Chapter 107 Chapter 107 The feast begins
Lin Chuntao and the others were busy, and before they knew it, it was lunchtime. Aunt Guizhi and the others helped to cook. At noon, they fried some stir-fried meat, heated up some oil residue, and stir-fried a few vegetables. The meal was relatively simple.
After eating, use a large steamer to steam the food we had in the evening. Pour it out into a winnowing basket after it is cooked, and then eat it while it is still hot in the evening. Otherwise, it will not be steamed in time, and one or two steamers will not be enough.
Aunt Guizhi was responsible for steaming the rice, Grandma and Chen Dongniang were responsible for serving the dishes, Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Deng helped with the serving, and Lin Chuntao also asked Lin Changzong to help with the accounting and Lin Changsen to help with the greeting of the guests.
After lunch, Lin Chuntao boiled the pig's blood and cooled it, washed and cut some coriander and green onions and set them aside. In the evening, Lin Chuntao prepared roasted dried chilies and pounded them finely with a stone pestle. The freshly roasted chili powder would be more fragrant for the dipping sauce.
In the morning, Lin Chuntao soaked black fungus and dried bamboo shoots. She planned to mix the black fungus with watercress and stew the dried bamboo shoots in broth. She would then stir-fry a few vegetarian dishes to complete the meal.
As for the vegetarian dishes, Lin Chuntao planned to make shredded potatoes with green peppers, a steamed pumpkin, and stir-fried shredded pork with cucumber and day lily. This would be enough for a table of eight dishes.
The vegetarian dishes are ready and the meat dishes are being cooked. Aunt Guizhi and her family went back home in the afternoon when they had nothing to do. They will bring a table with them later.
Lin Chuntao estimated that there might be about twenty tables in the evening, so she borrowed six sets of tables and chairs and placed them directly in the main courtyard, which was just spacious enough.
After Aunt Guizhi and the others left, Lin Chuntao and the others also rested for a while.
She said to Lin Chunxing and the others, "Everyone will be able to tour the house during the moving party. I've put a lock on each of your bedroom doors. Here's the key. When more people come, I'll lock the bedroom doors. I've made the quilts, so no one will be allowed to tour. The guest bedroom door doesn't need to be locked. I haven't made the quilts yet, so you can come in and take a look if you want."
The sisters happily took the key. Lin Chuntao said, "Hold it tightly. This will be the key to your own room from now on."
The sisters looked at the key with joy, their eyes sparkling. They had seen keys before, but they belonged to their families, not to them.
"Sister, will this room be ours from now on?"
Lin Chuntao raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled: "Yes, it will be yours from now on. You can clean your own room."
"Yeah! Okay."
They nodded their heads, their mouths almost reaching their ears.
Not long after they rested, Lin Changzong and his men brought the tables over and set them up in the yard.
The table was set and the meat that was cooked first was done. Lin Chuntao took it out and let it cool, ready to cut it later. The braised pork offal still needed to be cooked for a while.
Before we had time to cut the meat, my uncle and aunt arrived. This time, my aunt and her family finally brought my cousins along as well.
Lin Chuntao's uncle and his family brought a quilt for her. Lin Chuntao knew that making a quilt was not cheap.
The eldest aunt looked at her and said, "Chun Tao, we didn't give you anything when you and Pei Ying got married. Your uncle and his family only said they would make you a bed and quilt. Normally, since your mother is gone, we, as the elders, should buy you a complete dowry, including tables, chairs, benches, and bedding. But given our family's financial situation, we can't buy everything for you. Please don't mind."
Mentioning Xu Xiu, Lin Chuntao looked at her aunt and said softly, "I'm sorry, aunt, I made you worry. Pei Ying and I didn't have a wedding banquet. Besides, when he comes to our house, he doesn't need to pay a betrothal gift, and I don't need to pay a dowry. We can just live together like this, without all this."
"If I had known you were going to make quilts, I wouldn't have let you do it. My cousins are grown up now, and you guys are spending so much. I don't have much to spend now that I'm taking care of Chun Xing and the others."
Her aunt knew how much money Lin Chuntao spent on building this house. She even felt the money flowing out when she was eating. Although the sisters were not short of money, she felt a little scared when she saw the money being spent like water.
