Outside the windows, the heavy snow was like batting, flying and swaying in the air. And the wind also blew fiercely.

In the room, the flames were violently burning.

Gu Yunxi put the scissor down, unfolding the red paper-cut in the shape of magpies flying in spring. Then she tried to take it on the white window lattice paper.

It was the first day of the New Year tomorrow. She saw the white snow flying and falling. The splendid scene could be adequately described by one old saying of the Central Plain, "Timely snow promised a good harvest."

Leng Qingtang stood in front of the door, slightly opening a crack of the door. Immediately, a thick sense of cold wind mingling with the fresh and damp air flooded from the crack into the room, blowing the brazier in splattering sound. Then some flames blurted and jumped high out of it.

Leng Qingtang hustled to shut the door. Then he went to sit beside the table, holding one vessel.

After drinking a cup of warm plum liquor, two blushes appeared on his pale and handsome face.

He stood up and said, "Let me go! We have never delayed delivering our flavors, but today is the deadline for flavors delivery. We can't delay anymore."

Gu Yunxi sat on the earthen bed, with her legs hunkered. She blinked her clear and delicate eyes, "Now the snow and wind are still heavy in the outside. It doesn’t matter that we delay one day. After all, the weather is bad, so that there could be not so many guests in Dongzhou Restaurant. Manager Jiao and other members in the restaurant must still hold some reserved flavors. Therefore, just delaying one day will not influence their business."

Leng Qingtang walked close to her and sat down, slightly embracing his wife's shoulders and softly saying, "Just let it go. After all, tomorrow is New Year's Day. I want to happily and comfortably go on with you. On the day, we can lie in the warm quilts and sleep for a whole morning. In the noon, we can eat a hot pot and enjoy the snow. And in the afternoon, we can also wander around the bazaar. How happy it will be! Is it better than the fact that we get up early and deliver flavors in coldness?"

Gu Yunxi tilted her head and thought for a while, considering what Leng Qingtang said was indeed reasonable. So she raised her mouth, smiling and saying, "Please wait for a while, my darling. I will wear a cotton garment and go with you."

Leng Qingtang pressed her down with his hands, showing love and blandness in his appearance. Then he shook his hand, "Darling, the snow is heavy and it is too cold on the outside. You just comfortably stay in the room and put our hot pot."

While saying this, he got up from the rim of the bed.

Gu Yunxi unhappily lowered her mouth. With her small hands, she gripped his gown and sadly fawned, "Darling..."

Leng Qingtang smiled and stooped, kissing her clear forehead and softly coaxing, "Take my advice. At most within one hour, I will come back. In the evening, I will try to serve you, my darling."

"Go away," Gu Yunxi understood and blushed. She smiled with a little annoyance and put him away, taking shoes and leaving the earthen bed, "I help you carry flavors into the carriage. On the stove, there are some heated 'Blessed Eggs' and 'Harvest Eight-Treasure Rice'. I will pack them up and you can bring them into the restaurant, which can make those members happy."

"OK."

Leng Qingtang agreed and went close to her again, affectionately leaving plenty of kisses on her pink and delicate lips.

While affectionately seeing his wife, he suddenly said, "Just take my advice. After the New Year, you stop cooperating with the restaurant. I am not so tired, but I can't bear that you always work hard and exhaust yourself.

Anyhow, what we have earned and the previous reservation can affluently supply us until our third generation. Why work so hard?"

Gu Yunxi just smiled and gripped Leng Qingtang's arm, slightly waving and saying in a sweet voice, "I accept your suggestion. Originally, I didn't want to earn too much. But I consider the recipe invented by my mother is wonderful indeed, so that I want to further and advance it. The more the recipe is admired by people, the more valuable it is."

Leng Qingtang touched Gu Yunxi's hair with hands, deeply looking at her, "There are many ways of showing its value, so we needn't take actions in person anytime. You are always busy working, but when can you easily deliver a boy for me?'

