Border Cook

Chapter 684: Thoughts on the way
All the lifting tools are made of iron. They are fully forged, have a smooth surface and exquisite workmanship. They feel heavy in the hand, but are within the bearable range. Just carrying them feels very convenient.

Fan Hongyu made sixteen such stools for Xia Mingyue.

"Thank you, Lord Fan." Xia Mingyue thanked him repeatedly after accepting it.

"Madam Xia, you are too polite." Fan Hongyu bowed. "I have asked people to try these out. They are solid and durable, and they are easy to use. There shouldn't be any problems during use."

"Yes." Xia Mingyue replied with a smile.

The two talked for a while, and Fan Hongyu did not forget to give Fan Jinglan some instructions.

What about not being naughty and listening to Madam Xia?

Don't be too aggressive in everything. Listen to Madam Xia.

What do you mean by eating well and sleeping well and listening to Madam Xia...

Fan Jinglan, "..."

He talked in a very long-winded way, and many of the words were what her eldest brother had said over and over again when she was out in the past. Her ears were almost callused from hearing them.

But there is one sentence among them that is not wrong.

You must listen to Madam Xia.

"No problem!" Fan Jinglan agreed and urged Fan Hongyu, "Brother, if you have nothing else to do, it's getting late. Sister Xia and I have to set off. Otherwise, if it's too late, we might not be able to find a place to stay at night and have to sleep in the open..."

Fan Hongyu curled his lips.

Starting from the capital and heading west, they would pass through countless villages and towns within two days. There were also many post stations along the official road. With the status of Fan Jinglan and Xia Mingyue, they could both stay overnight and would definitely not have to sleep in the open air.

At this moment, Fan Jinglan just felt that her elder brother was being too nagging!

Fan Hongyu understood it in his heart, but he didn't complain too much. He just said "Bon voyage" and watched Xia Mingyue, Fan Jinglan and others get on the carriage.

Xia Mingyue and Fan Jinglan came with a large group of people, and the gifts filled several carriages. With the guards and attendants on both sides, the scene seemed quite grand.

The Fan family has never been particular about such pomp and circumstance, but at this moment Fan Hongyu was very satisfied with it, and felt much more at ease because of it. He sent the group out of the city gate of the capital.

He watched the group of people go away until the last carriage became blurred in his sight, and then Fan Hongyu stopped waving his hand.

With a look of reluctance on his face, Fan Hongyu's eyes were filled with obscurity and he let out a long sigh.

After this separation, I don’t know when we will meet again.

"My lord." The attendant beside him comforted, "The young lady should be back soon. After all, the young lady and General Shenhu have been married by the Queen Mother..."

The Queen Mother personally granted the marriage, and given the young lady's condition, she must get married in the capital, and preparations for the wedding need to be made in advance, so the attendants concluded that the young lady would return soon to prepare for the wedding.

"Yes." Fan Hongyu nodded, his brows relaxed a little, but not completely.

The sun gradually rose higher, and the spring sun made the whole body feel warm. The apricot blossoms at the city gate had already bloomed, and under the sunlight, the branches were full of flowers, which was very beautiful.

However, since the breeze started blowing, apricot petals began to fall, and together with the petals that fell yesterday, they formed a thick layer.

The petals fall to the ground and will eventually mix with the soil, slowly fermenting into more soil, nourishing the apricot tree to bloom more flowers the following year.

This is the destination of flowers, and often also their mission.

People sometimes pick flower branches, put them in a vase, and place them in the room for viewing, but many times it is difficult to preserve this beautiful scenery, and it instead accelerates the withering of the flowers.

Therefore, not all flowers need to be picked by someone.

Just watch from a distance.

At least that beautiful scenery will remain in my heart for a long, long time.

Fan Hongyu reached out and picked up a petal that had fallen on his shoulder, and gently placed it next to the tree roots. He stood up and said with a smile, "It's getting late, I should go to the government office."

The affairs of the Ministry of Revenue are complicated and he still has a lot to do.

There can't be any slackness!

Fan Hongyu jumped on the horse, threw away the reins, and headed towards the Ministry of Revenue.

The carriage carrying Xia Mingyue and her group moved forward slowly. The carriage was spacious and comfortable, the driver had excellent driving skills, and the carriage was running very smoothly.

