Chapter 74 - 074 Can’t Beat Them
Chapter 74: Chapter 074: Can’t Beat Them
Chapter 74 -074: Can’t Beat Them
Bai Yihong and his wife had discussed finishing the construction of the house before the autumn busy season, by then, Bai Ruozhu would be due to give birth and start her postpartum rest.
This way, she would avoid the chaos of the construction.
They hired people to construct the house, so they had to host a meal on the first day of construction.
Since they were only building one room, the Bai family didn’t invite many people to help, so they only set up two tables.
Even though the second household had moved out, as the head of the Bai family, it was proper etiquette to invite the patriarch to the housewarming feast.
So, the day before the meal, Bai Yihong informed the patriarch.
Surprisingly, along with the patriarch, Bai Yibo and his wife also came the next day.
Bai Ruozhu’s family exchanged glances, clearly none of them were pleased to see Bai Yibo and the Wang family.
But in consideration of the patriarch, none of them showed their displeasure openly.
On the contrary, Bai Ruozhu was somewhat surprised that the matriarch did not show up.
She subtly looked at the patriarch, wondering whether he had finally come to his senses or if he was afraid that the matriarch would embarrass him.
In front of the patriarch, Mrs.
Wang enthusiastically approached and held Lin Ping’er’s arm, saying: “Dear sister, let me assist you.
Just instruct me wherever you need me to do the cleaning.”
Lin Ping’er felt a bit repulsed, but restrained herself from jerking her arm away and forced a smile, saying: “I appreciate your support, dear sister-in-law.”
Bai Ruozhu did not respect Mrs.
Wang’s pretentious manner.
She handed a wooden basin to Mrs.
Wang and cheerfully said: “Great, my mother and I have been worrying about being overworked.
With your assistance, it’s really perfect!
My mother is preparing the chickens and I’m simmering the meat, could you kindly help us to clean and prepare the fish?”
Mrs.
Wang’s clothing was conspicuously bright and fresh, even if it wasn’t new attire, it was roughly eighty or ninety percent new, and the fabric was good quality.
Her attire showed a tasteful impression, it was clear that she did not come to work.
Peasant families wouldn’t wear such fine clothes for work, fearful of ruining their clothing.
Just as expected, Mrs.
Wang frowned.
The fish was large and very fresh, there was not much fishy smell, but the thought of massacring the fish, staining her hands with blood and scales, made Mrs.
Wang rather unwilling.
She hastily glanced at Bai Yibo, but was caught by the patriarch.
The patriarch frowned, his face turned dark, “We are a family.
You should be more proficient, today’s feast is not just for our second household.
Do not neglect our guests, otherwise it would disgrace our Bai family.”
Mrs.
Wang held the wooden basin, somewhat dispirited, she replied: “I understand.”
Seeing Mrs.
Wang’s defeat, Bai Ruozhu returned to the kitchen joyfully to continue her work.
Most of the meal preparation had started early in the day by the family.
Bai Ruozhu was an excellent cook and was in charge of stir-frying and cooking the dishes, even chopping the vegetables was done by her mother according to her instructions.
But the slaughtering of the chicken and fish was a task that couldn’t be done in advance.
Given the hot weather, slaying too early would ruin the freshness.
Bai Ruozhu continued managing the simmering meat.
Now that she was heavily pregnant, she needed to support her lower back even when standing for a short duration, otherwise, it was too strenuous.
After Lin Ping’er had dealt with the chicken and returned to the kitchen, she noticed her daughter winking at her and whispering: “Mother, later let my aunt help with the fire.”
Lin Ping’er made a sound, “Can she even make a good fire?
If she fails to control the flame, your stir-fried dishes wouldn’t turn out well.”
Bai Ruozhu pursed her lips, she had indeed overestimated Mrs.
Wang, who could not even manage the fire, how did Mrs.
Wang even qualify to marry into the Bai family?
Had she been living a leisurely life?
When Mrs.
Wang returned after slaughtering the fish, Bai Ruozhu speculated some issues.
