Chapter 27 027 Graduation Banquet [First Update]

Wen's mother hesitated for a moment. She knew Wen's father's cooking skills well. He could only cook elaborate dishes during the Chinese New Year. He could only make a table full of home-style dishes.

To say it's wonderful would be a lie.

As for the daughter...

Wen Fan's eyes were bright.

I understand.

Wen's mother hesitated and asked, "You've all seen our place; it's fine for a few small tables."

Saying it's just a few tables is being polite. Even if all the tables and chairs in the room were moved out and replaced with large round tables, there would only be enough room for two tables at most.

Qu Qingqing: "Dad, we don't have many relatives, two tables are enough."

Mr. Qu got anxious: "That's not enough! I have so many friends, like Old Wang who fishes, Old Yuan who walks his dog, and Old Zhang's brother-in-law downstairs... These are all my good buddies."

Qu Qingqing looked at her father expressionlessly, then turned her head and said, "Mom, I think two tables are enough. If there aren't enough seats, we can squeeze in three tables, what do you think?"

Qu's mother looked similar to her daughter, but compared to the stubbornness in Qu Qingqing's eyes, her expression was much gentler.

"Three tables are fine. We can invite your eldest uncle and aunt's family, as well as your maternal grandmother. As for your father's side... we'll see who he wants to invite."

Qu Qingqing was too lazy to care about her father's relatives. She had always disliked her biased grandmother and her lazy uncles, so she only discussed the budget with her mother.

Wen Fan was itching to try it. She had been eating too much vegetarian food these past few days, and she suddenly had a long-lost craving for those elaborate meat dishes. By sheer coincidence, she came across this opportunity, and she was both looking forward to the dishes and itching to cook them.

She's been making stir-fries lately, and although facing different seasonings and ingredients from two different worlds every day, exploring new flavors is a novel experience. But for Wen Fan, she also desperately wants to find the feeling of preparing grand imperial banquets again.

Although Qu Qingqing's family only owns one pharmacy, her parents were hardworking and diligent in their younger years. Now, although both of them have retired, the family can be described as "hidden millionaires" on this street, in short, they are not short of money.

As expected, Qu Qingqing set a budget of two thousand for each of the three tables.

Wen's mother felt the price was too high. She thought that if they went to a hotel, a table would cost just over a thousand yuan, which would be just as good.

Qu Qingqing said frankly, "For my family's sake, Aunt Xia, you'll have to close your shop for a day. This price is about right."

The Wen family's business is doing well now, and Qu Qingqing only needs to do a little calculation to get a rough estimate.

Six thousand yuan for three tables is just enough to make up for the Wen family's daily income.

Besides, Qu Qingqing felt that given the Wen family's honest nature, this price would definitely surprise her.

Both sides are straightforward people, and they quickly finalized the general direction. As for the timing, the Qu family will have to determine it later.

Mr. Qu kept trying to interject, but none of the family members paid him any attention.

Mr. Qu had no choice but to sidle up to his son: "Look at your sister and your mother!"

Qu Xiaoyu subtly shifted to the side, then thought for a moment and asked his father, "Dad, have you never eaten at the Wen family's restaurant before?"

Now that I think about it, it seems to be true. Sometimes when his sister brings food home, she only brings enough for his mother. As for his father, he usually goes fishing or wanders around aimlessly. Afterwards, he often goes out with three or five other people to find a place to eat and drink.

Mr. Qu: "How could I not have eaten there? I was even minding the shop when it first opened!"

That is, I never ate it again after that.

Qu Xiaoyu didn't want to explain anymore, and only said, "Let's listen to my sister."

Despite her young age, Qu Qingqing is already the head of the family. Qu Xiaoyu trusts his sister more than his father.

Besides, if it weren't for his sister, how could he have eaten so well every day this summer?

After the Qu family left in a noisy commotion, Wen's mother finally pulled her daughter aside and asked about her plans.

"Can you cook for three tables?"

This was no ordinary occasion. The stir-fried dishes were simpler, but this was a graduation banquet with food piled up on the three tables. Looking at her daughter's small shoulders, Wen's mother suddenly felt worried.

Wen Fan, however, was full of confidence: "It's okay, I'll have my dad help me. Besides, many things can be prepared in advance."

More than his energy, Wen Fan was focused on—

"Mom, how about I have Dad take me to the seafood market these next couple of days?"

To prepare a banquet, seafood is indispensable! Wen Fan wanted to see high-end ingredients.

Wen's mother: "Of course, by the way, I'll need to find someone to rent tables and stuff later..."

There was a lot to do for the banquet that day, but seeing that Wen Fan seemed to be looking forward to it, Wen's mother didn't say anything.

Soon, the date for the Qu family's graduation banquet was set.

Just three days later.

Mr. Wen busied himself borrowing tables, chairs, and benches from other restaurants, and also bought some tableware and bowls. Mrs. Wen posted a notice outside the door that the restaurant would be closed for one day on a certain date, and also announced the closure in the group chat for the after-school care center.

Wen Fan rode his father's tricycle to the market again.

Amidst the bustling crowd, Wen's father led Wen Fan through several alleyways.

"This is the seafood market, and that's where they sell dried goods."

Wen Fan walked around the seafood market, a deep furrow appearing between his brows.

"Is that all?"

She felt the quality was just average.

Mr. Wen was surprised that his daughter didn't like it: "This is the most concentrated area, and the variety is very complete."

Wen Fan shook her head. It wasn't that she had such high standards that she couldn't find anything she liked; it was just that within her budget, she couldn't find anything too good.

"Let's go check out the useful information."

