Mrs. Xue pulled Qingyan and said a few more words before making arrangements to let her have her breakfast first, otherwise she would get cold in a while.
Although it's summer now, I don't know if it's because of the ancient building, but it's much cooler inside than outside.
Qingyan then looked at the food on the table. There were bird's nest soup, thick rice porridge, a few delicious side dishes, for those who wanted to eat sweets, and two plates of snacks. There were five snacks in a small plate. , arranged in a plum shape, looks very delicate.
There were exactly five of them, so it was easy to share one piece each.
Qingyan was not polite. The table was small and it would be rude not to stretch out your arms to pick up the dishes, so she tasted everything.
She found out that what she thought before was that there was nothing delicious in ancient times, which was still one-sided. It should be because some good cooks and materials were in some big families, and there were basically not many snack bars or ordinary restaurants outside. Ancestor craftsmanship.
Most of those who are skilled in craftsmanship like to work in some big families. They don't have to be busy all day long. They only need to prepare the master's three meals or snacks, and they won't be burdened by going to that kind of restaurant.
The people working there are probably cooks who know how to cook ordinary dishes, or some who have learned a little bit about it, so they don't think it tastes good.
Another thing to say is that the current ingredients are still not complete enough. They are not as diverse as the market in the future with all kinds of sauces.
Of course, you can’t tell just by looking at the porridge and side dishes and snacks this morning. The side dishes are indeed salty and refreshing, but I don’t know what the dishes will be like at lunch or dinner.
I guess you shouldn’t think about things like spicy and fragrant. One is that chili peppers have not been introduced yet. The current spiciness is all made with peppers. The other one is that we are in the north, and the people here Even if they are available, they are not used to it. Most of them are salty or have a heavy oily red sauce.
Breakfast was very simple and not large, and everyone finished it in a short time.
Xue Minghua's two children also have very good etiquette at the table. They pick up the food steadily and chew without making any noise. They must have learned it from Xue Minghua since they were young. They are not timid at all.
This shows the importance of mother's education.
Several people rinsed their mouths and hands, and asked the maids to remove the dishes from the table. Mrs. Xue asked the maids to support Xue Minghua, and they entered the next room together.
Before entering the room next to her, Qingyan thought it was a master bedroom or something, but it turned out to be a living room.
Think about it, the ancients would not bring guests into the bedroom. They usually entertained guests in the hall. If they were close relatives and family members, they would have chatted in a small living room like this.
After entering the house, the maid helped Xue Minghua sit on the soft couch beside her. The two children also sat down next to their mother. It seemed that they were a little acquainted with the unfamiliar environment.
Qingyan couldn't help but squeeze in there, so she sat on a round stool next to the flower stand, while Mrs. Xue sat on the Taishi chair nearby.
The maid served tea again, and Mrs. Xue asked people to retreat and let her guard at the door.
Qingyan glanced at the maid. She was not Chun'er from before, nor Xiaoju who had asked her to come over for dinner before. She looked older than those two, and she should be the eldest maid who was Mrs. Xue's confidant.
After the maid went out, Mrs. road.
It was explained to the public that Hua was married in her maternal home, but her husband died of a sudden illness and she was a newly widowed woman. Because her husband's family didn't tolerate it, we took the three of them back.
In this way, we have an explanation to the outside world. Minghua will be able to deal with it when he goes out in the future without worrying about rumors. "
After all, there were still very few women getting divorced at this time, and it was easy for others to look at them strangely. It would be okay if they said that the widows whose husbands died were fine. In these war-torn times, there were so many widows, and no one would say anything if they remarried.
Qingyan felt a little embarrassed when Mrs. Xue said this. There was no need to tell her this, she was just an outsider after all.
The reason why Mrs. Xue said this in front of Qingyan was because she felt that she had escorted her daughter and grandchildren back, and she should tell her about this. Otherwise, it would seem that the Xue family was afraid of embarrassing their daughter and did not dare to publicize it. It was an explanation to the benefactor, letting people know that their efforts were not in vain.
