Colorful

Chapter 28: Gathering in the Garden (1)
On the second day Ji Cheng woke up early, picked out a dress that was brighter than usual, a peach pink skirt, tied with a concubine red silk sash, and a begonia rich golden lock hung on her chest, which made her look like the beginning of the sun. The photos are bright and charming.

Ji Cheng took a look in the makeup mirror, but felt that it was too eye-catching, so he took off the hairpin rings on his head, and only used gold rings to tie his hair, which was neat and tidy.

When Ji Cheng arrived at Shen Cui's room, she was having breakfast.

"Why did you come so early?" Shen Cui asked.

"Aren't we going to say hello to our ancestors today?" Ji Cheng said.

Mrs. Shen was considerate of the younger generation's sleeping and growing up, and she didn't let them pay their respects every day. Shen Cui only went here once every five days, and Ji Cheng followed each time, but she was afraid that Shen Cui would have some ideas, so He never showed it in front of the old lady, and just stood quietly aside.

"Then it doesn't have to be so early?" Shen Cui couldn't bear Ji Cheng's obedient behavior, so she coaxed Shen Xian and Shen Xun away, and even Brother Hong got close to her.

"It's rare for us to go, it should be earlier." Ji Cheng said.

"What's so rare? Don't you go here once every five days? You don't ask for greetings on weekdays, don't you often see your ancestors?" Shen Cui gave Ji Cheng a sideways look.

Ji Cheng said with a good-natured smile, "Sisters Xian and Sister Yun go to accompany the ancestors to have breakfast every day, and even Sister Xun goes there very frequently."

Shen Cui glared at Ji Cheng and said, "What do you mean?" In fact, she was guilty, Shen Cui really didn't like to go to the old lady, she just felt that the old lady always favored Shen Xian and Shen Xun, and she went there just for a formality, so she simply didn't bother Be courteous.

Ji Cheng said: "I don't mean anything, I just know that the more you stop serving the old lady, the less the old lady will remember you."

Shen Cui snorted: "Don't think I don't know what you mean, you're counting on the old lady to help you talk about a good marriage, right? I'm not like you, I'm not that thick-skinned, and I don't want to marry that much. "

Shen Cui was simply a child who hadn't grown up, what he said made Ji Cheng's face blush, and he would have jumped into the river with shame if he had been someone else.

Ji Cheng's face immediately changed color, and he sat quietly on the embroidered pier next to Shen Cui, blushing with blushing eyes and said: "My sister is right. If I could be born in a family like my sister, naturally I wouldn't be like this Audacity. It's just me..."

Although Shen Cui was very petty, he was not bad-hearted. Seeing Ji Cheng's pitiful appearance, he felt sympathetic to her: "I'm just talking casually, don't take it to heart."

Ji Cheng is sure of Shen Cui's temperament, as long as you admit that you are not as good as her, she can treat you well.

Ji Cheng looked into Shen Cui's eyes and said: "I know you are straightforward, and you didn't treat me like an outsider to say such things. If you treated me like an outsider, you wouldn't say such things."

These words reached Shen Cui's heart, she regretted saying such hurtful words, but after being explained by Ji Cheng in this way, she became Zhichangzi's good sister, and Shen Cui's embarrassment disappeared immediately.

"Let's go, let's go with Sister Yuan." Shen Cui stood up and said.

Ji Cheng nodded with a smile, the red circles under his eyes were still there.

When the two arrived at Shen Xian's room, Shen Xian had just eaten some snacks, saw them coming in and smiled and said, "I was going to find you."

When the group of three arrived at the old lady's Rui Yingtang, Shen Xun, Su Yun, and Lu Yuan were already in the room. After Ji Cheng and the other three entered, it became more and more lively, and the smile on the old lady's face never disappeared.

Ji Cheng was still quiet, not stealing the limelight from everyone, she observed carefully, in fact, the old lady treated Shen Cui the same as Shen Xian and others, only Shen Cui was suspicious.

Lu Yuan was sitting next to the old lady telling jokes at the moment, which made everyone laugh up and down, while Su Yun had a shy face, and Shen Xun was gently nudging her with his elbow, perhaps making fun of her.

Because Ji Cheng was dressed brightly today, when the old lady's eyes swept over her, she waved to Ji Cheng, then took her hand and said to Huang Shi beside her, "This child's complexion is getting better and better."

Huang said with a smile: "Isn't that right? It's said that our Shen family raises girls the most, but in fact it's the old lady who loves them."

