Xiaoyaoshanjun

Chapter 145: Giving Porridge
During the cold winter months, the area around Tiancun becomes much more lively.

When the little rabbits reached the village road, they stopped and stood still.

Tian Buli looked at the black footprints and mud on the road left by people and animals, and knew that the little rabbits were afraid of getting themselves dirty.

Just then, Tian Buli came down from the mountain with a medicine furnace and some books, and he held the basket in both hands.

"Rabbit, jump in, I'll take you there."

After hearing this, the four little rabbits quickly and obediently looked at the basket.

Soon the black rabbit jumped over.

Next is the gray rabbit.

The little yellow rabbit also jumped in.

The little white rabbit was the last one to go in. After jumping in, she turned around with her other sisters, revealing their rabbit heads at the edge of the basket.

Tian Buli carried the basket and went home with the rabbit lady who was carrying a slanted cloth bag.

Bai Lian helped to sew the rabbit girl's schoolbag, which can be used to carry herbs and food, as well as books and some sundries.

The shoulder strap goes from the left shoulder to the right hip, and a short sword for daily use is tied to the left waist of the bunny girl.

She is not tall, shorter than Tian Buli, and looks younger. She often helps Tian Buli with laundry, cooking, and cleaning the room.

But the most important thing is being a bed partner, the intimacy is much higher than that of the four women in the house.

As soon as I arrived at the door of my house, many people from the neighborhood came out to greet me.

Four women and more than a dozen unfamiliar men and women were standing at the door, waiting for Tian Buli to get closer and then quickly greeted him in unison.

"master!"

"Chang Immortal!"

"father!"

Tian Buli nodded, "Okay, come in."

Tian Buli looked at Li Hezhen who was pregnant. She was expected to give birth in the next two days, but even so, she came out to welcome her man.

This is the status of the master in the feudal era.

Of course, Tian Buli himself knew that it was not the case, and he was much more capable than the masters of this era.

"You are pregnant, so you don't need to come out to pick me up at this time."

Tian Buli led everyone towards the mansion, and Li Hezhen followed beside them with her ten-month-old belly.

"Master is back, I am so happy that I should come out to greet him. I can't be impolite. And thanks to Master, I have been exercising hard, so I have been in good health recently. Even after giving birth, I can still work in the fields without any delay."

Bai Lian said nothing, but followed beside him, holding the hand of her son who could already walk.

Tian Buli said: "Li Heshu and Zhou Jiao should also exercise well, so that they don't get fat easily, and it will be easier to have children in the future."

Li Ha Shu and Zhou Jiao quickly responded, "Yes, Master!"

The two women were indeed exercising. The Li sisters were not the type of people who could work, but fortunately they were both very young, so it was easy for them to have children.

Women with big breasts will not have too bad luck.

Bai Lian said at the right time: "Master, this year there are more people coming to pay New Year's greetings. In addition to some acquaintances in the village and county, there are also greetings from Guanjiazhuang and Qitianfu. Even the families of several of us women came to give some gifts."

Tian Buli said casually: "Gifts should be exchanged. You should also prepare some gifts to send back. We can't go there in person, but we should show our appreciation."

Bai Lian nodded and said, "Yes."

Tian Buli didn't say much, as he knew the actual situation.

Some people don't need to give gifts in return, such as myself.

When giving gifts to high-ranking officials during festivals, no one except children would think that these officials could give gifts in return, let alone visiting relatives.

When people celebrate the New Year, they give gifts to Taoist temples and nearby immortals, but the gifts are always one-sided.

After entering the courtyard, Tian Buli said, "Today is the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. I think the baby should be born around the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month."

"Ask the kitchen to prepare a big pot. When the baby is born, I will make some porridge. On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, I will give out the porridge outside the door and do some good deeds."

"Only give the porridge to the villagers and nearby guests. Don't give too much. Wait until the seventh day to tell the villagers."

Bai Lian was responsible for this kind of thing, and Bai Lian quickly said, "Yes, Master!"

Li Hezhen asked, "Master, do you know whether the baby in my belly is a boy or a girl?"

