Chapter 25 Green Tea
Duan Jingtian felt that something was wrong. All the guests present today were wearing luxurious silks and satins, but Su Wan was wearing a cloth dress. If she stood with these people, the contrast would be too obvious, which will make Su Wan embarrassed.
Duan Jingtian was not ashamed to let Su Wan meet people, but he didn’t want Su Wan to suffer this embarrassment. Su Wan was a hired cook in this mansion, and she was not enslaved to become a servant of the Duan family. In terms of status, she was not lower than the guests present. However, if they stood together, the contrast in clothes was so obvious that she would seem inferior.
Duan Jingtian waved his hand and said, “Miss Su has just finished cooking and is very tired. We don’t need to let her suffer by coming here.”
Qiao Yueru was furious. What did it mean to make the cook suffer? She was willing to meet her to give her face, so how could it be considered as making her suffer?
Qiao Yueru suppressed her displeasure and smiled, saying, “That’s true. Miss Su is tired and can’t meet guests. Besides, Miss Su is a servant after all. When she comes to this banquet and sees such a big scene, she will inevitably be timid and shrink back.”
”That’s fine. Let’s not call her out, so as not to make her uncomfortable.”
Qiao Yueru’s words were really clever. Everyone had been praising Su Wan and the dishes she cooked, but without having seen her in person, the Su Wan they imagined was a smart and clever girl.
But as soon as Qiao Yueru emphasized this, everyone had a specific image of Su Wan in their minds: a servant who cooks delicious food but is not petty.
That’s right, servants attending such a grand occasion, and being watched by so many eyes, would naturally be cautious and restrained, not knowing etiquette and making a fool of themselves.
Suddenly everyone felt that no matter how delicious the dishes she cooked were, Su Wan was just a servant, different from rich ladies like Qiao Yueru and Yang Yunyan.
Wang Luosheng, in particular, blushed a little. Although he had made up his mind to cut off ties with Su Wan, they were still related at this moment.
Wang Luosheng felt that Su Wan had embarrassed him. He and Duan Jingtian were colleagues on equal footing, but Su Wan was a servant in the Duan family, which really lowered his status. Wang Luosheng’s disgust for Su Wan increased.
This Su Wan can only bring shame to him.
After hearing what Qiao Yueru said, Duan Jingtian hurriedly said, “Miss Qiao has misunderstood. Su Wan is not a servant in my house. Miss Su is not a slave. She has the same status as us.”
Qiao Yueru was very angry. She had never seen Duan Jingtian speak to anyone so anxiously. It seemed that, as Chu Wen said, Duan Jingtian was obsessed with the cook.
Qiao Yueru suppressed her anger and smiled: “Even if Miss Su is not a servant and is not a slave, she has never seen such a scene before and will inevitably be flustered. I will not embarrass Miss Su.”
Qiao Yueru thought that since Su Wan could come to work at the Duan family, she must be from a poor family, so how could her words and actions be generous? Even a girl like Yang Yunyan, who came from a scholarly family, looked reserved when attending a banquet, let alone Su Wan, who came from a poor family.
After Qiao Yueru’s words, in everyone’s mind, Su Wan became a cook who was not up to standard.
Yang Yunyan knew Su Wan, and she didn’t care whether Su Wan came out or not. No matter what, Su Wan could never compare to her.
Yang Yunyan had met Su Wan several times. Su Wan looked very ordinary, with a pale and thin face, ragged clothes, and rustic appearance. If she really came out to meet guests, she would only be laughed at.
Because of Wang Luosheng, Yang Yunyan naturally disliked Su Wan. Su Wan was clearly not worthy of Wang Luosheng, but she was always dreaming and trying to get close to Wang Luosheng. Such thoughts and actions were really despised.
Qiao Yueru’s words made everyone’s good impression of Su Wan decline a lot. No matter how delicious the food was, he was just a cook. He was completely different from the noble ladies invited by the Duan family today.
Duan Jingtian felt very uncomfortable. If he was just talking about the cook in this mansion, he would also think of her as someone who would be timid when meeting guests. However, Duan Jingtian and Su Wan had talked many times, and Duan Jingtian knew that Su Wan was a generous person, not the petty person as Qiao Yueru imagined.
Somehow, Duan Jingtian didn’t want everyone to think of Su Wan as a petty person.
Duan Jingtian instructed Chu Wen, “Go and call Miss Su Wan over, and ask her to come and sit down.”
