Zhang Meng hurried over upon seeing this and invited them to sit in the main room.
There was also a table in the main hall, where sat the Chen clan leader, Old Man Jiang, and several respected people.
Of course, the two scholars were also there.
Everyone greeted each other, and the Chu clan leader looked at Li Xu several times.
It’s a pity that this young man is from another place and refuses to marry a wife here, otherwise, it would be most appropriate to let Chu Man marry him.
Take another look at Chen Changping.
Well, he is more reliable.
As elders, they know best what kind of personalities their children have. Although Chen Changping is a widower with several children, he is old and steady, so he might be able to tolerate Chu Man's temper.
Besides, Chu Man is young and pretty, so she should be able to win the favor of this scholar.
Patriarch Chu thought so and glanced secretly at Old Man Jiang.
The Jiang family’s children were not bad, but unfortunately Chu Man didn’t know how to cherish them and ruined this good marriage.
Old man Jiang didn't want to pay any attention to the Chu family, not even an eye contact. He only spoke to the Chen clan leader, Chen Sanyou, and the teacher.
The person with the most free time today is Yingbao. After taking her brothers Jiang Wu and Huzi to see Chuchu's little girl, she went to the martial arts field to practice fighting skills.
Although Jiang Wu is only five years old, he is agile and strong. Ying Bao is no match for him.
After being thrown down several times, Yingbao became discouraged and sat aside watching Huzi and his brother sparring.
"Hu Zi!" Er Ni ran over and waved at Hu Zi: "Follow me!"
Hu Zi ignored his sister and continued practicing with Jiang Wu.
Erni pulled him and whispered, "Come with me to see my mother."
Hu Zi struggled: "No, no, no!"
He was a complete stranger to that woman and didn't want to see her at all.
Erni begged: "Huzi, just go with me and take a look."
Hu Zi still refused and shook off his sister and ran away.
He already regarded Yan Ru as his own mother, and Yan Ru's mother took good care of his food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Although he vaguely remembered his previous mother, he really didn't want to see her.
Erni watched her brother run away in frustration and had to go see Leng alone.
Now Leng lives in the two thatched huts that Erni spent money to build for her. It is some distance away from the village and not far from several hired farmers.
Many families in Dongchen Village rent their fields to others for cultivation, so there are many hired farmers living outside the village.
These hired farmers brought their families with them and built sheds or huts next to the farmland. There were about a dozen households scattered around. Leng lived near them and occasionally chatted with the wives of the hired farmers. Her life was pretty stable.
Erni also plans to donate some fungus seeds to Leng's planting next year so that she can be self-reliant and have someone to rely on when she is old.
Jiang Erlang also knew about this, but because his daughter was filial, he could not interfere. He just told his daughter not to bring Leng home, and not to do anything to hurt her stepmother.
Erni naturally agreed.
Yan Runiang was very good to both her and her brother, and she was not an ungrateful person, so how could she possibly hurt her.
Yingbao practiced with his brother for a while, then took him home.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and soon covered the ground with a thin layer of silver.
Yingbao did not go to Chuchu's house for the feast. She cooked two bowls of dragon beard noodles on a small charcoal stove and placed two poached eggs on the bowls. After she and her brother had eaten and drunk their fill, they went back to their rooms to rest.
Inside the cave, Yingbao planted a large number of golden fungus and snow fungus, a total of four thousand plants.
These mushrooms grow very fast in the cave and are of very good quality. Each one is crystal clear and looks unlike any ordinary thing.
Now, except for the black soil, the rest of the area around the pond is filled with mushroom racks, mushroom pots, and large bamboo plaques.
Above the luminous body and around the pupil spring, grapes, apples, peaches, lychees, tangerines, etc. are planted.
The grapes, peaches and apples were planted early and are now blooming and bearing fruit.
Lychees, mandarin oranges, papayas, etc. are still newly grown seedlings.
Yingbao was worried that the fruit trees would grow too tall and not bloom, so she pruned their branches early on to keep the tree height below half a meter.
