Brother Zhang and his sister came to the kitchen. Zhang San called the cook and asked, "Aunt Song, do we have dogwood or anything spicy here?"
"Go back to Sir, I have some dogwood fruits." Aunt Song replied.
"Okay, please help me pick some vegetables, cut some mutton, and get some duck blood. Let's have hot pot tonight." Zhang San said.
"Third brother, can we also eat duck blood?" the younger sister asked with her eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this.
"Of course, one of the best ingredients for hot pot." Zhang San has never eaten hot pot since arriving here. There is no chili at the moment, so he can only make do with dogwood to satisfy his craving.
"Okay, Sir, do you need to prepare anything else?" Although Aunt Song didn't know what the hot pot was, but Sir, she just followed the instructions.
"Nothing else at the moment. Prepare more vegetables and mutton. By the way, you can also fry some more of the meatballs I taught you to make last time."
"Okay Sir, I will prepare now." Aunt Song replied.
"Third brother, didn't you say you would make some delicious food yourself? Why do you ask Aunt Song to do it?" asked the younger sister.
"Well, you don't understand that. A master always takes action last. Aunt Song will do the preparations first, and I will do the rest." Zhang San said with a haha.
"It's okay, young lady, you and the lord go and do your work first. I'll just prepare it. I'll call you when it's done." Aunt Song said with a smile.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Aunt Song. Let's go first." Zhang San said to Aunt Song with a smile.
"No hard work, this is all my responsibility." Aunt Song also said cheerfully.
Aunt Song has been a servant for others for half her life. She has never seen a kind-hearted master like the three Zhang brothers. They are all polite to the servants. None of the servants who came with her in the mansion
Don't praise the master's family.
When I came to the Zhang Mansion, I had never seen any servants being punished, and they were also allowed one day off every seven days. This was a treatment I had never enjoyed before.
Therefore, everyone works seriously and no one wants to be lazy, because no one wants to leave here.
The younger sister was pulled into the courtyard by Zhang San. When she saw Su Xin sitting on a stone bench in a daze, she walked over.
"Su Xin, what are you thinking about? Are you bored at home?"
"I've met the young master, no. It's just that I don't know what to do here. I feel like a freeloader." Su Xin saluted and replied.
"You don't need to be so polite. Just call me by my name. There's no need to salute. Our family doesn't have those rules." Zhang San said.
"Yes, sister Su Xin, it's like being at home here, you don't have to be so polite to us." The younger sister said, holding Su Xin's hand.
"Thank you, young lady and young master, for taking me in." Su Xin said with red eyes.
"Why are you so polite? Live here and have a good time. If you feel bored, just play with my little sister, or go to the commune with Xiaoyu to help."
"By the way, let's have hot pot tonight and welcome Miss Su Xin to join our new home." Zhang San said to Su Xin.
Although Su Xin didn't know what hot pot was, she still expressed her gratitude to Zhang San.
"You two, let's play. I'm going back to the study to write textbooks. Little sister, please take good care of Miss Su Xin. She's just arrived and she's not used to us yet."
"Don't worry, third brother, leave it to me. Sister Su Xin, let's go to the garden and see those big carps." The younger sister pulled Su Xin and said affectionately.
"Okay." Su Xin sighed inwardly. After losing her father, she was really lucky to meet Zhang San. Otherwise, she would have been snatched away by Master Wu Liu long ago, and her father would not be able to rest in peace.
Zhang San came to the study room and continued to compile teaching materials, preparing to edit and print these teaching materials before the school was built.
What Zhang San is worried about now is that there are no suitable teachers to teach. Last time, he asked Fang Yiai and others to help him find some teachers, but when he heard that he wanted to come to Zhangjiacun, they all declined politely.
The teachers of the bookstore have already been found. They are two old scholars in their fifties arranged by Fang Yiai. One is named Sun Xin and the other is named Zhou Zheng.
The two people would take turns going to the study room every three days to teach some knowledge or answer students' questions.
"Sir, I have prepared all the ingredients you mentioned. Do you need to check?" Aunt Song stood at the door of the study and knocked on the door.
"Okay Aunt Song, thank you for your hard work. Leave it there for now. I'll come over later and I'll mix some seasonings." Zhang San replied.
Zhang San finished writing the last bit of teaching material, stretched and walked to the kitchen.
How can you eat hot pot without dipping sauce?
Onions, garlic, vinegar, some chopped green onions, some salt and spice powder. Conditions are limited, so this is all.
"Aunt Song, where is the hanging pot at our house?" Zhang San looked for it but didn't see the hanging pot, so he called Aunt Song and asked.
