The Cloud Feather of the Red Chamber: A Marriage Arranged with Gong Yuanzheng at the Start

As I pushed open the door, a wave of warmth rushed in, dispelling the chill from my body.

Lin Qingyue then noticed that a charcoal fire had been burning in the room of the Zheng Palace all along.

Gong Yuanzheng stopped Lin Qingyue and hurriedly entered the room, opening a crack in the tightly closed window.

There wasn't much wind coming in, so it didn't bring much coolness to the room, but it did make the room less hot.

Then he returned to Lin Qingyue's side and very naturally took off her cloak. "Go and rest for a while. Dinner will be ready. I'll call you."

Lin Qingyue shook her head. "I wasn't sleepy to begin with, and if I sleep any longer, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Looking at the white plum blossom in her hand, she said, "Bring me my favorite beauty shoulder-shrugging vase from my dowry."

Gong Yuanzheng looked at Lin Qingyue with some confusion, blinked, and asked, "What? A beauty shrug bottle?"

Lin Qingyue then remembered that Qiu Lan had packed all her dowry, and probably only she knew where it was. Qiu Lan was currently studying pharmacology at the pharmacy.

Lin Qingyue sighed, "When will Qiulan be able to come back? It's really inconvenient for me without her here."

A shadow of gloom flashed across Gong Yuanzheng's eyes. He took the white plum blossom from Lin Qingyue's hand and smiled innocently, "I, Gong, have quite a few vases. I'll go find one for you to put in it."

After saying that, he held the white plum blossoms and quickly walked out of the room.

After wandering around the Zheng Palace, I finally found a vase in a side hall. I casually threw away the flower branches inside, inserted white plum blossoms, and ran back excitedly.

Inside the room, Lin Qingyue sat upright at her desk, writing as she frowned in thought.

Afraid of disturbing her, Gong Yuanzheng stopped and placed the vase in his arms on the coffee table next to him. He then walked quietly to Lin Qingyue's side, blocking the wind blowing in from the window.

He picked up the ink stick next to him, and while grinding the ink, he glanced at the paper next to Lin Qingyue.

Shrimp ball and chicken skin soup: Peel and mince the shrimp meat, then mix with bean flour and lard...

Gong Yuanzheng blinked, making sure he wasn't seeing things, and looked up at Lin Qingyue with a somewhat bewildered expression.

"Yue'er, are you memorizing a recipe?"

Lin Qingyue didn't even look up. "These are some dishes I often eat at home, and some recipes I've seen before."

“I think Young Master Jiao doesn’t seem to have a good appetite. I’ll write down the recipe and give it to him. Maybe he’ll eat more.”

Upon hearing this, Gong Yuanzheng felt both delighted and secretly jealous.

He was pleased that she cared about his brother just as much as he did, but jealous that her recipes weren't written for him.

Yesterday, she gave Gong Zishang new clothes, and today she gave her brother a recipe book, which she wrote herself.

He had nothing.

He was still her fiancé.

Gong Yuanzheng felt a throbbing pain in his heart, so painful that he had difficulty breathing.

His originally fair face appeared somewhat pale, his lips were tightly pursed, and his eyes gradually reddened.

Sensing that something was off about the atmosphere around her, Lin Qingyue nervously stopped writing and slowly looked up at him.

Seeing his reddened eyes, my heart skipped a beat.

"You, what's wrong with you?"

Gong Yuanzheng had never suffered such humiliation. When his brother returned, the best things were sent to his Zheng Palace first. Not to mention Gong Ziyu and Gong Zishang, even the young master and Zhi Ren used the leftovers that he had rejected.

As a result, he didn't receive a single gift from Lin Qingyue. It was one thing for his brother, but why should Gong Zishang receive one?

Now, not only were his eyes red-rimmed, but his eyes were also red, carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

"You personally wrote the recipes for your brother..."

Lin Qingyue's eyes widened as she looked at Gong Yuanzheng in disbelief. "You want me to personally cook the dishes and present them to Young Master Jiao?!"

Gong Yuanzheng: No, I didn't!

