In the Sanjue Study Room, Yu Xiaoxiu was sitting in the last row, listening to the class. When school was about to end, there were few students in the private school who were not absent-minded. However, he was a little older than ten years old and was at the age where he was naughty, but he was patient and sat for the whole morning.
After the headmaster left, he followed the crowd and found his returned homework on the podium. He sighed secretly and walked to the back row to leave. As he walked, he looked at the homework paper to find the mistakes. He was called twice before he reacted. He turned around and saw Xue Wenzhe striding towards him. He was puzzled. Why did he call him?
"Yu Xiaoxiu," Xue Wenzhe walked to him with a long face, but his eyes were looking away. He said in a slightly angry tone, "Where is your sister? Why didn't she come to class these days?"
Yu Xiaoxiu did not have a good impression of Xue Wenzhe. He knew that Yu Shu used to like Xue Wenzhe, and because of this, she was ridiculed in front of her. Yu Xiaoxiu's memory was full of Xue Wenzhe's disgust and despise for his sister. Now that his sister had changed and was no longer flattering Xue Wenzhe, he did not want her to change back. So he became vigilant and looked up at Xue Wenzhe, who was a head taller than him.
"It's none of your business."
"I, I …" Xue Wenzhe felt uncomfortable being stared at by Yu Xiaoxiu. He wanted to say that he was going to have a birthday banquet in the restaurant the day after tomorrow and invited the poor sister and brother. He stuttered and felt wronged. When he was about to lose his temper, someone behind him answered for Yu Xiaoxiu,
"She hit my cousin. Grandmother won't allow her to come to school." Ji Zhu walked up from behind and said lightly.
"Ah? She, she hit Ma Weibo? "Xue Wenzhe was surprised," Really? "
As she spoke, she looked towards the pavilion, searching for Ma Weibo's figure. When Yu Xiaoxiu saw that Ji Zhu had arrived, he folded his homework and left without a word.
"Why would I lie to you?" Ji Zhu frowned. She and Xue Wenzhe had known each other since they were young. They had a good relationship, so she spoke freely.
Xue Wenzhe didn't see Ma Weibo, so he asked Ji Zhu, "So she won't come here anymore?"
Ji Zhu sensed the nervousness in Xue Wenzhe's words and couldn't help feeling a little unhappy. She said mockingly,
"Don't you hate her? Why do you care?"
"Who said I care?!" Xue Wenzhe denied loudly and said angrily, "She insulted me last time. I haven't settled the score with her yet. If she doesn't come, who am I going to vent my anger on?!"
He didn't care about that annoying girl. He just felt that she was quite pitiful. She was dressed in rags and didn't have a single good piece of clothing. She probably didn't even have enough to eat. That's why he wanted to ask her to come on his birthday. He wanted to show her his style and then humiliate her.
Ji Zhu's eyebrows relaxed and she smiled. She changed the book in her other hand and her voice softened, "My Fourth Sister came back with a letter. She said that she left in a hurry last time and couldn't have a small gathering with us. When she comes back next time, she will call you and Wen Wenyan. We will go for a river trip."
Xue Wenzhe was stunned for a moment. He suddenly smiled and his handsome face was suspiciously red. He couldn't help but change his tone of voice.
"Really? She said so in the letter? She said that the next time she comes back, she will go out with us? "
"Of course it's true. I will bring her letter to you tomorrow." Ji Zhu saw that he didn't pursue the matter of Yu Shu anymore. She felt a little uncomfortable in her heart. She pulled his sleeve and walked out.
"But you have to treat me to the lotus cake from Yuan Kwai House. Let's go."
"Okay, haha, let's go!" Xue Wenzhe was happily pulled away by her. He completely forgot about inviting Yu Shu to his birthday party.
***
It was not noon when Yu Shu came back from Jing Shang Tang. Yu Xiaoxiu didn't come back. Aunt Liu and the two servants next door were helping in the main kitchen.
The kitchen in the small courtyard was empty. Yu Shu went into the kitchen with a bucket of water. She locked the door from the inside and began to work. She killed the fish, removed the scales, and removed the internal organs. She lived in her grandmother's house when she was a child, so it was easy to use a firewood stove.
She lit the stove and put the big pot that Aunt Liu used to cook in on the rack. She found a bowl of sticky oil on the stove and sniffed it. There was no strange smell. She poured some into the pot, peeled some onions and ginger, and smashed them with a blunt knife. When the oil was hot, she picked up the tail and put the fat fish in.
"Sizzle —"
She accidentally spilled a drop of oil on her wrist. It was so hot that her hand trembled. She quickly lowered her head and licked it. Seeing that one side of the fish was almost fried, she changed the other side. When the smell came out, she added half a pot of hot water and covered the fish. She added salt and ginger, covered the pot with a lid and simmered it. She turned around and quickly cleaned up the internal organs and scales on the ground. She took the remaining fish in the bucket and ran out to hide behind the tree that she saw yesterday.
The fried fish was easy to cook. Yu Shu stayed by the pot and smelled the fragrance. She couldn't help but taste the milky white fish soup. It was so fresh that she almost bit her tongue. Even she was surprised. How could the fish soup that was made by cutting corners taste so good?
Yu Shu didn't know that the pond of koi in Old Lady Ji's courtyard was carefully raised with a Feng Shui array. There was an Eight Treasures Array Eye in the pond, which was personally arranged by Old Master Ji. It drew the Qi of the sun and the moon and gathered the essence of the morning fog. The koi became the Eight Treasures Fragrant Carp, so it was naturally delicious. Eating the Eight Treasures Fragrant Carp not only brightened the eyes and nourished the skin, but it could also increase one's good fortune. Every month, on the fifteenth day of the family's banquet, only one fish would be killed and placed on the main table. This fish and eight bowls of soup weren't something that just anyone could drink.