If it was on the way to the capital, such a steady and slow pace of carriage ride would have made Xia Mingyue drowsy long ago. But on the way back, with the company of the lively and cheerful Fan Jinglan, Xia Mingyue was no longer sleepy and chatted with her enthusiastically, talking and looking at the scenery outside the window.

The breeze is gentle, the sun is shining, the trees are sprouting, the grass is green, and there are large patches of blooming unknown flowers in various shapes and colors, which are beautiful beyond words.

When they got tired of talking and looking at the scenery, they had some snacks that Xia Mingyue had prepared in advance.

Crispy fried dough twist, sugar-coated peanuts, candied plums, salt-and-pepper rice crackers, spicy pork jerky…

Various flavors, can't stop eating.

At night, stay in an inn or post house, have a comfortable sleep to relieve fatigue, and continue the journey the next day.

After walking like this for a few days, Fan Jinglan discovered something strange.

It seemed that since she set out from the capital, she had never seen the figures of Master Yin Lingyou and his disciples along the way.

Not only did they not lift the curtain to let in some fresh air while traveling, but even when they were having a picnic outside at noon, they never got off the carriage. If Fan Jinglan hadn't known about this in advance, she would have thought that their master and disciple had never traveled with them.

"Sister." Fan Jinglan was a little curious and even more concerned, "I've never seen Doctor Yin, but is he feeling unwell?"

"That's not the case." Xia Mingyue made up an excuse, "It's probably because of the long journey that Doctor Yin feels sleepy and wants to sleep in the carriage."

"That's right." Fan Jinglan nodded. "It's easy to feel sleepy in the spring, especially since Doctor Yin has suffered an unexpected disaster before. He probably hasn't fully recovered yet."

"Probably..." Xia Mingyue smiled awkwardly.

Wu Jin, who was lying in front of the carriage, grinned and barked twice.

At this time, Yin Lingyou and Mao Sanli were in the carriage, bored, sometimes leaning, sometimes sitting up, sometimes eating, sometimes drinking...

After working for a while, Yin Lingyou let out a long sigh.

"Master, are you feeling a little stuffy? Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air?" Mao Sanli was about to lift the car curtain while speaking.

“No, no!” Yin Lingyou hurriedly stopped Mao Sanli’s action, “It’s fine inside the carriage, no need to breathe!”

Mao Sanli tilted his head and said, "Master, you are not still upset because of what happened before..."

"It's okay, Master. It's been so long since the incident happened, everyone has forgotten about it, and the servants in the mansion have all stayed in the capital. The people accompanying us this time are either strangers or people we know too well. No matter which one it is, they won't laugh at you, Master." "So don't worry!"

He has no intention of letting the devil take his own life.

Yin Lingyou glared at Mao Sanli in annoyance.

How could others forget and not care about such a novel and interesting thing in such a short period of time?

Even if I don't mention it on the surface, as soon as I see him, I will definitely think of this incident in my heart, and even imagine how embarrassed he was at that time...

Forget it, forget it. I must stay invisible during this period of time, at least until I reach Jinqiu County.

In this way, everyone's memory will be covered by the interesting things along the way, and they will slowly forget his embarrassing moments.

When Yin Lingyou thought of this, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

Seeing that his master was obviously unhappy, Mao Sanli stopped trying to persuade him, and at the same time scratched his head in confusion and annoyance.

I really don’t know what Master is worried about.

How can a person have such a good memory that he can remember things that happened many days ago?

Take him for example, sometimes he can forget most of what happened yesterday, let alone the day before yesterday.

All in all, Master was just worrying too much.

The most important thing is that it is one thing for the master not to show up to see people, but it is not a good thing if you force him to show up.

You know, when we stayed at the inn last night, Madam Xia was in a good mood and cooked a big pot of fish with pork intestines.

A big pot!

It is said that the soup is red, oily, spicy and fragrant, and the meat slices are tender, smooth and delicious.

The most important thing is the pig intestines, which are fresh pig intestines collected by the post station from nearby villages. They are washed very cleanly and the grease inside is removed very cleanly, leaving only the pig intestine skin.

The skin of the pig intestine is white and tender inside, and light brown on the outside. It is soaked in the extremely rich, fragrant and delicious soup. Take a bite and you will find it absolutely chewy, smooth, spicy and fragrant!

Just by imagining it, Mao Sanli felt that the pig intestines were absolutely delicious, making him drool.

He really wants to eat.

