The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 221 Etiquette

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After washing up, Ruyi took the toiletries out, and Jixiang lifted the curtain and came in. "Master, the food is all on the table..."

"Oh, I see..." Yang Ming nodded. "By the way, don't call me master anymore, call me 'Master'..."

"Yes, Master, no, Lord..." Jixiang quickly and obediently replied.

"And Ruyi, remember to call me Master, not Master anymore..." Yang Ming called out to the outer room.

"Yes, sir..." Ruyi replied crisply from the outer room.

"Master, the food is served. Please go and eat..." Jixiang said sweetly.

"Hmm..." Yang Ming nodded and, led by Ji Xiang, walked towards the east room.

Actually, Yang Ming wasn't that flamboyant. Even in his own home, he had to put on a show, walking from the west room to the east room with someone leading him. But Jixiang walked in front of him, acting as a guide, which made him look particularly impressive. If he also had a beer belly, he would really look like those landlords who had been overthrown for decades.

Sniff...

As soon as Yang Ming entered the outer room, he was immediately drawn in by a fragrant aroma.

"Hehe..." Jixiang chuckled, but didn't say anything. Yang Ming's performance made her very proud, which meant that her cooking, at least in terms of 'fragrance,' suited the master's taste.

"Master, dinner's ready..." The curtain to the east room was lifted, and Ruyi's little head peeked out.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming..." Yang Ming quickly took two steps and entered the east room.

"Hehehe..." The two women chuckled and pulled Yang Ming onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

Yang Ming let the two women do as they pleased, because his mind was already captivated by the table full of dishes.

Looking at the table laden with dishes and smelling the enticing aromas, Yang Ming couldn't help but swallow hard. After a long pause, he said with difficulty, "Isn't this... a bit too much? It's just breakfast..."

"You're wrong to say that, sir. There's a saying that goes, 'Eat a good breakfast, a full lunch, and a light dinner.' Only by following this dietary pattern can you eat your way to health and a good body..." When it came to food, Jixiang became very talkative.

It is said that Jixiang, who possesses culinary skills, is definitely an expert in the field of food. After all, he has inherited culinary skills of a cosmic level.

"Hehe, yes..." Yang Ming smiled bitterly, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), and listened to Ji Xiang introduce health knowledge.

"Master, please try the dishes made by Sister Jixiang..." Ruyi picked up a piece of braised pork with a pair of bamboo chopsticks and eagerly offered it to Yang Ming's mouth.

"Well, let's wait until your mistress arrives before we start eating..." Yang Ming had never been waited on like this before, and he was quite uncomfortable. For the moment, he could only use Wei Qingqing as an excuse to refuse.

"Yes..." Ruyi responded, and quickly put the braised pork back on the plate, covering it up perfectly so that no one could tell that the dish had been tampered with.

"This Ruyi is quite thoughtful and clever..." Yang Ming nodded inwardly as he watched Ruyi's actions. Although Ruyi's cover-up was unnecessary—who always cares about etiquette in daily life? It wouldn't turn into a family conflict just because I ate first, would it? However, it was still quite commendable that she could think so comprehensively.

"Hehe, hello sir..." Ya Ya's voice rang in his mind.

"You've popped up again???" Yang Ming sighed inwardly, a helpless look on his face.

"What's wrong??? Does Master not like Yaya anymore???" Yaya immediately looked like she was about to cry.

"How could this be??? You slept well last night, didn't you???" Yang Ming immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

Speaking of which, this little girl is becoming more and more human-like. Her emotions are almost indistinguishable from those of humans, especially her mischievousness and cunning.

"Master is bullying me. Last night, you clearly told Yaya to 'rest' because you thought she was too talkative..." Yaya emphasized the word "rest".

"You know the master finds you annoying, and you can't even let him have a moment of peace?" Yang Ming said irritably.

"Master, I'm your butler, I can only speak to you, how could you..." Ya Ya said, her little mouth pouting, her beautiful big eyes filled with tears, "You're ignoring Ya Ya, you might as well just format Ya Ya..."

"Um...don't we have nine Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on our ranch? You can bully them..." Yang Ming's face immediately turned bitter.

"Hmph, what's so fun about them??? They're clumsy, they can't outrun dogs, they can't fly as fast as pigeons, they're not as fat as pigs, even the little fish are more fun than them, the little fish can jump out of the water and that makes Ya Ya happy..." Ya Ya pouted and said.

"Hmm... Your expectations of them are too high. Why not lower them a bit..." Beads of sweat dripped down Yang Ming's forehead.

Indeed, it's impossible to compare a person's speed with a dog, their flying ability with a pigeon, their fatness with a pig, or their ability to leap out of the water with a fish...

"Master, what's wrong? Are you sick?" Ruyi asked with concern when she saw Yang Ming's forehead covered in cold sweat.

As she spoke, she gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with her sleeve.

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine..." Yang Ming raised his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"But why are you sweating so much???" Ruyi touched Yang Ming's forehead, then touched her own; the temperatures were about the same. She asked in confusion, "You're not hot??? You don't have a fever..."

