Ning Daya's eyes widened upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words. She looked at Jiang Yuwei with some disappointment and asked softly:
"Why, Sister Yuwei?"
Jiang Yuwei pondered for a moment and said:
“You are mine now. If you marry Tiezhu, you will naturally not be able to stay with me. I can’t bear to part with you.”
Upon hearing this, Ning Daya's eyes welled up with tears. Then, with reddened eyes, she looked at Jiang Yuwei and gritted her teeth, saying:
"Sister Yuwei, I'll listen to you. If you can't bear to part with me, I won't marry you and I'll stay with you for the rest of my life!"
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei could no longer hold back and burst into laughter:
"Haha, you silly girl, I was just teasing you, and you actually cried."
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei took out a handkerchief and wiped Ning Daya's tears before continuing:
"If you stay with me for the rest of your life, I'll be driven crazy by you. Don't worry, I'll discuss your marriage with Tiezhu with Aunt Zhou later. Anyway, we'll be staying in Ninghe Town for half a month, so there's plenty of time. If things go well, we can have you two get married in Ninghe Town."
After hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Ning Daya stopped crying, smiled and nodded, then lowered her head somewhat shyly to fidget with the corner of her blanket.
Seeing that it was getting late and it was time to make lunch, Jiang Yuwei stood up and asked:
"Da Ya, what do you want to eat for lunch today? I'll make it for you."
Ning Daya said with a smile:
"Sister Yuwei, I'm really craving your sweet and sour pork."
Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded, saying:
"Alright, I'll let you have sweet and sour pork today."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei pushed open the door and went out. Seeing that Ning Huaizhi was still exercising in the courtyard, she wanted to go and see how Tiezhu was doing with brewing the medicine.
When Tie Zhu saw Jiang Yuwei approaching, he fanned the herbs on the stove while wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and said:
"Sister Yuwei, do you think the medicine is ready?"
Jiang Yuwei opened the lid of the earthenware jar, looked inside, and nodded, saying:
"That's about it. Put out the fire and let it stay warm on the stove. After lunch, you can have your brother Huaizhi drink it."
Upon hearing this, Tie Zhu nodded hurriedly and said:
"Okay, Sister Yuwei, I'll put out the fire here and then help you start a fire."
Jiang Yuwei walked to the stove. Since there were many people eating, Jiang Yuwei planned to cook more dishes. Liu Shi and the others moved over at noon today, and they would probably have lunch in the courtyard. So Jiang Yuwei steamed extra rice.
She took out a large piece of pork tenderloin, sliced it, and marinated it. Later, Tie Zhu would heat up the pot and then fry it in the oil. Since oil was going to be used anyway, Jiang Yuwei decided to make some eggplant fritters and candied sweet potatoes for everyone to try.
Thinking this, Jiang Yuwei washed the fresh eggplant and cut it into appropriately sized slices. Then she prepared a filling for making eggplant fritters using chives and minced meat. She then stuffed the filling into the sliced eggplant. After finishing all of this, Jiang Yuwei prepared a batter for frying the eggplant fritters using eggs and flour.
At this point, Tie Zhu had already heated the pot to about 70-80% of its maximum temperature. Jiang Yuwei first used marinated pork tenderloin, coated it with soaked potato starch, and fried it to make two large plates of sweet and sour pork.
Then I threw the eggplant slices coated in batter into the oil and fried them until they were cooked. I made four large plates of them, enough for everyone to eat together.
Jiang Yuwei ladled out the oil from the pot, leaving only a few drops, and then made a stew of green beans and potatoes. It was the season for green beans, and the tender green beans and potatoes stewed together were very fragrant, soft, and delicious, a dish that adults and children alike loved.
Seeing that the dishes were almost ready, Jiang Yuwei stir-fried some greens and made a tomato and egg drop soup before asking Tiezhu to bring the food to the table.
Just then, Liu arrived at the courtyard with Ning Zhao and the others. Jiang Yuwei rushed forward to help them with their luggage and put the things in the house. After they finished eating, she would clean up the remaining room for Gou Dan and Ning Zhao to stay in, and let Liu stay with Daya.
Jiang Yuwei urged everyone to wash their hands and eat quickly. Soon, the group was seated. Looking at the full house, Jiang Yuwei glanced guiltily at the expression on the face of the skilled healer, Zhu.
Seeing that he didn't show any displeasure, but his eyes were fixed on the sweet and sour pork on the plate, Jiang Yuwei breathed a sigh of relief, picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and handed it to Miaoshou Zhu's bowl, smiling:
"Master, please try my sweet and sour pork and see how it tastes."
With a smile, Zhu nodded and stuffed the meat into his mouth, chewing it with great satisfaction.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei quickly spoke up:
“Right now, our whole family is troubling Master, and I really can’t bear it. How about this, we’ll rent your house at market price and stay here for half a month. Once Huaizhi’s leg is healed, we’ll leave immediately.”
Upon hearing this, Master Zhu glared at Jiang Yuwei and said:
"What are you saying? I'm your master. Would I be greedy for your little bit of rent? Just stay here with them. I'll say it again, just make me good food every day."
Seeing that even the skilled healer Zhu had said so, Jiang Yuwei nodded gratefully and said to him:
"Thank you, Master."
Then Jiang Yuwei signaled to everyone that it was time to eat. Liu Shi and the children hadn't eaten Jiang Yuwei's cooking for several days and had been drooling with anticipation. Now that Jiang Yuwei had told them to eat, they all picked up their bowls and chopsticks and began to wolf down their food.
Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, someone suddenly knocked on the courtyard gate. Jiang Yuwei quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and went to the door to ask:
Who is it?
A woman's voice came from outside the courtyard.
"I'm here to see Healer Zhu! Open the door, open the door!"
As she spoke, the woman began pounding on the door. Jiang Yuwei glanced up at Miaoshou Zhu, who was still focused on eating and completely ignoring what was happening.
Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to open the door to see what this person wanted to do. As soon as Jiang Yuwei unlatched the door, the person outside kicked it open.
The man seemed momentarily stunned to see Jiang Yuwei open the door. He then shoved her aside and walked straight to Master Zhu, saying to him:
"Miracle Doctor Zhu, stop eating! Please help me check what's wrong with my body. My stomach has been hurting since I woke up this morning, and I keep having to go to the toilet. I really can't take it anymore, that's why I came to you!"
Jiang Yuwei felt that this person was rather impolite. How could he come to her master for treatment and act so self-righteous?
In contrast, Master Zhu remained engrossed in his meal, showing no intention of paying any attention to the man. Seeing this, the man grew impatient, snatched the bowl from Master Zhu's hand, slammed it on the ground, and pointed at his nose, cursing:
"You old codger, what's the big deal if I eat one more or one less bite? Didn't you hear me say my stomach hurts and I asked you to take a look?"
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