Half a month has passed since Xie Yushu finished drawing these blueprints, and there are only twenty days left until the Chinese New Year.
The atmosphere of the New Year was everywhere. Han Zhongyu was busy with the year-end performance evaluation of officials, while Xie Yushu was unusually idle. She took her aunt, Qu Xiaodie, Nanxing, and the two children to go shopping for New Year's goods!
Fruits, pears, dates, peanuts, sesame seeds, couplets, New Year pictures, chicken, duck, fish, meat, fireworks, firecrackers—everything that could be seen on the street was loaded onto the cart. Xiao Haitang and Chu Jinyu were eating with great relish, sugar figurines in their left hands and sweet cakes in their right!
Even Qu Xiaodie and Nanxing were each munching on candied hawthorns and eating melon seeds, which made Aunt Su frown the whole way, afraid that their unrestrained behavior would be seen by others and make them a laughing stock!
But everyone was busy preparing for their own New Year's goods, so they didn't have much energy to stare at others. The girls strolled around leisurely, eating and enjoying themselves.
Finally, Aunt Su couldn't resist Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie's persistent pestering, so she also took a roasted sweet potato and started eating it. To be honest, she was a little uncomfortable at first, but after a few bites, seeing that no one cared, she joined the group of people eating and strolling around!
Qu Xiaodie said smugly
"See? Sometimes you don't have to care too much about what other people think. Everyone is busy with their own lives, and nobody cares about us!"
We need to follow the rules when necessary, and relax when it's time to relax. Always being so tense is exhausting!
"Xiaodie is right. There's no need to be on edge all the time. When it's time to work, work hard; when it's time to play, play hard. A balance between work and play is the key to longevity!"
Xie Yushu agreed.
Aunt Su swallowed the roasted sweet potato in her mouth after hearing this.
"That's because you, Master, have a good temper, are approachable, and indulge your subordinates. In the capital, which master doesn't put on airs and act arrogantly? If you're not careful, you'll get scolded and punished!"
Xie Yushu said
"Then keep your caution in reserve. We'll use it when we have the chance to go to the capital. By then, we'll outshine them all!"
Speaking of this, Aunt Su immediately became full of confidence.
"Don't worry, Master. I can't guarantee anything else, but when it comes to rules, I trained all the palace maids. I guarantee they won't make any mistakes!"
"Yes, you deserve the most credit for how quickly the people in our resort have learned to behave appropriately. We'll give you a big red envelope for the New Year!"
"This is all my duty!"
After chatting and laughing as they finished shopping for New Year's goods, Qu Xiaodie and Aunt Su took Haitang back first.
Xie Yushu thought that Chu Jinyu would still need to trouble Han Zhongyu in the future, so she specially bought a freshly roasted pork hock from Yipinxuan and asked Nanxing to buy a jar of famous local glutinous rice wine before taking Chu Jinyu to visit Han Zhongyu.
This can be considered a simple apprenticeship ceremony. Since Han Zhongyu has agreed to tutor him, he can be considered a teacher, and the ceremony should not be abandoned!
As for why other people's apprenticeship gifts are tea, wine, famous paintings and ancient books, while Chu Jinyu's apprenticeship gift is a freshly roasted pork hock?
It's not that Xie Yushu is actually extremely poor; she won't buy anything that's even slightly elegant!
Han Zhongyu was unlucky; all he got to eat from his students was pork hock!
When they arrived at the government office after buying the goods, Han Zhongyu was still busy. Xie Yushu and Chu Jinyu waited in a side room for a while. After the person reporting on official business left, Han Zhongyu came over to check on them.
Hearing that Xie Yushu had specially brought Chu Jinyu to present him with a gift for becoming his disciple, he initially declined, but when he saw the charcoal-grilled pork hock that Nanxing brought up, still smelling of sweet kisses, he swallowed back the words he was about to say. He helped Chu Jinyu up as he bowed to him, readily accepted the pork hock, sliced a few pieces with his sword, and started eating.
Xie Yushu saw that he was eating quite heartily and asked...
"It's so delicious?"
"Hmm! Not bad, I'm actually quite hungry!"
Xie Yushu looked around and, seeing a teacup nearby, picked up the wine jar and poured him a cup of wine.
"Hey! Pork hock with wine, the more you drink, the better!"
Thank you for your kind words!
Han Zhongyu was really hungry. One after another, people came to report on official business. He had only had a quick bite of dry food at noon. He still had a pile of reports to read and figured he would be working the night shift again. Fortunately, Xie Yushu brought some food, so he decided to eat and then work the night shift.
Although he simply used whatever was available, cutting it open with a knife and eating it by hand, Han Zhongyu had the ability to eat meat with his hands in a very elegant way!
Xie Yushu found the sight pleasing until Han Zhongyu caught her in the act, fearing he might say something to her.
"What kind of behavior is it for a woman to stare at a man like that!"
She pretended to casually refill Han Zhongyu's glass of wine, then guiltily changed the subject.
"Lord Han's dedication to his job is truly a model for us all!"
Han Zhongyu, of course, saw through her little scheme. He felt a surge of joy inside, but outwardly pretended not to care, calmly wiping his hands with a handkerchief. In reality, he was incredibly excited.
"The way she looked at me just now! Did she think I was quite handsome?"
Could it be that she likes me too?
It seems this physical appearance isn't entirely useless!
I'll have to ask the embroiderer to see what kind of clothes look good on me, and what new styles are fashionable in the capital!
Xie Yushu watched Han Zhongyu slowly wiping his fingers without looking up. She thought he was unhappy that he had noticed her staring at him, so she decided to leave. Otherwise, she would have to apologize, which would be quite awkward!
So he coughed lightly and said
"Well, Lord Han, if there's nothing else, please continue with your work. I'll take Jinyu back with me!"
Han Zhongyu was visibly unhappy when he heard that he was leaving.
Xie Yushu saw that the other party was indeed unhappy and his face was not good, so she directly pulled Chu Jinyu away. Let's escape first. He will forget about this little thing in a few days!
Just as she reached the door, Han Zhongyu suddenly remembered that the person she was looking for had arrived and was currently in his residence, so he called out to her.
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