
Duan Tingxuan waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, your grandma is just a talker. It's not worth it to say so much about a little girl. Since the second house doesn't like it, if your grandma is satisfied, she can stay. If not, she can be sent back to the farm. It's not a big deal."
Xing'er kowtowed again quickly to express her gratitude. Xiangyun led her out with a smile. Duan Tingxuan frowned but didn't say much.
After a while, they could smell a burst of fragrance, and then Honglian came in and invited them to move to the dining room for dinner. Duan Xinqi smiled and said, "Sister Honglian, what delicious food did sister-in-law make again? It smells so delicious here, it seems to be dumplings stuffed with leeks, is it?"
"It's leeks, but not dumplings. You'll know when you go there, young lady. I can't explain it clearly at the moment." Honglian said with a smile, and led everyone to the dining room. There were four hot dishes and two cold dishes on the table. In the middle was a large plate with some fried golden food, but no one knew what it was. There was also a large bowl of Chinese cabbage, tofu and vermicelli soup.
Duan Xinqi smiled and said, "Sister-in-law always has something new to offer. What is this golden thing? Can leeks be fried like this? I've never heard of it."
Su Nuannuan asked everyone to sit down. She pulled Duan Xinqi to sit next to her, put an eggplant box in her bowl, and said with a smile: "Of course, leeks cannot be fried alone. This is fried with eggplant..."
Before he could finish, he heard the young marquis on the opposite side shouting, "Delicious, delicious, hiss... Nuannuan, what is this? Huh... It's so delicious... I think it's better than the leek dumplings we had that day... hiss..." But as he spoke, he gasped because of the heat.
Duan Tingfang hadn't even stretched out his chopsticks yet. As a result, he saw that the usually dignified elder brother had finished one in the blink of an eye, and he was still shouting and yelling, totally lacking the calmness of a prince. The young mind of Master Duan San was shocked again. He looked at Su Nuannuan with a complicated expression: What happened to the elder sister-in-law? Why did she completely change her temperament after waking up? That's fine, but why could she influence the elder brother and the second sister to completely change? Even if she is a vixen, she can't have this ability, right?
"Slow down, no one is competing with you for it. Aren't you embarrassed to be yelling and making a fuss?" Su Nuannuan threw a stack of thin paper over in a bad mood, but Duan Tingxuan ignored her and took another eggplant box. He smiled and said, "Who said no one is competing with me? You, the third brother, and the second sister, aren't you human? Fortunately, the greedy cat has no fighting power today, otherwise it would eat ten eggplant boxes. I told you to feed it more slowly on weekdays, feeding it fish, meat, sausages, ham and other different kinds of food, no wonder it got so fat in just a few days. Well, I am a dignified prince who works hard all day long, but I don't have this kind of blessing. A cat, who has no merit, is showing off in front of me."
As soon as he heard this, he knew that the young marquis had a deep grudge against Zhaocai, and his tone was full of envy and jealousy. Duan Tingfang and Duan Xinqi were stunned, and suddenly heard Su Nuannuan say: "Okay, hurry up and eat, your brother is a hungry wolf in this regard, if he likes it, he will really grab it all."
Duan Tingxuan finished another eggplant box and finally thought of his family. He tapped the bowl and asked, "Did the old lady send any over?"
Su Nuannuan was so angry that she laughed. She pointed her chopsticks at the greedy scumbag and almost poked his mouth with the chopsticks: "Eat yours. You are still thinking about so many people. If you want to be filial, give your share to your wife. I am not a god who can make this eggplant box out of thin air. It is no less laborious to mix the stuffing and cut the eggplant than to make dumplings, you know? It is good enough that we can make this much in a hurry. I only gave some to the old lady. The rest is on the table."
Duan Tingxuan smiled and said, "Madam, you have worked really hard. I will take a rest in two days. If you need any strenuous work, just let me do it."
"That's more like it." Su Nuannuan snorted coldly, turned around and asked Duan Xinqi, "Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious." The second girl nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "How did you make it? Sister-in-law, tell me, I'll learn a few tricks from you."
"This is called an eggplant box. The most important thing is to prepare the filling. The ingredients only need leeks and pork, and then season with salt. No other seasoning is needed, so as not to destroy the freshness of the leeks and the aroma of the pork. Cut the eggplant diagonally into thick slices, and then cut down the middle of each slice, but don't cut all the way through. After opening it, put the filling in it, and then roll the dough on the outside. The dough needs to be thicker so that it can be wrapped..."
