To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: “Love Rival” Arrives

Yan An felt a moment of pity in her heart, but she quickly became comfortable again.

There was nothing she could do. After all, she had lived in the modern, information-rich world, where she had a good understanding of almost every region’s cuisine. Even if she couldn’t open a spicy hot pot restaurant with beef tallow, there were other options that could replace it.

For example, this pork tripe and chicken hot pot. Wasn’t it also delicious? Or a spicy hot pot with vegetable oil would work too. When she had enough capital in the future, she would open them all!

“Pork tripe and chicken hot pot?” Wen Ying muttered, then smiled. “Then I’m suddenly looking forward to tomorrow.”

After saying that, she got up and said, “I’ll go inform Auntie Li and Teacher Yi now.”

When you invite people to dinner, you should at least invite them in advance, even though their advance notice was considered very short at this time.

“Wait.” Yan An quickly called out to her. “When you go to Auntie Li’s house later, see if she has any extra chickens to sell. If she does, buy one and remember to buy it at the market price.” A pork tripe and chicken dish naturally needed a chicken.

Yan An had also been craving the free-range chickens from Auntie Li’s house for a long time. The meat must taste great!

“Okay,” Wen Ying replied.

Every family that could afford it would try to raise as many chickens as possible, not just for the eggs but also to sell the chickens after they grew up. Auntie Li’s family was the same.

“Go early and come back early. It gets dark fast now,” Yan An instructed again.

“Okay,” Wen Ying said with a soft laugh.

Since she was also going to Auntie Li’s house to buy a chicken, Wen Ying went to Yi Shu Hua’s house first to inform them. There were only Yi Shu Hua and her mother at home. Yi Shu Hua could bring her mother to the Yan’s house after she was dismissed from school in the morning.

Wen Ying then went to Auntie Li’s house. This time, the whole family was there. After Wen Ying explained why she was there, Auntie Li was about to grab a chicken and give it to her, but Wen Ying repeatedly refused.

“Auntie Li, the reason we’re willing to buy from you is not so we can get your chicken for free. We just feel that if we have to spend this money, it’s better to give it to you than to someone else,” Wen Ying said with a serious expression. When Yan An told her to buy from Auntie Li’s house, she knew that Yan An felt the same way.

It was better for Auntie Li, who had always been kind to them, to earn this money than for an outsider to earn it.

“You child, why are you saying such things to me?” When Auntie Li heard Wen Ying’s words, she felt a little emotional.

Wen Ying smiled. She turned to Zhou Xiao Lu and said, “Sister-in-law, I’ll have to trouble you.”

Zhou Xiao Lu looked at Auntie Li. Seeing that she was only wiping away tears, she smiled helplessly, turned around, and went into the chicken coop to quickly grab a chicken. It weighed a full eight jins. In the market, it would usually sell for about 25 wen per jin, but now that the end of the year was approaching, everything was getting more expensive. Wen Ying decided to pay them 30 wen per jin.

Afraid that Auntie Li wouldn’t accept the money, Wen Ying stuffed it into Zhou Xiao Lu’s hand. Then she quickly left with the chicken, as if she was afraid that Auntie Li would chase her.

The Li family was stunned for a moment, watching her run so fast. Finally, Zhou Xiao Lu said with a laugh, “Mother, look how scared Wen Ying is of you.”

Auntie Li looked in the direction Wen Ying had left, her gaze forlorn. She said softly, “But when I look at her, I can’t help but want to be a little kinder to her.”

Auntie Li truly wanted a daughter. After so many years, this desire had almost turned into an obsession.

Auntie Li’s son touched his head and quietly walked away, afraid that his mother would see him and get annoyed.

…

Wen Ying returned home with the chicken. Yan An had already finished processing the pig stomach, blanched it, and cut it up.

She wanted to prepare all the ingredients tonight so that they could just be put in the pot and cooked tomorrow. After all, it was so cold that even without a refrigerator, the meat would stay fresh.

