Chapter 57 - 57 Going to the Gu Family in the County to Cook

“Eldest Sister-in-law Xu, your cooking skills have really improved!” Second Brother Xu praised.

Xu looked at his wife with a face filled with pride.

Eldest Sister-in-law Xu’s face instantly turned red under the man’s gaze.

“It’s all thanks to my little sister’s teaching.”

“Eldest Sister-in-law is a fast learner; she got it after being taught just once,” Xu Ying said admiringly.

Anyway, she definitely learned much faster than when she first started cooking.

“Yingying, I’m going to the county tomorrow. I’ll take you with me,” Second Brother Xu, who had specially taken a day off, just happened to want to visit Qiu Ye in the county.

Xu Ying nodded without refusing, “That works. We’ll have to get up early tomorrow.”

The Gu family’s wedding banquet was not going to be a large affair, but the guests invited were all quite influential in the county, so everything needed to be meticulously prepared.

“Okay,” Second Brother Xu replied.

Mrs. Xu was somewhat worried about her daughter’s physical health—it was an unfortunate coincidence that her period had arrived at this time.

“Daughter, will you be able to do the cooking tomorrow?”

Xu Ying waved her hand dismissively; she was feeling much better now, and the medicine had been quite effective.

Mrs. Xu knew what her daughter was thinking, and looking forward with the same anticipation, she nodded her head and said no more.

Soon, the next day arrived early in the morning.

Xu Ying got up early, ate two eggs, and prepared to set out.

Since Second Brother Xu was taking Xu Ying to the county, Mrs. Xu, who rarely spoke up, also boiled two eggs for him.

The two set out at seven and arrived at the Gu family home just after eight.

“Yingying, you’ve come! I haven’t seen you for a month; I’ve missed you terribly,” Gu Fuying exclaimed as she greeted her with a big hug.

Xu Ying hugged her back and headed straight for the kitchen, “I’ll go check the kitchen first, see how the ingredients are prepared!”

Gu Fuying hurriedly led her to the kitchen.

The wedding banquet was being held right downstairs at the Gu family’s home, and the family had already set up tables and chairs early in the morning—ten tables in total. Two tables were for relatives, two tables for close neighbors, and the remaining were for friends and colleagues.

Xu Ying went into the kitchen and instantly planned a menu in her mind after seeing the ingredients.

Thinking about her special “Mandarin Duck Chicken,” Xu Ying felt it was perfectly suited for the occasion.

Before she could check the ingredients, a middle-aged man in his forties stopped her: “Who’s this young girl? Get out of here, we’re busy right now; we don’t have time for your nonsense.”

Upon seeing this, Gu Fuying quickly interjected, “She’s the chef our family has hired; she’ll be in charge of the main dishes.”

The middle-aged man’s brows furrowed instantly. He had heard from the Gu family before he came that they had hired someone else for the main dishes.

He had thought it would be some famous chef!

But now, all he saw was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, and he immediately felt disdain. The Gu family really should be more discerning, even if their own child wanted to support a friend.

In his view, Xu Ying, dressed ordinarily, clearly didn’t come from a well-off family. He assumed that the girl must be very poor and that Miss Gu wanted to help her out by letting her cook.

It was no surprise he thought this way; Xu Ying had dressed for cooking convenience that day, picking out the only pair of slightly darker-colored pants and a shirt that she had owned for many years.

Now wearing them, she indeed looked like a poor family’s child.

“Miss Gu, you’d better think this through. So many guests are coming from outside, and the Gu family is quite well-known. If the main dishes are not up to par and word spreads, you’ll be the laughingstock. Besides, today is your big brother’s wedding day. I’m just giving you a heads up—it won’t be my fault if anything goes wrong,” the middle-aged man clearly looked down on Xu Ying.

Gu Fuying was instantly angered and responded with her chin up, “You haven’t even tasted the food Yingying makes. How would you know it’s not delicious? Wait until she’s done cooking, and it’ll dazzle your eyes.”

The man responded with one word and said no more; he didn’t want to cause trouble with the hosts.

“Fuying, you go ahead with your business,” Xu Ying said.

Gu Fuying nodded. She indeed had quite a lot of things to do on her side, but she was afraid that Yingying would be bullied. After glancing over, the man said, “If someone dares to bully you, just tell me, and then I’ll tell my parents and let them take care of them.”

Xu Ying nodded. There was no way she would let herself be bullied.

Only then did Gu Fuying leave.

After Gu Fuying left, Xu Ying started to pick up the utensils to cook.

The middle-aged man heard Gu Fuying’s words as she departed and, not wanting to cause trouble, turned his head and began to busy himself with his own tasks.

He was responsible for the cold dishes.

Xu Ying, holding the menu, began to prepare the ingredients for the Mandarin Duck Chicken.

She had just finished preparing ten chickens when another cook stopped her.

“What are you doing, young lady?”@@novelbin@@

“Cooking!” Xu Ying replied, looking up at the man with clear eyes.

The man was astonished, “You’re cooking? Stop messing around!”

He repeated the same words as the middle-aged man had said earlier.

Xu Ying explained and continued to be busy, but the man shamelessly picked up the chicken meat she had prepared and tried to leave.

Xu Ying grabbed his wrist with one hand and held a kitchen knife in the other, her eyes icy as she looked at him, “Uncle, what are you doing?”

The man was startled by her expression, and he stuttered, “Isn’t the chicken ready to use once it’s prepared?”

Actually, that wasn’t the case. He knew that Xu Ying had prepared it, but he thought, since she was just a little girl, even if he took it, what could she do to him?

But he hadn’t expected this girl to be so fierce, gripping his wrist so tightly that he couldn’t struggle free.

“Who said you could use it? I slaved away preparing these for half a day, and you just take them to use?”

“I, I didn’t know!” the man said in fear.

“Put it down!”

The man immediately put down the chicken.

Xu Ying released him, and the man ran away in a hurry.

The men in the cold dish area laughed as they witnessed the scene, and when the man walked over, they mocked, “What’s the matter? You thought the girl was easy to bully.

I told you there’s always someone better, don’t think just because she’s a little aunt that you can bully her.”

The man snorted coldly, “Don’t think I didn’t see just now, you don’t think much of her either.”

The middle-aged man touched his nose, feeling somewhat guilty, “I just think this girl’s cooking can’t be that great; even if she’s a genius who has been learning to cook since she was a child, she couldn’t possibly be a head chef, right?”

Moreover, he had seen her palms earlier; there were no calluses whatsoever. Her hands were white and tender, hardly resembling those of someone who’s done heavy work.

Those studying to be chefs, who hold knife handles all year round, practicing chopping vegetables and wielding woks to stir-fry, have long since calloused hands.

“Who knows?” the man said displeased, having been scared by a girl in front of his rival was simply humiliating.

As Xu Ying stayed busy, both men kept an eye on her until they saw her knife skills, which started to change their opinion of her.

Such knife skills can’t be developed in just a few years.

That was true, as back in the apocalypse, Xu Ying’s master was not only strict about taste but also knife skills, and her space operated at more than three times the speed of the outside world.

Three days inside for every day outside, she would practice her knife skills and cooking in the space whenever she had free time.

The middle-aged man immediately started looking forward to Xu Ying’s culinary skills.

His rival scoffed, “How about we make a bet? I bet that girl can only do knife work, but as for cooking, she must be far worse than me.”

The middle-aged man still had some doubts about Xu Ying, but he didn’t want to side with his rival, and finally said, “I bet this little aunt’s cooking is definitely better than yours.”

“Fine, if you lose, give me that bottle of wine from your house,” his rival said.