Su Nuannuan taught Duan Xinqi the method of making eggplant boxes without reservation, and the little girl nodded continuously with a fascinated look on her face.
After the meal, Duan Tingfang and Duan Xinqi were about to leave. Su Nuannuan wanted to take a nap, so she didn't keep them. She walked them to the door and said to Duan Xinqi, "Today, time is tight, so I didn't fry many eggplant boxes. I didn't even take care of the madam, except for a plate sent to the old lady. I'll fry more in the evening and send them to my aunt to try, as a way to thank her for giving me such beautiful embroidered shoes."
Duan Ting said expressionlessly, "I dare not. The shoes were originally given to my sister-in-law by my aunt. If you give them back, she will be terrified again."
"We are family, what's there to be afraid of for a little food?" Su Nuannuan looked at Duan Tingfang, frowning slightly: "Third brother, do you usually speak in such a sarcastic tone? Change it in the future, this kind of words makes people want to beat you up, you know? This is because I have a good temper now, if you have the same temper as before, you will never be able to enter my door again in the future. I heard that you have to go to school on weekdays, and you have to be more careful and humble when speaking there, otherwise if you get beaten, your brother will be embarrassed to help you find a place, isn’t it a waste?"
The aloof and cold air that Duan Tingfang had just put on disappeared in the blink of an eye. He wanted to argue with her, but he didn't know where to start. When he looked again, Su Nuannuan had already turned around and went back to the house.
Duan Xinqi also pulled him away quickly. The Third Master was so depressed that he had no place to vent, so he said to his sister angrily: "Is this the good sister-in-law you mentioned? What's good about her? She said I was sarcastic, but how could I be sarcastic? She also said that she has a good temper. She led people to knock on Second Brother's door just for a cat. Is this called a good temper? If she had a good temper, then Madam and Madam Min would both be Bodhisattvas. Humph! She has no self-awareness at all."
After he finished speaking angrily, he heard a series of giggles next to him. Duan Tingfang looked at his sister in disbelief: "You...you're still laughing? I'm so mad at you and you're still laughing? Do you think it's fun to watch your brother get mad at you?"
Duan Xinqi quickly stopped smiling, but his eyes were still curved like crescents: "I just realized today that you look pretty good when you're angry, brother." Before Duan Tingfang could glare at him, he added seriously: "If brother feels that this is being bullied, I'd rather bear this kind of bullying every day than face the Madam and Madam Min who you call Buddha-like."
Duan Tingfang said angrily: "I... I was just making a metaphor. Don't I know that Madam doesn't like us? Madam Min even wants to trample us into the mud."
"Yes." Duan Xinqi put her hands behind her back, raised her pretty face and looked at the sunlight coming through the gaps between the leaves, and said softly: "It's okay for the madam, but Madam Min is the most hypocritical. She treats us like dirt bugs, but she pretends to care about us. Brother, don't you think that the eldest sister-in-law is the one who is really good to us now? I like listening to her talk, even if she just said something about you, I also like it. In fact, she is right. Auntie hopes that my brother will succeed, that you can make friends, and make a name for yourself in the future, but what do you do? You are just arrogant. Even if you have two so-called friends, they are just flatterers. They don't know your situation in the Marquis' Mansion. They only come for your identity as the son of the Marquis' Mansion. I don't believe that you don't know these things in your heart. Would you rather make friends with such despicable people..."
"That's enough." Duan Tingfang's face turned pale and he shouted. So Duan Xinqi stopped talking: this brother has always been sensitive and inferior, and she is cowardly. Even if she had these words in her heart before, she didn't dare to say them out loud. Now under the influence of her sister-in-law, she finally had the courage to make a small breakthrough. That's enough. How can her brother change the temper he has developed in the Marquis' Mansion for 18 years? It still needs to be done slowly. Today's performance in front of the sister-in-law is actually a good sign.
Thinking of this, Duan Xinqi quickly waved her hands and said, "Okay, okay, that's enough. But then again, brother, it seems like big brother is just..."
"What are you talking about?" Duan Tingfang glared. Seeing that his sister finally calmed down this time, he snorted coldly and walked back. At the same time, the thought that popped up in his mind was: Is it true that my elder brother said he would give me a good inkstone? Humph! What does it matter if it's true or not? A young master like him is just talking casually, and he will definitely forget it after the event. Duan Tingfang, Duan Tingfang, are you really thinking about his inkstone? Can you be a little more promising?
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