"Big brother~" Jiang Huiqin tugged at the hand of the man at the door, acting spoiled. "You promised me yesterday—you said you'd teach me!"
Jiang Feng guessed that this middle-aged man, who bore some resemblance to him, was his great-grandfather, Jiang Chengde.
With such a huge age gap between them, they looked less like siblings and more like father and daughter.
"You're already a grown girl about to be married, yet you still have no sense of propriety." Jiang Chengde fondly reached out and patted her head. "Still in your room embroidering your wedding dress?"
"It's all that brat Wei Jin's fault. I'd finished embroidering it, but he tore a corner again. Tomorrow, Mingyi and I are going to have our wedding photos taken. When I catch him later, I'm definitely going to give him a good whack!" Jiang Huiqin raised her little fist and waved it to show her determination to beat up her nephew. Then she jogged ahead. Seeing Jiang Chengde still strolling behind her, she urged, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Jiang Huiqin ran so fast that Jiang Feng could only jog after her. The invisible wall behind him kept slamming into his back and backside, as though someone were whipping him with a lash.
Tai Feng Lou was close to the Jiang Family's little courtyard house. Jiang Huiqin slipped in through the back door with practiced ease and finally stopped in the kitchen, giving Jiang Feng a chance to catch his breath and rub his poor backside.
It really would have been a waste of her talent if his great-aunt hadn't taken up long-distance running.
"Miss Jiang, the head chef just went out," one of the kitchen assistants reminded Jiang Huiqin when he saw her sneak in.
"Shh. I'm borrowing the kitchen. Don't tell the owner." Jiang Huiqin searched around but could not find the ingredients she wanted. Jiang Chengde still had not arrived, and she was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet.
After a while, Jiang Chengde finally arrived at a leisurely pace.
"Big brother, hurry up! I'm meeting Mingyi to watch a movie tonight, so hurry up!" Jiang Huiqin urged.
Jiang Chengde laughed. "When will you ever change that impatient temper of yours? Listen carefully. I'm only teaching you this dish once. Watch closely and don't touch anything. This is a dish Mr. Zhang ordered."
"I won't touch anything. I definitely won't!"
Jiang Chengde walked to a stove, lifted the lid of a large iron pot, took out a small bowl from inside, and placed it before Jiang Huiqin.
"Mr. Zhang's mother likes house swiftlet nests. Your future husband ordered yellow swiftlet nests, but the method is the same. Go on, pick out the down inside." Jiang Chengde pushed the bowl toward her. "Once you've picked it clean, rinse it once and soak it in alkaline water."
Jiang Huiqin obediently fetched a pair of thin, pointed chopsticks, leaned close to the little bowl, and carefully picked out the black wisps of down and other impurities.
Jiang Feng also leaned over curiously to look. The chopsticks were very thin, but compared with the tiny wisps in the bowl, they were still too thick. Jiang Huiqin's hands were nimble, yet picking them out was still difficult.
"First rinse the bird's nest with warm water, then steam it in the pot for an hour and a half. I don't need to teach you how to make willow-leaf pigeon eggs, do I?"
"No, no." Jiang Huiqin kept her head lowered and picked out another tiny wisp.
Seeing how carefully Jiang Huiqin was picking through it, Jiang Chengde stopped giving instructions. He took eight small wooden spoons from the table beside him, rubbed a layer of oil inside them with oilcloth, and set them aside. Then he picked up a piece of ham from his right.
"The ham needs to be cured first. Oh, right, I still need to add two more hams to your dowry. Be careful when slicing it. Don't cut your hand by being careless. Once it swells in the alkaline water, rinse it with warm water before tearing it into strips. Forget it, just keep picking for now. You won't remember if I tell you too much." Jiang Chengde's hands never stopped moving as he spoke.
The large kitchen knife slid lightly along the grain of the ham a few times, and several slices as thin as cicada wings appeared on the chopping board.
From the moment Jiang Huiqin heard the word "dowry," she had lowered her head so far that she did not hear another word afterward.
By the time Jiang Huiqin had finished picking out all the down and impurities from the bird's nest and soaked it in alkaline water, Jiang Chengde had also finished the willow-leaf pigeon eggs. Beneath the steamed pigeon eggs lay slices of ham and preserved vegetables, making a lovely sight.