The two original giant apple trees have also been pruned and are now growing steadily and starting to bloom and bear fruit.
So now you don't need to put in any effort to pick the fruits yourself, you can just stand on a stool.
Yingbao picked a basket of apples, a basket of peaches and a basket of grapes and then stopped.
Taozi planned to continue making peach juice and use the water from Tongkong Spring because Jiang Jie and Jiang Wu both liked to drink it.
Grapes are used to make wine.
Her second cousin Jiang Quan had helped her find out how to make fruit wine. Some time ago, she had already brewed several jars of peach wine and buried them under the peach tree.
First, cut the grapes one by one, wash them, dry them, then pour them into a clean bowl and crush them.
Then add koji and icing sugar and slowly dissolve.
The grape juice is then put into clay jars, covered with lids, and allowed to ferment for fifteen days.
After waiting for more than ten days, scoop out the grape skins floating on the grape pulp and filter the grape pulp again with gauze.
Pour the grape pulp back into a clean jar, seal it, dig a hole and bury it in the soil.
After allowing them to continue fermenting for two months, the wine will be ready.
The longer the fermentation time, the mellower and stronger the wine tastes. This is the method of making wine.
Yingbao made three jars of grape juice in one go, covered them with lids, and waited for them to ferment.
After coming out of the cave, Yingbao felt very tired, so she quickly boiled some water, washed up and lay down.
Have a good sleep all night until you wake up the next morning.
Yingbao got up and gently pushed the window open a little.
All I saw outside the window was a vast expanse of white, all snow.
The snow was not thick, just reaching the ankles.
But the weather was very cold, and the cold wind made her face feel tingling and uncomfortable, so Yingbao quickly closed the window.
I found a cotton coat and trousers from the box and put them on, then I heard someone talking outside.
It turned out to be Aunt Wang Er, who came early in the morning to tell Chunniang gossip.
"Oh, Chunniang, this is terrible. There's a big scandal in our village... no, in the West Village."
Aunt Wang couldn't suppress her excitement and said to Chunniang, "The girl from Chujia Village was actually involved with Chen Changping. Tsk tsk, they were in the haystack at the entrance of the village. Oh, so many people saw it..."
Chunniang glanced towards her daughter's room and whispered, "Second Aunt, please keep your voice down. The children are all at home."
"Yes, yes." Aunt Wang lowered her voice and said, "Mrs. Chen Feng was so angry that she stood at the door and cursed. Her curses were so ugly. Hehe! Aunt Chun, if you hadn't gone to take a look, Mrs. Chen Feng almost pointed at Miss Chu's nose and called her a slut."
"Really?" Chunniang was also curious and pulled Aunt Wang out: "Let's go and take a look."
Yingbao was even more curious.
She was listening attentively, but Aunt Wang left.
Not only did he leave, he also kidnapped my mother.
Yingbao put on her little cotton shoes and ran out of the door.
After thinking for a while, he picked up a small broom, swept the snow on the stairs, climbed up the wall of his house, and looked towards the West Village.
The snow has stopped this morning and the sky is blue and cloudless.
Many people in the village were running towards the West Village, probably to watch the fun.
Yingbao stood on tiptoe and tried to look towards the west, but she could only see vague human figures and could not see them clearly.
But there seemed to be a woman's crying and cursing in the wind.
Yingbao shook her head and went down the fence.
She could guess with her toes that this scandal was definitely caused by the Chu family.
The Chu family's direct branch wanted a scholar as a son-in-law, but there was only one unmarried girl in the direct branch, Chu Man, who was of the right age and good-looking.
Not only that, this Chu Man is the daughter of Muramasa and the cousin of the Chu clan leader.
The most important thing is that Chu Man’s biological mother is the niece of the clan leader’s wife.
But Chu Man is notorious, and the Chen family will definitely not agree to this marriage.
So the Chu family took a different approach and decided to make the matter a fait accompli.
If Chen Changping hadn't been caught today, maybe it would have been Li Xu's turn.
Alas, there are rivers and lakes everywhere in the world.