A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

As the two walked toward the gate, they saw the man still waiting there, while the pretty girl handed the invitation to the servant at the gate.

After the inspection was quickly completed, the servant respectfully said to the pretty young woman, "Miss Zhao, please come in."

Ye Qingxue observed and pondered silently.

The eldest daughter of the Zhao family should be the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family in the east of Qingshui County.

The guest list included four members of the Zhao family attending the banquet: the patriarch Zhao Tang, his wife Liu, his eldest daughter Zhao Lingxi, and his eldest son Zhao Lingyun.

This pretty girl must be Zhao Lingxi. She just called this man "Cousin Zhao," so he must not be Zhao Lingyun.

This person isn't on the guest list?

While Ye Qingxue was pondering, the servants of the Lu family had already finished examining Wen Yanyu's invitation.

"Young Master Wen, please come in."

Wen Yanyu turned to Ye Qingxue and smiled, "Let's go."

Ye Qingxue nodded and followed him inside.

The birthday banquet at the Lu residence was held in the garden, where pavilions, terraces, waterside pavilions, and winding corridors were arranged in a well-organized manner, creating a beautiful scene.

But Ye Qingxue was not in the mood to appreciate it; she was thinking about Zhao Yantang and was afraid that he would be discovered.

As soon as she sat down, Ye Qingxue left under the pretext of going to the restroom.

Passing by the artificial hill behind the pavilion, Ye Qingxue grabbed a passing maid and asked, "Excuse me, where is your kitchen?"

Seeing the maid's doubtful expression, Ye Qingxue smiled and said, "I'm in charge of Shidinglou and this tomato banquet. I just came out to find the restroom and got lost."

Seeing Ye Qingxue's open and honest expression, the maid believed her and pointed behind her, "Turn left in the back corridor."

Ye Qingxue clasped her hands in thanks and then walked to the back.

When the maid couldn't see her, Ye Qingxue quietly quickened her pace.

Soon they arrived at the place the maid had indicated, and Ye Qingxue looked around.

Directly ahead, the kitchen is clearly visible. With the curtain lifted, you can see the walls made of blue bricks, a huge stove, and cured meat hanging from the beams.

Inside, chefs were busy plating hot dishes.

The kitchen was located in the backyard, next to the woodshed.

There was a small gate in the backyard, which was open. The food carts from Shidinglou were parked outside, but her donkey cart was nowhere to be seen.

Ye Qingxue was a little anxious and waited for a while.

"Hey, that's it! Hurry up, don't dawdle, I still need to go get the wine!"

A sound came from the small door. Ye Qingxue quickly went to look and peeked out. She saw Debao slowly peeking out from around the corner, about to turn the corner.

There was a young man in front of them, dressed like a servant of the Lu family, with a bitter face, pulling hard on the reins around De Bao's neck.

Ye Qingxue rushed forward to help pull him along, saying, "Young man, I'm sorry, let me do it. I'm in charge of delivering this batch of food boxes."

As soon as Debao saw Ye Qingxue, he excitedly shouted, and Zhao Yantang, who was sitting in the back seat, also leaned over.

"Boss, you've arrived. This donkey is being disobedient and won't follow the path. It's good that you've come; it should listen to you now."

Upon hearing this, the servant quickly put down the reins and handed them to Ye Qingxue, saying, "You've come at the right time. Help me take these vegetables to the kitchen. I'll go get the wine first."

Ye Qingxue nodded in agreement, and the servant quickly ran off.

She patted Debao's head and laughed, "What a clever donkey, he even knows how to stall for time."

She then tugged on the reins, and Debao reared up and started walking, full of energy.

Zhao Yantang whispered in the back seat, "What should we do now?"

Ye Qingxue pulled the donkey cart to the small gate, and seeing that no one was passing by inside and no one in the kitchen was paying attention to this side, she picked up Zhao Yantang and rushed inside.

They rushed straight to the corner of the woodshed next door before finally putting Zhao Yantang down.

While piling firewood in front of him, he instructed, "Hide here for now. When the time is right, I'll come looking for you. Don't be nervous, just say what I told you."

Zhao Yantang wiped the sweat from his brow. "Okay, thank you for your help."

Ye Qingxue made sure the firewood would completely shield Zhao Yantang, then stood up, dusted off her hands, and left.

Ye Qingxue left the donkey cart, gave the food boxes on it to the servants, and then returned to the banquet garden.

By this time, almost all the guests had arrived. Ye Qingxue also saw Miss Qian, who was sitting at the next table. She greeted her.

Ye Qingxue returned her smile before sitting back down.

Wen Yanyu leaned close to her ear and said, "The banquet is about to begin."

Ye Qingxue nodded gently.

knock knock.

Ye Qingxue had just sat down when there was a knock on the table next to her.

Looking up, I saw the man I had just seen at the entrance of the Lu residence.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?"

Ye Qingxue looked to the side and saw that the seat to her right was empty.

The birthday banquet held by the Lu family was a large-scale event with invitations sent out widely. There were no specific seating arrangements for each person, only tables set up to distinguish important officials and wealthy people.

Ye Qingxue's table was full of people who came in groups of one or two, so there were a few extra seats.

Ye Qingxue had no reason to refuse.

She nodded to the man.

"Thank you." The man sat down to her right.

After waiting for a while, dancers started to come up to warm up the atmosphere, but the host of the banquet, the eldest son of the Lu family, had not yet appeared.

Ye Qingxue looked up at the banquet platform. The Lu family patriarch and matriarch were already seated in the main seats, smiling as they greeted the guests who came to offer toasts.

“Young master, you look familiar. I’d like to get to know you,” the man beside him suddenly spoke up.

Ye Qingxue was surprised for a moment, then turned to look at him, somewhat speechless.

This way of striking up a conversation is so familiar; it's exactly the same as the old short videos she watched in her past life.

Perhaps this is a unique way of making friends that the ancients had.

Ye Qingxue smiled politely and said, "Hello, my surname is Ye, you can just call me Brother Ye."

"Ah, Brother Ye." The man called out her name, and Ye Qingxue wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the man's tone was playful.

“My name is Zhao Ciyan, you can also call me…Brother Zhao.” He said with a smile.

Ye Qingxue smiled slightly, "Hello, Brother Zhao."

"Brother Ye, have some water." Wen Yanyu, who was standing next to her, picked up the teapot and poured tea into her teacup.

Ye Qingxue was very grateful to Wen Yanyu for saving her from such an embarrassing situation, and quickly turned around to pick up her teacup and drink tea.

Zhao Ciyan chuckled and turned around to drink his tea, but his gaze remained fixed on Ye Qingxue with interest.

"Young Master Lu has arrived!"

On the high platform, a servant's sudden shout drew everyone's attention.

Then a man walked out from the side.

Ye Qingxue looked at him, and her heart skipped a beat.

The reason was simple: the man looked far too familiar. At first glance, he looked exactly like her delicate and foolish husband.

However, upon closer inspection, there are some differences.

His skin was as pale as snow, his eyebrows were as dark as ink, his eyes were long and deep, like the water of a cold pool, with a hint of gloom, and his thin lips were tightly pressed together, exuding a dangerous aura that made people dare not approach him easily.

Hmm, she's still different from her silly husband.

While Ye Qingxue was focused on observing the eldest young master of the Lu family on the stage, she didn't notice that Zhao Ciyan's expression had changed beside her.

She still wore that nonchalant smile, but there was a hidden undercurrent in her eyes.

Beneath the layers of inexplicable emotions, there seems to be a deep-seated hatred.