After the cakes, soybean cakes, and cookies had cooled, Yang Haiyan began sorting and packaging them.

Each portion contained eight small cakes, eight cookies, and eight soybean cakes, arranged in the order of cookies, soybean cakes, and cakes, and then placed into small red cloth bags to prevent them from getting squished.

Although Qin Fang had said he invited ten people, she prepared twenty portions—better safe than sorry.

Once everything was packed, she asked Qin Fang to take them into their main bedroom.

She then said, “Darling, please organize the items in the storage room and move them to our bedroom. When guests arrive tonight, you can entertain them in the storage room while I and the ladies have our meal in the study.”

“Okay, I’ll go move them right now,” Qin Fang replied.

After he moved everything, Yang Haiyan said, “Darling, go borrow two large round tables from the town head’s house. They charge one wen each for usage.”

Yang Haiyan had previously asked Sister Lu and knew that the town head had large round tables specifically for hosting events like weddings and funerals.

Of course, they charged for it; otherwise, ordinary families typically used small square tables.

“Understood,” Qin Fang said.

Before long, Qin Fang returned with the large round tables, carrying both of them.

As Qin Fang brought the tables inside, Sister Lu arrived and asked, “Are you starting to get busy now?”

Today and tomorrow were Qin Fang’s rest days, his husband’s rest days were on different days.

Yang Haiyan replied, “Yes, we’re getting started. We’ll set up the cold dishes first, and then we can quickly get to the hot dishes.”

Sister Lu remarked, “You’re really well-prepared. Only someone from a prominent family like yours would think to separate cold and hot dishes. A woman like me doesn’t pay that much attention.”

Yang Haiyan said, “Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I understand what you mean, Sister Lu, but there are things you can do that I might not be able to.”

Sister Lu felt comforted by her words.

Although she thought her own skills were quite basic compared to Yang Haiyan’s, she appreciated Yang Haiyan’s kindness.

“By the way, Sister, I need to discuss something with you,” Yang Haiyan said.

“What is it?” Sister Lu asked.

“My plates aren’t enough; I might need to borrow some from your house,” Yang Haiyan explained.

“Of course! I’ll go get some,” Sister Lu responded.

When Sister Lu returned with the plates and entered the kitchen, she saw that Yang Haiyan had already arranged six plates. “Sister Lu, please put these snacks onto the two tables, one portion on each table.”

The six plates held cakes, cookies, and soybean cakes.

“Alright,” Sister Lu said.

Meanwhile, Qin Fang was tending to the fire, with two iron pots on the stove.

One was steaming eggplant, while the other was roasting vegetables.

The roasted vegetables could be served as both cold and hot dishes, a specialty from Yang Haiyan’s hometown.

As for the steamed eggplant, once it was cooked, she planned to make a hand-torn cold eggplant dish.

With the eggplant still cooking, the roasted vegetables were ready. “Sister Lu, could you please take these two dishes down?” Yang Haiyan requested.

“Sure!” Sister Lu replied.

As Sister Lu stepped out, she ran into Yang Dahua. “Sister Lu is here! Haiyan, I’ve come!” Yang Dahua had been visiting frequently to learn embroidery and had met Sister Lu several times.

They had worked on embroidery together, so they were somewhat familiar with each other.

“Dahua, you’re here!” Yang Haiyan greeted.

“I brought some plates, worried that you might not have enough,” Yang Dahua said.

“You’re really a big help! I was just about to mention it when you arrived,” Yang Haiyan said.

It was clear that they didn’t have enough plates, but she appreciated Yang Dahua’s thoughtfulness.

In fact, even without Sister Lu and Yang Dahua, Yang Haiyan could manage on her own, but having them around meant she didn’t have to chop vegetables, which sped things up considerably.

After preparing the cold dishes of marinated radishes and cold stir-fried asparagus, Yang Haiyan moved on to the hot dishes, which included soybean pig’s trotters soup, sweet and sour ribs, braised pig intestines, braised fish, lard tofu soup, scrambled eggs with chives, spicy and sour cabbage, garlic greens, and preserved plum peanuts.

Each dish was prepared in two portions—one for the male guests and one for the female guests.

When the time came, Lu Zhide and Han Zhen arrived, along with others, led by Chief Ao.

Chief Ao was in his mid thirties and appeared quite robust.

Qin Fang greeted them outside and, once they arrived, he ushered them to the male guests’ table.

The sight of the steaming, sumptuous dinner laid out on the table astonished Chief Ao and the others, as the spread was visually appealing and fragrant.

These men, all from the same unit, had heard of Qin Fang’s wife’s culinary skills but had only taken it as hearsay.

Only Han Zhen had some knowledge about it, so they had thought the praise was exaggerated.

However, seeing the dinner table now, they finally believed it.

Amid their admiration, they complimented Qin Fang for his good fortune.

“Chief Ao, please have a seat. Everyone else, please sit down as well,” Qin Fang said.

“Everyone, please sit. No need to be polite,” Chief Ao replied.

