As soon as he heard that the two great scholars were going to stay at home for dinner, Li Ce was excited and worried at the same time, and said to Chu Nanzhi repeatedly:
"Sister-in-law, I'm going to pick up a chicken from home, kill it, and make some soup for the two elders. I'll also ask my wife to come over and help you."
Chu Nanzhi knew that he was worried that she wouldn't be able to cope with it, and she didn't know that the second elder would come, so she didn't buy much meat or vegetables, and there was no main course. It was indeed a bit shabby to entertain the second elder, so she took half a tael from her waist.
Give him money:
"It's dinner time. I'm afraid my sister-in-law and nephew haven't eaten either. You can invite your family members to come over for dinner. You can give the money to your sister-in-law and treat it as money to buy chickens."
"Sister-in-law, you treat me like an outsider. I'm just a chicken. You still give me so much money. Brother Jinxiao always helps our family."
Li Ce pushed the money back and whispered to her in a low voice: "I heard from Li Zheng that Mr. Nie came over to discuss something with Brother Jinxiao, so that the children would not be allowed to come over and cause trouble. Their grandmother is taking care of the house."
"Take the money and don't refuse it to me."
Chu Nanzhi forced the money into his hand.
Li Ce turned around and put the money on the cutting board and hurried out the door.
Chu Nanzhi shook her head helplessly and had no choice but to put the silver back into her waist.
She put all the meat and vegetables she bought on the cutting board and examined them. She originally wanted to take the five kilograms of pork back and marinate it for a few days to eat.
Since Li Ce refused to take the money, she cut off half of it and kept it for later and asked his wife to take it back.
For the rest, she planned to make some stir-fry dishes using the vegetables she bought.
Fetching a basin of water, she put the cucumbers, eggplants, green peppers and tomatoes into the basin and washed them. Halfway through the washing, a little head suddenly poked through the door of the kitchen, staring at her gruntingly.
Chu Nanzhi looked up and saw Sibaolin Ruijia hiding outside the door and peeking.
When their eyes met, Si Bao was so frightened that he hid quickly.
But not long after, Si Bao quietly poked his head in again.
This time, she didn't back down and summoned up the courage to ask, "Can I come in and help you?"
Chu Nanzhi looked at her pitiful appearance and couldn't help but laugh or cry: "It's too hot. You go and eat the red bean cake bought by Grandpa Nie with your brothers and sisters. I can do it all by myself."
"I'm not afraid of heat. I don't want to eat red bean cake."
She wanted to keep her stomach open for later meals cooked by bad women.
Chu Nanzhi looked at her expectant eyes and smiled knowingly: "Then do it."
When Si Bao heard this, he immediately walked in with a smile and was no longer afraid of her.
Chu Nanzhi saw her stretching out her young hands to touch cucumbers in the water, and then knocking eggplants.
Inadvertently, she saw several bright red rattan marks on Si Bao's exposed arms.
She couldn't help but feel sour in her heart: the original owner was really cruel to such young hands.
She sighed silently, stared at the rattan mark on Si Bao's hand and asked, "Does it still hurt?"
Si Bao also saw the injury on his arm and pulled his sleeve down in panic. He quickly shook his head and said, "No, it doesn't hurt anymore. It doesn't hurt at all."
Chu Nanzhi knew that she did not dare to tell the truth, so she warned her gently: "Don't let the water splash on the wound. I will apply some medicine to you after eating."
Si Bao said "hmm" and lowered his head silently, not daring to answer any more.
She suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in her heart:
What happened to the bad woman?
Chu Nanzhi stopped caring about the Four Treasures and was busy with the work at hand.
While waiting for her to take the washed dishes back to the cutting board, she suddenly heard a whimpering sound behind her:
"I didn't mean it, I really didn't mean it."
Chu Nanzhi turned around and saw Si Bao covering his face and crying. He hesitated and looked at the ground, only to see a cucumber smashed into two pieces.
