Chapter 242 Twenty-Eight Seats

Chen Guy's room,

Chen Zhanliang and his wife have been busy since morning and have not had any free time.

Listening to the sound of gongs and drums outside the courtyard, Sun asked Chen Zhanliang while she was stirring the dishes in the pot, "Zhanliang, why is it so lively outside? It sounds like there is joy and happiness."

"What's so strange about this? Didn't the third brother say he had a surprise for us a few days ago? Maybe it was one of his classmates or a capable friend who came to celebrate."

"That's right. After all, after so many years of studying, everyone has some good friends."

As soon as Sun finished speaking, Erbao ran in like a gust of wind, "Dad, Mom, guess who's outside?"

"Who is it?" Sun asked hurriedly.

Erbao chuckled and said, "She's an ugly freak. My second uncle just married a new wife, and she's so ugly."

Sun was stunned for a moment, then angrily said, "Chen Zhancai, we suffered so much to help him celebrate, but he even took a concubine. Does he still have any shame?"

Chen Zhanliang was also very angry when he heard this. Didn’t he know what the family conditions were like?

He got a mistress right after passing the imperial examination. How are he going to live his life in the future?

He wanted to go out and question Chen Zhancai, but when he thought about the villagers being there, if he went out to make trouble, Chen Zhancai would probably be embarrassed.

Seeing that his wife was also angry, he quickly persuaded her, "Cuiqin, don't be angry. As the saying goes, family disgrace should not be made public. Let's prepare the banquet first, and then we can go and settle the score with the third brother later."

At this moment, Sun really wanted to quit her job and go out and make a scene, but she didn't have the courage.

After all, Chen Zhancai has now passed the imperial examination and become a scholar. Not only are his family exempt from taxes, but his husband and son also do not have to perform labor service.

They must not offend him now. If he turns against them and drives them out, they will not be as lucky as the eldest wife.

Although Dabao now earns thirty coins a day, to be exempted from corvée labor, one person must pay five taels of silver.

The little money Dabao earns is just a drop in the bucket. When you add in the daily food and drink expenses, it is not enough.

Even if she could work for Chen Qingqing, if Qing's sugar factory fails to do well one day, wouldn't the second wife's life be hopeless...

Thinking of this, Sun sighed, "Since he is a scholar now, I will give him some face today. If he dares to bully others in the future, even if I don't have the honor of being a scholar, I will separate from them and live a separate life."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." Chen Zhanliang nodded repeatedly.

Suddenly he heard Old Man Chen shouting, "Serve the food!" and he quickly got up and started working.

The villagers also became excited and couldn't wait to eat the Erba banquet.

They all stretched their necks to see what the first dish would be. If it was braised pork elbow, they had to act quickly, otherwise there would be too much meat and it would be gone in the blink of an eye.

But when they saw the big bowl on the table, they were stunned.

"Oh, what the hell is this? It's all watery."

"You can't even tell, it's just a plain radish!"

"Ah, does Erbaxi have this dish?"

"Although I haven't eaten it, I've heard that a 28-course meal consists of eight bowls and eight plates of food, four cold dishes and four hot dishes, and eight bowls of four steamed dishes and four soups. The four steamed dishes seem to include square pork and strip pork, and this boiled radish might be one of the four soups."

"Yes, yes, you are right. It seems that the real dish has not yet been served."

Then Chen Zhanliang brought out potato soup, bean sprout soup, cabbage soup...

Everyone's eyes widened, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Didn't you say 28-dinner? Why are you drinking soup?"

"Yeah, this isn't a 28-course meal at all. If you mix them together, it's just pig food!"

"That's right, they're trying to feed us like pigs!"

"Don't talk nonsense. Your family feeds this good stuff to pigs. To be honest, I haven't eaten this bean sprout in several years."

"You should be content. None of these dishes are worth anything. I'd lose money even with two eggs!"

"That's right. Other people have stewed meat at the 28th banquet, but here we have four dishes, and not a single piece of meat. How can this be called a wedding banquet?"

Dalongzi, who was sitting at the dinner table, couldn't stand it any longer and yelled at Old Lady Chen, "Auntie, you guys are too stingy. How can you feel full with this watery soup?"

Old Lady Chen glared at him angrily, "What do you mean by stingy? You're the only one who's generous even though you're poor. Even if there's something delicious, it won't stop you from eating it. Just eat what's yours."

"I can't even cut this with a knife, how am I supposed to eat it? Do you have any delicious food at home? Bring it up quickly."

"We have the main course." Old Mrs. Chen called out to the kitchen, "Zhanliang, hurry up and serve the main course."

Seeing this, everyone regained their spirits and were ready to take action at any moment.

Chen Zhanliang came closer with the oil pan in his hand and shouted, "Here comes the real dish."

When everyone saw the plate of fried peanuts in front of them, they couldn't help but lose their temper.

Dalongzi was surprised, "Zhanliang, are you okay? You call this a hard dish?"

Chen Zhanliang snorted coldly, "What? This isn't hard enough. How about I give you a plate of fried rocks instead? Can you chew it?"

"Okay, stop being so nagging. I'm just asking you, what dishes are left?"

"Let me think about it, now there seems to be vermicelli soup, tofu soup, egg soup..."

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about the soup. There are still eight dishes. What are they?"

"The eight dishes include stir-fried bean sprouts, stir-fried radish, stir-fried shredded potatoes, stir-fried soybeans, braised cabbage, stewed tofu, and stewed vermicelli noodles."

"Oh my god, this dish is too vegetarian, is there any meat?"

"I say, Dalongzi, look at what time it is now. It's a famine, and it's good enough to have a full stomach. Why are you still picky? Eat quickly!" After saying this, Chen Zhanliang turned and left.

Everyone was angry and expressed their dissatisfaction in a low voice.

"They said it was a banquet to celebrate the scholar's wedding, but this crappy dish can't even compare to the dish served at the Zhanshan family's housewarming celebration last year.

"Who says it isn't true? They're incomparable. This old lady Chen is just too stingy."

......

Although the villagers expressed their dissatisfaction, they were so hungry that they didn't care about anything else and started eating with big mouthfuls.

For a while, people were toasting each other, playing drinking games, and it was very lively.

To show off, Chen Zhancai, accompanied by the old couple Chen, held up a wine glass and toasted everyone at each table...