"It doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl. Don't worry about it." Tian Buli didn't have the ability to distinguish between men and women. He did have two beads that could distinguish between men and women before, but he sold them.

Li Hazhen sighed: "Of course boys are better."

Tian Buli smiled and said, "My bloodline does not matter whether it is male or female."

Everyone went into the house and sat down to talk, and the new servants in the family also came one after another to kneel and acknowledge their master.

There were both male and female servants among them, and none of them were from the village. Rather, they were more like young men who did odd jobs for several large families.

The Li family also sent people to take care of the Li sisters, including women who knew how to give birth and take care of children, as well as daughters of poor relatives with clean backgrounds.

Many of them can farm, but Tian Buli doesn't marry anyone just because they can farm.

Li Hezhen was close to her due date, and everyone was waiting. After lunch on the sixth day of the New Year, she felt her stomach rumbling while sitting.

Everyone quickly and hurriedly gathered the pieces together. After two or three minutes, the baby struggled with his limbs and was born crying.

"Congratulations, master! It's a boy!" Li Hezhen's maid happily announced the good news.

Tian Buli actually wanted a daughter more, but he smiled and said, "Okay, let the accountant give everyone a reward of one or two taels of silver. Everyone on the list will get one tael of silver."

"Thank you, sir!" the maid thanked him quickly.

The four rabbits who were roasting sweet potatoes next to Tian Buli listened curiously. After the people left, the rabbits talked to Tian Buli while waiting to eat the sweet potatoes.

"Master, why can you only give birth to one child per litter?"

Tian Buli stood up with a smile, "Let your mother tell you, I'm going to go over and take a look."

Rabbit Lady came over and sat down, using a wooden stick to watch the four sweet potatoes on the stove instead of Tian Buli.

Tian Buli went to visit Li Hezhen, whose face was flushed and satisfied. No matter what, having a son was more secure in this era.

If she had given birth to a daughter, Li Hazhen, as a woman, would probably not be so satisfied.

Tian Buli comforted the child and named him Tian Fuyuan, nicknamed him Xiaoyuan.

After having his second son, Tian Buli began to be busy cooking porridge and distributing it to the children.

The next day, on the seventh day, Bai Lian came out of Li Hezhen's house and went to the kitchen in the backyard.

Seeing Tian Buli pouring a large bag of red beans into a bucket next to a big pot, he walked over to comfort him.

"Master, why not leave this kind of thing to the kitchen? You can rest or practice, why do you have to do this hard work?"

Tian Buli continued to work, smiling and saying, "I used to help Mr. Hu treat illnesses and boil medicine. Later, I also collected herbs in the mountains to make medicinal food. I have read many medical books and also learned some yin and yang harmonizing and nourishing techniques in the Taoist temple."

"Nowadays, if you take one or two days out of the year to cook some hot porridge, it can be considered a good deed."

"I want to make eight-treasure five-flavor porridge, because tomorrow we will give porridge to the public, so it can be called Laba porridge or eight-treasure porridge."

When Bai Lian heard that it was a Taoist skill, he hurriedly said respectfully: "So that's how it is, the master is really kind-hearted!"

Tian Buli didn't want to be misunderstood, so he added: "This eight-treasure porridge is not much different from ordinary porridge. There's no need to exaggerate. If it were some kind of panacea, I would have made it for you a long time ago."

Bai Lian nodded, "Yes!"

After a few seconds, Bai Lian still didn't leave.

"Master, the Princess's Mansion sent a message some time ago, saying that Yanxia Mountain will be holding a fairy gate banquet next year."

Tian Buli said casually: "That's true. I will go to the banquet next year."

Bai Lian whispered, "I heard that the inner disciples of Yanxia Mountain can bring one person in to the banquet."

Tian Buli frowned, "I don't know about this, and my master didn't tell me either. I'll ask him about it later."

"Yes!" Bai Lian didn't ask any more questions.

Things from the Immortal Sect cannot be taken out, especially some things like fruits and tributes. Once they leave the place, they will quickly dissipate and turn into ordinary food.

