Since guests had come, Sister Yang had originally planned noodles for lunch and had already kneaded the dough. After consulting Jia Tianlong and his wife, she still made noodles, but stir-fried a few extra toppings.
Since Qiao Fengzhi still had to nurse her baby and could not eat spicy food, besides the stir-fried mutton with dried chili peppers and pork with sour Chinese cabbage, there was a plate of shredded potatoes, a plate of celery stir-fried with pork, and a plate of blanched little Chinese cabbage and chives.
"Blanched" was the local meaning of the word they used for "fried": the vegetables were actually scalded in boiling water, squeezed dry, then cut into short lengths.
The glass greenhouse in Li Long's back courtyard was still in use. He had found time to renovate it during the summer. There was enough coal at home, so he had installed an underfloor heating flue in the greenhouse. With three stoves burning at once, it was warm enough.
Straw mats covered the top as well. They were rolled up during the day and lowered at night to keep in more warmth.
He had not planted many things inside, mostly easy-growing vegetables like chives, celery, and little Chinese cabbage. There were chili peppers and eggplants too, but they had only recently grown and flowered. Li Long found time to pollinate them by hand; those grew rather slowly.
Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Boyuan were familiar with Jia Tianlong, and Qiao Fengzhi had visited before too, so they recognized one another after introductions.
With two mischievous sons of her own, Gu Xiaoxia was quite fond of little girls. Before lunch, she chatted with Qiao Fengzhi, each telling the other how fortunate she was.
Once Sister Yang had pulled the noodles, Li Long sat down to eat with