Zheng Ren and Xue Zhi were eating in the main hall.
In order to avoid suspicion, Zheng Xiu ate in the east room with Zheng Yu and Xue Shao.
Zheng Xiu prepared dinner with ingredients from the end of the year, which was very rich. She also prepared a plate of pig ears for them to eat with wine.
In the east room, the three of them finished their meal quickly. The two adults in the main hall in front were still chatting happily, drinking one cup after another.
Zheng Xiu did not rush them, and washed the dishes for herself and the two children first.
Xue Shao felt a little itchy, but was too embarrassed to say it, so he scratched his back from time to time.
Seeing this, Zheng Xiu said, "They still have food to eat, why don't we take a hot bath to relax."
Zheng Yu liked taking a bath, especially in winter. It was so comfortable to take a hot bath and then lie on the kang. She immediately expressed her desire to take a bath with Xue Shao. There
was already hot water in the stove, but it was not enough for a bath, so Zheng Xiu went to the well to fetch water.
Zheng Ren and Xue Zhi were drunk and asked about it when they saw her coming out of the house to the yard.
Zheng Xiu said, "The two children said they were itchy, so I boiled water for them to take a bath."
Xue Zhi immediately stood up and said, "Let me do this rough work."
Then he went to the well to fetch two buckets of water.
The wooden barrels were what Zheng Xiu usually used at home. Normally, she could only carry half a barrel by herself. To heat a pot of bath water, she had to run three or four times. Xue Zhi carried two full barrels of water in his hands without any pressure. He walked briskly all the way to the stove room and poured the water into the pot. Then he brought in firewood from outside and even sat on the bench next to the stove, ready to help light the fire.
Zheng Xiu hurriedly said, "Xue Hunter, you don't have to be busy. You should go to the front and have a drink with your father. I'll be here."
Xue Zhi thought about it and realized that it was not good for him to be alone in a room with a girl, so he stood up and said, "Miss, just tell me if you have anything to do." Then he went back to the main room.
The big pot on the stove soon heated up.
Zheng Xiu scooped water into a bucket and was about to take it to the bathroom.
Xue Zhi seemed to have sensed it and came to help spontaneously. After asking where the bathroom was, he carried two buckets of hot water over.
Zheng Ren and Zheng Xiu were both embarrassed, but Xue Zhi said indifferently after he finished, "It's my son who is troubling you. This is the water he wants to use. It's my duty to help."
Zheng Xiu filled the bathtub with water and went to the house to call the two children into the bathroom.
The two children didn't let him watch them take a bath, and drove them out after they went in.
Zheng Xiu shook her head, smiled helplessly, and went back to the house.
After a while, the two children took a bath and returned to the house. The kang was very warm. They got on the bed in their middle clothes and talked together under the quilt.
Zheng Xiu took a big towel to wipe their hair.
As she wiped, she found that the two children began to talk incoherently. After a closer look, she found that although they were both sitting, their heads had already begun to move like chickens pecking at rice.
Zheng Xiu quickly dried their hair and then let them lie down in the quilt.
The two children fell asleep soon. The room was quiet and only their even breathing could be heard.
Zheng Ren and Xue Zhi were chatting happily in the main room, and their laughter could be heard from time to time.
Zheng Xiu had nothing to do and could not go to bed like the children, so she simply took out her needle and thread to do some work.
The piece of fiery red fox skin that Xue Zhi sent was not big, and it was definitely not enough to make clothes, but it could make two hand-muffs. Zheng Xiu measured the size, thinking that she could make one for her father, and then make a small one for each of the two children. However, she had no confidence in her needlework and did not dare to start rashly, so she took a pen and paper to draw a pattern first.
In fact, she was considered dexterous among girls in her previous life, and could also do some cross-stitching and weave a scarf. But such skills are not enough in this era, and ordinary women can make clothes with cloth. She fumbled for two years according to the clothing patterns, but the most she could do was sew a pair of socks and sew the edge of a handkerchief. It just so happened that her father and her brother liked the things she made, otherwise Zheng Yu would not have been so upset about the half-worn jacket.
When she finished drawing the pattern, it was already late, and Zheng Ren and Xue Zhi finally finished chatting and left the table.
Zheng Xiu went to the main room to see that the dishes on the table were almost finished, so she asked them if they wanted to have some more staple food.
Xue Zhi stood up and said, "No, it's getting late, so I won't bother you anymore."
Zheng Xiu pointed to the east room and said, "A Shao has already gone to bed. Why don't we let him stay here for the night and go home tomorrow?"
"Let him go home with me. He has been lazy recently and needs to get up early to practice tomorrow."
