Chapter 69 Speaking Frankly

Chapter 69 Speaking Frankly

On the evening of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the four of them took the dried bed sheets, pillowcases, pillow towels, and their clothes into their own rooms, folded them, and put them in the closet.

On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone got up early and ate a millet and rice cake soup together.

When millet and rice cake slices are stewed together with water, they taste sweet, soft, and chewy, warming both the stomach and the heart.

After finishing the rice cake, before Xie Wanniang could prepare the paste, Wang Xiaozhi brought over a bowl of her homemade paste.

Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu used the paste she brought to paste up the couplets, door gods, and window decorations, while Xie Wanniang and Xiao Yang took all the ingredients they had prepared in advance to the kitchen counter, waiting to cook them into delicious dishes at noon.

Based on the available ingredients, Xie Wanniang proposed a menu of eight dishes and one soup: braised pork belly, braised pork hock, four-happiness meatballs, sweet and sour carp, salted duck, chicken stew with mushrooms, pan-fried tofu with cabbage, braised rabbit with radish, and kelp, winter melon and pork rib soup.

For her main dish, she prepared steamed white flour buns. Of course, these steamed white flour buns were ones she had steamed earlier, and they only needed to be reheated for lunch today.

After the food was served, looking at the large table of fragrant dishes, Hao Yu couldn't help but sigh, "I can't even remember how many years it's been since I've had such a sumptuous reunion dinner."

Jiang Yuan poured Hao Yu a glass of wine, saying, "You'll definitely be able to eat this every year from now on."

Hao Yu couldn't help but chuckle, "What, you've been making this for me every year?"

He didn't have the audacity to invite Miss Xie to cook the New Year's Eve dinner every year.

Jiang Yuan clinked his soup bowl against Hao Yu's, saying, "Although I'm not a good cook, I can earn money to hire a cook for you."

He's good at assisting others, but he really has no skill in cooking.

Hao Yu shook his head helplessly, "Forget it, I'll just have to rely on your future teacher's wife."

They even hired a cook. What kind of family are they? This kid really doesn't know how to manage a household at all.

Xie Wanniang didn't respond to this topic, not because she was unwilling to cook the reunion dinner for them every year, but because her future was too uncertain.

It's not easy to meet someone as good as Jiang Yuan. For her own safety, she can't leave his protection and go far away alone in the short term.

If she continues to live within Tang County, the Xie family and others who have seen her before will eventually run into her and recognize her.

She wasn't sure if her biological mother would still insist on her being recognized as a member of the Xie family. The only thing she could do was to earn as much money as possible before the Xie family found her and took her back.

Only by earning more money could she afford to support skilled and virtuous guards, and only then could she use money to pave the way and escape as quickly as possible if her mother tried to repeat her old tricks.

She had never considered a direct confrontation. Although the Xie family was an official family that valued both farming and scholarship and did not employ any powerful thugs, her father's side was different. He was a prince, and his palace guards alone were so numerous that she could not afford to offend him.

She could only rely on the fact that information was scarce and transportation was inconvenient in this era, so that the Prince's army could once again lose control of her whereabouts before they arrived.

As for Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu, who took her in, the news of her "amnesia" had spread throughout the village. Her adoptive father was a man of good character and could distinguish right from wrong, so he would protect those who had been kind to her.

Of course, her ideal scenario would be for Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu to be willing to leave with her.

The reason is simple: her adoptive father could control her biological mother, but he couldn't control her biological father, nor could he control her biological father's mother, or the vicious woman her biological father married later.

If her own mother were to bring those three people back to Tang County, even if Xie Wanniang left many people to protect Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu, she would still worry about their safety.

Thinking about these upsetting things made Xie Wanniang lose her appetite.

Aside from staying in the village as much as possible, and covering her face and head if she did leave, and doing everything she could to earn and save money for a rainy day, Xie Wanniang had no other options left.

Not wanting to spoil the mood on a day like today, she quickly gathered her thoughts, adjusted her expression, and cheered herself up.

After enjoying a pleasant reunion dinner with Hao Yu, Jiang Yuan, and Xiao Yang, Xie Wanniang put the leftovers in the cupboard and sent Xiao Yang back to her room to rest, so that she wouldn't be too late to eat dumplings during the New Year's Eve vigil.

Jiang Yuan pushed Hao Yu, who wanted to help, back into his room, saying, "It's just a little work, you don't need to help."

Hao Yu glanced at the kitchen, where only Xie Wanniang was pacing back and forth doing this and that, and then gave Jiang Yuan a meaningful look.

Jiang Yuan pretended not to notice Hao Yu's meaningful look. He picked up the four remaining bowls and chopsticks on the table and went to the kitchen with quick and steady steps.

After putting down the bowls and chopsticks, Jiang Yuan took a dishcloth and plates to clean the table before returning to the kitchen and starting to wash the utensils with practiced ease.

Xie Wanniang took out some rice and millet, planning to cook some millet porridge for dinner, and then reheat the remaining dishes except for the fish.

She was busy when she heard Jiang Yuan lower his voice and say, "You didn't look well while we were eating. Were you homesick, or did you remember something unpleasant?"

Xie Wanniang was stunned. She thought she had adjusted very quickly, but she didn't expect Jiang Yuan to still see it.

After a moment's thought, Xie Wanniang told him what she was worried about.

"...Although I'm trying my best to hide myself, I don't really know how long I can hide. I've thought about leaving Tang County, but if I go somewhere else, I probably won't have the luck to meet someone like you again."

Jiang Yuan thought it was something serious and made many guesses, but he never expected that the girl was actually worried about him and Hao Yu.

In fact, the topic they were discussing at the time had absolutely nothing to do with this matter.

After a slight hesitation, Jiang Yuan stopped what he was doing, turned around and met Xie Wanniang's eyes.

“You don’t need to worry about us. Although we live the same ordinary life as everyone else in the village, we are not without support.”

"By chance, we met a benefactor. Not long ago, Uncle Hao and I met him in the county town."

Upon hearing this, Xie Wanniang immediately recalled the local delicacies he and Hao Yu had brought back, such as mare's milk wine, milk curds, and dried mutton.

At that time, she had guessed that Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan either knew big merchants who had connections to do business outside the border, or they were familiar with the generals stationed in the northern border.

It now appears that these two men were acquainted with the general stationed in the north.

As she was thinking, Jiang Yuan said again, "After the autumn harvest next year, I plan to join the army at Zijing Pass. Uncle Hao will most likely choose to go with me. If you feel that you are likely to be spotted if you stay in Tang County, you can rent the land you bought to someone else and then go to Yi County with Uncle Hao."