Zhang Yue had basically voiced what was in her heart.
Zhao Guifang didn’t know what her daughter was thinking either, so she walked over to Xu Tang and hurriedly asked, “Tangtang, I was just about to refuse her. Why did you agree?”
Deep down, Zhao Guifang felt that her daughter could find someone much better. From what she had heard, Wu Zhixiang’s conditions weren’t anything special.
Xu Tang knew that her mother didn’t think much of the man Lin Xiuxiang had introduced. If the system hadn’t told her to agree, she would have planned to refuse too. She just couldn’t tell them the real reason.
All she could do was reassure Zhao Guifang.
“Mom, I’m just going to meet him. I never said I agreed to marry him.”
“Little sister, how about Big Brother goes with you tomorrow?” Xu Changxing suggested.
Xu Guoli was also worried about his daughter going to town alone. “Let your big brother go with you. He can help you take a look at the man.”
Xu Tang refused them. She was only going to complete a mission, not actually look for a husband.
“Big Brother, I can go by myself. It wouldn’t be good for you to ask for time off right now.”
Then she turned to Zhao Guifang and Xu Guoli.
“It’s fine, Dad, Mom. Even if I like him, I won’t agree right away. Besides, I don’t want to get married yet. I still want to stay home and spend more time with you…”
Xu Tang wrapped her arms around Zhao Guifang’s arm and acted spoiled.
Zhao Guifang had no way to deal with her. She tapped Xu Tang lightly on the head and gave her an exasperated glare.
Zhao Guifang and Xu Guoli called everyone to go to work.
Xu Tang also took a basket and headed up the mountain. After finding a secluded place where no one was around, she bought a rabbit from the system.
She skillfully knocked it unconscious, tied it up, and placed it in the basket.
Then she pulled up some grass and covered the rabbit with it before carrying the basket home.
Once she returned, she found a cage and put the rabbit inside, planning to have her big brother slaughter it later.
Xu Tang went to the kitchen, heated water, and carried it into her room to fill the wooden bathing tub.
She went back and forth several times before finally having enough water for a bath.
She locked the door, then spent one point to buy some bath solution from the system shop and poured it into the tub.
After taking off her clothes, she stepped into the bathing tub.
The water rose to just below her shoulders. She leaned back comfortably, then lifted her legs and admired her skin.
It was fair, smooth, and tender.
After bathing, she used the bath towel she had bought from the system shop to wrap herself up and dry off.
She changed into clean clothes, then carried the bathwater outside and dumped it out.
It took several trips before she finally emptied it all.
Xu Tang thought the whole process was far too troublesome, but she couldn’t simply stop bathing.
The space still needed a thousand points before it could be unlocked.
She went back to heating water and washed her hair thoroughly as well.
By the time Xu Tang finished everything, it was already time for everyone to get off work.
Soon, the family members pushed open the gate and came inside.
Xu Tang happened to be in the courtyard, drying her hair in the sun.
Xu Wanjia’s sharp eyes immediately spotted the rabbit in the cage.
“Wow!”
Xu Wen and Xu Wanlin immediately gathered around as well, chattering excitedly about something Xu Tang couldn’t quite make out.
“Girl, why did you go up the mountain again? It’s so dangerous up there…”
Zhao Guifang now felt that her daughter was no longer lazy or greedy for food.
The only problem was that she kept going up the mountain every few days, and she never came back empty-handed.
This time, she had even caught a rabbit.
Rabbits were incredibly fast, after all.
It seemed her daughter really did have some luck on her side.
“Mom, I just walked around the outskirts,” Xu Tang said.
Seeing that talking to her wasn’t getting anywhere, Zhao Guifang decided to stop bothering with it.
She turned to Xu Changshun, who was standing nearby with everyone else gathered around the rabbit.
“Changshun, go slaughter the rabbit. Changxing, go heat some water.”
The two brothers eagerly agreed.
Liu Ermei and Zhang Yue also went over to help.
The children gathered around to watch.
Once everything had been prepared and the rabbit had been chopped into small pieces, Xu Changshun asked Xu Tang, “Little sister, how do you want to cook it?”
Xu Tang replied, “Big Brother, I’ll make it.”
Xu Changshun happily agreed.
After all, his little sister’s cooking was incredible. Every time she cooked, everyone ate until they were stuffed.
Xu Tang soaked the chopped rabbit meat with slices of ginger and cooking wine to draw out the blood and remove the gamey smell.
She then placed the soaked rabbit meat into a pot of cold water, adding ginger, scallions, and cooking wine.
She brought it to a boil over medium heat and skimmed off the foam.
After removing the rabbit meat, she rinsed it thoroughly with warm water to prevent the meat from contracting and becoming tough.
She heated a wok with a small amount of oil and slowly melted rock sugar over low heat until it turned into caramel.
Immediately, she added the rabbit meat and stir-fried it until evenly coated and browned.
Then she added ginger, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, dried chilies, and other spices, stir-frying over medium heat until fragrant.
She poured cooking wine along the edge of the wok, then added light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce, stirring everything together.
She poured in enough water to completely cover the rabbit meat.
Once the water came to a boil over high heat, she added the radish and let everything simmer for half an hour.
When the time was almost up, she turned up the heat to reduce the sauce.
Finally, she sprinkled chopped scallions over the top and took the dish off the stove.