Zheng Xiu couldn't insist. She watched Xue Zhi go into the room, pick up Xue Shao, who was only wearing a shirt in his sleep, and cover him with a jacket. She was worried that Xue Shao would catch a cold, so she found his father's cotton cloak and covered Xue Shao's head with it.
Xue Zhi thanked him and went home with his son.
After seeing off the Xue family father and son, Zheng Xiu cleared the cups and plates while asking her father if he needed anything to eat. The food on the stove was still warm, and a bowl of noodles could be cooked very quickly.
Zheng Ren waved his hand and said, "No, no, leave it all there, I'll clear it up, you go to bed."
Zheng Xiu was already sleepy, but she still resisted the urge to sleep, cleared the table with her father, then went to the bathroom to wipe her body with hot water, and went back to bed.
The next morning, Zheng Xiu got up the earliest, and Zheng Yu got up soon after. Zheng Ren slept very deeply because he had drunk alcohol the night before.
Zheng Xiu asked her brother not to disturb him, and she took the fox skin, thinking of going to the town's embroidery house to see if she could get rid of the hand blockage in the days before the New Year.
Madam Su from the embroidery shop was familiar with Zheng Xiu. Zheng Xiu was pretty, but her embroidery was terrible. So she often visited places like the cloth decoration and embroidery shop.
When she saw the fiery red fox fur, Madam Su said in surprise, "I haven't seen such good material for some years." Then she carefully touched the shiny fur with her hands.
Zheng Xiu smiled and said, "It was given to me by someone else. The material is precious and I dare not make it myself, so I thought of asking you to help me make it."
Madam Su nodded and said, "I have a lot of work this year. With such good material, I will make it myself."
Madam Su is the owner of the embroidery shop. She is from Jiangnan and her embroidery is very beautiful. Zheng Xiu naturally wanted her very much. "I thought of making three hand covers, one big and two small. The big one is for my father and the small ones are for the two boys. The style should be simple and generous."
Madam Su thought it was a bit of a waste of material to use it to make hand covers, so she advised, "This piece of fur can also be used to make a shawl. Why not cut one? It will definitely look good on you."
Zheng Xiu waved her hands, "No, no, I don't go out all year round, it's a waste for me to do it. But the hand covers can be used frequently by my father and two children."
Mrs. Su said no more, and the two agreed on the wages and delivery time.
After finishing this matter, Zheng Xiu walked around the town, bought some meat and tofu, and went home. When she got home, she saw Xue Shao and Zheng Yu playing with wild rabbits in the yard.
Xue Zhi was an honest man. He said he would help the Zheng family repair the fence and prepared the tools the next day.
However, Xue Zhi was not at Zheng's house at the moment, so Xue Shao helped his father explain, "Dad was going to come here with me, but when I was about to leave, a very pretty aunt came home and said she had something to tell her. My dad asked me to come here first."
"A very pretty aunt?" Zheng Xiu couldn't help gossiping in her heart, and then teased him, "How pretty?"
Xue Shao pursed his lips and thought for a while, "She is very pretty. When that aunt arrived at our door, many passers-by were secretly staring at her." After hearing
this, Zheng Yu clapped his hands, stood up and said, "She is definitely not as pretty as my sister!"
Zheng Xiu patted her brother with amusement.
Xue Shao also nodded seriously and said, "It's true that I'm not as pretty as my sister."
Zheng Xiu couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, okay, I'm the prettiest, okay? I'm the prettiest in the whole town."
Zheng Yu and Xue Shao nodded together, looking very sure of her words.
What girl doesn't like to be praised for her beauty, especially when it's two children who are praising her sincerely? Zheng Xiu was in a good mood, rubbed her face and said, "You have such a sweet mouth, sister will make you delicious food."
Zheng Yu climbed up the pole and said, "Sister, I want to eat fried pork chops."
Fried pork chops were also made by Zheng Xiu according to her memory. She used thinly sliced pork, patted it with the back of a knife, marinated it with seasoning for a while, coated it with eggs and cornstarch, and fried it in a pan. After frying until golden brown, take it out and sprinkle with pepper and cumin.
This dish is time-consuming and laborious, and requires a lot of oil. Cumin and pepper are relatively expensive seasonings that ordinary people would not buy. Potatoes have not been introduced yet, so Zheng Xiu made her own cornstarch with corn flour and sweet potato flour. Zheng Xiu also tried to make it once because she suddenly felt hungry. There were no gas stoves or induction stoves in that era, and it was difficult to control the heat. Zheng Xiu was not successful the first time she made it, and the pork chops were a little burnt. Zheng Yu loved this dish very much, and he would pester his sister to make it for him from time to time.
However, fried food is not easy to digest, and children have weak spleen and stomach, so Zheng Xiu doesn't let him eat it often.
Now that the Chinese New Year is coming, she is in a good mood, so she agreed.
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