Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11974

That night, a huge hot pot with two separate broths was served on the dining table in the backyard of the Luo family.

The hot pot with two yin-yang broth was brought out by Yang Ruoqing from Tianxianglou Restaurant in the county town. It was a copper hot pot with many patterns carved on the outside and the interior designed in the shape of the Yin-Yang symbol. It was not only beautiful, but also very high-end, elegant, classy, ​​and practical!
On the left is a non-spicy broth with goji berries, red dates, longan, apples, and pears.

On the right is a spicy red broth base, with scallions and dried chili peppers floating in it.

Surrounding the steaming, bubbling hot pot were various cleaned hot pot ingredients.

Both meat and vegetarian options are available. The meat options mainly consist of thinly sliced ​​beef and pork, while the vegetarian options include spinach, cabbage, bok choy, and lotus root.

In addition, Yang Ruoqing also temporarily made a plate of egg dumplings, Rong Gu fried tofu balls and lotus root balls, Shaoyao peeled quail eggs, and made half a catty of shrimp paste.

"We were in a rush tonight, so we only made half a pound of shrimp paste. All of this shrimp paste went into the non-spicy side; it's a special for the kids." Yang Ruoqing came over from the kitchen next door carrying a large plate of golden fried rice. Seeing everyone eagerly putting vegetables into the hot pot, she quickly reminded them to avoid making a mistake.

"What about the other dishes? Are there any special requirements?" Xiaohua asked.

"That's all. Let's split the rest in half, except for the shrimp paste, so everyone can have some."

Haha, the implication is that the adults shouldn't eat the shrimp paste yet, but give it to the children.

"Sis, give me a bowl of fried rice with egg." Da'an handed over his rice bowl.

Yang Ruoqing glanced at him. Well, this guy, despite being an adult, doesn't seem to be able to handle spicy food very well. He'd only eaten a few bites of the hot pot beef and he couldn't take it anymore. Not only was his forehead sweating, but his lips were also red.

And you know what? Da'an, who was already a handsome young man with rosy lips and white teeth, looked even more handsome with his lips swollen and red from the spiciness. No wonder so many high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants in the capital were eager to marry him when he passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar!
If Da'an's looks were in later years, he would definitely be a top star. And he was only 30 years old, which is a very good age for a man. In the officialdom, it is the perfect time to be young and promising and make a name for himself.

"You little rascal, no matter what good food you eat, you've never been short of rice since you were a kid." Yang Ruoqing smiled and took Da'an's bowl, filling it to the brim with egg fried rice.

Seeing this, Xiaohua laughed and said, "Sister, you're right. When we were in Changhuaizhou, at some unavoidable social gatherings, while everyone else had just started drinking, he was already serving rice."

Once the rice was served, it signaled that he was no longer drinking, and no one else could drink either, because he was the governor, the head of a prefecture.

"Really?" Yang Ruoqing smiled and looked at Da'an again. "With your alcohol tolerance, you're not really suited for those kinds of occasions."

Why would you start eating right away? According to the etiquette of a banquet, once you pick up your food, you cut off the opportunity for others to offer you a toast.

Even drinking tea or juice instead of alcohol would be better. Why rush to eat rice? It's just a habit I've had since childhood that I can't seem to break.

Da'an just smiled at this, took a bite of the fried rice with his hands, and then his eyes lit up with surprise.

"Sis, did you make this fried rice?"

"Ha, you figured it out right away, it's something I just made."

"Yeah, I knew it. My sister's fried rice is amazing." Da'an praised without reservation. After taking another bite of fried rice, he said, "As for drinking at the banquet, actually, those people don't care whether I drink or not. As long as I attend, their purpose for the banquet is achieved."

"I'm worried that you won't drink a single drop, and that might offend someone," Xiaohua said.

Yang Huazhong nodded in agreement: "Yes, it's the drinking culture. If you don't drink at all, it's best to avoid those occasions."

Da'an glanced at Yang Huazhong and smiled wryly: "Dad, do you think I want to go? You all know I'm a bookworm, so I can't refuse!"

Yang Huazhong thought about it and agreed, then could only sigh, "There's really nothing we can do about it, but as you said before, your presence is enough."

Yang Ruoqing raised an eyebrow: "Everyone, don't worry about Da'an. Da'an is the governor of Changhuai Prefecture. Those who invited him to the banquet were just trying to curry favor with him."

"To curry favor with someone, you should cater to their preferences rather than force them to do things they don't like."

"So, if I were one of those people, and I didn't prepare any wine when I hosted my first banquet, then the next time I hosted a banquet, I would definitely not be foolish enough to prepare wine; I would prepare good food and drink instead!"

“Sister, that makes sense, but drinking culture is a rule of officialdom,” Xiaohua said with concern. She looked at Da’an and continued, “I’m just worried that he can’t drink and will be ostracized.”

Yang Ruoqing scoffed: "He's the top official of Changhuai Prefecture, appointed by the emperor himself. Who would dare to ostracize him? They'd be too busy currying favor with him!"

Da'an gave Yang Ruoqing an approving look. "Sister is right. I made it clear that I wouldn't drink alcohol during the banquet. So when those people invited me to a banquet later, they naturally replaced the liquor with juice."

