Three Kingdoms: A wise grandson, Cao Wei can last for three generations!

"The Prime Minister is truly a living bodhisattva!" Some people kowtowed in the street.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao remained silent for a long time. Then he said to Cao Rui, "Did you hear that? They say I'm a living bodhisattva."

Cao Rui remained silent.

Cao Cao gave a wry smile: "But I know that behind my back they call me 'Cao the Traitor'."

"Grandfather," Cao Rui said earnestly, "it doesn't matter what the people call you. What matters is that they are no longer cold in winter."

Cao Cao looked at him with a complicated expression.

"What you said is even better than what your master said."

That afternoon, Cao Rui left Pang Tong's place and passed by the East Market when he saw a group of people gathered at the entrance of the Ice Room.

"What's wrong?" He squeezed in and saw a notice posted at the entrance of the ice cream parlor: "Closed for the winter, will reopen next summer."

Cao Rui frowned. Closing the icehouse in winter was fine. But what would happen to the shop's staff? What about Manager Zhen and Accountant Wang?

He thought for a moment and then had someone call Manager Zhen over.

"Grandpa Zhen, the ice cream parlor won't be open in winter. What will you and your staff do?"

Manager Zhen smiled and said, "It's alright, this old servant will just go back to the Zhen family. There's room for Accountant Wang too. The employees can find other work to do."

Cao Rui shook his head: "No. The ice room is our business, and the staff are our people. We can't let them go just because we're not open in winter."

Shopkeeper Zhen paused for a moment, then asked, "So, young master, you mean...?"

"In winter, we sell hot drinks, and the ice cream parlor is converted into a tea room. We sell hot tea, hot wine, and hot soup. And—we also sell hot pot."

Manager Zhen's eyes widened: "Hot pot?"

"Yes," Cao Rui nodded. "Put a pot on the stove, and you can have hot pot with mutton and cabbage. In the dead of winter, who wouldn't want something hot?"

Shopkeeper Zhen's eyes lit up: "Young master, you are brilliant!"

Cao Rui thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't need to be too big, just four or five tables will do. The price shouldn't be too expensive, so that ordinary people can afford it."

Manager Zhen nodded repeatedly.

That evening, Cao Rui went to see Cao Cao and told him about converting the ice room into a tea room. After listening, Cao Cao was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"How much money does your ice cream parlor make in a month?"

"In the summer, it's about sixty strings of cash a month."

"How much can you earn by converting it into a teahouse now?"

Cao Rui thought for a moment and said, "Not necessarily. But my grandson isn't doing this for money."

"Why is that?"

"To provide a warm place for people during the winter, the teahouses are heated by stoves. People can spend just a few coins to have a bowl of hot soup and sit there all afternoon. It's much better than freezing at home."

Cao Cao looked at him, his gaze holding something indescribable.

"Okay." He nodded. "If anything happens, I'll take the blame for you. Just keep driving."

In December of the sixteenth year of Jian'an, the ice room reopened and was renamed "Warm Heart Tea Room".

A couplet hangs at the entrance, written by Cao Zhi: the first line reads, "The weather is freezing cold, there's nowhere to go," and the second line reads, "A warm teahouse offers comfort and warmth." The horizontal inscription reads, "Come in and have a seat."

There were five tables in the tea room, and in the center of each table was a stove with an iron pot on it. Steam was rising from the pot, and a few slices of ginger and scallions floated on top.

The menu was simple: hot tea was two coins a bowl, hot wine was five coins a bowl, and bone broth was three coins a bowl. Hot pot was fifty coins a pot, which came with a plate of mutton, a plate of cabbage, and a plate of tofu. Additional dishes were charged separately.

On the first day of opening, a long queue formed at the door.

They weren't there for the hot pot—most people couldn't afford a pot of hot pot that cost fifty coins—they were there for the three-coin bone broth.

In the dead of winter, you can get a bowl of hot bone broth for just three coins and relax in a cozy teahouse. Who wouldn't want that?

Manager Zhen stood behind the counter, beaming from ear to ear. Although hot pot wasn't selling much, bone broth and hot tea were selling like hotcakes. By the end of the day, the turnover was no less than in the summer.

"Young master, your brain is really..." Manager Zhen shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Cao Rui, wearing the white mask, sat in the corner with a bowl of hot tea in front of him, sipping it slowly.

"Grandpa Zhen, remember one thing—when poor people come, give them a bowl of hot soup, but don't take their money."

Shopkeeper Zhen was taken aback: "You don't take money?"

"Yes." Cao Rui put down his bowl. "We set aside ten strings of cash each month specifically for those who can't afford to eat. We bring them a bowl of hot soup and a piece of bread to warm them up."

Looking at the seven-year-old child, Manager Zhen suddenly felt his eyes welling up with tears.

"Young master, what a heart you have..."

Cao Rui waved his hand: "It's not that I'm kind-hearted, it's just that this world is too cold. I'll try to warm the hearts of whoever I can."

In the winter of the sixteenth year of Jian'an (208 AD), on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Cao Cao hosted a banquet at the Prime Minister's residence, inviting his officials to eat hot pot.

It's not a copper pot, it's an iron pot. It's not charcoal, it's honeycomb briquettes. It's not clear broth, it's bone broth. The table is covered with dipping sauces: sesame paste, minced garlic, chive blossom sauce, dogwood juice, vinegar, and soy sauce—mix whatever you like.

The ministers sat around the stove, eating hot pot with mutton and drinking hot wine, sweating profusely as they ate.

"Prime Minister, this is delicious!" Cheng Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Eating this is the most comforting thing to do in the dead of winter."

Xun Yu nodded, picked up a piece of cabbage, dipped it in the pot, and savored it.

Liu Ye smiled and said, "You eat so lightly, my lord?"

Xun Yu smiled slightly: "Cabbage has its own flavor, there's no need to dip everything in sesame sauce."

Cao Zhi sat in the corner, holding Xiaobai in his arms. The dog, tempted by the aroma of the hot pot, kept moving closer to the table. Cao Zhi picked up a piece of mutton, blew on it to cool it down, and put it into the dog's mouth.

Little Whitey wagged its tail as it ate.

Cao Cao saw it and glared at him: "Zijian, that's for human consumption!"

Cao Zhi chuckled: "Father, Xiaobai is also family."

Cao Cao was speechless, choked by his words, and turned to look at Cao Pi. Cao Pi was intently eating hot pot mutton, his mouth full of sauce, and his mouth was dripping with oil.

"Zihuan, eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."

Cao Pi looked up, sesame paste still on his lips: "Father, this is so delicious, I can't stop eating it."

Cao Cao shook his head and then looked at Cao Rui. Cao Rui was serving Ma Yunlu food, one piece after another, very attentively.

"Rui'er, you eat too."

Cao Rui chuckled: "Grandfather, I'm not hungry."

Ma Yunlu blushed, lowered her head and picked at the food in her bowl, not daring to look up.

Cao Cao looked at this scene and suddenly laughed.

"Okay, okay."

He raised his wine cup and looked around—Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, Cao Rui, Ma Yunlu, and a whole hall of civil and military officials were gathered around the stove, eating hot pot, in a lively and harmonious atmosphere.

"Come," he raised his glass, "let us drink to this together, gentlemen!"

The ministers responded in unison, raised their cups, and drank together.

Outside the window, snowflakes fluttered down. Inside, the hot pot bubbled and steamed. That winter, Xuchang was warm and cozy.