On the first day of business, Song Xia did not officially open for business. Instead, she invited her neighbors, including Aunt Zhong, Granny Liu, and Director Chen, who had helped her before, to a meal. Xia Ru, Xiao Chenghe, Liang Zheng, and Xia Ru's mother were also invited to another table. Finally, Tingting's two teachers and her junior brother were added, filling all three private rooms.
Just because she doesn't charge money doesn't mean everyone will feel entitled to come and freeload. Aunt Zhong and Granny Liu are more practical; they brought some fruit and milk. Xia Ru and her family brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a box of tea, imported chocolates, and candies. As for Tingting's two teachers, they brought paper, pens, and ink that were more suitable for Tingting.
After they arrived, none of them immediately went into the private room, but instead began to admire the scenery of the courtyard.
The courtyard was arranged by Song Xia to be extremely quiet and elegant, with pavilions, flowing water, small fish, flowers and plants, and a neat vegetable garden that was still full of life even as winter approached. Everyone felt that their eyes were not enough to see it all, and even those who were not familiar with each other started chatting.
Aunt Zhong and Granny Liu stood under the eaves of the kitchen, gloating as they told Song Xia the latest jokes about Sun Xiurong's family.
“You’ve been doing much better since you left that family. If you had left sooner, you wouldn’t have been exploited by them for so many years.”
“Sun Xiurong is a real scoundrel. Seeing that you are doing so well now, we are relieved.”
"Did you know that Qin Jiawei's parents were called in again? I heard it's because he colluded with thugs from outside the school to bully students in the school. It's just that he's still in compulsory education, otherwise he would have been forced to drop out of school long ago."
"Sun Xiurong is not ashamed at all, but proud of it. She even bragged to us that her grandson is amazing. It's hilarious. With Qin Jiawei's personality, who would want to hang out with him unless he bribes people outside the school?"
“I told my granddaughter to stay away from him. It wouldn’t be worth it if she got involved.”
"We should stay away," Song Xia nodded briefly. "Isn't Qin Yuping going to do anything about it?"
"What does she care?" Aunt Zhong said disdainfully. "Ever since she couldn't get anything out of Sun Xiurong, she hasn't come back even once."
"The way the mother and daughter used to show how loving and filial they were was all based on your service to them. Now that you're not going to suffer for it, it would be strange if they could get along well."
Song Xia smiled knowingly. She had already guessed this outcome. Sun Xiurong and Qin Yuping were the same type of person, both unwilling to suffer losses and only happy to take advantage. Sun Xiurong was also a sexist, and Qin Yuping also had to consider her son. In the end, they definitely couldn't get along. However, the speed at which they turned against each other was faster than she had imagined.
"I heard that Sun Xiurong is still in custody battle with Qin Jiawei's biological mother, Xie Liying. Sun Xiurong is afraid that Qin Jiawei will change his mind in court and say that he wants to stay with his biological mother, so she keeps giving him money to coax him. The more she coaxes him, the more outrageous Qin Jiawei becomes."
"Who told her to spoil Qin Jiawei so much that he doesn't recognize his own family and only cares about money? Qin Jiawei is also ungrateful. His own mother abandoned him from birth, but he still acknowledges her."
"To be honest, he doesn't really agree with anyone; he just goes along with whoever agrees with him."
"Xie Liying is clearly only going along with him temporarily to get money. Once she really gets custody of him, do you think she'll still be as close to her younger son?"
Song Xia lifted the lid of the braised pork, and the aroma wafted out: "Whatever the outcome, it's his fate."
"It smells so good!"
"The color is so beautiful."
“Sun Xiurong is ungrateful for her good fortune. She is not satisfied with such a good daughter-in-law as you. Now she is reaping the bitter fruit of her misfortune.”
"Don't listen to her tough talk. She probably regrets it a lot. She used to be able to do nothing at home and just wait to be fed. Look at her now!"
"In just a few months, she looks like she has aged several years. Even when she is sick, she can't rest. I have to say she deserves it."
"I was hoping Qin Jiawei would amount to something, but I think it's good enough if he doesn't torment her to death."
"If I were him, given Qin Jiawei's situation, I would just pay some money to give custody to Xie Liying, and he could live comfortably with his partner in his old age. At least he would have an easier time."
"With her grandson by her side, she would be happy even if she were tortured to death. Her thoughts are something that others cannot understand."
Song Xia removed the lid of the old duck soup again, and another aroma wafted over. Xia Ru and Wen Wanyu, who were chatting in the pavilion, couldn't help but come over.
"Several main dishes are ready, please take your seats."
Xia Ru was the guest who had eaten the most of Song Xia's cooking among those invited today, so she had been craving it for a long time. Heaven knows how she had been coping for the past two months. Even though her own mother cooked the familiar flavors every day, she still had to eat the pickled vegetables and sauces left by Song Xia with her rice.
Wen Wanyu and Qu Guangbo, on the other hand, mostly ate Song Xia's usual snacks, and this was their first time eating a full meal. But the aroma made their stomachs rumble.
It's hard to believe that student Tingting's mother has such excellent cooking skills. Although the price is a bit high, they don't lack the money, and it's close by, so it seems like they can come here often in the future.
Upon hearing Song Xia mention dinner, Tang Qi kept urging, "Hurry up, let's go back and sit down, my mouth is watering."
"You little glutton."
The first dish served was cold black fungus and bean curd salad. Song Xia prepared different quantities for the three private rooms based on the number of people in each room, so that Teacher Wen and Teacher Qu wouldn't be deprived of the dishes they wanted to eat just because there were fewer people in their group.
Then, braised duck soup, braised pork, salt and pepper shrimp, salt-baked chicken, steamed fish, and other dishes were served one after another. Almost as soon as one dish was served, another was gone, which showed how eager everyone was to eat. Even the refined teachers, Mr. Wen and Mr. Qu, were no exception.
"Old Qu, how long has it been since you've eaten something this delicious?"
Qu Guangbo sighed, "Apart from the most sumptuous meal I had during the Lunar New Year when I was a child and we didn't have meat, I've never eaten anything this delicious. That meal was just a romanticized memory; the taste was definitely not as good as what I'm eating today."
"When I went to Beijing last time, I thought that being a descendant of the imperial chefs was the pinnacle of culinary skills. I never expected to have even better food back home than that time."
“Tingting’s mom is very thoughtful. She was worried that we wouldn’t have enough variety in our food, so she made sure that the portion of each dish was small.”
"You can tell from the tableware that it's all carefully designed. Luckily, I acted quickly and booked a private room for six people for tomorrow. We'll bring some old friends over to try it out."
Qu Guangbo grinned: "Then it will be more difficult for us to make reservations in the future. Those guys are all delicious."
On the other side, Aunt Zhong and Granny Liu were also eating Song Xia's cooking for the first time. While eating, they also badmouthed Sun Xiurong, saying that Sun Xiurong was too ungrateful, too mean, and too vicious. They said that even someone like Song Xia was picky and deserved her current retribution.
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