Chapter 136: The Greatly Different Busy Farming Meal
Bai Ruozhu thought carefully and recalled that the younger man from the Wan family was Wan Caiyue’s second older brother, who had previously helped them build their house. His name was Wan Minglu, a good-natured and straightforward person.
"Uncle Zhang, thank you for your hard work," Bai Ruozhu greeted the people in the field with an expression full of gratitude on her face.
"Brother Wan, Zhou Chuang, thank you for coming too. I really appreciate it." Wan Minglu was older than Bai Ruozhu so she called him brother. However, Zhou Chuang, being slightly younger, could be addressed by his name.
At this time of year, everyone was busy on their farms and there was scarcely any surplus labour to spare. Diverting manpower would result in a delay in their harvest.
Zhou Chuang laughed, "Sister Ruozhu, my dad saw that no one was harvesting your field, so he sent me to help. Plus, I get to dine on your delicious cooking." He chuckled after finishing his sentence, revealing a set of white teeth.
Bai Ruozhu had discretely gifted a few familiar families some toothpaste. The teeth of the younger members of these families gradually became whiter because young people’s teeth aren’t very yellow to start with.
Wan Minglu joined in the laughter, "Ruozhu, don’t drive us away. We’ve been craving your cooking for a long time!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liliang and his wife chimed in and complimented Bai Ruozhu’s cooking.
Bai Ruozhu, feeling somewhat embarrassed by their praise, hurriedly said, "Then I’ll go make you some food right away. After finishing work, everyone come to my place for dinner. You’ll all be on my bad side if you don’t show up!"
"Who wouldn’t go? Even if we have to force our way in, we will come for dinner." Zhou Chuang, being lively in nature, jokingly retorted.
Bai Ruozhu laughed, "You are all welcome to dine at my place anytime, not only when you’re helping out. We’re close enough, so there’s no need for formalities."
Everyone agreed readily. When Wan Minglu looked at Bai Ruozhu, his eyes lit up with eagerness, but his dark complexion concealed it.
Bai Ruozhu asked someone to take a message to her parents in the old mansion’s field and then went home with Little Dengdeng. After feeding him, she started to prepare the meal. It wasn’t easy to prepare two lavish tables of food, but thankfully, none of them knew what she had bought on her return home.
Thanks to her previous life’s experience of working in a restaurant, Bai Ruozhu was very quick at cooking. She busied herself in the kitchen while Little Dengdeng slept in his cradle in the yard, seeming particularly delighted by the sound of a knife cutting vegetables.
She smiled at Little Dengdeng, and sighed, "This kid will definitely become a little foodie in the future."
She continued with her work, getting fish, lotus root, and river shrimp from the Space. Though she still felt it was not enough, she finally killed a chicken from home. Even though it was a chicken that her mother had worked hard to raise, she felt that her mother wouldn’t begrudge it. They needed to repay the kindness of the villagers who had lent their aid.
When she had almost finished sorting the ingredients, she first prepared some cold dishes. After setting two tables in the yard and laying them with bowls and chopsticks, she served the cold dishes. The green bean soup had cooled down and simply sat there, ready to quench their thirst upon return.
Suddenly, laughter came from outside. The people working in the fields had returned!
As Bai Yihong and the others finished their work, they sent Bai Zehao to return the tools used back to the old mansion. Meanwhile, they went to call their helpers to join them for a feast at home.
Bai Ruozhu hurriedly arranged for everyone to wash their hands and then have some green bean soup to quench their thirst. Seeing the cold dishes on the table, everyone’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. Bai Ruozhu’s home cooking was indeed top-notch.
"Mom and dad, please rest a bit and eat some cold dishes. I’ll go stir-fry some dishes. Dinner will be ready soon," Bai Ruozhu said, and rushed into the kitchen. Soon, the smell of cooking wafted out.
Everyone looked in the direction of the kitchen, with a hint of longing in their eyes.
Lin Ping’er held Little Dengdeng as everyone gathered round the child to play. Just as they were enjoying themselves, Bai Ruozhu brought out two dishes, smiling, "Everyone, please take your seats. The dishes won’t taste good if they get cold."
"Wow! Ruozhu, what did you cook? It smells so good," Zhang Liliang commented appreciatively, sniffing the air.
"Yes indeed. Sister Ruozhu is really talented. I’m drooling already just by the smell of it," said Wan Minglu laughing and took his seat, rubbing his hands together.
Bai Zepei gestured at Zhou Chuang and Wan Minglu to sit. Meanwhile, Bai Yihong ushered Zhang Liliang to sit beside him, insisting on drinking together. Lin Ping’er and Mother Rongrong tried to help in kitchen but were chased out by Bai Ruozhu who said, "You’re all tired. Just enjoy the meal."
Just then, Bai Zehao returned with a rather grim expression. He murmured, "Dad, grandpa and grandma said that they would like to come over later to thank the villagers who helped."
Upon hearing this, the faces of the Bai Family members fell. They wanted to enjoy a peaceful meal, and now those people were going to come again. Hadn’t they caused enough discomfort already?
Bai Ruozhu quickly took out some dishes and said, "Big Brother, could you please deliver these dishes to our grandparents and tell them not to come over today. Everyone here is tired and probably wouldn’t want to be too formal with the presence of elders. The guests would feel restrained."
She would rather spare some dishes to ensure a peaceful dining experience.
Everyone fell silent. Recent actions by the occupants of the old Bai mansion hadn’t gone unnoticed by the villagers. Although nobody said anything, they all held feelings of disdain.
"What kind of people are they? I heard you guys cooked for the old mansion, but they couldn’t even reciprocate nicely?" Wan Minglu openly expressed his thoughts, given the silence.
Bai Zepei shook his head, "My sister did send them a nice meal. We were able to eat well, but then my aunt sent another meal. We didn’t want to waste it, so we gave it to the people working in the nearby fields. But we didn’t expect..." He trailed off mid-sentence and sighed heavily.
Bai Zehao, who was about to step out with Bai Ruozhu’s food, sighed, "It was a good deed, but it ended up offending people. It’s so frustrating."
Zhang Liliang, not being from the village, wasn’t as informed as Wan Minglu and Zhou Chuang. Although he guessed that the meals weren’t good, he didn’t know the specifics, which made him even more curious.
Wan Minglu, sitting on his other side, leaned over and whispered, "I heard about it before I came to help you. They said they only sent over a little congee and a few dough twists. The congee wasn’t even fully cooked and the dough twists were made from stale and moldy grain. It ended up making people sick."
"The...the people working the fields only got that? The Bai family can’t be that poor, right?" Zhang Liliang cried out in surprise.
"Poor? Bai’s eldest brother was seen buying good wine and causing a ruckus in the village every day. The money he spent on one jar of wine could feed them for days," Zhou Chuang vented angrily.
Wan Minglu shook his head, "That’s why even my grandpa couldn’t stand it. He said since we offered a person to help them, we needed to be treated fairly too. From what I heard, the food they sent was worse than what criminal prisoners get to eat. Fortunately, my Uncle Bai and aunt didn’t eat that food. After all, when an elder gives something, it’s hard to refuse. If they had eaten that food, they would most likely suffer from stomach problems tomorrow."