Mu Lianrong directed the women's team to serve the dishes to the table, Fang Rou and Cheng Yue were slicing the braised offal and arranging it on a plate, and the two sisters-in-law were stir-frying vegetables under Xiao Yunying's direction.
She seasoned the minced meat herself. Since she couldn't taste the raw meat, she relied entirely on her sense of taste. It was okay if it was bland, as she could add seasoning to the soup.
Once the radish and meatball soup is ready, all the dishes are complete.
After working for several hours, everyone was hungry. Mu Lianrong invited the helpers to sit at two separate tables and brought up the dishes that were still warming in the pot.
Xiao Yunying took off her apron: "Mother, let's go eat too."
She was really hungry.
"You all go inside to eat, Mother has to stay in the courtyard to entertain the guests."
"Then remember to eat, Mother. The feast has already started, so there's no need to invite her."
"Mother knows, please go inside quickly."
Cheng Yue tugged at Xiao Yunying: "There's a carriage coming this way. Is it looking for you?"
"It should be."
Xiao Yunying waited for a while, and after confirming that the carriage was coming towards her home, she went to greet it.
"Ling Qi, has your young master arrived?"
"They're here."
Ling Qi, who was driving the carriage, stopped the carriage and jumped down. He took out a footstool and placed it on the ground. The curtain was lifted, and Chen Yuancheng, who was wearing a dark blue brocade robe embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, got out of the carriage.
"Oh? You even dressed up specially today. No wonder you're so late. I thought you had something to do and weren't coming."
Chen Yuancheng covered his mouth with his fist and coughed lightly: "I'm here to congratulate you, so I can't dress too shabbily."
Chen Yuanyao and Chen Yuanxuan got out of the car. Chen Yuanyao straightened her skirt and asked, "How is it, Sister Yunying? Does my brother look good in this?"
"It looks good. Your brother has fair skin, and blue suits him very well."
Chen Yuanxuan, holding a square wooden box, said, "The lateness wasn't because of my eldest brother, it was all because of my second sister. She dawdled and that's why we were late. Here, take this."
"A gift for me? Thank you."
Chen Yuanyao took out two slender brocade boxes from the car: "I also picked out a congratulatory gift for you. I hope you like it."
"Thank you, please come in quickly, I've saved some food for you."
Ling Qi tied the carriage to a tree outside the gate and entered the courtyard with two brocade boxes, each about the same size as those in Chen Yuanyao's hands.
People outside were speculating about the identities of these young men and women who looked like they came from wealthy families, and why they were here.
Xiao Yunying led them into the courtyard and introduced their identities to the clan elders.
The three of them, without any airs, paid their respects to Xiao Yunying's parents and elders. Xiao Yunying, fearing they would feel uncomfortable, said a few words and then led them into the living room she had specially built to entertain guests.
Xiao Yunying still set up a separate table for the children in the living room, and when she went in, the children were eating happily.
Luo Chen brought her water: "Mom, wash your face first."
Chen Yuanyao stared wide-eyed: "What? You're married?! And you have such a big son?"
Xiao Yunying placed the brocade box on the table, washed her face, and dried it with a towel: "What's wrong?"
Chen Yuanyao said with a strange expression, "Nothing, nothing."
He led the three Chen siblings and Cheng Yue to their seats at the dining table: "I specially invited you all. You don't mind eating together, do you?"
Cheng Yue was a little reserved: "It's okay for me."
Chen Yuancheng said, "We should follow the host's lead. We are all guests, so the same treatment is fine."
"Okay, wait here, I'll go get the food for you."
Xiao Yunying went to the kitchen, where a large pot was heating up the food she had specially saved for them. Cheng Yue came over to help.
"Yun Ying, how do you know the young master of the Chen family?"
“I sold my snow fungus and worms to their family, so we know each other. Don’t be nervous, their family is very kind and easy to get along with.”
"The Chen family members are of high status, so be careful when you interact with them."
“I know, their family is in business.”
Cheng Yue lowered her voice: "Not only that, when I went to the county government to report accounts and pay taxes at the end of last year, I saw the county magistrate bowing to Master Chen. I had previously taken on the business of making purses for the Chen family, and I had seen Master Chen and Madam Chen once when I went to the Chen family. I can't mistake them."
"The county magistrate bowed to Chen Yuancheng's father?"
Although this world does not have a formal hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, scholars are definitely at the top. Even if the Chen family bribed the county magistrate with silver, they would at most be treated as equals by the magistrate.
The county magistrate's surname is not Chen, and he is not from the Chen family. He can only bow to Chen Yuancheng's father if the Chen family has done him a favor or taught him.
Another possibility is that the Chen family was not an ordinary merchant family, but must have had a powerful force behind them, a position higher than that of the county magistrate.
"I understand, thank you for reminding me, Sister Cheng Yue."
"I know you're smart, you know what you're doing."
Xiao Yunying was cooking a special meal for Chen Yuancheng in the kitchen when Cheng Yue took the dishes out and soon brought them in: "Yunying, Young Master Chen said he wants to wash his hands."
"The basin is on the long table, and there's water in the vat. Help yourself; I can't free my hands."
After washing his hands, Chen Yuancheng remembered that the face towel draped next to him was the one Xiao Yunying had used to wipe her face earlier, which made her face slightly flushed. He didn't use it and let his hands air dry.
Chen Yuanyao washed her hands and ran to the stove: "What a small pot! Sister Yunying, what are you making?"
The pan she's using to stir-fry is a modern-style small pan, the kind with handles.
"I'll cook special meals for your brother. He prefers light flavors, and I don't know if he can handle strong, oily, and heavily seasoned dishes."
"It's such a blessing for my brother to know you, what a pity..."
Xiao Yunying ladled the food onto a plate: "What's the pity?"
"It's nothing, I'll help you serve the dishes."
"Okay, take it out and don't bring it back in, there's too much smoke in here."
After Xiao Yunying finished cooking two dishes, she opened the steamer and filled three plates with custard buns shaped like little pigs.
One plate was placed at the children's table, and two plates were placed at the long table.
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