"You're too kind. Please come in first, the food will be ready soon. Wanzi, take out the pastries I bought and share them." After giving these instructions, He Tiantian quickly went back to chopping vegetables.
With guests arriving, Maruko and Shitou were extremely busy.
Inside the main room, Zhao Xiaolü sat at the table with Xiaomingzhu in her arms, while Xiaomingzhu played with candy.
Two large dogs, Wujin and Coconut, sat on either side of Xiaomingzhu, staring intently at the candy on the table.
With a "plop," a grain fell.
Wu Jin quickly pounced on the ground to grab it, tore the paper open in a few bites, and ate the sweet candy.
"Haha, you greedy dog!" He Shitou gently patted Wujin's head.
He Chun affectionately patted Coconut's head and tossed a piece of candy in front of it.
"Eat up, eat up, these two big guys have worked hard too."
Back in Peach Blossom Village, quite a few families kept dogs. But they were just animals; people were always given priority for food.
He Chun initially thought his daughter was too kind to these animals, but after spending some time with them, he realized he genuinely liked the two big guys.
Inside the main room, everyone was chatting happily.
As darkness slowly fell, a bright little desk lamp was placed on the table. It was as if the moon had been plucked from the sky.
The pot was placed on the floor of the main room; it was a large pot, enough for the eight of them to sit around and eat.
He Shitou was in charge of adding firewood to the pot, and the water at the bottom of the pot boiled. It was bubbling away.
Just then, the vegetables in the kitchen were almost washed and chopped, and they were all carried over in a basket.
He Tiantian counted eight people in total, and then she picked up eight eggs from the cabinet under the kitchen.
"The stools are ready, let's eat!" He Tiantian shouted.
The chatter in the main room stopped abruptly, and everyone stood up. Some took bowls and chopsticks, while others moved chairs.
They sat around the biggest pot in the house, each person holding a bowl in their left hand and chopsticks in their right, all staring intently at the broth inside.
He Shitou couldn't help but swallow hard. "Sister, why is the soup base red? What's in it?"
He Tiantian first threw in the fresh mushrooms and explained, "My family can't eat spicy food very well, so I made a tomato broth. Adding some mushrooms will make the soup even more flavorful."
“Yes, yes, anyone who wants spicy food can go to the kitchen and pour some chili peppers. You can mix and match the seasonings yourself,” Hong Erniang chimed in.
Whenever Hong Erniang sees a young girl or a young man, she can't help but smile like an aunt.
Seeing Liu Yulan like this last time, Hong Erniang couldn't help but react again when she saw Zhao Yan this time.
“Oh my, this young man must be the only scholar in your village, right?” Hong Erniang looked around with her shrewd eyes and continued with a smile, “Tsk tsk... he’s really a handsome man.”
Zhao Yan felt a little embarrassed by the praise and awkwardly picked up a green vegetable and ate it.
"Huh? This scholar shouldn't be married yet, right?"
For young men and women, marriage is the topic that comes up most often.
Zhao Yan's face flushed red as she stammered, "Auntie... Yan'er hasn't considered marriage yet..."
"Oh right, he's a scholar after all. He's going to marry a daughter of an official..."
Seeing that Hong Erniang was talking more and more out of control, He Tiantian quickly came to the rescue, "My good sister, our Yan'er will be going to the capital to take the imperial examination in two months. A man's ambition lies in all directions, and he should establish his career before starting a family."
“Yes, yes, look at me…” Hong Erniang suddenly realized, “I was immediately delighted when I saw this child, and I couldn’t help but say a few more words.”
Zhao Yan smiled awkwardly, "It's alright, Auntie."
He Tiantian cracked all the eggs she had brought into the soup pot.
"One for each of you. Yan'er, you need to eat more today. Look how thin you are. You need to get better so you can take the exam," He Tiantian said with concern.
"Okay, thank you, Auntie."
He Shitou suddenly picked up a large piece of mutton and put it in Zhao Yan's bowl, saying, "Brother Yan, don't be shy, you should eat more."
Zhao Yan became the darling of the entire dinner table, and he genuinely felt everyone's sincerity towards him.
Zhao Yan secretly vowed in his heart that he would live up to everyone's expectations and pass the imperial examination!
She had only been eating for a short while when He Tiantian suddenly seemed to remember something, "I forgot something!"
Everyone looked at her in confusion, and even Xiao Mingzhu was drawn to her gaze.
"I bought some wine last time and haven't drunk it yet. You guys continue, I'll go get it!"
On such a cold day, of course you need to have a little wine to warm up.
He Tiantian went to her room and pulled a kettle out from under her bed. It contained a bottle of Erguotou liquor that she had bought six months ago.
I originally planned to drink it secretly by myself late at night, but I didn't expect it to come in handy today.
He Tiantian brought the wine pot to the main room, where empty bowls were already set on the table.
The children couldn't drink alcohol; only He Chun and Master Xu could have a few drinks. He Tiantian and Hong Erniang probably only needed to empty a small bowl to sip.
Zhao Yan needs to study at night, so naturally he doesn't drink alcohol.
Four adults, each one of them fell a little.
Master Xu took a sip of wine, feeling even more delighted. "Good wine, good wine. Which shop bought this?"
He's a heavy drinker, and he's drunk quite a lot, but today he was suddenly amazed by this wine.
He Tiantian naturally couldn't tell the truth, so she vaguely said, "I bought it a few years ago, in the county. I really don't remember which store it was from."
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