The waiting days were always hard to bear. Fu Changfeng decided to continue to do a good job in the affairs of the county government. Now that it was winter, every household was staying at home to hibernate. Fu Changfeng thought about it and, following the advice of his grandfather, asked Taozi to go to other prefectures to see if there was a market for bamboo weaving.
At the same time, winter is also the season for digging bamboo shoots, and even Xichun's family buys fresh bamboo shoots.
"I'm getting tired of eating winter bamboo shoots these days. It would be great if there were some fresh ways to cook them." Qian Qiaoqiao came to visit that day, and Zhao Yuping's wife was also there. The group was chatting.
"Speaking of which, we do have a way of eating winter bamboo shoots where we live. We pickle them. They smell awful, but they taste delicious. I'll bring some over to try sometime. If you like them, I'll have my mom pickle some more."
Qian Qiaoqiao was making clothes for the children. Taozi reminded her to be respectful to the county magistrate's wife, but not to be too reserved. So she was preparing to make new clothes for Xuanxuan.
"Oh, what kind of bamboo shoots? I'll try them sometime, it might be good to change things up." Hearing her say that, Xichun thought of her favorite food from her previous life, which was the "infamous" yet irresistible snail rice noodles.
"I'll go home and get it tomorrow. If you don't like it, don't force yourself. Even Taozi can't stand the taste." She thought of the expressions on Taozi's face when they served him this when he went to his parents' house.
"Hehe, I never thought Taozi would be like this. He used to be a real foodie. Now I'm even more curious."
The arrival of Madam Zhao and Qian Qiaoqiao finally kept Xichun from being bored. The three of them chatted and soon it was dusk, so the two of them went home together.
Xiao Feng and A Zhao returned home one after the other. When they saw Xi Chun, they jumped over with giggles.
"You two are back! How was it? Was studying at school tiring?"
"Mom, I'm not tired at all. I haven't read as many books as Dad has taught me in school, and even the teacher's level isn't half as good as Dad's. I can understand everything he says."
"Wow, our Ah Zhao is so amazing! I'll have your dad test you later. Xiao Feng, how are you feeling? Can you keep up?"
“Sister, Ah Zhao is right. The teacher’s words are really simple and the meaning is very simple. Even I think there should be a deeper meaning. The classmates in the school also like to play, and some people even dare to sleep. It’s different from my previous classes.”
Xiaofeng has started to think for himself now. Whether it's because of his brother-in-law's guidance or his husband's lack of expertise, he feels like he's become even more capable than before.
"Oh, is the teacher at the private school so mediocre? Then let me test you." Fu Changfeng walked in and overheard the two children's conversation.
"Let's eat first, then you guys go to the study and talk it over, see if that's the case." Xi Chun wasn't very familiar with the academic atmosphere here, so she could only let Fu Changfeng make his own judgment.
Right after dinner, Fu Changfeng was busy taking the two children to verify the situation. The two went to study at the private school. Fu Changfeng did not personally show up, so no one knew that they were children from the county magistrate's family.
After listening to the children recount their studies these past few days, and combining this with his previous understanding of the situation, Fu Changfeng knew that rectifying the academic atmosphere in Shaoming County was still a long and arduous task.
Although he emphasized the importance of studying from the very beginning and demanded that Jiao Yu strictly control the academic atmosphere of the entire county, so as to give more scholars the opportunity to take the imperial examination, it now seems that if he did not personally take charge, the results would be minimal.
The following day, Fu Changfeng summoned Zhao Yuping, Li Cheng, and Jiao Yu to discuss the next steps in the plan to rectify the school's atmosphere, starting with the county school.
Meanwhile, Qian Qiaoqiao also went home and brought back a lot of pickled bamboo shoots for Xichun to try.
"Wow, this smell is really strange. No wonder they said they couldn't stand it. I also think it smells weird." The moment she opened the lid, Madam Zhao was immediately stunned by the smell.
"No, I think the taste is alright, but it's missing something. If you eat it with other things, it will definitely taste better. You wait, I'll invite you over to try it in a few days. I've thought of a delicious dish."
Seeing that the pickled bamboo shoots smelled exactly like the ones she had smelled in her previous life, Xichun also had the idea of making rice noodles.
The two of them didn't know what she was going to cook, but they had heard that her cooking was very delicious. After waiting at home for a few days, they finally received a message saying that they could go and eat.
Today is a day off for the children, and Fu Changfeng also chose to rest today, teaching the children while also building a relationship with them.
"Alright, that's all for today. You all go and rest. I heard there's something delicious for lunch, let's go check it out." Fu Changfeng didn't know what kind of food Xichun was going to make; she kept it a secret.
"Uncle, let's go! Mother's cooking is the best!" A-Zhao grabbed her uncle's hand and was about to run away.
The three of them had just reached the courtyard where the kitchen was located when they saw Ah Zheng rushing out impatiently.
"Ah Zheng, what are you doing? Did you poop in your pants? Why do you smell so bad?" Ah Zhao suddenly smelled a very foul odor, immediately covered her nose, and looked at Ah Zheng in confusion.
"It wasn't me, it was Mom." Ah Zheng denied it repeatedly, covering his mouth and nose with both hands.
"How could that be? Mother is a grown woman, how could she possibly wet her pants?"
"Don't talk nonsense, Zheng, tell me what happened?" Fu Changfeng saw that the two children had gone off-topic, so he brought the matter back to the main point.
"Mother said she was going to cook something delicious, but the delicious thing turned out to be smelly. Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhang were not afraid of the smell and ate the smelly stuff in big mouthfuls." A-Zheng's words were still clear, and he quickly explained the reason.
"Oh, what's wrong with them? Why didn't you stop them? What if they got food poisoning?"
“Mom said it smells delicious,” A-Zheng said, sounding like a little adult.
With doubts in their hearts, the three entered the courtyard and indeed saw Xichun and Madam Zhao. Qian Qiaoqiao was enjoying her meal. When they saw the three of them come in, Madam Zhao and Qian Qiaoqiao were a little embarrassed and ate quietly.
"You three are here! Come and sit down. Xiaoyue, go and bring out three bowls of snail rice noodles for the master and the others." Xichun said with a smile, but the smell was so strong that the three of them couldn't help but cover their noses.
"Wife, how did you make this snail rice noodle soup? I don't remember snails tasting like this. Did you put something in it?" Although Fu Changfeng was somewhat reluctant, he still sat down at another table. He knew his wife's cooking skills.
“There are pickled bamboo shoots in it. You guys try it first and see how it tastes. I just let Ah Zheng try it, but he insisted that it was smelly and wouldn’t eat a bite. He even ran out to try it.”
Before long, the three of them were eating heartily. This scene frightened Ah Zheng so much that he ran out, shouting, "Dad and brother are eating shit!"
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