MDZS: Still Lament Prologue

Chapter 4: Meeting tHeIM, the mischievous Lotuses of Yunmeng Jiang Part 4

After having collected all the needed materials for kite crafting that afternoon, Fengmian helped Jiang Cheng, Wei Ying and Little Zhuqin make their own personal designed kites; lotuses to represent Yunmeng.  Making the traditional Chinese kites was certainly not a problem for Fengmian and the seventh step now was to properly let the brilliantly painted kites dry.  Letting them dry, Little Zhuqin wandered off in curiosity to explore the Jiang's residence and stumbled upon a long corridor before smelling the aroma of freshly cooked pork meat.  Down the hall, she had found the main kitchen and saw a few Jiang family servants working alongside Yanli who had begun to slice the small portions of raw rib meat into bite sized pieces.

    "Yan jie jie!" Little Zhuqin cheerfully began and popped her head inside the main doors, trying not to be a disturbance to their work. 

    "Ah A Ling, ni lai le (Oh A Ling, you have come)," Yanli kindly responded, making sure to make use of Jiang Cheng's new name he made for Little Zhuqin earlier that afternoon.

    "Mmm...are you guys making dinner?  Would you like my help?" Little Zhuqin asked, knowing that it was only out of pure courtesy to question the host of the family if they needed any sort of help when it came to meal preparations.

    "You are our special guest, we cannot make you do things that guests should not be doing." Yanli nicely replied while she continued to slice the pork meat.

    If Little Zhuqin was honest herself, she did not really know how to cook since she came from a household where servants alone did the cooking.  The only thing she knew how to do was...eat.  However, she wanted to learn since cooking was also an important asset to a woman's life...plus cultivating her skills to survive in the cultivation world.

    From the kitchens main doors, Little Zhuqin kept her head popped inside the room to quietly and carefully observe how everyone cooked; slicing the meat, washing the vegetables, boiling the water, frying the food with oil, cutting the vegetables, and making the rice.  She also studied the way the cooks and Yanli held the knives, vegetables and fruits; hand and knives were made sure to stay apart in order to reduce harm.

    "Xuan ge thought cooking is only a girl thing and not a cultivation skill...but it really takes a lot of practice to master how to hold the knife as well as cut accurately." Little Zhuqin thought.

    Having no hesitation whatsoever, she walked into the kitchen and proudly stood behind Yanli.  With her hands to her hips, Little Zhuqin looked up at Yanli who was taller than her and as the elder sister stopped cutting the meat, she turned around to see the young girl behind her smiling.

    "Yan jie jie, please teach me!" She simply stated.

    Yanli could not help and quietly bursted into laughter, followed by the servants in the room.  Feeling the young girl's determination to learn how to cook, Yanli returned Little Zhuqin's smile, letting her know that as an older sister to a younger one, she was willing to teach the young girl how to cook as a beginner.

    "Na, hao de (Ok then)," Yanli began.  "Uhm...I did not realize we did not have lotus roots in stock.  Since we ran out of lotus roots, could you please help me buy some at the market center?" She asked while walking to a bucket of water to wash her hands.

      "Hao ya (Alright)!"  Little Zhuqin quickly replied then realized she forgot she had no money and gasped just loud enough for Yanli, and the servants to hear.  "Jie, wo meiyou qian ne (Older sister, I don't have money)." 

    "Sha gua (Silly)," Yanli tenderly laughed as she dried her hands then walked to Little Zhuqin, handing her the money. 

    "I'll be back!" Little Zhuqin quickly said and immediately ran off, leaving Yanli to wonder if she was going to be fine since this was her first time visiting Yunmeng.