Jiang Lingxi opened her arms to hug Xu Yin, who was looking at her with delight, "Little Auntie, we’ve completed our training."
"Are you very tired? You seem a bit slimmer."
"Not too tired, really. It’s not that I’m slimmer; it’s just that my muscles are firmer."
"Mom asked me to make green rice balls. Do you want some?"
"Of course, but I want to take a shower first; I sweated a lot this morning." Content originally comes from novel-fire.ɴet
"Then go ahead and shower. I’ll take the rice balls out of the fridge. I made red bean with egg yolk and sesame ones. Which do you prefer?"
"How about one of each?"
Watching Xu Yin happily go to prepare the food, Jiang Lingxi waited a moment for Xia Zhi, who was walking behind with her luggage, "Little Auntie is much more cheerful than when she first came to Xiyuan."
Xia Zhi quickly responded, "The Grandma from the Gao Family stayed with Mrs. Xu in Xiyuan for a while. After that, the mother and daughter went home for a couple of days. It’s probably because of the family company and being back in a familiar place from childhood. But usually, Mrs. Xu isn’t very talkative. This time, she spoke so much likely because she likes Your Majesty."
Jiang Lingxi nodded in agreement; she’s just that likable.
After washing her hair and soaking in the bath for half an hour, Jiang Lingxi emerged feeling fully relaxed and comfortable, wearing home clothes. She saw that not only was Xu Yin waiting in the tea room with the green rice balls ready for her to taste, but Shen Yunqing was also there.
"I sent them off and came back."
As spring warmed, the red clay stove for boiling water and tea was put into storage and replaced with a more versatile induction cooker.
The sound of boiling water alerted them, and Shen Yunqing picked up the kettle to pour the water into the teapot that had been prepared earlier, "Little Auntie brought over green rice balls. Should we have them with green tea or Dragon Well?"
Jiang Lingxi adjusted her collar and sat down on the chair next to Xu Yin, looking at the plump little green rice balls on the table, "Dragon Well."
Soon, the fragrance of tea filled the air.
"Xixi, quickly try it."
"Okay, Little Auntie, you have some too."
"I already ate several as soon as I finished making them, so I don’t feel like eating more now. I’ll just drink the tea Yunqing brewed; it smells so much better than the tea Shengsheng makes."
Jiang Lingxi picked up a green rice ball, and upon hearing this, exchanged a glance with Shen Yunqing, both of them smiling.
"Then Little Auntie can have the tea while Yunqing and I will finish these rice balls."
"Are there any for Little Uncle?"
"Yes, I made plenty."
With the tea pairing, the slight bitterness of the tea perfectly offsetting the sweetness of the rice balls, Jiang Lingxi ate two in one go before stopping, "Delicious."
After having a cup of tea, Xu Yin got up and returned to the adjoining courtyard.
Although her thoughts were straightforward, she knew her grandniece and her husband hadn’t seen each other for a long time and surely had much to say in private, so she decided not to intrude like a third wheel.
"Don’t really eat them all; they’re hard to digest, and dinner is coming soon."
Jiang Lingxi picked up another rice ball, "This is the last one. The meals at the training base were too bland. After a month, it was nice to have a hearty meal at noon today. How about having boiled fish for dinner?"
Shen Yunqing subtly moved the plate closer to himself, "Sounds good."
"The surveillance is over."
"I noticed it too. The guard at the base gate changed about ten days ago, so I guessed they had pulled out. How is Yue Sheng now?"
"Still closed for rectification. Little Uncle plans to send someone to acquire it when Jiang Peng can’t keep it going anymore."
"That’s a good idea because under Yue Sheng, there are still a few valuable products, and it’s a shame to let Little Uncle’s hard work go to waste. Do you think Wei Ke might have realized we’ve used him?"
Shen Yunqing looked up to see a pair of mischievous eyes.
"I think he probably knows by now."
Jiang Lingxi shrugged, "But he can’t do anything about us."
Wei Ke: Are you guys being polite?
"What about Wu Jue? Has he sent any word since joining the Longevity Project?"
"No, during the project’s progress, all participants should be isolated from the outside world."
"I see, that’s understandable."
After all, it’s such a rare opportunity; plenty of people want to see if they can prolong life, cure illness, or even dream of immortality with its help.
"There’s one thing Your Majesty might find interesting."
"Zhang Lingzhou has been detained for intentional injury."
"Who did he hurt? Wait," Jiang Lingxi suddenly remembered the mess that Xu Ling’an mentioned during the New Year regarding Zhang Lingzhou’s family, "Is it his half-brother?"
As expected, she was right. Even without taking action herself, that family would ruin themselves.
Seeing it was almost dinner time, Xia Zhi, watching the two still engrossed in conversation at the tea table, had to lightly cough, "Your Majesty, sir, it’s time for dinner."
Jiang Lingxi turned around, "Has Little Uncle come back?"
"Then let me change clothes, and we’ll have dinner together with Little Uncle and Little Auntie."
Jiang Cisheng had already learned from his wife that Jiang Lingxi had returned to Xiyuan, but even if his wife hadn’t told him, he could tell the atmosphere had changed.
In the past, when his grandniece wasn’t around, Xiyuan was peaceful and harmonious, like a windless water surface.
But after returning today, he felt the water surface ripple; the entire aura of Xiyuan became lively.
This realization made him acknowledge that Jiang Lingxi was the soul of this grand estate.
With her here, this place had meaning.
"Little Uncle, Little Auntie!"
Just then, she arrived.
Jiang Lingxi looked satisfied at the large bowl of spicy boiled fish placed before her. As she looked up, she saw Xu Yin also eyeing her fish, "Little Auntie, can you handle spicy food?"
Xu Yin first looked at her husband, and after Jiang Cisheng helplessly nodded, replied, "Yeah, I can, just a little bit."
Jiang Lingxi served Xu Yin a small bowl of fish and the vegetables underneath, leaving the rest for herself since Shen Yunqing and Little Uncle couldn’t eat such spicy food!
"Little Uncle, how’s the new company going?"
"Quite smoothly, especially now with the help of your parents, it saves me a lot of effort."
"Have the products been made?"
Jiang Cisheng paused, looked up into her eager eyes, and smiled, shaking his head, "You won’t need them."
He could predict that his grandniece was asking to help promote his products, but the main benefit of the products being developed was lightening blemishes and scars, neither of which applied to her.
"You just need to ensure that the products are effective."
"They’re effective," this time, before Jiang Cisheng could speak, Xu Yin put down her chopsticks and extended her right hand, "I’m already using it. Shengsheng made it by hand. One time while learning to cook, I burned my hand with oil. Look, Xixi, there’s nothing. My face is also clear; nothing bought is as effective as what Shengsheng made."
Jiang Lingxi touched her hand, "Truly, nothing can be seen."
Meeting the gazes of his wife and grandniece, Jiang Cisheng conceded, "I’ll bring you a few tubes tomorrow."