Pastoral Splendor

“When I was little, I was used to doing rough work.” Jian Yifei squinted at the leisurely white clouds in the sky, her brows furrowed slightly, and she fell into deep thought without saying a word.

Jian Yifei's knuckles were thick, and when he stretched out his hands, they looked like straight rakes, covered with calluses, especially on the tiger's mouth. The calluses made Yan Ying feel a little sorry for him.

She had practiced Taekwondo and Wing Chun in her past life, yet her fingers remained smooth, unlike Jian Yifei's unsightly hands. How much suffering had he endured to have his hands worn down like this? Yan Ying glanced at Jian Yifei cautiously and whispered, "Jian Yifei, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have reminded you of the past."

"It's alright, it's alright." Jian Yifei smiled at Yan Ying: "Although life was tough before, I actually felt that was the happiest time. But now, I feel like I've gone back to those days no matter what."

There was a look of disappointment in Jian Yifei's eyes, which startled Yan Ying. Every family has its own troubles, and what hardships each person has endured, what joys and sorrows they have experienced, are unknown to others. They are hidden deep in their hearts and will only be mentioned when they are willing to open their hearts to others.

“We all have to look forward and not dwell on the past.” Yan Ying smiled, picked up the sugar figurine and walked inside. Jian Yifei quickly picked up the basket on the ground and followed her in.

Wuhua and Liuhua were sitting under the stove, each contributing firewood and straw to start a fire. The rice cooker on the stove was already steaming, emitting white mist. Seeing the sugar figurine in Yanying's hand, Liuhua exclaimed, "Third Sister, did you buy this for us?"

Yan Ying smiled and waved to her: "Yes, come over and have some."

Wu Hua sat under the stove adding firewood, her eyes fixed on the sugar figurines, unwilling to look away, but her body remained still. Yan Ying held up a sugar figurine and waved it at her: "What's wrong, Wu Hua, don't you like it?"

Wu Hua swallowed hard and whispered, "Third Sister, go and give some to Mother, Eldest Sister, and Ye'er first. If there's anything left, give it to me."

Yan Ying walked over, reached out and touched Wu Hua's hair, feeling a pang of pity: "You have them all, didn't you see that Third Sister bought a whole bunch?"

Wu Hua smiled shyly, stood up, reached out, picked out the smallest one, and gently licked it: "So sweet." She sat back down by the stove, one hand holding firewood and feeding it into the firebox, the other hand holding the sugar figurine and turning it around, looking at the little figure with reluctance, unwilling to put it in her mouth.

"Wuhua, hurry up and eat. It's hot by the stove, and your sugar figurine will melt in a while." Yan Ying saw red tongues of fire coming out of the stove and almost engulfing Wuhua's sugar figurine. She reminded her, "You'll get to eat sugar figurines again in the future, so don't be so reluctant to part with them."

Wu Hua looked up at Yan Ying and a shy smile appeared on her lips.

"Liuhua, hurry up and take it inside for them to eat. Third Sister is going to cook." Yanying handed the sugar figurine to Liuhua, scooped a ladle of water from the water vat to wash her hands, and then began to cook.

For the guards and their families, she made braised pork belly and braised pork hock, then used the bones to make a thick soup with taro, and a few green vegetables. But the dishes for Xu Yixuan had to be made more exquisite. Yan Ying slowly peeled tofu with a knife, slicing the tender white tofu, and then asked Liu Hua to go outside to pick up a few pine cones, smash them open with a stone, and take out the pine nuts inside.

Jian Yifei was helping Yan Ying with cutting meat and chopping bones, having a great time. When Wu Hua and Liu Hua saw him chopping the bones into small pieces with his knife, they both widened their eyes in surprise: "Brother Jian, you're amazing!"

Yan Ying waved the bone at them: "Third Sister is amazing too. She's going to crush this bone into powder. Do you believe me?"

Five flowers shook their heads, while six flowers nodded, their small faces meeting, each disagreeing.

"How could Third Sister have such strength?" Wu Hua looked at the bone with a puzzled expression. "I don't believe it."

Rikka blinked her eyes: "I believe it, I believe it, Third Sister can do anything!"

"Jian Yifei." Yan Ying nudged Jian Yifei's arm with the bone: "Crush the bone into powder."

Jian Yifei was stunned. He was still wondering how this seemingly ordinary farm girl could crush bones into powder when Yan Ying handed him the bones. "Aren't you going to crush them?" But he didn't object. He took the bones and, with a little force, they turned into a pile of powder.

Yan Ying stretched out her two palms and put them together: "Pour it into my hands."

Jian Yifei obediently released her hand, and the powder fell into Yan Ying's palm. Yan Ying smiled and showed the pile of powder to Wu Hua Liu Hua: "Look, it's been crushed to pieces, isn't it?"

"Third sister, you didn't make this!" Five-petaled little mouth pouted: "It doesn't count!"

Yan Ying looked at Wu Hua and smiled: "How can it not count? Third Sister picked up the bone, and now the bone powder is in Third Sister's hand, so of course Third Sister crushed it. Wu Hua, no one is omnipotent, but we can use methods to do some things that we cannot do ourselves. As long as the goal is achieved, there is no need to investigate whether you did it or not."

"Third Sister is right." Liu Hua nodded. She smiled sweetly at Jian Yifei: "Brother Jian, Liu Hua can't break the pine nuts inside the pine cone, please help me!"

