Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

Li Lizhi gave Xiao Ran a reproachful look.

"You spoil her too much."

Xiao Ran shrugged. "There's nothing we can do. Who can blame us for making our little Sizi so adorable?"

The little princess turned around and said happily, "Cute~"

This amused Li Lizhi, who gently pinched her cheek.

The weather was warm today, so Xiao Ran put the little princess in the yard, and a group of kids went to play beanbag toss.

The yard was bigger, so they could run around more freely than inside the house.

Seeing that the little princess was having a good time, Xiao Ran thought for a moment and then went to the glass workshop.

"Old Mo, Old Qin, Sanlang, what are you doing?" Xiao Ran shouted before even entering.

The three paused, and Qin Huaidao rubbed his shoulder.

"What else could we be doing? Of course, we're grinding lenses."

Xiao Ran took the lens out of his hand and put it aside.

"Let's not rush with these lenses, let's get something else."

Cheng Chumo was already exhausted from talking, so upon hearing this, he quickly asked, "What other things? What fun things did you find, young master?"

Xiao Ran said, "How about we make a mirror?"

Xiao Ran had mentioned before that the glass could be used to make a mirror, but since the mirror was approved, Xiao Ran had been too busy and forgot about it.

Cheng Chumo didn't care how the mirror was made and readily agreed, as long as he wasn't made to keep grinding the lens like this, since it was too boring.

However, Cheng Chumo didn't expect that making a mirror also required grinding the lens! And that it would be ground even bigger!
Seeing Cheng Chumo's pained expression, Xiao Ran offered a perfunctory reassurance: "Don't worry, you don't need to worry about the angle or anything like that. Just a little polishing will do."

These words at least made Cheng Chumo feel a little less upset.

Xiao Ran came over in the morning to make the mirror. Everyone went back and ate a quick lunch, and then continued making the mirror in the afternoon, finally finishing it in the evening.

It was almost time for dinner, and the little princess checked the time and realized that Xiao Ran hadn't returned yet, so she simply waited at the door.

Seeing Xiao Ran approaching from afar, seemingly carrying something, the little princess instantly stood up.

"Little Pouch-kun~ Little Pouch-kun~"

As she spoke, the little princess tried to run out to find Xiao Ran, but Li Lizhi stopped her.

"Good boy, we'll wait here. Young master will be here soon."

The little princess is dressed so lightly indoors, how can she just run straight outside like that?

Fortunately, Xiao Ran and his group arrived at the door soon. Seeing that Xiao Ran and his group were carrying things, Li Lizhi quickly pulled the little princess aside to make way.

The group put their things on the ground, and Xiao Ran rubbed his shoulders.

"I didn't expect this thing to be so heavy."

Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaidao nodded in agreement.

Xiao Ran, Cheng Chumo, and Qin Huaidao were carrying this thing, while Li Ke was responsible for supporting the back to prevent it from falling over.

Li Lizhi looked at the thing covered by the cloth and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Princess Yuzhang, Zhang Erya, and a few little ones also came over.

Xiao Ran directly raised his hand and tore off the cloth, revealing a life-sized mirror in front of everyone. There was also a wooden base under the mirror, which was made by Cheng Chumo.

"This is..." Li Lizhi looked at herself in the mirror, carefully stepped forward, and gently touched it.

Xiao Ran said, "This is a mirror. How is it? Clear, right?"

Princess Yuzhang raised her hand to touch the pearl hairpin in her hair, and the person in the mirror followed suit.

"This is so clear!" Princess Yuzhang leaned forward. "So this is what I look like."

Although bronze mirrors can reflect images, they are never clear enough. When Xiao Ran presented this mirror, it astonished everyone. The little princess even ran to the mirror, looking at it from all angles, and pointed at it, saying, "There are two duck nests!"

Li Yuan and his group, who had gone out to eat, noticed that Xiao Ran and the others were not there, so they went over with puzzled looks and found a group of people gathered together.

"What are you doing?" Li Yuan asked, puzzled.

Xiao Ran said, "I made a mirror today, so everyone is looking in it."

"A mirror?" Li Yuan asked curiously, and walked over as well.

When Li Yuan saw himself in the mirror, he was very surprised.

"This mirror is so clear!"

Li Tai also looked at himself in the mirror with curiosity, and even the several great scholars straightened their clothes through the mirror.

A group of people stood around the mirror, unwilling to disperse. Finally, Xiao Ran said helplessly, "Let's go, we should go eat. This mirror will be placed in the living room, and everyone will have plenty of time to look at themselves later."

Upon hearing this, the group slowly dispersed.