However, Yan An could process the pig stomach herself, but she had to leave the task of killing the chicken to Wen Ying. She just couldn’t bring herself to do it. The main reason was that she had no experience. In the past, the chicken she had used had always been processed by others.

She boiled water for Wen Ying and watched as Wen Ying expertly cut the chicken’s throat. No matter how the chicken struggled, she held it firmly in her hand. Yan An suddenly shivered, feeling a chill down her own neck.

Wen Ying’s movements were as quick and clean as her mother’s used to be when she killed chickens.

Yan An cleared her throat. She watched as Wen Ying let all the chicken’s bl00d drain out. After the chicken stopped struggling in her hands, she threw it into a basin. Yan An then poured the hot, boiling water into the basin.

The hot water made it easier to pluck the chicken feathers. The two of them squatted by the basin. Wen Ying’s movements were fast. When Yan An plucked, she winced from the heat and couldn’t help but say, “Doesn’t your hand feel hot?”

“A little, but I can bear it,” Wen Ying said with a faint smile.

Yan An: “…”

In the end, she wasn’t much help at all. Wen Ying quickly plucked all the feathers, even the fine ones. Then she cut open the stomach and took out all the internal organs.

Yan An was finally able to do something. She was pretty good at processing internal organs. She would process them later and make a stir-fry for dinner. After all, although they were going to eat pig stomach and chicken hot pot tomorrow, the chicken organs weren’t something you put in there.

The two of them were already working well together. After preparing all the ingredients they would need for tomorrow, they started to busy themselves with making dinner for tonight. Yan An told her about the things she had bought in town today, and Wen Ying told her what she had learned at Yi Shu Hua’s house. The chattering didn’t feel lonely at all. Instead, it was full of a sense of home and life.

“Yan An, should we buy some charcoal?” Wen Ying asked hesitantly while they were eating.

It was getting colder and colder. It wasn’t very practical for them to always be burning wood in the kitchen. If they brought the wood into the house to burn, they were afraid they might accidentally set the house on fire.

“Hmm… Although the walls of this house are made of yellow clay.”

Yan An suddenly realized what she had forgotten. She said immediately, “We have to buy some!”

Although Wen Ying had stored a lot of firewood, even a lot of firewood wouldn’t last if they kept burning it. Charcoal was relatively better.

Seeing that she agreed, Wen Ying was relieved. She gave her a faint smile.

She also had her own concerns. Although she had stored firewood before, if Yan An took on banquets later, sometimes the employer’s firewood wouldn’t be enough, so they would definitely have to use their own. She was afraid that they wouldn’t have enough.

Early the next morning, someone came to visit. Yan An thought it was one of the people Mr. Wu had introduced, but when she opened the door, it was a person from their own village.

“Yan An, have you had breakfast yet?” The woman who came, Auntie Zhou, immediately smiled when she saw Yan An. She looked very enthusiastic.

“Yes, yes. Have you, Auntie Zhou? If not, come in and have some,” Yan An said, quickly welcoming her in. This was the person who had expressed interest in working with her when she cooked for the village chief’s banquet.

“Yes, yes, I’ve eaten. I came here to set a time with you. I was wondering if you could be the cook for my child’s full moon celebration.”

Finally, someone came to set a time with Yan An. Yan An’s eyes lit up. She quickly led her into the main room. Wen Ying also came over in time to pour some tea.

“What time would you like? What kind of dishes do you need?” Yan An went straight to the point.

“I think the dishes you make taste great. Do you have any dishes you would recommend?” Auntie Zhou said, suppressing her joy.

She felt that the food Yan An made was truly delicious. Even the pig offal, which was extremely difficult for countless people to make taste good, she could make it so delicious. Although she wanted to try the dishes she had made before, she also wanted to taste what it would be like when Yan An made other dishes.

“Yes,” Yan An replied immediately. She took out the menu she and Wen Ying had stayed up all night to write. But Auntie Zhou was illiterate, so Yan An listed the dishes for her. After listing the dishes for one set meal, she also told her the budget for that table of dishes.

Auntie Zhou listened to the names of the dishes she listed. The variety was not at all inferior to any other village cook. And after tasting Yan An’s cooking, she knew that no matter how bad the taste was, it wouldn’t be that bad.