The bright sunlight shone on several pine cones that had been smashed open, and tiny pine nuts were scattered all over the ground, glistening faintly in the golden sunlight. Rikka held up a pine nut and showed it to Jian Yifei: "Brother Jian, look, look, Rikka can only be smashed open with a stone."

Jian Yifei lowered his head, gathered the pine nuts, placed them in his palm, focused his energy in his dantian, and opened his palm. The pine nut shells had already separated, and the pine nuts wrapped in a thin membrane rolled out, each one pointed, like a beautiful face.

Liu Hua cheered, "Brother Jian, you're so capable!"

“My master is certainly capable!” A cheerful voice came from the courtyard gate. A group of people surrounded Xu Yixuan as he walked in. Erhua was carrying a basket filled with vegetables picked from the garden, while Sihua was carrying several small doves.

"Second Sister, Fourth Sister, look!" Liu Hua held up the pine nuts for them to see: "Brother Jian pressed down hard, and all the pine nut shells opened up."

"Hurry up and bring in the pine nuts!" Yan Ying peeked in and saw the dove in Si Hua's hand: "You caught a dove? Very good, very good. Quickly burn it, clean off the feathers, and chop the meat into small pieces." She planned to make Mapo Tofu for Xu Yixuan, along with a few braised pork hocks. Once Xu Yixuan tasted the saltiness and spiciness, she would serve him a clear soup. With such a proper combination, she was sure Xu Yixuan would eat to his heart's content.

Yan Ying prepared the food for the guards first, then started preparing the dishes for Xu Yixuan. Xu Yixuan stood by the stove, looking indignant: "Why did you let them eat first?"

"Because you are the most honored guest, it is natural to let you eat the best first." Yan Ying smiled and gestured with her lips: "The dishes they eat are all ordinary dishes, but the ones I prepare for you are carefully prepared."

"So that's how it is." Xu Yixuan looked delighted as he squatted under the stove watching the fire blaze. He looked up at Yan Ying and smiled, "You're so thoughtful."

Yan Ying chuckled inwardly. Xu Yixuan was so easily fooled. She'd left his dishes for later to whet his appetite. The aroma of everyone else eating so deliciously outside was wafting into Xu Yixuan's nostrils, making him crave her cooking even more. Once his stomach was empty, everything would taste good, especially her carefully prepared dishes, which he would surely consider delicacies.

Besides the numbing and spicy flavor, the most important thing about Mapo Tofu is its tenderness. Yan Ying instructed Wu Hua not to use high heat, but to first put the seasonings into the pot and flavor them with the freshly made bone broth. She then mixed the seasonings into a sauce, and when it was steaming hot and sizzling in the pot, she quickly took it out of the pot, cleaned the pot, put the tofu in, shook the pot a couple of times, sprinkled a few grains of salt, and waited until the outer skin of the tofu turned golden brown. She poked it with chopsticks, but the inside was still as tender as water.

Pour the tofu into a plate, then pour on the seasoning sauce. Instantly, the tofu changes its appearance, becoming a large plate of red and white. There are also a few cooked peanuts in the plate, which Yan Ying uses a cleaver to place around the edge of the plate, just like stars in the sky, neat and tidy, which looks really nice.

Next, she made a clear broth. Yan Ying originally planned to use pine nuts, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms as the base to make a soup, but now that she had pigeons, it was even easier—a rare delicacy. She shaped the mushrooms and chopped pigeon meat into small balls, adding a little flour to the egg whites to improve the consistency. After adding them to the broth, the small balls rolled around in the soup, their tops a pale reddish color.

When she took the soup off the heat, Yan Ying added a few sprigs of coriander. She had used coriander when she made the "one lamb, three ways" dish last time, and she saw that Xu Yixuan was eating it with great relish, so he seemed to like the taste. She smiled and handed the soup bowl to Er Hua: "Hurry up and take it to the table, so that the young master Xu won't have to wait too long."

Xu Yixuan was happily gnawing on a pig's trotter at this moment. After what happened with the spicy lamb chops last time, he naturally reached out to grab the pig's trotter, leaving the guards next to him dumbfounded. When did the young master become like this? He was so unruly when eating!

A guard said ingratiatingly, "Young Master, would you like me to cut the meat off the pig's trotters for you before you eat them? That would make it easier."

"Go away, what do you know? This is how you eat to truly enjoy it." Xu Yixuan saw Erhua bring over the clear soup, and a fragrant aroma wafted into his nose. He was so delighted that his eyebrows shot up: "What is this now?"

"This is the soup made from the pigeon you hunted with your sandalwood bow, Young Master." Yan Ying came out of the kitchen, scooped out a ladle of water to wash her hands, and walked over with a smile, pointing to the bowl of soup. "Young Master, besides the pigeon, can you taste anything else I put in it?"

Several guards looked at Yan Ying with suspicion, then looked down at the bowl of soup: "Young Master, we don't know what this girl put in it. You can't eat it without knowing what. Let us taste the soup first. If nothing happens, you can eat it without worry."

Xu Yixuan quickly reached out to protect the soup bowl, glaring at the guards: "There's only one bowl of soup, and you've already drunk a few sips. How much more can I possibly have? All of you, get out of the way! I trust Miss Xiao, none of you are allowed to take it from me!" He gave Yan Ying a fawning look, then wiped the stool with his sleeve: "Miss Xiao, please sit down. You must have worked hard cooking. Your cooking suits my taste perfectly, I should reward you handsomely."

Hearing that there would be a reward, Rikka swallowed hard, tugged at Nika's hand, and said mysteriously in a voice that everyone could hear, "Rikka wants to eat meat every day."

...