Everyone stood up and looked towards Lin Chen's banquet.

The dishes already served include Dongpo pork knuckle, preserved vegetable and sliced ​​pork, four-happiness meatballs, braised pork, and steamed pork with rice flour. Several more dishes followed, including braised chicken with mushrooms, stir-fried eel with cucumber, stuffed mushrooms, roast duck, and white fungus and lotus seed soup—a total of ten main dishes.

Some dishes are unfamiliar to most people; they only know that they contain meat and look delicious, making one's mouth water just by looking at them.

The recipes for these dishes were all written on the menu by Jiang Ning. Yang Liang understood them immediately and made them to an exceptionally high standard on his first try.

Other dishes are easy to find. Pork can be bought at the supply and marketing cooperative. The way the eel is prepared is unique, but the eel is caught in the fields. Only this roast duck is extremely rare.

Jiang Ning specially ordered this in advance from the county town. It was baked this morning and delivered by someone.

The crust was baked to a golden brown and was still glistening with oil. Many people couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks, quickly grabbing a piece and enjoying it.

"It's so delicious!"

"What an amazing feast! This is the first time in my life I've ever had a banquet with Peking duck!"

An old man with white hair sighed.

"If anyone says that Lin Chen and Jiang Zhiqing are not working hard, I will fight them to the death. Luckily I didn't listen to them, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to eat so many delicious foods."

"Tsk tsk, look at how shabby our neighbors are. Braised pork is their best dish, but it's just an insignificant dish to us."

The people sitting at Lin Tao's banquet all turned pale. They should have gone to the restaurant next door and eaten cabbage and tofu. They could have eaten at any meal.

At the urging of the mother and son, many people asked Lin Tao for a refund so they could eat at the restaurant next door.

To save face, Lin Tao immediately brought out a large wine jar and offered a toast to everyone.

He was serving loose liquor, and everyone took a small bowl, filled it with liquor, and poured it out enthusiastically.

Lin Chen, on the other hand, was holding a small bottle and drinking Wuliangye liquor.

A bottle of Wuliangye costs six yuan, which is equivalent to a whole barrel of bulk liquor.

The reason for using smaller bottles wasn't because we were worried about running out of alcohol; each table had a full-pound bottle so everyone could drink to their heart's content. The main reason was that Lin Chen couldn't drink much, and smaller bottles would make it harder for him to get drunk.

However, he was overthinking it. When everyone saw the beautiful bride, they all clamored to drink with her, leaving him standing aside.

Jiang Ningcai was too lazy to drink with them, so she asked someone to bring out a tea tray.

On each tea tray were snacks such as melon seeds, peanuts, candies, and biscuits, with a stack of small mooncakes in the center.

"I won't drink with you all. These are small mooncakes that I specially bought from Xu Ji. Please enjoy them."

As soon as he finished speaking, all ten people at the table reached for the plate.

In a flash, the mooncakes were gone, and everyone had one.

Some people started eating the mooncakes as soon as they received them, while others put them in their pockets. These were rare treats to take home for their grandsons.

Lin Chen and Jiang Ning went from table to table toasting, all because of the mooncakes. No one made things difficult for them or forced them to drink.

They whispered among themselves, wondering how much this table of dishes and mooncakes must have cost!

Lin Tao's side wasn't so lucky. Since the food wasn't good, everyone could only drink to keep the party going. When the couple came to offer a toast, they would grab them and force them to drink, venting their frustrations.

The two had no choice; since the guests had honored them with their presence, they couldn't be negligent. They finished two bowls of food, their faces flushed and their heads spinning.

Slightly drunk, Lin Tao, hearing some complaints from the guests, became somewhat out of control and started shouting loudly while pointing at the dishes next door:

"Look at them, this is the decadent lifestyle of capitalism. They have so much chicken, duck, fish and meat, can they even digest it? They want to corrupt you with this kind of material enjoyment!"

Lin Fugui sat at the table, his belly full from eating, and now he was a little restless.

Isn't this food and drink a bit too extravagant?

If this gets out of hand, won't the commune have a bad opinion of me?

He turned his head and saw Gao Qiang sitting next to him, looking at him with a hint of schadenfreude.

Fortunately, Zhao Ergou immediately stood up to defend Lin Chen.

"What are you saying? Everyone eats meat during the New Year! People only get married once in their lives, can't they be allowed to have a grand celebration?"

Look at the dishes you've prepared! We're from the same village, and everyone knows this is your first marriage. But if outsiders came and saw such shabby food, they'd think it was a second marriage!

Ma Huijuan stood behind Lin Tao, her face immediately turning bright red.

And all of this was prepared with her own money! The bitterness in her heart was something she could never tell anyone.

Lin Tao, however, became enraged.

"Zhao Ergou, why are you everywhere!"

He tried to hit someone, but was held back by the crowd.

"Alright, stop arguing. Today is a joyous occasion. Everyone should do what they can afford. Those who have money can keep it simple, and those who are richer can do it more elegantly. Everyone should eat and drink well, as long as we don't go to waste."

Lin Fugui quickly stepped in to mediate and smooth things over, and the banquet was able to resume in an orderly manner.

The manager kept reporting to Lin Chen that there seemed to be more people than expected, many of whom had come for the good wine and food.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning waved his hand and told Yang Liang to use the evening's ingredients ahead of time so that anyone who came could be served.

The first group of people who attended the banquet ate and drank their fill, then took home two packs of golden-yellow Furongwang cigarettes and a pack of White Rabbit milk candy, praising Jiang Ning for being so capable.

The lunch banquet lasted for more than three hours, with a total of more than forty tables set up.

The person in charge of keeping the favor record was originally assigned to only one person, but two more were added later.

Other positions also required additional staff temporarily, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to handle the workload.

In the village, the usual gift amount is 50 cents, but for Lin Chen, it's usually one dollar. Some people give one dollar and then add another dollar later.

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