Chapter 22 Wonton Noodles
What really makes Chu Qin happy is that the meat filling is evenly mixed with crab roe, which becomes crunchy after being cooked, and adds a little umami, which blends well with the pork.
Another busy day is another day.
Duke Dingguo’s mansion is not too far from the mansion. The two of them traveled in a carriage, and they arrived after about half an hour, but after getting there, it took a lot of time to pack up.
Fortunately, no matter how busy these things are, they won't let Pei Yan and Chu Qin do it themselves. When the group arrived at the place, the servants got busy, unloading the luggage in an orderly manner, and then the servants entered the house, installed and arranged the dismantled furniture one by one, and then exited the house door, and then the maids went in to take them out. Wipe around and put your frequently used items first.
With such a clean up, in fact, it can only be cleaned up to the "almost" level on that day. It takes five or six days to get it all right. Fortunately, they are not in a hurry, as long as they can make do with it first, the rest will be fine.
So the servants were so busy, Pei Yan and Chu Qin were drinking tea beside the stone table in the courtyard. At noon, the two went out to have a meal. When they came back, they met Huo Qi's carriage just stopped. Pei Yan stopped and waited. When he got off the carriage, he laughed and asked, "Why are you here?"
Huo Qi said: " The housewarming, I can't come to see it?"
After saying that, they walked together, Chu Qin followed Pei Yan's side and looked at Huo Qi calmly, but still didn't understand why he made her feel familiar.
Stepping into the door, Huo Qi pouted and his voice was softer: "I still pay the rent is just a rhetoric, why are you really giving money?"
Pei Yan snorted: "It's not me, it's my mother-in-law." He glanced at him pointedly, "You know."
"Oh..." Huo Qi understood and nodded, "I wasn't at home when she sent the money, and when I went back, I just heard someone say, I didn't understand either. If so, can I accept it?"
"Accept it." Pei Yan smiled, thinking about some recent rumors between the various governments, but after looking at Huo Qi, he didn't. ask.
The so-called family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and there are some shameful things in these big mansions in Beijing. If people don't take the initiative to say it, it's better for others to not know, so as not to add embarrassment.
Then they went back to the stone table in the main courtyard and sat down to continue drinking tea. The yard was still in a mess, and Huo Qi didn't stay for too long, so he said goodbye after sitting for two minutes. Pei Yan and Chu Qin waited patiently for a long time. As the evening approached, the two courtyards, the main courtyard and the study, were almost finished, so the two entered the room, and then saw Qingqiu come in and say: " From the dining room, Xiao Zhang sent someone to spread the word, saying that the dining room has been cleaned up, and if the young master and wife want to eat, he can do it."
Chu Qin looked at the sky and said with a smile: "It's very late. , you can let him prepare something simple. I'm resting early today, I don't want to eat anything for a while."
"No." Qing Qiufu responded and went to spread the word. This house is far from the size of Dingguo Gongfu, and it is convenient to go to the dining room. After a short time, she came back with the food box.
The dinner in the food box is really simple, two bowls of wonton noodles are just a few small dishes. Chu Qin didn't care, he sat down at the table and scooped up wontons to eat, but when he took a bite, he realized that Xiaozhang probably wanted to show his hand.
This wonton has a thin skin and a large filling. The main ingredients of the filling are shrimp and pork. Each wonton has a complete shrimp. The meat is very fresh and the entrance is tender.
But if it's just for this shrimp, it doesn't seem to be unique. What really makes Chu Qin happy is that the meat filling is evenly mixed with crab roe, which becomes crunchy after being cooked, and adds a little umami, which blends well with the pork.
Then she tasted the noodles in the bowl again. Xiaozhang used wide and flat vermicelli, which was already soft, but he cooked it a little longer than usual to make it more tender. Chu Qin and Pei Yan had been working hard for the whole day to move, and now it was just comfortable to eat something soft, so they couldn't help but praise Xiao Zhang for being careful.
