She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 156 - 155 Looking for Trouble

Chapter 156: Chapter 155 Looking for Trouble

Meizi, who had been left outside by Old Master Qi Yougui, took the vegetables from Ye Xinyan’s hand and said, "Nanny asked me to come over and help the legitimate granddaughter with the chores." Then, looking at the other middle-aged women in the courtyard, she felt puzzled, "Why has the Second Uncle’s Family suddenly got so many people?"

Glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, she asked Ye Xinyan in a low voice, "Legitimate granddaughter, why has the Second Uncle’s Family suddenly got so many people? Are they all helping us with chores?" Aren’t the people who come to the house guests? Why would the guests coming to the Second Uncle’s Family be so willing to help with the work?

Ye Xinyan looked at the Duke’s Mansion’s servants who were lighting fires and picking vegetables around her and said casually, "They, they are sent by the owner of the cattle farm. As the business of the cattle farm grows, they help with the farm’s work."

"Oh." Meizi was simple-minded. She remembered her parents always said that the legitimate granddaughter managed such a big cattle farm and was very capable. But it was strange that the owners of the cattle farm didn’t assign people to oversee it and handed it directly to the legitimate granddaughter to manage as if they never interfered. Now that the owner had sent his own people over, it seemed to make sense.

The meal was prepared in a rush, and it wasn’t like in the towns, where you could go to the market to buy the needed ingredients. If you suddenly wanted a richer meal, it wasn’t easy to arrange. Fortunately, the cattle farm’s construction site cooked every day, had a dedicated kitchen, stocked with common ingredients, and sometimes fresh meat that ordinary rural families wouldn’t see several times a year was somewhat available in the construction site’s kitchen.

Ye Xinyan also had Fan Zhengyuan search throughout the village far and wide, collecting various ingredients that each family had and that could be presented on the table. She bought back quite a bit of each kind, just enough to cook an entire table of dishes.

At this point, they weren’t particular about cold dishes or hot dishes. Ye Xinyan worked together with Nanny Liu and a few others to get the dishes underway and also brought back a couple of jugs of wine.

As dish after dish was brought to the table, the guests also filled their cups with wine.

First came quickly cooked fried peanuts, mushroom slices with meat, tender pork loin, and stir-fried cabbage. Then came more time-consuming dishes like home-style tofu, stuffed green peppers with meat, braised carp, and crispy chicken. Lastly, a dish of stir-fried vegetables was served as a palate cleanser.

From the start, watching the array of ingredients Fan Zhengyuan had scavenged to planning out the dishes, to assigning two old woman servants to help with the side dishes, to stir-frying the dishes herself, Ye Xinyan’s home-style flavors might not have been as delicate as the big restaurants that emphasized color, aroma, and taste. Still, managing to prepare such a large table of meals in such a short time was astonishing to Nanny Liu and the others.

Wasn’t she the only legitimate granddaughter of the Duke’s Mansion, known to be a domineering, clueless person? Yet, she seemed like a virtuous woman educated by the family to be adept both in the hall and the kitchen.

After the main table’s dishes were taken care of, Ye Xinyan gave Nanny Jin the remaining small portion of dishes, mixed with rice, and said, "Let Qi Jia eat this. We will use these leftover bits of vegetables and meat to stew a pot of food, along with the pancakes made in the construction site’s kitchen, to make do for a meal."

Meizi had never seen Ye Xinyan cook, nor had she ever seen such an abundant table of food prepared in an ordinary day in such a short time. When she eventually saw two kang tables pushed together, covered with a full table of steaming dishes, and people already enthusiastically toasting and drinking, she gained a new appreciation for the efficient style of the Second Uncle’s Family’s legitimate granddaughter.

Qi Yourong, although savoring the food and drink at the main table, was not happy at heart.

He sipped his drink, gnawing on the chicken leg in his hand, and said in an inappropriately muddled tone, "Eldest brother, you’re too heartless. It’s only for the sworn brother that you’ve prepared such a feast to welcome him. Here I am, your own younger brother, and you’ve never thought to invite me over like this."

Today, Qi Younian was in high spirits and didn’t mind his complaint. He added another chopstick-full of pork tenderloin to his bowl and said, "Eat your meal, why so much talk?"

Turning back to Cheung Wusi and Wong Qiao, he lifted his chopsticks and encouraged, "Eat up, let’s not mind him. This youngest brother of mine, the baby of the family, is spoiled rotten. Look at him, getting on in years but still acting like he’s never grown up."

Qi Yougui, however, frowned and said, "Youngest brother, you really are thoughtless. It hasn’t been long since your second brother returned home, and you’ve already forgotten everything? He’s been away for many years, and since coming back, he hasn’t even touched a bowl in your house. Yet you, you come to the Second Branch family to eat and drink whenever you feel like it. Why didn’t you think of hosting him then?"

Cheung Wusi smiled, lifted his cup towards Qi Yougui, and said, "Eldest brother, let me toast to you as brother to brother."

Qi Yourong clutched his chicken leg, took an aggressive bite, and looking sideways at Cheung Wusi, asked Qi Younian, "Second brother, I know you disapprove of me, always thinking I take advantage of you. But what can we do, being brothers from the same womb, right? Look at your fourth brother, after many years of not keeping in touch, he’s gluing himself to you now that he sees you’re doing well. Why don’t I see you despising him? This really is losing sight of who’s who, and getting senile."

Upon hearing this, Cheung Wusi laid down his chopsticks, picked up his cup, tilted his head back, and downed the wine without touching the food.

Qi Younian furrowed his brow and said, "It seems I should not have invited you. You’re only here to cause trouble. Wusi is someone I wrote to for help with the building project. There’s no truth to your claims of him cozying up or taking advantage."

At this, Qi Yourong felt even more resentful. Slamming the chicken leg onto the table and standing his ground he said, "When you were first gathering people to build the cattle farm a while back, didn’t your sister-in-law and I come to you? We asked you to find something for your two nephews to do. What did you say? You told us there was no suitable work for them on the site.

How is it that when it comes to your distant brother and nephew, there’s suddenly work available? This just shows you’ve forgotten your roots, forgotten the Qi surname!"

Qi Younian, upon hearing these words, suddenly lost his appetite and put down his chopsticks, frowning at Qi Yourong without saying anything. Speaking clearly to such a rabble-rouser was futile. He shouldn’t have hosted this dinner; he and Wusi could have had a nice time drinking and enjoying some simple dishes with Ah Qiao in the construction shack. Why bother with this unpleasantness?

Qi Yougui glanced at the four people present, then at Qi Yourong feigning insanity due to the drink, and couldn’t help but scold, "If you can eat properly, then eat; if not, go back to your house. Why put on this act here?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Yourong’s grievances surfaced even more. "Eldest brother, haven’t you seen? Second brother has become cold-hearted after all these years outside. Not to mention failing to support our parents, he doesn’t even care for his own blood brothers. Look at the people he’s close to, that girl of dubious status who claims to be his legitimate granddaughter, and those two outsiders. None of them bear the Qi surname, and second brother is so deceived by them that he’s forgotten his ancestors."