But…

“Has your memory recovered? You can read now.” Auntie Zhou only glanced at the small booklet in Yan An’s hand. Fortunately, she didn’t look closely. Otherwise, even though she was illiterate, she might have noticed that the characters were a little different from the ones used in this world.

“No, I can just recognize a few characters,” Yan An said awkwardly.

Fortunately, Auntie Zhou only asked that and wasn’t too curious. She started talking about the details of several things and then discussed the total price.

The set meal she chose was not the most expensive, but it was still 450 wen a table. Yan An had calculated that the cost would be between 250 and 300 wen. However, this time, they weren’t just simply cooking. It was a full service, including buying tables and chairs and cleaning. Although the employer’s family would help, they would still be extremely busy.

Her banquet was set for the first day of the twelfth month. There was still a week. The bowls and chopsticks Yan An had ordered might not be ready that quickly. Yan An had already made up her mind to buy all of Mr. Wu’s things.

As for the ones she had ordered, she would just save them for when she opened her own restaurant in the future. After all, these things could be stored.

Yan An finally felt a lot more at ease after someone came to ask her to cook. With the first one, there would be a second one. Her customer base would definitely grow in the future!

However, banquets were not an everyday occurrence. She still needed to figure out what kind of work she should do when there were no banquets.

Not long after Auntie Zhou left, the people Mr. Wu had introduced came one after another. Fortunately, their times didn’t conflict. Yan An arranged a schedule and collected a 30% deposit from each person, feeling very satisfied.

“Wen Ying, this is a good omen!” Yan An said happily. She had secured four banquets at once. The family would finally have a large income. Lately, the family had been spending large amounts of money. Watching the money that the young lady had thrown at them dwindle made her feel very uncomfortable, like they were going to run out of money soon.

“Yes, things will get better and better in the future,” Wen Ying said softly.

After they finished dealing with these matters, they went out together to graze the ox and cut pig feed. When they returned, it was time to prepare lunch. Considering that Yi Shu Hua might not eat pork, Yan An specifically used some chicken to make a chicken soup hot pot for her.

When Auntie Li’s family and Yi Shu Hua’s mother and daughter arrived, Yan An was almost done. Wen Ying greeted them and asked them to sit in the main room. Auntie Li couldn’t sit still and insisted on getting up to help serve the dishes and get the bowls.

After all the dishes were served, Yan An said loudly, “I made several dishes today because I want all of you to give me some feedback after you taste them. If there’s anything that needs to be improved, please tell me the truth.”

“We’ve already tasted your cooking. There’s no such thing as ‘not good’,” Auntie Li couldn’t help but say. Otherwise, so many people wouldn’t have been thinking about Yan An’s cooking since the village chief’s banquet.

“Then you have to eat more later, Auntie Li,” Yan An said, taking the initiative to scoop a bowl of pig stomach and chicken soup for Auntie Li. “I simmered this with pig stomach and chicken. Please give it a try.”

When Yan An ate pig stomach and chicken, she would always drink a bowl of soup first before eating the meat inside.

The others also started to scoop some for themselves, including Yi Shu Hua.

Yan An was a little surprised, looking at her. “Teacher Yi, you’re not avoiding pork?”

Yi Shu Hua smiled when she heard this. “They are all food. What’s the difference between high and low class?”

Even the previously more refined Yan An was eating pork now. Yi Shu Hua naturally didn’t care as much.

Yan An’s eyes lit up. “You’ll be able to taste so many more delicious things once you’re not avoiding it!”

She had also made a large portion of braised pork today. She was very confident in her braised pork skills. It was the first dish she had learned and a signature dish that everyone in her family’s restaurant would order. There was no possibility of her messing it up.

After tasting the soup, Zhou Xiao Lu couldn’t help but look at Wen Ying with envy. “Wen Ying, you’re going to have a lot of good food to eat in the future.”

Wen Ying was Yan An’s wife, and Yan An’s cooking was so delicious. When your appetite was satisfied, it was hard not to feel happy.