Gu Yunxi became shy and lowered her head, answering in a low voice, "After the New Year, I will take a proper bargain with Manager Jiao, selling the recipe of ten spicy flavors to him. From then on, I will just stay at home, give birth to children for you, serve you and look after my children. What do you think?"

"You are so sweet!"

Leng Qingtang was moved in heart, holding Gu Yunxi's delicate hands and taking kisses. Then he changed to wear a blue cotton gown embroidered with bamboos and orchids and covered himself with a cloak made of black fox's fur, walking to the yard and carrying flavors into the carriage.

Gu Yunxi lifted the curtain and walked out of the room, uncovering the steaming bamboo steamer on the stove.

There were two steamers of "Blessed Eggs" and one steamer of "Harvest Rice" being kept warm.

It was a sophisticated process to cook "Blessed Eggs", which was a festival meal recorded in The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies written by Pei Rushi.

At first, people should select one complete goose's egg and drill it. After letting the yolk and half the albumen out, he should stuff the soaked sticky rice, pieces of ham, fish, clam meat, bamboo shoots and some salt into the hole. Then the egg could be taken into the steamer, being steamed with gentle fire.

While eating the meal, people just needed to crack the eggshell, taking the concrete fillings and enjoying it.

The key to making this great meal lied in commanding the fire and time.

If the fire was too soft and the egg couldn't be streamed in full time, the sticky rice in the egg would be underdone.

If the fire was too fierce and the egg was steamed long, the eggshell couldn't bear the heat and pressure in the steamer. As a result, the egg might be cracked and people would fail to finish the meal.

As for "Harvest Eight-Treasure Rice", it was easy to make this meal.

Took some small porcelain bowls and smeared oil on the bottom of them. In the bowls, people should cover it with dried plums, pieces of dried nuts, sweet-scented Osmanthus mingled with bean paste. In the front, there must be covered with sticky rice and rock candies. Then those bowls could be taken into the pot and steamed.

Gu Yunxi took a food box, filling it with eight "Blessed Eggs".

After swinging her scalded fingers, she took eight "Harvest Rice" from the third steamer. Then she smeared some honey on the wonderful and soft white sticky rice, adding some sesame seeds, stripes of radishes. At last, she put those bowls into the food box and packeted them with a floral cloth.

In the flying snowflakes, she ran to the yard. Then her feet were submerged in the thick snow on the earth.

Gu Yunxi put the food box into the carriage, holding her hands and looking at the gloomy sky. She was still a little worried.

"My darling, let me go with you."

She gripped Leng Qingtang's cloak. But she didn't know, why she became so worried and faltering today.

Perhaps for the sake of heavy snow and fierce wind, at that time, a sense of indescribable anxiety was always in her mind, being easily flooding and waving in the inner.

"Don't worry, I will come back early."

In a soft voice, Leng Qingtang comforted her, as puffing from his mouth.

He held Gu Yunxi's cold and red hands, making them close to his mouth and puffing to warm them. Through the thick curtain, the handsome face was a little dim and Gu Yunxi couldn't see it clearly.

Suddenly, she became more worried.

But Leng Qingtang insisted to deliver flavors, and she had no way to stop him. Therefore, she could only silently open the gate and let the carriage out.

Leng Qingtang turned around and smiled at her, waving his hand and saying, "Go back to the room. Just wait for me at ease."

In the heavy snow, the carriage faded away. On the road covered by snow, there were only left two deep tracks.

Leng Qingtang leaned on the door of the carriage, slowing moving forward in the snow.

As the cold wind blew, the ice and snow on the earth were rolled up, falling on him one after another.

In the carriage, there put a hollowed-out stove carved with copper flowers. Besides, he held the warmer heated by her wife in his hands, and also wore a thick cloak made of fox's fur. Hence, he didn't feel cold at all.

In the morning, the snow was heavy. So there were just a few restaurants being open to doing business. In the whole street, it was quiet and cold and there were not so many passers-by.

Leng Qingtang once heard that in the folk, it was a custom that women bought some ornaments. As a result, he thought after delivering flavors, he could go to the ornament store in the street, buying two pairs of gold pins and some delicate red velvet flowers for Gu Yunxi.

