Jiang Fan and his friends slept until five o'clock before getting up. There was a commotion in the house again as people introduced themselves to each other and exchanged greetings.
After work, Boss Gu Tingchuan also came over with his two daughters.
Three women were busy in the kitchen, several men were talking in the main room, the two little girls from the main room were playing with Dabao in the yard, and Erbao was being looked after by his father. Li Qingyun would just feed him when the time came, as his father couldn't do that for the time being.
Calculating the time for dinner, we started stewing here. The ribs and chicken need to be stewed in advance, otherwise they will be too hard to chew.
Today the chef is Li Qingyun. She is used to making these two dishes and is not afraid of anything. She just starts cooking right away.
As a soul from the later generations, the way she was used to cooking was seen by Mother Gu and Sister-in-law Gu as a sure sign that she was a spendthrift woman.
Use more oil, sufficient ingredients, more meat and less vegetables.
But since we were entertaining guests today, we had to prepare some decent dishes, so both of them kept silent.
It wasn't until the stew was taken out of the pot and the vegetables were stir-fried that the oil was poured into the pot for free. Before Gu's mother could say anything, Gu's wife couldn't sit still anymore.
"Zhao Di, why did you put so much oil? This oil can be used to stir-fry several dishes."
Mother Gu also wanted to say that there was too much oil, but when she saw her eldest daughter-in-law said it first, she didn't say anything.
When Li Qingyun first heard people calling her Zhaodi, she felt a little out of place. She knew she would have to change this crappy name sooner or later.
"Sister-in-law, this eggplant and beans stir-fry must be fried in oil before it tastes good. I usually don't dare to do this. You have guests coming. Southerners are delicate, unlike us northerners who cook more roughly."
Knowing that people of this era are frugal, she actually put in very little. But compared to Mrs. Gu's usual practice of wiping the bottom of the pot with gauze dipped in oil when cooking, she did put in quite a lot.
After she said this, Mother Gu and Sister-in-law Gu didn't know what to say, but their understanding of her being a spendthrift deepened.
If they saw her cabinet locked up full of various fine grains and beans, they would probably be even more surprised.
Vegetarian dishes are different from stews. Chicken and ribs will produce fat. If you don’t add oil when stir-frying vegetables, the taste will be like boiled water and there will be no flavor.
Under the two women's searchlight-like gazes, Li Qingyun finished the meal with difficulty.
Chicken stewed with mushrooms, pork ribs stewed with beans, Kung Pao chicken, eggplant and beans, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised fish, candied sweet potatoes, hot and sour shredded potatoes, vegetable egg drop soup, and cornmeal pancakes as the staple food.
The table was filled with eight dishes and one soup, and five meat dishes including eggs. The standard was even higher than that of the Chinese New Year.
Gu's father brought his two sons to eat with the guests on the kang, mainly to accommodate Gu Tingzhou's injury.
The women and children set up a separate table in the outer room.
The children gathered around the table, smelling the delicious food and drooling, happier than during the Chinese New Year, but no one dared to taste it secretly.
We waited until mom and grandma finished their work and came over before we sat down together to eat. There were not enough stools at home, so the adults sat on small stools.
For a moment, there were laughter and joy inside and outside the house.
Dani took a bite of the candied sweet potato and felt the sweetness go straight to her heart.
"The sweet potatoes made by Second Aunt are so delicious, sweeter than sugar."
Erni also echoed: "My uncle is so lucky, Second Aunt can make so many delicious dishes!"
"My mom's cooking is the best." Dabao stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth and followed suit in praising.
The two little girls cast envious glances at their brother, and the three of them continued to eat. This might be the best meal they had ever had in their lives, and they had to eat enough.
Li Qingyun smiled and picked up some food for them.
"Eat, eat more. You can eat as much as you want today. It's all you can eat." There are so many dishes and they are all in large portions, so it will definitely be enough for you to eat.
Mother Gu and Mrs. Gu looked at each other. In their hearts, they admitted that this dish was exquisite and much more delicious than what they made, but they were unwilling to admit that there was a technical problem.
Finally, Mrs. Gu muttered quietly, "How can it not be delicious with so much oil and sugar? It's so good that even stir-fried shoe soles are delicious."
When Li Qingyun heard her words, her face darkened visibly. It would have been fine if he had just stared at her and lectured her for the entire afternoon, but she was still nagging even after the dishes were served on the table. Even so many delicious foods couldn't shut her up. She was really giving her face.
Indeed, Li Qingyun's changes in the past few days made Mrs. Gu a little lost in herself. In addition, Li Qingyun's tolerance towards her in the afternoon made her forget the original owner's temper.
Mother Gu noticed Li Qingyun's expression and suddenly remembered that this was a reckless person who would overturn the table if he said so. There were guests at home today and so many delicious dishes had been prepared, so she couldn't let anything go wrong.
She immediately lowered her voice and said, "Dani's mom, shut up and eat. There are so many good things that can't stop you from eating. If you don't want to eat, get out of here."
Mother Gu always had Mrs. Gu under her thumb. As soon as Mother Gu spoke, Mrs. Gu knew that she had said too much. She secretly glanced at the second brother's face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot, as if it was about to explode.
She immediately gave Li Qingyun a flattering smile. Li Qingyun ignored her, but didn't say anything either. She just looked unhappy, and the matter was over.
No one spoke at the table anymore, everyone was busy eating. Dabao didn't notice the adults' clever words and was completely focused on eating.
Dani and Erni knew that their mother had said something wrong and made Second Aunt unhappy. In addition, the influence of Second Aunt in the old Gu family for a long time made them dare not speak and just buried their heads in eating.
Li Qingyun thought that since there were guests at home today, it was not appropriate to quarrel, otherwise she might really teach her sister-in-law a lesson.
What's wrong with me using some oil, what's wrong with me using some sugar, I ate your rice, and I invited your family to come over for dinner with good intentions, but who would have thought that I would be put under a tight curse and kept muttering to myself.
She also knew that Mrs. Gu was not a bad person, she just had some minor flaws that a country person would have, and her values were different from hers.
But she didn't want to indulge her bad habits, including Gu's mother. If she couldn't accept her style of doing things, she should just have less contact with her in the future. Anyway, it was okay as long as they could get by on the surface.
She doesn't want to compromise herself just to fit in with others.
After realizing this, she happily served food to the children again, but she never greeted Mrs. Gu again.
Mother Gu sighed inwardly. The eldest daughter-in-law was not a bad person, but she was greedy, selfish, and gossipy. Most rural women were like this, gossiping about other people.
The second son's wife seems to be doing well these days. She is becoming more and more organized, generous, and decisive. She doesn't have those minor flaws. The only thing is that she has a bad temper, is not frugal, and spends money without knowing how to count.
Although she didn't want to admit it, she gradually began to lean towards the second son's family. On the one hand, he was her eldest son and had always been promising.
On the one hand, the second son's wife gave birth to two grandsons, who are the roots of the Gu family. Now the second son's wife has become better, so she must not cause any more trouble.
It’s better to keep them away from each other in the future. The one from the eldest daughter is a talkative person who offends people with his words, and the one from the second daughter won’t tolerate any injustice.
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