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

From leaving in early spring to returning in the height of summer, everything in the courtyard seemed unchanged.

Gu Xixi and He Jinglan looked at each other and smiled.

He Jinglan said, "I feel very at ease, as if this is another home for us."

Gu Xixi smiled, "Yes, I felt at ease as soon as I stepped into the courtyard, but thinking back, it seems like I haven't stayed here for very long."

The two looked around at various places.

The wooden doors to the three bedrooms were tightly closed, but none of them had padlocks on the outside.

Passing by the house where Mu Nanzhao used to live, He Jinglan glanced at it a few more times and said with a sigh:

"When I left last time, I thought I would never come back here. Life is so unpredictable."

She looked at Gu Xixi and asked with a smile, "Do you think Chen Fang will be able to come back in the future?"

Gu Xixi looked up at the sky and said, "I don't know."

She pointed to the sky and said, "Hey, look up at the sky, you can see the Milky Way."

"You can see stars in winter and spring, but they are just a few lonely stars, very cold and desolate, not nearly as bright as they are now."

The border areas are vast and sparsely populated, making them ideal for stargazing.

Especially on clear summer nights, you can see a sky full of dazzling stars when you look up.

The two stood quietly and gazed at the stars for a while.

He Jinglan looked at the sky and said, "He left a lock on your house, he should go back."

Gu Xixi's breath hitched, and her smile vanished. "We're looking at the stars! It's such a romantic moment, can you please not mention anything that might spoil the mood?"

He Jinglan chuckled to herself, then put on a serious face and looked intently at the stars.

"Yes, it's too bright in the capital at night, so you can't see many beautiful stars."

"I only saw a starry sky like this once when I was a child, when I went to stay at a Buddhist temple in the mountains with my grandmother."

She smiled at Gu Xixi, "I watched it with you."

Gu Xixi gave a noncommittal chuckle.

After a while, he said, "I almost forgot, you've lived here much longer than me. What, Meng Chengping hasn't watched the stars with you?"

He Jinglan was both amused and exasperated. "How annoying! You just told me not to mention those spoilsport people, and now you're doing it again!"

Gu Xixi laughed triumphantly, "Sisters naturally have to take every opportunity to hurt each other."

He Jinglan choked for a moment, feeling both amused and annoyed, before looking up to continue gazing at the stars.

"Fine, I'll do the first thing, you do the fifteenth. Whoever begs for mercy first is a dog!"

The two were in high spirits that night, and since just looking at the stars wasn't enough, they decided to bring out a small stove.

There were several kinds of vegetables, salted meat and ham in the kitchen.

Simply cut the ham into a few pieces, throw it into a clay pot of water and boil it until the broth turns a rich, milky white color. Then add vegetables, and you have the simplest hot pot.

He Jinglan came over carrying a small jar, a smug look on her face. "Xixi, you'll never guess what good thing I found!"

Having lived in the village for a long time, He Jinglan's habits have become less particular than before.

As Gu Xixi stirred the soup pot, she said, "What else could it be but wine?"

"However, I'm telling you beforehand, you can drink less if you want, but I won't drink a single drop with you."

He Jinglan sat down with her legs wide apart and slammed the wine jar on the ground.

"Young lady, don't refuse too soon. Take a look at what kind of wine this is first."

She unsealed the bowl, and the wine poured into it, revealing a dark purplish-red color.

Gu Xixi stared wide-eyed for a moment, "Wine?"

He Jinglan filled one bowl, then poured another, saying, "I knew you were the most knowledgeable."

Wine existed in the Daye Dynasty, but because it was an imported product from the Western Regions, only high-ranking officials and a few wealthy merchants with extensive connections had the opportunity to taste it.

In other words, wine was an extremely rare commodity that ordinary people could never afford.

Seeing He Jinglan's completely unsurprised expression, Gu Xixi smiled and covered it up, saying, "I haven't had a chance to drink it, but I guessed it was the legendary wine because of its unique color and fruity aroma."

He Jinglan said nonchalantly, "There are plenty of people in the world who have never drunk wine."

"I only tasted it once in my early years when I went to a palace banquet with my brother."

She picked up two bowls of wine, handed one to Gu Xixi, and smiled wickedly.

"How about it? You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't try it."

Gu Xixi stared at the wine in the bowl and pursed her lips.

It's a pity she was a heavy drinker before she transmigrated into the book.

Unfortunately, he was stuck with Gu Xixi, who was a lightweight.

I hadn't touched a drop of alcohol for a long time since the Lunar New Year, and I thought I'd forgotten my love for it, but the wine in front of me rekindled that feeling.

Hesitation lasted only a blink of an eye before Gu Xixi quickly took the wine bowl.

"The wine isn't very strong; drinking just this small bowl will definitely be fine!"

Given the ancient people's winemaking techniques, high-proof liquor was already scarce, and fruit wine was even less of a concern.

……

Gu Xixi was awakened by a burst of chirping birds.

She opened her eyes and was suddenly struck by the sunlight, causing her to frown.

Is it already dawn?

Gu Xixi's mind wasn't fully clear yet, and her gaze slowly moved.

In bed?

Covered by a blanket?

Isn't this her bedroom in the small courtyard of the military dependents' village?

But she clearly remembered eating hot pot and drinking in the courtyard...

drink?!

Gu Xixi suddenly sat up.

Yes, she remembered drinking alcohol last night, wine.

Sweet and sour, with a slightly intoxicating aroma, it's pure, unadulterated wine.

Hot pot is also quite delicious. The white broth cooked with dried ham is savory and fresh, which further highlights the tenderness and sweetness of the vegetables.

Yes, it goes very well with wine.

Then... what happened next? Gu Xixi couldn't remember anymore.

She bent over, her head aching, and held it in her hands.

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and He Jinglan walked in. She first glanced at Gu Xixi's face with lingering fear.

"woke up?"

Gu Xixi nodded. She looked at He Jinglan, and despite having a premonition, she still asked, unwilling to give up:

"Did we have hot pot and wine last night?"

He Jinglan nodded with a strange expression. "You remember everything?"

Gu Xixi swallowed hard. "Later... I mean, besides eating and drinking, what else happened?"

He Jinglan actually breathed a sigh of relief, "It's better to forget about it."

Gu Xixi felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her head. "Just tell me already, I can handle it. Otherwise, leaving me to guess and speculate will only make me feel worse."

He Jinglan stared at her sympathetically for a moment and said, "You said you would only drink one bowl, but in the time it took me to go to the toilet, your second bowl was almost empty."

"Then you dragged me along and said something about fine wine in a luminous cup, which is indeed a rare and beautiful poem, but you insisted on asking me for a luminous cup, saying that using a broken earthenware bowl would be an insult to the wine."

"You also said that you've finally found grapes, and that you need to find grape seeds, vines, and seedlings. You said that with your skills, grapes can definitely be grown in Huachidu Village."

"You also said a lot of things that I didn't understand, like breeding, hybridization, and shading nets. You talked for a long time, but I couldn't understand or join in. My head was spinning."

"Finally, you snatched my wine bowl, drank the rest, and then collapsed on top of me, finally putting an end to it."

Gu Xixi covered her face with her hands upon hearing this.

After He Jinglan finished speaking, Gu Xixi slowly raised her head.

She forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I'm not drunk. Actually, I really want to grow grapes. I'm telling you the truth. Do you believe me?"