Mrs. Shen looked at Ji Cheng again, and said with a smile: "Girls should dress brightly. You usually dress too plainly. When I am my age, no one will see if you want to dress brightly." .”

"She was so beautiful, she would be more talented if she dressed plainly." Huang said from the side.

The old lady was silent for a moment, and then said: "That's true."

Hearing these words, Ji Cheng only smiled lightly, and didn't interrupt to deliberately attract attention.Shen Xian watched from the side and felt that she was quiet and calm, and her attitude was indifferent, which added another point to her favor.

Everyone talked for a while in the old lady's room, and then they resigned together and went to school together.

Shen Yuan asked Su Yun in a low voice: "I'm afraid sister Yun's better days are near, right?"

Although the voice was low, but girls at this age loved to talk about other girls' marriages, so everyone's ears were pricked up, and everyone heard it.

Lu Yuan even smiled and said, "Ah Xun asked her just now, sister Yun was too shy to say anything, it must be that something good is coming."

Lu Yuan's voice was so loud that everyone pretended not to hear it.

Su Yun said shyly and anxiously: "No, no."

Ji Cheng saw that Su Yun's expression was wrong, thinking that she didn't like the young master of Huang Yushi's family, so he said: "Mr. is here, hurry up and review the book!"

Only then did everyone stop making trouble with Su Yun, Su Yun heaved a sigh of relief, and smiled gratefully at Ji Cheng.

Ji Cheng smiled back, but he thought in his heart that the Shen family really had no secrets. When Yu Qian'er came back from inquiring about the news yesterday, he thought that they were the only ones who knew first, but everyone who should know knew it early this morning.

The marriage between Su Yun and the eldest son of Huang Yushi's family finally came to an end. From the gossip, it seems that Mrs. Su didn't like the eldest son of Huang's family.

Ji Cheng sighed in his heart, but she knew that Huang Yushi's family had a rigorous family style. Such a family is actually not bad, but that Mr. Huang is a bit fat and stupid, which inevitably makes people feel stupid, but to Ji Cheng, men It is better to be stupid than wise.She can't look forward to it, but others look down on it.

And as I said about the Dragon Boat Festival, the scorching heat of this summer will make people sleepy, and every household in the capital has already begun to prepare for summer vacation.Even Mr.'s class was suspended, and she went to practice in the mountains by herself.

As soon as the master left, the girls no longer had to go to school in the morning, and classes such as women's red and piano art were also at a semi-suspended state.

But Ji Cheng went to Cook Liu's place more diligently.Because of a small chat, Ji Cheng heard from Cook Liu that she has been specializing in medicinal food in recent years.

Once people get old, they cherish their lives very much. The old lady has a special person to serve her daily meals. There is a small kitchen in her yard, and Mrs. Lu is in charge of the stove.Mrs. Lu's family passed down a recipe of herbal diet. Because of this family recipe, she got into the eyes of the old lady, and the old lady only ate the dishes she cooked.

Therefore, a chef like Chef Liu was squeezed out when she came to Shen's house, because her food was not suitable for the old lady's stomach, and Chef Liu has such a strong temper. The dishes are just to be better than Mrs. Lu.

There is no need to think about Ji Cheng, the herbal recipe handed down by Mrs. Lu's family, but it is still feasible to learn from Mrs. Liu.Ji Cheng made the idea that he would not be overwhelmed by his skills, and that it would be easy for him to marry and serve his mother-in-law if he learned good medicinal food, so he sincerely worshiped Mrs. Liu as his teacher.

Chef Liu was probably pissed off by Shen Yuan's attitude, so she accepted Ji Cheng as her disciple without saying a word, and taught her without any secrecy, as if she wanted to let the Shen family know that if the girl learned cooking seriously, There will always be room for use in the future, don't underestimate the career of cooking.

Ji Cheng first followed Chef Liu to identify the ingredients and medicinal materials, and at night he had to memorize the spectrum of mutual generation and restraint of food. All day long, the thoughts in his mind were "Ginseng should avoid radish, food stagnates when eaten together, crab should avoid persimmon, and food can cause poisoning" etc. language.

That's all for nothing, but Chef Liu wanted Ji Cheng to get to the bottom of these dietary taboos.For example, pork and beef are not allowed to be eaten together. What is the root cause?There is a record in "Compendium of Materia Medica": Pork and beef eat raw insects.There is also a note in "Drinking Meals": Pork cannot be eaten with beef.One is warm and the other is cold, one nourishes the middle and invigorates the spleen, and the other nourishes and hinders digestion. Their nature, flavor and efficacy are in conflict, so they should not be eaten together.

