When the groom comes to present the betrothal gifts, there must be a meal, so Xia Hongfen quickly asked Xia Mingshi and Aunt Lihua to help prepare the meal.
After speaking with Xia Chunmei, Chen Jinlian quickly joined the group.
The meat dishes that Baili Xiao brought were all ready-made, and these women were skilled at working. With Xia Chunmei giving guidance, they quickly prepared three tables of delicious food.
The men sat at one table, the women at another, and Xia Mingshi and a few others who helped out sat at yet another.
"It smells so good!" the matchmaker exclaimed, sniffing the air. "It looks so appetizing."
"Of course, this was made under Chunmei's guidance. Chunmei's cooking skills are famous throughout the surrounding area," Xia Hongfen said with pride. "Eat up, everyone, don't be shy."
Su Xuedan never expected to see such delicious and visually appealing dishes at this farmhouse.
Baili Xiao had already started eating without any hesitation, and Erbing and Santiao followed suit.
"Wow, this is delicious!"
"It truly lives up to its reputation; the food here is in no way inferior to that of Juxianglou."
"With just Miss Xia's guidance, you can make such delicious food. If Miss Xia were to cook it herself, what would happen? If she opened a restaurant, I'm afraid Juxianglou would have to go out of business."
The matchmaker was lavish in her praise of the two cakes and three strips.
Xia Hongfen beamed with joy upon hearing this.
Xia Hongfen is happy when others praise her niece.
However, Su Xuedan and her servant Yu Meng did not touch their chopsticks.
Xia Hongfen asked, "Girl, why aren't you eating? Is the food not to your liking? How about I make you something new? What do you like to eat?"
"No need, Grandma, I..." Su Xuedan waved her hand, then picked up her chopsticks, but looked troubled.
Xia Chunmei could tell that Su Xuedan was somewhat disgusted with the farm-style food, feeling that even the cooking utensils and tableware were not clean enough.
Xia Chunmei did not force her, saying, "Miss Su, you don't need to force yourself to eat dishes that don't suit your taste. I have a box of unopened pastries here, you can have some to tide you over."
After saying that, Xia Chunmei took out an unopened package of mung bean cakes from the room and handed it to her.
Su Xuedan's face immediately turned red.
"Aunt Xia, I..."
"No need to explain, I understand. It's normal for the food to differ between where you live and where we live." Xia Chunmei gave Su Xuedan plenty of face.
Xia Hongfen finally realized that what she meant by "the food wasn't to her liking" was actually a complaint about their family.
Xia Hongfen remained silent, thinking that her niece's fake marriage might be the right thing to do. If the groom's family were all like that, her niece would probably have a hard time.
After the meal, Baili Xiao and the others left.
No sooner had they left than Chen Erlan and Geng Dewang arrived at their door.
"Chunmei..."
"Aren't you leaving yet!" Xia Hongfen swung a broom and hit Chen Erlan. "My niece is having such a wonderful day, and you come to cause trouble. I'll beat you to death!"
Now that Baili Xiao and the others have left, Xia Hongfen has completely let loose and is chasing after Chen Erlan to beat her up.
"Auntie, stop hitting her. It's not worth getting upset over someone like that." Xia Chunmei saw that Chen Erlan had been hit several times before she reached out to stop Xia Hongfen.
"Aunt Chen, I advise you not to waste your time. My sisters and I will not go to the Geng family with you."
"We're all cunning foxes, so let's stop with the ghost stories. I know your intentions perfectly well, and I advise you to give up on that idea. I've already put Jiang Shi in jail, Fan Baowen is now ruined, and Xia Changjiang's family doesn't dare go back to Yijia Village anymore. If you dare to plot against us sisters, what do you think I'll do to you? Hmm?"
Xia Chunmei didn't want to play games with them, so she put her point directly.
Chen Erlan and Geng Dewang looked rather grim.
“Chunmei, you’ve misunderstood. I have no ulterior motives. I just can’t let go of you all, so I came back to visit. If you don’t want to see me, I’ll appear in front of you less often in the future,” Chen Erlan said. “Seeing you sisters living a prosperous and stable life today, I’m actually quite relieved.”
“There are many misunderstandings between you, but I think time will tell,” Geng Dewang said. “We’ll head back now, and we’ll come back for your wedding banquet.”
Geng Dewang spoke eloquently, always with a smile on his face, giving people a friendly feeling, but Xia Chunmei knew that this man was by no means simple!
With a narrow forehead and a vertical line between his eyebrows, he is an absolutely ruthless person!
Xia Chunmei felt uneasy and decided to find Xia Ping'an sometime to ask him to keep an eye on the two of them.
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