Upon hearing this, Yunhua's face immediately fell, and she pleaded softly for herself, "Master, could we stay a few more days?"
The Taoist priest coldly and ruthlessly rejected the idea, asking, "What do you think?"
Seeing the Taoist priest's expression, Yunhua knew there was no room for negotiation.
Well, I've already stayed for almost twenty days, and my master even let me stay until after the Lantern Festival, which is already exceptionally accommodating. I can't go too far.
In addition, there were indeed things to attend to, and many matters in the capital were waiting for him to handle, so he couldn't stay any longer.
Seeing that the Taoist priest had agreed, Zhao Yunyun glanced at her grandfather's expression and cautiously said, "Then I'll go with him the day after tomorrow."
Unexpectedly, Grandpa Zhao was very easy to talk to. "Haha, alright, you two can go back together. Xiao Chuan can take you down with him, so you won't have to make two trips."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan nodded and agreed.
Xu Han looked at everyone and said, "Alright, alright, it's getting late, let's all get some rest."
Upon hearing this, everyone dispersed.
The next day, the morning sun was particularly dazzling. Xu Han pushed open the door and slowly walked out of the room. She stretched and thought to herself, "The weather is really nice today. The sun feels especially comfortable on my skin."
Lu Chuan carried Ze'er to Xu Han's side. "There's breakfast in the pot. This morning, the rest of us moved all the bridge materials to the stream. Now, while Yunhua is still home, the midday sun is strong, and the water isn't too cold, let's install the bridge together."
Xu Han took Ze'er from Lu Chuan's arms and kissed him. "Okay, you guys handle it. They're leaving tomorrow, so I won't come over to watch you install the bridge later. Pack your things so they can take them with them tomorrow."
"Okay, you should eat breakfast first."
After Lu Chuan finished speaking, he went to the backyard, while Xu Han carried Ze'er to the kitchen to have breakfast.
The customs of the Lantern Festival are the same as in previous years. The difference is that this year, everyone made the glutinous rice balls together. Because there were many people, Xu Han made several different flavors.
Zhao Yunyun rolled the glutinous rice balls in her hands, her face full of innocence. "Haha, this is the first time I've ever made glutinous rice balls myself! Sister Xiaohan, look how well I made them! Aren't they cute?"
Xu Han looked at the animal-shaped glutinous rice balls in Zhao Yunyun's hand and praised them without reservation, "They're beautiful and especially cute."
Xu Han added some fruit and vegetable powder to today's glutinous rice balls, making them colorful and especially beautiful.
Everyone sat together to make tangyuan (sweet rice balls). To make the process more fun, Xu Han taught everyone how to make tangyuan in various shapes.
There are peanut and persimmon shapes, as well as some other cute animal shapes.
The two children were the happiest to see these adorable glutinous rice balls, constantly clamoring that they wanted to eat many.
Ze'er was even more direct. He picked up a persimmon-shaped glutinous rice ball that Xu Han had just wrapped and tried to stuff it into his mouth when no one was looking. If Yun Hua hadn't seen it, the little guy probably would have eaten it raw.
Yunhua patiently coaxed, "Ze'er, be good. This is raw, so you can't eat it yet. I'll have your mother cook it for you later, okay?"
Ze'er is so young that she can't understand everything. She held onto the persimmon dumplings tightly and wouldn't let go.
Yunhua had no choice but to go along with him. The last cute persimmon dumpling was squeezed into an orange dough by Ze'er.
Ze'er, unwilling to give up, wanted to try it again. Taking advantage of a moment when no one was looking, she took a bite and then spat it out.
The Taoist priest first noticed Ze'er's bitter expression, as he stomped his feet and laughed without any regard for his image.
Helpless, Lu Chuan walked up to Ze'er and pried the raw glutinous rice ball out of his mouth. "I told you, but you wouldn't listen. Is this even edible?"
Xu Han didn't indulge him. She looked at Ze'er but didn't say anything, nor did she offer him any words of comfort.
Ze'er gave Yunhua a resentful look, but still unwilling to give up, she wanted to take advantage of the moment when no one was looking to get another glutinous rice ball.
Thinking to himself, "It's all this uncle's fault. He must have squeezed the persimmon in his hand, which is why it doesn't taste good."
However, before Ze'er could make another move, Yunhua picked him up and the two started playing around, soon forgetting about getting the glutinous rice balls.
With one less mischievous child, the group was able to wrap the glutinous rice balls much faster.
Ignoring the round glutinous rice balls made by the Taoist priest and Lu Chuan, the other glutinous rice balls arranged together are quite pleasing to the eye.
Xu Han patted the flour off her hands and said, "This should be enough to eat. I'll go cook some dumplings and glutinous rice balls first. You guys keep making them, and we'll cook more if we need more. The glutinous rice balls can also be frozen and eaten in a few days."
Lu Chuan also stood up, picked up the dumplings placed to the side, and said, "I'll go with you."
The two went into the kitchen one after the other. After eating dumplings and glutinous rice balls, Xu Han and Zhao Yunyun stayed at home to pack their things to take with them the next day.
While packing the things, Xu Han instructed Zhao Yunyun, "These small jars are full of various pickles. I've labeled them all. Just be careful not to break the jars while you're on the road."
Zhao Yunyun smiled and replied, "Okay, I remember. We have a lot of stuff to take back this time, so Yunhua and I discussed it and decided not to ride horses. We'll rent a carriage and go to the capital together, stay there for a few days, and then head south. We won't go to the border for now."
Xu Han teased, "Are you going to find Li Lin?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yunyun smiled shyly, like a little girl, and did not refute.
"Li Lin said he would arrive in the capital on the 20th of the first lunar month and would come to pick me up to go south together. I also needed to go there to collect some precious medicinal herbs, so I agreed."
Xu Han thought for a moment, but still couldn't help asking, "Does Grandpa Zhao know?"
“Grandpa knows. I told him as soon as I got back, and I only replied to Li Lin after he agreed.”
Xu Han couldn't help but gossip, "When are you planning to get married? Have Grandpa Zhao and Li Lin's family mentioned it?"
When marriage was mentioned, Zhao Yunyun's cheeks turned even redder, but she still patiently explained to Xu Han, "The Li family has brought it up a few times, but Grandpa hasn't agreed yet. He said we should talk about it after the war is over."
Xu Han asked with a serious expression, "So what do you think?"
Zhao Yunyun thought about it seriously and said to Xu Han, "I still agree with Grandpa's decision, after all, I am different from other girls."
"After getting married, I can't keep traveling all over the country like this. I'll definitely have to consider the Li family's feelings after marriage. Although Li Lin said he wouldn't restrict my movements, being married is different from being a young woman."
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