The wind stopped and the snow stopped.
The entire courtyard, front and back, and up and down the eaves were covered with a thick layer of white snow.
The sweeping ladies, who knew what was coming, had already taken a dustpan and a broom, ready to clear the roads inside and outside.
But I was told that according to the second master's instructions, there was no need to sweep the snow in the courtyard.
The mothers-in-law are also happy, as this saves half of their work.
But I don’t know what the second master wants to do by leaving the whole yard full of snow.
After a quick look, under the leadership of Miss Ping'er, several maids started playing with the stove, pots, shelves, and dishes in the middle of the yard.
The ladies all laughed and said, "Second Master is so elegant, why do you want to eat hot pot in the snow?"
Under Ping'er's skillful arrangements, two pots were soon set up in the snow, and the fine silver frost charcoal started to burn.
With Xiang Ling's support, Jia Lian slowly walked to the middle, and Qingwen quickly set up a stool for him to sit down.
Ping'er cooked a piece of mutton that the cooks had sliced very thin, dipped it in the sauce, then held it in the sauce bowl and brought it to Jia Lian's mouth while it was still hot.
Jia Lian opened his mouth to eat it and couldn't help but nodded. It tasted much better than he expected.
The hot pot of this era was naturally not as colorful and flavorful as those of later generations, and what Ping'er ordered was not the spicy dish he liked, but it was more authentic and delicious, and the basic condiments were complete.
Even his favorite coriander (cilantro) is available!
Therefore, we must not underestimate the pursuit of enjoying delicious food by the ancients who did not have mobile phones to play or read electronic novels. Eating hot pot in winter is extremely common in this era.
Ping'er was worried that Jia Lian's hand was injured, so he served Jia Lian to eat with his own hands. Qingwen saw that Jia Lian's silver "Mandarin Duck Pot" was ready, so she ran to the copper pot on the other side and shouted to the maids to start playing with their own.
Although there are many people under Sister Feng's command, many of them are not from this courtyard.
There are only a dozen or so maids, wives and servants (under the general office, used to watch the courtyard gate and deliver messages) under the supervision of the couple, and most of them do not live in this courtyard.
So at this moment, in this white snow field, apart from Ping, Xiang, and Qing, there are actually only two or three maids such as Feng'er waiting to be ordered. But even just like this, with kitchen utensils full of snow, With dishes and dishes of all kinds, the scene is still full of laughter and liveliness.
Seeing that the basic things were ready and she was no longer needed here, Ping'er handed the bowls and chopsticks to Xiang Ling and asked Xiang Ling to serve. He said, "I'll go see if grandma is done."
"Ask someone else to go. You have been busy for a long time. Aren't you afraid that they will finish all the good food when you come back?" Jia Lian said with a smile.
He originally came up with the idea by chance and asked Ping'er to arrange it.
Only Ping'er, the "internal manager" next to Wang Xifeng, can arrange this kind of internal affairs with ease. Qingwen is not good at this, and Xiangling is not good at it.
Ping'er followed Jia Lian's instructions and called another little girl.
Jia Lian took the opportunity and quietly turned his head and told Xiang Ling: "Go, put more chili powder and pepper powder..."
Xiangling was still hesitating, but Qingwen saw it and said hurriedly: "Don't listen to him, the doctor said, he should avoid spicy food, so that the wound can heal quickly!"
While he was talking, Qingwen had already ran over, took the bowl from Xiangling's hand, and volunteered: "I will serve him."
Seeing that Qingwen didn't take his words to heart at all, Jia Lian reached out and grabbed her ears. Qingwen was so frightened that she quickly exclaimed: "Don't, don't, don't, be careful of the bowl spilling~!"
While they were having fun, they suddenly heard a sweet voice coming from the courtyard gate: "Hey, it's quite lively here."
Everyone looked up and saw Lin Daiyu walking in.
She was wearing a cloak with a dark pattern of red orchids, and a light yellow plush-edged cloak hood covering her head. She was clearly a small and thin body, but she walked gracefully.
Behind her, Xue Yan, who was wearing a tight cotton jacket and cotton trousers and looked even more petite than Dai Yu, followed step by step.
"Miss Lin is here~"
The maids came to greet him one after another.
Jia Lian also stood up and said with a smile: "It's such a cold day, how come Sister Lin has time to come to my place?"
"Nothing to do, just walk around."
Daiyu said casually and walked closer, taking in the scene with one glance. Then she smiled at Jia Lian and said, "Second brother Lian is quite elegant."
"I didn't dare to call you elegant at first, but now that you're here, you can be called elegant. Please take a seat."
Jia Lian's compliment made Daiyu smile.
She came here specifically to see Jia Lian and see how his injury was getting better. Now that he actually has the mind to do this in the courtyard, it must be pretty good.
Seeing the shelves with many dishes arranged one after another, he laughed even more, shook his head and said, "I don't dare to join this gluttonous feast of yours."
