TN: Merry Christmas, guys! I hope you enjoy the chapters. Sorry if there are mistakes, I havenât had time to proofread, haha. I will go back and clean things up later this week and hopefully have another set of chapters for you as well!
As soon as a few people entered the room, it suddenly felt much more narrow.
Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly introduced Cui Shao Xi to Third Aunt and called Lian Che to come forward to greet him.
Cui Shao Xi smiled politely when he saw this. He took the white jade ring off his finger and gave it to Lian Che as a meeting gift. He smiled naturally and asked him to call him âcousinâ.
Lian Che glanced at Lian Fang Zhou and when he saw that she had no objection, he thanked him.
Because Lian Fang Qing had passed on Lian Fang Zhouâs message, Third Aunt and Lian Che were not surprised when they saw Cui Shao Xiâs appearance and behavior. Their manners were very decent.
Lian Fang Zhou smiled and said, âYou sit and keep our guest company! Third Aunt and I are going to prepare dinner! Young Master Cui will stay at our house for dinner tonight!â
Call him Min Zhi? Lian Fang Zhou would only call him this if she was stupid!
âMy beautiful cousin wants to eat with us? Great!â Lian Fang Qing smiled happily.
Cui Shao Xi almost tripped backward! Couldnât you delete those two words from the frontâŠ.
Cui Shao Xi looked at Lian Fang Qing, his expression dumbfounded.
âReally?â Third Auntâs eyebrows raised in surprise and she blurted out, âWill you be leaving after dark?â
âI wonât leave, Iâll stay over at your house for one night!â Cui Shao Xi smiled again and again.
âBut we donât have anywhere for you to sleep in our house!â Third Aunt said, looking at Cui Shao Xi. She couldnât help but smile. âOur family doesnât even have some decent bedding, wouldnât this be wronging someone like cousin?â
CousinâŠ
Cui Shao Xi said happily, âNot at all!â Lian Fang Zhou was speechless. After a moment, she pulled Third Aunt out and said, âLetâs start cooking!â
Third Aunt was drug into the kitchen by Lian Fang Zhou. She was still twittering and sighing, saying that Cui Shao Xi had been born so handsome and that his dress and voice were all very good. She really didnât know how God had created such a character, so perfect!
Lian Fang Zhou was silently flabbergasted at Third Auntâs words. She replied that he was a young man with good etiquette and his familyâs rules were not bad. How could he be bad, coming from a large family!
âThis young man is really a talent! Alas, I donât know who would be lucky enough to marry him as his wife in the future! That would really be falling into the honey jar!â Third Aunt said, sighing with a smile as she bustled around Lian Fang Zhou.
Her meaning was very clear.
âThird Aunt!â Lian Fang Zhou immediately opened her eyes to pin her with a vigilant look. Expression serious, she said: âYoung Master Cui treats us politely to give face to cousin and her husband, Young Master Su. We donât have the same understanding, how is this something we can think of? If our thoughts are messy and Young Master Cui finds out and makes a joke, will we still have the face to see cousin and brother-in-law in the future? What do you say?â
Third Aunt was startled and her face turned pale as she stammered, âI, I, I was just speaking casually, only casually! I know the seriousness here, donât worry! I wonât say what canât be said, it wonât be said!â
Thinking about it, what was the identity of Young Master Cui? What was their identity? How could he look at Fang Zhou? Ugh, even if he liked her, would Fang Zhou be willing to be his concubine? She wasnât that kind of person!â
More importantly, this would annoy the Su family and ruin the business relationship they had created. They would never help them in the future so it would definitely not be worth it!
âItâs fine if you understand!â Lian Fang Zhou saw that Third Aunt was pale and upset. She had obviously been frightened by Lian Fang Zhouâs words, so she said again: âHe is a guest at our house, we will do our best to entertain him but thatâs it! You donât need to act like his slave and try to fawn over him, there is no need for that sort of thing!â
âOhâŠâ Third Aunt nodded. Where would she dare to think more? Lian Fang Zhou had said what needed to be said.
âThere are no other âcousinsââ Lian Fang Zhou sighed, âletâs just call him Young Master Cui! Qingâer and the others are still young, its fine for them to play around and call him as they like, but we canât mess with etiquette! What are the Cuiâs to our family? How can you call him âcousinâ?â
âWhat you said is correct, I was just confused, confused!â Third Aunt smiled, explaining: âIâm not looking at cousinâ oh, no, I mean Young Master Cuiâs appearance like that! I just like it in my heart and thought that calling more intimately was better. Now that youâve explained the matter clearly, I understand! Young Master Cui, Young Master Cui, this is definitely correct!â
Lian Fang Zhou nodded. âJust be sure to remember this!â
Third Aunt added, âYoung Master Cui is also a distinguished quest, though, so we should entertain him well and serve some good dishes tonight, right?â
âNaturally,â Lian Fang Zhou said, nodding. âYou go buy a chicken and a duck! We can make chicken stewed with mushrooms, a taro duck with green onions and egg, some fried pork with garlic, and fry some strips of cabbage.â
Third Aunt let out an âayeâ and then said with regret, âItâs a pity, if he had come a few days earlier, he would have been able to eat pheasants and wild rabbit!â
Lian Fang Zhou smiled: âItâs rare that you didnât make a comment about wasting too much! Pheasants and wild rabbits are not so rare for him, so its not a pity. Whatever we can get now, is fine! Letâs just do our best!â
Who was the Cui family? What kind of wild game couldnât they eat?
Third Aunt laughed and said with a smile, âHow is this the same, Young Master Cui is our distinguished guest! I will go buy the chickens and duck, you boil the water. I will kill them when I get home!â
Lian Fang Zhou agreed and started to boil the water after Third Aunt left, washing the rice and steaming it. While she waited, she sat on a small stool near the fire.
Soon, Third Aunt returned and Lian Fang Zhou greeted her, taking the chickens from her hands. She smiled and said, âLetâs get inside, its cold today!â
Third Aunt had no objections.
They killed the chickens and ducks, plucking out the feathers, and carefully washing them. They cleaned up very quickly.
Third Aunt sliced open the bellies and Lian Fang Zhou washed the insides, cutting them up for later.
When the birds were ready, they started cooking.
For the stewed mushrooms, Lian Fang Zhou chose mainly shitake and tea tree mushrooms, with a few others for seasoning. Putting the chopped pieces of chicken into a small pot, she added the water and stewed the mushrooms. On the side, she marinated the duck meat.
After half an hour, she started to stew the vegetables with the chicken and mushrooms.
Afraid that Cui Shao Xi would be cold, they lit a big charcoal fire. There was a lot of broken pieces of charcoal around the house, so they werenât afraid of being wasteful.
Cui Yi felt very pleased when he saw this and couldnât help but give Lian Fang Zhou a look, thinking: Miss Lian is so generous, she is trying her best!