Besides, he would go to the cosmetics store, buying some great cosmetics and eyebrow pencils for Gu Yunxi.

And there left several pieces of cloth sent by Princess Anhe. When the weather turned to be better, he would take Gu Yunxi to the best clothes store in the business street, buying some newly-made clothes. Then he would buy some other special purchases for the Spring Festival.

Previously when he was an official in Da Yi, it was a task for the servants in his mansion to buy those special purchases. And he didn't need to be busy doing it.

But now he was suddenly confronted with it and had to do it in person. Even though he was excited to do it, he didn't know clearly what he should buy. Hence, he must go back home and ask Gu Yunxi.

While sitting on the carriage, Leng Qingtang happily made plans for the Spring Festival. He casually looked around, seeing the horizon of the snowy earth.

In the white and straight street, some people moved forward. In such cold weather, all of them wore thin garments, stooping and staggering in the snow. They seemed to be so helpless and embarrassed.

All of a sudden, Leng Qingtang's right eyelid fiercely twitched.

In the heavy snow, he was closer and closer to those people. Eventually, Leng Qingtang recognized them.

The woman and man who walked in the front, were just Manager Jiao of Dongzhou Restaurant and the rental house's owner Aunt Tian. Wasn't it?

But he didn't know why, the two people huddled and appeared nervous. They seemed to be so helpless and embarrassed. Despite that, it was extremely questionable that they were drenched with sweats in the cold weather.

Two servants of Dongzhou Restaurant followed them. The same as Manager Jiao and Aunt Tian, they were in pale faces and dried lips. It seemed that they were stimulated by something, being blank and helpless in their eyes.

Aunt Tian unconsciously raised her head, finding Leng Qingtang first.

Immediately, she cried and screamed, falling on the snow. But she still struggled to move to the carriage and kneeled, "Sir, sir! Help me! Please help my families..."

"What happened?"

Leng Qingtang was struck in his mind, hustling to halter the rein and stop the carriage. He astonishedly lowered his eyes and asked, "Aunt Tian, why do you go with Manager Jiao?"

Before he took action, a team of people in the street ran to them. Instantly, the crowd of about thirty people surrounded the carriage.

"Aye! I just do legal business with them! I have never done any illegal things! Sir, please be understanding! I am ignorant, I am ignorant!"

Manager Jiao was helpless and fell on the snow, ceaselessly saluting the surrounding people in black, crying and imploring.

A sense of wet and warm occurred in his legs, when he was scared and pissed his pants.

Leng Qingtang slowly went down from the carriage. He glanced at the surrounding people in sharp eyes, with his fists firmly clenched in the sleeves.

Needless to say, he had already doped out those people's identities.

Although those faces were different from each other, they were all in the same numb expression like making from one module, and had serious eyes as sharp as the blades. It seemed that Leng Qingtang had ever got along with them so that he was so familiar with them.

Suddenly, there was a gap in the circle. A man slowly walked and reached.

He appeared to be just 24 or 25 years old. The face seemed to be carved by the blade and was in a clear figure. Besides, his eyes and eyebrows were all handsome, which made him a little elegant. But the skin was dark and not bright at all.

The black hair was tied high, with a slim and long string tying the bun.

Wearing a blue narrow sleeved Kungfu suit with embroidered mandarin coat, there was a dark blue belt tying in his waist. But he didn't wear a cloak or mantle made of fur.

Unless he was dressed as a martial man, by means of his appearance and temperament, the man could be thought of as a weak and polite gentleman.

The man stood upright in front of Leng Qingtang. He particularly played the two iron balls in his right hand, making them sound.

Instantly, Leng Qingtang understood everything. In his handsome face, a kind of sophisticated expression occurred. In silence, there was the emotion of gloom mingling with pain.

"Who are you?"

Leng Qingtang’s lips trembled, as he refrained from the burning pain in his chest and looked at the man in cold eyes.

The man stared at Leng Qingtang, smiling and slowly saying, "I am... Yue Xilou of the Eastern Depot."