Xiao Ran was really hungry; he hadn't eaten much at noon.

For dinner, they stewed mutton, and Xiao Ran ate two large bowls.

Several snowfalls occurred intermittently, and soon it was time for the Chinese New Year.

They took out red paper, and Li Ke and Li Yuan wrote several couplets, which they then pasted on the door.

The kitchen was bustling with activity, with meatballs being fried in a large pot.

Today is Chinese New Year, and Xiao Ran has used all the leftover ingredients and seasonings to prepare a grand feast. He even broke a hole in the ice in the water and caught two big fish.

Although pork doesn't taste good at this time, Xiao Ran still specially bought a pig. After blanching and other methods, the gamey smell of the wild boar meat was greatly reduced.

Once you add seasonings and other ingredients and cook it, you probably won't be able to taste the difference.

The ingredients were prepared starting yesterday morning, because some of them, like ribs, had to be blanched first, and some even had to be braised. The kitchen has been busy since yesterday.

Today is the same. Although the New Year's Eve dinner is in the evening, we started getting busy very early.

The little princess, Princess Chengyang, Princess Gaoyang, and Third Sister ran around in the courtyard together, while Yan Yao and Di Renjie naturally went home for the New Year.

At this moment, the four little girls were dressed up like red envelopes. Xiao Ran had just finished teaching the cook how to make braised pork ribs when the little princess hugged his leg as soon as he came out.

"Little Nang-kun~ It smells so good~"

Seeing the little princess drooling while hugging his leg, Xiao Ran laughed and said, "I knew you were a little glutton. Alright, come inside and wait. I'll get you some fried meatballs to eat in a bit."

Upon hearing that there was something delicious to eat, the little princess immediately pulled her third aunt and the two little princesses into the house.

Xiao Ran turned around and brought out a plate of fried meatballs from the kitchen, then placed it on the living room table.

"Eat slowly, be careful not to burn yourself."

Although these fried meatballs weren't freshly fried, the outside was warm, but the inside was still warm.

The little princess nodded, "Woji Island!"

The girls sat together happily eating meatballs, while Xiao Ran went out to work again.

Before we knew it, it was evening, and every household in Kaolao Village lit up their lanterns.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar, and Xiao Ran knew immediately who was coming.

Sure enough, when Xiao Ran opened the door, he saw Cheng Yaojin riding on horseback, and Li Shimin slowly getting off the carriage.

"Uncle, Uncle Cheng, you've finally arrived!" Xiao Ran stepped forward.

Li Shimin nodded without speaking, but Cheng Yaojin, with his usual loud voice, said, "Young master, what delicious food have you prepared? My stomach is about to burst with hunger."

Xiao Ran smiled, "There are so many! I guarantee you've never tried any of them before, and there are other surprises too."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin also became interested.

"Then I'll take a closer look."

After saying that, Xiao Ran led them into the house, and the little princess ran to Li Shimin as soon as she saw him.

"Grandpa~"

Li Shimin smiled and patted the little princess on the head.

"Sizi has grown taller."

Then, Li Shimin looked up at Empress Zhangsun, who was sitting in a chair.

After such a long period of recuperation, Empress Zhangsun's complexion became much rosier, and her belly showed slight fluctuations.

Li Shimin walked toward Empress Zhangsun.

"Guanyinbi".

Empress Zhangsun smiled gently.

"His Majesty."

Li Shimin looked Empress Zhangsun up and down and said, "Your complexion looks much better than before."

Empress Zhangsun looked at Xiao Ran and Sun Simiao with gratitude.

"It's all thanks to Xiao Ran and Doctor Sun. I've been eating medicinal meals these days, and I feel much better."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin looked at Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran stepped forward and said, "Madam, there's no need for this. This is all I should do. As long as you feel better, that's all that matters."

Li Shimin patted Xiao Ran on the shoulder, "Good lad! I really should thank you. Tell me, what do you want? I'll give you whatever you ask!"

Xiao Ran said helplessly, "Uncle, I really don't want anything. Don't you know me?"

Li Shimin fell silent upon hearing this. It wasn't the first time he had asked Xiao Ran what he wanted, but Xiao Ran always gave the same answer, leaving Li Shimin feeling helpless.

"Fine, fine, if you don't want to tell me, then I'll just do as I please."

Xiao Ran really didn't want anything, so he simply pulled Li Shimin and said, "Uncle, let's go eat quickly, I think Uncle Cheng is so hungry he's about to eat people!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present burst into laughter.

A group of people arrived at the restaurant chatting and laughing. The table in the center of the restaurant was filled with all kinds of dishes.

