The Prestigious Family’s Young Miss and The Farmer – Chapter 31 Part 2

---

Chapter (6/22)

---

Chapter 31 – Elder sister Yang came to the house – Part 2

Lin Qingwan stir-fried the meat in the pot for a little while before adding a bit of star anise and cinnamon. After letting it cook for a while, she added green beans and salt and let them cook for a while. Seeing that the color of beans seemed to be cooked, she served them into a dish.  

She then moved on to the cooking chicken. Once the chicken was cooked, she followed the steps similar to the previous method. After the chicken was cooked, Lin Qingwan added diced potatoes and shiitake mushrooms together and waited for them to cook. 

While stir-frying the vegetables in the pot, Lin Qingwan simultaneously explained the recipe to Yao-shi, “From what I have seen, when you and eldest sao usually cook, you too stir-fry the vegetables, but the pot isn’t hot enough. The pot should be heated to a very high temperature, such that fumes of white smoke should come out when oil is added into the pot. Furthermore, every time you stir fry the vegetables, you just fry them for a little while and add water to let them boil. But for some vegetables, you don’t have to boil them; once the pot is hot enough, you can quickly stir-fry them until they are crispy and delicious.” She tried to use simple words to make Yao-shi understand easily, but it seems Yao-shi was still unable to understand. 

In the Daxi dynasty, cooking was not as comprehensive as in her previous life. Of course, the dishes were stir-fried here too, but it was no different from that of boiling vegetables, except in this method, a little bit of oil was added in the starting..

After a while, Lin Qingwan smashed the potatoes with a spatula. Once the potatoes were cooked till they were soft and mushy, and the chicken was cooked until crisp, she added ear fungus into it and stir-fried them a bit before serving them into the serving dish.  

After washing the pot, she then started frying garlic chives and scramble the eggs. Following this, she also stir-fried water cabbage. Finally, she made soup with Chinese cabbage and mushroom, while Yao shi made a cucumber salad. Altogether, there were six dishes. Each of them was divided into two sets of serving bowls; one set in big bowls and another set in small bowls.

“Why are they here?” 

At this moment, Yang Dalang, who was standing by the door with saliva dripping from his mouth, murmured in a low voice.

Lin Qingwan wiped her hands on her apron and stood by the door to take a glance outside. The guest seemed to be over 20-year-old married woman with three children – two sons and one daughter. The woman wasn’t particularly well-dressed, with a blue coarse cotton dress and pants; even the kids’ clothes also had several patches. 

Yao-shi also poked her from behind to take a look and said, “That’s the elder sister.” 

Elder sister? Only then Lin Qingwan recalled that the Yang family also had the eldest Yang sister. Ranked second in the family, she was eldest sister of Yang Tiezhu, Yang Tiegen and Yang Xuzhang. She was only two years younger than Yang Tieshuan, and it had been several years since she had been married off.

Lin Qingwan never met her because when she married Yang Tiezhu, elder sister Yang seemed to have not come.  

Eldest branch’s few children looked at guests with gloominess and resentment on their faces. Even Wang-shi, who was standing in the yard, also didn’t have a good face. 

He-shi welcomed them with joy on her whole face, but her mouth couldn’t help but reproach her, “You damn girl, how long has it been since you stepped your feet in natal family, even when your younger brother sent a letter about his wedding, you didn’t come.”

Elder sister Yang pulled her youngest son’s hand and narrated with her face full of grievances, “I also can’t do anything about it. My mother-in-law happened to be sick, and I had to wait upon her. Now that she is fine, I rushed to come here.”

Lin Qingwan found elder sister Yang to be utterly similar to He-shi. They both had their face shaped narrow at the top and bottom and wide in the middle, just like the shape of jujube kernels. Both of them also had monolid eyes; eldest sister Yang, because she was still young, could be said to have perfect red phoenix eyes, while He-shi, because of her old age, her eyelids became saggy, making her eyes triangular shaped. Both of them also have thin lips, signifying their mastery in eloquence. 

丹凤眼 (dānfèngyǎn): red phoenix eyes

 Red phoenix eyes are slender, with their outer corner slightly upturned while the inner corner of the eye is slanting down. In China, red phoenix eyes are considered an ideal shape, and it is said that one who is born with such eyes possesses charming beauty. 

Credits: Google Images

From the side, Wang shi snorted, “First younger sister, why is your mother-in-law always sick? When your second brother was marrying, your mother-in-law happened to be sick. Our family’s Dalang turned 10 years old, your mother-in-law also happened to be sick. At the time of the third younger brother’s two daughters’ full moon celebration, again, your mother-in-law happened to be sick. Your mother-in-law surely knows to pick-up a day to become sick every day; she gets sick when other people have some occasion going on.”

*Here Wang-shi calls her by 大妹 (dàmèi), which translated to first younger sister. In China, if you have more than one family member with the same relationship, it is important to address them according to their birth order, status, and seniority relative to yours. 

Lin Qingwan almost laughed out loud before she quickly covered her mouth. This Wang-shi really dared to say anything aloud.  

Yao-shi also could not stop herself from having a smile on her face. Just like Lin Qingwan, she also stood by the kitchen door to speculate the bustling scene over there.  

Elder sister Yang became embarrassed at once, “Eldest sao, you must by all means not think of this younger sister as such. I also don’t wish for my mother-in-law to be bedridden with an illness like that either. But who asked her to be my mother-in-law, can I even possibly abandon regardless of her sickness?” She said with tears welling up in her pair of eyes, looking extremely miserable.  

He-shi quickly stepped up to help her daughter out of embarrassment, glancing at Wang-shi with a glare, “Eldest wife, if you don’t know how to speak properly, then shut your mouth. Still not going to serve the meal.” Then she called her daughter and grandson to enter the house and have a seat till the meal is served.  

Yang Erlang angrily stomped his feet and yelled to Wang-shi, “Mother, Dahu and Xiaohu will again snatch my meat!”

Wang-shi rolled her eyes at her son, “Can I, this old mother, even do anything. Didn’t you see how much your grandmother treasures them? Dahu and Erhu’s mother will also snatch your mother’s meat to eat.

 Wang-shi angrily walked into the kitchen while muttering, “Every time she comes, she mooches off good food, and when every time there is some occasion, her mother-in-law happens to get sick. What kind of person is she, ah? 

Lin Qingwan and Yao-shi didn’t dare to open her mouth. Both of them shared a look and silently carried the dishes, bowls, and chopsticks to the main building. 

Lin Qingwan turned around to bring the remaining dishes also, but who would have imagined that as soon as she entered the kitchen, she would be greeted by the sight of Wang-shi carrying a dish with one hand while twisting a piece of chicken in her mouth with another hand.

While eating, she didn’t forget to praise Lin Qingwan,” Second dimei, the chicken you cooked is delicious.” Not even a bit of shame could be seen for being caught stealing red-handed.  

Lin Qingwan suddenly felt as if she swallowed a fly, feeling extremely nauseous. She closed her eyes and suppressed the discomfort in her heart before she picked up the remaining dishes, walked around Wang-shi, and left the kitchen. 

“Eldest sao, come quickly; mother is urging us.”

Wang-shi quickly rubbed the oil on her mouth with her sleeves and quickly caught up with her.  

---

Previous Chapter|Table of Contents | Next Chapter