Chapter 87 Squeezed
Two days ago, Su Xiangqiao still didn't trust Lin Li's craftsmanship.
She has been cooking for twenty years and has never seen anyone add sugar to a dish.
She didn't know why her sister mixed up the flavors like that, since no one in the family, except Junrui, liked sweet food.
But what they didn’t expect was that except for Lin Hua, all the family members who didn’t like sweet food were conquered by the girl’s good cooking skills.
That’s because Lin Hua went out on his bike these past few days and hasn’t come back since.
Now, Su Xiangqiao feels that it is natural that the neighbors are so supportive.
At this moment, the house was full of people, and Lin Rong and Lin Fu could not squeeze in.
Lin Li simply asked his neighbors to move tables, chairs and benches from their own homes and placed them in Lin Li's yard.
Although the house is dilapidated, it is more spacious and better than the new houses of the young people in the village.
After returning home like this, the smart neighbors thought it was not a good idea to eat for free, so they brought the fish they bought at home.
When the other people who cared more about their reputation saw this, they were unwilling to be left behind, so they simply went out and bought things.
So it came to this, and most people were reluctant to spend money to buy things, so they simply used their own cornmeal, pumpkin, sweet potato, mung bean, black bean, and red bean.
Lin Li knew that although these villagers were usually gossipy, they were kind-hearted.
As long as you give them some benefits, they will remember it.
It was already three o'clock in the afternoon. Lin Li told them that they would have dinner here and call everyone in the family over later.
Fortunately, the people who came were just neighbors, so people in other alleys were not alarmed.
In addition, since they were just eating for free, everyone who came here felt a little guilty.
He was afraid that if he made it public, villagers who lived a little further away would get to know about it and come to eat for free. There would not be enough space for them and Lin Li would be disgusted. He might get angry and kick everyone out.
So whoever gets to come here is lucky. People can only come here secretly and no one dares to bring relatives or friends with them.
But even so, the number of people has increased three times compared to the initial period.
Lin Rong also placed tables and chairs in the compartment and at the door, but of course there was still not enough space, so he simply occupied the yards of his neighbors on both sides.
"No one is allowed to crowd in the kitchen! Come out quickly!" Lin Rong shouted, "Don't squeeze my sister! Can't you see that her injury hasn't healed yet?"
So the neighbors who were originally surrounding Lin Li and asking him questions retreated tactfully.
Taking this opportunity, Su Xiangqiao counted the things sent by the neighbors.
Then he whispered to Lin Li very shrewdly: "Sister, although they brought a lot of cornmeal and pumpkin flour, we can't do business at a loss. Those things that are easy to store can be regarded as our reward. Besides, there are too many people, so let's just have a simple staple food tonight, such as sweet potato leaf porridge! Anyway, they have enough staple food at home..."
Lin Li nodded.
My sister-in-law usually behaves in a proper manner and is not extravagant, but she is not stingy either.
No matter whose family is having a wedding or funeral, she tries her best to make the things she gives popular.
Lin Li walked into the yard and shouted, "Fellow villagers, my sister-in-law and I are busy cooking and don't have time to boil so many sweet potatoes and cornmeal cakes. We can only steam a big pot of cornmeal porridge to make a meal, but it's not enough to fill your stomach. If you want to eat more, why don't you go home and get some food? In other words, you can either eat my cornmeal porridge or eat what you bring yourself."
The villagers immediately agreed.
It is true that we did not come here just to get the staple food, and people of this era eat too much, so the staple food is served in large bowls.
When Lin Li prepared this big pot meal, each dish on each table was served on a plate so that it could be divided among the people. So in order to eat their fill, these people thought it would be more cost-effective to take some more staple food home.
So Su Xiangqiao happily re-counted the flour and beans and took them all to the sweet potato cellar.
The sweet potato cellar in our house is under the kang. There are two kangs, so there are two cellars.
There is one in the yard too, but it is too deep and not very convenient to climb down.
There are even some in the fields, and they are deep and large.
It’s useful to stock up on sweet potatoes, cabbage and radishes.
There are waterproof and drainage devices on top, so no matter how heavy the rain is, it won't seep in.
Now the two kangs in the house are almost full of supplies, and Su Xiangqiao is as happy as a child.
She never expected that the girl had been cooking at home for several days, and suddenly today, she would attract so many people.
Not only did we attract people, we also earned so much supplies.
If converted into money, this amount would be enough for Su Xiangqiao to earn in a whole month from linen embroidery.
An old man named Liu from the west of the village came to visit the village chief Lin Rong, but he heard a lot of hustle and bustle in Lin Rong's yard. Then he smelled the fragrance of food and walked into the yard curiously.
He was carrying four or five large, half-dead carps.
When someone saw this, they joked, "Old Liu, are you coming to eat here too? And are you bringing this big carp as a gift?"
Another sister-in-law opened her hoarse voice: "What's the point of this? Hurry up and take your big carp and go! The fish mud in the river has a strong fishy smell. It tastes like eating a mouthful of mud!"
Old Liu was unhappy: "What are you talking about, sister-in-law? The pond I contracted is full of carp. I made a fortune last year! People in the city love to eat this! It's very expensive! Do you think you are all as ignorant as us farmers?"
When Lin Li heard Old Liu coming over with the carp, she hurried into the yard.
I can’t even think of this food unless I mention it, but once I think of it I get craving for it and I really want to eat carp.
But if you go to buy it now, it's too late.
Lin Li was about to interrupt and say something when she noticed that there was a lot of noise in the yard and that other people's voices were louder than hers.
"Come on!" The eldest sister-in-law rolled her eyes. "It's because city people don't know the stinky mud in the river! They still want to eat lotus roots and river fish, which we don't even want to eat! Do you think city people are good in every way? They really worship foreign things!"
Lin Li: “…”
Is this how you use the term "worshipping foreigners"? The region is wrong too...
A big brother agreed: "That's right! You still make fun of us country folks for being unsophisticated. We have plenty of cucumbers to eat in summer and autumn! We only eat the tender ones. The old ones are fed to pigs! As for those city folks, they have to pay to buy an old cucumber if they want to eat it!"
Someone else followed suit: "Brother, you hit the nail on the head! My city-dwelling relative, my sister-in-law, has to pay for even a scallion! We in the countryside can just pick scallions whenever we want! We eat small scallions with sauce and big scallions in cooking. We have them all year round! She told me it's cheap, but even if it's cheap, it's still money if you save a lot!"
Old Liu was so angry that he jumped up and down, "You country bumpkins are so ignorant! I can sell these carps at a good price in the city! If it weren't for the little hooligans in our village who set off firecrackers in my pond and almost killed my four or five big carps, how could I have come to see the village chief! I came to ask the village chief to help me investigate the case! What's the point of giving me a gift?"
Then, Old Liu craned his neck to look around for someone, "Where's the village chief? Where did the village chief go? He invited the whole village to dinner today? Why didn't he tell us about it? And he's doing it in secret? I didn't even know about it, are you discriminating against me, village chief?"
Lin Li saw the opportunity coming.
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