The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 827 - 826: Spring Pancakes

Couldn’t hold back, Wang Yongzhen spoke up: "Why are you crying? What do you have to cry about? Jindou, such a big lad, got his face swollen from your beating, and you still have the nerve to cry? Lin Xinghua, you’re really heartless, drove away Jinhoo, and now you’ve beaten Jindou. A woman divorced by our Wang family, what right do you have to hit the children of our Wang family—"

"Get the hell out of here—there’s not a single good soul in your Old Wang Family! All ungrateful beasts! White-eyed wolves! I, Lin Xinghua, must be blind—" Inside, Lady Lin cursed angrily, then buried her head and resumed crying.

The sound indicated she was deeply hurt.

Wang Yongzhen couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth, serves her right! Thinking herself superior just because she bore three sons, now see her own son saying such things to her!

Wang Yongzhen was in a great mood, even the loss of that half jar of oil didn’t bother her so much anymore.

Meanwhile, Wang Yongzhu had just reached the small courtyard in the county town, and upon arriving at the entrance, had just gotten off the carriage when she bumped into an acquaintance.

Madam Gu from across the street was just coming back, saw the carriage parked at Scholar Song’s gate, and took a second glance.

She happened to see Song Chongjin get off the carriage and reach out to help Wang Yongzhu down from the carriage.

She immediately smiled and greeted, "Scholar Song, Lady Wang, you’re back—"

Song Chongjin politely nodded at Madam Gu, then together with Wang Yongzhu, helped Old Granny Zhang down from the carriage and unloaded their luggage.

Wang Yongzhu responded with a beaming smile, "Madam Gu, hello! We just got back today, still need to tidy up a bit. We’ve brought some wild vegetables from the countryside this time, we’ll bring you some to taste tomorrow."

Madam Gu’s face lit up with a smile and she readily agreed, "That sounds great, I’ll be at home waiting then. I won’t delay you any further, after such a long carriage ride you must be tired, go inside and rest! If you need anything, just give a shout!"

It was said that in this street, Madam Gu liked Scholar Song’s lady the most, generous and amiable, with a friendly, soothing face.

Much better than those new brides who mumbled like mosquitoes whenever they spoke.

Moreover, Lady Wang wasn’t pretentious at all, even as a scholar’s lady, she always treated them kindly, making interactions quite comfortable.

As she was thinking, she went inside, pondering what fresh things she had at home. When Lady Wang brought over wild vegetables tomorrow, she couldn’t send them back empty-handed, right?

She also thought that today, Lady Wang and her folks had just returned, the cold stove and empty kitchen made things inconvenient.

Her own husband happened to want spring pancakes today, something rarely made, and after many requests, she finally had the time to make them, preparing more than usual, initially planning to save some for tomorrow. Thinking of Wang Yongzhu across the street, Madam Gu, not a stingy person, divided some to drop off.

Just as she left, she bumped into Gu Zikai.

Madam Gu instinctively hid the basket behind her and greeted unnaturally, "What a coincidence, Scholar Gu is back too!"

Gu Zikai, a keen observer, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, then glanced at Madam Gu.

His eyes fell on the basket in her hand, covered with white cloth, obscuring its contents.

He smiled and nodded, "Hello, Madam Gu, where are you off to?"

Madam Gu awkwardly smiled, "Isn’t it because Scholar Song and his family are back? I saw their cold stove and empty kitchen, having to tidy up and cook, it’s already getting late, they probably don’t have time, so I’m bringing them some food."

This explained why she hadn’t brought any to the Gu family, so as not to offend by favoring one scholar family over another.

Gu Zikai’s eyes glimmered and his expression brightened, "Brother Song and his family are back?"

Madam Gu nodded, "Indeed, Lady Wang and Aunt Zhang are here too; they look pretty exhausted. Oh dear, I’ve been talking too much? Don’t want to hold you up, Scholar Gu, I’ll be going—"

She then proceeded to knock on the Song Family’s door.

In a short while, the door opened, and Wang Yongzhu peeked out, seeing Madam Gu, and naturally also Gu Zikai standing nearby.

She politely nodded, and Gu Zikai quickly cupped his hands in greeting, "Good day, Lady Wang."

Wang Yongzhu returned a bow, "Good day, Scholar Gu—"

Turning her head, "Madam Gu, is there something you need? My house is a mess—"

Madam Gu hurriedly handed over the basket, "I know you just got back and must be very busy, cold stoves and empty kitchens everywhere, so inconvenient. We happened to make extra spring pancakes today, brought some over for you, just pair with some small dishes and it’s done, very handy."

Wang Yongzhu felt grateful and didn’t bother with formalities, accepting the basket with a smile, "Then I won’t stand on ceremony! Thanks a lot, Madam Gu!"

Madam Gu enjoyed Wang Yongzhu’s straightforwardness. After delivering the pancakes, she took her leave, "Alright, you must be busy! We’ll chat when you have time tomorrow."

Wang Yongzhu watched Madam Gu leave, saw Gu Zikai still there, and politely nodded again before closing the door with the pancake basket in hand.

The sound of the closing door jolted Gu Zikai back to reality, his eyes flickered before he stepped into the front yard.

Upon entering, Old Lady Li came out to greet, "Young master is back, what do you want to eat today?"

Gu Zikai offhandedly replied, "Spring pancakes—"

Old Lady Li was stunned, surprised that Gu Zikai wanted this, usually eaten on the day of the spring festival. However, since the young master wanted it, she quickly agreed and went to prepare.

Just as she turned, she heard Gu Zikai’s voice, "Make plenty, the Song Family in the back court are also back, their house must be quite inconvenient, so prepare extra and send some over."

Old Lady Li didn’t make much of it, thinking the young master wanted to make a good impression on his peers, she readily agreed and went to the kitchen to get busy.

The young master had his preferences, couldn’t be compared to an average household, instead of simple radish, potato, or cucumber slices.

Old Lady Li threw herself into it, first making a stack of paper-thin pancakes, steaming them.

Then she busily prepared the side dishes, including chives, bean sprouts, carrots, vermicelli, and shredded meat, and even sent Lang Hao to buy some smoked meat, small sausages, spiced meat, and duck.

Just the side dish plates alone were over ten in number.

After preparation, fearing the young master might not be satisfied, "Young master, it was a bit rushed today, a bit rough, you can make do for now, I’ll prepare a finer one tomorrow, roasting a duck for evening, served with cucumber and green onion slices."

Gu Zikai glanced at the table full of dishes, casually picked a few, instructing to send them to Song Chongjin in the back courtyard.

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