The General's Delicious Wife Chapter 045: Madams' Unspoken Competition
With the sauced braised fish around, even the delicious fried fish were ranked behind.
Xue Zhuang and Qin Zheng ate relatively slowly initially, but after Xia Yue Chu was full and put down her chopsticks, the two of them began eating unreservedly.
Within the time that Xia Yue Chu took to clean up the kitchen and came back, not to even mention the fish, the sauce itself was swiped clean with the maize buns and the dishes were sparkling clean just like new ones.
The fried fish were also not wasted, they were all gobbled up by Qin Zheng.
"You both don't seem to mind how salty it could be." Xia Yue Chu saw that the sauced fish was so popular, she started planning in her heart to hurry up and taking the opportunity during the next few days as the river surface thaws out, signaling the beginning of the fishing season, to catch more fishes. Otherwise, they won't be able to eat it again when they missed this timing.
In the afternoon, Qin Zheng was making the medicine candy at home, and Xia Yue Chu went to the Cui's house to confirm the menu for the birthday banquet.
Madam Wang was very satisfied with the list of dishes drafted by Xia Yue Chu, and they had no special requirements. Seeing that Xia Yue Chu was planning to make longevity peach*, forming an impression that she was not afraid of troublesome tasks and putting in her best to work hard, praises poured out again and again.
Both parties had fixed a schedule that she would come over to prepare the ingredients on the fourth day of April. They will be serving noodles for the free flow buffet on the fifth day of April, and Xia Yue Chu ought to make the fried sauce and braised soup for it.
This was not a difficult task, and Xia Yue Chu agreed to it instantly, and at the same time they also agreed upon the wages.
The Cui family had already witnessed Xia Yue Chu's craftsmanship from the last time, the return banquet was organized dignifiedly. Up until now, it would still be mentioned by people from time to time, making the whole family feeling very proud of it.
So this time Madam Wang did not withhold her generosity, she promised a whooping one and a half taels of silver as the salary.
And following the arrangement as the previous time, she could bring her own helper over, during the birthday banquet, the old Sire will definitely give some more money as tips, on top of that she could take home some food, this given price was really beyond Xia Yue Chu's expectations.
After finishing the business arrangement, Madam Wang continued talking to Xia Yue Chu about family affairs. And finally, after beating around several bushes, she found out that Cui Old Sire's second son had migrated over to Liao Dong for his business, who did not come back often, only sending an errand runner to deliver the yearly gifts every year.
But this year was the Old Sire's 60th paramount birthday, there was no reason for the son not to come back. They had already sent someone to pass the message that they would be arriving within these few days.
In the beginning, Xia Yue Chu could not understand the reason why she was being told these things, but later, she noticed some underlying issues through parts and pieces from their conversation. Once she returned home, she enquired Madam Sun about it and completely understood the situation.
The Old Madam of the Cui family had long been gone, and there was no one who would set rules from the top hierarchy over the madams, thus there were a lot of conflict among the madams in the family. Additionally, the first son and the second son were only two years apart in their age, and they got married immediately one after another (Meaning: both of the daughters-in-law entered the Cui family around the same time, so their rivalry started at the same line).
Later, the Eldest son's family guarded the ancestral house honestly and conscientiously, and their son also had a promising future, planning to endeavor into the path of prestigious studies.
Who knew that the Second son, despite the opposition of the family, had insisted on taking his wife and his children to a foreign country to make a living as an entrepreneur.
Within the first few years, the Second son had become successful in earning money, so the Second daughter-in-law switched up her games in presenting their New Year gifts every year, directly and indirectly mocking the Eldest son's family for having a dead brain (Meaning: being inflexible and single minded), only knowing to keep to the old ways and living out their lives poorly.
Until later.
Cui Shu Qing passed the scholarly examination and acquired the title of a talent, then the Eldest's family finally was able to straighten their backbones, and they grew even more repulsive to the Second's family for only recognizing money, reeking themselves with the stench of smelly copper.
The distance between the two families grew getting further and further, and the competition between the madams naturally turned aggressive.
This time Madam Wang was in charged of the Old Sire's birthday banquet, needless to say, she hoped that it could be done beautifully, so that the Second's family could not pick on any problems at all.
"There are so many complicated household issues to be considered over an arrangement of a birthday banquet." Madam Sun felt distressed when she thought about it, and said worriedly, "Sister-in-law, why do I keep feeling uneasy about this in my heart!"
But Xia Yue Chu only treated it as a gossip and listened as entertainment, and when she saw that she was worried, she consoled her: "We only need to focus on cooking in the kitchen, and we will not have any interactions with the masters of the family. No matter how the competition goes between them, they can't get us involved."
Who knew that after verbalizing the claim, the very next day, she was summoned over to the Cui family by an errand runner.