"Uh, I'm fine..." Yang Ming smiled bitterly, feeling that Ruyi's heart was even more meticulous than his own mother's. Such meticulous care was quite rare in modern society, except for a mother's care for her son.

"Oh..." With a hint of doubt, Ruyi stopped talking and kept observing Yang Ming's expression, trying to see if she could find any clues from the changes in his expression.

"What else is fun?" Ya Ya pouted and asked.

"Um... by the way, Yaya, how come Jixiang knows how to cook dishes from our Earth?" Yang Ming quickly changed the subject.

Although Yang Ming couldn't name all the dishes on the table, he knew they were all made using Earth's cooking methods because he had seen pictures of them online, though he hadn't paid attention to their names.

"Who said Jixiang doesn't understand Earth's cooking methods??? Didn't you notice??? When you took out that biochemical instrument last night, its built-in wireless network automatically connected to the Earth's Internet and downloaded all the knowledge into the instrument's built-in memory..." Ya Ya said.

"Huh???" Upon hearing this, Yang Ming immediately turned pale with shock, thinking of the low-end biochemical device that had been sending messages to Megs. "Then our Earth's secrets are going to be lost???"

"What secrets does Earth have???" Ya Ya curled her lip dismissively. "I don't even have the interest to look at Earth's scientific and technological knowledge..."

"But scientists from various countries are already researching genetic engineering and have deciphered a lot of it..." Yang Ming was very anxious.

"Don't worry, scientists from various countries haven't even gotten past the threshold of genetic engineering. Even if their research results are known to others, it's not a big deal. Besides, they might not even be correct, and they might even mislead people..." Ya Ya said nonchalantly.

"You..." Yang Ming stammered, "Are you bored??? Hurry up and go study that gene repair potion formula..."

Changing the subject wasn't working, so I'll just give her a task directly. That way, she won't have time to bother me, and I can have some peace and quiet...

"Yes..." Sure enough, Ya Ya never hesitates when it comes to serious matters.

"Phew..." Yang Ming let out a long sigh of relief.

Just then, Yang Guizi called Wei Qingqing over. Before Wei Qingqing even entered the inner room, she kept sniffing and muttering, "It smells so good! How can it smell so good?"

"Really??? This skill is much better than our hotel's head chef's..." Zhang Yingning also sniffed hard, feeling her saliva constantly secreting in her mouth.

"How strange! Yang Ming's skills are good, but they can't reach this level!" Aunt Liu said with a puzzled look, her pert little nose greedily sniffing the fragrance wafting in the air.

"Hmm, a nutritious breakfast..." Deng Qingtian swallowed and said.

"Oh...I want to eat something delicious..." Little Bao cheered and dashed into the inner room, but was stopped by Aunt Pang.

"Wash your hands, wash your hands..." Aunt Pang scooped water from the water tank and poured it into the washbasin. Then she and Xiao Bao washed their hands together.

It turns out that, apart from Zhu Yun and Zhu Jinghua, who took the opportunity to catch up on sleep in the cabin after taking care of Zhang Fenghuang and the other two women all night, Xue Hua, Zhang Yingning, Aunt Pang, Aunt Liu, Deng Qingtian, and Xiao Bao'er all came over.

"Huh???"

After everyone washed their hands, they lifted the curtain and entered the east room, only to be surprised to find that Yang Ming was not alone, nor was he with Zheng Dongfang and the others, but rather with two incredibly beautiful twins. They were all taken aback and stunned for a moment.

The two women, Jixiang and Ruyi, were also uneasy and lowered their heads nervously upon seeing so many people.

"Um..." Yang Ming's gaze swept across everyone's faces, and he couldn't help but subtly glare at Wei Qingqing before laughing, "They are the nannies I hired to take care of Qingqing. They are twins, one named Jixiang and the other named Ruyi. They are both girls from the mountains, hehehe..."

"Which mountain are you two sisters from?" Aunt Liu asked in a gentle voice, a hint of doubt in her eyes. She stepped forward, took Jixiang and Ruyi's hands, and asked softly.

For some reason, looking at the twins made her feel uncomfortable. Although her tone was polite, anyone could hear the sourness and hostility in it.

"The way you ask that makes it sound like a bearded man paying respects at a mountain pass..." Wei Qingqing teased Liu Sao, just like she always did when they bickered.

When Wei Qingqing saw the look in Yang Ming's eyes, she knew what was going on. Yang Ming must have just wanted her to come back on her own so that the two of them could go over their stories and confirm the twins' identities, so that no one would be suspicious if a pair of little beauties suddenly appeared and they would be asked questions that would reveal the truth.

She is now almost certain that the twins are cyborgs.

"You..." Aunt Liu was furious, cursing inwardly, "This Wei Qingqing is so ungrateful! I was investigating these two women's backgrounds for your sake, to prevent you from being deceived by that heartless Yang Ming, and you just have to sabotage me right here..."

