Luo Qiao was a little puzzled: "Since Yan Santai said not to let her borrow, this Du Xii is too bold, isn’t she afraid that Yan Santai will deal with her."
Kang Liyan pouted and smiled: "Yan Santai has two older brothers, but both of their families have daughters, only Yan Santai has a son. Du Xii said she’s the Yan family’s hero, without her, the Yan family would have no descendants."
Only then did Luo Qiao realize: "So that’s her protective charm."
Kang Liyan laughed: "You got it right, the child is still so young and needs his mom around, so Yan Santai has to put up with it."
Kang Liyan looked at the yard: "You have a holiday too, right?"
Luo Qiao nodded: "School is on vacation, but I still have to work at the hospital, so it’s as usual."
Kang Liyan gave Luo Qiao a thumbs up: "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. I really admire you, managing work and family without a hitch."
Luo Qiao shook her head: "That’s just on the surface, but there’s not much ti to spend with the kids. If it weren’t for the two elders at ho, I’m afraid I wouldn’t do anything well."
Kang Liyan thought about it and nodded: "You’re right, having soone take care of things at ho takes away worries when you’re busy."
The two chatted a bit more, then Kang Liyan said: "Let’s chat later; I should go back and stew so at. The old lady in my family has bad teeth; I have to cook it soft every ti, so it takes longer."
Seeing her off, Luo Qiao finally returned to the kitchen, thinking about how cold it was and the sky still overcast. It might snow, so why not have a hotpot since she craved it herself.
She took out a portable stovetop from the utility room, started it up in the courtyard, and boiled a pot of water as a backup.
She took plenty of fresh veggies, beef and lamb, mushrooms from her supplies, cut so sweet potatoes and potatoes, and took out pre-fried atballs, but she wished there was tofu and was too lazy to go out for it.
Once everything was ready, she started cooking the hotpot base.
Lu Yichen could sll the aroma before he even entered the yard, and as he entered, he shouted: "Wife, what’s delicious, this spicy fragrance is just thrilling."
Luo Qiao saw him co back: "You ca back just in ti; I just finished preparing."
Lu Yichen glanced into the kitchen: "Wow, hotpot!"
The two of them didn’t go back to the living room, staying in the kitchen around the little stovetop, eating the deliciously fragrant hotpot; it was just heavenly.
Just as they had almost finished eating, they heard soone entering the yard: "Director, are you there?"
Lu Yichen got up and stood at the door, seeing Xiao Liu from the bureau bringing two people in, and upon closer look, he happily shouted: "Old Gao, Old Fang, when did you arrive in Capital City?"
Luo Qiao heard this and wiped her mouth, standing up and following them out into the yard.
Old Gao said: "We ca on a business trip to Capital City, and coincidentally, our cargo truck had so issues so we couldn’t leave the city right away, giving us ti to co see you."
Lu Yichen thanked Xiao Liu for leading the way, then pulled Luo Qiao over to introduce her: "Qiaoqiao, these two are my forr comrades, Gao Shanjian and Fang Jiming."
Then he turned to the two comrades and said: "This is my wife, Luo Qiao."
Luo Qiao smiled: "Co inside and sit down, I’ll prepare so food for you."
She had ready-made things in her supplies, shouldn’t let them eat their leftovers, right?
Gao Shanjian said: "Sister-in-law, don’t bother; we had dinner before coming."
Luo Qiao smiled: "You’re at our ho now, at least have a warm bite, it’s no trouble."
Fang Jiming chid in: "Sister-in-law, don’t trouble yourself, we really had dinner before coming."
Lu Yichen said: "They both love spicy food, why don’t you add two more sets of utensils and we eat hotpot together. They’re not outsiders, we’ll treat them to a good dinner tonight."
Luo Qiao laughed: "Alright, the kitchen is small, so why don’t you move the stovetop to the living room, and I’ll help prepare so more dishes, it won’t take long."
So everyone pitched in to move the ingredients and stovetop, and Luo Qiao worked quickly, first serving several plates of beef and lamb, then brought out a large plate of atballs and freshly washed vegetables.
Later, she even took out so shrimp from her supplies, making fresh shrimp paste; they ca from far away, so she didn’t want to be too stingy.
When she brought in the shrimp paste again, Gao Shanjian said: "Sister-in-law, that’s enough, really."
Lu Yichen, making sure they weren’t leaving that day, opened a bottle of liquor, asking them to drink.
Since he had to work in the afternoon, he substituted tea for liquor, joining in a toast, saying he’d drink properly with them tonight.
The two liked spicy food; the hotpot base was to their taste, and they couldn’t stop, eating quite a lot, feeling a bit embarrassed.
They hadn’t seen each other for years and had endless stories to share, so after helping tidy up, they headed to the bureau together.
After they left, Luo Qiao started contemplating the evening’s nu.
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