She looked at Chuntao, thinking about their move to a new house today, so she didn't say anything extra. She just said, "Whether you're getting married or moving, we should prepare something for you. If we combine the two things, your uncle will feel bad and feel that he owes you."
Lin Chuntao said, "My uncle shouldn't think that way. The tables, chairs, cabinets, and other things my mother left behind were made by my uncle. They're pretty good. As long as we can use them, it's fine. I'll go back home after the move. When I have more money, I want to find a teacher for Chun Heduoer and the others so they can learn to read and write. Aunt, please discuss this with my uncle. If possible, we can let my younger brothers and sisters come along."
Her aunt looked at her with surprise. Although they all lived in the countryside, they knew that letting their children study would allow them to pass the imperial examinations and become high-ranking officials. But knowing that, with the expensive cost of writing brushes, inkstones, and paper, how could they afford to send their children to school? They didn't even dare to dream about such a thing.
"Can Duo'er and the others take the examination even though they are studying?" asked the aunt.
Lin Chuntao shook her head slightly. "No, but we will be doing business in the future, so it is important to be able to read and do accounting."
"It should cost a lot of money to hire a teacher, right?"
"Well, it should be quite a bit, but I haven't asked yet." Lin Chuntao said, "If he has a talent for studying, he should be able to do it."
My aunt-in-law swallowed her saliva. She didn't ask any other questions and just said that she would discuss it with my uncle and others after returning home.
The eldest aunt was talking to Lin Chuntao, and the two aunts took Duoer and Chunhe to see it. They lived far away and their family was poor. They came here once when Xu Xiu was gone. They didn't even know that Lin Chuntao and the others were separated from the old Lin family and that something had happened to the Lin family. It was only when they came here yesterday that the eldest uncle and the others told them.
At this time, he looked around while pulling Chunhe and the others. Lin Chunhe and the others were now fatter and looked much better. Compared with the year Xu Xiu passed away, they had changed a lot. He missed his deceased sister and felt sorry for his niece who had no parents, but he was powerless and could not shed tears on such a happy day. The two of them were overwhelmed with emotions and soon their eyes were red.
After Lin Chuntao finished talking to her aunt, she quickly gave the things to Pei Ying to put away and went to talk to her two aunts.
Looking at the tall and thin Lin Chuntao, although her eyes were red, she still smiled and looked her up and down. Lin Chuntao said, "Aunt, we are fine. We have even gained a little weight."
"We saw that all three of them gained weight, but you didn't gain much weight."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Actually, I am fat too, but I don't notice it because I am tall, and my sisters are still young."
After waiting for Pei Ying to put the things out, Lin Chuntao called him over and introduced him to the two aunts. Pei Ying greeted them politely. The aunts also looked at him and nodded with satisfaction.
Took them for a walk around the house.
After the shopping, Aunt Guizhi and the others came back. Aunt Guizhi and Sun were the chefs for her today, so they were a little busy. The task of entertaining guests was left to Lin Chunxing and the others.
Aunt Guizhi and Mrs. Sun both directly wrapped the red envelopes. When the house was first built, Chen Dongniang discussed with Mrs. Sun about making something for Lin Chuntao and the others to give as a gift when they moved.
Seeing that Lin Chuntao had made all the arrangements herself and there was nothing particularly suitable to give as a gift, Sun agreed to put it in a red envelope, a slightly larger one, as it would be a thoughtful gesture from them.
Everyone in the village sent vegetables, eggs and dried vegetables. Aunt Guizhi thought that if Lin Chuntao and the others needed these, they could come to her directly. It would not be appropriate to send them at this time, so she just wrapped them in a red envelope. In addition to what happened with Lin Shuilian before, she made a pair of shoes for Lin Chuntao. Because there was still plenty of time, Lin Shuilian's grandmother also helped. She even made shoes for Chunxing, Chunhe and Duoer.
Bring it to them now.
They were embroidered shoes, with flowers and birds embroidered on the pink uppers, making them look pink and girly.
Looking at these pairs of shoes, Sun and Chen Dongniang were all surprised.
"Oh, Guizhi, you quietly made four pairs of such beautiful shoes?"
