Chapter 55
Farmers in the countryside do not even have enough food to fill their stomachs this year, and wine is considered a luxury item. Naturally, the elders cannot be the ones to pour the wine.
The elders at this table were the two old men from the Chen and Lu families, and below them were Chen Youtian, Shi Erlang and the two brothers from the Lu family. There were only six people in total who could drink. The young boys sitting at their table were not allowed to drink, so they were sitting there properly.
No matter in the city or the countryside, at home or outside, when eating, the younger generation cannot pick up their chopsticks until the elders start eating. This is a rule that most families understand. So at this moment, the few young boys just watched the adults having fun. The oldest Shuanzhu was a little envious of his uncle who could drink. He was only fourteen, and the adults didn't let him drink, so he didn't even know what wine tasted like.
Among Chen Youtian's generation, Shi Erlang was the most lively and fond of wine. When he saw Sang Luo bringing out the wine, he stood up and took it.
Upon closer look, oh, it’s not loose liquor!
He picked it up and looked at it from left to right, his eyes sparkling: "Alie's wife, this is what you bought at the grocery store, right? I saw it before, it costs eighteen cents, right?"
Sang Luo didn't expect that he even knew the price, so she smiled and said, "Second Uncle Shi is obviously a big spender. I have limited money and can't afford anything better."
"Isn't this good enough? It's the best! I'm not a foodie, I'm just greedy. I can only buy a few dimes of wine during festivals. Today I'm in for a treat."
Old man Chen and the others all said, "We normally wouldn't be willing to buy this kind of wine, so you, wife Alie, are such a great treat."
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Then everyone, have a good meal tonight."
When she saw the seal of the wine jar, she didn't know how to open it. Shi Erlang smiled when he saw her reaction, "Don't worry about that. I can do it. I can find a stone to knock the seal loose. You can go and have a seat. We can take care of the wine filtering ourselves."
Sang Luo was not good at entertaining men drinking: "Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Shi."
After greeting the elders at the table, he turned around to look at the children.
Shen Ning went to invite people, and the one who took care of this table was Shen An. Several boys over the age of twelve sat at the men's table. This table was full of little kids. The oldest was Erniu, who was ten years old, and the youngest was Tian Yaer, who was only two years old from Shen San's family. There was also a little girl who looked four or five years old, following Erniu and Sanniu. She should be the child of the Shi family.
There were eleven children, the young and the old were squeezed together, with three sitting on one bench. The youngest ones, like Chen Tian and the little girl from the Shi family, did not even go to the table, but stood next to their brother waiting to be fed, leaving a seat on the bench for Chen Ning, who had gone to call for help, and A Xu, who had not yet arrived.
Seeing his sister-in-law coming over, Shen An leaned over and whispered, "Hu Zi has a sister named Da Niu, and Da Niu is not here today either."
The little guy whispered to his eldest sister-in-law, "Hu Zi said that his grandmother was afraid that too many people in the family would come over, so she thought that there would be four people coming, including his father, his two brothers, and him. In the morning, she left his mother, his sister, and his brother at home, and asked his second aunt to bring Ah Xu over."
Hu Zi didn't know why the person who came had changed.
He only saw that all the members of the Shi family were present, as were Shen Jin's brothers and sisters. He was worried that his own sister and cousin A Xu were not able to come, so he whispered to Shen An.
Sang Luo's eyes moved as she listened. The slightly strange look on Mrs. Lu's face at that moment must have been due to this.
She didn't know whether the change of people in the Lu family was due to some conspiracy between the two sisters-in-law or just a coincidence. It didn't matter. She invited everyone to the banquet today to thank them for their help. As for the Lu family's affairs, there was no point for her to dig into them.
Originally, I didn't know how many children there were in the Lu family. Now I heard that there were not only Aunt Lu and A Xu in the family, but also a girl named Da Niu. I was worried that Shen Ning wouldn't know how to call her if I didn't tell her, so I said to Shen An: "Then you go again and call your sister Da Niu as well."
Mrs. Lu seemed to be a sensible person who cared about the situation. She probably wanted to keep three people at home because she really felt embarrassed about having too many people come.
Sang Luo felt that if Shuanzhu, Tiezhu and Huzi were not all helpers in her family and were not invited, the old lady would not even let these children come.
I remembered that the old lady treated the second daughter-in-law with extra kindness and care that day, and asked her to bring the child A Xu over, probably to take care of the second wife who had lost the support of her man's father.
When Chen An heard his sister-in-law ask him to invite someone, he smiled and responded, whispered to Hu Zi, and ran out.
When Sang Luo returned to the women's table, some people who saw Chen An leave asked about it. Sang Luo smiled and said, "I just found out that Hu Zi has a sister. I asked Xiao An to go and call her over. We are all here, so how can we leave her alone at home?"
Mrs. Lu was a little embarrassed: "Alie's wife, this is not right. To be honest, there are more than a dozen people in our family, and there is no custom in the village to have a banquet like this."
Sang Luo interrupted with a smile: "Grandma, the rules are flexible. This is a little different from hosting a banquet. We are just a few families gathering together for fun, so we don't care about these things. Besides, I'm not that generous. Look, we have three tables for everyone to eat. Even if we add a few more, we still have three tables. The children can squeeze in and stand in the corners. It doesn't cost me any extra money, don't you think?"
