Chapter Fifty-Four: Steamed Egg with Tofu

  The morning wind was still a bit cold, and the little feet stepped on the bluestone slab, looking at the crowd coming and going around. Although the pace was hurried, there were smiles on their faces after all, it's a new day with new hope.

  She lifted her small face to the sunlight jumping on her face and asked in a good voice, then turned back to Ruihao who was panting heavily and shouted, "Second brother, hurry up, otherwise Shang Gege's family will have finished breakfast soon."

  Ruihao put down the food box in his hand, squatted down and took a break. "Don't worry, Xi Mei, that lazy egg won't wake up so early, maybe he's still rolling around in bed now, shouting that he doesn't want to get up."

  Alright, Ruihao, you've finally told the truth.

  Xi Mei slowed down her pace and walked to Rui Hao's side, gently saying: "Second brother, you must be tired. Let me blow some air for you." After that, she puffed out her cheeks and started blowing air at him, not caring if her saliva splashed onto his face.

  Ruihao closed his eyes and let her blow on his face, only opening them half a day later to stop her. "Alright, alright, let's go early, or else they'll have finished eating by the time we get there."

  "Alright, okay, Second Brother, I'll help you carry it." How could Ruihao let his own little sister carry something so heavy? If the adults at home found out, they might blame themselves for being unlucky.

  He shook his head, "Alright, Second Brother can carry it, how could I bear to let you carry it?" After speaking, he picked up the lunchbox with one hand and quickly wiped off the saliva stains on his face when Xi Mei wasn't looking. He held the lunchbox in one hand and still had to hold onto her with the other.

  Hey, isn't this girl lucky?

  Leaning on Xi Mei's sweet little mouth, I finally found out the location of Zhang Fu. Alas, there was no way around it, although they had been here several times, but neither of them were good at directions.

  Less than half a stick of incense later, they finally arrived at the place mentioned by Old Man Zhang. Looking at the entrance, there were two stone lions with quite an imposing manner. On the black gate hung a crimson plaque, on which was written in bold and cursive script: "Zhang Manor".

  The last two times I came here, I didn't have the mood to look at these things. Now that I've changed my mood and taken a look, I found out that they're indeed not ordinary. Tsk tsk, can't tell that little overlord is actually a genuine official second generation plus rich second generation.

  The two people who were admiring the grandeur of someone else's gate were interrupted by a voice beside their ears, "Who are you two? Why are you standing here?" It turned out that the family guard at the gate had seen the pair 'sneaking around' for a long time and finally couldn't help but speak up.

  "Oh, right, we're here looking for your young master's wife." Ruihao replied calmly to the inquiry.

  "Are you here to see Master and Madam? Then tell me who you are first, so I can go report." The servant asked.

  "Just tell them that Xi Mei has arrived, and they will come out to greet me." The little girl said proudly, facing the doubting eyes of others, and hurriedly added, "Ahh, you go quickly, and you'll know if what I said is right or not."

  Just as Xi Mei was about to blow her top, Jia Ding went to ask with a puzzled expression, but didn't expect to be stopped by the housekeeper soon after entering.

  "Wait, where are you going?" Zhang asked.

  "As I was about to go back home, two little kids came to the door and said they wanted to see the mistress and young master. They didn't seem to be lying, so I was just about to go in and ask..."

  After listening to Jia Ding's report, the housekeeper thought for a moment and asked the person in front of him, "You said that inside there is a little girl about four or five years old? About this tall, with two dimples when she smiles?"

  "Yes, yes, it's her. And there's a little boy next to her who is slightly older than her." Just as he was about to ask the housekeeper how she knew, the housekeeper chuckled and patted his shoulder, "Alright, don't go asking the mistress anymore, let them in."

  After finishing speaking, he took the lead to go out and welcome them, leaving the original housekeeper bewildered and puzzled. What's going on? Why did the steward say not to report to the lady? Moreover, he had never seen the steward personally go to greet people a few times, let alone the other party being two naive children?

  With a head full of questions, he followed behind Guan's family, but as soon as they reached the door, he saw Guan's father affectionately pick up Xiao Yaotou and gently pat the boy's head.

  Is he mistaken? Why is the steward so polite to them? But there's no time to care about this now. The house servant hastily looked back and thought for a long time before realizing that fortunately, they hadn't passed by the young lady.

  After thinking for a while, I looked around and wondered where everyone was. Why had they all disappeared?

  At this time, the housekeeper was holding Xi Mei, with Rui Hao following behind him to the living room. Xi Mei was still playfully playing with the housekeeper's beard, looking at the housekeeper who wanted to save his beard in his hand, but was hindered by the food box in his hand and couldn't free up his hands, showing a helpless expression. Xi Mei couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Zheng was eating in the living room when she suddenly heard Xi Mei's laughter, and hastily pushed the person beside her, "Do you hear that? Is it Xi Mei?"

  Zhang Zhongquan helplessly put down the chopsticks in his hand, "Are you thinking of Xi Mei again? How could she come at this time? Come on, take up your chopsticks and eat quickly." As he said that, he stuffed the chopsticks into Madame's hand.

  Who would have thought that the other party didn't react at all, listened attentively for a while, and excitedly threw his chopsticks on the table. "It's Xi Mei, it's that girl who came, I heard her voice."

  After finishing speaking, he got up and walked towards the door. At this time, the voice was getting closer and closer. Zhang Zhongquan had just stepped out of the threshold when he saw his wife hugging Xi Mei with a smile on her face, and there were several lip prints on her little face.

