For an official family like the Shi family, the front door is not often open.

Under normal circumstances, the door will only be opened to receive imperial edicts or receive important guests.

Gu Xu followed Shi Xiaohan and walked into the Shi family mansion from the side door.

This is a three-entry courtyard with carved beams and painted buildings and a rigorous layout. Although it is not as grand as the Lu family's old residence in Qingzhou, it is as gorgeous as a palace in a remote small county like Yishui.

Shi Xiaohan who lives here is like the princess of Yishui.

Because her father Shi Lei was an official in Laizhou Mansion, most of the time, Shi Xiaohan had all the large and small rooms here alone, and dozens of servants were serving her alone - including personal maids.

, cook, accountant, coachman, gardener, etc., all perform their duties in an orderly manner.

"This is my colleague in the Exorcism Department, Gu Xian." Shi Xiaohan held his head high and introduced Gu Xu to everyone with a proud gesture, "Third-level talent holder, solver of the Lu family's haunted house case, Jinghong

The new owner of the pen, the inheritor of the "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven"..."

There was a hint of showing off in her tone, and coupled with the list of titles, it didn't sound like she was introducing an ordinary colleague at all.

"I've met Mr. Gu!" The servants bowed to Gu Xu one after another.

On weekdays, they had heard Gu Xu's name from Shi Xiaohan more than once.

Now that I have seen this talented young man from the Yishui Exorcism Department with my own eyes and his calm and confident demeanor, I feel that he really lives up to his reputation.

"This Master Gu seems to be more handsome than I thought!" Several maids whispered.

When Gu Xu arrived at Shifu, the servants had prepared a table of dinner for them early.

Shi Xiaohan has always regarded himself as a "food expert". After reading through "Food Treasures" from all over the country, her family's meals are naturally rich and exquisite - butter-soaked snails from the northwest, osmanthus whitebait vinegar from the south of the Yangtze River, and peeled fish from Huaiyang.

Steamed crab in shell, braised pork from Sichuan and steamed elbow... looks dazzling.

However, Gu Xu suddenly noticed that in the corner of the dining table, there was a plate of mediocre barbecue.

"That day, the barbecue you took me to the vegetable market was very good." After noticing Gu Xu's eyes, Shi Xiaohan licked the corner of his mouth with his tongue and pointed at the plate of barbecue and introduced, "So, when I got home,

, let the chefs try to make the same dish... Alas, it’s a pity that the barbecue they made is not as delicious as the one made by the aunt in the vegetable market."

Gu Xu smiled and said nothing.

He knows that the joy of eating barbecue lies not only in the food, but also in the smell of fireworks in the stock market, the environment, the atmosphere, and the people around him.

At this time, Gu Xu put a cardboard box he had brought with him on the table and pushed it in front of Shi Xiaohan.

"This is a gift for you, I hope you like it."

When he heard the word "gift", Shi Xiaohan exclaimed, his bright almond eyes full of joy.

According to the traditional etiquette of the Daqi Dynasty, gifts received cannot be opened in person.

But Shi Xiaohan didn't pay attention to these things in front of Gu Xu.

Curious, she eagerly opened the box to see what was inside.

"What is this?" After a moment, Shi Xiaohan pointed to the dozens of light yellow, hard and crisp biscuits in the box and asked with some confusion.

She always thought she knew the world's delicious food.

But at this moment, she couldn't identify what kind of food these biscuits were or where they were produced.

"This thing is called a cookie, and it's a kind of snack," Gu Xu introduced with a smile, "I made it myself."

In the Daqi Dynasty, the main snacks people had on the dining table were osmanthus cake, mung bean cake, pea yellow, crab apple cake, etc. There were no such foods as cakes and cookies.

After all, in this era there are no ovens and leavening agents yet.

But Gu Xu, as a monk who practices the fire attribute technique "Red Flame True Art", can use true energy to bake cookies.

Shi Xiaohan is a girl who likes spicy food as well as sweets - Gu Xu believes she will definitely like this birthday gift.

Sure enough, as soon as Gu Xu finished speaking, Shi Xiaohan couldn't wait to grab a piece of cookie, stuffed it into his mouth, and started chewing it.

Unknowingly, there were a lot of light yellow biscuit crumbs on the corner of her mouth. She looked completely unladylike and did not look like a young lady who was born into an official family.

"It smells so good!" She took a deep breath and praised.

Then, her eyes fell on the remaining cookies in the box...

The stuff Gu Xu made is so delicious, I really want to eat them all in one go.

However, when she thought that this was a birthday gift that Gu Xu had made for her, she suddenly felt a little reluctant to say it...and wanted to keep it away until the end of time.

She swallowed, feeling very conflicted.

"Eat it quickly," seeing her troubled expression, Gu Xu chuckled and said, "If you don't eat it, it will go bad."

"Yeah!" Shi Xiaohan nodded obediently and reached out again to grab a piece of biscuit.

At the same time, she pushed a plate of almond tofu in front of Gu Xu: "This tofu is for you! I know this is your favorite food, and you order it at the Yamen Kitchen every day!"

…………

After dinner, it was completely dark.

Gu Xu originally planned to go home to practice.

He knew that he was pressed for time and must move forward unswervingly.

If he stayed with this girl for too long, he was afraid that he would really fall.

However, at this time, Shi Xiaohan suddenly grabbed his sleeve and refused to let him leave.

"Gu Xu, will you light the fireworks with me?" She raised her head and said expectantly.

From her watery almond eyes, Gu Xu clearly saw his own reflection.

He pondered for a moment and replied: "It's not New Year's Eve yet, so it wouldn't be nice to set off fireworks..."

"Gu Xu, have you forgotten? On New Year's Eve this year, you are going to the Laoshan ruins and can't set off fireworks with us in Yishui," Shi Xiaohan said seriously, "So tonight, we

, let’s just do this in advance!”

Before Gu Xu could answer, she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him to the center of the yard.

Although Shi Xiaohan is petite, she is incredibly strong - so when she usually does tasks, she carries a large knife weighing more than ten kilograms on her back, but she can walk like flying.

At this moment, Gu Xu found that he could not resist her domineering behavior without using his true energy.

Later, Shi Xiaohan asked his servant to bring fireworks and lit them.

I saw hundreds of flaming dragons holding candles and seven tasseled phoenixes spitting out flowers.

Under the illumination of the fireworks, the girl sat under the sycamore tree, smiling brightly.

"Gu Xu, I already feel the opportunity to break through to the third realm."

…………

Note:

"A hundred branches of fire are like dragons holding candles, and seven tasseled phoenixes are spitting out flowers." - Ming Dynasty Liu Hui's "Fireworks on Lantern Festival with Zabinli Zhongguan"
Chapter completed!