After one meal, Jiang Miao felt like he was going to have stomach cramps.
It's not that the dishes are bad. In the big kitchen of the Duke's Mansion, there are four chefs and a group of assistant chefs. The four chefs take turns to work. Today, it is the turn of a chef who is very good at cooking Liangjing local dishes. Every dish is very authentic, and it can be said to be delicious.
But the premise of having a good meal is that the atmosphere at the table is good and you are happy while eating. Otherwise, even if you serve abalone, shark's fin, and fish maw, it will be useless.
In Jiang Miao's eyes, the lunch he had today was more painful than the meal before his execution. No one at the table had spoken since they sat down, and everyone's gestures and movements showed their demeanor. Sitting with such a group of people, Jiang Miao felt depressed. These people were like robots with programmed functions, without any emotions. It was not as good as the table where the children sat. Although they might not like each other, at least they had some popularity.
After the meal, several people walked back. Pei Che saw that Jiang Miao looked uninterested, and knew that he did not eat well. When he was eating just now, he noticed that Jiang Miao seemed a little uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, grandma rarely serves meals. Usually, she only lets everyone get together during festivals." Pei Che said.
Jiang Miao kicked the pebbles on the roadside, glanced at him, and sighed, "It's better this way, otherwise I will get a stomach problem sooner or later. Have you always eaten like this? Didn't you say you would get together? How can we keep in touch this way?"
They all sit there like wooden stakes and eat mechanically. What's the point of the party
Pei Che recalled the past and shook his head, "It didn't seem to be like this before. Although grandma didn't like to laugh much, she was very kind to everyone. She would care about everyone during meals, and those uncles and aunts would also make her laugh."
"Did something happen? Why do I feel that what I saw and what you said are completely different things?" While Jiang Miao was speaking, he pulled a piece of wild grass from the side and played with it in his hand.
"I don't know what happened either. It should be that she changed since she had the palpitations. I actually asked my grandmother, but she refused to tell me." Pei Che also felt very strange at the time, but no matter how he asked, his grandmother refused to reveal a word. He also tried to test other people and found that they were also confused about the changes in his grandmother.
"If your grandmother isn't the biological mother of your uncles and aunts, then where are their biological mothers?" Jiang Miao suddenly asked. It's true that these people are illegitimate children, but where are their aunts? Are they all gone
Pei Che shook his head: "I don't know, it seems that since I can remember, there have been no such people in the mansion, and I have never heard anyone mention this matter." He was curious, but when he asked many times when he was a child, no one told him, and later it was left unresolved.
Well, it seems that this is the privacy of the big family. Jiang Miao felt that he couldn't ask any more questions. Sometimes knowing too much is not a good thing.
"When your grandmother doesn't serve meals, do we also eat the dishes sent from the big kitchen?" This is the question that Jiang Miao cares about most.
"Yes, everyone has a monthly quota, and the daily dishes are from the quota. If you want to eat something extra, just ask someone to go to the big kitchen and tell them, and then it will be deducted from the monthly quota." Pei Che said, "We also have a small kitchen in the yard. If you want to cook something on weekdays, you can also ask someone to go to the big kitchen to get the dishes."
"That's pretty good." Jiang Miao was very satisfied. If he got tired of the food prepared by the chef, he could make it himself.
While they were talking, Xiao Shitou and Pei Mu also huddled together to talk. Ever since Pei Mu could speak a few words, he became particularly interested in chatting. Jiang Miao looked back at the two little heads leaning against each other and couldn't help but smile knowingly.
After returning to the yard, Jiang Miao asked someone to bring him some mung beans. He made some mung bean soup and put it on ice to cool it down. It tasted refreshing and was perfect for summer.
He brought the chilled mung bean soup to the study and gave a bowl to everyone who was reading or writing inside.
Pei Che put down the book, took a sip of mung bean soup, and couldn't help but sigh with satisfaction. Jiang Miao's cooking skills were good, and even the mung bean soup tasted better than others.
Jiang Miao looked at the book on his desk. The words "Zhongyong" were written on the cover. He only knew that this book belonged to the category of the Four Books and Five Classics, but he never knew what it was about.
Seeing Jiang Miao staring at the book curiously, Pei Che pushed the book towards him. Jiang Miao picked up the book and flipped through it for a while, his eyes gradually lost their luster, and then he yawned uncontrollably.
Pei Che laughed, and fearing that Jiang Miao would get angry, he lowered his head and pretended to drink mung bean soup.
"No, I didn't sleep well last night, I have to go there and take a nap." Jiang Miao found an excuse, threw the book down like a hot potato, and quickly lay down on the small couch by the window, and evenly pulled the thin blanket beside him to cover himself. After a while, the sound of his even breathing could be heard in the study.
"Do you want to take a nap?" Pei Che asked softly to Pei Mu and Xiao Shitou who were practicing calligraphy. The two children rubbed their eyes frequently after seeing Jiang Miao sleeping.
Pei Che led them out, told the servants waiting at the door to take them back to rest, and then returned to the study. He first covered Jiang Miao with a blanket, which had slipped down when he turned over, then sat back at the desk, spread out the papers, and began to finish his homework.
Jiang Miao woke up feeling refreshed. He stretched and looked at Pei Che who had been sitting in the same position for at least an hour or two. Pei Che noticed his gaze and smiled at him.
After they chatted for a while, they heard a knock on the door. When they opened it, they saw that it was Xiao Shitou and Pei Mu calling them to eat.
After dinner, they took a walk in the yard to digest their food, and then returned to the room to play chess. When they played, Xiao Shitou and Pei Mu watched very seriously. Pei Che had already started mass production, and soon they would have a set.