  Luckily their son is thick-skinned, otherwise seeing his own mother being so fond of someone else, he would probably have been stewing in vinegar a long time ago.

  "Ah, dear daughter, come let me take a look at you. How could you stay away for so long? I was worried to death! Look at that little face of yours, have you lost weight again?" Zheng's expression instantly transformed into that of a loving mother, asking with concern.

  Ruihao was also confused, hadn't they just separated for less than 3 days? How could it be a long time no see? Moreover, that little girl ate so much, how could she have lost weight? And this Mrs. Zhang's age wasn't too old either, why did her eyesight seem to be not good?

  "Sister-in-law, I'm so angry with you, muah muah." Holding onto Zheng Shi, she gave her a couple of kisses. This little girl's ability to speak to people in their own language and to ghosts in theirs was becoming more and more skilled.

  "Your brother was asking about you just yesterday, 'When is my dear sister coming? He misses you.' I'll call him over to play with you once he wakes up." After saying that, she turned to a nearby young maid, "Little Cui, go and wake up the young master. Tell him his dear sister has arrived."

  After the maid walked away, Zheng Shi asked, "By the way, how did you have time to come today? Where are your mother and the others?"

  The little girl smiled and replied: "Auntie, we have a stall on the west side of the city, selling tofu brain. Mother asked me to bring some for you."

  After finishing, he imitated Zhao's tone and said, "Tell the lady that these are all insignificant things, and I hope she won't despise us. This is just a small token of our sincerity." The expression, the tone, wasn't it exactly like Zhao's?

  Alas, I reckon her mother has also forgotten. She deceived her mother at the time, saying that this was taught by the chef of the Zhang family, and people from the Zhang family wouldn't possibly not have eaten it themselves, would they? Coming here to deliver things is just a case of carrying coals to Newcastle.

  Luckily her mother didn't come in person, otherwise it would have been exposed for sure. Yeah, when her mother remembers, she'll just say that this cook has returned to his hometown, and no one in the Zhang household has seen him do this before. Yeah, exactly like that.

  Just as I was lost in thought, I heard Xiaobao's voice coming from afar, "Xi Mei Mei, where are you? I'm dying to find you."

  Here is the translation:

  Got it, another Feng Gong has arrived. Only to see Xia Ba Wang wearing a white undergarment running out, behind him was the one who just called Xiao Cui still shouting "Young Master, clothes, clothes."

  Excitedly ran to Xi Mei's side, calling out: "Sister, you've finally arrived! It was so boring at home with just me. Oh, Rui Hao, you're here too?" Only then did she realize that Rui Hao had also arrived.

  After greeting them, he looked back at their backs and said, "Why didn't that fierce girl come?" His tone was as disappointed as possible.

  Seeing him like this, Xi Mei couldn't help but feel a little sympathy. "Second sister is helping out at the stall, and I came with second brother to bring you tofu brain. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

  "No, no," Zheng hastily said, "Little girl went to so much trouble to bring it over, even if you ate it, you have to say you didn't eat it." "Right, Xi Mei, did you and your second brother eat yet?"

  Sister nodded her little head, "Yeah, I ate one, I ate a big bun." She exaggeratedly gestured the shape of the bun.

  Zhang Zhongquan smiled and said, "How can you just eat one bun? Come with me to the house, Uncle will give you a bowl of porridge."

  "I want to drink tofu brain, tofu brain." Little Overlord jumped up and demanded.

  "Alright, I'll give you tofu brain." Zheng's rare good-tempered response.

  "Oh, let's eat. Let's go have tofu brain soup." Rushing into the house, with Zheng's voice following behind "Put on your clothes properly and wash your face for me."

  Finally, after everyone had finished collecting their things, the few of them sat down at the table. Wow, a wealthy family is indeed different. There were three or four types of porridge alone, not to mention the delicate small steamed buns, sesame balls, and many other things she had never seen before.

  Zheng ordered the servant to take the tofu brain from the food box and put it in a bowl, then placed it on the table with a bow. She also had them put the steaming buns on a plate before dismissing her.

  That little overlord had already picked up his spoon and was happily scooping up the tofu pudding, picking up a big bun to eat with it. As he ate, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Mmm, so delicious."

  Zheng also learned from his example, picked up the spoon and started drinking the stuff in front of him. One sip went down, smooth and silky, not greasy at all. She had seen many good things before, but this was the first time she saw such a strange way of eating tofu?

  "Girl, who taught you to do this? It's really good, and it goes well with the baozi too."

  Sister Xi thought, how could I tell you who taught me? What if one day you mention it to my mother, wouldn't I be done for?

  She opened her mouth and said, "Is this still good to eat? You haven't had pidan tofu, that's the real delicacy." After finishing speaking, she closed her eyes as if recalling the delicious taste.

  "Century egg tofu? I've never heard of it!" As expected, Zheng was successfully fooled and didn't ask again who taught him this time.

  Zhang Zhongquan was concerned about another point, "Xi Mei, what you said is a preserved egg? Is it that kind of pine flower egg with patterns inside?"

  Just like Xiaobao, Ruihao, who was eating happily, looked up and asked, "Uncle, how did you know that thing had a pattern?"

  "Is that so? Where have you seen it?" Zhang Zhongquan thought, they shouldn't have seen such a rare thing in the village either.

  Unexpectedly, an even more explosive message came crashing down on him, "My family has that thing, and it was made by my sister Xi Mei!" Ruihao said nonchalantly.

  "What? You said your family has that thing? And it can even be done?" Zhang Zhongquan exclaimed in a loud voice...

  Where is the usual steady image?