Only after he took his seat did everyone else sit down.

Yang Haiyan approached with a wine jug. “Hello everyone, I’m Qin Fang’s wife, Yang Haiyan. I’m so glad you all could come. The wine has been kept warm, just waiting for you. However, since we don’t want to affect your duties tomorrow, there won’t be too much; just enough for a taste, to enjoy.”

“Qin Fang’s family really puts thought into things,” Chief Ao commented.

It was a nice touch, allowing everyone to enjoy without getting drunk.

Military men were less particular about formalities compared to scholars, so it wasn’t inappropriate for Yang Haiyan to meet the male guests.

Moreover, this was a border area, where customs were somewhat more relaxed.

Additionally, Yang Haiyan genuinely wanted to meet them in case any issues arose.

“Thank you, but where are the ladies? The table for the female guests is all set,” Yang Haiyan inquired.

In reality, when it came to inviting colleagues for a meal, it was rare for families to include women, as men often found it troublesome to have women around.

While Yang Haiyan was aware of this, she had still prepared a table for the ladies.

Even if no one came, she, Yang Dahua, Sister Lu, and her two sons would make five people, which was sufficient.

“No need to worry about the ladies from Qin Fang’s family. They won’t disturb us,” Chief Ao said.

At that moment, a Centurion leader spoke up, “Sister-in-law, I live next door. My wife passed away during childbirth, and my mother came from the old home to help take care of the children. She’s managing three kids by herself; I can call her over, right?”

Hearing he was from next door reminded Yang Haiyan of the elderly woman who had come to ask for something earlier.

However, she still smiled. “Of course! The dishes are still warm.”

“Great!” the Centurion leader hurried off to call her.

In fact, the Centurion’s mother hadn’t cooked because she had intended to come over for the meal.

Even if Yang Haiyan hadn’t mentioned the ladies’ table, he would have asked her to join.

When he arrived, the Centurion’s mother came with her three grandchildren: a seven-year-old girl holding a four-year-old boy’s hand, and a little boy of just over a year old cradled in her arms.

The girl’s clothes were patched, while the four-year-old boy’s were intact, and the little one was hidden in her embrace.

As soon as she entered, she called out, “Qin Fang’s wife, we’ve come to congratulate you! Wishing you early blessings with children.”

“Thank you, Auntie. Please, come in,” Yang Haiyan replied.

Once inside the ladies’ room, Aunt Zhang’s eyes nearly popped out at the sight of the delicious food laid out on the table.

Without hesitation, she sat down and instructed her daughter, “Big girl, take care of your little brother while I eat.”

She immediately grabbed a piece of pig’s trotter to eat.

The trotters were stewed to a tender consistency, which was favored by someone of Aunt Zhang’s age.

However, Aunt Zhang then chewed the trotters and spat them out to feed the little boy in her arms.

Yang Haiyan felt a wave of nausea rising within her.

The Yang family came from a prestigious background, where decorum was highly valued.

The original owner had learned proper etiquette from a young age, so she had never witnessed such a crude act.

Coming from the modern world, Yang Haiyan had never seen anyone feed a child in such a manner, making her genuinely disgusted.

Not just her, but both Yang Dahua and Sister Lu furrowed their brows at the sight, though neither spoke up.

Yang Haiyan stood up, “There are some sweets in the kitchen; let me go get them.”

The sweets she referred to were small dumplings made with lamb milk.

“I’ll help you,” Yang Dahua offered.

“Okay,” Yang Haiyan replied.

Once in the kitchen, Yang Dahua remarked, “Aunt Zhang really lacks manners.”

Even having grown up among rough servants, she had never seen such behavior.

“Isn’t that the truth? By the way, are you going to invite her for your family’s feast tomorrow?” Yang Haiyan asked.

Yang Dahua hesitated, “Let’s see how it goes tomorrow.”

As they spoke, Yang Haiyan had already filled two plates with the lamb milk dumplings.

They brought them back to the ladies’ room. “Here are the lamb milk dumplings; please try some.”

Aunt Zhang exclaimed, “Oh, there’s lamb milk? But lamb milk has a strong flavor. After my poor daughter-in-law passed last year, my precious grandson couldn’t drink any, so I tried to find lamb milk for him, but he wouldn’t take it.”

“This lamb milk has had the strong flavor removed. However, these dumplings shouldn’t be given to such small children to avoid choking,” Yang Haiyan cautioned, even though the dumplings were about the same size as the pearls in bubble tea, which posed little choking risk.

“I won’t give them to small children,” Aunt Zhang assured her, saying she wouldn’t risk choking her grandson.

Having received the lamb milk, Aunt Zhang paid less attention to the chewed-up food she had been offering her grandson.

Although she occasionally fed him some meat, it was less concerning since the child was small and had a small appetite.

Once the little grandson was full, Aunt Zhang turned to Yang Haiyan and said, “Qin Fang’s wife, my little grandson has eaten enough; can he lie down in your room for a while while my granddaughter keeps an eye on him?”