"Haha, did you all hear that? The so-called drinking culture is ultimately inseparable from humanistic care." Yang Ruoqing laughed and continued, "What drinking culture, what drinking rules, are all made by people. Everything is flexible and adaptable, so don't worry about Da'an!"

Da'an's ability to hold onto his position as governor has never been based on his drinking capacity, either in the past, present, or future. "Well, that's good. I'm relieved then." Xiao Hua chattered on, placing a few stalks of spinach from the non-spicy broth pot into Da'an's bowl.

Da'an frowned slightly and said, "There are no outsiders here. Just help yourself to whatever you want to eat. You can eat by yourself."

Xiaohua was originally going to pick up some more of his favorite tofu balls, but upon hearing this, she nodded somewhat awkwardly.

Da'an didn't look at Xiaohua anymore and buried his head in eating his fried rice.

Xiao Hua put away her chopsticks, wanting to take care of Fuwa and Jun'er's food and drink, but Fuwa and Jun'er didn't need her at all.

Fuwa and Yang Ruoqing sat together affectionately, and Yang Ruoqing was scooping lotus root balls for Fuwa.

As for Jun'er, he was taken care of by his grandmother, Sun Shi, throughout the entire process. Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan also had their own people taking care of them. Feng'er had grown up and no longer needed her care.

Xiao Hua secretly looked up at Da An again. Da An was interacting with Luo Fengtang and the others from time to time, but he never glanced in her direction.

Thinking about what had happened before, Xiaohua felt bitter, annoyed, and worried.

But in such a warm and family gathering, she couldn't show it, otherwise her mother and sisters would notice and worry. Sigh, this meal was so difficult!
……

The small two-room apartment across the street is also quite lively tonight.

Everyone from the eldest son's family came to the second son's family for dinner tonight.

Although the Yang family's motto is "we'll face anything together," as the saying goes, "a large tree branches out," and there are varying degrees of closeness and distance between each branch.

The three brothers, Yang Yongjin, Yang Yongzhi, and Yang Yongqing, were definitely closer than others. For example, when the second son's daughter was getting married the day after tomorrow, the rest of the Yang family would only go to help tomorrow afternoon, but Yang Yongzhi and Yang Yongqing had already gone to discuss some matters tonight.

"Third brother, fourth brother, I called you here to discuss how to draft the invitations for the two girls who are getting married together." At the dinner table, with a table full of dishes, Yang Yongjin got straight to the point and stated his purpose directly. "After all, this is Xiuxiu's second marriage. Some relatives and friends will say that we are disrespectful and not giving her face if we don't send her an invitation."

"If we really send out invitations, they'll say we asked them for gifts in the second round, and that'll sound awful. Can you guys help me figure out how to write the invitations?"

At the dining table in the main room of the front yard, Yang Yongjin and his brothers were eating, drinking, and discussing this matter.

The three brothers in the main room had a truly heart-to-heart talk.

However, not everyone can be so open and honest. For example, in the kitchen of the second wife's house, Cao Bamei, Zhao Liuer, and Xiao Mo's three sisters-in-law were also gathered together to discuss the dishes for the banquet. Zhao Liuer had only been out of confinement for a few days. At this moment, she was sitting at the warm stove, wearing a hat on her head, and holding a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in her arms. The baby had been sucking on its mother's breast, but now it had closed its eyes and fallen asleep. Perhaps it was the soft conversation of the women, like a lullaby, that made it sleep very soundly.

"Second sister-in-law, Second Brother owns a restaurant, he knows far more recipes than we do. Why don't you just have him draft a list, and have Yongqing go and buy the ingredients first thing tomorrow morning?" Little Mo said with a smile, sitting on a small stool with an open back.

Cao Bamei waved her hand: "He doesn't have the mind to care about these things. He's having a huge headache over how to write the invitations!"

"What do you mean? Invitations are simple, aren't they? Just write them the way they should be!"

"Fourth sister-in-law, you don't understand. Xiuxiu got married once before. If the marriage certificate wasn't written properly, it wouldn't be good if relatives and friends came to congratulate her and gave her two gifts."

There are some things Cao Bamei is too embarrassed to say directly. Recently, with the second wife's wedding approaching, someone has been telling Cao Bamei privately that Liu Shi is complaining to everyone about how she keeps marrying off her daughters and collecting wedding gifts...

Since Cao Bamei had no solid evidence to confront Liu, she could only keep her anger inside.

"Second sister-in-law, just do what you think is right. It mainly depends on what you and second brother think," said Madam Mo.

If you want everyone to treat Xiuxiu's marriage as a first marriage, then relatives and friends, including her uncles and aunts, should send double the gifts.

If you don't intend to accept Xiuxiu's share, you should make it clear. Is it really that hard to express your true feelings? Invitations aren't that difficult to write either!

Ultimately, isn't it just wishful thinking? They want to save face and don't want people to think they're getting married and then getting married again.

I don't want to lose face, and I don't want to give everyone a free banquet. Sigh!
“Yes, Second Sister-in-law, Fourth Sister-in-law is right. Just say what you think and do what you think. There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you’re honest!” Zhao Liuer also understood what Xiao Mo was implying and said with a smile.

Cao Bamei sensed a hint of sarcasm in the words of the two people in front of her.

She slapped her thigh, looking at a loss and saying with a troubled expression, "Your second brother and I certainly didn't intend to accept Xiuxiu's congratulatory gift. We don't need that little bit of money!"

(End of this chapter)