In this way, Ji Cheng had to memorize a lot of books, except for "Compendium of Materia Medica", he had to memorize such things as "Synopsis of the Golden Chamber" and "Zhujia Materia Medica". It's been a ten-year cold window.

Shen Cui watched Ji Cheng go into the kitchen all day with cold eyes, and felt that she was petty, girls like them would not need to be close to the cook after they married, and they didn't marry someone who fried oil cakes in the alley.

Ji Cheng was not angry when she heard what Yu Qian'er said about her in private and how Shen Cui said about her in private. To be honest, she learned a lot from Cook Liu.

Recalling her mother at home, Yunniang always felt that Ji Qing was indifferent to her because of her old age and decrepitude, but she was particularly keen on hair care and skin care, so Ji Cheng copied a few medicinal recipes from Chef Liu and sent them back with a letter from home.But she was actually more worried about Yunniang's health. In the past few years, she had trouble sleeping at night, and usually only managed to fall asleep at dawn, so this time the first three prescriptions Ji Cheng gave were mainly for insomnia.In the letter, Ji Cheng earnestly told her mother to eat it often.It's just that she is far away in the capital, and she has no way of supervising it. I don't know if her mother is willing to listen.

Along with the letter, Ji Cheng also sent her father a prescription, jujube millet porridge with Fushen, which invigorates the spleen and nourishes the heart, calms the nerves and improves the mind, and is beneficial for both heart and spleen deficiency, insomnia and forgetfulness.Her father has been working and worrying all these years, and his energy has obviously been low in recent years, otherwise Ji Cheng, a girl, would not have been allowed to secretly take care of the Ji family's business.

Not long after Ji Cheng's family letter was sent, a family letter came from Jindi.Ji Cheng read the letter, and in it her father Ji Qing said that Ji Lan wrote him a letter, detailing the Ji family's plight and her difficulties, and only said that only when Ji Cheng entered the palace and was favored, the Ji family could have great fortune.

Ji Cheng couldn't wait to look down, wanting to see his father's idea, but finally he didn't disappoint her.Her father could see clearly that the big man was so easy to climb, there was a lot of danger inside.Ji Cheng also thought about it, if she really entered the palace to raise a child, if her child wanted to be emperor, it would be almost as good unless she wiped out all the other princes. To see people.

Ji Qing was afraid that Ji Cheng would be seduced by prosperity and emptiness at a young age, so he earnestly told her in the letter not to aim too high.Ji Cheng wrote back another letter, explaining his recent situation, and secretly mentioned her aunt Ji Lan's ambition, telling her father to keep his eyes clear, and she would try to persuade her.As for the matter of her secretly playing tricks on Ji Lan, it is natural to skip it.

In a flash, it was June, and the sun was shining brightly every day. At noon, eggs could be boiled on the floor tiles.Dongshan Academy is also closed.In order to escape the summer heat, the old lady took her daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter to Leyouyuan in the north of Beijing.

Leyouyuan, as the name suggests, travels tirelessly, and forgets Shu when you are happy.This Leyou was originally a highland in the north of Beijing. When driving to the high place, there is a steep plain. The climate is cool and the terrain is flat. It is the favorite place for Beijingers to escape the summer heat.

The Shen family's other courtyard in Leyouyuan was famously quiet, surrounded by greenery and no flowers, it was very quiet and shady, and wiped away all the impetuousness in people's hearts.

This other courtyard is not as big as the Shen's residence, and several girls from the Shen family live in the same courtyard with the old lady, just to make it lively.

Because of this, greetings are indispensable every day, but in the scorching summer, getting up early to cool off, I don't sleep too much.

Even though Chef Liu was not accompanying her, Ji Cheng himself went into the kitchen during the day. Mrs. Lu in the small kitchen kept the kitchen very tightly like a treasury in the inner palace, for fear of being stolen. Ji Cheng So I had to go to the big kitchen for a walk.Fortunately, she is sweet-mouthed and generous, and the cooks are willing to show her face, so she is happy and at ease.

The yard is getting smaller, and the news is getting better and better. Today, Mrs. An looked at Ji Cheng and said, "I heard that you are running to the kitchen these days, and Mrs. Liu is not here. Why are you going to the kitchen?"

