CHAPTER 90: CHAPTER 088 YAN CAN’T KEEP A SERIOUS FACE ANY LONGER [270 VOTES+]

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Zhang Shanni was looking at the lively wild game next to the kitchen with a headache. According to her, the marten that her husband had recently hunted was a fresh catch, and it was very clever and not easy to capture. Now that the guests seemed to be of high status, she felt it was necessary to show off her signature dish to enhance her husband’s reputation.

But then she thought, it’s already eleven o’clock, and as a village woman, if she botches things up in front of a sharp person like Li Baojia, it wouldn’t be easy to clear things up.

As for the Xie Family, they certainly weren’t fools. It was just that she, being a native to the area, the original owner of the body had since childhood been known as honest and capable. It was not too surprising that she could procure food from the mountains, and people would just think that the original owner had been driven hard by relatives. After all, why she committed suicide by jumping into the lake was widely known.

But if she, without thinking, were to conjure up a table of fine food out of thin air, she felt it would be unwise and unrealistic.

After all, the current ingredients and seasonings of the Xie Family were laid out right here; she couldn’t just create something from nothing.

In the end, she decided to butcher the wild chicken first and start stewing it. The simplest dish would be chicken stewed with mushrooms, a common meal for her family. The wild chicken itself was rich and tasty, and didn’t require any seasoning to taste delicious, especially when paired with wild mushrooms, making it an outstanding rustic dish.

She butchered the chicken, marinated it simply, and put it on the stove, then washed the rice to steam. This time, she steamed plain rice since it would be impolite to serve the usual old rice with sweet potatoes when having guests over!

Especially since they were about to have precious refined rice coming in very soon.

Hmm, what about making some chive pockets, blanching some Chinese cabbage, and their home-cured fish was quite nice too!

After finishing what she could do, Zhang Shanni looked at the lump of snake corpse on the ground and felt a bit unsettled—she really liked snake meat soup, but the problem was, she didn’t know how to butcher a snake!

Just as she was fretting, Xie Jingchen came in.

"Brother Chen!" The moment Zhang Shanni saw her husband, she rushed over to him excitedly, pointing at the two pieces of game on the ground, "I don’t know how to butcher snakes! Let’s do it together!"

"Be careful!" Xie Jingchen promptly embraced her, and seeing his little wife’s joyful expression because of his arrival, he couldn’t maintain his stern face any longer. He gently pinched her soft and smooth little cheek and said, "I know, I’ve just come. Be careful not to be clumsy."

Due to Zhang Shanni leaping into Xie Jingchen’s arms as soon as she saw him step over the threshold, Xie Jingchen was startled by her action and thought it wouldn’t be worth it if she accidentally fell, so he spoke the last part with a serious face.

"I’m just happy!" Seeing Xie Jingchen, Zhang Shanni’s heart rejoiced, and her behavior carried the coquettishness of a little woman. Seeing that he was not angry at her but just disliked her rash behavior, she didn’t mind.

She had sensed others coming with her spiritual power completely spread out, and knew it was only safe to behave so unrestrainedly because he had come!

Most importantly, she was truly happy in her heart—it was a joy from the inside out. She didn’t know why she was so joyful; just seeing Xie Jingchen made her heart feel good!

"Sure, be happy but keep safety in mind. You go handle other things; leave these two to me. It’ll be quick!" Xie Jingchen took advantage of the privacy to leave a light peck as a mark in her luminous apricot eyes, then got to work with the game at the well.

"Hmm hmm hmm~~" Zhang Shanni, sweetly touching her right eye, felt that spot getting warm... Watching her husband walk away and humming softly to herself, the tune was monotonous yet rising, cheerful and lively.

First, Zhang Shanni went to the vegetable garden to cut some chives and picked a good amount of Chinese cabbage. Then noticing how tender the cucumbers were, she thought of garlic smashed cucumbers and started craving it, immediately taking action—pick, pick, pick!

