Fortunately, Lai Fu remained composed and retained a sliver of rationality. He only selected four people and then said to the rest, "You stay here. What will happen to Madam if no one helps her after you all leave?"
The men then realized there was still a lot to do in the courtyard, and they couldn't all run away. They said, "Don't worry, Brother Laifu, we'll wait here. We'll hear your orders right away."
Lai Fu saw that they understood, and then led his men out.
Min Yueqing nodded secretly. Lai Fu was indeed reliable and thoughtful. She should give him a promotion if the opportunity arose.
Min Yueqing said to Wu Sanniang, "Besides the mutton that we set aside for Xiaowei, we should first separate the ribs, legs, and offal. Cut all the meat into small pieces. If we're too busy, we can ask them for help. When the people who went out come back, we can skewer the meat pieces with branches and roast the mutton over a campfire tonight."
Wu San Niang and Wu Yan Yan had lived in the mountains since childhood, so they were no strangers to barbecuing. Upon hearing that Min Yue Qing was going to barbecue mutton in the yard that evening, they were overjoyed and readily agreed.
While Wu San Niang and the others were processing the mutton, Min Yueqing was also busy. She called three familiar workers to whip the egg whites and start making cake batter.
Having gained experience from the previous three days, Min Yueqing was now quite skilled at preparing cake batter. Just as she put the cake batter into the oven, Wu San Niang came in carrying a basin of lamb chops, lamb legs, and offal.
Min Yueqing said, "First, stew the lamb leg bones with some ginger. Stew a lot, so that at least everyone in the courtyard can get a bowl."
Then she told Wu San Niang the dishes she had thought of that morning, and also instructed her: "There will be a lot of meat dishes tonight, but there should also be plenty of vegetables. Just stir-fry the purslane and cabbage."
Wu San Niang agreed to everything and immediately began cleaning the lamb leg bones. This soup needed to be simmered over low heat to bring out the flavor, which would take quite a while, so she decided to start simmering it now.
Wu Yanyan and the rest of the staff were also busy outside.
The kitchen couldn't accommodate so many people, and even if they managed to squeeze in, they wouldn't have enough room to work properly. So the workers simply moved the cutting boards and other equipment outside and set up the cutting boards in the yard to start cutting the mutton right there.
Fortunately, Min Yueqing brought all the necessary tools, which allowed everyone to work at the same time; otherwise, the others would have been left watching helplessly.
Wu San Niang started simmering mutton bone soup and washed all the ingredients she would need for dinner. But when she wanted to chop the vegetables, she couldn't find her knife.
Not only was the knife lying in the air, but even the knife she had just used to chop the lamb leg bones was gone; only a cutting board remained on the stove. Judging from the situation, it was probably left untouched because there was meat on it.
She went outside and saw a row of young men standing in the courtyard, methodically cutting up mutton, while servants were on the side taking care of cleaning and tidying up.
Wu San Niang was both angry and amused. No wonder there were no knives in the kitchen; they were all here!
Wu Yanyan was chopping mutton with a small fruit knife when she looked up to wipe her sweat and saw Wu Sanniang standing in front of the door with a strange expression on her face. She ran up to her and asked, "Mother, what's wrong?"
Wu San Niang said, "I just finished washing the vegetables, that's why I came out to find a knife!"
Just now, Wu Yanyan led the workers to get knives and cutting boards. She glanced around and immediately noticed that everyone in the kitchen was holding a knife...
Feeling guilty, Wu Yanyan raised the small fruit knife in her hand and asked timidly, "Mom, do you want to take this one?"
Wu San Niang almost laughed in anger again. What use is a small knife?
She walked over to one of the waiters and smiled, "Young man, let me use this knife of yours for a bit, I'll return it to you after I've chopped the vegetables."
Everyone was familiar with Wu San Niang, and when she said that, the shopkeeper handed her the knife without saying a word.
“Sister-in-law Wu, take it if you want to use it. Why are you saying you won’t return it? That’s too formal! We only lent it to you because you weren’t using it right now.”
Wu San Niang smiled, took the knife, and went back to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Min Yueqing saw that it was almost time, so she asked Amei to come and find someone to whip the cream.
As soon as Ah Mei spoke, the three men knew they were going to be used, and they followed her without hesitation.
When the cake base was almost out of the oven, Min Yueqing returned to the kitchen, with Xiao Wei following closely behind.
Pei Ji guessed that Min Yueqing would be busy in the afternoon. He was afraid that Min Yueqing would come out without him, so after lunch he skipped his lunch break and sat down at the table to finish the homework assigned by Pei Han in one go. Then he took a book and stayed next to Min Yueqing to read.
As soon as Min Yueqing got off the bed, he immediately followed her down and even took her hand very naturally.
Little Wei looked at Pei Ji's little hands, then looked down at his own claws, and felt very indignant.
It raised one of its front paws and waved it in the air in vain, only to find that it couldn't reach the same height as the human baby's hand. It became even angrier, and its tiger face almost puffed up into a round balloon.
But Xiao Wei knew he couldn't attack the human baby because he was very close to Min Yueqing, almost as close as the baby was to Min Yueqing.
After all, this little baby gets to sleep with Min Yueqing every day!
Xiao Wei was angry for a moment, but seeing that Min Yueqing had started to walk away, he quickly followed.
It decided not to compete with the little baby, so it walked to the other side of Min Yueqing and gently nudged Min Yueqing's legs with its body to show its presence.
Min Yueqing was very familiar with this commotion. Without stopping, she simply looked down and smiled at it.
Shi Tou was the most frustrated. He wasn't as quick as Pei Ji and hadn't finished the homework Pei Han had assigned. He could only sit on the stool and watch them walk away.
Pei Han didn't assign Shi Tou much homework, but it always seemed to be just a little bit above the knowledge Shi Tou already had, so he had to rack his brains to figure it out each time, which naturally took longer.
The cake base baked today turned out exceptionally well; it's probably the best one I've had in the last three days. Cutting it open reveals a fine, evenly distributed honeycomb structure, and the overall color is quite consistent.
Min Yueqing and Pei Ji worked together to spread cream and arrange fruit, and they cooperated quite well.
Since it was still early after the cake was made, Min Yueqing took the cake to the well, put it in a wooden bucket along with the plate, covered it, and then lowered the bucket into the cold well water, just like putting it in the refrigerator.
Min Yueqing instructed the servant beside her, "Keep a close eye on this wooden bucket. When someone comes to fetch water, remind them not to bump into it, understand?"
The servant quickly agreed, "Don't worry, Madam, I won't go anywhere. I'll stay here and keep watch!"
Min Yueqing nodded with a smile and led Pei Ji back.
Lai Fu returned just then with his men, each carrying a large bundle of branches. They had even carefully selected branches of suitable thickness and washed them clean in the stream outside before bringing them back.
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