Lian Manman saw Lady Zhang suddenly make such a statement, and at first, she didn’t understand what Lady Zhang meant. However, after observing Lady Zhang’s expression, Lian Manman began to vaguely understand.

Lady Zhang was talking about Shen Liu.

Lian Manman quickly turned her head away, pretending to be busy and didn’t engage with Lady Zhang’s topic.

"Saying he was just passing by? If you ask me, he heard our family came out, and he followed right after," Lady Zhang continued to mutter to herself, looking amused. "He said he wanted to see the greenhouse, but for a person like him, what good things hasn’t he seen? If you said Xiao Jiu was interested in seeing these things, I’d believe it. He isn’t there to see the greenhouse, that’s just an excuse. He really wants to..."

"Mother, look at these few snacks, aren’t they too ordinary? Should we switch them with something else?" Lian Manman finally couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted.

Lady Zhang saw that Lian Manman was talking about arranging the lunch, so she stopped talking.

"You decide, change them if you want. But don’t change the scallion pancakes," Lady Zhang said. "Liu Xing’s wife in the kitchen on this farmstead makes the best scallion pancakes. They’re even better than mine, and even our head chef can’t compare to her."

Women from farmsteads are often skillful and can make simple ingredients remarkably delicious. Some of them are especially adept at one or two dishes, sometimes possessing unique skills that even top-tier chefs can’t match. You wouldn’t know unless you taste it, but once you do, it’s astonishing. As the saying goes, beauty lies among the common folk. Many wonderful things exist in the community, unnoticed.

Scallion pancakes may seem very ordinary, but to make them taste good requires finesse. First of all, concerning ingredients, the scallions used in these pancakes must be young green onions, not large scallions.

In this season, typically only large scallions are available, not young green onions. Luckily, Lian Manman’s family built a greenhouse, and when they were discussing what to grow in the greenhouse, both Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang first proposed young green onions.

Young green onions and large scallions are actually the same species, or perhaps they’re derived from the same source.

In spring, onion seeds are densely sown in the furrows, and by late spring or early summer, tender green young onions grow. Young green onions have a tender green color and grow relatively slender. At this time, people begin pulling them up to eat.

As people keep consuming them, the onions grow larger. However, this type of onion has limited potential for growth. It requires a secondary transplant, which involves pulling out the young green onions by their roots and replanting them elsewhere.

This transplant gives the young green onions a second life, enabling them to grow stronger day by day. Without this transplant, the young green onions would only grow old.

After transplanting, they become large scallions. When farmstead families eat large scallions, it’s different from young green onions; they usually don’t pull out the whole stalk to eat it, but rather only pick the leaves. Large scallions with the leaves picked still grow new leaves, allowing one scallion to be consumed for a long time, until autumn.

Large scallions have thick stalks and more substantial leaves, more fibrous than young green onions, with less water content, making them more durable for storage. With proper storage, the large scallions pulled up in autumn can last until the following year.

But these large scallions don’t have the tender freshness of young green onions, and absolutely cannot be used for making scallion pancakes.

The tender green of the scallions, the purity of the flour, and the aroma of both scallions and wheat flour make scallion pancakes visually appealing and flavorful. Since the start of winter, scallion pancakes have often graced the dining table of Lian Manman’s family, and they are quite favored by the family.

With good food, Lady Zhang naturally wants the future son-in-law to have a taste.

Lian Manman intended to steer away from the topic, so she didn’t argue with Lady Zhang’s suggestion.

Unexpectedly, Lady Zhang was still unsatisfied and, after finishing the matter at hand, continued with the topic previously interrupted.

"...from his eyes, you can tell he wants to look at..."

"Ahem, ahem..." Lian Manman coughed twice.

"Manman, did you hear what your mother said?" Lady Zhang asked Lian Manman.

"Oh, mother, what did you say? Oh, you’re talking about Sixth Master. Yes, Sixth Master is indeed very kind to you," Lian Manman intentionally said.

"Indeed, Sixth Master treats us well," Lady Zhang smiled and nodded, refraining from talking further. She seemed to recall Shen Liu’s attentiveness to the family and feared upsetting her daughter by continuing the conversation, so she stopped.

At midday, a banquet was set on the farmstead. In the front, Lian Shouxin, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi accompanied the Shen brothers, Shen Liu and Shen Jiu, while Lian Manman and Lady Zhang set a separate table in the back courtyard’s private room. As for the attendants and servants from both families, they were hosted in the side courtyard with a banquet.