Chapter 291 - 289: Importance

Chapter 291: Chapter 289: Importance

"If you don’t understand, then don’t interrupt." Ye the Fourth’s eyes had been widening as he listened to his third brother speak. When his wife unexpectedly cut him off, Ye the Fourth couldn’t contain his anger and snapped at her.

"You’re yelling at me?"

Seeing the man who was always so gentle with her suddenly act so fierce in front of her parents-in-law, uncles, and sisters-in-law, Ye the Fourth’s wife felt extremely embarrassed and humiliated. Her voice, a mixture of grievance and anger, shot up an octave.

"Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t know what’s going on. Do you have any idea that President Zhang’s niece, the one Third was just talking about, is more than just his niece? She’s one of our company’s major shareholders. I even heard she has more shares than her own mother!" Seeing his wife’s anger, Ye the Fourth realized his voice had been too loud in his haste and quickly added, "And did you know our company’s bun recipe came from her?"

"Really? That’s impossible, right?" This time, it wasn’t just Ye the Fourth’s wife who cried out in shock, but all the other women of the Ye Family, with the exception of Eldest Ye’s wife.

"Stop asking so many questions. We can talk about this later. For now, hurry up and let Third finish what he was saying." Father Ye, the patriarch of the Ye Family, spoke up, and in an instant, all other voices died down.

"Ahem, of course it’s true."

Ye Laosan hadn’t been upset about being interrupted by his sister-in-law; he had just been grinning foolishly. Now, he continued, "You all know about that guy who transferred to my fleet not long ago, right? Gu Lihuang. The one I told you about who seems a little timid but never mentions his connections. Heh heh, I only found out today that he’s President Zhang’s sister’s former brother-in-law—the paternal second uncle of President Zhang’s niece. It looks like he’s still on good terms with Manager Zhang. Our ’Big Miss’... ahem. Earlier, I didn’t think it was appropriate to use her name, and I couldn’t think of what else to call her, so in my hurry, I just started calling her ’Big Miss’." Ye Laosan made a point to explain this to everyone.

Eldest Ye and Father Ye both nodded. "You did the right thing."

"Heh heh." Ye Laosan let out another proud laugh before continuing, "I saw that the Big Miss is very close to Gu Lihuang. She calls him ’Second Uncle, Second Uncle’ very affectionately. I heard that Manager Zhang even wanted to make Gu Lihuang the deputy director of the large-scale farm over in their town. The transfer order was already issued, but he turned it down. Said he didn’t want to be an official and would rather be a regular driver in our fleet."

"My goodness, are there really people that foolish in this world?" exclaimed Ye Laosan’s wife. Some of the others nodded, while some adopted a thoughtful expression.

"Who says he’s foolish? I’d say he’s the truly smart one," Eldest Ye’s wife retorted. "Just look at his awkward position—your Manager Zhang’s former brother-in-law. Yet he’s still so close to Manager Zhang and the Big Miss, and they even got him a job at the Zhang Group. That alone tells you he’s a capable man. You shouldn’t underestimate him."

"Eldest Sister-in-law is right. Thinking about it now, Gu Lihuang really can’t be underestimated. To be that low-key, he must have incredible patience. Luckily, Eldest Brother reminded me about him before, so I’ve at least been respectful to his face and never offended him. That’s why he did me a favor today and was cooperative enough to help me invite the Big Miss to our house for dinner." Ye Laosan nodded excitedly. "However, the Big Miss was originally invited to the Lin family’s house by their eldest daughter, Lin Qiao. That girl may be young, but she’s as feisty as her mother and never takes a loss. She didn’t know how to yield to me, her elder, at all, and I couldn’t say anything in front of the Big Miss. But luckily, in the end, we came up with a plan that works for everyone."

"What makes you her elder? From now on, none of you are to say a bad word about her outside, you hear?" Father Ye said irritably to his third son before turning to admonish the others. Then he turned back to Ye Laosan. "Tell us the details of this plan that works for everyone."

The others first nodded, suppressing their laughter, then perked up their ears to hear what Ye Laosan had to say.

"Heh heh." Ye Laosan scratched his head and gave a goofy laugh before recounting, in great detail, the entire story of his group’s encounter with Gu Nuan Nuan. Finally, he shared his idea, "Dad, Eldest Brother, the person cooking for the Lin family today will definitely be Lin Qiao’s maternal grandfather, the one who learned from an Imperial Chef. If we just use the caterers we hired, won’t we look bad in comparison? I was thinking, should we ask our clan’s Fifth Uncle to come out?"

His words made Father Ye ponder for a moment before shaking his head. "But your Fifth Uncle is getting old. I’m afraid he can’t handle a banquet this large... Sigh. And to make matters worse, his family also invited a lot of guests this year. Otherwise, his son Shengli’s cooking... he inherited all of his father’s skills..." He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone could understand what he meant.

"What if we swap chefs with them? We could have Shengli come to our house, and our guy can go over to theirs. Wouldn’t that solve it?" Ye Laoer suggested. He looked at Eldest Ye. "I think this could work. Eldest Brother, you’re on very good terms with Shengli, aren’t you? He’d probably agree to help, right?"

Eldest Ye hesitated for a moment. "Alright, I’ll go talk to him."

"Eldest Brother, don’t. It doesn’t have to be that complicated."

Ye Laosan looked up at the others and explained with a smile, "Fifth Uncle is old, that’s true, but we don’t need him to work too hard. We just need him to prepare one table of dishes."

"That’s right! Why didn’t I think of that? We just need him to cook for one table, that’s all!" Father Ye slapped his thigh.

"It seems Third has really matured lately. He’s thinking faster than anyone else," Eldest Ye said, giving Ye Laosan an appreciative glance.

"Yeah, that’s a really good idea." Ye Laoer, Ye the Fourth, and the others all nodded in agreement. Ye Laosan beamed with pride, and when he saw his wife give him a glance full of shared pride, he couldn’t stop grinning.

"Then it’s settled. I’ll go find your Fifth Uncle about this right away. I’m sure he’ll agree to help," Father Ye said with a smile. "Tonight, we’ll delay the start of our dinner. We’ll wait for Third to arrive with the Big Miss before we begin. Third, when your Fifth Uncle gets here, you need to tell him all about the Big Miss’s preferences in detail. We absolutely must make sure she has a wonderful time today."

"Got it." Of course Ye Laosan agreed.

"And don’t let what I said earlier go in one ear and out the other. Remember it. From now on, whether you mean to or not, don’t say anything bad about that couple from the Lin family when you’re outside. And, uh, if you run into their eldest daughter, be polite. Since she’s the Big Miss’s good friend, our family needs to find a way to get on good terms with theirs." Father Ye looked around at his sons and daughters-in-law with a warning gaze, then turned to Mrs. Ye. "When I have a moment, I need to have a good talk with Gouzi. And you, dear, you should also make a trip to have a long, careful talk with Jade Lotus. Tell her to stop provoking the Lin Family for no reason. Doesn’t she ever get tired of causing trouble all day long?"

"Dad, I’m afraid just talking to them won’t be enough. Uncle and Aunt might not listen," Eldest Ye said, a little worried.

"Whether they listen or not, we have to try talking to them again." Father Ye sighed, feeling helpless when it came to his rascally younger brother and sister-in-law.