So after finishing the meal, Chu Qin told Qingqiu: "You go to appreciate Xiaozhang and tell him that this wonton noodles is well done. My son and I both like it. Tell him again and say that we have just come out to stand on our own. Door, some difficulties are inevitable, if he has something he is not sure about, he will come back to me." The
implication is that Xiaozhang is too young, and although he is good at cooking, she can't control the people in the kitchen. Willing to help him with these things.
Qingqiu understood what she meant, and immediately went to the dining room again. This is the first time Xiaozhang has prepared meals for them alone. He has been nervous since he carried the food box to the main courtyard in Qingqiu. He was relieved when he heard that both the lady and the son liked the wonton noodles. smile.
After listening to what Qingqiu said later, Xiaozhang showed even more gratitude, and hurriedly said: "Thank you madam, I will try my best to do the errand!"
Qingqiu nodded: "Then you're busy, I'll go back first."
It was night, Chu Qin and Pei Yan both slept soundly. Recently, Pei Yan, who has become more and more fond of "tossing people", can be considered honest this night. He didn't hold her to do anything, not even move his feet, which made Chu Qin sleep soundly.
The next day, Pei Yan, who had been on leave for several days for the move, finally entered the palace again. Chu Qin woke up suddenly when the sky was getting brighter. He took out his pocket watch from under his pillow and saw that it was half past seven.
She suddenly sat up in shock, and she suddenly regained her senses in the next moment, choked the words she was eager to call in her throat, and laughed to herself.
- What are you afraid of? They moved out, so she didn't have to go to Madam Hu to say hello in the morning, and it wasn't a big deal to sleep in.
So she lay back safely, and lay down at eight o'clock before getting up leisurely. After grooming, she had breakfast first, and then took care of the house in a leisurely manner.
She was like this for the next few days. This is unprecedentedly easy for her, because she has always been very tight in her previous life, even if she later became the "big lady" in the government, she would get up very early every day, and she was diligent and virtuous with her whole heart. , not willing to slack off one day.
But now she only feels that sleeping late is really enjoyable.
Then, in a blink of an eye, it was time for Pei Yan to take a break. The rules for taking a vacation in the East Palace are exactly the same as those in the Dingguo Gongfu School, which are two days off every ten days.
Therefore, before going to bed on the first night, Chu Qin discussed with Pei Yan that he would go out for a walk the next day. But she didn't say exactly when to go out, because she clearly told Pei Yan, "I like to sleep in lately."
Pei Yan didn't say anything about her new little hobby, just thought that she was going to sleep in at night anyway. Just one more.
The next day, Chu Qin slept until nearly eight o'clock. When she woke up, she heard a faint movement in the yard, as if something was digging the soil. She frowned and called Qingqiu to ask, "What's going on in the yard?"
Qingqiu laughed . "The slave maid will serve the lady to wash up first, and the lady will go and see for yourself."
As soon as Chu Qin heard her betray her like this, she knew what Pei Yan was probably doing, so she didn't ask any more questions, and Yi Yan got up first. , After grooming, I went out to take a look, and saw Pei Yan holding a shovel and wiping sweat under the courtyard wall.
In front of him, there was a wooden frame about half a zhang long. The wooden frame was as high as a person. Chu Qin suddenly remembered the grape frame he mentioned earlier.
"Pei Yan?" She called out in surprise, he turned his face, and the smile on his face contained a hint of merit: "How is it, not bad?"
Chu Qin pursed his lips, walked over and helped the shelf, Found him to be pretty solid. Pei Yan looked at the shelf and continued: "I'll build another one next to me later, and let people plant the grapes when the spring begins."
Chu Qin's mood was a little complicated, she didn't expect him to do it himself. Turning his head to look at him, he said, "Where are the peach trees and jujube trees? You don't want to plant them yourself."
"It's interesting to plant it with your own hands." Pei Yan casually clicked his lips, "I've already thought about it, you see—" He walked away a few steps, walking to a place a few feet away from the grape trellis, making gestures. Said, "It's just right to plant a few jujube trees here. You can find someone to build a bamboo corridor in the opposite position and plant some wisteria. If the wisteria grows well in summer, it will cover the sky and the sun. You can enjoy the coolness under the bamboo corridor, by the way. Pick jujubes and eat them."
