Xiao Jinheng narrowed his eyes and asked Commander Kong Xingzhuo, "Commander Kong, did Uncle Yun's family have guests?"
Kong Xingzhuo also craned his neck to look towards the east wing. "It seems so. From the looks of it, they seem quite wealthy..."
Xiao Jinheng snorted, "Traveling so ostentatiously, aren't they afraid of being targeted by mountain bandits!~"
Purely showing off.
He then glanced at the carriage outside the gate. It was luxurious and eye-catching, with golden copper strips embedded in the wheels. The owner of this carriage might as well have planted a flag on it, emblazoned with 'Come and rob me'...
Xiao Jinheng looked down on people like that.
Seeing Xiao Xitian sitting on the steps, swinging her little feet and biting an apple, Xiao Jinheng's lips curved slightly as he walked over with his hands behind his back.
"Hey, little village girl, who's visiting your home?" He sat down next to Xiao Xitian and waved away a mosquito from her head.
Xiao Xitian took out a big red apple from her small satchel and handed it to Xiao Jinheng, "Here, have some, it's very fresh..."
"You haven't answered my question yet!~" Xiao Jinheng took the apple and played with it in his hand.
"I don't know either. That older sister wants to go to Tuofeng Mountain to play, and they asked someone from our family to be a guide!~" Xiao Xitian said crisply.
Xiao Jinheng scoffed upon hearing this, "To Tuofeng Mountain? Isn't she afraid of encountering black bears and blind men..."
After the incident with the mountain flood last time, Xiao Jinheng had a deep fear of Tuofeng Mountain.
"That older sister is paying ten taels of silver, and she plans to stay at my house tonight. The accommodation fee alone is three taels, she's very generous!~" Xiao Xitian said while eating her apple.
Xiao Jinheng twitched his lips.
This little girl seemed to love money very much...
Is being generous that impressive?
Am I being stingy?
"Little village girl, do you still have any jam?" Xiao Jinheng suddenly asked.
Xiao Xitian blinked her big eyes, looking puzzled, "Didn't you say eating too much would make your teeth hurt?"
"I still love eating even if my teeth hurt!~" Xiao Jinheng said with a stern face.
Xiao Xitian: "..."
This brat, why was he acting up again for no reason?
"There are still three jars!~"
"I'll take them all. Commander Kong, get the money!"
Kong Xingzhuo was stunned for a moment, then took out a silver ingot from his sleeve. Judging by its weight, it looked like four or five taels.
Xiao Jinheng took it and directly stuffed it into Xiao Xitian's hand, "Here, no need to find change!~"
Am I generous or not?
Xiao Xitian: "..."
Brat, you're so childish.
This one silver ingot is enough to buy more than a dozen carts of jam.
"I don't want it!" Xiao Xitian returned the silver and continued to eat her apple.
She's still a baby, what does she need so much money for?
Xiao Jinheng stood up, holding the silver, and walked to the well...
"Hey, brat, what are you doing?" Xiao Xitian threw away the apple core and ran over.
Xiao Jinheng said lightly, "If you don't accept the silver, I'll throw it into the well!~"
Xiao Xitian: "..."
This is too overbearing!
She had never been forced to accept silver like this in her life.
Xiao Xitian rolled her eyes and extended her small hand, "Alright, then I'll temporarily accept it!~"
After putting away the silver, she took out three jars of jam from her small satchel and handed them to Xiao Jinheng, "Here!~"
Unexpectedly, Xiao Jinheng didn't take them. "I suddenly don't want to eat jam anymore. That silver ingot, consider it a reward from me. I'm leaving!~"
With that, Xiao Jinheng took Kong Xingzhuo back to the west wing.
Xiao Xitian again: "..."
Is he playing with me?
She really couldn't understand what this brat was trying to prove with his mysterious actions.
Hmph, children are just children.
Xiao Xitian put the jam back into her space and sauntered back into the house.
Xiao Xinling had already taken off her veil and was sitting at the dining table, looking at a stack of dried flatbreads with a twitching mouth...
No, you're giving me this to eat? Where's the lotus seed soup? Where are the eggs?
Xiao Xinling roared in her heart.
Du Tieshan brought over a large scallion and helped Xiao Xinling serve a bowl of spinach soup, "If you can't get used to eating dried flatbread rolled with scallions, then eat some pickled radishes and have the flatbread with spinach soup, it's delicious!~"
"No!" Xiao Xinling slammed her chopsticks down and pointed outside the door, "I just saw you raising chickens, why don't you kill one and make some chicken soup?"
Gu Shi raised an eyebrow, "If it's not a festival, why kill a chicken?"
"Do we have to wait for a festival to eat chicken?" Xiao Xinling retorted.
Gu Shi nodded, "That's how we do things. If Miss feels the meals are poor, then she should go live with someone else. Erman, see her out..."
Gu Shi had tolerated her for a long time.
Ever since this young lady came to the Yun family, she had been picking and choosing, finding fault with everything.
Gu Shi didn't want to upset herself.
"No, what if I give you money? Why are you so stubborn?" Xiao Xinling was dejected.
"Yes, Mother!~" Gao Fengjuan stood up and smiled as she persuaded, "This young lady is not short of money, and she's only staying for one night and leaving tomorrow. Mother, why are you being so difficult about money..."
"Fengjuan, sit down, what's it to you?" Yun Sanman pulled her.
Is this a matter of money?
If this young lady had a better attitude, even without money, Mother would have let her stay.
But here she was, talking about money all the time, as if her face was screaming 'I have money'...
What's there to be so smug about? Is having a bit of money that great?
Xiao Xinling pouted, "Hmph, I thought you lived in such a nice house, so the food must be great. Turns out it's all a lie!~"
"Oh, girl, just say a few less words!~" Old Man Yun picked up his wine bowl, "Do you see any farmer eating and drinking lavishly every day, with big fish and big meat? How would they live? It's already very good to be able to eat these fine flour cakes!"
"This dried flatbread rolled with scallions, take a bite and it's delicious, try it if you don't believe me..."
Xiao Xinling listened and looked at Xiao Xitian.
She saw her spread a dried flatbread, smear some egg paste on it, then tear the scallion into shreds and spread them evenly on top.
After rolling it up, she took a big bite, eating with great relish, her cheeks even puffed out.
Out of curiosity, Xiao Xinling also rolled a flatbread like Xiao Xitian, and took a gentle bite...
"Mmm!~" Xiao Xinling's expression stiffened, and her expression froze for two seconds.
Then she started taking a second bite, a third bite.
"Delicious!" Xiao Xinling finally smiled.
She had never eaten such a peculiar combination of food in the palace.
She didn't expect that dried flatbread and scallions together would taste so different...
Old Man Yun grinned heartily, "See, what did I say? Delicious, right?"
"Mmm, delicious!"
"Oh dear, eat slowly, have some soup to help it down, don't choke!~"
Mama Gao and the guards were not picky eaters. They ate at another table.
Whether it was cornmeal flatbread, sticky bean buns, or millet porridge, sorghum rice, as long as it could fill their stomachs...
At the same time, in a secluded courtyard in the county town, a sound of sobbing could be heard.