"We have enough firewood. Go wash your hands and get ready for lunch," Tian Shu said to A Ping as he brought in more firewood.
"Okay," A-Ping replied, and went to fetch water to wash his hands.
While everyone was in the kitchen, A-Ping went behind the woodpile and opened today's New Year's red envelope. It still contained two five-tael silver ingots, some loose silver, but more copper coins than last night's New Year's money. He counted them and found there were sixty-six coins, which should mean good luck.
Aping felt that this red envelope should be the same amount as the New Year's money from last night, just like the six others.
She is truly wealthy and incredibly generous!
Although we had no fixed abode and were always on the move, we never felt tired. We ate well, dressed well, and even when we camped by the roadside in the wilderness, we were very comfortable.
This further solidified A-Ping's determination to stay with them.
He was already living a more comfortable life than many young masters and noblemen from wealthy families, so it didn't matter if they didn't treat him like one of their own!
Moreover, even though they say the world is vast, if they leave them, they really have nowhere to go.
It wasn't that he looked down on himself, but he knew clearly that without them, he was nothing. Moreover, he was certain of one thing: without them, he would fall from grace and never have such a good life again.
So what if they don't treat him like one of their own? It's all bearable and tolerable!
This was the answer he came to after weighing the pros and cons in his mind following what happened last night.
After washing his hands, he turned around and helped set out the dishes, eagerly bringing food to the table.
Seeing Aping's behavior, the other children all wondered if it was inappropriate to treat him like that last night. They could have just said it more tactfully if they disagreed with him using the name Kaiyang.
The table was quickly filled with ten dishes, which Tianxuan, following Hong Xiaoduo's style, called "perfect ten".
Among them were cold braised pig ear strips, and three other dishes that weren't freshly stir-fried: braised duck, braised beef, and sausage.
That's right, Hong Xiaoduo mentioned it, and Tianxuan asked her to find the recipe, and she actually succeeded in making it. The key point is that the butcher gave her the pig intestine casings for free.
That stuff was something only poor people with tight budgets would buy, prepare, and eat; a set of pig intestines only cost a few coins.
The reason he gave it to Tianxuan for free was because ever since he moved to this town, Tianxuan had been buying all his groceries from this meat stall. He bought pork in large quantities, several kilograms at a time, as well as several pig trotters at a time, and half a rack of ribs. He was quite a big customer.
The stall owner was curious as to why such a well-dressed young master would buy such poor people's offal. However, he was too embarrassed to ask and thought that he might be buying it for the servants in his household.
But every time this young master comes to shop, there are never any servants or maids following him; they carry the things themselves.
The stall owner felt it was a pity that he knew these young gentlemen were from out of town and had only rented Yang's house for a short period of time since it was almost Chinese New Year. They would probably leave before the end of the first month of the lunar calendar.
Ah, if only such a buyer could stay here permanently, and I could have such a stable and large customer!
Lunch was officially served. Hong Xiaoduo ate the sausage and gave Tianxuan a thumbs up as she ate: "It's a pity we're heading south. It's getting hotter and hotter as we go, otherwise we could have made more sausages to take with us on the way."
Hearing this, Tianxuan swallowed the food in her mouth: "So, roughly when do we set off? Let me see what food we can bring on the road."
There are other items that need to be purchased; buy them as soon as possible.
Upon hearing this, everyone else looked at her.
“Let’s leave on the ninth day. The weather will be bad and it will continue to rain. However, if you want to stay here for a while longer, we can wait until the weather returns to normal before setting off,” Hong Xiaoduo said.
When I got up early, I checked the weather. The bracelet's weather forecast system had been upgraded by Old Man Luo again. It could not only predict the local weather for a month, but also the weather in other areas within a thousand miles.
"We'll listen to you and leave on the ninth day," Tian Shu said after looking at everyone.
It didn't matter when Quan Jinghuai and Feiyan set off, but Quan Jinghuai knew that she had other things to do before leaving this place.
Having set a departure time, Tianxuan ate while pondering what food and ingredients she should prepare before setting off.
Tian Shu was thinking about how much fodder and charcoal to purchase.
We had just finished lunch when the bell in the yard rang.
"Is he here to ask about the fireworks we set off last night?" Tianji muttered to himself as he stood up and jogged toward the courtyard gate.
Hong Xiaoduo wanted to help clear the dishes, but Yuheng stopped her and told her to wander around the yard instead.
Before long, Tianji returned, followed by several servants.
Quan Jinghuai was about to scold him for bringing people in, but after seeing the person leading the group, he looked at Hong Xiaoduo and said, "Your nephew has come to wish his aunt a Happy New Year."
"Big brother, please stop joking with me." Hong Xiaoduo naturally recognized who it was.
Jiang Baize, with servants carrying things behind him.
Upon arriving, before Hong Xiaoduo could even greet him, Jiang Baize lifted the hem of his robe and knelt down, saying, "Baize wishes Aunt a Happy New Year, may you have good health, peace and joy."
After saying that, he kowtowed three times in quick succession, so fast that Hong Xiaoduo didn't even have time to stop him.
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