In the center was a steaming pot of mutton stew with radish, surrounded by braised carp, pan-fried tofu, stewed chicken, sweet and sour pork ribs, fried meatballs, and so on. There was even braised pig's head and some other meats. Apart from tofu and chives, there were almost no other vegetables on the table.

Even the chives were stir-fried with eggs.

After everyone was seated, Li Shimin picked up a piece of mutton and his eyes lit up: "Hmm! This mutton is stewed until it's tender and flavorful, delicious!"

The little princess held a small wooden spoon in her tiny hands, diligently scooping up the steamed egg from the bowl and stuffing a big mouthful into her mouth.

Seeing the little princess enjoying her meal, Li Shimin was in a good mood and jokingly asked, "Is this steamed egg custard delicious?"

The little princess's voice was crisp and clear: "Okay!"

Li Shimin then asked, "Could Father have some?"

The little princess looked at the steamed egg custard in the bowl, scooped up a full spoonful, and handed it to Li Shimin.

"Grandpa, it's so sad!"

Li Shimin laughed heartily, but he didn't eat any.

“You eat, little one, but I won’t.”

The little princess tilted her head, not understanding why Li Shimin had taken her food but then stopped eating it, but that didn't stop her from eating heartily.

The steamed egg custard was served in small portions, one bowl per child.

After finishing the steamed egg custard, Xiao Ran picked up a piece of glutinous rice lotus root for the little princess.

"Let's see if you like this, Sizi."

Sticky rice lotus root is hard to pick up with chopsticks, so the little princess simply used her hands. She grabbed the lotus root slices with her little hands and ate them with her mouth full of syrup.

"Sweet and delicious, Qi Ya~"

The little princess loves sweet things the most.

Afterwards, Xiao Ran served Li Shimin a bowl of chicken soup.

"Uncle, try this chicken soup. It's been simmering for a long time, and it also contains some qi-tonifying herbs. It's good for your health."

Li Shimin took a sip and nodded, "Not bad, very delicious!"

While Xiao Ran and the others were chatting, Cheng Yaojin had already finished three bowls of rice.

"Young master, it's a real shame that you're not running a restaurant with such skills."

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "This is not my cooking skill. It is all the cook's skill. I only used one of the recipes."

Cheng Yaojin did not quite agree with Xiao Ran's words.

"Having the skill but not the recipe is useless."

But then Cheng Yaojin had a sudden inspiration, "Hehe, young master, how about we go into partnership? I'll provide the location and the staff, and you provide the recipe. We can open a restaurant together, what do you say?"

Xiao Ran thought about it and realized that it wouldn't affect him much, but they still needed to discuss the specifics. Since it was New Year's Day, they decided not to talk about those things.

So Xiao Ran said, "There's no rush, let's talk about it after the New Year."

Cheng Yaojin nodded, "Yes, yes, yes."

Seeing that everyone had finished their meal, Xiao Ran said, "Let's go watch the fireworks!"

With that, Xiao Ran led everyone outside.

Several paper tubes had been set up in the courtyard under the cover of night, and several servants were waiting around, one of whom was holding incense.

Xiao Ran nodded to the servant, who then stepped forward and lit the fuse with the incense stick in his hand.

After a hissing sound, a beam of golden light shot into the night sky and burst open at its highest point, like a golden chrysanthemum blooming in the night.

"Wow~" The little princess's eyes widened, and she pointed her little finger to the sky, "Hello~"

Empress Zhangsun was also awestruck by the beautiful scenery and unconsciously leaned towards Li Shimin. Li Shimin put his arm around Empress Zhangsun's shoulder, and the two looked up at the sky together.

Immediately afterwards, a second firework soared into the sky, this time swirling with seven colors, like a peacock spreading its tail, adorning the night sky with dazzling brilliance.

"It's so beautiful!" Li Lizhi exclaimed. "Young master, how did you do that?"

The fact that they were studying fireworks was something that almost only Xiao Ran and Sun Simiao knew about; it was the first time anyone else had ever seen it, and they were all amazed and curious.

Just as Xiao Ran was about to explain, the third firework had already risen into the sky. This firework was particularly special; after exploding, it turned into specks of starlight and slowly fell, like a cascading galaxy.

The little princess peeked out of Xiao Ran's arms, reaching out her tiny hands to catch the specks of light, and exclaimed, "I caught a star! It's a star!"

The villagers of Kaolao Village naturally heard the commotion. They were just curious about what was going on, but when they came out, they saw fireworks in the sky.

"What is this?" some villagers asked, looking puzzled.

But most people were amazed: "This is so beautiful!" (End of Chapter)