Lin Qingyue frowned. "I'm your fiancée, and he's my future brother-in-law. This is a very awkward situation..."

Looking at Gong Yuanzheng, there was something unspeakable in his eyes. Are all the people in the martial arts world so unscrupulous?

It's understandable to cook for someone on special occasions, but is it appropriate for my future sister-in-law to cook for us on ordinary days?

Besides, even within the Lin family, as the eldest daughter, she only occasionally cooked some dishes.

Even if there were maids assisting throughout, and she only tagged along a few times, if she really did everything from beginning to end, then the Lin family's maids would have to be replaced entirely.

Gong Yuanzheng was also anxious. He didn't mean to keep Lin Qingyue in the kitchen. He couldn't bear to see her stay there all the time.

He moved a few steps closer to Lin Qingyue, tears welling up in his eyes.

"No, it's just that you sent things to Gong Zishang and my brother, but not to me..."

Lin Qingyue: "......."

There's always a reason why she sends them things; otherwise, she wouldn't bother.

Besides, do you need anything? Your brother has already provided you with everything you need.

But seeing Gong Yuanzheng's aggrieved look, Lin Qingyue inexplicably felt a little guilty.

"Then what do you want? I... I'll give it to you..."

Gong Yuanzheng looked at the menu written by Lin Qingyue and thought about what she had just said.

"Yue'er, cook me a dish, anything is fine."

Lin Qingyue hesitated for a moment, "I'm not very good at cooking..."

Seeing that Gong Yuanzheng's tears seemed about to fall, he quickly said, "Okay, I'll make it for you, just don't think it tastes bad!"

Gong Yuanzheng burst into laughter through his tears, "I like anything Yue'er makes."

Lin Qingyue breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking: The video didn't say Gong Yuanzheng was a crybaby. Watching the video alone wasn't enough; she still had to watch the drama.

Gong Yuanzheng seemed to have recovered his mood. He picked up a piece of paper and covered his face, making it impossible to see his expression.

"Bean curd skin and bamboo shoot dumplings? Are you making dumplings with bean curd skin?"

Lin Qingyue recalled the scene from last year's winter solstice, when her younger brother was not sick, and she and her sister dug bamboo shoots together in the bamboo forest and the whole family made dumplings together. A smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

"Golden robes and white jade, a unique delicacy among bamboo shoots, and winter bamboo shoots are the best. I see there is a bamboo forest behind the Jiao Palace, and now is the perfect time to eat them."

The pen never stopped writing in the book, detailing all the ways to prepare bamboo shoots.

Stir-fried bamboo shoots, bamboo shoot soup, bamboo shoots braised in lard...

Gong Yuanzheng exclaimed, "Yue'er has such a good memory; she remembers so many things."

Lin Qingyue's smile faded slightly. "Last winter solstice, Yu'er ate bamboo shoot dumplings and thought they were delicious. The next day, Father asked the kitchen to prepare a bamboo shoot feast. Yu'er was curious about how to cook bamboo shoots, so I took her to the kitchen to see."

Gong Yuanzheng immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing, and that he was about to stir up Lin Qingyue's homesickness again.

He immediately said, "I'll have someone prepare tofu skin in a bit. We'll have these tofu skin and bamboo shoot dumplings for dinner. The bamboo shoots are freshly dug up, so they'll be absolutely sweet and delicious!"

Lin Qingyue did not respond to his words, but looked up at him and smiled slightly, "I will write down some winter dishes today and give them to Young Master Jiao. I will write down the dishes for the other three seasons later and give them to you."

"Yue'er, don't rush. It's the same if you give it to your brother tomorrow."

Looking at the dishes on the paper, Gong Yuanzheng also became interested. These dishes were all novel dishes that he had never seen before.

However, its characteristics are also very obvious. Every dish is very exquisite, and some dishes can even be described as extremely luxurious, which left him speechless.

Like this lotus leaf soup, a soup made with chicken broth.

Ordinary people could hardly afford such expensive food, and only wealthy and powerful families could afford to enjoy such delicacies.