A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Two days later, as Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao returned to the village, another message also reached the capital.

Over the years, some deserters of the Northwest Army were kept by Magistrate Ma of the former Qingtian County and gathered together as bandits, with officials and bandits colluding for a long time.

Recently, a small number of bandits have been causing trouble around Qingtian County. Magistrate Ma was unable to stop them and was killed by the bandits.

The Northwest Army General was determined to completely wipe out all the deserters and launched a large-scale search within the Northwest.

Any deserter caught will be executed on the spot in accordance with military law.

Gu Xixi asked Mu Nanzhao, "Among the people killed by the Northwest Army, apart from the few who were disguised as yamen runners and their accomplices, who were real deserters, were the rest all assassins from the capital?"

Mu Nanzhao replied, "Yes."

Gu Xixi suddenly realized, "No wonder when I asked General Meng if he wanted to change into civilian clothes that day, he said no, just go openly and honestly."

There is no better reason than to catch deserters.

The assassins from the capital were all secretly dispatched; their identities were usually unknown, and they were inherently shady characters.

Under the pretext of arresting deserters, the Northwest Army killed several people of unknown origin and claimed they were deserters, so they could only be deserters.

Even the people who sent them could only suffer in silence this time.

After He Jinghui returned to Beijing, he only needed to submit the report as previously planned.

Anyway, all the relevant witnesses and the killers were dead. The person Magistrate Ma reported as possibly Mu Nanzhao was just a useless scholar exiled to the Northwest.

Everything was normal after I got home.

This year, life is more comfortable, and with the New Year approaching, Aunt Zhang has prepared many delicious dishes.

Fried meatballs, fried meat strips, eight-treasure glutinous rice, Chinese sausage and cured pork, steamed pork ribs with rice flour...

It's been freezing cold lately, so these foods can be left out and won't spoil until after the Lunar New Year.

Yesterday, on the 28th, we kneaded wheat dough and let it rise; today, on the 29th, we steamed buns, steamed bread, and cornbread.

This is a local custom before the Lunar New Year.

It symbolizes a prosperous and thriving year to come.

On this day, you usually have to steam enough buns and steamed bread for your own consumption and to serve guests during the New Year holidays, which takes at least half a day.

Aunt Zhang started getting busy as soon as it was light.

The kitchen was steaming all morning.

She prepared three kinds of fillings: sweet red bean paste buns, dried gourd and egg buns, and radish and mutton buns.

The whole family pitched in, each with their own task.

No need to cook anything special today. Anyone who's hungry can just grab a freshly steamed bun and eat it.

Gu Xixi, Shitou, and Aunt Zhang were in charge of making steamed buns. Aunt Zhang was also responsible for putting the buns into the pot and taking them out of the pot.

The old doctor had become so skilled at processing medicinal herbs that even though he was blind, controlling the fire was a piece of cake for him.

The task of rolling out the dumpling wrappers was left to Mu Nanzhao.

There's nothing we can do; his buns are just too ugly, and he's too slow.

Originally, Aunt Zhang didn't even trust Mu Nanzhao to roll out the dough.

But after observing Aunt Zhang's rolling technique for a while, he took the rolling pin, rotated the dough with one hand, and pushed the rolling pin with the other, and the dough quickly bloomed under his hands.

Aunt Zhang picked up a steamed bun wrapper and examined it against the light in disbelief.

"So thin and even, and so perfectly round, how come it's better than my decades of craftsmanship?"

"Xiao Chen, you've really never made steamed buns before?"

"No." Mu Nanzhao replied, his movements continuing as one dumpling wrapper after another flew out from under the rolling pin and landed neatly in a stack beside him.

Moreover, when viewed from the side, each piece of leather is perfectly round and the same size.

Shi Tou was dumbfounded and exclaimed, "Brother Chen, you were just lying to us when you said it wouldn't happen, right?"

Mu Nanzhao didn't even lift his eyelids. "Why would I need to lie to you? Get back to work."

