"Even if he doesn’t like you, you still have to pursue him! You can’t delay such matters, just stick to the tricks mother taught you, they will surely make him fall in line and prevent him for thinking twice!" Lady Ding’s tone was apparently lowered, appearing to apply some unsavory tactic.
The voices of the two people talking gradually faded away, suggesting that they had already gone indoors.
Only when they were completely inaudible, Ji Xinhe casually walked in, entered the courtyard and involuntarily glanced at the direction of the main house. She snickered quietly, she was quite interested to see how this play of Ji Xiulan would unfold!
"Xin He, Xiao Bei, you are back?" Upon seeing their return, Ji Dong hurriedly greeted them, taking the basket backpack from Ji Xinhe’s back. He was taken aback at the sight of a basket full of bamboo shoots, "You brought back bamboo shoots?"
Ji Xinhe’s thoughts calmed down, and her mood brightened. She went into the room following Ji Dong, saying with a smile, "Brother, you don’t know, these young bamboo shoots are tasty items. However, most people don’t know how to get rid of the inherent bitterness. Today, I dug up a lot of them in the mountains!"
"And how can you remove this bitterness from the bamboo shoots?" Ji Dong was naturally curious, he has been to the mountain countless times, what did he not know? But unexpectedly, his sister, every time she went up the mountain, managed to bring back something both too familiar yet surprisingly novel.
"If you boil the bamboo shoots in boiling water, or soak them in light salt water, you can remove the bitterness. Tonight, I’ll stir fry a bowl of bamboo shoots for you all to taste!"
"Great." Ji Dong’s eyes lit up, "No one in our village eats bamboo shoots, so no one digs them up from the back mountain. Now that we know how to cook them, we can eat well in the future."
"Not only will we eat well, if we pickle these bamboo shoots and sell them, it would be great. Pickled bamboo shoots taste even better than stir-fried bamboo shoots!" With that, Ji Xinhe picked up two bamboo shoots and went straight to the kitchen.
Ji Dong couldn’t help but laugh, his sister could think of anything as a means to make money.
Xiao Bei was excited and hurried to the kitchen to help.
Ji Xinhe boiled a pot of hot water first, soaked the cleaned and sliced bamboo shoots in it for a while, once sure the bitterness was removed, fished them out.
Then she took a piece of pork belly and cut it into thin slices.
She cooked a dish of stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots, the aroma of the bamboo shoots and the richness of the pork creating a tantalizing smell.
Xiao Bei, leaning on the stove, swallowed his saliva.
Ji Xinhe smiled, directly fed him a piece of bamboo shoots, "Tell me, is it good?"
Xiao Bei hesitated for a while then took a bite. The taste didn’t have a hint of bitterness. It was sweet and crunchy, very delicious.
Xiao Bei nodded repeatedly, "It’s delicious!"
Only then did Ji Xinhe smile, "Let’s start plating up the food, my soup will be ready soon. Go and call brother for dinner."
"Yes!" Xiao Bei, carrying a big bowl of stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots, ran out. As he ran he excitedly yelled, "Brother, brother, these bamboo shoots are really delicious!"
Ji Xinhe just smiled, after all, he was still a child.
After making a bowl of green vegetable and egg drop soup, she tidied up the pots and bowls, picked up the egg drop soup and prepared to go out.
The kitchen was a small room separately built next to the latrine. To get out, one had to pass through the courtyard and then enter the house. But just as she was leaving the kitchen, she detected some movement.
Ji Xinhe had always been alert, she immediately turned to look, but didn’t see anyone. She saw a small basket of chicken eggs at their courtyard gate.
Ji Xinhe was a little surprised and hesitated in her footsteps.
Xiao Bei ran up to Ji Xinhe, "Sister, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you going inside?"
Ji Xinhe pointed to the eggs, "Go and see what that is."
Xiao Bei scratched his head, also a bit puzzled. He ran over and picked up the basket of eggs, blinked in bafflement, "Who put these eggs here? Are they for us?"
"They are left at our gate, if not for us then who?" Ji Xinhe had just had Ji Dong erect a fence in front of their house, the eggs were placed beside that fence, it obviously couldn’t be for the main house.
Xiao Bei was puzzled, "Who gave us these eggs, and secretly left them here?"
Ji Xinhe also found it strange, but didn’t think much of it anymore, "Take it in first."
"Yes." Xiao Bei was just a kid after all, and easily forgetful. He was eager for his sister to come back quickly so they could eat together.
——
In the town.
The most popular restaurant was incessantly crowded with customers, creating a lively atmosphere.
At this time, one of the square tables was particularly uproarious.
"Gao Zhiru, you are really something, courting two girls from the same village at once. If it was me, I wouldn’t have your abilities!" The man had already gotten drunk, but seemed rather young, in his twenties. Despite wearing scholarly robes, he didn’t come across as a scholar. As he spoke, he let out a loud belch.
"What’s the big deal? They’re just two country girls. The day when I can make a rich lady from the town my own, that’s when I’ll have truly achieved something," Gao Zhiru laughed heartily, his face flushed, evidently feeling triumphant.
"Tsk, tsk, you say little about this, but look at how pleased you are. Don’t celebrate too soon, the provincial examination is in a few days. If you don’t pass, let’s see if those two country girls will still want you! Ahahahaha."
"Well, they’re just two naive country girls. I’m not afraid that they would look down on me. When the time comes, I’ll just make up some excuses to fool them and they will definitely continue to wait for me to pass the scholar examination!" Gao Zhiru downed a cup of wine, showing off arrogantly.
"Indeed, your ability to fabricate is impressive. All for a measly scholar rank, you make those country girls believe that you’re destined to be an official. It’s funny to see you acting like a petty trickster every day. Yet an official, ahahaha! But come to think of it, that Ji Xiulan, even though she’s a country girl, she holds herself like a lady. I haven’t had the chance to try out a genuine lady yet, Brother Gao, since you can’t get a real one, why not start with the fake one and see if her taste is any different from ordinary girls?" A man laughed lewdly.
Gao Zhiru scoffed coldly, full of disdain, "What lady, she’s all pretense. Up till now, she’s careful to not let me touch her, obviously on purpose to tease me. Her secret dealings with Porky behind my back..."
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