As soon as Wang Yonghua bought the pig, the village committee set up a large pot and began preparing to slaughter the pig to improve their meals. By 4 p.m., the aroma from the village committee's pot had spread throughout the village.
At this time, the pork really tastes meaty and is especially fragrant.
Most families in the village were also short of oil and fat, and when the aroma filled the air, many people sniffed and swallowed. Soon, news spread that Mayor Li had prepared pork for everyone.
He said everyone had worked hard during this time and this was a special treat for them.
At 6 p.m., the construction work on the site was completed. By 7 p.m., hundreds of people from the project had all arrived at the village committee office with their bowls in hand, and tables and chairs had been set up there.
Of course, meat must be accompanied by alcohol. Wang Yonghua is a sensible man; it's just local sorghum liquor, not exactly high-quality, but for farmers, there are no special requirements—as long as it's drinkable, that's fine.
In addition, the lights that were set up illuminated the entire brigade headquarters, making it brightly lit and bustling with activity.
At 6:30, Zhou Jianzhong came to the village office to call Li Xiuyuan to get ready for lunch. Li Xiuyuan came out of the office and saw that the lights were on in the two teachers' dormitories.
"Old Zhou, go and call them, and bring those two volunteer teachers too. It's not easy for them to come here to teach," Li Xiuyuan instructed. He went to Meilin Village every day, so he had naturally met the two volunteer teachers assigned to Meilin Village. Xiao Rui and Wei Ke, one a male teacher and the other a female teacher. He heard from the village that Wei Ke, the female teacher, was planning to return to the city recently, as she couldn't stand life in the village.
"Okay, Mayor Li, I'll go call them right away." Zhou Jianzhong nodded and went to the teachers' dormitory. Xiao Rui and Wei Ke were chatting at that moment. Sometimes the food cooked in the village communal pot was really more fragrant than the food in the restaurant.
The reason is simple: in this village, they cook in large iron pots over firewood, which produces a wonderful wok hei (wok aroma).
The two of them were completely mesmerized by the aroma all afternoon, but no one invited them. It was a special meal for the construction site, so of course they didn't expect anything. None of the family members of the construction site workers were participating.
With over a hundred people and a 200-pound pig, each person only gets an average of two pounds of meat. Everyone is starving, and they probably don't even have enough to eat themselves.
However, after the two of them finished cooking, they couldn't bring themselves to enjoy the food.
"Alright, it's the weekend in a couple of days, I'll treat you. Let's go out to eat and treat ourselves," Xiao Rui said.
Wei Ke nodded. She was already calculating when she would return to the provincial capital. If things went smoothly, it should be around next week. So she said, "Let me treat you. I'm leaving soon, and I don't know when we'll see each other again."
As the two were chatting, Zhou Jianzhong pushed the door open and came in.
"Teacher Xiao, Teacher Wei, Mayor Li is inviting you to dinner. Let's all have a good time together."
Xiao Rui and Wei Ke were delighted to hear this, but they remained somewhat reserved and declined.
Seeing that the two hadn't touched their food, Zhou Jianzhong understood and said with a smile, "Teacher Xiao, Teacher Wei, Mayor Li said that it's not easy for you to come all this way to teach. Please don't be shy. The conditions in this village are simple, and there's nothing much to offer. Since we've come all this way, let's improve our meals."
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