Traveling through time and space to become a lady of a noble family, but she only wants to escape

A few days later, the first snow fell in the capital.

Bai Zhi cleared a space in the yard, and led everyone to build a simple earthen stove, and then instructed Fu Yao to move the heavy iron pot in the small kitchen to the earthen stove. Qiaoqiao and Lin Chuqi followed Bai Zhi's order and bought half a fan of chopped mutton. Cook Xu washed a basket of vegetables, Gu Yan poured most of the pot of water into the cast iron pot, and Bai Zhi prepared a large bowl of sesame paste. Everyone sat in a circle around the iron pot, holding a pair of bowls and chopsticks in their hands.

"Miss! You are so smart. Eating this way will definitely be delicious!" Qiaoqiao couldn't wait to pick up a few chopsticks of mutton and dip it in before the water boiled. Lin Chuqi asked, "Miss, where did you learn this from?"

Bai Zhi was pouring sesame paste into everyone's bowls and said with a smile, "I learned this from my dream. This is called hot pot. Put the pot on the fire and cook it right away."

Cook Xu said happily, "Madam San is really smart. This, hahahaha, this saves me, Cook Xu, a lot of work. I just need to chop some vegetables and we can have dinner. I never thought of this before."

Bai Zhi waved her hand generously and said, "Then I will give you this method as a thank you gift for the Thousand Hammered Chicken."

Cook Xu: "Madam San, how can we do this?"

"Why not? Stop being so polite." Bai Zhi teased, "Your eyes are about to fall into the pot. You must be so greedy."

Cook Xu was embarrassed and lowered her head.

"Madam, this hot pot is great. It's very Jianghu style. Eat meat with big mouthfuls and drink wine with big bowls." Fu Yao generously poured a bowl of wine for Bai Zhi. Bai Zhi smiled and said, "As the servant of the Third Master, you don't care about the Third Master at all. Pour me some wine first?"

Fu Yao looked at Qiaoqiao, Lin Chuqi and Cook Xu who were staring at him, and quickly filled Gu Yan's bowl with wine, saying, "Well, the Third Master always puts the Third Madam first, so I poured this bowl of wine for the Third Master first."

Gu Yan quickly spread out his folding fan, raised his eyebrows and said, "Well said, reward!"

Fu Yao's face trembled twice, and he reluctantly bowed his head to express his gratitude according to the rules.

But it's really inappropriate to wear a folding fan on a snowy day. Gu Yan himself must always be fanning himself, which is why Gu Yan has to fan himself all the time, and even on a snowy day he still maintains his image as "Gu Yan". Bai Zhi laughed inwardly, you two are really in trouble, each of you is feeling frustrated.

Cook Xu added two more handfuls of firewood into the stove. The firewood was not easy to burn after being covered with snow, and it took a while for the water in the iron pot to start bubbling.

Bai Zhi: "You can fish it out once the water boils, but don't cook it for too long, or you won't be able to bite it."

Everyone picked up their chopsticks and waited for the battle. When the water in the pot finally started to boil, six pairs of chopsticks reached into the pot at the same time. They dipped the meat in sauce, blew the meat, and put it in their mouths.

After a while, Yishuiyuan began to emit sighs of satisfaction.

It is always warmer on snowy days, let alone eating around the stove. No one complained of being cold. Instead, they ate vegetables after the meat, and then meat after the vegetables. They enjoyed playing games and never got tired of it until their stomachs were full. Then Cook Xu added a handful of pulled noodles, and everyone scooped up one to finish.

Cook Xu was used to being diligent, so when she saw that everyone had finished eating, she started to clean up. Fu Yao moved the heavy iron pot back to the small kitchen and dismantled the earthen stove, leaving only a circle of burnt marks from burning wood in its place.

Qiaoqiao and Lin Chuqi, two half-grown children, started to feel sleepy after eating too much, and their eyelids drooped. Baizhi simply sent them back to the house to sleep.

Yishui Garden returned to silence, with only Bai Zhi and Gu Yan sitting in the pavilion admiring the snow and drinking hot tea to digest their food.

Bai Zhi glanced at Gu Yan. He was strangely quiet from beginning to end today, and didn't talk much. He just ate and watched others eat, as if he had something on his mind.

"Old Chu." Bai Zhi tapped Gu Yan's teacup, "What are you thinking about?"

Gu Yan came back to his senses and chuckled, "This meal was really enjoyable."

"What's wrong with you? Shu Chang still has this expression, as if he has no food to eat next time." Bai Zhi paused, "If you want to eat, you can eat tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but I'm afraid that if you keep eating like this, Qiaoqiao and Chuqi will be fatter by the time of the Chinese New Year."

Gu Yan said calmly: "I understand you now."

"Know what?"

"Your shop, your chicken that has been refined for thousands of years, your beautiful scenery." Gu Yan said, "When you go to Qing County, I think you will live like this every day. No wonder you always want to leave."

"Yes, you understand now." Bai Zhi leaned back with a satisfied look on her face. "What's the point of living a lifetime? I've worked hard to live a glorious life, to have a huge fortune, and even died. All that's left is eating, drinking and having fun. When I go to the underworld to see Miss Bai Zhi a hundred years later, I can proudly say to her that I have lived up to the life you worked so hard to give me."

Fu Yao strode over and handed Bai Zhi a letter: "Miss Bai, this is a letter from the concierge."

Bai Zhi sat up straight and tore open the envelope with some excitement: "My tip!"

Gu Yan: "Tip?"

"A few days ago, I asked Wanshitong to inquire about the current situation in Qing County. They said they would send me a letter in a few days..." Bai Zhi took out the letter and took a look. "Lu Jiliang?"

When Gu Yan heard the name, he quietly moved closer to Bai Zhi and asked, "That Mr. Lu?"

"Yes." Bai Zhi looked up and saw Fu Yao walking away, then she said to Gu Yan, "He was Miss Bai Zhi's childhood friend."

Gu Yan had already looked up Bai Zhi's life story, so he knew that Lu Jiliang and Bai Zhi were childhood friends. However, he still pretended to know nothing and replied, "So that's how it is."

Bai Zhi scanned the letter at a glance. Lu Jiliang said in the letter that he was supposed to take the exam next year, but some changes happened in the court, so Uncle Cheng was made the chief examiner for this year's autumn exam. His mother wrote to him and asked him to take the exam this year. He finished the autumn exam last month, and now the results have been announced. He felt that he was not qualified but still made the list. Now he has to go home to be an official. The order was urgent, so they had no chance to meet, so he only wrote a letter to say goodbye.

Gu Yan kept glancing at the letter, wanting to read it but afraid of annoying Bai Zhi, so he didn't dare to look at it any more. Bai Zhi saw him drinking tea and rubbing his neck from time to time, and wanted to take a look at it. She asked curiously, "Why are you so interested in Lu Jiliang's letter?"

Gu Yan's thoughts were exposed, and he coughed twice: "Since he is your good friend, I naturally... I naturally want to know why he wants to see you, so that I can share your worries."

"..." This statement made sense, but Bai Zhi felt something was wrong and asked, "You don't think... that Lu Jiliang and I have an impure relationship, do you?"

It shouldn't be necessary. Who doesn't have a few friends? Why does he have to line up and suspect them all?

Unexpectedly, Gu Yan froze for a moment, without saying a word in rebuttal.