Chapter 136: Eat at Twelve, Hungry by Twelve-Thirty [Thank You All]

You Hour (around 6 PM)

Xu Xu Zaijing let out a long breath, opened his eyes in the warm side room, and gazed at the patterns on the bed canopy, lost in thought for a while.

Seeing Qingcao, who had been resting with her head on the table in the room, woke up upon hearing Xu Xu Zaijing's long sigh.

Seeing Qingcao poured a cup of warm tea to sober him up on the table and brought it to the bedside.

"Young Master, have a sip of tea."

"What time is it?"

"It's around the You Hour."

The old Lady's young maid standing guard at the side room door heard the sound inside and respectfully said from outside: "Young Master, the Old Lady says since you have woken, please come over to have a bite to eat."

"Good."

Xu Xu Zaijing handed the teacup to Seeing Qingcao and asked casually: "Where is Brother Qingyun?"

"Young Master, Big Brother Brother Qingyun and the Zhu family Young Master rested for a while in the guest room and then went out, saying they were going to find an old friend."

Xu Xu Zaijing recalled; indeed, when he came to the side room, Brother Qingyun had said these few words by his side.

Xu Xu Zaijing nodded, put on the clothes Seeing Qingcao handed him, walked a short distance, and arrived at Shou'an Hall.

Inside Shou'an Hall, the food on the table was still steaming; Xu Xu Zaijing entered the room, paid his respects, and then came to the table.

The food eaten in the afternoon had long since been mostly digested; the Old Lady looked at Xu Xu Zaijing and, with a kind gaze, said: "Jing'er, come sit down and eat some."

"Yes, Great-Aunt."

Xu Xu Zaijing smiled, sat down below the Old Lady, smelled the fragrance on the table, and with a look of intoxication said, "Fragrant."

The Old Lady signaled for Xu Xu Zaijing to eat quickly, while Sheng Sheng Hualan on the side hurriedly brought over a bowl of soup for Xu Xu Zaijing.

Although his own mother had already made things clear to Xu Xu Zaijing, that Sheng Sheng Hualan would enter the Xu family gate in the future, and since Sheng Sheng Hualan was a relative, he did not need to be too cautious.

And when a new bride enters the gate, she must serve her parents-in-law and her husband's younger brothers and sisters.

But when Xu Xu Zaijing saw Sheng Sheng Hualan coming, he hurriedly stood up to receive it; this necessary respect must still be shown.

In fact, Shou'an Hall had long been low in oil and meat these years; Sheng Sheng Hualan rarely saw Shou'an Hall preparing so much food for the evening. She glanced at her grandmother, with some confusion in her eyes.

Sheng Sheng Hualan thought of the twenty meat buns prepared on the steamer, walked over to Hearing Fang Mama's side, and asked softly: "Nanny, with so much food, I'm afraid it will have to be saved for overnight."

Hearing Fang Mama looked at Xu Xu Zaijing at the dining table, her smiling eyes holding some expectation and memory; she smiled, patted Sheng Sheng Hualan's small hand, and shook her head, saying: "No."

Sheng Sheng Hualan made a questioning sound: "Ah?"

Then

Sheng Sheng Hualan saw the bun, the size of her palm; Xu Xu Zaijing ate one in three bites, and between the three buns, he also stuffed three large chopsticks of stir-fried meat into his mouth; in the interval of her speaking to Hearing Fang Mama, one bun was already gone.

Earlier at noon, Xu Xu Zaijing ate with the demeanor of a noble young master; he had never eaten so ravenously even when dining with his own father.

As the saying goes, a half-grown boy can bankrupt his father; Xu Xu Zaijing, at this time in the modern era, would be the age of middle school, the time of great appetite and growing body; to summarize with a line from a TV drama Xu Xu Zaijing had watched: Eat at twelve, hungry by twelve-thirty.

And the Old Lady, holding a bowl of light porridge in her hand, seeing Xu Xu Zaijing's enthusiasm for eating, also developed an appetite; she turned back and said: "Sister Sister Suqin, bring me half a bun too. Jing'er, don't rush; there are still a few steamer baskets left."

Xu Xu Zaijing's cheeks were puffed out; after chewing a few times and swallowing, he cleared his throat before saying: "Great-Aunt, these buns are truly fragrant; I haven't eaten anything this delicious even in Bianjing."

The Old Lady smiled, knowing this nephew's grandson was treating Shou'an Hall as his own home, without the pretense of all those formalities.

"Good, good, good. When you return to Bianjing, I will have Hearing Fang Mama tell you the recipe; take it back with you."

Xu Xu Zaijing smiled, picked up a bun, and ate half of it in two more bites.

Sheng Sheng Hualan smiled and followed Hearing Fang Mama into the room behind the side of the main hall; here, the stove mouth of the heated wall was burning, with buns warming above; Hearing Fang Mama said in a low voice: "Eldest Miss, people from military families are strong and healthy, practicing martial arts daily, so naturally they eat more than ordinary people; if in the future the guests are military officers or have soldiers and officers, the food must certainly be prepared at three to five times the normal amount, and dried meat and fruit snacks should be prepared in a bag to serve as treats when they leave."

Sheng Sheng Hualan nodded in understanding; Hearing Fang Mama continued: "I still have a few secret recipes in my heart."