"..." Chu Qin hesitated for a while, but still whispered, "There are no jujubes in summer."
The common jujubes in Beijing are winter jujubes, which, as the name suggests, only bear fruit in winter. Even if winter jujubes are not planted, most jujubes are mature in late autumn and cannot be eaten in summer.
"Oh...that's right." Pei Yan smiled awkwardly, "Then eat grapes."
Well, grapes are available in summer.
Chu Qin nodded seriously.
Pei Yan said again, "I'll plant the peach tree in the backyard for you."
The backyard is now empty but bricked. Pei Yan said: "Let's have people build bricks and pull some good soil here. I will plant a peach forest for you here. Enjoy flowers in spring and eat peaches in summer. You can also build a small pond in the middle. Let's raise some fish to play with."
"Okay." Chu Qin couldn't help but looked at him again while agreeing. She remembered that he had been excited for a while before the move, but he seemed more excited today by comparison.
She didn't quite understand what he was excited about, but she remembered that in the last life when they split up, he also had a burst of unusual joy.
Of course, his joy was not so exaggerated at that time, because the temperament he showed in front of her at that time was far more reserved than now, and they were much older than they were when they separated in the last life. It became very hidden, hidden enough to make her turn a blind eye, and she didn't ask any questions.
But now, Chu Qin wanted to ask him what he was thinking, and he was also curious about what he was happy about in his previous life.
He didn't hesitate too much. He glanced at him and asked, "Why do you suddenly have such interest?"
With such a simple question, Pei Yan's ears turned red all of a sudden.
He scratched his head embarrassedly, then pulled her into the room, threw the servants out, closed the door, and asked her uneasily, "Do I seem interested? Is it abnormal?"
"... I can't be more interested." Chu Qin laughed, thought about it and then said, "It's not abnormal."
"Oh." He breathed a sigh of relief, and then pulled her to the side of the bed. The embarrassment was still on his face, he hesitated for a while, and said: "Don't laugh at me, I just thought about this day for a long time."
Chu Qin looked at him for a while, he shook his head: "When I was a child, The eldest brother and the second brother have been able to decide their own residence very early, as long as they don’t ask too much, they can make up their own minds about what they want to add to the room. Only me, if I want to add more bookshelves, I have to look at my mother’s cold eyes. Later When I grew up and got Muyuan, the situation was better, but because I just moved in, I replaced the pine and cypress in the study courtyard with green bamboo. My mother also gave me a lesson, saying that I didn’t know how to learn well, but specialized in those kinds of things. How do playboys enjoy themselves?"
Chu Qin was dumbfounded: "What does this have to do with pleasure and happiness? Of course, in the yard that I want to live in for a long time, I have to plant the flowers and trees that I like. If not, wouldn't it not be pleasing to the eye every day?"
"Yeah." Pei Yan smiled wryly , "So these years I have been thinking, if there is a place where I can make my own decisions in the future, I must do it according to my own mind."
So, he even thought about planting every plant and tree by himself?
Chu Qin suddenly felt a little bored, because if he said so, he should have had the same expectations in his previous life, but she had never seen him do this in his previous life.
Is it because of her indifference and alienation, or because they are all suppressing themselves, making him even dilute his long-term expectations?
Whatever the reason, it made her uncomfortable.
In fact, she likes to "fuck around" with him. Whether it's eating blindly or pissing off Mrs. Hu together, she finds it very interesting, and he has a lot of tricks. In his last life, he married a woman with such a repressed temperament. How uncomfortable should he be?
Chu Qin was silent for a moment, then smiled again, and told him softly: "I still want a swing, okay?"
Pei Yan's eyes lit up: "Okay. Where do you want to get it? The peach forest is good."
Chu Qin thought about it seriously: "Then let's put the wisteria under the frame. In the peach forest, you need to build a pond to raise fish, and it's good to feed the fish, but there is nothing to do in the front yard."
"Okay." Pei Yan agreed.
