With Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie helping, lunch that day was a lavish spread.
Of course, ever since Mrs. Jenny had brought Eunice to visit, Kallen had made every meal as good and refined as possible whenever conditions allowed.
The three main dishes were Dongpo braised pork, Suzhou-style sweet-and-sour ribs, and crabmeat lion's head meatballs;
the three side dishes were scrambled eggs with chives, simmered shredded dried tofu, and vegetarian chicken.
The three cold dishes were cucumber salad, wood ear mushroom salad, and drunken shrimp.
Finally, there was a pot of old duck soup.
When Dis returned, Kallen rang the bell outside the kitchen.
He felt certain he would miss this moment someday, and the moving picture of his family emerging from upstairs and downstairs to sit around the dining table once the bell rang.
So Kallen closed his eyes as he rang it, hoping to remember its clear chime with all his heart.
The family's three employees and three children were all home that day. With more people eating, there were naturally more dishes and greater variety.
After all, given the Immerlis Family's assets and income, eating them out of house and home would not normally be easy, unless someone in the family went into investing like Uncle Mason again.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular dish at the table was the sweet-and-sour ribs. The Ruilanese obsession with sweet flavors was practically etched into their bones. The vegetarian chicken also received high praise.
What surprised Kallen a little was how popular the drunken shrimp was, especially with Uncle Mason, Ron, and the others, who ate it with gusto, showing no psychological resistance whatsoever.
"Have some of this. Here, one each. These took a lot of work to make, and they're sure to be very nutritious."
Aunt Mary put a large lion's