The stalls selling dried goods were one after another. The father and daughter went into several stalls, but either they didn't sell them individually or Wen Fan didn't like them.

It wasn't until one of the shops that Wen Fan picked up a few dried scallops and rubbed them together that he finally showed a hint of satisfaction.

"Boss, how much are these?"

After some haggling, Wen Fan sat on the back of the tricycle, thinking about the banquet menu.

With all the essential ingredients ready, what else do we need...?

The day before the banquet, Wen Fan started cooking something new in the large pot in the kitchen.

Wen Fan kept adding ingredients to a pot of soup that was simmering until it was perfectly cooked, then she put away her spoon and carefully watched the heat.

Every time Yang Fei and Zhang Shan, who were carrying plates, passed by, they would take a deep breath and exchange a glance, their anticipation clearly visible.

Qu Xiaoyu invited several people from the store to her college entrance celebration banquet, both for official and personal reasons.

As for Yang Fei and Zhang Shan, they were already busy working at the shop, so Qu Xiaoyu's invitation was more of a way of asking them not to be shy and to sit down and eat with him.

But Yang Tao and the others were different.

Yang Tao excitedly patted Qu Xiaoyu's back repeatedly.

"Good buddy, think of me when good things happen!"

Qu Qingqing originally wanted Qu Xiaoyu to invite his classmates from school, but Qu Xiaoyu thought about it and realized that he didn't have many close friends during his three years of high school. In fact, the time he spent working for the Wen family was the happiest period of his life in the past ten years.

Despite Yang Tao's sharp tongue, he often took care of me, and Gao Yun and Da Zhang were also easy to get along with later on.

After thinking it over, Qu Xiaoyu said she would invite a few people from the shop.

Qu Qingqing felt like she was choking on her own blood, and almost wanted to pull her stupid younger brother aside to remind him.

These people were all hired by the Wen family. Even if he hadn't hired them, Wen's parents wouldn't have treated them unfairly.

But she swallowed the words back. Qu Xiaoyu was usually not very talkative in front of her parents, and this was the first time she had taken the initiative to ask for help.

Qu Qingqing could only wave her hand and say, "Invite whoever you want, but let's make it clear beforehand that you'll be the one to treat them."

Qu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up instantly.

Yang Tao and the others were the same; none of them doubted the Wen family's skills, and instead, they were all incredibly excited.

This anticipation grew with Wen Fan's daily purchases, and by the day before the banquet, several people were already impatient.

After delivering the food, the group huddled by the door, wondering what delicious food awaited them the next day.

"That soup in the kitchen smelled so good, I was thinking of taking a spoonful to try it."

"Thinking about having a good meal tomorrow, I've decided not to eat tonight."

"Me too, tightening my belt, waiting for a good meal tomorrow!"

...

Wen Fan scooped up the milky white soup and finally felt it was about right.

Wen's mother collected several plates and went into the kitchen: "No fewer than ten people have come to ask about this today."

The aroma lingered in the shop, and every customer who came in would ask what it was.

Wen's mother couldn't explain it either. Wen Fan put seafood and mountain delicacies in the soup. She only knew that the soup was expensive, but she had no idea how many kinds of things were in it.

So they could only make up the excuse that it was for their own family.

But this excuse wasn't enough, as many customers said, "No matter how much it costs, just give me a bowl."

They didn't even ask the price; they just ordered a drink.

It took Wen's mother a lot of effort to reject everyone.

Because Wen Fan said that this soup is not yet at the final step.

"Mom, it smells delicious now, but it hasn't been seasoned yet."

Wen Fan prepared by sealing a large pot of soup and putting it in the refrigerator.

"Let's do it tomorrow."

The next morning, the Wen family cleaned up the shop and replaced the tables with the ones for the banquet.

Even Wen Fan, who hadn't gotten up in the morning to exercise or memorize vocabulary for a long time, came to the shop to start cooking.

The few stoves in the kitchen were just enough, so Wen Fan asked his mother to take a small stove outside.

"Steam the prepared cakes first."

Having not made pastry for a long time, Wen Fan chose to knead fresh milk and fruit juice into glutinous rice flour to make the dough this time. The filling inside was made with several kinds of fresh fruit. I don't know how she did it, but the soft dough wrapped the filling without breaking at all.

Wen Fan wrapped dozens of them, divided them into three plates, and kept a few of each for his family.

Mother Wen carefully placed several plates on the newly made steamer.

A transparent lid was placed on top of it.

As the steam rose, Wenmu could see the changes inside the pot through the lid.

The leathers of various colors became transparent as the steam rose, and their original colors became even more vibrant. This time, Wen Fan didn't use a mold, but simply sculpted a few shapes.

In the plate, the red stuff is watermelon juice mixed with fresh milk. Some of the water was evaporated in a pot before it was wrapped inside. As the skin changes, the filling inside slowly begins to flow. With the slightest movement, you can clearly see the filling under the skin trembling and moving.

The yellow ones are mangoes, the green ones are cantaloupes, and the blue ones are blueberries...

The pastries were all shaped like the Four Treasures of the Study: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. They weren't very realistic, but you could at least make out their shape.

I remember trying to make it several times when Wen Fan was making it. The most difficult part was to keep the liquid inside, but not too watery.

Too much water and it will fall apart, but too little water and the filling will be dry.

The final steamed cake, made according to the experimental ratio, was tasted by Wenmu. The aroma of fresh fruit and milk blended together, and surprisingly, it wasn't cloyingly sweet.

Wen's mother unconsciously swallowed.

"Xiao Fan, the cake is ready!"