After cleaning the vegetables and preparing them by either smashing or cutting, she made the salad and steamed the fish. By the time she finished, Xie Jingchen had already butchered the snake and marten. Zhang Shanni then asked him to wash his hands and go entertain the distinguished guests.

No one was watching, so her movements could be quicker and more comfortable.

Zhang Shanni entered the kitchen at eleven and continued preparations until twelve-thirty before a table full of dishes was ready.

In total, she prepared four meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and two cold dishes. The four meat dishes were chicken stewed with mushrooms, steamed dried fish with sauce, snake meat soup, and grilled badger meat; the two vegetable dishes were chive and egg pockets, and blanched cabbage; the cold dishes were fried peanuts and cold cucumber salad. The staple food was white rice.

As Shanni grilled the badger meat, the enticing aroma wafted out of the kitchen, catching the noses of everyone in the main hall and instinctively making them swallow their saliva. Luckily, at this point, the dish was nearly seventy percent done, and all the other dishes were prepared and ready to be served.

Because the guests included Liu Guilan and her mother-in-law, Zhou Xiuhua didn’t eat separately but opened a large table for everyone to dine together.

Xie Tiesheng, seeing such popularity, even brought out his treasured Ginseng Snake Wine, a brew nearly a decade old with ginseng of about ten years, which Jingchen had brought back some years ago.

Usually, Xie Tiesheng would never be willing to drink it, but this time he was so generous because he was interested in the status of Li Baojia, regardless of whether his intention was toward his third son or the Third Son’s Wife; after all, they were all Xie Family.

As long as it was beneficial to the Xie Family, he would not withhold.

The three families drank together until nearly four o’clock, only stopping because Jianfeng persuaded them. Li Baojia and Xie Tiesheng ceased drinking, and everyone unanimously praised Shanni’s culinary skills, agreeing that the flavor was truly extraordinary!

Even the spicy sauce she particularly brought out was a hit among everyone.

If not for the consideration that the guests spoke the local dialect too fluently, afraid that they were not accustomed and couldn’t handle the spiciness, Shanni would have served an entire pot of extra spicy food directly!

During the meal, Xiao Liu’s childlike banter brought endless laughter to everyone.

The table of dishes was almost completely cleared.

After all, with four grown men at the table, no matter how much food there was, it could all be consumed. Moreover, Shanni’s snake soup was particularly favored by the women of the Liu Family; each of them had two bowls, and the group polished off the entire pot of snake soup.

Unexpectedly, there was some white rice left over, as everyone turned their attention to the dishes on the table.

In the end, both the guests and the hosts were satisfied.

As they were leaving, Jianfeng specially invited Shanni to attend his son’s one-month birthday celebration, and with Jingchen’s nod of agreement, Jianfeng then helped his elderly father into the empty truck to return home.

Once the guests had left, Shanni asked her mother-in-law to help Dad rest in the room for a while. She also prepared two large bowls of honey water for Xie Tiesheng and Jingchen respectively and delivered them personally.

This water, compared to what she had offered the Li Family father and son earlier, had an extra drop of Spirit Core Water, which could accelerate the digestion of alcohol in the father and son’s bodies from the Xie Family.

After ensuring they both drank the sweetened water with the added ingredients, Shanni returned to the kitchen to wash and tidy up the bowls and utensils.

Her mother-in-law, who had been egged on by Sister-in-law Chunling during the meal, drank almost half a bowl of the Ginseng Snake Wine. There are few elderly farm women who don’t drink. Zhou Xiuhua’s health had been declining over the years, and she hadn’t had Snake Wine for a while. Seeing her husband lying down and asleep, she finished the leftovers of his honey water, and then both went to bed to rest.

It was only after confirming that the elderly were soundly asleep that Shanni returned to the kitchen to clean up the environment.

Only when Xiao San came back from school did she take the half bowl of meat she had specially saved and the remaining rice, and cooked it for Xiao San. After bathing Xiao Liu and seeing Xiao San finish his homework, considering the lateness of the hour, she urged him to bathe and played with Xiao Liu for a while. After Xiao San finished his bath, she encouraged the two brothers to go to sleep earlier.