Chapter 767: Kitchen work

"Ugh... this is so ruthless! How can we do all of this while all of them are already enjoying dinner?"

"Isn’t this going out of hand now? Back then, we were only told to prepare a dish, but now they want all of us to do all the work!"

"This is upsetting. My parents didn’t even let me touch anything in the kitchen, but look at me."

"Stop whining, will you?! Geez. You’ve been part of this family for years, but you still complain!" An older woman sighed heavily as she gazed at the other members of the Pierson family, all wearing aprons, hairnets, and some mouth masks for sanitary reasons.

It would be a normal sight if not for the lavish dresses and tuxedos they wore underneath the aprons.

"Young ones these days..." The older woman shook her head, glossing her eyes over their faces. "Just do what you’re doing. Stop whining. In the future, you’ll realize that being tasked in the kitchen isn’t all that bad."

"Auntie Mildred is right." Another woman hummed, still peeling some fruit without looking up. "If I were you, I’d just be glad that we’re all here. I’m sure some people at the party wish they were anywhere else but here."

"See?" The older woman, Aunt Mildred, looked at everyone haughtily. "Keep moving. The second and first branches of the family are already there. Don’t wait for the main branch to come before you finish everything."

Everyone gazed at Aunt Mildred reluctantly, keeping their comments to themselves as she resumed working. Most of them were young people, ranging from their early twenties to late thirties. Mildred was the only older person in the kitchen, as she was the one overseeing them.

"Hmmm." Mildred furrowed her brows as she looked around the wide kitchen. "The numbers in here seem a little off."

She rubbed her chin, counting the people in her mind. "Someone’s missing," she mumbled, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Where did that young lady go?"

A young lady near Mildred glanced at her. "Who, Auntie?"

"That cheeky young lady with the big ribbon around her neck."

Everyone near her stopped and looked at Mildred. They all paused for a bit, trying to recall the face in question. The kitchen had been so busy that they hadn’t had time to think about anyone else. But now that Mildred mentioned it, they realized there had been a young woman with a ribbon around her neck.

"Hmp!" Mildred huffed, thinking that the cheeky young lady had snuck out and joined the party. "Everyone who recently married into the family mostly participates without question, but I guess those defiant types always show up every once in a while."

Just as those words left her mouth, Mildred caught someone at the entrance. When she turned, her eyes instantly locked onto Penny.

"Hey, you there!"

Penny, who had been happily approaching, flinched in surprise. Her eyes widened a bit as she watched Aunt Mildred march toward her. Seeing the fierce look on Mildred’s face, Penny instinctively took a step back and panicked.

"Wa—wait, wait, wait, Auntie!" she raised her hands defensively. "I didn’t sneak out. Please don’t hit me!"

Mildred stopped in front of Penny, her face crumpled with displeasure. "I’m not hitting anyone, but you, as a newcomer, shouldn’t be idling so much. How can you leave for so long and let everyone else work here?"

"I didn’t leave that long..." Penny murmured, falling silent when Mildred clicked her tongue and glared at her. "Sorry, Auntie."

Penny cleared her throat and sweetly approached Mildred. "Auntie, I heard the dinner is already starting. I think we should eat as well. We’ve been here for an hour now."

"You’ve only been here an hour, and you’re acting like you’ve been here forever!" Mildred scoffed. "Don’t you know others have been here for hours before that?"

"What?"

"So, stop complaining and help out!" Mildred motioned to the side, giving Penny space to start moving. "Go now!"

Penny’s frown deepened, dragging her feet reluctantly. But when she reached Mildred, she stopped and turned to face her.

"Auntie, about dinner..."

"Keep going!"

"Geez." Penny shut her mouth and resumed her steps. ’I think she and Aunt Jessa would get along well,’ she thought.

With that in mind, Penny entered the kitchen. Her heart sank when she saw that everyone was still working in the kitchen, as if she hadn’t left for a long time. All this time, Penny had happily returned to the kitchen because she thought it had become more peaceful. She even hastened her pace.

’If I had known this was what awaited me, I would’ve idled somewhere else,’she thought, reaching for an extra apron and joining the small group in the corner.

Just like her, the small group of young woman and men wore the same expression of frustration. Not surprising, considering that at the end of the day, they were still part of the Pierson family. Before marrying into the family, they had been treated like princes and princesses in their own households.

But now, here they were, peeling potatoes in the kitchen while their relatives enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

"If this isn’t discrimination, I don’t know what is," Penny mumbled, not caring about the glance she earned from those near her. "Isn’t the Pierson family rich? They could’ve easily hired more people to do this."

Those with her sighed, their eyes shining with the same helplessness. When she turned to them, they almost cried together. They didn’t know each other, but they knew each other’s pain very well. This shared experience was enough for them.

"Like I said, I didn’t even touch anything in the kitchen before marriage—"

"Stop whining and keep working!" Mildred’s voice thundered from behind the group where Penny was included. "Come on! You’re young, so you can do more than that!"

Despite their slight fear of Mildred, Penny and the others could only sigh heavily. They no longer had the energy to be scared. The workload here was enough to drain them.

Surely, everything had its ups and downs. This was definitely one of the cons of being in this family.