A smile flashed across Chu Wen’s lips, and then she quickly ran to the kitchen to find Su Wan.
Su Wan had been preparing for the whole morning and was now taking a rest in the kitchen. Several maids and servants who helped in the kitchen were sitting and chatting with Su Wan.
Chu Wen entered the kitchen and her expression changed when she saw Su Wan. She thought that Su Wan must be tired, disheveled and disheveled after cooking. However, she never expected that Su Wan was wearing a white gauze skirt and an apron. Her clothes were still neat and tidy, without a single stain and without a wrinkle.
If it were an ordinary cook, after preparing such a grand banquet, she would surely be sweating all over her face, looking sloppy and dirty, but Su Wan’s face was pink and white, her skin was as delicate as a peeled egg, her whole face was bright eyes and white teeth, and she looked even prettier than those ladies who put on makeup.
The only thing that made Chu Wen feel fortunate was that Su Wan had a scarf wrapped around her hair, which made it clear at a glance that Su Wan was a working person. Otherwise, Su Wan in white would have looked a bit like a fairy.
Chu Wen said to Su Wan with a sullen face, “Su Wan, the young master wants you to come over to talk. Come with me quickly “
Su Wan was a little surprised: “Why do they want to talk with me ?”
Chu Wen said: “Don’t worry about that, just follow me and don’t talk so much nonsense.”
Chu Wen’s attitude was very impatient. Although Su Wan was unhappy, it was Duan Jingtian who called her after all, and Duan Jingtian treated Su Wan well. Su Wan did not want to delay Duan Jingtian’s business, so she got up and was about to leave.
”Su Wan, wait a minute.” Mother Zhou, who had been chatting with Su Wan just now, called Su Wan.
”Su Wan, how can you go to see the young master like this? It’s so rude. Come here, take off your headscarf and let your hair down. You have your hair tied up like this, if I didn’t know, I would think you were married.” Mother Zhou said these words rapidly, and as she spoke she walked in front of Su Wan and took off the headscarf from Su Wan’s head.
Mother Zhou has noticed these days that the young master treats Su Wan well. Mother Zhou and Su Wan get along well, so she naturally hopes for the best for Su Wan, so she intentionally helps Su Wan make plans.
Mother Zhou took off Su Wan’s headscarf, and Su Wan’s jet-black hair cascaded down. Not a single bit of disorder was present, and it was smooth as if it had just been combed.
In the past, Su Wan had dry hair and wore her hair in a simple, rustic braid. After coming to the Duan residence, Su Wan had much less work to do and had more time to take care of her hair. Her hair became smoother day by day, so Su Wan wore her hair in a bun on top and let it down on the bottom, a hairstyle that girls often wear.
However, when cooking, Su Wan would wrap a scarf on her head to prevent her hair from being stained by oil smoke.
At this time, Mother Zhou had given Su Wan a normal girlish hairstyle. Except for the fact that there were no ornaments on her head, Su Wan’s hairstyle was not much different from that of the young ladies from wealthy families.
Mother Zhou took out a magnolia hairpin from her sleeve and said, “You are a girl, but you don’t even wear jewelry. You really don’t care.”
A little girl in the kitchen quickly stood up, took out a white butterfly flower pin from her sleeve, and pinned it on Su Wan’s head.
The other kitchen servants also came over. One helped Su Wan take off her apron, another helped Su Wan comb her hair, and another tidied Su Wan’s clothes.
Chu Wen’s face turned black. These servants were really nosy.
At this moment, Su Wan, with fair skin and eyes like stars, was dressed in white and had long hair like satin. In the smoke and vapor of the kitchen, she looked like a god.
Mother Zhou then gave Su Wan a push and said, “Okay, go ahead.”
At the banquet, at the table with the women, Yang Yunyan whispered, “Miss Su will come over later and sit at the same table with us. Let’s stop talking about poetry and etiquette, lest Miss Su doesn’t understand and feel embarrassed. We’d better ask Miss Su for some advice on cooking.”
A lady in green clothes said to Yang Yunyan, “You come from a scholarly family, and you are indeed very polite. This saved the girl from embarrassment.”
The girls all said that they would not talk to Su Wan about clothes and jewelry, and poetry and etiquette so not to make Su Wan embarrassed.
The ladies did not lower their voices when they said these words, so the male guests opposite them naturally heard them.
Chu Wen led Su Wan to the banquet area in the front hall, and all the guests were stunned.