When Xia Yue Chu walked into the east wing of the Cui's house, she saw two madams dressed in gold and silver sitting at the two ends of the brick desk.
Madam Wang who was sitting at the top seat (Meaning: the seat that is meant for the person with a higher position), and the other person obviously would be the Second son's wife, Madam Liu.
"Eldest Madam, Second Madam." Xia Yue Chu came before them and greeted them without any awkwardness.
Madam Liu squinted her eyes and evaluated Xia Yue Chu, unable to mask her contempt, and said with a contrived smirk: "Sister-in-law, it couldn't possibly be that this is the master chef you have found? Look at her yellow tinted skin and starving appearance, she doesn't even have enough to eat, what delicious food could she possibly make?"
She completed her first assessment and continued speaking without waiting for Madam Wang's input.
"But I know, this isn't the fault of Sister-in-law, such a remote place like the Seng Head Village which is not as prosperous as the city, there is nothing much to see and nothing much to eat, whatever you have that faintly smells pleasing would be treated as a treasure here."
Madam Wang's mouth was not as sharp as hers (Meaning: not as articulated as her), her face turned bluish with vexation, she restrained her anger and said, "Sister Xue is extremely skilled in her craft which is unanimously acknowledged by the whole family. As Younger sister-in-law had said, I have never seen much of the world, but the Old Sire nodded his head in agreement to hire Sister Xue as the main chef. As for this birthday banquet, it is also the Old Sire who sent Shu Qing to request for her service earlier on. There were so many people in the family, yet the Old Sire deliberately chose Shu Qing who is a scholar to send that invitation, it is enough to prove Sister Xue's importance."
No matter how blatantly rude Madam Liu was, she dared not say that the Old Sire had not seen much of the market, and she was triggered by the mentioned of the scholar son.
Her two sons were good at going to sea and doing business, but they could not read or study well, let alone passing the scholarly entrance examination, the number of words that they could recognize was not more than ten.
Therefore, ever since Cui Shu Qing acquired his title as a talent, she felt that she had been suppressed by her sister-in-law, and she felt irritated every time she thought of it. Thus, she had always refused to come back for the New Year, only sending people back every year to deliver the New Year gifts.
If it weren't for the old man's 60th birthday this time, she would not have brought the children back.
"The Old Sire has naturally experienced much luxury before, but this time while we came back, we specially brought fresh seafood back from Liao Dong. For the sake of these seafood, the Sire of my family (Meaning: her husband) has exhausted so much effort, hiring six large carts, all of which were loaded with sea water. The water had to be changed out all the time while the delivery is being made. If its someone who does not know how to handle the goods, then it all goes down to waste."
After hearing this, Madam Wang lost a little standing in her heart (Meaning: losing confidence and becoming insecure). She could trust Xia Yue Chu's culinary skills, but if she was asked to make seafood, then she could not say for sure.
After all, the Seng Head Village was in the mountains. How many people here had never seen or tasted fresh seafood in their lives. Occasionally using some dried kelp, little shrimp and dried scallop to brew a soup would be considered a delicacy.
Thinking up to this point, the gaze in her eyes as she looked towards Xia Yue chu also became hesitant.
Xia Yue Chu saw that the two of them had finally stopped bickering, and was both looking at her, she calmly replied, "Madams can rest assure, cooking seafood is not difficult for me. I'm not sure what kind of seafood did Second Sire and Second Madam bring back? It's a perfect time to redo the menu while both of you are here."
Madam Liu laughed out loud, "I'm afraid it's something that you have never seen before. I advise you not to brag so indiscriminately. Just because you can cook a few countryside dishes, you have the guts to claim yourself as a chef. When the time comes and the goods are wasted vainly, it's something you can never afford to pay back!"
"Sister-in-law, your words are too much. There are only so many places in the country that are close to the sea. What of it even if one cannot cook seafood, you cannot possibly mean that one can only be a chef when they can cook seafood?"
Madam Wang's words had brought back some warmth to Xia Yue Chu's cold eyes, it did not matter whether she did it for her own pride or something else. Just for the sake of her willingness to speak out on her behalf, she was determined to grow her face (Meaning: protect her honor and grow her reputation) this time.
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Translator Notes:
*Longevity peach is a traditional steamed bun with lotus seed paste fillings, and it is shaped into peaches. There is a Chinese folklore that in the heavenly realm, the Queen mother of the heavens had a garden with peach trees. She would hold a feast and bestow the peaches to deities as rewards and it grants them power. If mortal eats it, it is said to give them a long life. That's why in the Chinese culture, longevity peaches are viewed auspiciously especially for an elder's birthday, as a wish for them to live a long life.
Translated by YellowBean.