Chapter 26 - 026 Feast
In the evening, he should cautiously remind Ah Nan to make sure everything she does is clean and tidy. After effortlessly erasing the traces for Tian Sisi, he strolled out with hands clasped behind his back, feeling very good about himself. He has now confirmed that there is a mysterious person helping Tian Sisi from the shadows. Although he is not sure whether it is Lord Bai Yuan or not, he is certain that this person means the Tian Family no harm. Thinking of the old man's words about the Tian Family's prosperity for a hundred years, his heart suddenly felt aglow with warmth.
Granny Zhao carried a chicken and a rabbit as she entered. Seeing the Old Man about to go out, she asked in surprise, "What are you doing in the kitchen?"
It was well-known that the Old Man was never willing to enter the kitchen. The Old Man, a bit of a male chauvinist, believed that the kitchen tasks should be the domain of women, and that men should just take care of the big issues outside. The Old Man coughed and said, "I'm just walking around."
Granny Zhao didn't think much of it. She lifted the lid off the jar and muttered to herself in confusion, "Huh, I clearly remember that only half a jar of rice was left yesterday. How come after cooking meals last night and this morning, there's still half a jar left?"
"Maybe you remembered it wrong?" The Old Man chuckled secretly. Ah Nan's issue would definitely have to be mentioned to the old lady. She was the chief manager of the household; nothing could escape her eyes, and it would be impossible to keep it from her. Granny Zhao didn't give it another thought, assuming she had indeed remembered wrong, lamenting over how her memory was deteriorating with age.
However, when she approached the stove to start cooking, she realized it wasn't her failing memory; something truly was amiss. She clearly remembered the level of the oil in the bottle being at the bottle neck this morning. How come the oil level seemed to have gone up after cooking? Something didn't sit right. Remembering how the Old Man, who never set foot in the kitchen, did today, Granny Zhao's first thought was that the Old Man had secretly added rice and oil. But she quickly dismissed the idea. All financial control was in her hands; where would the Old Man get the money to buy rice and oil?
Granny Zhao gave up thinking about it, deciding to just directly ask the Old Man in the evening. She was never one to waste effort overthinking; she preferred to ask directly if there was an issue. Guessing back and forth was just too mentally taxing. That's why she got along so well with the equally straightforward Li Yuedi, who walked in carrying freshly picked greens from the garden. Granny Zhao happily handed over the cooking to her sister-in-law.
Li Yuedi did not refuse and took the spatula gracefully. The two sisters-in-law worked in tandem, one tending the fire and the other stir-frying. Since there were quite a lot of dishes to prepare, Granny Zhao used both pots on the stove, one for cooking rice, the other for stir-frying, and even set up a smaller stove for simmering wild chicken soup.
Tian Sisi had nothing to do and played with little Niu Niu, peeling peanuts for him to eat. Tian Xinhua and others couldn't sit idle. Seeing there was nothing to help with in the kitchen, they ran up the mountain to gather firewood. Before long, a few adolescent boys each returned home with a big bundle of firewood.