Chapter 162 I've never seen it before
Chen Huai's fellow apprentices were all busy in the kitchen, preparing the ingredients.
Outside, the village chief and Aunt Dahua had already taken the lead in making arrangements. They had set up a large table by the door.
Nowadays, every household grows vegetables in front of and behind their houses.
A large table was placed in the middle, and there were emerald green vine branches everywhere, some of which were bearing fruits, giving it a farm-like feel.
There are more than 400 people in the village. If a table can seat 10 people, 40 tables will be enough.
There were not enough tables and chairs, so we had to borrow them from every household.
Fortunately, Shen Qingyue worked in the cafeteria, so she had no shortage of dishes and bowls at home. She could even get twice as many as she wanted.
The village chief was afraid that it would not be enough, so he asked someone to open the village committee’s small warehouse.
There were still tables, chairs and benches there that had been provided to the educated youth. Everyone was told to bring up anything that hadn't lost a leg.
Aunt Dahua said, "So many? If you put more, it will be in front of the village committee."
"It never hurts to be more prepared. Even though you are Shen Qingyue's manager now, you still have to learn these kinds of details." The village chief regained his former pride.
Aunt Dahua laughed at what she saw. The village chief was one of the people who hoped Shen Qingyue would be best.
He has been the village chief for half his life and can't sit idle.
With the land now leased to each household, the village chief is just a figurehead, settling minor neighborhood disputes. He has nothing else to do.
Only Shen Qingyue could be so busy as to stage such a grand scene at any time.
The village chief asked, "Hey, is the rice and everything ready?"
Aunt Dahua said, "Yingzi and Chunxing are steaming with a few people at our house. They have been steaming for a whole day."
Due to limited conditions in the village, we only have earthen stoves. There are no large steamers like those in the canteen, so we can only steam food in traditional pots.
When it is cooked, put it in the rice bowl to make room for steaming new rice.
All the food used was rice, without any coarse grains. He was the first person to hold such a lavish banquet.
The two were talking when they saw people coming from the village from afar.
The village chief hurried to greet him.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was several nearby village chiefs who had brought the folk comedians who had performed last time.
I just arrived and haven't even waited for the village chief to speak.
The other party immediately retorted, "Okay, you didn't even tell us about such a big thing."
"That's right, getting into high school is such great news, we want to share in the joy too."
The village chief asked, "Why are you here without notifying anyone?"
"I heard them talking about this when I went to buy meat. I came here uninvited today and will perform for you later." The speaker was the folk comedian.
I even received 20 yuan in labor fees for my last performance, all thanks to Shen Qingyue.
After the huge success of the county performance, people now come to perform with me every now and then. Life is better than when I was digging for food in the dirt!
The folk artist is now quite popular, so he is thinking about repaying Shen Qingyue's favor and is particularly concerned about the affairs of Liujia Village.
As a result, I heard that Shen Qingyue's sister was going to have a wedding banquet for her college entrance exam.
He immediately became interested and started promoting it in several nearby villages.
At that time, all the folk artists who had received favors from Shen Qingyue united together to support him.
Anyone who comes is a guest, and they all brought chickens and ducks, which is a big gift in the village.
The village chief said, "Please come in. You are in for a treat today. Come, come, sit inside."
Just like that, two tables were filled with people from outside.
Everything was ready, and everyone started to take their seats. The food hadn't been served yet. Some people even left their seats to come over and look at Shen Qingyue, Shen Xiu, Shen Mei, and the others.
Today is Shen Xiu's good day, and the three sisters have dressed up nicely.
Shen Xiuren is as her name suggests, pretty and smart, and her admission to high school adds a bit of glory to her.
Chen Mei, needless to say, was gentle and beautiful, and was a popular candidate for the title of "Village Beauty" back then. If she hadn't been protecting her two younger sisters and refusing to get married, she might have had children all over the place by now.
In the past, Chen Mei had a haggard face and a miserable expression, but now that she is living a good life, she looks as beautiful as a pearl.
