My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

When it was almost 11:00 p.m., Chang An went to the kitchen to prepare the pepper soup base for tonight, leaving Gu Li alone in the room.

When he arrived at the kitchen, he personally directed the servants in the kitchen to prepare the soup base. There were pepper and Sichuan peppercorns at home, so he simply asked the servants to prepare them and the soup base for tonight was ready.

Chang An checked the dishes for tonight again before he felt relieved and satisfied and asked the servant to bring them to the room.

Gu Li was sitting in the room, doing embroidery with her hands and humming a tune, when she heard noise coming from the door.

She put down the embroidery silk in her hand and looked towards the door: Chang An had just opened the door and stood aside, asking the servants to bring in all the dishes for tonight. Seeing this, she quickly tidied up the table in front of her and put the needlework and embroidery silk baskets aside.

Then the leading servant still put the pot bottom on the table, followed by the remaining servants who put the plates on the table. Huaiqin and Zhen'er were the last to come forward to place the dishes and chopsticks.

After the servants left, Gu Li couldn't wait to look into the pot, but found that the soup in the pot was the same as clear soup. Although Gu Li felt a little disappointed, he didn't show it.

She stretched out her hand, waved to Chang An, and said, "Chang Lang, come over and have dinner!"

"Okay." Chang An sat next to Gu Li, and Huaiqin and Zhen'er sat down after him.

He glanced at Gu Li and found that her eyes were scanning the pot, as if she was looking for something. He raised his eyebrows, picked up the chopsticks, reached into the pot, scooped it casually, and picked up a bunch of peppercorns.

At this time, he glanced at Gu Li again, slapped the table lightly, and cursed in a pretended angry tone: "I told you not to put peppercorns or peppercorns in it. Look, look, look."

He sighed and put the peppercorns back into the pot. Gu Li looked at him like this and burst out laughing.

"How is it?" Chang An saw Gu Li smiling, so he said, "Mother Gu, I didn't lie to you, did I? I said I could let you eat it, and I would definitely let you eat it."

Gu Li glanced at Chang An, pouted a little embarrassedly, but soon put some meat into the pot with joy, and added some vegetables, saying:

"Chang Lang is the best."

Chang An smiled and added some things into the pot, while reminding: "When you eat it later, eat slowly and don't choke. If you choke on the pepper, it will be bad."

"Yeah." Gu Li nodded obediently, then picked up the boiled beef, blew on it gently, put it into his mouth, chewed it slowly, then raised his eyes and looked at Chang An.

Chang An nodded with satisfaction and turned around to eat his own food.

Halfway through the meal, Chang An and the others heard a knock on the door, and Chang Wenmeng's voice: "Yonghe, Li'er, are you in there?"

Chang An and Gu Li looked at each other in confusion, then stood up. Chang An said, "Yes, father, please come in."

The door was opened and Chang Wenmeng walked in. Chang An and Gu Li saw what he was holding and were stunned for a moment - Chang Wenmeng was holding a pair of bowls and chopsticks.

Chang Wenmeng also caught a glimpse of the hot pot stove and the lettuce on the low table. He said, "I was wondering why I smelled a delicious aroma when I passed by your yard. It turns out you are eating hot pot."

"Father, this is not a hot pot." Gu Li smiled slightly and said, "This is the hot pot made by Chang Lang."

"Hot pot? What is this?" Chang Wenmeng was a little confused.

This question stumped Gu Li, so she could only turn her attention to Chang An, who replied in a timely manner: "Hot pot is a food I invented for Gu Niang. It is a copper hot pot that is heated from the inside. You put some of your favorite dishes in it, blanch them for a while, and you can eat it."

"Can I eat then..." He seemed to realize that he had lost his composure, so he coughed twice, "Can I have dinner with you then?"

At this time, Chang An and Gu Li both looked at the bowl and chopsticks in Chang Wenmeng's hand, feeling a little confused. But soon, Gu Li came back to his senses and replied with a smile: "Of course you can, Zhen'er, go get a mat."

"Yes."

Zhen'er quickly took a cushion and spread it in front of the low table, and was very considerate to spread the cushion next to herself, not between Chang'an and Gu Li. Chang Wenmeng also sat up with a smile, and then waved for them to sit down as well.

"This..." Chang Wenmeng thought for a moment and said, "Just put the food you want in there and blanch it and you can eat it?"

"Yes." Chang An nodded and said.

Chang Wenmeng picked up two slices of beef at random, put them in the pot to blanch them, and then put them in his mouth. After swallowing them, his eyes lit up -

"It's really delicious." Chang Wenmeng nodded with satisfaction, "Have you been eating this these days?"

"Yes, it's still cold now, and it snowed in the past two days. I'm afraid that the usual food will get cold after it's served, so I came up with this way of eating." Chang An explained, "The beef and mutton in it can also warm the body."

"Well...you are also a thoughtful person." Chang Wenmeng nodded with satisfaction and said.