For the next month, Pei Yan has been busy with these things while on vacation. Today is to get grape trellis, tomorrow is to plant trees, and next holiday is to plant peach trees one by one.
These things were not meant to be known to others, but he was not familiar enough with these things, and he always accidentally added some small wounds to his arms and hands.
It's not easy for a son of his background to suffer this kind of injury. It is inevitable that he will be injured when riding a horse and practicing martial arts, but the position and situation are different from his injury.
Therefore, the other four princes and servants did not understand how his injuries came from. After going back and forth, several people made a murmur in their hearts. When it came to the twelfth lunar month, even the prince felt more and more strange.
Coupled with the fact that several people have gotten along well these days, the prince finally found someone when no one was around and said to him: "I may not be happy to ask you something, but if it's wrong, you should be right. Gu has not said it."
Although the prince has always been kind and kind, Pei Yan rarely saw the prince so polite, so he couldn't help being a little surprised, and said quickly, "Your Highness has something to say." The
prince coughed: "That... your lady. "..." Then he coughed again, "Aren't you quick-tempered?"
"Ah?" Pei Yan was at a loss, thinking what nonsense are you talking about? My family Qinqin is fine.
When he saw the prince holding his hand, he lifted the edge of his sleeve, pointed to a scratch on the back of his hand, and asked, "How did this injury come from?"
"..." Pei Yan looked at the prince with a speechless expression. She frowned at him.
Pei Yan's eyes straightened: "Your Highness thinks it was the servant's wife?"
Where did this misunderstanding come from? !
The prince said, "I'm not alone. You always come back from vacation with injuries, who wouldn't pay attention?"
Pei Yan was dumbfounded: "No..." He laughed angrily and shook his head after a long time. , "His Royal Highness really thinks too much, the minister's wife is the best, this injury is caused by the minister himself." The
prince did not believe: "Then tell me, how did you get it?"
Pei Yan calmly: "The minister is planting trees at home. First, I built the grape trellis, then planted the peach trees. Recently, I've been busy with wisteria. These servants are not familiar with their work, so they can't help but bump it."
"...You plant the trees yourself?" .
Pei Yan's face was full of innocence: "Yeah."
Seeing him like this, the prince stopped asking. This is someone's family business after all, even if he thinks Pei Yan's remarks are not credible, but seeing that people don't want to say more, he won't talk anymore.
As for the reason why the prince didn't believe him, it's also a matter of course -- what is your status as the prince of the Dingguo Gongfu? Ordinarily, the princes of the prince's family have to be polite when they see you. If you plant a few trees on a whim, it will be leisurely, but it has been more than a month. You say that you have been planting trees, who would believe it?
Pei Yan was so busy until the middle of the twelfth lunar month. From the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, all the officials began to take vacations, and they would not return to the court until the end of Shangyuan. Those of them who served as messengers in the East Palace also had to take a month off, but he had no time to plant trees.
Because the new year is really busy, visiting relatives and friends and being congratulated is a lot of work. In the past, they lived in the mansion, and all these things were handled by Mrs. Hu, and it was done in the name of Dingguo Gongfu. They only needed to walk around with their close friends for a while. But now that I have moved out, I have to worry about everything. In addition, Pei Yan now has an official position in the East Palace, and there will be more people to move around. This year is not destined to be too leisurely.
So Pei Yan and Chu Qin spent four days just busy preparing for the New Year's gift, and it was a headache to pick gifts. Fortunately, although Chu Qin had lived a miserable life in her previous life, she had really learned the skills of taking care of the inner house. She was very familiar with the preparation of rituals. Although they want to maintain their relationship, they are not good at giving gifts, she is very accurate.
She told Pei Yan the reason slowly, but it made Pei Yan suddenly realize several times and looked at her with admiration.
In fact, they were all forced out...
Chu Qin thought bitterly in her heart, if she had lived such a happy life in her previous life, she might not have these skills.
But if she could really live so happily in her previous life, she would be willing to not have these abilities.
Then a few days later, the account book of the twelfth lunar month arrived at the main courtyard. It was late October when they moved out of Duke Dingguo's mansion and settled down completely, so she didn't take care of the October bills. There would always be some inexplicable expenses in such matters as moving, and there was no way to calculate them.
