"Sister-in-law, what should we do now?"
Fang Hong was left alone, clearly feeling very awkward.
"You can help me peel some garlic, I didn’t peel enough before."
Gu Yi didn’t know her well, so she assigned her an easier task.
Fang Hong agreed, took the garlic to a corner where she wouldn’t be in the way, and squatted down to start working.
Gu Yi’s braised pork was already simmering on the stove, and the beef was almost done. Once they brought the stove over, it could go directly on top.
Soon, Ye Honglian and the others came back carrying the stove.
Wu Chunmei lit the fire in the stove, and Gu Yi’s beef was ready too.
She put it directly on the stove.
"Sister-in-law, take a break. What dish do we have to cook next? Tell me and I’ll do it."
Seeing that Gu Yi was sweating all over, Ye Honglian suggested she rest for a bit.
"We still need to cook the chicken with edamame; you go ahead and take charge of that. I’ll go get the rice going first."
Gu Yi knew that Ye Honglian was a great cook, and since a lot of rice needed to be prepared, she let Ye Honglian take charge.
It was still early, so there was no rush for the other dishes. Wu Chunmei went over to help Fang Hong peel garlic.
Gu Yi got the rice going.
She found a soup bowl, cracked five eggs into it, added some lard and salt, mixed it well, and finally added warm water. Once the rice was nearly done, she would place it on top.
Wu Chunmei looked at the dishes Gu Yi was preparing and thought that she was nothing like the rumors of being stingy.
At four o’clock, Gu Yi started making the pickled fish.
She pan-fried the fish head, tail, and bones with a bit of oil, added cold water to bring it to a boil, then used a slotted spoon to remove all the bones, leaving just the milky broth in the pot.
She added the pickled vegetables and seasonings, and when the pot came to a boil, added the fish fillets.
Once it boiled, she served it in a bowl, topped it with chopped green onions, minced garlic, and dried chili slices, then heated rapeseed oil until it was smoking and poured it over.
The kitchen was instantly filled with an enticing aroma.
The three of them, Ye Honglian, had never seen someone cook before, so they gathered around to watch Gu Yi.
"Your cooking style is quite novel. Teach me when you have time."
Ye Honglian always thought she was a good cook, but after watching Gu Yi, she realized she had room for improvement.
After Ye Honglian spoke, Wu Chunmei chimed in, although Fang Hong didn’t say anything, she quietly watched from the side.
"Sure, someone taught me this too, it’s actually straightforward. Later, I’ll make some boiled slices of pork, and you’ll learn by watching."
Gu Yi proceeded to make the boiled slices of pork.
"When cooking these dishes, the key is to get the final ladle of hot oil right. That last ladle is the soul of these dishes."
"It looks simple, but it must be tough to do."
After watching Gu Yi, Wu Chunmei sighed.
The remaining dishes were handled quickly, each person made a few, and before long, everything was ready.
Since there were many people, they made two plates of each dish.
They initially planned to serve all the dishes before the men finished their training, but found out that Gu Yi’s table was too small.
They would have to wait for the men to come back and bring another table over to combine.
The group went ahead and moved some stools, ready to start once they got a table.
"Mom, it smells so good; I’m drooling."
As the group chatted in the kitchen, suddenly Qiangqiang ran in, hugging Ye Honglian’s leg, and said.
"Mom, it really smells amazing; I’m drooling too."
Nuonuo came running in, trying hard to swallow her saliva to prove she was being honest.
Everyone was amused by the two of them.
"They haven’t returned yet, let’s serve some for Qiangqiang and Nuonuo so you can all eat in peace later."
"No, let’s wait and eat together."
Ye Honglian and Wu Chunmei quickly stopped her.
"It’s alright; the kids are hungry."
Knowing the kids were craving, Gu Yi ladled out two bowls of duck soup and placed them on the stools in the living room.
She got two small low stools for the children to sit on.
She turned back to the kitchen, plated a duck leg, some braised pork, and a few non-spicy vegetables.
She placed them on the stools as well.
"Sister-in-law, feed them some soup first. It’s hot today; the duck soup will cool them off. Then let them have some food. When the rice is done, they can have some more."
Ye Honglian and Wu Chunmei felt a bit embarrassed.
With not much, families usually waited to serve the adults and children together; otherwise, the dish quantities would make it look bad once the kids started.
But as parents, who wouldn’t appreciate someone caring for their child?
Gu Yi’s actions made Ye Honglian and Wu Chunmei want to get along with her in the future.
The kids hadn’t finished eating when the men returned.
"Guoqing, go bring over the table from home."
Seeing her husband Liu Guoqing, Ye Honglian called him to get the table.
Liu Guoqing agreed and left, with two other buddies accompanying him.
The table was quickly set up.
The women brought all the dishes to the table.
"Wow, so many delicious dishes."
Everyone turned to see Li Dongxiang staring greedily at the table.
"So it’s Dongxiang, we were just talking about how we hadn’t seen you this afternoon, thought you weren’t coming."
She never appeared when there was work to be done, yet here she was for food, and Ye Honglian wouldn’t indulge her habits.
"Sister-in-law, I wasn’t feeling well this afternoon, so I didn’t come. Please don’t mind."
Li Dongxiang ignored Ye Honglian and addressed Gu Yi.
"If you’re not well, there’s no need to worry about such things. Are you feeling better now?"
Seeing her demeanor, it was clear that her excuse was flimsy, but Gu Yi didn’t want to say much since she and Ye Hao were hosting.
"Yes, yes, I’m fine now."
"That’s good, everyone sit down."
Gu Yi invited everyone as she went into the kitchen to get a ladle.
Since there weren’t many people, they didn’t separate the seating by gender.
Ye Hao and Li Yifan sat next to each other, with Gu Yi on Ye Hao’s other side.
Ye Honglian was next to her. Wu Chunmei and Fang Hong sat together, with Li Dongxiang among the men.
"Sister-in-law, serve some steamed eggs to Qiangqiang and feed him."
Gu Yi said to Ye Honglian.
"I think the two of them are too full for rice."
"Then just get them some eggs; I steamed this just for them."
Ye Honglian nodded, got up to take the bowls from Qiangqiang and Nuonuo, scooped some eggs, and set them on the stools for them to eat.
"Such well-behaved kids."
Gu Yi watched and was quite envious.
"It’s because your food is so good; all their attention is on eating."
Ye Honglian joked about her son’s gluttony.
The men had already started drinking.
After a while, Ye Honglian nudged Gu Yi’s arm.
Gu Yi looked at her, and she signaled Gu Yi to look at Li Dongxiang.
They saw her eating one piece of braised pork after another without touching anything else.
Gu Yi almost couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Li Dongxiang.
Their actions attracted the rest of the table’s attention to Li Dongxiang.
Li Dongxiang seemed unconcerned, but Chen Jun, sitting beside her, was a bit overwhelmed.