While eating, Chang Wenmeng suddenly looked at Gu Li's stomach, propped his chin with chopsticks, and seemed to be thinking about something. Gu Li felt a little embarrassed when he was looked at, and Chang An quickly stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Chang Wenmeng's eyes.

"Father?" Chang An shouted, "Father, what are you thinking about?"

"Yonghe, it's been a while since you and Li'er got married, right? About a month and a half?" Chang Wenmeng asked after taking two mouthfuls of rice.

Chang Anton felt bad, but he nodded and replied, "Just as father said."

"This... You also know that Dr. Zhou, who works with me, had his grandson two days ago, and he wanted me to attend his full moon banquet at that time." Chang Wenmeng said.

Chang An was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Gu Li beside him, whose face was also a little red at this time. Even a fool could understand the meaning of such words - Chang Wenmeng was trying to induce labor!

"Um...Father, Mother Gu and I..." Chang An was suddenly at a loss. He also had to consider the feelings of Gu Li standing beside him, and suddenly he didn't know how to put it.

"What's wrong with you?" Chang Wenmeng leaned back slightly and looked Chang An up and down.

"That's it...that's it..." Chang An leaned closer to Chang Wenmeng and whispered, "Gu Niang and I can't have children now."

Chang Wenmeng's eyebrows twitched, and he also asked in a low voice: "Can't have a baby now? Why?"

He glanced at Gu Li again and continued, "I think Li'er is fine...she can have children."

"This..." Chang An was suddenly at a loss for words. After quickly organizing his words in his mind, he explained, "It's because Gu Niang's physical condition doesn't allow it. We have to wait."

"Please explain it clearly." Chang Wenmeng said directly.

"It's Mrs. Gu's lung disease," Chang An said, "She is still weak now. I understand that you want to have a grandson, but you have to consider me. I don't plan to marry again..."

Chang Wenmeng looked at Chang An, then at Gu Li, nodded in understanding, and said, "Okay, then there's no rush. Li'er's health is more important."

The father and son talked in a low voice for a while, then returned to their original sitting position, as if nothing had happened. Chang An also added some meat from the pot to Gu Li's bowl, then leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"It's okay, just eat your meal in peace."

After he finished speaking, he stroked her head as if to comfort her, and she nodded gently and continued to eat. While Chang An was eating, he would occasionally add some vegetables and meat to Gu Li, and Gu Li would directly pick up some vegetables and put them into Chang An's mouth, which made Chang Wenmeng's mouth sour.

Chang Wenmeng secretly glanced at Huaiqin and Zhen'er who were sitting next to him, and found that they seemed to be used to it, and were only concerned with eating and laughing. Suddenly, he felt that he was the one who was a little redundant, so he ate a little, stood up, and said:

"Take your time to eat. I'll be leaving first."

"Father, don't eat more. The food is enough." Chang An was relieved. With an elder sitting in the room, he was always a little uncomfortable. But he still tried to persuade him to stay.

"No, no." Chang Wenmeng waved his hand quickly, then took the bowl and left as if escaping.

Chang An and Gu Li both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Chang Wenmeng running away. Chang An also quickly said to Gu Li, "Mother Gu, don't take what father said just now to heart."

Gu Li sighed slightly and said, "I understand why my father has this thought..."

"Don't take it to heart, Gu Niang. When you get better, we'll consider this matter again." Chang An said, "Even if I'm accused of being unfilial, I can't force you to do it."

Gu Li looked at Chang An's serious expression and felt relieved. Then Chang An pulled her hand up again and said, "Father and I will listen to you on some matters. You don't have to force yourself."

She nodded and felt relieved.

After finishing the meal, Huaiqin and Zhen'er also told the servants to turn off the boiler and empty the dishes, and they also went to prepare hot water and clothes for bathing later. Chang'an and Gu Li were in the room, the latter still sitting in the arms of the former, although he was reading a book, but he seemed to be worried.

Chang An also noticed that something was wrong with Gu Li, so he took the book from her hand, put it aside, and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something bothering you again?"

"Hmm..." Gu Li nodded slightly.

"What is it?"

"Just...just about what my father talked about today..." Gu Li said hesitantly.

"Didn't I tell Gu Niang?" Chang An said, "My father and I won't rush you, Gu Niang. You are the eldest in our family."

"But it's only at home after all," Gu Li twisted his sleeves unhappily, "What if it's outside?"

"If this disease doesn't get better within a year, won't my stomach stop working for a year?"

"The bride has been married for a year and she doesn't seem to have any children. If this gets out, won't Chang Lang and his father be gossiped about?"

Chang An smiled, and whispered softly into Gu Li's ear, "No, everyone in Chang'an who knows me knows that I love my wife the most. No one dares to say these words."

"but……"

Gu Li wanted to say more, but Chang An put his index finger in front of his lips.

"No buts. I've already said that if you're happy, everyone in Changfu will be happy. No one will force you."

"If anyone dares to say bad things about you, I will be the first one to not let him go."

Gu Li felt warm in his heart when he heard his words, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Ah."

Gu Li continued to snuggle into Chang An's arms, feeling very warm.