November was the first time she really managed the accounts of the people in this yard by herself. Although it seemed that she had just moved out of Muyuan Garden, the account books after starting her own business were still a lot more complicated. She read it intently for two days.
Now that it was delivered in December, after reading it for a day, she found that the account was wrong!
The problem lies in the dining room. When she lived in Dingguo Gongfu, she did not need to read the bills of the dining room, because the food in the dining room was prepared by the dining room, so she never knew what was wrong with the dining room. . But now that the account books of Dongyue and Luyue are placed together in this courtyard, she can see that something is wrong.
The most obvious point is that the amount of "chili" is almost the same in two months.
She really loves spicy food, and since she broke her precept in her life, she has been out of control, and she has to order a spicy dish every three days to satisfy her cravings.
But in the twelfth lunar month, the weather became more and more dry. At the beginning of the month, she was still on fire for a few days, and she would not dare to touch any peppers for four or five days. As a result, the peppers used in the twelfth lunar month and winter months were obviously wrong.
Chu Qin didn't directly think about people in bad ways. She knew that Xiao Zhang was in charge of the pantry. Xiao Zhang was only fourteen years old. It was normal for her to not understand the accounts. There were many people under her who were older than him. Ask to understand first.
So Chu Qin called Xiaozhang when the lunch room was not busy in the afternoon. At that time, Pei Yan happened to be busy with his affairs in the study, and she was the only one in the main courtyard. As long as Xiaozhang didn't mean to do something wrong in this matter, she didn't need to pursue it.
Xiaozhang arrived very quickly. Chu Qin met him in the main room of the main courtyard, and let him sit down graciously, and even let him serve him snacks and tea. However, Xiao Zhang saw that there must be something wrong with her specifically calling him here, so she couldn't help being a little nervous, so Chu Qin didn't go around in circles with him, and directly and honestly told the wrong things.
After she finished speaking, she said, "I don't think you are a bad person. Tell me what's going on."
Xiao Zhang suddenly stood up and stood in front of her at a loss, with cold sweat on his forehead.
Chu Qin looked at him, still with a pleasant face: "Don't panic, I don't mean to blame you, you just need to be clear, it's all ok.
" It got worse.
The more Chu Qin looked at him, the more he felt that he seemed to be guilty of a guilty conscience. He was thinking about whether it was really his intentional greed for money, when he saw that his eyes for help turned to Qingqiu and Qingquan beside her. Looking up again, he saw Qingqiu Qingquan avoiding his sight again.
"What's going on?!" She couldn't help but stare at Qingqiu and asked, "You have something to hide from me?!"
At this question, Qingqiu Qingquan immediately knelt down: "My lady, forgive me! This matter...this matter "..."
Qingqiu stammered for a long time, looking up at Chu Qin's expression timidly: "The servant told the lady truthfully, the lady will not let the young master know, okay?"
Chu Qin became more and more unhappy, frowned, and the tone was also Becoming stiff: "Let me listen to you."
Qingqiu knew that it was not good to argue any more, lowered his head, and murmured: "This matter... don't blame Xiaozhang, it's the son... son he..."
"He misappropriated The money from the pantry?!" Chu Qin couldn't believe it.
"No!" Qingqiu shook his head hurriedly, and then his voice became weaker and weaker, "He is... is embezzling your dim sum. There are always two days out of three days when he has to pack a bag from your cupboard before getting up early, and he also ordered If you don't know, the slaves will have to go to the pantry and ask for another copy to make up for you, and then let the pantry find a way to balance the account..."
So the pantry had to share the extra money for making snacks. on other ingredients. Unexpectedly, Chu Qin was careful, so he saw the clue from the amount of pepper.
Chu Qin was stunned: "He actually stole my snacks?!"
"Yeah." Qingqiu nodded honestly, "Actually... it started not long after you walked through the door. After all... It's been half a year."
The author There is something to say:
This chapter will randomly send 50 red envelopes, what?