Chen's room,
Chen Zhanliang and his wife have been busy since morning and haven't had a moment to rest.
Hearing the sound of gongs and drums outside the courtyard, Sun asked Chen Zhanliang while stirring the vegetables in the pot, "Zhanliang, why is it so lively outside? It sounds like joyous music."
"What's so strange about that? Didn't the third brother say he was going to give us a surprise the other day? Maybe it's his classmate or a capable friend coming to celebrate."
"That's true. After all, after studying for so many years, who doesn't have a few close relatives?"
As soon as Madam Sun finished speaking, Erbao rushed in like a gust of wind, "Dad, Mom, guess who's outside?"
"Who is it?" Mrs. Sun asked hurriedly.
Erbao chuckled, "She's an ugly duckling. My second uncle recently married a wife who's almost unbearably ugly."
Sun was stunned for a moment, then said angrily, "That Chen Zhancai! We went through all that trouble to celebrate for him, and he actually took a concubine! Doesn't he have any shame?"
Chen Zhanliang was furious when he heard this. Didn't he know what kind of family he was in?
He just passed the imperial examination and brought home a concubine. How is he going to live from now on?
He wanted to go out and confront Chen Zhancai, but then he remembered that everyone in the village was there, and if he went out and made trouble, he was afraid that it would embarrass Chen Zhancai.
Seeing that his wife was also angry, he quickly tried to persuade her, "Cuiqin, don't be angry. As the saying goes, family scandals should not be aired in public. Let's finish the banquet first, and then we'll settle accounts with Lao San later."
At this moment, Mrs. Sun really wanted to quit and make a scene, but she didn't have the courage.
After all, Chen Zhancai has now passed the imperial examination and become a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). Not only is his family exempt from taxes, but his men and sons are also exempt from corvée labor.
We absolutely cannot offend him now. If he turns his back on us and kicks the whole family out, we won't be as lucky as the eldest son's family.
Although Da Bao now earns thirty copper coins a day, to be exempt from corvée labor, each person must pay five taels of silver.
The little money Da Bao earns is just a drop in the bucket; it's simply not enough to cover his daily food and drink expenses.
Even if she could work for Chen Qingqing, what if Qingqing's sugar shop went badly one day? Wouldn't the second wife's future be ruined...?
Thinking of this, Madam Sun breathed a sigh of relief. "Considering that he is now a scholar, I will give him some face today. If he dares to bully others too much in the future, even if I don't benefit from his status as a scholar, I will separate from them and live separately."
"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say." Chen Zhanliang nodded repeatedly.
Suddenly, Old Chen shouted, "Serve the dishes!" and he quickly got up and got to work.
The villagers were also in high spirits, eagerly anticipating the 28-fold feast.
Everyone craned their necks to see what the first dish was. If it was braised pork knuckle, they had to hurry and grab it, otherwise, with more wolves than meat, it would be gone in the blink of an eye.
Upon seeing the large bowl placed on the table, everyone was stunned.
"Oh dear, what is this stuff? It's all watery soup."
"Can't you tell? It's just a plain boiled radish!"
"Oh, this dish is served at the banquet for the second-eighth class?"
"Although I've never eaten it, I've heard of it. The 'Two-Eight Banquet' consists of eight bowls of dishes and eight plates of dishes, four cold dishes and four hot dishes, eight plates, four steamed dishes and four soups. I think the four steamed dishes include braised pork and pork strips. This boiled radish might be one of the soups."
"Yes, yes, you're right. It seems the main course hasn't arrived yet."
Then Chen Zhanliang brought out potato soup, bean sprout soup, cabbage soup...
Everyone stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Wasn't it supposed to be a banquet for 28 people? Why are we having soup?"
"Yes, this is hardly a proper banquet; mixed together, it's just pig swill!"
"Exactly, they're treating us like pigs to be fed!"
"Don't talk nonsense. You use this good stuff to feed pigs? To be honest, I haven't eaten bean sprouts in years."
"You should be content. None of these dishes are valuable. I'd be losing money even if you threw in two eggs!"
"That's right. Other banquets have stewed meat, but this one has four dishes and not a single piece of meat. What kind of wedding banquet is this?"
Da Longzi, sitting at the dinner table, couldn't stand it any longer and shouted at Old Lady Chen, "Hey, Auntie, you guys are too stingy! How can you be full from this watery soup?"
Grandma Chen glared at him, annoyed. "What do you mean by stingy? You're so generous even when you're poor. You can't even shut yourself up when there's good food. Just eat your own food."
"This thing is so hard to cut with a knife, how am I supposed to eat it? Do you have any main dishes? Hurry up and bring them out."
"We have the main course!" Old Mrs. Chen called out to the kitchen. "Zhanliang, hurry up and bring out the main course."
Seeing this, everyone regained their spirits and were ready to strike at any moment.
Chen Zhanliang approached, carrying a tray of oil, and shouted, "The main dish is here!"
When everyone saw the plate of fried peanuts in front of them, they couldn't help but deflate in disappointment.
Da Longzi looked on in astonishment. "Zhan Liang, are you sure you can handle this? You call this a real main course?"
Chen Zhanliang snorted coldly, "What, this isn't hard enough? How about I give you a plate of fried stones? Can you even bite into that?"
"Alright, stop rambling. I'm just asking you, what dishes are left?"
"Let me think... I think there's also glass noodle soup, tofu soup, and egg drop soup..."
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about the soup. There are still eight dishes. What are the eight dishes?"
"The eight dishes include stir-fried bean sprouts, stir-fried radish, stir-fried shredded potatoes, stir-fried soybeans, braised cabbage, stewed tofu, and stewed vermicelli."
"Oh my god, this dish is so vegetarian, is there any meat?"
"Hey, Da Longzi, look at what kind of times we live in. We're struggling to make ends meet, and we're lucky if we can even fill our stomachs. What are you being picky about? Hurry up and eat!" Chen Zhanliang said, then turned and left.
Everyone was furious and began to express their dissatisfaction in hushed tones.
"They call it a celebration banquet for the scholar, but this lousy food isn't even as good as the dish served at the Zhan family's housewarming party last year."
"Who says otherwise? They're worlds apart, there's no comparison at all. This old lady Chen is just too stingy."
......
Although the villagers expressed their dissatisfaction, they were so hungry that they couldn't care less and started eating heartily.
For a time, everyone was toasting and drinking, playing drinking games, creating a lively atmosphere.
In an attempt to show off, Chen Zhancai, accompanied by his parents, went from table to table toasting everyone with a wine glass in hand...
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