Lu Wanqing reached out to the child.
The little one immediately raised his small hand and placed it into his mommy's palm.
Lu Wanqing, holding the child's hand, prepared to go downstairs. However, as she stepped out of the room, she saw Zhongli Feiyu at the doorway.
Zhongli Feiyu looked at them and quickly explained, "I just came to see you."
Lu Wanqing paused for a moment, then nodded, "Mm."
She trusted Zhongli Feiyu's character.
"I'm going to make a late-night snack, would you like to come and see?" Lu Wanqing asked habitually. When she was at the Mu family's, Mu Sijie would always join them in the kitchen if he was home, so Lu Wanqing now habitually asked Zhongli Feiyu.
Zhongli Feiyu nodded, "Mm."
Lu Wanqing smiled and then led them downstairs.
Seeing them come down from upstairs, Steward Xiao immediately approached them, "General Feiyu, Miss Lu, several packages just arrived. Some are ingredients, and some are clothes."
"The clothes are here too?" Lu Wanqing exclaimed in surprise.
Steward Xiao nodded with a smile.
Lu Wanqing was thrilled. She was a little impatient, wanting to see the clothes immediately and have the little one wear them. But thinking that she still needed to make the late-night snack, she held back.
"Everything is here. Should they be sent upstairs?" Steward Xiao asked.
Lu Wanqing nodded with a smile, "Mm, put the clothes in Xiao Yi's room first. I'll sort them out later."
"Mine?" Little Zhongli Yi's eyes widened upon hearing this, and he looked up at Lu Wanqing in surprise.
Lu Wanqing lowered her gaze to the little one and nodded happily, "Yes, Mommy bought you a lot of clothes. After we finish our late-night snack, shall we go upstairs together to look?"
Little Zhongli Yi's eyes lit up, and he nodded, "Mm!" extremely happily.
Zhongli Feiyu also looked at Lu Wanqing in surprise, then at the packages piled in the living room. He hadn't expected Lu Wanqing to buy clothes for the child, and... he was also a little curious what kind of clothes Lu Wanqing would buy for the child.
The Zhongli family was different from the Mu family. In the Mu family, when packages arrived, the steward would sort them out. Ingredients would be sent to the kitchen, and clothes to the second floor. All items were also tidied and organized by specialized domestic robots.
Here in the Zhongli family, everything was placed together and had not yet been sorted.
Lu Wanqing walked over, took out the items that were clearly ingredients, and turned towards the kitchen.
Zhongli Feiyu and little Zhongli Yi also trailed behind her, and they entered the kitchen together.
Lu Wanqing was a little nervous at first, but after entering the kitchen, she quickly relaxed. Looking at the ingredients, several dishes naturally popped into her mind.
Cold celery salad was a must. Then there was chicken. The chicken was already prepared, and the meat was chopped, cleaned thoroughly. Lu Wanqing only needed to rinse it again before it could be cooked.
When they were in the forest before, Lu Wanqing had made wild chicken stew with mushrooms for Xiao Lanlan many times. For this meal, Lu Wanqing couldn't help but want to make it for Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi would probably like it too, right?
With ideas in her mind, Lu Wanqing's actions became fluid and natural. From cleaning the ingredients to preparing the seasonings, each step was as familiar as if it were etched into her bones. Her movements were not fast, but every action possessed an innate grace.
Marshal Zhongli Yuan, Xiao Yi's grandfather, walked to the doorway at some point and looked inside. He frowned slightly, "What are you doing?"
Lu Wanqing was startled by his voice. Turning around and seeing the Marshal, her heart instantly jumped into her throat, and she felt nervous.
"Marshal, I want to make some late-night snack for Xiao Yi," Lu Wanqing thought, and then explained earnestly.
"Late-night snack?" Marshal Zhongli frowned.
Lu Wanqing nodded, "Mm, the appliances I had made earlier arrived today, so I wanted to try them out."
Zhongli Xing entered. His serious gaze scanned the kitchen's layout. After looking around, he asked in his authoritative voice, "Is this arranged according to the kitchen from three thousand years ago?"
Lu Wanqing's hands, which were by her side, felt awkward. She nodded and replied, "Mm."
Zhongli Xing then looked at the appliances in the kitchen. His expression was unreadable, but when he saw things he "hadn't seen before," he reached out to touch them.
He walked to the side of the pot, hesitated for a moment, picked up some seasoning from the cutting board beside him, and tentatively reached to put it into the pot.
"Is this how it's put in?" Marshal Zhongli asked Lu Wanqing, turning his head.
Lu Wanqing found it a little strange. Was the Marshal also interested in the kitchen?
"Mm," Lu Wanqing nodded.
Marshal Zhongli's expression remained unchanged as he put the seasoning in his hand into the pot.
Lu Wanqing glanced at the pot. It was time to act, or it would burn!
She quickly stepped forward, picked up the spatula, and began to stir-fry.
Lu Wanqing stir-fried the chicken for a while, releasing a lot of oil. When it was almost done, she scooped the chicken out of the pot and then quickly poured all the excess oil into the trash can.
After draining the excess oil, Lu Wanqing added a little cooking oil to the pot. Once the cooking oil was heated, she added the seasonings and stir-fried them.
When the aroma of stir-fried seasonings filled her nostrils, she put the previously stir-fried chicken back into the pot, added some other seasonings, and once all the seasonings were added, she poured water into the pot until it covered the chicken. Finally, she added the pre-prepared mushrooms.
All the preliminary work was done. Now, all that was left was to wait.
Lu Wanqing picked up the pot lid and covered the pot full of fragrant chicken and mushroom stew. Then, she turned to look behind her.
"Is this how it's done?" Marshal Zhongli asked her.
Lu Wanqing thought for a moment and nodded, "Mm."
Marshal Zhongli nodded. He glanced at the pot and then turned to leave.
Lu Wanqing watched Marshal Zhongli leave the kitchen and then quietly let out a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Zhongli Feiyu and little Zhongli Yi beside her.
Regardless of anything else, she was still very nervous facing Marshal Zhongli.
Little Zhongli Yi was also clearly nervous, but seeing his grandfather leave, he looked at his mommy and quickly became happy again. He whispered excitedly, "Mommy, Grandpa didn't get angry!"
Although little Zhongli Yi was young, he understood his grandfather's personality. If Grandpa didn't agree with something, he would get angry, scold him and his dad, and sometimes they would even be punished!
But just now, Grandpa hadn't gotten angry! Grandpa hadn't punished him or his dad!
Lu Wanqing stroked Xiao Yi's head, feeling a pang of sympathy for the child. It was just a late-night snack, why did he have to be so cautious?
Thinking this, Lu Wanqing looked up at Zhongli Feiyu again. As she looked, she suddenly realized that Zhongli Feiyu's life might have been no different from Xiao Yi's?
She had secretly checked some information before. Zhongli Feiyu's mother had passed away when he was very young. Zhongli Feiyu was raised by Marshal Zhongli alone. If Marshal Zhongli had always been like this, then Zhongli Feiyu's childhood experiences were probably similar to Xiao Yi's?
Thinking this, Lu Wanqing inexplicably felt that the big one and the little one standing beside her were a bit pitiful. A big pitiful and a little pitiful.