Liu Cuilan quickly made it, still in a basin covered with a cloth.
Song San Xiao drove the ox cart and sent it all the way there with great joy. Although he knew he wouldn’t be able to see Qi Ying, it was probably better to go to the entrance of the dart board.
There was no one guarding the entrance to the dartboard today, so Song Sanxiao stopped the cart, thought for a moment, put the reins on the back of the ox, tentatively walked to the door and shouted inside, “Is there anyone there?”
There was no movement.
He walked further in and shouted again, “Anyone? I’m here to deliver the spicy hotpot.”
Still no movement.
Only then did Song Sanxiao remember that the man had just said he had gone to meet someone, so he turned back around and came out, bolted the bullock cart to the hitching post in front of the dartboard, and carried the basin into the dartboard.
He took a few steps inside, but he didn’t dare to go any further as he was concerned about the bullock cart outside.
“Who is it?”
Qi Ying’s voice came out from the courtyard at the back.
Song Sanxiao’s heart jumped so hard that he could barely hold the basin in his hand and held his breath.
Qi Ying came out of the courtyard and when he saw it was him, his brow furrowed fiercely and he asked unkindly, “What are you doing here?”
“I, I, I ……”
Song San Xiao was incoherent, “I, I’m here to deliver, deliver the spicy hotpot.”
Only then did Qi Ying see the basin in his hand and turned around, “You come with me.”
Song Sanxiao completely forgot about the bullock cart outside the door, his mind went blank as he followed.
When he entered the kitchen, Qi Ying took a basin and placed it on the counter, instructing Song Sanxiao to pour the spicy hotpot into it.
The first time he was so close to her, Song Sanxiao’s heart was about to jump out of his chest, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably as he held the basin.
Qi Ying looked at it and frowned in disgust, then instantly let go, “Give Little Girl a message for me, if she’s free come and play at the dartboard.”
“Okay, okay.”
Song San Xiao stammered in response, and after pouring it out, he didn’t even dare to raise his head as he turned around with the basin and walked out.
Qi Ying took something to cover the basin and turned around to come out as well.
When he heard footsteps behind him, Song Sanxiao’s heart beat even harder.
He sped up his steps and almost jogged to the front door, only to find that there was no more sound behind him, and peeked back to see where there was still Qi Ying’s figure.
He jumped so high that the basin in his hand hit the doorframe, making a loud noise, which he was so frightened that he hurriedly covered it.
He put the basin on the bullock cart, untied the reins and hurried away from the dartboard.
Turning a corner and coming to a stop in a secluded street, he threw the reins away and lay down on the bullock cart, stirring his legs in excitement, covering his mouth and screaming ahhhhhh.
Only when he had screamed enough and was excited enough did he get up, pick up the reins and drive the cart back to the marketplace.
He became more and more diligent, wiping tables, cleaning stools, washing dishes and carrying water, without stopping for a moment.
Liu Cui Lan and Song Shu found it increasingly strange that Song San Xiao was so diligent that it was almost as if he had been possessed.
“Third Brother, are you really alright?”
Liu Cui Lan asked worriedly.
Song Sanxiao put the washed dishes away, “Of course I’m fine, I just suddenly feel inexhaustible strength all over my body.”
“Really?”
Liu Cui Lan was still not sure.
“It’s really fine, don’t worry about it, second sister-in-law.”
Liu Cui Lan looked to Song Shu, who also signalled for her to be at ease.
……
“Yue’er.”
Back at home, after unloading the things, Song San Xiao called out to Song Wan Yue with a frank expression, “I went to the dart office today to deliver the spicy hotpot and happened to run into Miss Qi, she said if you are free to go to the dart office to play with her.”
After saying that, he looked at her eagerly, Miss Qi had asked him to deliver a message for the first time, and if Yue’er did not agree, he would have to find a way to let her go.
Last time Gu Yi had embarrassed the Qi family, Song Wan Yue had always felt that it was not good, and had long wanted to go to the door, but Gu Yi was always there, and she did not want to upset him, so she had not mentioned it.
She said, “Okay, it’s just that I want to go to the county tomorrow.”
“Can I go with my sister?”
Erma came over and asked with her little face tilted up.
After eating and drinking well these days, Erma had grown a lot and was only half a head shorter than Song Wangyue, so she was too embarrassed to jump into her arms.
Song Wangyue scratched her little nose, “Of course you can.”
Er Ya jumped up with joy.
“I’ll call you guys up in the morning.”
Song San Xiao said joyfully.
The next morning, Erma woke up just as there was movement outside. She had followed her last trip to the county town and had seen so many things she hadn’t seen before that she couldn’t stop thinking about them.
When she moved, Song Wangyue also woke up. Listening to the commotion outside, she heard that it was the family that had gotten up, and pulled her down again, “Sleep a little longer. It’s cold, if you doze off on the road, you’ll get a wind chill.”
Erma obediently lay back down again, but she was so excited that she couldn’t sleep at all, moving a little later and then a little later, Song Wan Yue was also made to feel sleepy by her, so she simply dressed and got up with her and went over to help.
The weather was getting colder, so we couldn’t go outside, so we moved to Grandma Song’s side of the hall. There were all kinds of ingredients on the large eight immortal table, including meat and pork skewers, which had already been skewered the night before, and the ones that were skewered in the morning were all vegetables.
“Did I wake you up?”
Grandma Song greeted the two of them with a heartfelt greeting as she sat down next to her, and brought the bowl of boiling water she had just poured in front of them, “Hold the bowl to warm up.”
“It’s time for the family to buy charcoal.”
“No need to buy it. When it gets cold again, I’ll heat up the kang in the west room and we’ll move to work on it.”
On Grandma Song’s side of the house were three rooms, with a bed in the east room, a kang in the west room and a spacious hall in the middle, where the family ate when it was cold.
“We still have to buy some, Erma and I are too young to resist the cold.”
“Then buy them, buy good ones that don’t choke. Old Two, you’ll go to the market today and go around.”
“Okay.”
In previous years, the family would have hesitated to buy charcoal that didn’t choke, but this year they had money, so naturally they didn’t care about that.
After they had finished stringing the charcoal, they all put it on the ox cart, and Song Wangyue and Erma went back to the house to add a layer of clothing and followed the ox cart to the county.
When they arrived at the market, it was already dawn and the sounds of hawking and shouting were already loud in the market.
The market was already full of hawking and shouting, and Erma’s eyes were already straightening before she got off the cart, especially when she saw the sugar gourds not far away.
Song Wangyue wiped her off, got off the cart and led her over to buy a bunch, which Erma took in her hand and handed to her mouth, “Sister eat first.”
Song Wan Yue bit down on one, in fact she didn’t like the sweet and greasy taste, she just wanted to create a habit for Er Ya, not to eat alone, and to think of the family when there was anything good.
Er Ya took it back to the stall and held it up to Liu Cui Lan again, who didn’t eat it, before Er Ya sat down on the stool and ate it happily.
In the distance, a pair of eyes had been watching this side, and seeing all this, turned quickly and ran to report.