"Big brother, what should the bird's nest look like after soaking?" Seeing that the pigeon eggs had finished steaming, Jiang Huiqin could not help looking at the bird's nest, which had long since expanded in the bowl.
Jiang Chengde went over to look, then panicked. He hurriedly poured out the alkaline water and rinsed it with warm water. "You really don't remember a thing when I say you don't! I told you to take it out once it had expanded. How long have you soaked it? Hurry up and scoop a bowl of cold water!"
Jiang Huiqin hurried off to get the water.
By the time Jiang Huiqin brought back the cold water, Jiang Chengde had already torn the bird's nest into strips. After rinsing it with cold water, he put it into the pot.
The Jiang Family's love for soup really had been passed down through the generations. As soon as the bird's nest went into the pot, boiling clear broth was poured in. Only then did Jiang Feng notice that the two large pots on the stoves behind them were both filled with soup.
When Jiang Feng turned back, the bird's nest had already been scooped out. Only steaming clear broth, on the verge of boiling, remained in the pot. Just as it was about to boil, Jiang Chengde poured in a ladleful of cold broth, sprinkled in a small pinch of salt, added a spoonful of Shaoxing Wine, and handed the pot over to Jiang Huiqin.
"When it boils, skim off the foam." With that, he began arranging the dish.
Given a task and eager to make up for her mistake, Jiang Huiqin stared unblinkingly at the large pot before her.
"Auntie, Auntie, Brother Mingyi is looking for you." A little boy ran into the kitchen.
"Weiguo, you must call him Uncle from now on. You can't mess up the generations!" Jiang Chengde said sternly.
"Oh." The smile gradually faded from the little boy's face.
This was...
Grandpa?!
Jiang Feng stared at the little boy before him, a string of snot still hanging from his nose, and could hardly believe his eyes.
Before Jiang Feng could get a proper look at the child version of Jiang Weiguo, Jiang Huiqin ran out with a red face. Jiang Feng could only chase after her, or his waist and backside would suffer.
Then Jiang Feng experienced an enormous public display of affection.
Who said people in the old society were all conservative? All that nonsense about feelings being restrained by propriety was complete bullshit!
They did not spare a single grain of lovey-dovey sweetness!
Jiang Feng watched his teenage great-aunt and great-uncle cuddle up while watching a movie. She fed him a preserved plum, and he peeled sunflower seeds for her. They held hands, and at the end of the movie, when the female lead died tragically, Li Mingyi stole a kiss on Jiang Huiqin's left cheek.
It was clearly a silent tragedy, yet the two of them looked as if they had just watched a sweet romance.
After the movie, Li Mingyi walked Jiang Huiqin home, with Jiang Feng following behind them.
The damage he had taken from the lovey-dovey couple ahead had been too severe. Jiang Feng felt safer staying behind them.
"Tomorrow, we'll go to Jinli Photography Studio to take our wedding pictures." With only one alley remaining before the Jiang Family's little courtyard house, Li Mingyi stopped.
"Mhm." Jiang Huiqin answered softly.
"In five days, you'll be my wife."
"Mhm." Jiang Huiqin's voice became even softer. Her head was lowered, and even the tips of her ears had turned red with embarrassment.
"If Mother hadn't insisted on picking an auspicious date, I'd wish I could marry you today. I'm going to put an announcement in the newspapers—not just in Beiping, but in Shanghai and Nanjing too. I'll put it in Ta Kung Pao and Min Bao. I want the whole country to know that you're my wife!" Li Mingyi embraced Jiang Huiqin, lowered his head to kiss her forehead, and said softly:
"Good night, my darling!"
Jiang Huiqin's face, which had merely been flushed before, instantly turned bright red. She slipped out of his embrace and ran home without looking back.
Her sudden dash made things miserable for Jiang Feng. Without any warning, the invisible wall behind him slammed into him hard, knocking him straight to the ground.
That really hurt!
Jiang Feng climbed to his feet and discovered that he was somehow in a room—and it was daytime.
After all, it had been nighttime when Jiang Huiqin ran home just now.
"I won't wear it! I won't wear it! I won't wear it!"
Before Jiang Feng could figure out what was happening, he heard Jiang Huiqin's furious scream.
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