Wen Ying held the bowl and smiled faintly at Zhou Xiao Lu. She nodded, agreeing with her words.

“After you’ve all tasted this pig stomach and chicken, do you think people would be willing to come eat if I were to open a restaurant with this as the signature dish?” Yan An asked a little nervously. It was a pity that this idea couldn’t be realized yet. If it could, how comfortable would it be for everyone to come and eat a steaming hot pot like this in the middle of winter?

“I think so,” Zhou Xiao Lu said, nodding vigorously.

“I think so too!” Auntie Li’s son also nodded repeatedly.

The others also agreed with Zhou Xiao Lu. Yi Shu Hua’s mother’s eyes almost narrowed into a line from smiling. “It tastes so good. I’m so lucky to be able to taste all these dishes today. Every dish is delicious.”

Yi Shu Hua smiled and scooped another bowl for her mother. “Yan An, you don’t need to be unconfident. You have to know that not a single person who ate at the last banquet said that your food was bad.”

Yan An’s eyes were filled with joy. “With your affirmation, I’m more and more confident!”

As soon as she had enough capital, she would open a restaurant right away!

After lunch, everyone stayed behind to help clean up. They left only after everything was clean.

Yan An and Wen Ying didn’t have the habit of taking naps. They were also afraid that if they lay down on such a cold day, they wouldn’t want to get up. So they just stayed in the study.

Wen Ying practiced her writing, and Yan An worked hard to learn the characters of this world, only regretting that she didn’t have a brain like Wen Ying’s to memorize things quickly.

When it was time, Wen Ying went to Yi Shu Hua’s house, leaving Yan An to study hard by herself. Fortunately, she wasn’t too bad, and with the simplified characters to compare, Yan An’s learning speed was still quite fast.

In this kind of life, time quickly passed to the day before the first day of the twelfth month. The flatbed cart that Yan An had ordered was also delivered. Wen Ying drove it to the county town to buy the ingredients and seasonings needed for the banquet the next day, and she also bought two baskets of charcoal.

Yan An looked at the ox, which was now useful, and couldn’t help but touch its head with relief. “This ox is finally useful. It didn’t graze for nothing.”

She had to lead the ox out every day. In the middle of winter, although she didn’t have to walk a dog, she had to graze an ox. How was this not another form of torture?

Wen Ying chuckled. After she stopped laughing, she sighed softly. “Are you really not going to let me go with you later?”

After all the dishes were bought, Yan An planned to deliver the tables and chairs to Auntie Zhou’s house first. This way, tomorrow, she would only need to bring the dishes over and start cooking.

“No need. Auntie Zhou’s family will help. You’re not needed,” Yan An refused. Wen Ying had to go to Yi Shu Hua’s house for class after she finished buying things. And Yan An could handle transporting the tables and chairs to Auntie Zhou’s house by herself. There was no need to take up Wen Ying’s class time.

“But you’ll be very tired,” Wen Ying said, pursing her lips. Over the past few days, people had been coming to set times with Yan An. If she didn’t help, Yan An would be very tired, even if she could handle it.

“It’s okay. When things get on track later, I’ll find a part-time worker to help me.” Yan An had already made up her mind. Although this would cost money to hire someone, compared to Wen Ying sacrificing her study time to do these things, Yan An felt that the money was well spent.

Wen Ying sighed softly in her heart, but she was still pushed out of the door by Yan An with a heavy heart.

Yan An moved the tables and chairs she had moved out earlier onto the cart. Fortunately, she had done a lot of physical labor since coming to this world. Although it was still a little tiring to do this, it wasn’t unbearable.

After all the necessary things were prepared, Yan An got up around 4 a.m. the next morning. However, as soon as she moved, Wen Ying, who was wrapped around her, immediately woke up and got out of bed with her.

“You can sleep a little longer. It’s okay to go and help when it gets light,” Yan An said while putting on her clothes. She was truly afraid that it would affect Wen Ying’s energy for her afternoon class.

