Chapter 28 As You Wish

  " Celery!"

  Someone shouted outside.

  The young maid who was trimming new flower branches under the veranda looked up at the sound.

  "You want pig liver and sheep liver." A little girl poked her head in, pinching her nose, and handed over a greased paper package with one hand.

  The girl got up with a smile and went to greet him.

  "Oh no, sister, what are you going to use this for? It's scary." The little girl asked with a hint of disdain.

  "The young lady wants to eat." said Yatou.

  That little girl pouted.

  "She said, 'You had a good kitchen sent over and you didn't eat it. What are you eating? You're really stupid.'"

  "Our daughter is not a fool," said Yatou.

  The maid standing outside the door was momentarily stunned when she heard this.

  This conversation, this name...

  It seems like nothing has changed here for this entire month. Those girls coming and going is something that never happened in the first place.

  "You're not afraid of fools, I am, I'm leaving." The little girl waved her hand and quickly ran away.

  The girl came in carrying an oil-paper package.

  "Sister, the fire is ready." The two maids in the kitchen said with their heads out, looking at what was in her hand and showing a few points of disdain, "Really going to eat this?"

  "Unless you go tell your wife to stop eating?" The maid said with a smile.

  "I'm so fed up with living... I won't go." A young maid said with a smile, and withdrew.

  "She even changed your name, I don't want to have my name changed." Another one said, also hiding away.

  "It doesn't matter what I'm called, as long as I'm still me." Yatou smiled and also entered the kitchen.

  The noodles are good, the small brick oven is burning hot, the steamed liver and kidney are mashed into mud, three girls sitting in the kitchen, two wrapping fillings, one putting it into the oven to roast.

  "This is so weird and strange... how did you come up with these..."

  "Leaving the good pancakes in the kitchen untouched, you insist on eating this, that and those things which are only fit for dogs..."

  Two girls were whispering to each other, and suddenly stopped talking.

  The fragrance spread throughout the kitchen.

  "It's hot, it's hot." The girl put the roasted ones into a bamboo plate and said while blowing her fingers.

  "Smells so good." The two girls couldn't help but gather around, looking at the golden crispy small round cakes.

  The girl smiled and opened one with her hands.

  "Want to try some salty and bland?" she asked.

  Looking at the filling, two girls hesitated for a moment, and one of them had already put it in her mouth to eat.

  "Mmm!" The girl widened her eyes and nodded, "Delicious."

  She muttered vaguely and quickly took another bite, scalding her tongue and couldn't help but suck in cool air.

  "I'll try some, I made the filling myself, let's see how it is." A young maid couldn't help herself, wiped her oily hand on her apron and put the remaining half into her mouth.

  Few people pass by Chang Jiaoniang's courtyard unless they have to.

  At this time, two reluctant maidservants were walking outside the courtyard, their footsteps hurried as if they couldn't wait to get past, but suddenly one of them stopped in her tracks.

  "Mmm, smells so good." She said sniffing it.

  "Yes." Another one also sniffed and looked towards this side of the courtyard.

  The two of them exchanged a glance.

  "And they're still spoiling that fool, truly more doted on than other daughters." They said with a curl of their lips, "Who knows what kind of good will come out of this."

  The girl carried a food box into the house, knelt down and set up the dinner table, put down the food box, and moved the dinner table to the window.

  "Daughter, eat." She said respectfully, pushing the dinner table over.

  The girl sitting sideways with her eyes closed and leaning on a low table by the window opened her eyes and put down her bent legs.

  "Girl, try some and see if it's okay?" said Yatou.

  Jiang Nang picked up a small pancake with her hand, pinched it open and slowly put it into her mouth.

  The girl is not so nervous, she has tasted it before and is very confident in the finished product.

  "It's too delicious." Jiang Niang shook her head and said, having eaten only one before putting it down.

  The girl nodded slightly.

  "What's wrong with that?" she asked in puzzlement.

  "Not good, it's too scattered. It should be savory, not smelling fragrant but tasting fragrant." said Cheng Jiaoniang, slowly eating the porridge with a spoon.

  So many particularities, your wife's taste is also too awesome, how was she raised!

  Is this all there is to being a noble and aristocratic family?

  The girl felt a bit helpless, or maybe it was just that the real half-vegetable had good craftsmanship.

  "I'm stupid." She said with her head bowed.

  "It doesn't matter, it's just a small path, I'll make sure you're not clumsy." said Cheng Jiaoniang, without looking at her, pausing for a moment, "if you want to."

  The girl's face was filled with joy, and she bowed her head again.

  "Half celery, thank you for your trouble," she said.

  Jiang Nang no longer spoke and slowly ate her meal, while Yatou carefully served the dishes.

  "Daughter, what's this?" She thought of something and asked, "It turns out that those inferior foods that nobody eats can also be made to taste so good."

  Jiang Nang glanced at the golden pancakes in the green bamboo plate.

  "Taiping." She blurted out, pausing for a moment as the name became clearer in her memory, "Taiping Mantou."

  "Peaceful?" The girl read it out loud and laughed, "What a auspicious name! Eating this every day will bring eternal peace."

  Those who can't eat this will be unhappy.

  "Mother!" Cheng Qiuniang exclaimed, lifting her skirt as she came in.

  Madam Cheng II hurriedly hushed her.

  "Your brother has just fallen asleep," she said.

  The wet nurse hastily took the infant from her arms and backed away.

  There are seven daughters-in-law here, and children can't sleep well here.

  "Mother, Aunt is being partial!" Cheng Qiuniang shouted, kneeling down beside her mother and shaking her arm.

  "What's wrong? Who is Auntie biased towards?" asked Madame Cheng Er.

  It's natural for her to be biased towards them, she thought to herself, even if they were biological children of the same parents, mothers still have their own preferences, let alone when it comes to two different families that are only related by siblings.

  I really don't know what I was thinking before, I actually thought that a sister-in-law is like a mother, but not the real mother.

  "That fool!" said Cheng Qiuniang.

  "What a fool?" Madame Cheng frowned, took the fan and gently shook it. "What good is she selling? The money spent is not even her own."

  A maid standing beside her coughed softly to remind her.

  Don't say anything improper in front of children, as they speak without reserve.

  "Your aunt is taking care of her, and she's a patient, so it's only natural that she's a bit biased." Madam Cheng said, covering up what was just said.

  "She's an idiot, not like Fourth Brother who is ill. What's the use of eating all sorts of delicious food every day? When you're ill and eat well to nourish your body, it's good for recovery. Can an idiot become smart by eating well too?" Chang Qiuniang shouted, hugging her mother's arm, "Mother, I want some too! Am I not as good as a fool in this house?"

  Madam Cheng II felt dizzy from being shaken.

  "Is it really cooking separately?" she asked the servant woman.

  "It's roughly that," the servant woman replied, "except for three meals a day and two snacks, people from the kitchen often send over fruits, meat and vegetables, which are all bought separately and not what we usually use."

  "Mother, I also want to start on my own, I don't want to eat those from the kitchen." Cheng Qiuniang hastily followed up and said.

  If money is spent on public welfare, why don't all the children in the family have it?

  If it's not the money from the public, then it must be the dowry of the first wife. Since we've mentioned the dowry, let's talk about it in detail, shall we?

  Madam Cheng II grasped her fan and fell silent for a moment.

  "Good, since she's eating, you'll naturally eat too. What do you want to eat? Go ask the kitchen." She said with a nod and a smile as she looked at her daughter.