Everyone started laughing, and Granny Chen continued Sang Luo's words, "That's right. We all know each other, so why would we really care about those few rules?"
Shi Dalang's wife and the others also laughed and replied. Old Mrs. Lu also laughed: "Okay, okay, okay, I finally figured it out. A Lie's wife is generous. Everyone doesn't laugh at her. I'll be thick-skinned for once."
There was talk and there was praise, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.
The children's table had already started eating, and as soon as the wine was poured at the men's table, Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu started talking, inviting everyone to eat, and they also started to pick up their chopsticks.
Seeing this, Mrs. Chen smiled and said to everyone at the table, "Then shall we start eating?"
Everyone echoed: "Move your chopsticks, move your chopsticks."
Everyone stretched out their chopsticks to pick up some food. Then Shi Dalang's wife picked up a piece of tofu and asked with a smile, "What kind of dish is this? I don't think I've seen it before?"
Mrs. Chen smiled and said that the smartest person in the Shi family would be Mrs. Gan. Some people are smart and outwardly smart, while others are smart and reserved. Shi Erlang is the former, and Mrs. Gan is the latter.
She didn't say anything, but smiled and picked up a piece of tofu to taste.
Sang Luo smiled and said, "This is called tofu. I think it's rare here. Let's try it."
Everyone had already seen this and were curious. Those who had not picked up any vegetables started to pick up the tofu. Those who had already picked up the meat subconsciously put the meat in their bowls and started to pick up the tofu.
When they put it into their mouths, they were all surprised by its smooth, tender and fragrant taste. Shi Erlang's wife asked, "Where did you buy this? Is it expensive? Why didn't I know this was for sale?"
Gan savored the tofu in her mouth and looked at Sang Luo.
Sang Luo put all the things on the table, so she naturally wouldn't hide anything. She smiled and said, "This is a recipe passed down from my mother's family. I made it myself."
Except for Old Lady Chen and Qin Fangniang, or maybe Mrs. Gan, everyone else was stunned. At that moment, everyone had the same thought: no wonder they were able to build a house. How could selling wild vegetables afford such good meals during the days of building the house?
Sang Luo smiled, picked up a piece of divine tofu, and said, "This is called divine tofu, and I made it myself. I simply mixed it with sugar water. Grandma and a few aunts, please try it and see if it tastes good."
Almost subconsciously, everyone tried to grab the divine tofu.
This time, the eating of the divine tofu was not as pure as the previous time. They all went to look at Mrs. Chen and Qin Fangniang secretly.
Shi Erlang's wife was the most outspoken person, so she asked Qin Fangniang: "Fangniang, did you still sell this when you went to the county before?"
Qin Fangniang: ...
The real person is sitting here, why are you asking me?
Gan:……
My sister-in-law is being stupid again.
It is better to ask Sang directly than to ask Qin Fangniang in front of Sang.
She was a little embarrassed, thinking about how to smooth things over. Sang Luo smiled and said, "It's okay. Our families are now somewhat friendly. Since I've put the things on the table, there's nothing to hide. It's true that I sold wild vegetables in the county before, but I also sold this fairy tofu. It's not a very expensive food, two cents a piece, and I earned some money to buy rice and food to live on. Grandpa Chen didn't tell anyone because I asked him to keep it a secret for now."
Everyone understood that as for the house that belonged to the eldest son of the Shen family, if they had such a prescription, they had to keep it secret.
No wonder they are in a hurry to build a house and a wall.
When I looked at the lockable backyard door again, I understood even more.
Gan smiled and said, "This is a recipe passed down in our family. Now we rely on it to make a living. We should be more cautious. My sister-in-law is too quick to ask. Don't worry, wife Alie. Let's stop here today. Only our families know about this and we won't spread it to anyone else."
Shi Erlang's wife and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Lu family also nodded. Old Mrs. Lu was still okay. Shi Erlang's wife and Lu Dalang's wife were extremely envious of Qin Fangniang at this moment.
Two cents a piece, and it's a food that no one here has ever seen, so it's bound to sell well.
Sang Luo noticed everyone's reaction and said with a smile, "That's not necessary. Now that the house is built, the recipe is not that easy to learn. I originally wanted to send these two kinds of tofu to the market to sell. The villagers will know about it sooner or later. But I have limited energy. It takes a lot of time to make these tofu every day. I have to go back and forth to the county, which is really too much. I made these two dishes today to ask your two families for their opinions. Are you willing to do the same as Grandma Chen's family and spare someone from your family to make a living by selling food?"
There were too many people in the yard, especially the children, and they were extremely noisy. Sang Luo spoke in a low voice, so only the people at this table could hear what she said.
Both Mrs. Chen and her daughter-in-law smiled, as it was expected.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Lu family and the sisters-in-law of the Shi family were surprised and delighted: "Really? You can sell this thing to us?"
"Of course, let's eat first and talk about it in detail later."
Both families looked like they were hit by a pie in the sky. They were dazed and couldn't believe it.
Just at this moment, Shen Ning's voice came from outside the courtyard gate.
"Sister-in-law, Aunt Lu is here."
The few of them woke up from their daze and turned around to see that the siblings Chen An and Chen Ning had returned, along with Feng Liuniang, Da Niu, and A Xu. They all put down their chopsticks and stood up to greet her.
"Come this way, Lady Liu."
Her face was as bright as a flower's.
Feng Liuniang: ???
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