Chapter 131: Chapter 131
Chapter 131
Her shiny hair flowed with the wind, brushing against a face as beautiful as a celestial being. Anyone who saw her enchanting smile at this moment would fall into a deep trance, unable to tear their eyes away.
Normally, this beautiful face was always stern and serious. If anyone displeased her... she would unleash a torrent of curses with a face twisted like a demon. How could such an enchanting smile ever appear on her face?
"Xiao Long, Huan’er, if you’ve had enough of playing, go help Qu Yi with the cleaning. You two can choose your own lodgings, either the left or right wing of the main house. As for Qu Yi, choose the house next to Huan’er. I don’t have many servants right now, and the household isn’t very large, so you’ll use that house for the time being. But if my family expands in the future, you’ll have to share the servants’ quarters with the other servants."
Yueqian called the two children over after seeing that they had started to slow down their running around. They seemed quite satisfied, but there wasn’t much time left before nightfall. Two shichen should be enough for the two of them to clean. Meanwhile, she would go to the kitchen to prepare things. After all, it would be her turn to showcase her cooking skills for dinner tonight.
Being in a kitchen equipped with all the necessary tools and the space for cooking, Yueqian felt quite pleased. At least in this old noble’s manor, there were plenty of stoves to cook multiple dishes at once. Therefore, today’s menu shouldn’t be too bad.
Mu Heng had found work to do since their arrival, although he hadn’t started yet. He was still spending his time gazing adoringly at his beautiful wife. If his wife needed to go to the kitchen to work, he would finally get up and start his own tasks.
The task he needed to do was to clear the weeds around the main house and the three smaller houses nearby. Since this manor had been sold a long time ago, it hadn’t been well-maintained. The weeds were the type that grew quickly. Therefore, they grew around the houses easily. Some of them were even starting to creep in through the windows. If left unchecked, it could be quite dangerous.
Snakes and some poisonous insects might be around or crawling through the grass, so Mu Heng needed to deal with this before nightfall, or else they might run into misfortune.
Xiao Long and Huan’er looked at each other excitedly. They knew which house was the main house because it was the largest and in the best position. Nonetheless, the other surrounding houses were also very beautiful. When the children heard that they could have their own house, they were thrilled.
They ran off happily to inspect each house. Even though their sister-in-law only allowed them to choose between the two adjacent houses, having the right to choose their own lodging was more than they had ever dreamed of. No! It should be said that they felt like they had been dreaming ever since they stepped into this beautiful residence.
Yueqian watched the three children walk together to inspect their lodgings. She smiled at her husband, who had been gazing at her since their arrival and still hadn’t taken his eyes off her.
"Dear, is there anything special you’d like to eat? I’ll prepare it for you." When his wife asked him with such affection, Mu Heng could only shake his head.
How could he dare make any demands? Hadn’t he already troubled his wife enough?
"Whatever you make, I can eat it," Mu Heng replied, his voice softened with emotion. He kept saying he would take the best care of her, but what about now?! It was he who was being cared for by his wife.
Even this grand manor was bought with his wife’s money. He felt utterly incapable, and the thought made his face flush with embarrassment.
"In that case, I’ll prepare the meal," Yueqian, seeing his expression, knew exactly what her husband was thinking. Having such thoughts wasn’t a bad thing. Besides, neither of them live with discomfort. She just wanted him to remember how difficult things had been and how they had helped each other through it, just the two of them as husband and wife.
In the future, as long as he remembered the times they had each other, she would be satisfied.
Moreover... letting him dwell on his thoughts would be better than trying to persuade him not to overthink, which would only make him dwell on them more and feel embarrassed that she understood him so well. Yueqian had discussed money matters with him when they decided to be nice with his siblings. Therefore, words should not be repeated too often, as it would make someone who was already thinking about feel worse, as if rubbing salt in the wound.
Pretending not to know his thoughts and caring for each other like this—once he had worked and become her support, he would naturally relax. Just like in the past, at first, he didn’t dare eat the food she brought or spend her money. But as time passed, Yueqian had many things to rely on him for, making Mu Heng feel less guilty than before.
This was a way to gradually change his behavior, ensuring he wouldn’t see her as an outsider but instead think of it as normal family behavior.
Yueqian didn’t linger long with him. When she mentioned making food, her slender figure immediately rose and went to the kitchen, even though it wasn’t yet mealtime. There were still two shichen before dinner, but today was not an ordinary day. It was the first day they had bought the manor, so this called for a “celebration.”
The kitchen here was quite large. Upon arriving, Yueqian immediately set up three stoves. Then, she began cleaning the area around them while waiting for the fires to heat up.