"Haha." Jia Lian smiled. Sure enough, he felt different from the maids when talking to Daiyu and other cultural figures.
Yin helped Daiyu sit down, turned to Ping'er and said, "Go and get some good wine."
"Second Master, Second Grandma told me not to give him wine while he is recovering from his injuries." Ping'er advised him kindly.
Jia Lian said: "If I am alone, I will not embarrass you. Now there are distinguished guests coming to your door. Is it because I am a little hurt that I can't even warm a glass of wine for the guests in this winter?"
Ping'er was helpless and couldn't help but look at Daiyu, hoping that Daiyu could help and persuade her. Unexpectedly, Daiyu didn't look at them, as if she didn't hear their conversation, let alone help them persuade Jia Lian.
Ping'er had to go in and get some wine.
Jia Lian sat down here, and Dai Yu said: "If I don't come today, you will not be able to get wine and food. How can you thank me?"
Jia Lian cupped his hand and said, "Sister Lin, Gao Yi, I will treat you to three big bowls of drinks later, and we will rest after we get drunk."
Daiyu glanced at Jia Lian. At this time, the gauze on Jia Lian's face had been removed, revealing a shallow scar, which somewhat damaged the originally handsome and flawless face. He felt a little distressed, so he did not reply to Jia Lian. He just snorted and ignored him.
With Daiyu here, Jia Lian would no longer be like a wealthy landlord, asking the maids to take turns serving him food.
After the maids had warmed up the wine, they were allowed to start, and everyone had a good time together.
Seeing that Xue Yan was still standing beside Daiyu, but his innocent eyes were already aimed at Qingwen and the others, he said to her: "You also come over to eat. I will call you when I need someone here."
Xueyan was embarrassed, Qingwen and others also started to greet her, and she slowly walked over.
The maids have a big copper pot here, and they don't distinguish between meat and vegetables. They just stew all kinds of dishes into one pot. Five or six maids sit or stand in a group in the snow, talking and laughing, and you argue. I grabbed it, it was very lively and interesting.
Daiyu had a glass of wine. Although it was just rice wine that Jia's family often drank, Jia Lian did not dare to give Daiyu the shochu he brought from the south, but after a glass of wine, Daiyu's little face still turned red.
She looked at the girls over there who were a little presumptuous, and thought to herself that in the past month and a half since she came, she had often heard people say that brother Lian Er was a person who indulged in pleasure. This may be true, but when it comes to Lian Er, My brother has no character, so those words must have been spread by them to cause trouble.
According to her long-term opinion, Brother Lian is one of the most sincere people in the world, and he is by no means a person who makes people angry and makes him angry.
Otherwise, how could these girls dare to release their natural instincts in front of him.
Suddenly I felt a flash in front of my eyes, and then I heard: "What do you think of when I ask you to eat meat?"
Daiyu lowered her head and saw that there was a piece of very fat pork belly in her bowl, and Daiyu frowned.
"I don't want to eat~!"
"How can you just eat vegetarian food? You are so thin, so you need to eat more meat. As the saying goes, without meat, you will become thinner. How can Sister Lin not know this truth?"
Although Daiyu had only studied for a few years, she knew that this was exactly what Mr. Dongpo said, so she immediately replied: "There is also a saying that the absence of bamboo makes people vulgar. There is not a single bamboo in your courtyard, and How to say?"
What else can I say, he and Sister Feng are both common people.
But seeing Daiyu's face looking like she was trying to win or lose, Jia Lian laughed again: "Although I don't have bamboo, I do have this."
With that said, he picked up a piece of bamboo shoot from the bottom of the pot and put it into Daiyu's bowl.
Daiyu's brows tightened, what's this? Reply to her by treating the bamboo shoots you eat as bamboo?
But Jia Lian laughed and said: "As the saying goes, no bamboo makes you vulgar, no meat makes you thin, not vulgar but not thin, braised pork with bamboo shoots!"
"???"
Daiyu's eyes widened, and those watery eyes that seemed to be shining were full of shock, and she seemed to be at a loss as to why her outlook on life was completely ruined.
"Hahaha……"
Jia Lian smiled proudly.
"What are they talking about? The second master is smiling so happily?" The maids next to them were also paying attention to what was going on around them.
"I don't know, I think I heard the second master say 'bamboo shoots and braised pork', and what else..."
"Haha, you didn't listen to me. Let me tell you, what the second master said was not vulgar but not thin. It was braised pork with bamboo shoots. Hahaha, it made me laugh. Let's eat some bamboo shoots and pork, too. What a decent person.”
Qingwen's voice was the sharpest and so powerful that Daiyu couldn't help but blush when she heard it. She lowered her head and glanced at the bamboo shoots and the piece of fat meat in the bowl, and spat: "Bah, it's all unreasonable."
