Thanks for the invitation: In ancient times, people shared children

The crab shell was green and thin, and the yellow inside looked like a thick soup, with strands of yellow stuff in it, as if countless small insects were trapped inside, making it shapeless.

After the child returned, Mrs. Chai opened it and looked at it, then shook her head.

The child couldn't help but hide aside when he saw the still moving crab legs.

Mrs. Chai said that such crabs were useless to eat and would be too bitter even if steamed, but she asked her to get a basket of them to make some crab dumplings.

The child did not say anything and went to do it. He only found out after he came back and heard the cooks talking.

Among the officials in the palace, there were several southerners who loved to eat fresh crabs. They often wanted to eat them before the crabs became fat in July.

The most important thing in the big kitchen is the food for these officials, followed by the stewards, and the first and second-class maids and servants. The meals for the rest of the people are very easy to prepare, just one pot of food is enough, and it takes the least effort.

But these had nothing to do with the child. The cooks would not teach her any skills. After delivering the message and bringing the crabs back, Mrs. Chai asked her to wash the white cherries.

After washing, draining the water, putting them on a plate together with other fruits, these little things like white jade beads become decorations, and after a while they will be distributed everywhere along with the food.

Seeing that she was bored, Mrs. Chai asked her to ask the warehouse if there was any chrysanthemum wine left. If not, rice wine would be fine.

There was naturally no shortage of things in the mansion. When the child came back after asking, Mrs. Chai assigned her to make ginger tea.

Because some people don't drink alcohol.

The dried chrysanthemum, ginger and jujube tea also had wolfberries added to it. There wasn't much left, so the child took out the jujubes and wolfberries and ate them.

The dried dates that have been boiled in water have become swollen and soft. The large wolfberries are also sweet when chewed. It is fun to eat them, and the feeling is completely different from the fresh ones.

The rich brown sugar water had just the right amount of spiciness, and the children even ate the ginger.

Mrs. Chai and the others were sure that the child would soon get tired of picking up these odds and ends to eat, but the child thought that was simply impossible.

After a busy morning, almost everything that needed to be prepared was ready. In the afternoon, the children just helped pick vegetables and listened to their gossip.

Towards evening, a cook who made pastries sent her to the street to buy rouge, and specifically asked for the Golden Flower rouge from Hua's shop.

The children often help them run errands and buy things, and they are familiar with many routes.

He nodded and waited for her to pay.

Someone asked her what she wanted to do with the rouge at this time?

"You're already this old, don't you want to learn from those older girls and younger wives and try to be more charming?"

They started laughing and joking.

The cook was not annoyed: "What? I bought it for my daughter."

When she said this, someone remembered: "Yes, your daughter Yu is about to get married, so she needs to dress up."

"Did Mr. Zhang's family say when they would come to marry him?"

"No, but it's coming soon," the cook said slowly. "We've already calculated several dates, and they're all approaching. But my daughter is timid, and when the wedding is approaching, she gets scared. She feels like so many things are not ready yet, and she just can't pick a day."

"Oh, what are you afraid of? It's not like you're unfamiliar with each other. You'll have less worries if you get married sooner. If you ask me, you should just make the decision on matters like this. There's no need to ask her."

"Who says it's not true? Marriage is a big deal, how can you make the decision on your own? You two are spoiling her too much. How can you let her do what she wants? It's simply nonsense."

"Yes, if the other party gets anxious and angry, what should I do if I just cancel the engagement?"

"I'm worried too, but this is a lifelong thing, so she has to be happy about it."

She said she was anxious, but her expression didn't show it at all. She had already counted the money while she spoke, and as she handed it to the child, she said, "If there's any extra, use it to buy snacks. If there's any less, come back and tell me, and I'll give you more."

It won’t be less.

The child knew them too well. These people were very capable. They could calculate clearly the price of each item and how much they could buy. If the amount she bought didn't match the number, she would definitely be cheated.

