However, before setting off, Pei Yao made a last-minute decision to bring Pei Yichen along as well.
During this period, Pei Yao and Pei Dalang always took the shortcut that Uncle Niu Er had told them about when they went to the county.
It is indeed faster than going around the town.
Yunniang steamed some buns she had made herself early in the morning for them to take on their journey.
"Yao'er, are you sure you don't need me to go to the Su residence with you two?" Pei Dalang took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand and looked at Pei Yao and Pei Yichen with some concern.
Pei Yao also took a bite of the bun in her hand and glanced at her uncle: "No need, we can go by ourselves. When we're done, Xiao Chen and I will wait for you under the crooked tree outside the city gate, or you can wait for us there if you're done first."
Pei Yao thought that today was Su Xue'er's coming-of-age ceremony, and there would definitely be a lot of people at the entrance of the Su residence. It would be inconvenient for Pei Dalang to wait there.
They decided to meet under the crooked tree outside the city gate.
Pei Dalang nodded: "Okay, then I'll wait for you there after I finish delivering the goods."
After finishing speaking, Pei Dalang glanced at Pei Yichen, who was eating a steamed bun, and tapped Pei Yichen on the head: "You brat, when you get to the Su residence later, remember to take good care of your older sister."
Pei Yichen was inexplicably tapped on the head by his father, but he wasn't annoyed. He continued to munch on the bun in his hand and mumbled, "Don't worry, Dad, I will."
The three of them took a shortcut, and Pei Dalang was skilled at riding horses, so they arrived at Shangtang County in no time.
Pei Dalang first escorted Pei Yao and Pei Yichen to the gate of the Su residence, gave them a few more instructions, and then watched Pei Yao and Pei Yichen enter the Su residence before starting to deliver goods to each household according to the book in his hand.
When Pei Yao arrived at the Su residence, the same servant boy who came to fetch her was the same one from before.
Pei Yao brought two large buckets of freshly made ice jelly, and the rest were seeds of Pili fruit. It wasn't that Pei Yao didn't want to bring more, but there was simply no room left in the carriage.
That's why Pei Yao brought Pei Yichen along, because she would be too busy to handle both mixing and kneading the ice jelly.
Su Xueer is the star of today's coming-of-age ceremony, and she is currently busy getting ready.
“Miss Pei, my name is Xiao Lai. You are the head chef invited by the young lady, so she specifically instructed me to accompany you throughout the day. Please let me know if you need anything.” The servant who had been leading Pei Yao back turned around and said to her.
Pei Yao noticed that he was a bit older than her, so she nodded politely and said, "Thank you, Xiao Lai."
Pei Yao sighed, "What a terrible name..."
Xiao Lai had someone put the ice jelly that Pei Yao brought into the kitchen first, and then he took Pei Yao to the kitchen.
According to Xiao Lai, the head chef of the Su family's kitchen was a former chef from Chunfeng Restaurant, the largest restaurant in the county.
Everyone's busy in the kitchen right now.
Xiao Lai introduced her: "Miss Pei, this is Chef He."
Pei Yao greeted him politely, "Hello, Chef He."
Xiao Lai continued, "Chef He, this is Miss Pei, who was specially invited by the young lady to make desserts."
Chef He glanced at Pei Yao with disdain, then snorted and turned to leave.
Xiao Lai glanced at Pei Yao somewhat awkwardly: "I'm sorry, Miss Pei, Chef He usually dislikes women working in the kitchen, so..."
Pei Yao didn't care. She was there to earn money anyway, so she didn't care how these people treated her.
Could it be that if he gave me a smile, I could earn a few more taels of silver?
No, it's not possible, so why bother with it?
The banquet at the Su residence is at 1:00 PM, so it's still early. Pei Yao plans to prepare several more buckets of ice jelly.
She looked at Xiao Lai, who had brought him over, and asked, "Brother Xiao Lai, do you know how many guests came today?"
Xiao Lai was a little confused as to why Pei Yao was asking these questions.
Pei Yao noticed the confusion in his eyes and quickly explained, "Brother Lai, I didn't mean anything by it. I just need to know how many people there are in advance so I can prepare accordingly."
Upon hearing Pei Yao's explanation, Xiao Lai understood and, after thinking for a moment, said, "The Su family is a prominent family in Shangtang County. The master set up a total of sixty-eight tables, with ten people at each table."
Upon hearing this, Pei Yao's lips twitched involuntarily.
As expected of a wealthy family, this coming-of-age ceremony had sixty-eight tables.
Pei Yao calculated that the bucket of ice jelly she brought today could hold about a hundred bowls.
The two buckets would contain about two hundred bowls.
Based on the number of guests at the Su residence, we'll need to make about four more buckets.
Pei Yao then looked at Xiao Lai and pointed to the wooden bucket she had brought: "Brother Xiao Lai, excuse me, do you have this kind of wooden bucket?"
The servant thought for a moment, then asked Pei Yao to wait while he went to find the people in the kitchen.
Pei Yao had thought there wasn't any, and was thinking that if there really wasn't any, she would just make do with something else. But this guy actually found it.
Pei Yao asked for another large basin to knead the ice jelly.
She brought her own gauze, sugar water, mint leaves, and lychee wine, so she didn't need to ask them for any.
All she needs to do now is find a place with water to knead the ice jelly.
Pei Yao usually uses well water to make ice jelly because well water is colder, which makes the ice jelly taste better.
Fortunately, there really was a large well in the kitchen of the Su family mansion.
Pei Yao told Xiao Lai about her need for well water, and he immediately went to find someone to fetch water for her.
The kitchen was bustling with activity, and people were needed everywhere, so Pei Yao's request for water immediately displeased Chef He.
He became even angrier when he saw that the other person was a young girl.
He has always looked down on women who show off.
"What are you all doing? Can't you see the kitchen needs help too? We're already short-staffed, and now you're going to fetch water for a girl? Is she going to take a bath here?"
The chef was a big, burly man who spoke very rudely.
Pei Yichen immediately sensed the insult in his words and was about to get up to argue with the chef.
Pei Yao stopped Pei Yichen, her hands still kneading the ice jelly: "It's okay, saying a few words won't hurt us. The most important thing for us now is to make the ice jelly. Don't worry about him."
When Chef He saw that Pei Yao ignored him, he felt he had lost face and snorted coldly in Pei Yao's direction.
Then he grabbed the servant who was still carrying water for Pei Yao and said, "Don't mention it. Can't you see the kitchen needs help too?"
The servant was suddenly pulled, spilling water from his hands. He looked at the chef hesitantly, "Chef He, Brother Lai asked me to help Miss Pei fetch some water..."
When Chef He saw that he still dared to talk back to him, he glared at him with his big bull eyes: "Butler Su sent you here to help me. Do you listen to me or to that stinky woman? If you delay me from serving the dishes, can you take responsibility?"
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