Chapter 287 - 287 New Year's Eve Dinner

287 New Year’s Eve Dinner

When Xiao Juan and Lo Pingsha returned to Langjun Imperial Palace, Yu Niaoniao was still busy preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner in the kitchen.

Hence, the two of them could only sit in the reception hall and wait.

Granny Xiu Yan served refreshments.

It was rare for a guest to come to Langjun Imperial Palace, so Granny Xiu Yan was very enthusiastic.

“Little Lo, these are all food made by our Princess Consort. Try them and see if you like them.”

Upon hearing this, Lo Pingsha immediately became interested in the pastry and fruit platter in front of him.

He began to eat and drink his tea.

Xiao Juan sat quietly at the side and drank his tea. He had no intention of speaking the entire time.

Granny Xiu Yan watched as they ate their own food without interacting at all. She felt that it was too boring. It would be lively during the new year, so she took the initiative to start a conversation.

“How do you usually spend the New Year?”

Lo Pingsha answered matter-of-factly, “I used to spend the New Year with my parents.”

Granny Xiu Yan asked reflexively, “What happened after that?”

“After that, my parents passed away, so I could only spend the New Year alone.”

Granny Xiu Yan was speechless. It was better not to have asked.

She secretly regretted not mentioning it!

Granny Xiu Yan forced herself to change the topic. “Let’s not talk about the past. You’re in luck today. Our Princess Consort has prepared a particularly sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner today. You’ll definitely like it very much later.”

Lo Pingsha expressed his sincere anticipation. “Yes, thank you, Your Highness.”

“The County Princess especially welcomes your arrival. She specially asked us to tidy up the guest room in advance and even reminded us to serve you well. If you have any dissatisfaction, you can tell me. Just treat this place as your own home. Don’t be embarrassed.”

Lo Pingsha said, “Yes, thank you, Granny.”

Granny Xiu Yan asked, “What do you think of these pastries and fruit plates?”

Lo Pingsha said, “Delicious.”

Granny Xiu Yan said, “Do you want me to get you some more food?”

Lo Pingsha said, “Thank you, but no.”

Granny Xiu Yan was speechless again.

The topic got stuck at this point.

She considered herself to be quite a chatty person, but no matter what topic she found, Lo Pingsha could quickly end the conversation with the simplest answer.

There was really no way to continue the conversation today.

Granny Xiu Yan tried to change her target and asked Duke Lang, who was sitting on the other side.

“Your Highness, do you want more tea?”

Xiao Juan said, “No need.”

Granny Xiu Yan asked, “What about the pastries? Do you want more?”

Xiao Juan said, “No need.”

Granny Xiu Yan was dumbfounded.

Forget it, she would pretend she didn’t ask anything.

The two of them were equally taciturn. They were born to end topics.

She stopped trying to find a topic of conversation and stood quietly by the side, dutifully acting as a background board.

For an entire hour, the two of them really did not say a word.

Those who didn’t know better would think that they were having a cold war. Who would have thought that they were simply not good at small talk?

It was not until Yu Niaoniao came over to inform them that they could eat that Granny Xiu Yan felt relieved.

Their savior had finally arrived!

The group of them went to the dining hall.

Yu Niaoniao had spent a lot of effort on tonight’s New Year’s Eve dinner. There were exactly ten dishes on the table, which symbolized that everything was perfect.

Yu Niaoniao lifted the lid, revealing the Eight Treasures Rice in the porcelain basin.

The boiled glutinous rice was slow-cooked with lard, water, bean paste, and white sugar. In order to make it taste richer, Yu Niaoniao added some red dates, cinnamon, lilies, walnuts, and other ingredients.

The crystal clear glutinous rice was decorated with red, green, and green fruits and looked very festive.

Everyone on the table had a bowl of Eight Treasure Rice.

Lo Pingsha took a bite. The glutinous rice was cooked until it was extremely soft. It had the fragrance of lard and a faint sweetness.

He couldn’t help but take two more bites.

“Don’t just eat that. Eat more of the other dishes.” Yu Niaoniao pointed at the dish that looked like a gold ingot in front of her and said, “Try this Rich Garden dish first.”

This dish looked complicated, but it was actually very simple to make. One just had to make a meatball with minced meat before digging a hole in the middle and adding a quail egg into the hole. It would then be steamed and sprinkled with spring onions when it was out of the pot.

Xiao Juan used the spoon to dig out a small piece of meat and put it in his mouth to taste.

The minced meat had been marinated. It did not have the fishy smell of pork at all. The texture was soft but not mushy, and the taste was very fresh and fragrant.

Yu Niaoniao scooped a bowl of soup and placed it in front of him. She wanted him to drink some hot soup to moisten his intestines and help his stomach digest.

The soup was made of meatballs, fishballs, and egg slices which were all personally made by Yu Niaoniao. The meatball looked small. When one bit into it, one could clearly feel the elasticity and tenacity of the meatball. There was only one word to describe it: fresh!

Lo Pingsha tasted all the dishes on the table. He liked every dish.

If he had to choose a favorite dish, it would be sweet and sour pork ribs.

The ribs he used to eat were stewed and tasted soft and chewy.

However, sweet and sour pork ribs were different. The meat still maintained a fresh and tender texture. It tasted sour and sweet, and no matter how he ate it, he would not get tired of it.

After the New Year’s Eve meal, the three of them were a little stuffed.

People tend to get sleepy easily after eating. But they couldn’t sleep yet, because they had to keep watch for the New Year tonight.

The three of them moved into the reception pavilion.

Yu Niaoniao placed three sweet potatoes and three corns in the brazier and prepared a pot of hot milk tea on the small stove.

It was quite boring to just sit there. Fortunately, Yu Niaoniao was prepared.

She took out a small wooden box and said mysteriously.

“Dang dang dang! Look at what this is!”

Xiao Juan and Lo Pingsha watched as she took out a stack of cards from the small wooden box. They did not understand what she wanted to do.

“This is called poker. Since we have nothing to do, why don’t we play a few rounds of Fight the Landlord?”

Then, she introduced the gameplay of Fight the Landlord.

Xiao Juan said solemnly, “Gambling is illegal.”

Yu Niaoniao choked. She knew that this man was very old-fashioned, but she did not expect him to be so pedantic.

Fortunately, she was quick-witted and quickly came up with a countermeasure.

“We’re not gambling. The loser has to be punished.”

“What’s punishment?”

Yu Niaoniao could not think of a punishment for a while. She could only turn to look at Granny Xiu Yan, who was standing beside her and throw this hot potato to her.

“Granny, go prepare some cards. Each note has a different punishment written on it. The loser will randomly draw a card. No matter what’s written on the back of the card, the loser will have to execute it.”

She then looked at Xiao Juan. “Is this okay?”

Since this was not technically gambling, Xiao Juan no longer resisted. He and Lo Pingsha joined the ranks of Fight the Landlord.

The landlord for the first round was Yu Niaoniao.

For the sake of fairness, regardless of whether they won or lost this round, it was all to help Xiao Juan and Lo Pingsha understand the rules.

They would start the forfeit officially in the second round.