But among the three sisters, Shen Qingyue is the most outstanding in appearance.
The three sisters are all beautiful in their own way, but when they stand together, Shen Qingyue is the most eye-catching.
She was a girl from the countryside, yet she built a house and bought a car with her own two hands. If you didn't see it with your own eyes, no one would believe it.
Because of her, the girls in the village have a better life.
In the past, those who favored boys over girls in the village always said that "girls are useless". Now, if anyone dares to say that, the villagers will scold her to death.
The girl is useless, so what about Shen Qingyue?
All the men in the village combined can’t match her abilities!
So, now in their village, whether intentionally or not, girls are sent to school and no one is forced to get married.
After all, everyone has learned the lesson from the Shen family's old house.
If Shen Qingyue's grandparents hadn't been so ruthless, they wouldn't have been left with nothing to show for it and had to move their family away in disgrace.
It can be said that Shen Qingyue is the idol and savior of the girls in the village.
The three sisters came out together.
The chattering crowd waiting for dinner outside quieted down.
"Hey, Shen Qingyue, say something." This was an affirmation of her.
Generally, when a banquet is held, the most capable person in the family is in charge.
For them, it must be Shen Qingyue who is speaking.
After all, he had a meeting with the county leaders.
Seeing the villagers' kindness, Shen Qingyue said, "Thank you to all the uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters from the village for coming to my sister's graduation banquet today. I won't accept any gifts today. If you took anything, please take it back later. We'll have dinner later. We'll have a movie tonight, and then a barbecue tonight."
After hearing what Shen Qingyue said, everyone said, "Oh, that's not possible. The gift is our token of our love."
"That's right, you host these banquets, with all the meat and fish, how much does it cost? We can give a little gift to help out a little."
"Really."
As I was talking, I heard Sister Ying say, "Hey, everyone, sit down. Dinner is about to start."
As soon as they heard that dinner was about to start, everyone immediately found a place to sit down. Then they saw more than a dozen helpers busying around, serving bowls and distributing chopsticks.
The people behind started serving dishes, and the first dish was braised fish. Just looking at the color, it was obvious that it was not something that an ordinary country chef could make.
Even the soup is thick. Such a big fish is deep-fried and then braised. The skin is crispy and the inside is tender.
The second dish was Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Even Chen Huai couldn't sit still for this dish. He left a pot in the kitchen.
The four-head soft-boiled abalone is too expensive, so the chef was reluctant to use it.
I added a little dried abalone, and the taste is similar, but the cost is much cheaper. The fish maw, bamboo shoots, and ham inside are all good things to enhance the flavor!
Then there are the candied ginkgo nuts and the four-joy meatballs, what a dish with good meaning.
Although other chefs can make these two dishes, you can tell the difference when you eat them.
The Four Happiness Meatballs have pine nuts added to them, which not only give them a special aroma but also a slightly crispy and sweet taste, which stands out particularly in the minced meat!
Next is the braised beef brisket. The big iron pot in the countryside is very strong. The beef becomes soft and tender after a while, and the beef tendon becomes transparent and gelatinous.
Dry pot prawns, each as big as your palm.
Crispy tofu, served with a dry sauce.
The mustard fried seafood stew smells delicious but tastes pungent, but you can’t stop eating it.
There were several other dishes, a total of twelve, hot, cold, meat and vegetables. They were extremely exquisite, and it was really not easy to prepare them all in such a short time.
Everyone was chatting before the food was served, but when it arrived, everyone stared at it.
All of them are things I have never eaten before!
Shen Qingyue is no longer the same person she used to be. To put it more seriously, every household in the village is pointing her out to her for extra income. They all bring expensive gifts when they come.
Chicken, pork, and radios and watches were all given to us. We all came to eat with our heads held high, but when the food arrived, we were caught off guard.
How much does so many dishes cost?
Shen Qingyue knew the villagers were having dinner, so she quickly served rice and brought a table. She also put a barrel of sorghum liquor on the table. Those who liked it could get some themselves, and the children also had sour plum soup.
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