Pei Songbai scratched his head: "I was just about to tell you about this. It was my oversight that I had to be reminded by someone else."
Just as Sister Huang said, he is usually a very meticulous person. Before his family came to accompany him to the military, he was not familiar with the women in the compound.
He had no idea what traditions the family compound had.
However, Pei Songbai was also someone who listened to advice. People live in a group and should always abide by some of the group's rules.
"I asked around, and usually just a few of my battalion commanders are enough. I'm planning to add a few elite soldiers, about ten people in total. Is our house big enough?"
The location was already remote, and the family compound covered a large area, with each household having a large yard and room.
With a little tidying up, their living room could easily seat more than a dozen people.
After roughly organizing her thoughts, Xia Wenhua gave Pei Songbai a definite answer.
"Of course we can sit down, but we don't have enough chairs at home, so we need to borrow some in advance. You need to give me a specific number of people, and I'll have to go to my sisters-in-law's houses to borrow chairs beforehand."
Pei Songbai counted them one by one, and finally gave Xia Wenhua a number.
"Just eleven, no, twelve. It was Battalion Commander Shang from the Second Regiment who reminded me of this. He even specifically said he wanted to come, and adding one more wouldn't hurt."
He was unaware of what had happened during the day, and spoke in a very natural tone.
Xia Wenhua wouldn't mind if it were someone else added.
It's just a dozen or so people eating anyway, so one more or one less doesn't really make a difference.
But if that person was Battalion Commander Shang, she couldn't help but overthink it.
Xia Wenhua did not answer Pei Songbai's question immediately, but instead squinted at Pei Songbai.
Pei Songbai, who was always very perceptive, immediately sensed something was wrong: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"Yes." Xia Wenhua nodded affirmatively.
They are a married couple, and especially given the current abnormal external environment, the most taboo thing is for the two of them to have secrets between them.
Xia Wenhua directly told her that Shang Qiu had come to see her today and had even stood at her doorstep for half the afternoon.
"At first I thought she might be after you, but in the afternoon Sister Huang told me about Battalion Commander Shang's personal situation. Battalion Commander Shang is also a very outstanding person, and his sister shouldn't be so short-sighted."
"Commander Shang wouldn't have not only told you he was coming to our house for dinner, but also offered to have his sister come help out, would he?"
At first, Xia Wenhua was influenced by the so-called original plot and actually wondered if Shang Qiu had suddenly fallen in love with Pei Songbai and insisted on coming to the Pei family to see Pei Songbai.
Humans are rational beings after all. She has lived in this world for a long time and knows all too well that everyone around her is real.
Shang Qiu may be an innocent girl, but she must be a smart person to make a name for herself when her whole family has a bad reputation.
Pei Songbai's expression changed after Xia Wenhua mentioned Shang Qiu.
Xia Wenhua was right; Battalion Commander Shang had indeed mentioned this matter.
Putting aside the filter of the original book, Xia Wenhua felt that all of Shang Qiu's actions seemed to exude a sinister aura.
"Forget it, who cares what they think? Anyway, Battalion Commander Shang isn't from our regiment. We'll find another opportunity to thank him next time. We won't invite him to this dinner."
Pei Songbai knew that Xia Wenhua was someone who disliked trouble, so he didn't make things difficult for her. Without waiting for Xia Wenhua to say anything more, he made a decision directly.
"Okay, as long as you know what I mean."
Xia Wenhua just hoped that trouble wouldn't get involved with her. The Shang family was trouble for them, and since Pei Songbai said not to have any contact with them, she didn't want to think about it anymore.
Twenty years from now, hosting a dinner party will be a simple matter of booking a table at a hotel; as long as you have money, it'll be easy. But now, there are so many complicated things to do.
Xia Wenhua's personality is such that if she can't do something well, she'd rather not do it at all.
Since we've already decided to host a dinner party, we must make sure that both hosts and guests have a great time.
The next morning, she took out paper and pen to decide on the menu.
Pei Songbai's group consists of eleven people. We'll need to ask Sister Huang and Sister Ye for help, since no one in their families cooks. We'll also have to consider Commander Wang and Political Commissar Li's needs.
Sister Huang's second child is in junior high school, and the child needs to eat when he comes home. Sister Ye's family also has two children, and with her and Pei Songbai, the number is almost twenty.
Eating at this time is not like the elaborate banquets of later generations. Everyone believes that being able to eat their fill is the best thing. Therefore, there is no need for too many dishes, but the portions must be sufficient.
Sister-in-law Huang said that when it comes to hosting a dinner party, it depends on the person. Those who are better off might add some meat, while those who are not so well-off might just have a vegetarian dish. She told Xia Wenhua to decide based on the situation.
While her and Pei Songbai's situation wasn't the best, they had two children and a small financial burden. Pei Songbai earned a little over seventy yuan a month, and after giving it to the family, he had over fifty yuan left, which was more than enough for their family of four. Their circumstances weren't bad.
Xia Wenhua scribbled on the paper and finally decided on six dishes, since six is a lucky number.
There are many stews here, and when it comes to meat dishes, the first ones that come to mind are pork stew with vermicelli and chicken stew with mushrooms. These two are almost must-eat dishes and will definitely be placed first.
As for the rest, braised pork belly, a national favorite among meat dishes, is definitely a must.
Pork and vermicelli soup and chicken stew with mushrooms definitely need to be served in large bowls, as these are the main dishes. The meat is just for flavor, while braised pork requires quite a bit of meat.
Actually, tomorrow will be her next chance to go to the supermarket, but she can't just get meat from the supermarket.
Not to mention the two sisters-in-law, they will definitely be coming. They are used to cooking and can tell how much meat was used just by looking at them.
The family only had one and a half jin of meat coupons that Pei Songbai gave them every month, and there was no other source of income on the surface. It wouldn't make sense to have too much.
She planned to borrow half a jin of meat coupons from Sister Huang and Sister Ye. There were only a few days left until the next distribution of meat coupons, so she could return them to them then.
For vegetarian dishes, stir-fry some green beans, then make a stir-fry of eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers, and finally scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
There are still plenty of these vegetables in the family garden; this harvest will be enough.
Xia Wenhua prepared four portions of each dish, since there were many people. If they were served separately, it would be enough for each person to have a plate.
As for the staple food, she used rice that she would occasionally smuggle from the supermarket.
People here eat a bit more rice, and the rice quality is quite good. Life is good here, and every household can store some rice, so it doesn't look out of place.
Although there might be a little less food, that's just how things are these days. Even if Xia Wenhua is rich, she wouldn't dare to make things too fancy.
The dinner party is this weekend, which means there are only four days left.
Now that she had thought it through, it was time to start preparing. Xia Wenhua took the menu and her child and headed out to meet with Sister Huang and Sister Ye to discuss borrowing meat coupons.
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