An hour later, Pei Che closed the chessboard. With his efforts, the two had their wins and losses. Jiang Miao won the last round. He was a man who showed his emotions on his face. After winning the game, he went to take a shower while humming a song.
"Okay, it's time for you to go to bed." Pei Che looked at the two children and pointed outside the door.
Pei Mu didn't move, and Little Stone looked at the big bed in Pei Che's room in confusion, as if asking, why couldn't they sleep together on such a big bed
"Little Stone, you know, your brother and I are married. Married people should sleep in the same room, right?" Pei Che decided to start with Little Stone. If he was willing to listen, Mu'er would probably listen too.
Little Stone was a little distressed: "Well, but I only need to sleep a little bit." He gestured with his hands, indicating that he could sleep curled up.
"No matter how young, it won't work. After we get married, we can only sleep together. Otherwise, if we tell others, they will laugh at us." Pei Che could only coax her.
Xiao Shitou didn't mind Pei Che being laughed at, but his brother couldn't be laughed at! And his brother did say before that a man should sleep with his wife after getting married. Although he didn't know which one of his brother and Brother Pei was the wife, they should sleep together, right
After solving one problem, Pei Che's mood instantly brightened, and he generously said that they could sleep in any room except this one.
"Mu'er, look, Xiao Shitou has agreed. You can't cheat, okay?" Pei Che said.
Pei Mu stared at Pei Che for a long time with his pair of clear black and white eyes, but in the end he couldn't resist Xiao Shitou's constant nagging and was taken to the next room by him.
When Jiang Miao came back from washing up, he saw that there was no one in the room except Pei Zhizheng.
"where are they?"
"There are many people in the mansion, and someone might gossip about it. For the time being, it's better to let them sleep in the next room." Pei Che spoke confidently, and he obviously knew how to persuade Jiang Miao to believe. After all, Jiang Miao was very dedicated.
"Okay." Jiang Miao was helpless. Big families just have a lot of trouble, even meddling in other people's rooms.
After the initial emotions settled, a new round of emotions rose again. Jiang Miao was a little embarrassed. Although they slept together yesterday, he was so tired after looking at the gift list for a long time yesterday that he had no energy to think about other issues.
In order to avoid the situation of staring at each other later, Jiang Miao decided to take the initiative. As long as he fell asleep first, he would not be embarrassed, and others would be embarrassed.
"I'm going to sleep first!" Jiang Miao took off his shoes and crawled into the bed, speaking in a hurried tone.
However, things always go against his wishes. The more he wants to sleep, the more he can't fall asleep, and his brain becomes more and more awake. It's bad. He sleeps too long in the afternoon, which causes him to lose the desire to sleep at night.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to count sheep, hoping that this method would allow him to successfully fall asleep. When he counted to nine hundred and twenty-one, the bed beside him sank slightly, and Pei Che lay down.
Logically speaking, the bed was so big that two people would not be affected when sleeping on it. But Jiang Miao felt that Pei Che's presence was very strong. He always felt that Pei Che's aura was surrounding him, making him feel that the air became thinner every time he breathed.
Jiang Miao remained in one position, pretending to be asleep. However, lying on his side for a long time made one side of his body ache.
Jiang Miao tried hard to listen to the shallow and even breathing coming from beside him, and concluded that Pei Che had fallen asleep. He carefully turned over and lay flat on his back. His stiff body relaxed, and Jiang Miao couldn't help but let out a comfortable sigh.
"A Miao, why are you so nervous?" A voice sounded faintly in the darkness, startling Jiang Miao.
"Why are you pretending to sleep?" Jiang Miao complained. He was almost frightened to death.
"Didn't you pretend to be asleep first?" Pei Che asked back.
"I was... I was just resting my eyes! I didn't say I fell asleep." Jiang Miao argued.
"I didn't say I fell asleep."
"Hey?" Jiang Miao turned sideways towards Pei Che, looking at him with sharp eyes. Even in the dark, he could see his big eyes clearly. "Why do you keep imitating me?"
Pei Che suppressed his smile and said, "This is the truth, how can you say I am learning from you?"
“…” Jiang Miao couldn’t utter a word for a long time, so he could only curse angrily, “sophisticated scholar”, just like a primary school student who had lost an argument.
In the dark night, Pei Che's deep laughter was particularly clear. Jiang Miao blushed, feeling that he was being laughed at. He secretly stretched out a hand, preparing to attack Pei Che to vent his anger.
Unexpectedly, just as he stretched his hand to Pei Che's waist and was about to make a move, he was grabbed by a big hand. Jiang Miao wanted to pull it back, but Pei Che held it tightly and he couldn't pull it back at all. He stretched out his other hand to pry it open, but he didn't expect that his other hand was also grabbed.
After struggling again and again, Jiang Miao decided to lie down: "I was wrong."
"What's wrong?" Pei Che said with a smile.
"I shouldn't have attacked you. I won't dare to do it again." Jiang Miao knew the situation and began to compromise.
"Your promise seems unreliable." Pei Che had no doubt that as long as he let go, Jiang Miao would definitely get his revenge.
"…" Jiang Miao was silent for a while, then suddenly took a breath, seeming to be in great pain, "Ouch, my arm is cramping!"
Even though he knew that he might be pretending, Pei Che couldn't help but let go of his hand and prepared to rub his arm.
After Jiang Miao's hands were freed, the first thing he did was to roll into the innermost part of the quilt, with his back facing Pei Che, and his hands tucked into the quilt without showing a single inch.
Little liar. Pei Che shouted in his heart, but the corners of his mouth rose involuntarily.
(End of this chapter)