Chapter 217 - As dinner time quickly approached, Shu Yan looked over at the direction of the front door time and again. (3)
They didn’t need too many people to go to the market, so Lin Hui and Zhang Huaxiu stayed home to take care of the seafood and meat while Shu Yan, Hu Ruixue, and Wu Xiuyue headed over to the market.
The market was huge. In addition to seasonal vegetables, there were also greenhouse vegetables. Shu Yan bought both types.
When they walked past the pork booth, Shu Yan bought 20 lbs of pork. Hu Ruixue brought over beef and lamb. They would need a couple pork dishes. She then bought two ducks and two chickens. Those were must haves as well.
“Alright, let’s head back.”
Shu Yan reminded the boss and boss lady to go over for lunch when they walked past the motel.
After they have dropped off the stuff at home, Shu Yan checked the time. It was still only a little past 7 AM. “I forgot to invite one more friend. I’ll be right back.”
She was talking about Feng Zeyu. She made a point of looking him up last time but, as expected, he had declined her. Shu Yan decided to go over there and extend her invitation one more time.
An old lady opened the door. Shu Yan immediately recognized her as the sister-in-law of the old lady landlady. This old lady looked and talked in a very friendly manner.
“You come looking for Xiao Yu? Hang on, let me go get him.” The old lady looked Shu Yan up and down. Not bad. Thick waist and big butt. She was one who’d do work and take care of the family.
Her look made Shu Yan uncomfortable. Shu Yan let out a sigh of relief when Feng Zeyu came out.
“We started cooking already. You must stop by for lunch.” Shu Yan extended her invitation sincerely once again.
Feng Zeyu didn’t say anything. After a while, he asked, “Aren’t you worried?”
“What is there to worry about?” Shu Yan chuckled. “I am inviting a few friends over for a housewarming. There will be lots of people there. What’s there to worry about? I don’t think we need to overthink this too much. Even if someone wants to gossip, we just need to ignore them is all.”
It was kind of fun to have five women there going in and out trying to get things readied. They started with the stewing of the chickens and ducks and the preparations of the more complicated dishes. All of the vegetables were cut and sliced in advance. They couldn’t start those too early or their colors and tastes would not be as good.
Lao Zhang and his wife arrived shortly after that. As soon as Ye Shuqin saw the rest of them, she immediately rolled her sleeves up to come help out.
“No need. No need. We have enough manpower already,” said Shu Yan quickly.
“Are you sure? I have planned to make a few of my best dishes for you all to try.”
“Her Dongpo meat is like this,” said Lao Zhang with a thumbs up. “You sure you don’t want to try?”
“I am drooling just from you saying that. We must try it then,” said Shu Yan as she smiled.
After a little while, the couple from the motel arrived as well and Shu Yan quickly went up to welcome them. Seeing the gifts that they brought, she said unhappily, “You shouldn’t have.”
Taking the gifts from the two of them and setting them aside, she invited them to have a seat but the boss lady offered to help out as well.
“That really won’t be necessary. Just have a seat. The food will be ready soon.”
“It’s fine. I will just be sitting around anyway. My son loves seafood so that’s my specialty.”
The kitchen couldn’t even fit that many people inside and Hu Ruixue had long been out there playing with JingJing and Tianbao.
With so many helpers, just a couple of dishes per person and they were done in no time.
There were two large round tables there. One was Shu Yan’s and the other one they had brought over from Lin Hui’s place. Same with plates and utensils; a set also came from Lin Hui’s place. She’d be borrowing from Shu Yan when it was her turn anyway.
As lunch time got closer, Shu Yan started looking over at the direction of the front door from time to time. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
___
Translator’s rambling:
Gee, wonder who that could be? ;)