The dishes today made everyone's mouths water!
It's safe to say they haven't had such a good meal in years!
On the table were braised pheasant, stir-fried chicken leg with matsutake mushrooms, stewed hen with mixed mushrooms, braised wild boar ribs, steamed eggs with cured pork, red mushroom and rooster soup, stir-fried dried mushrooms with chive blossoms, red date and bamboo fungus sweet soup, as well as steamed pork with rice flour and braised pork belly made with wild boar meat!
The cured meat made from wild boar meat has a reddish and chewy lean part, while the fatty part is crystal clear and not greasy.
The main dish was a large bowl of hand-pulled noodles, made from pure white flour with added baking soda and salt, which made them particularly chewy.
The toppings for the hand-pulled noodles include shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, shredded green beans, chopped chives, shredded red radish, stir-fried shredded potatoes, chopped cilantro, chive blossom sauce, minced garlic, prepared sesame sauce, soy sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, sesame oil, chili oil, and other seasonings.
Of course, the soul of hand-pulled noodles is the sauce!
Today, Zhao Sufang made three kinds of sauces. One was a fried sauce made with wild boar meat cut into small pieces, mixed with sweet bean sauce and soybean paste. Another was an egg sauce made with tomatoes and eggs. The third was a loofah sauce made with loofah, eggs and fried dough sticks cut into small pieces.
Everyone was already dizzy from the aroma even before they had eaten!
One child couldn't resist any longer and clung to the edge of the table, insisting on taking turns eating the dishes.
The child's mother came out, scooped the child up, and pretended to pat the child's bottom lightly twice, scolding, "You greedy little cat, you'll eat it in a minute, what's the rush!"
Actually, she really wanted to eat it too!
Amidst the noisy and lively atmosphere, the feast was finally about to begin.
Li Jin, Luo Yonggang, Bai Yulong, Li Jinshan, Li Tang, Li Qing, Li Kang, Liu Changhai, Li Chang, Li Xiangdong, Li Xiangchao, and Guo Daming sat at the main table.
Zhao Sufang sat at a table next to her with her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, while the children sat at another table, watched over by Li Zhenzhao.
Li Xiangdong poured everyone a glass of baijiu. Today's liquor was Gujing Gongjiu, with a rich, creamy texture and a lingering aftertaste.
Li Jin picked up his wine glass, stood up, and said, "Today's meal is mainly to welcome my brother-in-law Luo Yonggang and Brother Yulong! Thank you for coming all the way from western Sichuan to bring hundreds of wild boars to our Lijiapo! We're all family, so I won't say any more polite words; it's all in the wine. Cheers!"
With that, Li Jin tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass in one gulp!
Luo Yonggang and Bai Yulong also downed their drinks, and the others at the table joined in.
"This second cup... Before, none of you knew these two brothers of mine, but now that we've met, we're brothers from now on!"
Li Jin then led the way by downing another glass.
The adults were so busy drinking that the children couldn't wait any longer. If the adults didn't start eating, they could only stare at the delicious food on the table!
"Dad, can we eat some vegetables now? Drinking alcohol is too spicy!"
Suddenly, a child's voice rang out. Everyone looked and saw it was Li Yan, who was staring at Li Jin with her big, adorable eyes.
Everyone burst into laughter.
While Li Jin's family was enjoying a lively meal and drinks, the atmosphere at Zhao Sufeng's family's home was somewhat tense.
Second Aunt's husband, Li Zhaowang, and Second Aunt, Zhao Sufeng, sat on stools under the kang (a heated brick bed), while Second Aunt's parents-in-law sat on the kang.
There were no electric lights in the room, but an oil lamp was placed in front of my second aunt. She was wearing a thimble and holding a large needle, sewing shoe soles with a "sizzling" sound.
Although my second aunt's father-in-law is over sixty years old, he has a straight back and strong legs.
He took a puff of his pipe, his shrewd old eyes scanning his silent eldest son and daughter-in-law under the kang (heated brick bed). "Why didn't you go when your third aunt's fourth daughter came to invite you to dinner?"
Hearing his father's slightly reproachful tone, Li Zhaowang, the second aunt's husband, trembled slightly. He glanced at his wife and said, "What good food is there? We were almost full of food back then..."
The second aunt's father-in-law really couldn't stand his eldest son's timid attitude towards his wife. He said with exasperation, "Is it just for food? That's your brother-in-law. He came all the way from western Sichuan. As his own sister and brother-in-law, if you don't show up, what will the villagers think of you?"
If this brother-in-law were incompetent, it wouldn't be a problem, but Luo Yonggang made over 20,000 yuan in just two days!
It's disrespectful to have such a capable brother-in-law, while the eldest son and his wife are a complete idiot!
"He's not even my brother-in-law..."
Li Zhaowang had barely muttered half a sentence when his second aunt's father-in-law shouted, "What do you mean we're not blood relatives! Aren't siblings from the same mother blood relatives?"
Li Zhaowang retorted, "Then why doesn't he come to our house to see my second sister and brother-in-law? Why do we have to go see him first?"
The second aunt's father-in-law choked, although he also felt that this young man from western Sichuan was being very impolite by coming to visit his own father, which was contrary to common sense.
However, when it comes to capable people, you can't use common sense or seniority to talk to them.
"Guests from afar are treated as guests! You've lived this long, and you still don't understand this basic principle?"
Li Zhaowang was so angry at his father that he didn't dare to look up.
After disciplining his son, it was time to discipline his daughter-in-law. However, his father-in-law was an old-fashioned man and never spoke directly to his daughter-in-law.
As is customary, it was next Auntie's turn to take action.
My second aunt's mother-in-law spoke her mind directly, slamming the sole of her shoe onto the kang table with a "thud"!
"Su-Fen! Are you stupid? Your brother raised hundreds of piglets, but our family didn't get a single bit of benefit!"
She didn't buy a single wild boar, always thinking that her daughter-in-law's brother should at least leave a few for her family!
As a result, this mountain barbarian didn't give her family a single head!
The Li Jin family got all the benefits!
Zhao Sufeng is fifty years old and has a large group of grandchildren. She has been in a bad mood these past few days.
Normally, she would have tolerated her mother-in-law's outburst, but now she couldn't take it anymore. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What do you mean, 'my brother'? My family name is Li! We don't have any brothers with the surname Luo!"
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