As for the dishes and utensils, Yueqian acted as if she had brought them along with her treasure chest. In reality, she had simply bought them new from a department store. Did they really think she would carry those cheap items all the way here?!
"I should start with the hors d’oeuvres first," Yueqian murmured to herself as she thought about the menu for today’s meal.
The first thing that came to mind was an appetizer, which could be eaten before the main course and would stimulate the appetite. Certainly, she thought of four items. The first was fried cashews, and the second was century eggs that she had prepared two months ago.
The process wasn’t very difficult. She just boiled water with salt, added lime, rice husk ash, and boiled it on low heat for about 15 minutes. After letting it cool, she dipped the cleaned eggs in the mixture, coated them with rice husks, and left them for almost two months until they were ready to eat.
This was another method of food preservation she had studied, hoping it would help reduce some of the hardships for the people of Bai Kingdom.
The third item on the hors d’oeuvres list was steamed meatballs with a spicy dipping sauce. She chose to make the sauce less spicy, or else it might upset the children’s stomachs.
The fourth item was still on the appetizer list. She would make pork and salted egg yolk dumplings to be eaten with black vinegar sauce. Since arriving in this world, she hadn’t had the chance to eat them.
All of these were just the first course she planned to prepare today. For the next item, she had already prepared shrimp-flavored crispy rice crackers, knowing the children loved to eat them. This time, she would make shrimp-flavored ones, believing they would be pleasantly surprised and enjoy them as much as she once did.
Next was the menu for egg fried rice. She had actually wanted to make crab or shrimp fried rice, but without the sea nearby, it was difficult to find either meat. Claiming she bought them from the market was also not feasible.
Of course, the crispy rice crackers had a shrimp flavor, but they didn’t actually contain visible pieces of shrimp. Besides, they were seasoned to have flavor, which she believed that those who ate them couldn’t tell what flavor it was. This was different from fried rice, where you could clearly see what type of meat was used. So, to be safe, she would make egg fried rice with pork slices, which would be sufficient.
The fourth dish was steamed fish with plums, which would have a salty-sweet taste depending on how it was seasoned. Eating it with the same dipping sauce used for the steamed meatballs would make the flavor even more intense. However, it could also be enjoyed on its own since the flavor of the pickled plums would permeate the fish. The addition of ginger would enhance the aroma and spiciness.
Preparing a meal to celebrate their new manor had to involve auspicious numbers. Yueqian aimed to make eight dishes, so there were still four more to go, each requiring some effort.
Starting with pork ribs stewed with herbs, she selected herbs that were both flavorful and healthy for those who ate them. Since it took quite a long time to prepare, it was the first dish she began working on.
Next was the mixed salad, which wasn’t too difficult but required a good sense of taste. She blanched homemade noodles, pork, fish, and meatballs, chopped various vegetables, and prepared the dressing.
When everything was prepared, it still hadn’t been mixed together. She would wait until it was the time to eat, or else the vegetables would become wilted, which would make the dish less tasty and the flavor less appealing.
Another must-have and very delicious dish were sour curry with fish and vegetable omelet. She chose to include carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and onions. Therefore, the omelet was very thick. However, it was also very colorful.
This dish was her own special creation called "Five-Flavored Omelet." Its beautiful colors and compatibility with the sour curry made it quite an outstanding dish.
Lastly, where there were savory dishes, there had to be dessert. She prepared a colorful fruit platter, selecting only fruits available in the capital’s market. Although there were many other items she wanted to include, she had to hold back for now. The abundance of fruit in the department store was due to advanced development and genetic modification, so there were no such thing as seasonal fruits anymore.
In other words, fruits could be found in any season, which was quite fortunate for her. Of course, the department store sold everything, and as long as you had money to exchange, you could get whatever you needed.
The various dishes were meticulously prepared by the beautiful Miss Qin. Some items were taken directly from her space, so Yueqian didn’t have to do much. Moreover, she had two shichen and three stoves, which allowed her time to carve cucumbers or carrots to decorate the dishes.
Time flew by, and when it was mealtime, the children, guided by their natural clocks—their stomachs—rushed into the kitchen. Their bodies were covered in dust, so Yueqian had them fetch water to bathe first.
She also gave them liquid soap and shampoo. Xiao Long and Huan’er already knew how to use these, but only Qu Yi had to follow Huan’er to learn how to use them. She tried to take care of Huan’er as if she were a master.It could be said that this child was quite a fast learner. She understood from the moment Yueqian told her to sleep in the house next to Huan’er that her primary duties were to practice embroidery and take care of the young miss of a similar age.