Everyone in the Ji family knew about this, so they didn't deliberately send people to watch the fish in the pond. They didn't expect that Yu Shu, the greedy cat, would take advantage of the fact that the sky was still dark and everyone was sleeping to secretly catch the Eight Treasures Fragrant Carp in the pond.
Yu Shu covered the pot, hummed a poem, and began to clean the kitchen.
She calculated the time just right. As soon as she entered the house with the fish soup, Aunt Liu came back with the others to cook.
Afraid that the soup would get cold, Yu Shu covered the bowl of fish soup with a bamboo grate to cover the fragrance. She squatted at the door and read the book "The Art of Wonders". From time to time, she would look at the entrance of the courtyard. Not long after, she saw Yu Xiaoxiu's thin figure.
"Xiaoxiu!"
As soon as Yu Xiaoxiu entered the courtyard, he heard Yu Shu calling him. He looked up and saw her waving at him at the entrance of the house. He thought that something had happened and hurried to her. As soon as he reached the door, he was pulled into the house by her.
"What's wrong?" Yu Xiaoxiu looked at her in confusion. She closed the door and put down the bolt. The room immediately became half dark.
"Come on, sit down. I'll give you something good to eat." Yu Shu coaxed Yu Xiaoxiu to sit down at the table. She removed the grate on the bowl and white smoke rose. She directly piled the bowl of fish soup in front of him and handed him a spoon, saying,
"Eat it while it's hot. Drink the soup first and then eat the fish. Be careful not to get stuck by the thorns."
Yu Xiaoxiu stared at the big fish lying in the bowl of white soup in a daze. At first, he didn't feel touched, but he swallowed and said in surprise,
"Where, where did the fish come from?"
Yu Shu thought for a moment and stuffed the spoon into his hand. She patted his shoulder and said, "You eat first. I'll tell you when you're done."
She guessed that if she told him, he would lose his appetite.
The smell of the fish soup was very strong. After sitting in the private school for a whole morning, Yu Xiaoxiu was hungry and thirsty. He couldn't help but scoop a spoonful of soup and drink a mouthful. The fresh soup entered his throat and was exceptionally delicious.
When Yu Shu saw his eyes light up, she knew that he liked it. She was happy, but she still wanted to hear his praise, so she deliberately asked, "Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious." Yu Xiaoxiu licked his lips and nodded. He handed the spoon to Yu Shu and said, "You drink it too."
"You eat. I'll go to the kitchen and get another spoon." Smelling the soup, Yu Shu was also hungry. Thinking that he couldn't finish such a big bowl by himself, she ran to the kitchen and got another spoon.
The siblings finished the bowl of soup and the fish. In the end, there were only white fish bones left in the bowl. However, they didn't know that even their stepfather, the third master of the Ji family, Ji Hyotani, had never eaten the Eight Treasure Fragrant Carp so happily.
Yu Shu picked her teeth with the fish bones. Yu Xiaoxiu burped again, wiped his mouth and asked,
"Now you should tell me, where did you get the fish?"
It was said that a fresh fish on the street cost one tael of silver, and it was such a big fish. Where did she get so much money? She didn't buy it.
About the fish, Yu Shu didn't want to lie to him, so she told him everything. It happened that Yu Xiaoxiu was a shallow fish in the Ji family. He didn't know so many stories, so he didn't know how powerful the Eight Treasure Carp was. He just cared that Yu Shu caught the fish in the Old Lady's garden, so he blushed and said,
"What if the fish in the pond are counted? What if someone finds out that you stole the fish?"
"What's there to count? It's a pond full of fish. Do you think I can fish them out every day and count them?" Yu Shu smiled. She was a person who wasn't afraid of doing something, and wouldn't do it if she was afraid.
Yu Xiaoxiu was still worried. The taste of the fish was still in his mouth, and his stomach was warm. It was too comfortable that he felt uneasy.
"Then have you cleaned up the kitchen? Don't throw the washed things in the yard. Throw them on the street in the afternoon. "
Children who matured early were careful. Yu Shu nodded and opened the door to let the smell of the fish soup dissipate. She hid the fish bones behind the door, planning to throw them away in the afternoon.
Yu Xiaoxiu went to get a cloth to wipe the table. "There's one fish left, right? Can I put it back at night? "
Yu Shu was unwilling. "Why should I put it back? It took me so much effort to catch it. It's so delicious. I'll cook it for you next time." She was waiting for the opportunity to braise the remaining fish. She didn't want to let it go.
Yu Xiaoxiu was also hungry. Hearing her words, he struggled for a while and compromised. "Then hide it well. Don't let anyone find it."
"Don't worry about me."
Yu Xiaoxiu secretly rolled his eyes. He thought of something and asked suspiciously, "By the way, when did you learn to cook fish soup?"
"Ha, it's easy. Aunt Liu was working in the kitchen. I just stood there and watched. It's called self-taught. Do you understand?" Yu Shu began to brag after she was full. Anyway, she didn't need to file tax returns, so it was a waste not to brag.
"I was wondering why you dared to kill fish. You used to be afraid of killing chickens when you saw Aunt Liu."
Yu Shu's heart skipped a beat. She smiled and said, "I killed fish, not chickens. How can it be the same?"
Of course it was different. She had changed people. What was there to be afraid of?
"Oh, and today …"
Yu Shu was afraid that he would ask more questions. She quickly interrupted him and pushed him out of the door. "Why are you so nosy? Let's not talk about it. Go wash your hands and come back to read a few words for me."
Yu Xiaoxiu took a few steps out and looked back at her. He originally wanted to say that Xue Wenzhe asked about her in the morning. But on second thought, if his sister knew that the gigolo was thinking about her, she might go back to her old ways and curry favor with that annoying guy.
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