In her upbringing, she was taught to speak sparingly when meeting someone, yet such upbringing did not influence her daughter.
"Mrs. Meng, if you don’t believe it, shall we go have a look? I too am curious to see who’s more formidable, your Lady or a farmer girl."
When Madam Tang said this, Mrs. Meng really wanted to say that of course her daughter was superior!
"Good, let’s go and see why so many children are attracted and even skip meals."
The two madams walked out of the living room, while others also heard their conversation but dared not speak.
At that moment, they too wanted to join in the excitement, a throng of people heavily walked towards a courtyard.
Lady Tang arrived at the dining area at mealtime, her maid accompanying her as someone carried her young son.
She thought initially that the kitchen was not yet ready, and went to inquire with the housekeeper responsible for the banquet in the garden.
"Lady Tang, Madam instructed to delay the meal, it is not that the kitchen is unprepared; the dishes and drinks for the banquet are ready, fortunately it is summer."
Lady Tang felt puzzled, unaware of what her mother-in-law was doing.
Upon reaching the living room and finding it empty, she learned after asking around that her eldest son had not yet come from the courtyard, and her mother-in-law had taken many people there.
Earlier, her eldest son had taken so many young Ladies and Masters to his courtyard; weren’t these people hungry?
Lady Tang frowned slightly. Today, she, the protagonist’s mother, was dressed particularly grandly, as always displaying her wealth.
She wore her best satin dress, specifically choosing a bold red to assert her status.
The adornments on her head and her entire body, different from those she wore to previous banquets, were exclusively chosen from pricey options.
Such was her privilege as Lady Tang, purchasing costly goods at base prices from their family’s gold and silver jewelry store.
She did not want to ask anyone anymore; asking others to watch her young son, she walked, swaying, towards her son’s courtyard with her maid.
Mrs. Li, holding her son and assisted by two little maids, did not follow them to the Young Master’s courtyard; she was wary of Mrs. Lai.
Mrs. Lai had already shown restless behavior since the very beginning, trying to converse with the other noble ladies, who ignored her.
Therefore, feeling bored, she thought why not eat if there’s food, in front of her were fruits and also pastries, cookies, and other snacks like seeds and peanuts.
Mrs. Lai’s misplaced frugality wouldn’t let her miss this opportunity to indulge.
She tried everything on the table, the seeds crackling "crunch crunch" in her mouth, attracting the attention of others.
The presence of her family was already notable, ignoring Mrs. Lai, who they simply did not respect due to her rotund peasant figure.
Now her noisily eating seeds, sounding like a mouse, disrupted their conversation mood, earning glares from the others.
Mrs. Li found it difficult to advise Mrs. Lai; her mother-in-law had always eaten this way, how could she change in a noble house.
Moreover, she couldn’t criticize her mother-in-law in front of others, however inadequate she might be.
Mrs. Lai wasn’t doing it on purpose; noticing people staring at her, she smiled at the noble ladies showing her large yellow teeth.
Seeing Mrs. Lai’s yellow teeth, others averted their gaze and resumed their chatting, ignoring her.
Mrs. Lai thought she was ingratiating herself with a pleasing smile, but didn’t realize others found her yellow teeth repulsive!
Feeling ignored by the others, Mrs. Lai felt helpless; losing interest in the seeds, she started on the pastries again.
The scene then seemed to have brought in a pig; it sounded like a pig eating.
The chatting noble ladies were disrupted in their thoughts again, turning their heads to watch Mrs. Lai.
Mrs. Lai, enjoying her food, had her chubby face narrowed to a slit, her big yellow teeth overfilled with food, making a loud noise as she ate, and some pastry fragments fell from her mouth.
Watching Mrs. Lai eat in such a manner made some noble ladies lose their appetite, and they refused to touch the snacks in front of them again.
"Hehe, the pastries include our home-produced honey, truly sweet and fragrant."
Mrs. Lai seemed to be talking to herself, but also seemed to realize others were staring at her; this was her chance to flaunt her family’s prosperity.
Previously unable to converse with these noble ladies, Mrs. Lai wanted to penetrate their circle, aiming to encourage them to talk to her by boasting about her family, thus attracting more patrons for their business.
Mrs. Lai mentioned that the Tang family’s pastries were made with their honey. The noble ladies who had tasted the Tang family’s pastries were previously puzzled by the secret recipe used.
Now hearing Mrs. Lai’s words, they thoroughly understood that using the finest ingredient, honey, such delicious pastries could be made.
Each time the noble ladies attended banquets at the Tang family, they thoroughly enjoyed the sweet pastries; not to mention their own cooks couldn’t replicate such deliciousness, even what was sold outside wasn’t as tasty.
Many people here at Ye Manor had participated, with the manor’s produce being so tasty, they had overlooked the bees occasionally flying over the mountains.
"Old lady, does your family sell this honey?"
Someone felt tempted, the first noble lady putting aside her pride to ask.
The others watched, also curious, wanting to know if they could buy some honey.