Chapter 645: Chapter 645: Do You Have a Favor to Ask Me?
Qin San Lang’s smile grew when he heard her, and he replied cheerfully, "Alright."
"Let’s go, we’ll get the fish from the kitchen." Gu Jinli called out to Qin San Lang; after closing the main gate, they headed towards the kitchen of her house. "There’s still a bucket of fish in the kitchen meant for making fish balls, but I’ll grill it all for you instead. We won’t make fish balls."
Hearing this, Qin San Lang’s smile deepened even further, walking side by side with her. Using the soft glow of the pine oil lamps along the corridor, he admired her profile: "Next time I come back, I’ll chop up some fish meat for you, so you can make a whole basin of fish balls to eat."
Fish balls actually taste quite good, especially in soup. But the most delicious is the fish and lamb soup; adding crucian carp to the lamb yields a pot of savory broth. Drink a bowl of that, and you feel completely invigorated—they had some tonight.
In the kitchen, Xiao Ji was boiling water for everyone’s baths. Upon seeing Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang enter, he said, "Young Master, you’re a bit early. The water’s not hot enough yet, you’ll have to wait a while."
"I wasn’t planning on taking a bath," Gu Jinli said and walked over to the wooden bucket filled with carp. "This is the one."
Upon hearing this, Qin San Lang picked up the wooden bucket and left.
After filling a pottery basin with various seasonings from the kitchen, Gu Jinli followed behind him.
Xiao Ji hurriedly dropped the fire stoker and chased after them, blocking their path: "Young Master, where are you headed so late?"
Gu Jinli pointed to the wooden bucket Qin San Lang was carrying: "Going to grill fish."
Xiao Ji frowned: "Haven’t we already grilled fish? We’ve eaten it too, is there more to grill? It’s already the hour of Xu, shouldn’t we wash up and go to sleep? Aren’t you tired, Young Master, after a busy day?"
Not to mention...
He glanced at Qin San Lang, then at Gu Jinli, and said, "Nanny Tao and Dong Family’s Madam mentioned that the Young Master shouldn’t stay alone with men from other households late at night."
Gu Jinli replied, "Brother Qin is not a man from another family; he’s Brother Qin. I’m grilling fish for him with Mother’s permission."
"Ah?" Xiao Ji was confused. "Dong Family’s Madam agreed?"
Gu Jinli nodded seriously: "Mm-hmm, she agreed."
Narrowing her eyes with a hint of danger, she asked, "What’s the matter, you don’t believe me? Are you actually my maid? Doubting your own master like this, I don’t need you anymore."
Xiao Ji hurriedly said, "I wouldn’t dare, I believe in Young Master the most... Go ahead then, Young Master."
Xiao Ji felt she might go mad one day. Dong Family’s Madam and Nanny Tao always said, now that the Young Master has grown up, as her maid, she must shield the Young Master from other men and forbid the Young Master from seeing them alone.
But Qin Family’s third son is an outsider, and he’s one who likes to stick close to the Young Master. Why does the Dong Family’s Madam not stop him?
She just couldn’t understand.
Forget it, she decided not to ponder such complicated issues. After all, Qin Family’s third son wouldn’t harm the Young Master.
Gu Jinli was pleased, nodding her head and saying, "Good girl."
Then she added, "Later, when you call Brother Cheng for his bath, tell him that Zhan Er isn’t dead, so he can rest easy."
With that said, she walked off with Qin San Lang, exiting her home’s front gate. It was almost when they were near Qin family’s house that she snapped back to reality, "Are we going to your house to grill it?"
She originally intended to grill in her own courtyard, but habitually following him, she’d walked right out of her home.
Holding a torch in his hand, Qin San Lang looked back and smiled at her, nodding affirmatively, "Yes, we’ll grill it at my place. Once it’s done, we can pack it up, and I can take it with me when I leave tomorrow. I’ll escort you back."
"Alright." Gu Jinli didn’t mind, grilling fish was the same wherever it was done.