This Mrs.
Wang was either too clumsy or too cunning, engaging in antagonistic behavior behind people’s backs.
For example, just as Lin Ping’er had pointed out, her failing to control the flame would have resulted in the stir-fried dishes getting scorched and she had to be dismissed from the task.
And now, although the fish had been slaughtered, the head was nearly hacked off like chopping wood, and the scales weren’t cleaned properly.
The worst of all, Mrs.
Wang had ruptured the gallbladder, spoiling the taste of the fish.
Bai Ruozhu took a deep breath, she was grateful that she didn’t allow her to slaughter the chicken.
A chicken cost money, whereas, she had plenty of fish.
She really wanted to cook the fish and then let everyone find out about the gallbladder when they tasted the bitter flavor of the fish.
Consequently, they would realize how Mrs.
Wang had gotten the fish slaughtered.
But then she reconsidered, it’s not worth it to lose face over such a person like Mrs.
Wang.
In the eyes of outsiders, this feast was hosted by the Bai family’s second household, if the taste was unpalatable, it was the second household’s fault.
Upon this thought, Bai Ruozhu sent Mrs.
Wang to wash the dishes near the well, summoned her mother to attend to the guests who had already arrived, then, while no one was watching, she swiftly slipped into her special space, discarded the spoiled fish that Mrs.
Wang had ruined and fetched another similar-sized fish from the pond.
Her actions were quick, yet she felt nervous throughout.
After all, the kitchen door was not closed, she was afraid that someone would walk in in the blink of an eye and she would be left with no plausible explanation.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
She swiftly slaughtered the fish, then quickly discarded the fish scales and viscera into her special space.
When Mrs.
Wang did not show up, she proceeded to slightly pan-fry the fish in boiling oil before beginning to cook it.
Shortly after, Bai Ruozhu heard the sound of shattering dishware.
When she peeked in the direction it came from, it turned out to be Mrs.
Wang who was washing dishes.
Well then, when dealing with people who do not fear making a fool of themselves and making a spectacle out of the simplest tasks, one cannot lower one’s own standards to their level.
By this time the guests had arrived, hearing the dish shatter, everyone naturally looked over curiously.
In a peasant’s house, dishes and bowls were valuable commodities, every family cherished them.
Patriarch Bai’s face darkened at the noise, but he didn’t scold his eldest daughter-in-law in front of outsiders, he only gave her a stern glare.
Mrs.
Wang looked innocently at him as if she did not intend to cause the problem, but was only clumsy.
Bai Ruozhu emerged from the kitchen and said apologetically: “Ah, I hope you did not hurt yourself Aunt?
It was wrong of me to ask you to help with the dishes, why don’t you take a rest?
Let’s not allow you to injure your hand.”
The dishware Mrs.
Wang was supposed to wash merely contained some residue of freshly cut vegetables, which would be unsightly if they contained cooked food.
It wasn’t like the oily dishes after a meal, which were very laborious to wash.
Just a rinse with water would work.
The dishes were not oily so they wouldn’t be slippery, how could Mrs.
Wang have accidentally dropped them?
Lin Ping’er clenched her teeth, even shattering a plate would hurt her, she went over to help Mrs.
Wang aside and said: “Sister-in-law, you better take a rest.
We wouldn’t want to dirty your clothes.”
Upon hearing this, the guests began to give Mrs.
Wang a good once over.
Wasn’t the Bai’s daughter-in-law, here to help the feast?
Was she supposed to be an honored guest instead?
The construction was mainly organized by the men, there was no reason for her to sit at the table, right?
Mrs.
Wang’s face went from white to red, and in an intentional act of grievance, she said: “Dear sister-in-law, please do not blame me for being clumsy and causing trouble.
You’re not angry with me, right?”
Bai Ruozhu rolled her eyes, apparently, you want to play house?
We peasants are not as histrionic as you.
She called out to her mother, “Mother, come and help me with the fire.
I need to start cooking the dishes.”