As Gu Xixi wrapped the buns, she smiled and said, "Sure enough, when it comes to your area of ​​expertise, no one can beat you."

Isn't that something they're good at?

Even a soft, boneless sword could dance gracefully in his hands, killing in an instant.

What's so difficult about using a mere rolling pin?

Mu Nanzhao said, "It's just a trivial skill, thank you for the exaggeration."

In the afternoon, just as the last batch of steamed buns was being steamed, everyone went back to the main room to rest on the kang (heated brick bed) and eat the buns.

Gu Xixi poured boiling water into a bowl of sweet fermented rice and egg drop soup.

When she brought in the basin, there was an empty seat next to Mu Nanzhao.

Gu Xixi only glanced at it, but insisted on taking off her shoes and climbing over to the wall to squeeze in with Aunt Zhang.

Gu Xixi ladled soup into bowls, and when she handed one to Mu Nanzhao, he looked up but didn't meet her gaze, only saying thank you.

Aunt Zhang looked at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

When it was almost time to lift the lid, Aunt Zhang got up and pulled the old doctor away.

As the pot lid was lifted, Aunt Zhang glanced out the window through the steamy air and whispered, "Have you noticed that Xixi and Xiao Chen are much more harmonious since they came back?"

The old doctor chuckled, "Isn't this a good thing?"

Aunt Zhang said anxiously, "What do you mean 'good'? Besides being harmonious, the two of them are also extremely polite to each other."

“In the past, Xixi would never have been so polite to Xiao Chen, and Xiao Chen was the same.”

The old doctor nodded, "In the past, we were indeed impolite."

It could even be said that they couldn't stand each other.

Aunt Zhang sighed, "That's why I said, although they get along well, they don't seem like a young couple at all."

"Especially Xixi, she's been much nicer to Xiao Chen than before, but I feel like she's been avoiding him lately."

The old doctor was puzzled. "No, they talk quite a lot. They don't ignore each other."

"Oh dear, you don't understand." Aunt Zhang went off to fume with her own annoyance.

After finishing the last sip of soup, Mu Nanzhao said, "I'm going back to my room now."

Gu Xixi quickly put down her chopsticks. "Okay, the kitchen has brewed some tea. You can drink it anytime you're thirsty."

"Hmm." Mu Nanzhao nodded slightly.

As Gu Xixi watched him leave, a hint of melancholy unconsciously crept into her expression.

Shi Tou tilted his head and looked at her, saying, "Sister Xi Xi, are you unhappy?"

Gu Xixi snapped out of her daze. "Huh? Why am I unhappy? I'm happy."

She told He Jinglan that she had nothing to do with Mu Nanzhao.

He Jinglan also frankly admitted that she would wait for Mu Nanzhao.

As a friend, Gu Xixi felt she should keep a proper distance from Mu Nanzhao, which was to avoid suspicion.

But in the past few days, she has also noticed that Mu Nanzhao has become much more polite to her.

Even when she was talking to him, he wouldn't look her in the eye.

Thinking of this, Gu Xixi felt a little depressed.

Looking back, she probably didn't do anything to offend him, right?

At this moment, Shi Tou swallowed a mouthful of meat bun and said, "Sister Xi Xi, are you going to plant vegetables next year?"

Gu Xixi temporarily put aside her troubles. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Stone said, "Several of my friends have asked me about it."

"I know it was their parents who told them to ask these questions, trying to get information out of me."

Gu Xixi chuckled, "Such a precocious child."

Stone grinned foolishly, "But I don't think growing vegetables is that good, it's better to grow something else."

Gu Xixi lowered her head to drink her soup and casually asked, "Hmm, what do you think is good to plant?"

“Fruit trees,” Stone said.

Gu Xixi glanced at him with a smile, "You're thinking the same thing as me."

"However, this plan is currently only known to you and me."

“I mean,” Shi Tou looked at Gu Xixi and reiterated earnestly, “using my family’s fruit trees.”

Without a second thought, Gu Xixi resolutely refused, "No way."