The middle-aged man's voice sounded polite: "So it was Miss Ye, please wait a moment."

  Ye Qian waited for about five minutes before the gate finally opened.

  A middle-aged man walked out from inside, looking gentle and warm.

  "Miss Ye, hello, I am the butler here, my surname is Hong." Butler Hong said.

  "Hello." Ye Qian hastily said.

  "Give it to me." Hong Guan Jia saw that Ye Qian had really taken quite a few things and wanted to take them over.

  "It doesn't matter," Ye Qian hastily said.

  "Don't be polite." Hong Guan took it over insistently.

  Ye Qian gave only half of it and kept the other half for herself.

  But right behind him, a young man followed closely after Hong Guan's family.

  Hong Guan said: "Miss Ye, give this to him."

  Ye Qian no longer pushed him away.

  The young man is the gardener of Zhao's family.

  Ye Qian followed Hong Guan's housekeeper as they walked through the corridor, with intricate carvings everywhere and beautifully designed courtyards in between.

  Arrived at the main house, eight old ladies were seated inside.

  This momentum made Ye Qing somewhat nervous.

  One of the old ladies saw Ye Qian and smiled as she stood up: "Is that Ye Qian?"

  "You're Old Lady Zhao." Ye Qian asked.

  "Right, right." Old Lady Zhao warmly grasped Ye Qian's arm. "These are my old partners. It's rare for us to all have time and be together like this today."

  "There are a lot of people, you've had a hard time at noon today." Old Lady Zhao said with a smile.

  "It's okay, this is also an opportunity for me to gain some experience." Ye Qian hastily said, "Right, where is the kitchen? I'll go prepare now."

  "Let Xiaolin go with you and help you out a bit," said Old Lady Zhao immediately.

  At this time, a middle-aged woman walked over, who was Xiaolin mentioned by Old Lady Zhao.

  "Just call her Lin Auntie, she's the wife of Hong Guan's family," introduced Old Lady Zhao.

  Ye Qian was somewhat surprised, Zhao Lao Tai Tai actually introduced her in such detail.

  "Miss Ye, come with me," said Lin Auntie with a smile.

  "Just call me Ye Qi." Ye Qi followed Lin Aunt.

  "I'll help you with the chores, washing and cutting vegetables and all that. Don't be polite, just leave it to me," said Lin Auntie. "Normally I'm in charge of taking care of Old Master and Old Madam's daily needs. It's just that today there are a lot of people, and Old Madam rarely invites good friends over, so she wants to try something different."

  "My cooking skills are just about making some home-cooked dishes, can't compare with a master chef." Lin Auntie explained.

  "I'm not a professional chef either, I just hope you elderly folks will like it." Ye Qi said with a smile.

  She alone prepared meals for so many people, and it was indeed a bit too busy.

  So Ye Hong didn't stand on ceremony with Lin Shu.

  "Let's start with some cold dishes, so that everyone can eat first and also open their appetites," Ye Qi said. "The cold dishes I've prepared are yuzu salad, Vietnamese spring rolls, garlic mashed white meat, and seafood in a savory sauce."

  "Good." Aunt Sun did as Ye Qian said.

  Chop all the dishes.

  Onion shreds are fried, then the shrimp that has been deveined is sautéed until golden brown. The roasted cashews are crushed and added to the roasted coconut flakes. Then the lemon leaves and red chili segments are mixed together with everything else. Finally, the sweet and spicy sauce squeezed from the lemon juice is added along with diced pomelo, making a refreshing pomelo salad.

  When Auntie Lin returned with the dishes sent into the dining hall, Ye Qian had also finished rolling the Vietnamese spring rolls.