After saying this, Mrs. Xue asked Qingyan what she would do next.
Qingyan immediately replied: "Since Sister Minghua is fine, I will stay here for one more day today and leave tomorrow morning to continue traveling. I also want to continue walking south, and there are many places I have not been to yet. ."
Xue Minghua was a little reluctant to give up, "Sister Qingyan, why don't you stay here for a few more days. Although my legs and feet are not good, I can let someone take you out for a walk. This Xingtang Mansion is not small, and you can't finish it in one day."
She knew that Qingyan had never been to Xingtang Mansion, so she probably wanted to have some fun.
Qingyan quickly refused, "No, no, I'll just go out for a walk later. I'll be bothering you at home all night. I'll leave tomorrow morning."
When Mrs. Xue heard that she was leaving tomorrow, she also persuaded her to stay: "It's not that urgent. Anyway, we are going out to travel, that is, to have fun everywhere. Going anywhere is not just fun, why not stay in Xingtang Mansion longer?" In a few days, there are still many interesting places here. I will ask you to take them to see them one by one.
After the master has arranged Minghua's affairs in two days, there will definitely be a banquet at home, and the female relatives he has made friends with will be invited over to get to know Minghua and his two children. "
More than ten years have passed, and many families have changed their marriage partners several times, so they must be introduced to the outside world.
"When the time comes, you can get to know people together. The banquet here is still very lively."
Qingyan still shook her head and said: "I made an appointment with someone else before. I have to rush back to Hancheng to meet up with them tomorrow, so I just want to visit Xingtang Mansion today. If you can't wait for me, I won't Well, I may not be able to contact you later.”
After that, the three of them had a lot of pushing and giving. Finally, they saw that Qingyan really couldn't stay, so the two of them stopped trying to persuade her. When they heard that Qingyan was going to go out for a walk, they took the A banknote and a purse came out. There should be broken silver in the purse.
Qingyan quickly refused: "Mother, you don't have to be like this. I have money with me, and there's quite a lot of it. When I entered the city, I just sold eight horses and got a lot of money.
And even if you just wander around, you may not be able to buy anything. "
Mrs.
This time Mrs. Xue said nothing to let her refuse, and stuffed it directly into her satchel. As a result, the little leopard was touched and groaned.
Mrs. Xue was startled by the hairiness under her hand and quickly withdrew her hand. "Is there... is there anyone alive in here?"
Before Qingyan could say anything, Huan'er spoke up, "Grandma, she is rich, and she is my aunt's little leopard. She is so beautiful!"
Mrs. Xue was a little confused when she heard "rich" at first, until she heard Little Leopard, she was really shocked.
"Little leopard? It's still alive! Where did you get it? Can the female leopard let you go? I heard that this beast is the most protective of its cubs, and it also holds a grudge. Some will even chase it for thousands of miles!"
Qingyan took the little leopard out of the makeshift satchel tied with cloth and handed it to Mrs. Xue.
"Look, auntie, I rescued this little leopard in the forest just a few days after it was full moon.
We were camping in the mountains when a female leopard suddenly ran over. We were startled and thought she was going to attack us.
Unexpectedly, the leopard kept looking at me with pleading eyes, so I tried to ask it if it needed help with anything? As a result, the leopard is so humane that he even nodded towards me!
So I followed it to the vicinity of its cave and found that the little leopard fell into a very thin crevice.
The female leopard was very smart. She couldn't do it by herself, but she also knew how to run to the crowd to ask for help. I helped rescue the little leopard at that time.
As time went by, the female leopard's milk went back and she couldn't feed her anymore, so she used her nose to push the little leopard toward me, asking me to take the little leopard away.
I also knew that if I didn't take it with me, this little guy would die, so I had no choice but to keep it with me. "
Mrs. Xue looked incredulous, "This is too bizarre! Isn't that female leopard a sperm? And that female leopard has no milk and cannot be fed. How do you feed it?"
She was rather curious about this.