Sheng Sheng Hualan, her face red, listened to Hearing Fang Mama's chatter, and then followed Hearing Fang Mama out while carrying the buns, having already memorized these words in her heart.

Lady Sheng watched Xu Xu Zaijing eat; she actually ate two halves, making one whole bun, that evening.

After the meal, Mother Cui brought over digestive tea and walked over to give it to the great-aunt's nephew and grandson, both of whom had eaten quite a lot.

Inside Weirui Pavilion, Liu Mama was persuading Wang Wang Ruofu: "Da Da Niangzi, I was thinking about the words the sister-in-law said before leaving; is there some deeper meaning?"

Wang Wang Ruofu was startled and asked: "Deeper meaning? What deeper meaning? Wasn't it just her not wanting to find a match for my Hua'er and passing the buck to our family?"

"Da Da Niangzi, the sister-in-law put in great effort and did her best for Eldest Miss's matter; how could she be passing the buck."

As she spoke, a young maid at the door announced the arrival of the Master; Liu Mama hurriedly told Cai Zhao Huan to prepare everything needed for the hangover cure.

Sheng Hong entered and saw that Wang Wang Ruofu's face also showed some embarrassment; he tilted his head to look at Wang Wang Ruofu, and Wang Wang Ruofu, angry, twisted her body to the side.

At this moment, Liu Mama took the hangover soup and hot towel from Cai Zhao Huan's hands and walked over; Sheng Hong took them, his eyes rolling, and said: "Sigh, it seems the trouble in the Yuan family is quite serious."

Da Da Niangzi Wang Wang Ruofu's ears perked up instantly, and her body involuntarily wanted to turn around.

Liu Mama saw her Master's extremely rare soft tone of speech; she hurriedly bowed and asked on behalf of her Da Da Niangzi: "Master, I ask presumptuously, I do not know why you say this."

Sheng Hong smiled and said: "Sigh, this must start from the maid who jumped ship from the Yuan family."

After speaking half a sentence, Sheng Hong took a sip of the hangover soup, then placed the hot towel over his face.

Seeing the stepping stone Sheng Hong offered, Liu Mama hurriedly walked over to signal to Wang Shi to take the opportunity to get off the horse; Wang Wang Ruofu, who hadn't figured out exactly what happened to the Yuan family in the afternoon, could only hesitantly ask: "Husband, what did that maid say."

The face under Sheng Hong's hot towel revealed a calculated smile, and then his voice came from under the hot towel with a puzzled question: "Ah? What did the Lady say?"

Wang Wang Ruofu's curiosity had completely overshadowed her dissatisfaction in her heart; she asked: "Husband! Speak quickly!"

Sheng Hong said:

Having finished speaking.

"Husband, the Imperial City Bureau has even come in; I think the Yuan family's title is hanging by a thread."

"Lady, I truly did not expect the Yuan family mother and daughter-in-law to be such characters; they almost harmed our Hua'er. She is our first daughter; at that time we had just married, in that."

Wang Wang Ruofu was not the type to hold grudges; seeing the usually cold-spoken Sheng Hong caring about Sheng Sheng Hualan just as she did, her heart softened: "Husband, I also did not expect."

She also did not expect the Yuan family mother and daughter-in-law to be such ruffians, and even more that she had fallen into their trap. Seeing Wang Shi's attitude, Sheng Hong knew this matter was settled.

"Husband, what should we do about Hua'er's marriage in the future? Today, my brother's wife even said I should ask the Old Lady more."

Sheng Hong pondered and said: "The Yuan family's matter has nothing to do with our family; after half a year passes and we enter the capital, I will look slowly; with our status and Hua'er's talents, finding a worthy husband is not difficult."

"The Old Lady has many old acquaintances in Bianjing; I will naturally visit them often. Now that we have reconnected this kinship with the Xu family, and since I see the Xu family treats Mother with respect, I will ask my cousin's wife to help out as well."

After nightfall, Sheng Hong still had not left Wang Shi's courtyard; after resting briefly and waking up, he learned that Sheng Sheng Hualan had again been summoned by the Old Lady to the Shou'an Hall.

Sheng Hong paused slightly, a thought forming in his mind, but he shook his head and dismissed it.

Lin Qi Pavilion

"Mo'er, did you see your cousin from the Hou Fu? How was it?" Lin Lin Qinshuang asked, full of anticipation.

"Mother, my sister and I naturally saw him; indeed, he is a talent among talents," Chang Feng said.

"Mo'er?"

"Mother, we saw him. I said I wanted to wear plain clothes, but you wouldn't let me! Today in the Shou'an Hall, that cousin's gaze rested mostly on the Sixth Girl and the Fifth Girl; he hardly glanced a few times at my peach-red outfit."

Chang Feng said, "Fifth Sister and Sixth Sister were both dressed in plain clothes."

Speaking thus, Mo Lan placed the velvet pouch on the table.

Lin Lin Qinshuang froze slightly, thinking to herself that she had miscalculated, and hastily changed the subject, asking, "What is this object?"

"Mother, it is a gift from my cousin," Chang Feng said.

Lin Lin Qinshuang still paid him no heed; taking the cloth pouch Mo Lan had set down, she poured out its contents.

"Hiss, no wonder it is the Hou Fu of Bianjing; such large eastern pearls—this is the first time I, your mother, have ever seen them."

And there is also

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(End of Chapter)