At the Qin family, Elder Qin was still chatting with Third Grandpa at Gu Jinli’s house. The bond between the two old men had grown stronger over the years, and they had endless topics to talk about every day.
Qin San Lang led Gu Jinli straight to the lower quarters to grill fish in the courtyard between the upper and lower quarters.
There was a mountain pomelo tree in the courtyard, which had been transplanted from Songzi Mountain. It had already grown to three meters tall.
Gu Jinli pointed at the mountain pomelo tree and said, "This tree is so useless, it hasn’t borne any fruit for nearly two years."
Qin San Lang laughed and said, "Soon, it has already bloomed a few flowers this year. I suspect it will bear fruit next year, and I’ll pick some for you to eat."
Under the mountain pomelo tree, there was a well-built rectangular stone altar. Fearing that Gu Jinli would be cold, Qin San Lang first brought out the firewood and started a fire in the stone altar.
"You warm up by the fire first. I’m going to butcher the fish, then I’ll rinse the grill and come over."
Gu Jinli nodded and said, "Have you eaten your chestnuts from the mountain? Do you have any sugar? I’ll make you some roasted chestnuts."
Qin San Lang smiled and said, "Haven’t eaten them yet. Just wait, I’ll get them for you. Don’t move, I’ll handle it. Otherwise, you’d have to wash your hands if they get dirty, and there’s no hot water at home. Washing your hands with cold water is terribly cold."
In the Military Office, there were many rough men in their twenties and thirties who knew everything and often came together to talk dirty. He had heard them saying that women should not touch cold water during those days of the month.
And the old nanny at home used to say that if you touched cold water and caught a chill, it would not only cause stomach discomfort but also be harmful to offspring.
He didn’t want her to have a stomachache.
After giving the instructions, Qin San Lang busied himself with butchering the fish, washing the grill, and chestnuts, and even specifically went to start a fire in the kitchen to boil a pot of water with a bit of sugar, and brought it to her: "Are you cold? Have a sip of hot water."
Gu Jinli took the bowl and had a sip, feeling immediately warm inside. She smiled at Qin San Lang, set down the bowl, and took the nearby pottery basin to start mixing the sauce.
Qin San Lang took a small iron pot, slit the chestnuts before putting them in, and then placed the pot directly on the grill, roasting them slowly: "The sugar is here, I crushed it. You can add it later."
He wasn’t very good at adding sugar, afraid that the timing would be wrong, and the sugar would burn and taste bitter.
Gu Jinli nodded, having mixed the sauce already. She was about to start mixing when Qin San Lang stopped her: "I’ll do it."
Gu Jinli gave him a look but didn’t say anything, letting him do the mixing.
After marinating the fish, Qin San Lang went to wash his hands and then brought over a bucket of hot water, with a clean white cloth beside the bucket: "Hot water, for you to wash your hands."
Pointing at the white cloth, he said: "It’s new, I haven’t used it."
Gu Jinli said: "I don’t mind using the same as you."
Qin San Lang was startled and silently laughed, sitting beside her, flipping the chestnuts in the small iron pot. When it was time to add sugar to the chestnuts, the fish was also ready to be marinated. He used chopsticks to place the fish on the grill, starting to grill the fish.
Gu Jinli added sugar to the chestnuts, watching Qin San Lang grilling fish and said, "Am I grilling fish for you, or are you grilling fish for me?"
Qin San Lang looked up at her and said, "The sauce was your doing, and the most important part of grilled fish is the sauce, so it’s you who is grilling fish for me."
Such a perfect reason, Gu Jinli accepted it.
After bustling about for quite a while, it was the middle of the ’xu’ period, and the night grew colder. Although they were grilling by the fire, Qin San Lang still got up, went back to the house to get a cloak, and handed it to Gu Jinli: "It’s washed. You wear it to block the wind."
Gu Jinli looked at the cloak and then at Qin San Lang: "Do you have something to ask of me?"