Zhulan smiled and said, "It's getting late, I'll help you cook."
Mrs. Wu Li waved her hands. She was confident because her grandson was striving hard, but she also knew that work was work. "I can do it myself."
Zhulan's eyes were filled with satisfaction. She was also testing him, and her smile deepened. "It's boring for me to stay alone, so I'll help light the fire and we can talk."
Wu Lishi, "Hey."
Mrs. Wu Li worked efficiently. There were two pots in the kitchen, so she cooked two dishes at the same time. While one dish was stewing, she prepared the remaining side dishes. The dishes were ready in more than half an hour, and she just had to wait for the steamed buns to be cooked.
Mrs. Wu Li was in a good mood and the dishes she cooked were more delicious than usual.
Zhulan called on the children to wash their hands. After Mrs. Wu Li brought the dishes to the front yard, Zhulan also arranged the dishes in the backyard.
Fish is hard to come by in winter. This is only Zhulan’s second meal since she came to Pingzhou. The Zhou family’s children’s eyes are all on the scrambled eggs with leeks and fish. They have chicken soup every day and meat for every meal these days, so they don’t crave meat at all.
Ming Teng ate the chives in big mouthfuls, "Grandma, chives are delicious, can we grow them at home?"
Zhulan has chives in her backyard, but she doesn’t know how to grow them in winter. She is not a professional. “It’s not the season, so we can’t grow them at home.”
Ming Teng looked like a liar and pointed at the chives, "I can't grow them. How did grandma buy them?"
Mrs. Wu Li smiled and said, "These are the leek roots that some farmers keep in their houses in order to earn some extra money to supplement their family income in the winter. However, they use a lot of firewood and there isn't much of them, so they are expensive."
She had thought about it before, but unfortunately there was no place, and the firewood was not enough. Buying firewood would cost a lot of money, and she wouldn't get much from each harvest, so she gave up the idea.
Zhulan had never come across leeks, so she really didn't know about growing leeks indoors in winter. Once again, I sigh that the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.
Zhulan invited Wu Ning to eat. The little girl and Xuehan had become more familiar with each other, but she was still a little timid and didn't dare to pick up any food. Zhulan winked at her daughter, and Xuehan quickly picked up some ribs for Wu Ning, "Eat more food, don't be polite, just treat it like you're at home."
Wu Ning had beautiful eyes and a soft voice, "Thank you, sister."
She really liked this sister. She didn't look down on her, nor did she ask her questions. She also didn't dislike her clothes. She even held her hand. Was she pretending? She could see clearly that her sister liked her very much.
She was not jealous of her sister for dressing well and wearing jewelry. She had learned to be grateful and contented since her parents passed away. Her sister was her first friend!
Xue Han was happy, people are attracted to each other by appearance, she liked Wu Ning very much, people's eyes are the windows to the soul, although Wu Ning's conditions were not as good as hers, she was not shallow at all, spoke gently, and her smile could touch people's hearts. Wu Ning was not like an older sister, but just like the younger sister she had imagined.
Zhulan watched her daughter picking up food for Wu Ning and knew that Wu Ning was a really good girl and had won her daughter's approval.
Mrs. Wu Li was also happy. As a helper, she had seen a lot. She had met young ladies from official families and merchants' families. Because she had seen so much, she paid special attention to her granddaughter's education, hoping that she would be polite and well-mannered, and have vision. She educated her granddaughter very successfully, except that her granddaughter never went out and was a little timid, but it would be good if she went out more often.
In the front yard, because Wu Ming was only fifteen years old and Zhou Shuren didn't drink much, the meal in the front yard ended not long after Zhulan finished eating in the backyard.
After Wu Ning helped her grandmother clean up, the Wu family left.
After washing up in the evening, Zhulan asked Zhou Shuren, "What do you think of Wu Ming?"
Zhou Shuren praised, "If I didn't have the experience of two lifetimes, I would not be as good as him. This child is at the top in terms of both intelligence and worldly relations. Changzhi is already very talented, but compared to Wu Ming, Changzhi is just a child who has not grown up."
Zhulan looked down at Zhou Shuren, whose head was resting on her legs. This guy really knows how to climb a ladder. Look how naturally he lay down while talking!