The feeling that I won’t live past tomorrow!
It was a pity that the master refused to go out no matter what, let alone let him go out. He was also embarrassed to ask someone to ask for a bowl of rice, so he could only sniff the wonderful aroma through the crack of the door, and his mouth was full of saliva, and he ate another bowl...

This kind of anxiety is really unbearable!

Mao Sanli felt that if his master continued to be so stubborn, his drooling would probably flood the entire road on his way back to Jinqiu County.

At that time, they don’t have to ride back in a carriage, they can just row a boat!
No, no, I have to think of a way...

Thoughts grew wildly in Mao Sanli's mind. When he noticed that Xia Mingyue had made spicy hotpot in the evening, the urge to go out for a bite reached its peak.

but……

Seeing that his master was staring at him, as if he was afraid that he was going to go out, Mao Sanli suddenly felt embarrassed.

How to go out with a suitable reason has become a difficult problem.

But it’s not a problem!

After Mao Sanli's eyes rolled around for a few times, he immediately frowned, covered his stomach with his hands in pain, and cried "ouch, ouch".

"What's wrong?" Yin Lingyou saw that Mao Sanli's face turned pale and there were even signs of sweat on his forehead, so he asked hurriedly with concern.

"My stomach hurts so badly..." Mao Sanli said through his teeth, "I think I ate something bad. No, no, I have to go to the toilet right away."

"Go, go." Yin Lingyou looked at his disciple who was as strong as a mountain, and now he was like a shrimp with a hunched back. He hurriedly opened the door and said, "Is it still possible? If not, I will help you over."

Mao Sanli tore off a large amount of toilet paper, bent over, and walked out while holding onto the wall, saying, "No, no, it's not a big problem. Master, don't worry too much. I'll be back soon."

After all, this kind of place involves privacy. Although Yin Lingyou was quite worried, seeing Mao Sanli bluntly refused, he no longer insisted and just watched Mao Sanli walk out with concern.

Mao Sanli bent over, and under Yin Lingyou's gaze, he walked towards the toilet in small, difficult but hurried steps.

But after realizing that he was out of Yin Lingyou's sight, his originally bent waist straightened up in an instant, but his face was still a little pale and sweat was still oozing out of his forehead.

But these symptoms didn't seem to have any effect on Mao Sanli. He even chuckled and kissed the porcelain bottle he took out from his sleeve again and again.

You know what, this thing really works!

Let’s go, let’s go!

Mao Sanli took advantage of the falling night, slipped along the wall, tried his best to avoid Yin Lingyou's sight, and successfully reached another courtyard of the inn.

At this time in the yard, Xia Mingyue and others were sitting around the table, feasting on a large pot of spicy hot pot.

Fresh and tender tenderloin slices, chewy and delicious fat intestines, juicy fish balls, crisp and fragrant spring bamboo shoots, and deep-fried tofu puffs soaked in the broth...

More than a dozen kinds of meat and vegetables are all in one pot, fried in the red oil. They are oily and fragrant, and paired with a bowl of soft and delicious white rice. It is so delicious!

Xia Mingyue, Fan Jinglan and others enjoyed the meal to their heart's content. The fresh, spicy and hot taste made them exclaim in satisfaction that a layer of fine beads of sweat even appeared on their foreheads.

This scene, coupled with the rich aroma of the spicy hotpot, made Mao Sanli swallow a big mouthful of saliva again.

"Gulu!"

The sound was loud enough for everyone to hear clearly, and even scared Xia Mingyue, who had extremely good hearing.

After seeing that the voice came from Mao Sanli, Xia Mingyue laughed, "Brother Mao?"

"Madam Xia, Madam Fan, Junior Sister..." Mao Sanli greeted everyone one by one, but while greeting them, his eyes were fixed on the spicy hot pot without even moving his eyeballs, and he kept laughing, "What are you eating?"

When he spoke, there was too much saliva in his mouth, so his words were very unclear and almost inaudible.

Looking at the appearance, even if you use your toes to guess, you can know what Mao Sanli's purpose is at this moment.

Seeing this, Xia Mingyue asked Yin Qiao to get a bowl of rice, took the chopsticks and called Mao Sanli, "Brother Mao, sit down and eat together?"

This is what I've been waiting for!
Mao Sanli didn't even bother to say polite words, he just nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "Okay, okay."

Then, he sat down on the stool and kept putting various foods from the basin into the bowl.

It’s March now, and the story is coming to an end. This month is the month of closing. I hope you guys will continue to support Nuan Nuan.