Sun smiled and joked, Aunt Guizhi said: "I just lent a hand, the old lady did it."
Lin Shuilian was able to survive thanks to Lin Chuntao, and Sun and the others all knew it.
The Sun family of Hongfeng gave eighty-eight, and Aunt Guizhi gave sixty-six, both of which are very auspicious numbers.
When six or eight cents was considered a lot in the village, the amount they gave was already a huge amount.
Lin Chuntao didn't hesitate to accept the red envelope and thanked with a smile.
Meng Yun and Lin Chuntao didn't ask her to do any work, they just asked her to come for dinner. She was young and could play with young people at such a lively time. It would not be appropriate to ask her to do kitchen work.
She and Fan Li'niang were going to have dinner in the evening, but she was still a little hesitant about whether Lin Jialang should go.
Meng Yun said, "Sister-in-law, let Jialang go too. You take her to deliver the gifts, and I'll give Chuntao and the others a gift."
Lin Jialang and Meng Yue will get married when they grow up. In a sense, they are all family. Meng Yun feels that she needs to discuss her relationship with Lin Chuntao and the others separately.
Listening to Meng Yun's words, Fan Li'niang also secretly hoped that the relationship between Lin Jialang and Lin Chuntao could be eased. It would take a process to slowly ease the relationship. If Lin Jialang didn't come to their house at this time, then when they held a wedding in the future, Lin Chuntao and the others would definitely not come, so they still had to visit each other.
"Then let's do as you say."
It's not just Fan Li'niang and the others who worry about this, but also Wang and the others. The old lady and the others will send one. Although the family has not split up, it may have to split up if the old people are gone in the future, so Chen Dong'niang and Hu will keep an account.
With Wang and Lin Chuntao acting like this, and Lin Qingqing running away from home, Lin Qingqing's aunt and others were coming to ask Wang about her situation. Wang seemed to have lost her soul these past few days, lying motionless with lifeless eyes.
Lin Changhua went to get eight cents and gave them to Lin Qingqing's aunt.
"Sister-in-law, we won't go. Just help me remember the name."
Qingqing's aunt took the money and agreed to it.
It’s early to have a feast at this time. It would be difficult to clean up if it’s too late and there would be no light.
People from the village arrived one after another before the sun went down. Lin Changsen and his friends began to invite them to sit down and prepare for dinner, but everyone was curious and in no hurry to eat. They walked around and looked around. It was the first family in the village to have such a big yard. The children, in particular, were very excited as they ran from one side to the other with shining eyes.
Everyone was visiting, and Pei Ying called his uncle, aunt, aunt, cousins and others to sit down first.
Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Deng carried winnowing baskets to serve the dishes. The first thing they served was the meat, which had just been taken out of the soup. The marinated meat was more fragrant than the freshly cooked meat. The hot steam was wafting, and soon the whole yard was filled with the fragrance.
The adults were surprised to see the full bowl of meat. When the children smelled the aroma of the meat, they stopped running and started sniffing the air frantically and ran to the table.
After the dishes were served, Aunt Guizhi served rice to everyone and asked everyone to start eating.
There were a lot of people in the yard, chatting and eating melon seeds. The meat was about to be served, and braised pork offal, chicken, and stir-fried pork liver were brought up one after another.
The five branches of the Lin family have dispersed, leaving only a few children. Lin Chuntao and the others are all girls, and they always feel that the pillar of the family, Lin Jialang, and the others are still young. Many people will calculate the accounts, and those who are not so close to them think it is a waste to bring some food. However, some elderly people will say that they have to come for the sake of old man Lin, even if it is just to bring some food.
Looking at this feast now, some people feel fortunate to have come.
Meng Yun, Fan Li'niang and Lin Jialang arrived neither too early nor too late. After entering the house, they went to find Lin Changzong to record the accounts. They recorded two copies, one for Lin Jialang and one for Meng Yun.
Pei Yinggang was busy for a while and turned around to see Lin Jialang. Lin Jialang was stunned for a moment and called out "brother-in-law", "Congratulations!"
Pei Ying smiled and nodded, "Your sister Chuntao is busy, you two should go in and eat first."
Lin Jialang looked at Pei Ying's expression, smiled and nodded.
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