"How can I not feel embarrassed?" Lu Fengzhen felt uneasy.
Jiang Xinyu laughed and said, "It’s okay, no need to be polite."
Now Lu Fengzhen didn’t know what to say, so she stood up and followed her to the kitchen.
Wang Wugu had already started cleaning the pig offal, especially the pig’s head. She used a red-hot hook to clean the remaining pig hair.
"Xiao Jiang, sorry to trouble you. I’m really not good at preparing pig offal. There are guests at ho, and it would be embarrassing if it’s not done well."
"It’s okay, I can handle it. Do we have any bean paste at ho?"
"Yes, my Fifth Aunt made so bean paste and brought it here. Can you see if it’s okay?"
Jiang Xinyu tasted it, "This bean paste is really well made. Do we have soy sauce, caral color, peppercorns, and spices?"
"We have them all."
"Okay, then I’ll start with the braising broth. Once it’s done, we can just put the pig offal in to boil."
"Then I’ll learn so tricks from Teacher Jiang."
"Haha, it’s actually quite simple." There’s no need to fry, just blanch the pig’s head and coat it with caral color before boiling it. But first, we need to make the braising broth.
The three won busied themselves in the kitchen, chatting and laughing, feeling their relationship growing closer.
In the living room, Guodong and Shi Xian played together. He bent over, helping Shi Xian walk.
"No, Shi Xian is only seven months old and can’t walk yet. He can’t stand for too long either. I know there are so toys from when Hongling was young. I’ll go find them."
Shi Xian couldn’t sit still, so Guodong had to carry him around the living room.
Just then, the baby woke up. Li Xue ran into the room. The little guy was almost two months old and looking much prettier.
Shi Xian reached toward the room, so Guodong had to carry him inside.
Shi Xian is the youngest and usually cries a lot. Seeing another crying baby this ti, he felt it was very novel. His big eyes stared without blinking at the little one on the bed.
Seeing Shi Xian finally calm down, Guodong breathed a sigh of relief. Li Xue changed the baby’s diaper, "Go ask Aunt Lu how much formula to make for him."
Without waiting for Guodong to leave, Lu Fengzhen ca in, "I’ll make the formula. This child is picky and doesn’t like formula."
"Big sis has to work; it’s unavoidable."
Shi Xian watched the little one feed, smacking his lips.
"Xue’er, Shi Xian might be hungry too. Go make him so formula."
Wei Kaiyun hurried ho, started the fire, and tidied the room. His wife, with her cleanliness, definitely couldn’t tolerate this.
Once clean, he added more coal. The house was still cold since it hadn’t been lived in for a while. He found the bedding, not knowing if his wife would mind.
Still feeling cold, he found the tal stove, lit the honeycomb coal, and set up the chimney. No matter what, the house must be warm enough to avoid Shi Xian getting sick.
Finally, at half past eleven, the room ward up. He added more coal, locked the door, and walked to Li Yunqiao’s house.
He ran into Li Yunqiao at the door, "Xiao Wei, welco to our ho."
"Thank you, Vice Mayor Li." The two entered the courtyard, imdiately slling the rich aroma of at.
Once inside, Li Yunqiao’s eyes imdiately fell on Shi Xian, an exceptionally clever child. It’s not exaggerated; he’s never seen such a child.
"Xiao Wei, is this your son?"
"Yes, Jiang Shixian."
"So bright, definitely a smart child."
"Too mischievous to leave him at ho."
"I heard you had twins? Only brought one?"
"The little girl is calm, doesn’t fuss, and is cared for at ho. With the current weather, we dare not bring them out casually."
"True, it’s too cold."
Shi Xian also curiously looked at Li Yunqiao, not afraid of strangers.
Li Yunqiao was even more pleased. People say you can tell an adult’s traits by age three; it’s true. You can almost see a child’s character now.
At ho, there’s white and yellow rice. Dishes include braised pork, pig offal, shredded potatoes, and sour and vermicelli.
Once Hong Lin and her husband arrived, they could eat.
This was the first ti the young couple t Wei Kaiyun and Jiang Xinyu. They had always heard about them; eting them now, they understood why people praised them—they were not ordinary.
Especially Zheng Lihong, who particularly liked Shi Xian. She teased him three tis, but the child didn’t even glance at her, making Li Honglin laugh heartily.
"This child is so interesting."
"Yeah, he’s really clever."
Jiang Xinyu wondered why Shi Xian was so good today, not crying or fussing.
Little did she know, Shi Xian had seen another baby crying, which is why he didn’t cry.
Now the food was served, and Lu Fengzhen called everyone to the table.
Although Li Yunqiao had a generous supply, eating large portions of at like this was rare.
Today, they truly indulged, and everyone at ho felt satisfied.
"Fifth Aunt, your braised offal skill is really good."
Wang Wugu laughed, "It’s not my skill; it’s Xiao Jiang’s. It tastes so good."
"The broth can be kept as master stock for next ti."
The young couple finished eating, and Zheng Lihong fed the baby before heading to work.
They knew that tonight the sister’s future father-in-law would arrive, so Li Yunqiao told them to go ho after work.
After the al, Wei Kaiyun rode ho to tend to the stove, which mustn’t go out.
Li Yunqiao stayed ho, waiting for Wei Kaiyun. They stayed in the study until after three in the afternoon, then ca out.
"Vice Mayor Li, do wait here. I guess Lv Beiguang will bring plenty. I’ll go with a cart to pick him up."
"Sure, just load it onto your vehicle directly."
Understanding the implication, Wei Kaiyun nodded, then left with Guodong and Li Xue.
After lunch, Shi Xian napped and woke up; now he played with toys alone.
Jiang Xinyu felt they left too early. Trains are never on ti, so they’d just wait at the station.
But seeing Guodong eager, she didn’t say anything.
She and Lu Fengzhen chatted in the living room, and Li Yunqiao occasionally chid in.
Reflecting, she thought, being a forr deputy factory director, his mannerisms are indeed different.
"Xiao Jiang, what if when the children grow up there’s no news of going back?" Lu Fengzhen worried about this.
"We’d ask what they want. If they agree, they’d marry; it’s natural for a man and woman at the right age. Marriage isn’t bad; they can work together.
There’s always a chance for college; don’t worry, the country needs talented people."
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