“It’s okay. If I get really tired, I’ll come back and rest in the afternoon,” Wen Ying said softly, reassuring her. Not only could she not stand to let Yan An be so busy by herself so early in the morning, but she also wasn’t at ease letting Yan An walk alone on the country roads in the dark.

“Okay. Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Yan An instructed, feeling worried.

“I know~” Wen Ying said helplessly, dragging out the last word.

After helping Yan An tie her hair, all the dishes and other things had already been moved onto the cart the night before. At this point, the two of them jumped onto the ox cart and drove it to Auntie Zhou’s house.

Auntie Zhou’s family had also gotten up early to get busy. A large group of people working together was very efficient. When it was light, Yan An made a large pot of noodles for breakfast. After they finished eating, they started to set up the tables.

Yan An secretly added an extra fried egg to Wen Ying’s bowl. Even the shredded meat was more than in the others’ bowls. When the others saw Yan An’s little action, they couldn’t help but laugh. “She knows how to spoil her wife. Why don’t we have one?”

The more they interacted with Yan An and her companions, the more they were able to accept their relationship as a couple. Sometimes, they would even tease them.

Wen Ying listened to their teasing. She didn’t seem to dare to look at Yan An. She lowered her head and bit her lip, looking at the fried egg in her bowl. A hint of warmth appeared in her eyes.

“Do you want one? If you do, I can fry one for you,” Yan An asked, walking to the stove.

“No, no. Noodles are enough for us,” the people said with a laugh. They just wanted to tease the young couple. They didn’t actually want one. After all, the noodles Yan An made were already delicious enough. Since there was a big pot of them, they could get more themselves if they needed to.

When Yan An saw that they really didn’t want any, she didn’t stand there anymore. Now that all the preparation work was done, there would be a break until lunch. Yan An said to Wen Ying, “You can go back and rest for a while.”

Wen Ying shook her head when she heard Yan An’s words. “No need. I’m not tired.”

Yan An looked at her carefully and didn’t see any signs of fatigue.

Yan An felt helpless. She truly couldn’t understand how this person could be so full of energy. As for herself, she was already tired enough. She ate a little bit of noodles to fill her stomach and was already drowsy sitting by the fire pit.

Seeing this, Wen Ying was afraid that she would fall into the fire pit if she fell asleep. She sat down beside her and let her lean on her to sleep. One of her hands was on Yan An’s waist to prevent any accidents and to quickly take care of her.

Yan An was only silent for a second. Soon, she leaned on her without any mental burden. They had hugged to sleep, so what was a little arm around her waist? Refusing would just be pretentious!

The others couldn’t help but smile suggestively when they saw them like this. They winked at each other and were also a little envious of their good relationship. Watching them interact, they even felt that there was nothing wrong with two women being together.

After Yan An leaned on Wen Ying’s shoulder and closed her eyes to rest, the people around her lowered their voices unconsciously. This rare free time was supposed to be for everyone to rest and prepare for the next round of busyness. But then, they heard the sound of a horse neighing outside the door.

When they heard the sound of a horse, everyone was stunned for a moment. Horses were rare in the village. Most people used ox carts to travel. Only those from wealthy families could afford to raise a horse.

Thinking this, the curious people couldn’t help but go outside to see what was going on.

Wen Ying didn’t go out. She looked down at Yan An, who was still asleep on her shoulder. She was clearly exhausted. Also, since she was sitting by the fire pit, it was warmer. Even with the noise just now, she didn’t seem to want to wake up.

She carefully reached out and stirred the fire in the fire pit to make it a little bigger. The noise at the door, however, grew louder.

She pursed her lips and subconsciously looked at Yan An again. When she saw that she hadn’t woken up, she felt relieved and looked up toward the door.

But soon, her expression instantly froze. Her gaze was fixed on the light yellow figure that was quickly entering the door.

“Yan An!”

The person shouted as soon as she stepped inside, her gaze searching the yard. Her eyes quickly landed on Yan An, and naturally, she also noticed Wen Ying beside her.

When she saw the two of them leaning so intimately together, the person’s expression instantly changed.