Song Anxin's family was busy from early morning; Sister-in-law Lin, Granny Han, and Mother Shi all came to help. Some were cleaning fish, others were killing rabbits, and still others were washing and chopping vegetables...
The fish were caught by Lin Fengshou and his family after a lot of rain following the autumn harvest, which caused the water level of the Donghe River to rise.
Yesterday, when Lin Fengshou went to the county to deliver goods, Song Anxin asked them to buy some pig offal. It was already washed and braised yesterday, and left to sit overnight, making it even more flavorful.
Soon it was almost noon, so Song Anxin asked Lin Fengyao and Lin Dongzi to go to the back and call the men and the few boys who were also busy there to come and eat, while she asked Lin Erxi to call the village head.
"Anbang, Fenghe, you two stop hiding in your room reading those books. Come out and wash your hands so we can get ready for dinner."
Lin Fenghe's voice came from inside: "Okay, Mother, I'll go out with my uncle in a bit."
Song Anxin shook her head helplessly. These two book lovers would spend all their time locked in their room with those books.
Song Anbang was overjoyed with the arithmetic book he received. Reassuringly, Song Anbang lived up to his reputation as a student who had passed the imperial examinations at the age of sixteen; he didn't need much tutoring from Song Anxin, and he grasped concepts after just one explanation.
Soon a group of people came over, and they couldn't help but swallow their saliva when they smelled the aroma of food in the yard.
"Second sister-in-law, why does your cooking smell so good!" Lin Erzhuang said honestly.
Lin Fengshou followed them into the courtyard:
"Second Uncle, you're all in for a treat! My mother and sister-in-law's cooking skills are second to none in the village."
At this moment, Song Anbang also came out and said, "The food at my sister's house is indeed very delicious."
He felt like he had gained a lot of weight while staying here.
"Haha, even Song Tongsheng said it's good! I really want to try it right away. Song Tongsheng, come on... have a couple of drinks with us brothers..."
Besides teaching at the ancestral hall in the evenings, tutoring Lin Fenghe, and consulting with Song Anxin on academic matters, Song Anbang would occasionally go to the back to help out and chat with the men.
Knowing the villagers were simple and warm-hearted, Song Anbang didn't refuse and sat down with them. He remained as refined and cultured as ever, but the men no longer felt any distance from him.
Just then, Lin Lizheng came over, carrying a gift: "Fengnian's mother, why did you invite this old man over? I didn't do any work, how could I accept your meal? These are some mountain produce that I dried myself, please take them if you don't mind."
Song Anxin greeted him with a smile, "Uncle Village Head, you're here, why bring a gift? Who said you didn't help? If it weren't for you, where would I have bought such affordable tiles? This person was also recruited for me by Uncle Village Head. Uncle Village Head really put in a lot of effort."
The market price for a tile was one coin per piece. The village head, having done some favors for his eldest grandson's apprentice bricklayer, gave Song Anxin's family two tiles for one coin.
Lin Lizheng was very pleased to hear this, and his face was so wrinkled from smiling that it could almost trap a fly.
"Village head, come to our table quickly, Song Tongsheng is here too..." a man called out.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Song Anxin said to the kitchen, "Everyone's here, let's eat! Serve the dishes."
Sister-in-law Lin, along with Stone's mother, Granny Han, Zhang Mei, and several others, served the dishes. The men present widened their eyes in surprise at the sight of the food.
Braised rabbit with radish, pork bone soup, braised fish, sliced duck eggs with runny yolks, eggplant with minced meat, steamed eggs... every vegetable dish had pork cracklings in it, and there was a plate that looked like offal, but somehow it smelled really good.
Song Anxin and Lin Erxi served the drinks and said loudly:
"The drinks are cheap, but everyone can drink as much as they want!"
The men spoke in unison, "Thank you, Second Sister-in-law! Thank you so much, Fengnian's Mother! Thank you..."
Song Anxin smiled and agreed to let everyone eat. The men didn't hesitate and started cooking right away. The rice that Song Anxin's family cooked was real millet.
The men forgot about drinking and all went straight for the food. This year-end feast was even better than the one hosted by the county's host, and it was also full of meat.
The men exclaimed in unison:
"Fengshou, you're absolutely right, the food at your house is truly the best in Linjia Village."
"Fengnian, how can your family cook pork offal so deliciously? This numbing and spicy flavor is simply amazing!"
"This must be the 'rich and oily egg' sold in the county town. It tastes really good. No wonder the rich people in the city like to eat it."
"......."
While the men were drinking and eating heartily, Song Anxin, along with several women and three children, also set up a table in the kitchen, which had been expanded and was now quite spacious.
"Come on, sister-in-law, Grandma Han, Stone's mother, let's have a drink too. You've all worked hard." Song Anxin raised her wine bowl and said.
Sister-in-law Lin and the others picked up their wine bowls and clinked glasses with Song Anxin.
"Second Aunt, what does this wine taste like? I'd like to try it too," Lin Er asked curiously.
Sister-in-law Lin immediately put on a stern face: "Hey, you little kid, why do you want to drink? Lin Erxi, if you dare to touch it, don't blame your mother for still spanking you even though you're all grown up."
Lin Erxi quickly stuck out her tongue: "Hmph, I don't care. You'd better drink less, or you'll end up like Stone Dad."
Everyone burst into laughter at Lin Erxi's antics, while Shi Tou's mother looked helpless upon hearing her husband's words.
Actually, this liquor has a very mild flavor and doesn't taste like modern liquor at all. It's probably only around 10 degrees alcohol by volume, which is even lower than beer. This is probably because distillation technology hadn't been invented yet.
Song Anxin's eyes lit up as if she had thought of something. She suppressed her excitement, realizing that it wasn't the right time yet and that she had to take it slow.
After the banquet was over, Song Anxin instructed Lin Fengnian and the others to carry the table back to the villagers. She and Lin's sister-in-law washed the dishes and chopsticks and returned them to the villagers. They also told Lin's sister-in-law and Shitou's mother to take some of the leftovers with them.
She thought for a moment and said to Lin Fengnian, "Later, you and Fengshou can fence off our five acres of land with a fence, and then choose a place to enclose it and build several rabbit burrows inside, separating the mother rabbits and their offspring into one burrow each."
Several of Song Anxin's rabbits recently gave birth, with six or seven kittens in each litter. Song Anxin has already separated them and put them to live on the side.
The men who hadn't left yet said, "Second sister-in-law, we'll be done this afternoon. Let's get rid of the mess at your house too."
Five acres of land is quite a lot, and it would take a lot of time to prepare, so Song Anxin thanked the men.
"Hey, Aunt Fengnian, you've given us such good food, we should be thanking you! That braised food is something I'll never forget..."
"That's right, Second Sister-in-law, please let me know if there's anything else you need help with."
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