Chapter 62: Preparation Must Be Thorough
By the time they arrived at the Jiao household, quite a few people were already busy bustling around. As soon as the groom-to-be, Jiao Ming, saw them, he came rushing out to greet them.
“Aunt, Uncle, you’re here!” Jiao Yang had dark skin and an upright, honest air about him.
Madam Luo and Old Man Wen smiled warmly and offered their congratulations, causing Jiao Yang to blush. It wasn’t obvious, though—his complexion was dark enough to hide it.
He then greeted all the members of the Wen family, and when he reached Wen Yao, he scratched his head a little shyly. “Yao Yao, I’ll leave everything to you then.”
Wen Yao nodded. “Don’t worry, Second Uncle. I’ll make sure your wedding feast is beautiful and perfect.”
“Heh heh, great, that’s great. Let me take you to the kitchen to check things over, see what still needs preparing. Dad, Mom, you take care of Aunt and Uncle.” After greeting everyone, Jiao Yang led Wen Yao toward the kitchen.
Walking beside him, Wen Yao noticed her cousin’s gait was slightly off. Perhaps noticing her curiosity, Jiao Yang smiled. “Got injured on the battlefield. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been sent back. A place like that… just being able to survive is already a blessing.”
Wen Yao fell silent. Yes, the cruelty of war was never just what words could describe—it was always far worse.
“It’ll only get better from here,” Wen Yao said quietly.
Jiao Yang paused, looked at the bustling courtyard, and smiled sincerely. “Yes, it will.”
As they spoke, they arrived at the kitchen. The moment Jiao Yang walked in with a little girl, the helpers already working there looked up.
Earlier, Little Madam Luo had already informed them that the head cook for this wedding banquet would be her niece’s daughter. Everyone had assumed it would be a young married woman—who would’ve thought it’d be a little girl not even as tall as the stove?
“Jiao Yang, your mom’s not joking, right? This little girl isn’t even as tall as the stove. She can handle this?” one of the helper aunties asked.
The question wasn’t ill-intentioned. After all, it sounded absurd to have a child of ten or so in charge of a wedding banquet.
Truthfully, Jiao Yang wasn’t entirely sure himself, but his mother had repeatedly insisted that this job must be handled by Wen Yao, and at this point—since she was already here—he couldn’t very well embarrass her or undermine her authority.
“Auntie, don’t worry. Our Yao Yao is amazing. Just follow her lead,” Jiao Yang said.
Wen Yao also smiled. “That’s right, Aunties. As long as you do as I say, there won’t be any problems with the feast. Just relax and leave it to me.”
Since she’d spoken up like that, the others couldn’t say much more. After all, they were just helpers, not the hosts. If the hosts trusted her, what business was it of theirs?
After brief introductions, Wen Yao rolled up her sleeves and threw herself into the work, starting by inspecting the ingredients and prepared dishes in the kitchen.
Every single item, every tiny detail, she checked thoroughly.
Jiao Yang watched her work so methodically and felt increasingly reassured. Even those aunties who had doubted her now began to believe—if only halfway—seeing how skillfully she moved.
Madam Luo and Little Madam Luo greeted relatives from the Jiao family and then joined the kitchen team along with Li-shi and Cai-shi, who had finally arrived and immediately got to work.
Jiao Yang stayed for a while longer. Once he saw everyone had found their footing and no one in the kitchen was making things difficult, he left under Madam Luo’s urging. There were still many matters up front that needed attending to.
The banquet would be held tomorrow, but all the prep work had to be done today. Tofu had to be fried in advance. The crispy meat for the three-delicacy soup also needed to be fried today. Before long, the kitchen was filled with delicious aromas.
The helpers finally became convinced of Wen Yao’s capability. Her fried crispy meat, in particular, used seasonings that made it smell and taste even better than usual.
Some people got curious about what she used to season it, but ever since Madam Luo brought in her daughters-in-law, only the four of them were allowed to work inside the kitchen. Everyone else was moved outside.
Forget about stealing recipes—they couldn’t even see clearly.
Madam Luo knew exactly what others were thinking, so she took precautions wherever she could.
Just like that, the entire Wen family busied themselves at the Jiao house until afternoon. Wen Yao and Madam Luo’s group worked in the kitchen while Wen Xiuyi and his brothers helped Jiao Yang outside. Finally, everything was set.
The kitchen was packed with prepped ingredients, all ready to be cooked the next day. The whole Wen clan was ready to head home and return in the morning.
“Why don’t Yao Yao just stay over tonight? There’s room if we squeeze a bit. That way she won’t have to get up so early tomorrow,” Little Madam Luo suggested as they were about to leave.
Jiao Yang’s brother Jiao Jian had two daughters, so if Wen Yao stayed, she’d be sharing a room with them. Just thinking of last night’s experience with the “two little loaches” made Wen Yao’s soul scream no, though she kept a polite smile on her face.
Luckily, Madam Luo came to her rescue. Knowing that Wen Yao probably wouldn’t sleep well with strangers, she said, “There are plenty of us here already, no need to add to the hassle. Yao Yao will go back with us and come again early tomorrow.”
Since Madam Luo insisted, Little Madam Luo couldn’t argue and walked them to the village entrance.
Watching the Wen family leave amid laughter and chatter, Old Man Jiao let out a breath of relief and said to Little Madam Luo, “Honestly, I was worried that Yao Yao was too young and wouldn’t be able to manage it.”
Little Madam Luo shot him a sideways glance. “Didn’t I say so? Didn’t believe me, did you? My sister raised that child—how bad could she be?” With that, she hummed a happy tune as she headed home, already thrilled by the thought of drinking her daughter-in-law’s tea tomorrow.
Old Man Jiao chuckled and hurried after her.
Back at the Wen family’s old house, Wen Yao staggered into the room and flopped down on Madam Luo and Old Man Wen’s bed with her eyes half-closed.
“Aaaah! I’m exhausted.”
She’d gotten up early, worked all day, and hadn’t wanted to ask her dad or uncles to push her back in the cart—so she’d trudged all the way on her own. Now, not only was she tired, her feet hurt too. The road to the Jiao family was even farther than the one into town.
She missed her little electric scooter so much.
Madam Luo came in and saw her splayed out on the bed like a dead fish and rolled her eyes. “This is what you get for never doing hard work. Always listening to your mother’s nonsense about pampering girls. Look at you—walked just a bit and you’re falling apart.”
Though her words were sharp, Madam Luo still sat beside the bed, pulled Wen Yao’s feet over, took off her shoes and socks, and sure enough, found blisters on her heels from the walking.
“You damn girl. If the shoes were too tight, why didn’t you say something?” she scolded, giving Wen Yao a light smack on the leg.
