Now Lin Lizheng had something to say. He swallowed hard and carefully said, "Your Excellency, the banquet at Hui Ru's house was truly delicious. Everyone who ate there said it was wonderful. We had never even heard of many of the dishes, let alone tasted them. Your Excellency, you made the right choice in coming to this banquet."
Upon hearing this, Prefect Xu immediately became interested: "Hehe, since Lin Lizheng said so, I really must try the banquet and food at Hui Ru's house."
Song Anxin said modestly, "It's just that the villagers are giving me face by saying that. Today I've prepared a Dongpo pork dish, and this aroma must be coming from that Dongpo pork. Please make yourselves at home, I need to go and check how the dish is cooking."
Prefect Xu sighed that Madam Hui was truly without any airs, and even personally cooked the dishes for the banquet. He had seen so many poor scholars who had just passed the imperial examination immediately put on airs, becoming arrogant and disdainful of their former relatives and friends. He would write a memorial to the throne to praise Madam Hui and to thank her for exposing the corrupt Magistrate Yan.
When Song Anxin arrived at the kitchen, the women were all gathered around the pot of stewed Dongpo pork. When they saw Song Anxin, they quickly made way for her.
The Dongpo pork was very well made; its surface was a glossy, brownish-red color, and it was so tender that it could be easily pierced with chopsticks. She tasted it and found it to be excellent.
Song Anxin smiled and said to everyone, "It's ready. Please serve the Dongpo pork." She then asked her sister-in-law and Meizi, "Sister-in-law, Meizi, are the other dishes ready? Is there anything I can help with?"
Sister-in-law Lin smiled and said, "Everything is ready. There are so many people here, why would we need your help? We can start the feast when the auspicious time arrives."
When the auspicious hour arrived, Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou set off firecrackers together, and the village was filled with the crackling sound of firecrackers. The village hadn't been this lively in a long time, especially with firecrackers. Firecrackers were a precious commodity in this era, and villagers were only willing to buy a small amount of firecrackers to set off during the New Year, hoping for good luck and celebration.
After a long string of firecrackers was set off, all the children in the village gathered around, wanting to pick up some small firecrackers that hadn't been lit to play with.
There were six tables in Song Anxin's courtyard, mostly occupied by her close relatives and business associates. The main table was occupied by Prefect Xu, Magistrate Yan, Brother Lin, Village Head Song Anxin, and their entourage.
Then, fifty-six tables were set up in the courtyard. Almost every family in the entire Linjia Village sent people over, and two tables were also reserved in the kitchen for the women who came to prepare the feast. The dishes were naturally the same.
Grandma Song didn't want to sit in the inner courtyard; she wanted to sit in the workshop courtyard with the old women she got along with in the village. Song Anxin went along with it, as long as the old lady was happy.
Soon, dishes began to be served inside and outside the courtyard. The first dish, Dongpo pork, amazed everyone. No one had ever seen this dish before, but just that big piece of meat was enough to make their mouths water. It was tender and smooth, with a rich but not greasy flavor, and all the sauce was fully absorbed into it. The villagers sitting in the back workshop courtyard eating the meal almost started arguing over how to get a bite of this dish.
Lin, the drunkard, yelled in the backyard, "Give me all the wine! Leave me a bite of meat too, you bunch of starving ghosts reincarnated..."
Aunt Fangtou originally wanted to join in, but her two daughters-in-law beat her to it. One of the daughters-in-law said to her sarcastically:
"Mom, let's go together. If you go with your bare face and mouth, people will scold you for being shameless. At least we'll give a gift."
Aunt Fang was so angry with her two daughters-in-law that she kept brooding at home.
In the front yard, the villagers were more reserved because of the presence of the prefect and the magistrate of Yan County, but they were still secretly vying for that Dongpo pork.
Prefect Xu was completely won over by the food at Song Anxin's house, and Master Liu was also shocked. He never expected that a farmer's banquet would be so delicious, and there were even some dishes that he had never eaten before.
The shopkeepers from the county all had their eyes on the dishes. They exchanged glances, each understanding the other's ulterior motives, and decided that they had to make the first move.
Soon everyone realized there was no need to fight over the meat, because Aunt Lin's feast was incredibly lavish: Peking duck, crispy fried duck carcasses where you could even eat the bones, mushroom stewed chicken—it was late autumn, where did Aunt Lin get so many fresh mushrooms?! Stuffed meatballs, sweet and sour eggs—good heavens! Eggs were already precious enough, but they added sugar, braised eggs, and even fancy, flower petal-shaped, runny eggs; seasonal vegetables, wild greens, bone broth, radish soup...
The banquet was absolutely top-notch in Linjia Village, and the food was even better. Everyone who came to eat the banquet thoroughly enjoyed themselves and felt that their gift was well worth it.
After the lively banquet, Song Anxin led Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou to see the guests off.
"Lord Xu, these are some snacks, braised delicacies, and rich, oily eggs, as well as persimmon cakes from the village. They are all a small token of my appreciation for your presence at my wife's banquet." Song Anxin handed several large gift boxes to the servant beside Lord Xu. Knowing that Prefect Xu liked the snow skin mooncakes, she specially packed quite a few for him.
Prefect Xu's serious face hadn't lost its smile all day, and he repeatedly said:
"Very well, Madam Hui, you are too kind. I have official business to attend to this afternoon, so I won't stay any longer. I will be setting off for Liuzhou tomorrow. Farewell, Madam Hui."
He then boarded the carriage and prepared to depart.
Magistrate Yan was naturally also going to Heyang County to assist Prefect Xu. Song Anxin walked up to Magistrate Yan and said to him:
“Your Excellency, I know that I was able to be granted the title of Lady Hui and escape from the clutches of Magistrate Yan without your assistance. You have official business to attend to right now, so I cannot keep you any longer. I will definitely visit you at the county office with gifts tomorrow.”
Magistrate Yan smiled and looked at Song Anxin, saying, "I thought Lady Hui had forgotten about me after seeing the Prefect. Hehe, I'll be waiting for Lady Hui at the Prefect's residence tomorrow."
Song Anxin: "......" Does this guy have to be so ambiguous? They're clearly doing something very serious, okay?
After seeing off Prefect Xu and Magistrate Yan, it was time for Master Liu and his sister-in-law Lin Taohua. Lin Taohua was already surrounded by her elder brother, sister-in-law, Feng Nian, and Mei Zi. Lin Daxi was seeing his sister-in-law for the first time in many years, and the two held hands and talked for a long time.
Lin Taohua felt sorry for Daxi after hearing about her experiences, and wiped away tears with heartache. Fortunately, Daxi's life improved after returning to her parents' home.
Meanwhile, Master Liu was trying to build a relationship with Song Anxin. Now that Song Anxin's status was different, Master Liu naturally wanted to get closer to his in-law.
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