"Sir, the hanging pots are rarely used. I have put them all in the warehouse. I will go get them." Aunt Song replied.
This hanging pot was carefully built by Zhang Dazhuang. Zhang San plans to take it with him to cook rice when he goes out for fun in the future.
Now this hanging pot is also one of the most important items sold in the ironware workshop. It has received good feedback from the market and is especially loved by those who are doing business.
"Master, are you still busy?" Xiaoyu came to the kitchen and asked when she saw Zhang San was still busy.
"Xiaoyu is back. You go and have a rest first. It will be finished later. Let's have a hot pot as a family in the evening." Zhang San said while pounding the garlic.
"Do you need me to help you?" Xiaoyu asked, rolling up her sleeves.
"No, Aunt Song, I didn't let her get involved. I promised my little sister that I would cook a big dinner myself today, so I don't want to break my promise." Zhang San said with a smile.
After Zhang San prepared the seasonings and adjusted the pot bottom, he asked Aunt Song to help him move them to the yard, where he started cooking in the evening.
"Third brother, it smells so good. When can I eat it?" The little girl ran over after smelling the smell.
"Wait a minute, your nose will be the fastest," Zhang San joked.
"Master, wipe your face." Xiaoyu brought a wet towel and helped Zhang San wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"Look, Xiaoyu still knows how to care for others, little sister, you can learn from this." Zhang San praised Xiaoyu, but also did not forget to hit the little sister.
"Humph, of course Sister Xiaoyu is fine, who told Sister Xiaoyu..." The younger sister was just about to tease the two of them, but when she saw Su Xin coming over, she didn't say the next words.
"How do you do, sir? How do you two ladies!" Su Xin greeted.
"Sister Suxin, I am not a young lady, this is the eldest lady of our family." Xiaoyu said quickly, and teased her little sister.
"That's not true. I'm going to punish you by not allowing you to eat tonight." The younger sister retorted.
Suxin originally thought that Xiaoyu and her younger sister were both young ladies in the family, because Suxin saw that Xiaoyu and Zhang San were very close to each other, and the servants in the mansion also called Xiaoyu "Miss" or "Jade in Charge".
"Okay, sit down quickly, you are all the eldest ladies of our family here." Zhang San said to the three girls.
When she heard that it was ready to eat, the little girl quickly found a seat, holding chopsticks and not knowing where to start.
The unique pungent taste of dogwood, mixed with the fragrance of mutton oil, made several women swallow their saliva subconsciously.
Seeing that the three girls didn't know how to start, Zhang San smiled and demonstrated to the three of them: "Put the ingredients you want to eat into the pot and cook them, then scoop them out and add your favorite dipping sauce."
After saying that, Zhang San picked up a piece of mutton and started boiling it first.
The little girl followed closely and followed Zhang San's example, picking up the mutton and putting it into the pot. After the mutton was cooked, she picked it up, dipped it in some minced garlic, and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Ahem, third stinky brother, why are you so spicy if you don't remind me?" The girl was so spicy that she almost shed tears.
"Haha, who told you to eat so fast? Eat slowly." Zhang San said with a smile.
With the little sister's warning, Xiaoyu and Suxin tasted it carefully. It was indeed spicy, but the taste was really wonderful.
"Sir, the mutton cooked in this hot pot is so delicious!" Xiaoyu picked up another piece of mutton and said to Zhang San.
"That's necessary. It would be better if there were chili peppers." Zhang San said regretfully.
"Chili? What is this?" Su Xin asked curiously.
"It's a spicy food like dogwood, but it's more delicious than dogwood and doesn't have this bitter taste." Zhang San explained.
"Third brother, is this what the foreign expert told you?" The younger sister raised her head and asked curiously.
"Of course, otherwise how do you think Third Brother knows." Zhang San now pushed all the things he couldn't explain to the unreasonable expert, and he was already familiar with it.
"I want to eat some vegetables." The little girl didn't ask any questions and focused on the delicious food.
Compared with the younger sister who eats without any image, Suxin and Xiaoyu eat very elegantly.
"I'm so full, but I still want to eat." The younger sister patted her belly and looked at the food in the pot, still a little unfinished.
"Okay, let's eat more often after it tastes good. If you eat too much, you won't be able to sleep at night. Please move around more later and don't accumulate food." Zhang San said angrily.
"I know, third brother." The younger sister said in a long accent and curled her lips.
"Aunt Song, you will make some hawthorn water later."
"You three, remember to drink some hawthorn water to help you digest your food." Zhang San said to the three of them again.
"Okay, sir."
Suxin and Xiaoyu replied sheepishly. They did eat a lot today. In front of Zhang San, they were not as unscrupulous as their younger sister.