This happened twice. The person who asked her to go dragged her to the vendor to have an argument. The two of them were more eloquent than each other. Without lifting a finger, they "killed" the vendor, who then fled in panic.

No one cheated her anymore after that.

The children couldn't help but admire them a little. This time was no exception. After buying the rouge, they still had two cents left.

It can be seen that this cook is a very good person.

After all, some people just say that, but in reality, not a penny more will be paid. Once, there was even a shortfall of ten pennies.

The child didn't have that much money to pay, so he had to go back empty-handed.

The cook still looked unhappy.

Maybe it’s because it’s too late and there’s no time to buy it.

Never mind her. She never let the child go there again anyway. The child was happy and relieved to have to make one less trip.

The child took two cents and added some more for himself to buy a big bag of fried locust flowers. He ate them while walking back. It was so delicious.

The stall owner was in a hurry to go home, so he gave her a lot, which turned out to be a good deal for her.

After eating all the way, there was still quite a bit left, so the child put it in his pouch and prepared to take it back to ask Aunt Yu to have a taste too.

He wiped his mouth, entered the mansion through a small door, and arrived after a short walk.

She handed the golden rouge to the cook and asked, "Is this it?"

"Yes, this is it. I went to see it last time and heard that when you press it on your lips, tiny gold flakes appear. I don't know why it's so beautiful, but it's become so popular. My daughter has been talking about it many times, but I always thought it was too expensive and didn't make up my mind to buy it. This time, a box will definitely be enough for her."

This old lady is the kind of person who can chat with anyone, and she doesn't care whether the children can understand her or not, she just keeps talking.

There is no need for the child to say anything, others will talk to him.

It’s more than two taels, which is two months’ salary. It’s enough for them to chat for a while.

People say that she loves her daughter too much, and she has her own answer, which is just a sentence that this is the only time in a lifetime, so she must make her happy.

No one believed this. The person she talked about the most was her daughter Yu Niang, and the children had heard it many times.

She even suspected that this jade statue might be a real jade statue, which was why she treasured it so much.

But from what others say, it's obviously not the case.

Mrs. Chai was a good person. Seeing that she was anxious to go back, she gave the Golden Flower Rouge to her daughter and told her to go first.

As soon as she left, the people who had just talked to her naturally started talking about her daughter.

According to them, Yu Niang was just an ordinary girl, not particularly beautiful, but she had everything complete. She was called Yu Niang just because she was born with a fair complexion.

The cook couple had a daughter in their old age and had no other children, so they raised her like a treasure with the intention of finding her a son-in-law.

But she has a childhood sweetheart, the son of Mr. Zhang. He is also an only child and cannot live with her, and the two of them have a good relationship.

The cook couple didn't want to break up the couple, so they just agreed.

It was a good thing, and the two families were happily preparing for it. Everything was almost ready, but for some reason Yu Niang hesitated again.

I can't choose a day yet.

Everyone said that her being so coquettish would cause trouble, but after all, it was someone else's family matter, so they didn't want to say too much.

Who knows if they are willing to wait?

In the end, they all spoke positively, hoping that the couple would be able to get together, and even asked each other how much they should contribute.

The child ate a belly full of locust flowers and heard a lot of gossip, so he couldn't even eat dinner. Since there was nothing else to do, he went back.

Go out of the small door, cross a long alley, and turn two alleys to reach An's house. She has been there many times, but maybe she came back too early today, so she wanted to find a shorter way. So she changed direction, trying to see if she could go straight through on another road.

Just as she was changing lanes, a dog rushed over and snatched her away!

The dog pulled at the sac with its mouth, and the child pulled it back with all his strength.

The fabric was not strong either. It tore apart with a tearing sound, and locust flowers were scattered all over the ground. It smelled them, ate one, vomited, rolled its eyes at her, and was about to leave.

The child froze for a moment.

He rushed forward and bit the dog!

That's too much! If you don't like it, what are you grabbing?!