Lan Man and Dora, who had originally intended to help in the kitchen, looked at the situation and felt completely superfluous. They quietly slipped out.
"Why did you stop helping?" the Old Madam asked curiously as she saw them emerge.
Lan Man waved her hand, her expression saying don't ask. "Those two in the kitchen are surrounded by pink bubbles of love. We felt we couldn't possibly interfere, and we looked especially redundant."
"Yes, their display of affection left us feeling speechless," Dora added, looking a bit drained. "Are all young people like this nowadays? They really know how to show off."
Fortunately, Zhu Yanyi did not see their current state. Otherwise, she would have said, "Who told you to enter the kitchen? You can't blame anyone else for eating a mouthful of dog food."
Unfortunately, the term "dog food" had not yet appeared in their vocabulary.
Inside the kitchen, Zhu Yanyi cooked with practiced ease. The Old Madam, still skeptical, peeked through the doorway. She saw Zhu Yanyi acting as the head chef while Yan Aohan assisted. Their coordination was flawless, clearly not their first time working together. Satisfied, the Old Madam smiled as she stepped out.
"Mom, I wasn't wrong, was I? It was full of pink bubbles in there," Lan Man laughed.
The Old Madam glanced at Lan Man. "When you and Hua Jun were dating, weren't you just like that? You’re an experienced person now, yet you have the nerve to tease your younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law."
"But the feeling of watching someone else’s pink bubbles is different when you were the protagonist," Lan Man grinned.
The Old Madam laughed at this. "I think you’re doing it on purpose. If you’re so bold, say that to their faces later."
Lan Man giggled. "I wouldn't dare. Fourth Brother usually has a good attitude, but the Little Divine Doctor is his bottom line. If I teased them and made the Little Divine Doctor blush, Fourth Brother would definitely give my husband a hard time."
Yan Hua Jun interjected casually, "Actually, Fourth Brother doesn't exactly give me good fruit to eat either."
"Pfft." Everyone burst into laughter after Yan Hua Jun spoke.
Zhu Yanyi had been cooking in the kitchen for nearly two hours. She then instructed Yan Aohan to serve the dishes. Soon, the table was laden with food. The sight made people’s mouths water, and the aroma stimulated their saliva. No matter what, looking at the table naturally aroused an indescribable craving.
"Fourth Brother, is all this the Little Divine Doctor’s cooking? It looks wonderful," the Old Master said, his mouth watering. He reached out to grab a dish, but Yan Aohan immediately tapped his hand. "You’re worse than a child. Even Xiao Nan and Xiao Xi know to wash their hands before eating."
The Old Master sighed helplessly and went to wash his hands. As he scrubbed, he said, "During the war, we ate with our hands. Sometimes if food fell on the ground, we didn’t mind the sand and dirt. We just picked it up and ate it. Things aren’t so particular now."
"You don’t have to eat what we made," Yan Aohan stated directly. "But if you want to eat our food, you must follow our rules."
The Old Master waved his hand. "I’ve already washed my hands. Why are you still dissatisfied?"
As they chatted, everyone took their seats. Zhu Yanyi brought out a small jar of vegetarian Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and placed it in the center of the table. "Alright, the dishes are all here." She then added, "Tomorrow is Aohan’s birthday. Since we won’t be able to celebrate properly then, I made this table of dishes. Let’s consider this an early birthday celebration for her."
The Old Madam looked deeply at Zhu Yanyi. "Yanyi, will you still celebrate her birthday tomorrow?"
"Of course," Zhu Yanyi admitted大方ly, though her face flushed slightly. "Tomorrow belongs to me alone. I will celebrate her birthday just for the two of us."
"Ah, I say, we haven’t even started eating, and your pink bubbles are going to drown us all at this table," Lan Man teased.
"That’s perfect. If you’re drowned, we can eat more," Zhu Yanyi replied. Regarding the issue of showing off affection, she believed one should seize every opportunity.
"Fine, you’re awesome," Lan Man said, giving Zhu Yanyi a thumbs-up.
Zhu Yanyi giggled. Yan Aohan picked up a piece of vegetarian braised pork and placed it in Zhu Yanyi’s bowl. "Eat."
"Mm." Zhu Yanyi took a bite. Not forgetting her, she picked up a piece of vegetarian eel and placed it in her bowl. "You eat too."
Their loving display made the others sigh in envy.
Deciding that out of sight was out of mind, everyone focused on the food in front of them and began to eat.
The Old Master took a bite of the braised pork. "This braised pork tastes good, but it feels different from ordinary braised pork. Yanyi, how did you make this?"
"Different? You guess?" Zhu Yanyi grinned. She ladled some Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for Yan Aohan. "This Buddha Jumps Over the Wall must be eaten while hot. You all try it quickly."
"It’s Buddha Jumps Over the Wall? Why didn’t you say so earlier?" The others stopped talking and started eating, bowl after bowl. Soon, the small jar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was finished, and they moved on to the other dishes.
Zhu Yanyi had worried she had made too much. However, since it was all vegetarian, she wasn’t concerned about them getting indigestion. She realized she had overthought it; the entire table of dishes was cleaned up.
"So delicious," Yan Hongyi patted his satisfied belly.
"I thought you all loved meat. I didn’t expect you to like a vegetarian banquet," Zhu Yanyi said slowly. She didn’t look apologetic; instead, she had a look of I told you so.
"Vegetarian banquet?" Yan Hongyi looked at Zhu Yanyi in confusion. "You said vegetarian banquet? When did we eat all-vegetarian food?"
"Of course. This entire table was vegetarian. I used only vegetarian ingredients. What Aohan and I bought together were all vegetarian materials. Even the broth was quickly simmered from various mushrooms," Zhu Yanyi said with an innocent expression.
"But I clearly tasted fish and braised pork," Yan Hua Jun said. The feeling of meat melting in his mouth was still there.
"That’s because I made it well. A good vegetarian banquet tastes no different from chicken, duck, fish, or meat," Zhu Yanyi explained kindly, with a hint of pride.
"Besides, you’ve been eating meat all along, which isn’t good for health preservation. So I specially made this table of vegetarian dishes for you to try, to see what you actually like. I didn’t expect you to like it so much. Fortunately, I was prepared. I’ve already written down the recipes. From now on, you must eat at least one vegetarian meal every other day. I’ll give the recipes to Auntie, the sisters-in-law, and the brothers-in-law, so they can supervise you."
"Why the brothers-in-law?" Yan Zhaoxia asked, feeling something was off. She looked at Zhu Yanyi with dissatisfaction. In other families, the female masters were given the responsibility, but in her family, it was the opposite.