A Virgin for the CEO

31

Right after breakfast, Yna prepped the kitchen for cooking.

She wasn't worried about her mother because the hacienda staff who brought her to the hospital promised to take care of her and bring her home after they finished with her last test results. She wanted to get everything ready for lunch so she could have time for her mother when she arrived.

She had just finished clearing up when someone came with a clean sack of whole plucked chickens and slabs of pork ribs. Another neighbor brought large pots and pans that she said the former cook used for cooking. That cook left to work abroad just a month ago.

Other neighbors came to help her on her first day, and soon enough, the kitchen and backyard were busy with women peeling and cutting vegetables and parting meat for the boiling water in the big pot or oil in a big pan. Before she knew it, the steaming chicken tinola was transferred to lunch containers and the kangkong (water spinach) with pork ribs and rice to bilaos layered with banana leaves.

Two men in trikes came to take them to excited workers waiting for their lunch. They gave her the budget for a week's worth of what-ever else she needed in the kitchen after that.

Some other workers from the livestock area came, and they served them lunch at a long table under the shade of lush trees in the yard. After burping a lot, men returned to their jobs with hands over their bulging tummies.

The women rested and chatted outside.

"Is it always like this?" Yna asked, tired but thrilled.

Aling Bigne, one of those who'd helped, laughed. She was a widow for ten years but had always been a cheerful aunt-type of neighbor to anyone younger than herself, even if it was just a year. "They enjoyed the meal. That means there will be more people coming here tomor-row."

"Oh, I had help. You all helped. It's not just me," she protested.

"But you mixed the soup with those powdered leaves you have in your kitchen. It made the taste whole and more delicious. What was that?"

"It's just a mix of herbs we dried in the sun for soups, so Mama will not have to use so much salt in her meals. We ended up putting it in everything we cooked."

"You'll have to teach me how to do that," said Aling Menang.

"Aww, what do you mean? Let her do it herself and let's just buy from her so she can earn from it. It's her secret recipe. Don't steal it."

"What do you mean, steal?" Aling Menang exclaimed, hitting Aling Bigne's side with her soft fan. "It's not stealing if I'm asking for it, am I?"

"It's fine. I'll tell you what you need to do, Aling Menang. It's healthier to use it than salt and soy sauce. I'll be glad to share it."

"See? These siblings... they know things. Haven't I told you how Tommy told the chairman to mix... I forgot what it's called... so-so for the feeds for the fish and that hole where they started using it first just last week showed faster growth of fish than the other holes? They're going to do this in the next five ponds this week."

Aling Linda nodded. "It's really different when you have a brain and you know how to use it, 'no?"

"What do you mean? Are we not using our brains, too?" Aling Menang asked, acting offended. She received a soft thump on her head from Aling Bigne.

"I mean they read. They read and read a lot. Did you not see the books and those old magazines in boxes when they arrived? Where did all those come from?" Aling Bigne asked her.

"The old public library," she replied, coloring a little. "They always give us what stock they have there that they have to throw away. Some of them are from the time Papa was still alive. The librarian is an old friend of our grandfather, and we usually keep all the publications that are about farming or gardening."