Hearing the sound, Nie Huaian also led the other three little guys in, staring at her with fear on his face.
Chu Nanzhi calmly picked up the broken cucumber into the vegetable washing basin, went over and comforted Si Bao: "I know you didn't mean it. Look, I'll wash it again and cut it into slices, and it can be eaten later."
of."
When Si Bao heard that she didn't blame him, he dared to raise his head and asked with lingering fear: "Won't you hit me?"
"If you don't hit me, I won't hit you again."
Chu Nanzhi smiled and said, "But you have to promise me to be a good boy from now on."
Si Bao nodded vaguely.
She didn't know what a good boy was like, but the bad woman's behavior today was really abnormal.
Maybe because Grandpa Nie and Grandpa Chang were here, the bad woman didn't dare to hit herself.
Si Bao thought so.
Chu Nanzhi waved her hand: "Go and play with Grandpa Nie and the others."
After hearing this, Si Bao happily ran to Nie Huaian, and then he truly felt safe.
But the little guys and Nie Huaian all found it a bit incredible.
Usually, this woman didn't even bother to cover up in front of him. Even if she was protecting her, she would beat and scold her children according to her own preferences.
How come today I know how to understand current affairs?
Could it be that Old Man Chang is really better than me?
Thinking of this, Nie Huaian turned his head and glared angrily at Chang Yanjue, who was sitting sideways in the living room, with an unconvinced look on his face.
Chu Nanzhi looked at Mr. Nie strangely, but she couldn't tell what was strange about him.
Anyway, they are just two weird old men.
She remembered that Nie Huai'an was also a very remarkable person. When he was young, he was the only envoy of the Dahe Empire who went to the six northern and southern countries. He made the kings and ministers of various countries change their expressions with his sharp tongue.
I never thought that I would be willing to hide in the countryside and be an unknown country man.
She really couldn't understand it.
Maybe it’s because the ancient sages all had eccentricities.
Not long after, Li Ce brought his wife Zhou back. The couple worked together to kill the chicken. Chu Nanzhi was busy cooking while Zhou was responsible for simmering the chicken soup.
Mrs. Zhou is a conscientious country person. She rarely stepped into this home before, and she didn't even dare to talk to the original owner. She just heard that Chu Nanzhi didn't beat or scold the child, and she vaguely heard some words about her elders praising her in the living room. Suddenly
Less vigilant.
Moreover, a woman who was a Taoist actually solved a case that no one could solve in the county government office and brought glory to the woman. She actually admired this woman in her heart.
She glanced at the vegetables being stir-fried in the Chu Nan Zhi pot, and boldly tried to chat with her: "Sister-in-law, can the dishes still be cooked this way?"
"Um."
Chu Nanzhi pursed her lips and smiled: "I think it's okay. You can try it when you eat later and see if it's different from what you usually eat."
Mrs. Zhou hesitated for a moment, then hesitantly said: "Let's wait for another day. I was afraid that my sister-in-law would be too busy, so I came over to help. The food at home is almost ready, and the children are waiting."
Chu Nanzhi guessed that Li Ce had warned her in advance and would not force her to stay.
After the chicken soup was stewed, Li Ce came in and asked Zhou to go back.
Chu Nanzhi took a bowl, put some of the fried vegetables in it, and handed it to Mrs. Zhou: "I don't know if the dishes I cooked are to your liking. Since you don't want to stay for dinner, then take it."
Go back and eat."
After that, he handed the cut piece of pork to Li Ce and continued: "You don't want to take my sister-in-law's money. You can take the pork and go back to make it for the children."
Li Ce refused to accept it.
"Then I'll have to buy another chicken to pay you back tomorrow."
After Chu Nanzhi threatened, he took the pork in his hand and went out to say goodbye to everyone. On the way back, the couple kept mumbling, and they both felt that the Lin family's sister-in-law seemed to have changed.