Qingyan smiled and said: "I originally thought about using rice soup. If this little baby has no milk to drink, wouldn't it be raised on rice soup? But I was lucky. I met a female goat on the way back. , won’t there be milk now! I’ve been raising it until now, and it can already eat some soft things.”
She couldn't say that the little leopard hadn't been weaned yet, otherwise it wouldn't be easy to explain. Yesterday there was still milk to drink on the road, but after this night, the little leopard hadn't eaten anything, and the milk in the gourd couldn't be filled like this. Over a long period of time, in this summer, not to mention a day or a night, even half a day's milk may turn into yogurt.
When Mrs. Xue heard this, she was led to change the topic to the little leopard's food.
Why didn't you put it out when you just had breakfast? You can also get it some food. Is it hungry now?
As a woman, she had absolutely no resistance to the furry little cub, so she couldn't help but take the little leopard into her arms and rub it.
Fortunately, the little leopard didn't take it for granted. When it felt comfortable, he rubbed it on her hand and hummed at her a few times.
Qingyan pretended to take out an unpackaged muscle-flavored compressed biscuit from her bag, "You can't drink the milk you brought yesterday. The one it ate this morning can be eaten after it is softened by water. It can also be used to grind its teeth. use."
This compressed biscuit is long and looks like a baked pastry, which is not very strange. It is as long as a finger and two fingers wide, so there is no fear that the little leopard will swallow it and get stuck in his throat.
Mrs. Xue took the cookie from Qingyan's hand and looked at it, "Can a little leopard bite such a hard thing?"
He said and handed it to the little leopard's mouth. The little leopard smelled it and smelled the fragrant meat smell. He opened his mouth and started to bite.
Seeing how hard it was biting, Mrs. Xue was a little worried that it would break its baby teeth.
Fortunately, this one was really easy to melt away. It softened after being held in the little leopard's mouth for a while, and soon it was bitten and came out.
Now Mrs. Xue liked it even more and said to Qingyan: "Qingyan, you can go out for a walk by yourself. Just leave it here and I'll show it to you. Don't worry, I will definitely do it." Take good care of it.
It should be able to drink some just after weaning. We have cow's and goat's milk at home, which we usually use for making snacks. I'll have someone bring some over to feed it later. "
Qingyan did not object after hearing this, and said to Mrs. Just let it sit in the grass and it will be convenient..."
Mrs. You’re a pickpocket, otherwise I’ll ask the servants in the house to follow you.”
Qingyan quickly shook her head, "No, no, no, I will pay attention to it myself. If someone follows me, I will feel uncomfortable, so I'll bother you. I'm going to play..."
After saying that, she ran out, fearing that the other party would bring someone else to her again.
But he still didn't escape Xiaoju who was guarding the door.
"Miss Qingyan, I'll take you to the west door, where it's closer."
Saying this, without waiting for Qingyan to refuse, she walked in front and led the way.
Qingyan just followed her and walked out of the courtyard.
When she just went out, Qingyan actually saw the envy on the faces of Fulai and Huan'er, and she probably wanted to go out to play. If she didn't really have something to do today, it wouldn't be impossible to take them two with her. Now she had to Pretend not to see it.
The main entrance of Xue Mansion is on the southeast side, and most mansions open on the southeast side. This may be due to Feng Shui.
The backyard is relatively close to the west door, and this side is originally for people on duty in the backyard to enter and exit, and generally they will not go to the main entrance.
The main door will only be opened when there are some important visitors. The middle door is opened wide to welcome distinguished guests, which is the etiquette of wealthy families. Most people in the house use the side door and the corner door to enter and exit.
In fact, even if Xiaoju didn't lead the way, Qingyan would still know the direction. Even though she was in the dark yesterday, she still remembered the general direction. Plus, with the ChouChou plug-in, she had no fear of getting lost.
However, Xiao Ju came here not only to show her the way, but also to ask the concierge at the side door to open the door for Qingyan when she comes back, so as not to change the place and not recognize Qingyan when she comes back. Come in.
