C203 (1/2)

The weather was getting colder and colder, but other than the moment the letter was sent, Xu Shiqiu had not received any news at all.

Although the family knew that Xu Shiqiu was going to the northern border this time, and wasn't as easily able to send a letter to their family as when they annihilated the horse bandits last time, it had been so long since they received any news, so their family was still extremely worried.

Old Madame Xu could be considered to have experienced this before. Although Xu Zhenbei did not return after a few months outside, it was Dong Shu's first time experiencing this.

At this time, Dong Shu hugged, who was looking at Old Madame Xu, and wanted to ask something, but she was worried that because of her inquiry, Old Madame Xu would become even more worried.

How could the Old Madame Xu not see through Dong Shu's predicament? But thinking about how she had to go through all of these, she did not point it out.

”There's been something wrong with the news in the capital recently. Take note when you give them instructions to go out and buy New Year's gifts.” The moment Old Madame Xu opened her mouth to speak, Dong Shu immediately retracted his originally worried expression, and his expression became serious.

As soon as they entered, the price in the capital doubled, especially the price of rice and meat.

As for vegetables, during the summer and autumn, almost every household would have a lot of dried vegetables. Nowadays, a large family would also be able to eat some fresh vegetables.

The Xu Family had its own villas, whether it was rice, meat, or vegetables, they were all brought over from time to time.

Originally, they could not have realized it either, but the people Xu Shiqiu left behind found out about it, and reported it to Dong Shu, who then told the Old Madame Xu.

Old Madame Xu was someone who had experienced a lot in the past, so when she found out about this, she knew that the capital was in a state of turmoil.

Today was the sixth day of the sixth month, and in two days, it would be the eighth. Currently, every family was preparing their New Year's gift, and even if they did use Xu Family, they would still need to go out to purchase some.

That was the reason why the Old Madame Xu gave such an explanation.

As Dong Shu listened to Old Madame Xu's explanation, she continuously nodded her head. At the same time, she thought about the matter that Xu Shiqiu had just told him.

”My husband mentioned to me about the family stewards' annual gifts earlier. It's just that he originally said that I'll take care of the family members. He'll be responsible for the outside stewards.” Since my husband is not at home now, I'm not sure what kind of New Year's gift the steward outside is going to prepare either. ”

As soon as Dong Shu said this, Old Madame Xu understood what she meant, ”This is something that we have been used to in the past, other than having rules and regulations, the rest of it depends on how each of them manage their own affairs this year, and add or subtract from that.” Old Madame Xu explained in detail, and Dong Shu listened attentively as well.

This was the first time that Dong Shu was managing a housewife to manage all these matters. Furthermore, in the past few years, all of her Xu Family s were on the Xiahe Village s, and some of her relatives and friends had even sent him gifts on a long journey, which were a little different from normal gifts.

However, since everyone was in the capital this year, these things naturally had to be different from the previous years.

Dong Shu etched the words of the Old Madame Xu into her heart and, according to her own judgement, slightly adjusted the annual gift list for each family.

Dong Shu was busy again, so she missed Xu Shiqiu a lot less. What Dong Shu did not expect was that although Xu Shiqiu had not sent any news yet, but on the night of the seventh day of the twelfth month, Yan Ye had secretly climbed over the wall and entered Xu Family.

Fortunately, Yue Yin and the others who were on guard tonight knew Yan Ye. Upon seeing him, they immediately stopped their attacks and went to help summon Dong Shu who was just about to sleep.

”Third Aunt, there's no need to be busy. I'm just a little cold. Just give me a bowl of hot soup. I've brought some dry rations with me.” Seeing that Dong Shu was about to go to the kitchen and personally make dinner for him, Yan Ye immediately called out to her.

After Dong Shu heard Yan Ye's words, not only did he not stop, he increased his speed by a little, ”Don't worry, because tomorrow morning we will be cooking porridge, and there will always be a fire in the kitchen. Since this is your first time visiting your new son-in-law, I must make you a bowl of noodles. It just so happens that there's a mutton soup stewed in the kitchen in the afternoon. I'll cook you a bowl of mutton broth noodles. ”

Dong Shu insisted on making sure that Yan Ye, this new son-in-law who was visiting for the first time, was not lying. Even the Old Madame Xu who had heard the news and rushed over from the Main Yard nodded at Yan Ye, ”We'll listen to your Third Aunt. This is an old tradition and it's rare that she still remembers all of it. We, the ancestors, and the grandson will talk at the Shihuan Courtyard and wait for your Third Aunt to cook some noodles for you to eat. When you finish eating, go rest in the courtyard Yanzhu was in before she was married. After saying that to Yan Ye, the Old Madame Xu continued to ask: ”Why are you here in the capital at this time? Where's Yanzhu? ”

Yan Ye was currently waiting in the front courtyard of the Shihuan Courtyard, the place where Xu Shiqiu usually received his juniors.

Although he directly entered the Third Aunt's courtyard, he knew that there had always been someone in Dong Shu's courtyard, and it wasn't just her.

Furthermore, the Shihuan Courtyard was directly nearing the outer wall, making it easier for him to enter.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked offending his elders by directly coming to the Shihuan Courtyard; after all, he knew that Xu Shiqiu wasn't at home.

Of course, neither Dong Shu nor the Old Madame Xu had any objections to Yan Ye directly coming to the Shihuan Courtyard s. Not only were the people from the Shihuan Courtyard loyal, there was no doubt about it, the most important thing was the position of the Shihuan Courtyard s.

At a time like this, they wouldn't care so much.

When Dong Shu saw that the Old Madame Xu had rushed over, he quickly walked to Shihuan Courtyard's small kitchen and started to cook the noodles.

There was a chef in the kitchen who cooked the noodles well in case she or Yuanxi would get hungry during the night.

As she did not have much noodles, Dong Shu scooped up half a bowl of mutton. Afraid that Yan Ye would be sick of it, she also scooped up two plates of appetizers.