There is no point in taking the food away, you have to eat it yourself.

Princess Hanjiang and her husband are naturally qualified to attend the banquet and do not need to ask Tian Buli to lead the way.

Most of the time, the Immortal Sect ignores the imperial court, but they will give it some face and invite some local celebrities to the Immortal Sect Banquet held every few years or more than ten years.

After all, we often have to deal with the secular world and give away some leftovers in exchange for convenience.

Tian Buli found eight kinds of grains harvested this year from the warehouse, half of which were hot and half were cold. He washed them carefully and started cooking.

He then took five spices and slowly mixed them in the medicine stove, then poured the mixed sugar water into the pot and simmered it slowly.

I was busy from four or five in the morning to six or seven.

After he had a taste, he served a bowl to each of the rabbits who were adding firewood and fanning themselves.

"Clean up and you can eat. Go back to sleep when you're full. I'll call you at lunch time."

The four rabbits and the rabbit lady were all tired. After hearing this, they said happily, "Yes, sir!"

Tian Buli also had someone deliver a bowl of porridge to the women and children in his family, and of course did not leave out the people in the next yard, and then he started to distribute porridge at the door.

Bai Lian was lying on the warm kang and taking a nap when she heard someone come in.

"Madam, the master cooked eight-treasure porridge and asked us to bring it to you and the young master to taste."

The maid brought a wooden tray with two bowls of steaming red porridge on it.

Bai Lian remembered that today was the day for free porridge, so she quickly sat up and said, "Okay, I'll try it."

Another maid in the room quickly placed the small table on the heated kang, and after it was stable, another person put the dinner plate on it.

Bai Lian took the clothes handed to her by the maid and draped them over her shoulders, then sat cross-legged on the warm kang, reaching out with a spoon to stir the porridge in the bowl.

When it felt a little cooler, Bai Lian scooped a spoonful and carefully put it into his mouth.

In the cold winter, the porridge starts to get colder from the moment it leaves the pot, and now the temperature is just right.

After taking a bite of the sweet porridge, I felt that it tasted okay.

After taking two more bites, I felt my body warming up.

"Is this the porridge made by the master?"

"Yes, the master made it himself. He started cooking it before dawn and has been busy until now!"

Bai Lian took a few more bites and felt that the porridge tasted better than the one she had eaten in the palace.

While I was eating, I felt something moving around me.

When I looked over, I found that my sleeping son had woken up, and Xiao Cong'er, who was just over one year old, was standing beside him, looking like he wanted to eat.

"Cong'er, your father made you eight-treasure porridge. Come, let mother feed you."

Bai Lian would certainly not treat her precious son badly. She quickly held him in her arms and fed porridge to the little guy who had not yet been weaned.

Cong'er quickly and quietly started eating.

Bai Lian felt surprised. Normally, her youngest son was not obedient when eating porridge or even drinking milk. He would go out to play after taking a few bites. It was as if he was begging for milk when he was drinking it.

Today, he became obedient after drinking porridge. He opened his mouth and waited to be fed. The way he was concentrating on eating was incredible even to Bai Lian.

"Go and get another bowl." Bai Lian would naturally not let her son down, so she quickly asked the servants to get another bowl.

After more than ten minutes, the maid came back and said, "Madam, the master said that he only made a pot of porridge today. After everyone in the family had distributed it, there was not much left. There were many people queuing outside the door, so it has been distributed."

A big pot of porridge is only a large amount for a normal family, but it is not much for the Tian family of more than 200 people and the Hu family of more than 20 people.

There isn't much left in one bowl per person, not to mention it has to be shared with outsiders.

Seeing this, Bai Lian had no choice but to give up. After all, it was the master, not the cook, who made the porridge.

Of the five skills that Taoists possess, praying for rain, serving porridge, curing illnesses, drawing talismans, and performing rituals, Tian Buli has already mastered one and a half of them.

One is to provide porridge for relief, and the other half is to cure illnesses and give medicine.

(End of this chapter)