Ji Cheng said with a smile: "For cooking, if you don't practice for three days, even though Aunt Liu is not around, I can still benefit from practicing every day."

The old lady nodded with a smile, took Ji Cheng's hand, but turned her head to Ji Lan and said, "Your niece is a sincere and good boy."

Although Mrs. Shen didn't pay too much attention to Ji Cheng, after these two or three months, she only had a few words in her ears, and she had a rough impression of her.

Born into a rich family, and with such a beautiful face, he should have a frivolous and restless temperament, but Ji Cheng is so gentle and elegant, with a natural smile on his mouth, it's hard to like it or not.

In addition, among the various chefs hired by the Shen family, Ji Cheng focused on culinary skills, which also made the old lady feel that she was a sincere person.In recent years, any girl who is a bit talented will call herself a talented girl. If she can recite a poem or draw a picture, she will feel that she has the talent of singing Xu, and even the song that touches people's hearts will become more and more proud to go to heaven. Cooking is on the decline.

Not to mention anything else, even the girls of the Shen family disdain these things.

The old lady's generation, although they came from a famous family, did not study poetry since childhood, but grew up learning female celebrities and cooking skills from their mothers, and managed the family with virtuousness. Today's daughter's family emphasizes marriage. The husband sings about the harmony between the husband and the wife, and the red sleeves add fragrance, vowing to compose a good story about the harmony of the piano and the piano.

This can't be wrong, but in the concept of the older generation, the old lady still prefers virtuous and quiet people.Coupled with the recent comparison of Su Yun's affairs, the old lady felt that Jinghui's daughter's family like Ji Cheng was more desirable.

The old lady originally favored Su Yun, because she was smart and sweet-mouthed, and she even cared more about her than Shen Xian, Shen Cui and others.But the last time I saw the child of the Huang family, the old lady was a little displeased by Su Yun's pickiness.

This old lady of Huang Yushi's family style is very fond of her. At first, there were a few families who wanted to say goodbye to the Su family. Madam Huang's treatment of Su Yun was only vague, and it was the old lady who praised Su Yun in front of Madam Huang. After saying a few words to Su Yun, Mrs. Huang was tempted.

Although the eldest son of the Huang family is a bit fatter, he is not bad at dealing with people and knowledgeable. Mrs. Su agreed, but Su Yun didn't like it, so she secretly talked about Mrs. Su. Mrs. Su came to beg again with a face The old lady thought of a way of not hurting each other and rejected the Huang family.

The old lady is a little too lazy to care about Su Yun's marriage now, now that she notices Ji Cheng, the old lady thinks that she has reached the age of marriage, so she naturally has the same thoughts when she returns to the Shen family.Ji Lan was a little out of tune, her niece looked pretty good, if she talked about a marriage for her, if she got married well, it would be considered a good fate, and she would be able to say something in front of the Bodhisattva.

Ji Lan heard the old lady's praise for Ji Cheng, nodded and smiled at the old lady, "Isn't it?"In her opinion, if Ji Cheng really intends to marry into a noble family, he should work hard on poetry, singing and dancing, and when his reputation spreads, he will naturally be asked to marry him.So what if she has learned cooking skills, who can really make her fail to cook when she looks at each other?

The old lady felt that Ji Cheng was worthy of encouragement, and said: "What kind of dishes have you learned these days, I wonder if we have the luck to try Cheng girl's cooking?"

Ji Cheng was overjoyed, he finally waited until this day.To be honest, she ran to the kitchen so diligently, so there was no part of acting.We live in the same yard, and the old lady can know her whereabouts even if she doesn't pay attention.

Ji Cheng waited silently for two or three months and finally the old lady looked sideways.In fact, she had carefully studied the genealogy of Mrs. Shen's natal family.

Mrs. Shen's surname is Cheng, and she comes from a rich family of poets and writers. There have been two famous writers in her family, but the Cheng family's daughter is not seen. Take virtuous self-discipline, because Cheng's daughter's descendants have produced many talents.

Ji Cheng thinks that she is not as close to the girl from the Shen family as she is close to her by blood, and she is not as smart as Su Yun and Lu Yuan, so he can only wait for the opportunity.

"If the old ancestor doesn't mind, Ah Cheng should show his shame." Ji Cheng said modestly.

Naturally, Ji Cheng is not responsible for all the meals for the people in this class, it is just a matter of asking her to cook one or two dishes.

(End of this chapter)