Of course, whether Liu Sao did this for Wei Qingqing's sake, or because she felt uncomfortable seeing the twins who were even prettier than herself, is unknown. In fact, she herself didn't know which reason led her to do this.

"Alright, alright, let's eat..." Wei Qingqing gestured for everyone to sit down. "This breakfast is so lavish, I'm practically drooling..."

"Oh... time to eat..." Xiao Bao cheered, quickly climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), sat in Yang Ming's lap, and picked up her chopsticks to eat.

"The food has been cooked for a while now, everyone, let's eat it while it's hot..." Yang Ming said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, eat it while it's hot..." Zhang Yingning pulled Aunt Pang along, and the two exchanged a glance before climbing onto the kang (a heated brick bed), sitting on the edge of the kang, and eating in silence.

"Hmph, good intentions are wasted..." Aunt Liu snorted, sat down next to Yang Ming, next to her precious daughter, picked up her chopsticks, tapped them on the table, and began to eat.

"Hehe, Mom, Second Sister-in-law, let's sit over here..." Wei Qingqing chuckled, not getting angry at all, and pulled her suspicious mother and the strange-looking Xiao Tiantian to sit opposite Yang Ming.

"Come on, everyone, let's eat together..." Yang Ming picked up a fragrant chicken leg and eagerly offered it to Xue Hua, "Mom, have a chicken leg..."

"Alright, alright, don't worry about me, we're all family here..." Xue Hua said.

"Um, right??? Why do I feel like someone's missing???" Yang Ming glanced at the table, a strange feeling creeping into his heart.

"Huh???" Xue Hua was taking a bite of his chicken leg when he heard Yang Ming's words, and he couldn't help but frown. "Now that you mention it, I have that feeling too..."

"Oh right, my dad, where's my dad??? I haven't seen him since yesterday..." Wei Qingqing was startled, thinking of her father, Wei Jianguo.

"Yeah, where's Dad???" Yang Ming was also startled. "No wonder it felt so strange??? I'm the only man in this house, it would be strange if it weren't..."

"Yes, how could we forget about Lao Wei..." Zhang Yingning and the others also stopped eating.

"Where did that old Wei go??? I'll call him..." Xue Hua was getting anxious and took out his phone to dial Wei Jianguo's number.

Yesterday, Zhang Fenghuang and the others were abducted. Although they were ultimately safe, everyone was still shaken and lingering fear. Although Yang Ming didn't say what Yang Guizi did with Zhang Fenghuang and the others, considering Japan's highly developed industries, it was easy to imagine something else entirely. If their old man had also been abducted, given his looks and physical abilities... then, if they wanted to find him in the future, they would probably only be able to find clues in some action movie.

"Hey??? Old Wei???" The call was answered quickly, and Xue Hua immediately relaxed.

"It's me..." Wei Jianguo's tone was unclear, and he was obviously chewing something.

"Where are you???" Xue Hua felt a surge of anger rising within him as he relaxed, and his tone became somewhat unfriendly.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter? I'm having dinner at my in-laws' house..." Wei Jianguo said.

"Honestly..." Xue Hua gritted her teeth in anger, "Why didn't you even call me when you went to your in-laws' place???"

"Hey, it's not far. If you want to come, just come by yourself... gulp..." Wei Jianguo said, making a swallowing sound.

"You're heartless! You're such a grown man, and you don't know any manners at all..." Xue Huaqing scolded Wei Jianguo angrily.

In the old society, when the father-in-law and mother-in-law visited their son-in-law's home, they were essentially guests. Moreover, since the father-in-law was still alive, it was rare for the young couple to separate their households and live independently. Therefore, the head of a family was usually the father-in-law. When the mother-in-law visited her son-in-law's home, she was essentially visiting her in-laws' home, and naturally, she couldn't treat it as casually as if it were her own home, otherwise, people would look down on her daughter.

In fact, this phenomenon hasn't changed much in modern society. However, due to the increasing emphasis on personal privacy, young couples generally live separately from their parents after marriage. Therefore, going to the son-in-law's house is no longer the same as going to the in-laws' house. This is one aspect. The second aspect stems from a popular modern slogan, "It's the same whether you have a son or a daughter." Daughters can also support their parents in their old age, and it's not uncommon for daughters to bring their parents to live with them. For all these reasons, the father-in-law and mother-in-law only feel like they have half their own home when they go to the son-in-law's house.

"What's the big deal??? It's not like we're strangers..." Wei Jianguo said nonchalantly.

"You come back right now..." Xue Hua said angrily.

"I'm going to go into the mountains with Lao Yang later, and I'll go back tonight..." Wei Jianguo said.

"You..." Xue Hua never expected her husband to be so disrespectful, making her lose face in front of so many people. She felt both ashamed and angry.

Of course, she didn't realize that her husband was unaware that she had called him in front of many people.

"Alright, alright, I'm hanging up now, the food's getting cold..." Wei Jianguo said, and hung up the call directly.

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(End of this chapter)