"Sister-in-law, let me tell you, our third son got into university, and the bureau gave him a reward of three hundred yuan. That's enough for the banquet, so don't try to save me any money."
Upon hearing this, Qin Qiuyan burst into laughter, "See? Studying really does pay off! You've already earned three hundred yuan before even starting work."
Okay, Xikang is a good kid. From now on, we should make sure all the kids in the family learn from them.
"Let's all strive to get into university someday and leave this remote mountain village."
The four chickens had their feet tied, so there was no need to untie them. Just boil water in a pot, take a knife, and kill all four chickens to bleed them dry.
Qin Qiuyan can cook a dish called Chicken Blood Paste.
Prepare a basin of water with chopped green onions, minced ginger, and flour. When killing the chicken, hold it upside down by the leg and let all the chicken blood flow into the basin while stirring with chopsticks to prevent the blood from coagulating.
Next, chop up all the chicken gizzards, livers, hearts, and other internal organs, mix them into the chicken blood, add salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, MSG, etc., and then stir-fry them in a pot.
Don't let the fact that this chicken blood paste doesn't look very appealing fool you; it tastes exceptionally delicious.
In those hard times, everything was precious and nothing could be wasted.
This chicken blood paste isn't fit for a grand feast; it can't be saved for dinner.
At noon, everyone cooked a few simple dishes, plus this chicken blood soup, and the group ate with great laughter and merriment.
In the afternoon, the grand feast officially began, with two pots in the east and west rooms of the Sheng family, plus a large pot outside, all being used.
Outside, a big pot of chicken is stewing; inside, a pot of steamed pork belly and a pot of braised pork are stewing.
Based on the materials available at home, Zhang Shuzhen and Xu Xiuxiang finalized the menu.
The meal consisted of ten dishes: stewed chicken with potatoes and mushrooms, braised pork with braised fern, braised pork with vermicelli, cucumber salad with pig's ears, a platter of pig's liver, pig's heart and pig's tongue, pig's head meat, stir-fried pork intestines with chili peppers, stewed green beans with pork, stir-fried celery with pork, and luncheon meat.
The weather was fine at that time, neither too hot nor too cold, quite comfortable.
After discussing it with Zhang Shuzhen, Xu Xiuxiang and the others decided that instead of holding the banquet indoors, they could simply hold it in the courtyard.
The workers toiled all day on the mountain, and none of them looked quite presentable. It was too much trouble to eat inside; it was much more comfortable to eat in the yard.
Zhang Shuzhen thought it was a good idea, so she set up six tables in the courtyard for the men.
The woman was in the house, with a table set up on the north and south sides of the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room, and that was about it.
Today, the Sheng family is hosting a banquet, and Zheng Xianyong had told several team leaders in advance to leave work an hour early.
So around 4:30, the commuter bus arrived at the forest farm. Everyone went home to change their clothes and wash their faces before coming to the Sheng family's house.
"Brother Sheng, congratulations!"
"Wow, your family's really something now! Three college graduates! Not just in our forest farm, but in the entire Songjianghe Forestry Bureau, nobody's more successful than you."
Zheng Xianyong also arrived. As soon as he entered, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to Sheng Liancheng and praised him.
"It's all thanks to the children's hard work. I'm just a rough old man who doesn't know a single word and can't help with anything."
"Come, come, sit down. The feast will begin shortly after you're seated."
Sheng Liancheng was overjoyed; his mouth was practically stretched to his ears. He quickly stepped forward and invited Zheng Xianyong and the others to take their seats.
"Brother Sheng, you didn't invite our Party Secretary?"
Zheng Xianyong looked around but didn't see the new Party Secretary Feng Baosheng, so he asked Sheng Liancheng.
"Yes, I sent Lao San to the farm headquarters yesterday to inform them. Um, I'll have Lao San go to the farm headquarters again."
Sheng Liancheng looked around and, not seeing Feng Baosheng, quickly turned to Sheng Xikang and asked him to go and fetch someone else.
"Oh dear, why call him? If he comes, how can we all eat and drink in peace? He'll spoil the fun."
Gao Dahai and the others didn't take it seriously.
There are hardly any people in the room who aren't annoyed by the new Party Secretary. If we call him over, even the best food won't be enjoyable for everyone.
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