RPAGF Chapter 225 Chen Er's Birthday
Chapter 225 Chen Er's Birthday
It was still dawn when Uncle Xiang was already driving his horse-drawn carriage back home from Yizhou.
The lady asked him to buy milk, which is a rare item and ordinary people would never buy it.
He heard from the owner of the milk shop that usually only the masters and ladies of high-ranking officials would buy milk, and that he was the only one selling it in Yizhou City, and it was not available in Fuyuan County at all.
Thinking of this, Uncle Xiang stopped the carriage, turned around and checked the jar of precious objects in the carriage for the third time. Seeing that the jar was intact, he raised the whip again with relief.
The lady said today is the young master's birthday and she wants to make a cake.
Cake? What is that?
He was short-sighted and had only heard of mung bean cakes in most of his life. He gritted his teeth and bought four pieces when he asked a matchmaker to arrange his son's marriage.
The mung bean cake was square and beautiful, and smelled fragrant. He swallowed his saliva all the way to the matchmaker's house.
The matchmaker took the mung bean cake with a happy smile, and patted her chest, saying that she would definitely find him a virtuous daughter-in-law, but the gift of thanks would be calculated separately.
He agreed with a smile, but his face was bitter when he came out.
The family's situation has been bad for years, but in order to let his son get married, he and his wife tightened their belts and saved some money, hoping that it can be used!
Who would have thought that not long after, a flood destroyed everything, killing many people, and their family had to flee.
They wandered along the way, their son died, they sold themselves to a caravan, and were finally bought by a young lady.
When he fled from home to escape famine, he could never have imagined that his family would be living the life they have today!
Not only did they have a place to live, they also received monthly pay, and the food they ate on weekdays was better than what they had eaten during the New Year before they fled the famine.
Uncle Xiang is already extremely satisfied and the only thing that makes him regretful is his son.
Whenever Uncle Xiang thought of his dead son, his heart ached.
How great it would be if my son was alive and followed them to the young lady’s house!
Don’t think about it anymore, don’t think about it anymore. The lady said that we should look forward.
The young lady also said that today was the young master’s birthday and she wanted to make a cake with cream so that everyone could have a taste of it.
Thinking of this, Uncle Xiang wanted to take the cream home quickly to let the young lady make a cake, but he was afraid that the carriage was going too fast and something might go wrong on the road, so he was in a dilemma.
……
Luo Xiaoran woke up all the family members early in the morning, leaving only the birthday boy Luo Xingchen still sleeping in bed.
"I've already told Sun Qingyuan that I'll give you and Chen'er a day off today. Your task today is to help your sister keep Chen'er a secret and don't let him come to the kitchen."
"Ok!"
Niu Dan nodded heavily, with a strange light flashing in his eyes.
For him, this was obviously a new task, not to mention that this task was so "formally" assigned to him by Luo Xiaoran. At this moment, he felt a deep sense of trust.
Niu Dan went to Luo Xingchen's room in a heroic and confident manner, intending to stay by his bed and wait for him to wake up.
In the kitchen, Ruyi was washing vegetables, cutting meat, and processing ingredients.
It is natural to eat a bowl of longevity noodles when celebrating a birthday. Aunt Ji knows how to make it, so we leave it to her.
Luo Xiaoran’s task was to make a cake, and Uncle Xiang had already returned with milk.
I have eggs, sugar, oil, and flour at home, and with milk I finally have all the ingredients.
The cake base can be baked in an ancient oven that was used to bake moon cakes. After baking, cut it into three slices, put mulberries in the middle, and spread butter around it.
I didn’t have a piping bag, so I didn’t make any shapes on the cake, just put a few cherries as decoration.
The process of making a cake is just briefly mentioned, but the actual operation is still very difficult.
Especially the step of whipping the cream, Luo Xiaoran, Aunt Ji and Ruyi took turns to do it, and they were all exhausted.
Fortunately, this not-so-exquisite cake was finally completed, and Luo Xiaoran brought the cake to the dining table.
"Chen'er, happy birthday!"
Luo Xingchen was a little confused by Luo Xiaoran's sudden action. In fact, he had been confused since he woke up in the morning.
In the past, it was his brother Niu Dan who would wake him up in the morning. The two of them would wash up and have breakfast together, and then go to the study to review their lessons, waiting for Master Sun to arrive.
But today, not only did Brother Niu Dan not wake him up, he also told him that he didn't need to go to school today.
Not only that, when he wanted to go find his sister, his brother Niu Dan stopped him, saying that his sister was busy and could not be disturbed.
Luo Xingchen knew that he had to be a good boy, so he stopped making a fuss and spent the whole morning playing Go with Niu Dan.
His elder sister taught him how to play Gobang, and Master Sun said that he would teach him how to play Go when he was older.
At noon, Luo Xingchen was surprised to find that Master Sun was sitting at the dining table early, but Brother Niu Dan said that he would not go to school today?
Moreover, there are more varieties of food today than usual. Sister Kongqing and Sister Qiuniang didn’t look at the dishes, but looked at themselves with smiles on their faces.
Just then, my sister brought up a strange pastry.
birthday?
Luo Xingchen had somewhat forgotten when his birthday was. He remembered that last year, his mother and grandfather were with him on his birthday.
But now, both mother and grandfather are gone.
Thinking of this, Luo Xingchen's head buzzed and then he burst into tears.
Luo Xiaoran put down the cake in surprise and asked quickly: "Chen'er, why are you crying?"
"Sister, I miss mom! I miss grandpa!" Luo Xingchen shouted at the top of her voice, with tears as big as beans streaming down her apple-like little face.
Luo Xiaoran and Qiu Niang looked at each other. Apart from the two of them, no one here knew that Luo Xingchen was not Luo Xiaoran's biological brother.
The reason why Luo Xiaoran knew Luo Xingchen’s birthday was that she found out from chatting with Uncle Li when she was bored on the road while fleeing from famine.
Today, she wanted to celebrate Chen'er's fifth birthday, but unexpectedly, it brought up his sad memories.
Luo Xiaoran wiped the tears from Luo Xingchen's face with her hands, and Qiu Niang also wiped his face with a handkerchief.
Alas, at the age of four or five, a child should be enjoying the company of his parents and relatives, but Chen'er is already very strong!
"Don't cry, Chen'er. You still have your sister, sister Qiu Niang, brother Niu Dan, sister Kong Qing, and Master Sun. Uncle Xiang's family is with you, too!"
Qiu Niang comforted Luo Xingchen carefully, her face full of heartache.
"That's right! Sister Kong Qing likes Chen'er very much. Look, this is the birthday present I prepared for you."
Du Kongqing handed over a sachet like he was presenting a treasure. It contained herbs for preventing mosquito bites. Isn't it almost summer?
It seemed like it was the first time that Sun Qingyuan saw his elementary school student cry. He stared at her in a daze, wanting to say something, but still said nothing.
The words that came out of his mouth were always vicious and he could never say anything good. The last time he comforted someone was when Du Kongqing Yikan Medical Clinic was doing badly in business.
Sun Qingyuan had no choice but to think silently in his heart that his elementary school student was still young and he should not be too strict with him in the future.
Besides, the gift he prepared should only be the brush!
I won’t give him the calligraphy copybook. It’s pitiful that he won’t practice it for now.