After Cao Simei left, Li Hehua's mouth curled up, as if she saw the money flying towards her.
She really didn't expect that Old Man Wang's family would have business again before they even had the banquet. This was much better than she had expected. It seemed that the skill she showed that day had already laid a good foundation in the hearts of the villagers. Maybe more people who wanted to hold banquets would come to her in the future, and then she wouldn't have to worry about making money.
Looking at Li Hehua's smiling face, Zhang Lin finally felt the reality. She had to believe that this woman really had the ability to prepare a feast for others and receive their praise.
Zhang Lin's heart was not at peace. Of course, except for the child Shulin, everyone's heart was not at peace. In their hearts, Li Hehua was a vicious, hot-tempered, greedy, lazy shrew. It could be said that she was good for nothing. However, this good-for-nothing woman could be invited to a banquet by others. This was undoubtedly a huge rock thrown into the lake, stirring people's hearts.
Zhang Lin couldn't help but ask, "Can you cook for a banquet?"
Li Hehua's smile paused as she pondered how to answer. She didn't know how good the original owner's cooking skills were, nor did she know how well the Zhang family knew her. Now that she could cook for the banquet, she didn't know if this would arouse the Zhang family's suspicion.
But cooking is her means of livelihood, and she cannot hide her cooking skills for fear of being suspected by others. If she is suspected because of her cooking skills, she will be helpless and can only leave this home early.
After thinking it through, Li Hehua nodded generously, "Yes, I can make banquet noodles. Last time I went to a family in Lianhua Village, I made an appointment to make banquet noodles for them. The lady who came this time is also from Lianhua Village. Seeing that I have good cooking skills, she asked me to make banquet noodles."
Seeing that Zhang Lin wanted to ask more questions, Li Hehua interrupted her and said, "I'm hungry. I'll go make something to eat first. I haven't eaten since this morning." Then he went to the kitchen.
Zhang Lin had to swallow the question that was about to come to her lips. She couldn't chase after this woman and talk to her. Anyway, this woman had nothing to do with their family anymore. Who cared whether she could cook or not? Her son said that she would have to leave after a while.
Li Hehua walked into the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief.
I'm afraid that the Zhang family is very confused about her now. After all, she is very different from the original owner. She can't pretend to be a shrew just to avoid suspicion. She still has to be herself step by step. It is inevitable that the Zhang family is confused, but I don't know if they will think of using a corpse to revive. If they really know that she has used a corpse to revive, the ancients were so superstitious that they might really unite the whole village to deal with her. Then she would be doomed.
However, they probably didn't think about this matter.
After calming down, Li Hehua started to cook. After finishing the meal, she had to make pastries to sell tomorrow.
Just now, Fourth Sister Cao said that her eldest brother’s family’s wedding is urgent and will be held the day after tomorrow, which means that she can only sell one more day tomorrow and will not have time to go to the town to sell the day after tomorrow.
Li Hehua cooked the food according to the ingredients provided by Cao Simei while silently thinking about the dishes she would make the day after tomorrow. After the meal was ready, she stayed in the kitchen to have a simple meal, and then started to make pastries without stopping. It was already evening when they were done. She ate two pieces of pastries for dinner, washed up early and went to rest.
The next day, Li Hehua got up very early again. She sold all the cakes in her hand within half a day in the town, and hurried back home to pack up. The village of Cao Simei's eldest brother was far away from here, and the banquet would last for two days. On the first day, the relatives would have a meal, and on the second day, the formal wedding banquet would be held. If she left home, she would definitely not be able to make it back and forth, so Cao Simei asked her to pack up and go there in advance, and she would prepare a room for her to stay there, and she could come back after the banquet was officially over.
Li Hehua agreed. It didn't matter where she lived, she didn't feel a sense of belonging here, as long as she had a place to stay. So this afternoon she had to rush to Lianhua Village to meet Cao Simei, and then go to Cao Simei's parents' home together.
Li Hehua didn't bring anything with him. He just brought a change of clothes and his towel. He tied them into a bundle and carried it on his back.
Li Hehua carried his bag and walked out of the woodshed. He turned around and closed the door. When he turned around, he saw Zhang Linshi drying clothes in the yard.
Zhang Lin glanced at Li Hehua, then turned around and continued to be busy. It was obvious in her eyes that she didn't want to pay attention to her. Li Hehua swallowed the words of greeting, thought for a moment, and decided not to say anything more. She lowered her head and walked out.
When they arrived at Lianhua Village, Li Hehua asked others for the address of Cao Simei's home, and walked all the way there. At the gate, he saw Cao Simei feeding chickens in the yard.
Li Hehua quickly called out, "Big sister, I'm here."
Fourth sister Cao turned around and saw that it was Li Hehua. She immediately smiled, put down the chicken feed in her hand, and came forward, "Hey, big sister, you're here? Come in, come in!"
Li Hehua was pulled into the main room. By the time he sat down and drank a sip of water, Cao Simei had finished packing. The two of them immediately headed towards Caozhuang Village, where her brother's home was.
Caozhuang Village is very far from Lianhua Village. The two men walked from the afternoon until dark before they arrived. Li Hehua's feet were covered with blisters and were in great pain. Even Cao Simei, a real farmer who was used to doing farm work and walking on the road, couldn't stand the walk.
Cao Simei apologized to Li Hehua embarrassedly, "Sister, you have troubled me. My parents' home is too far away, and I seldom come back. This time, I have no choice but to go back for my nephew's wedding."
Li Hehua wiped the sweat off his head, smiled and shook his head, "It's okay, we're almost there, right?"
Cao Simei took a few quick steps forward and said, "Here we are, this is the house." Then she led her into a big door.
"Mom, brother, I'm back." Cao Simei shouted at the top of her voice, and the people inside came out immediately.
"Hey, fourth sister, why are you here so late? It's already dark." An old woman who was probably about sixty years old asked.
Simei Cao wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "I left home late today, so I have to bring the chef who will cook the banquet with me. Come, let me introduce her to you. This is the chef I was talking about. Her name is Li Hehua. Her cooking skills are truly amazing." Simei Cao said as she pulled Li Hehua behind her to her front to introduce her to her family.
Li Hehua smiled and nodded in greeting.
Everyone was secretly surprised when they saw Li Hehua's appearance. They didn't expect her to be such a fat woman. Cao Simei's mother took Li Hehua's hand and said, "You are really blessed."
Li Hehua was embarrassed for a moment, but smiled and said, "Auntie, my figure is the result of being a chef. I eat well, so I am so fat."
Cao Simei's mother laughed even more happily, "That's right, how can a cook be short of food?"
Cao Simei interrupted her mother's greeting and said, "Mom, we are tired and hungry after walking so far. Please give us something to eat. After eating, we can rest early. We will be busy tomorrow."
Cao Simei's mother nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, yes, I forgot about it. Come into the house and I'll get you something to eat."
Cao Simei's mother and sister-in-law made some noodles for Cao Simei and Li Hehua. After the two of them had a simple meal, they boiled some hot water to wash up, and then went back to the room cleaned up by the Cao family to rest. Li Hehua lived with Cao Simei for the past few days.
Li Hehua was so tired after being busy all day that he fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed. He slept until the next day, when he was woken up by Cao Simei.
Today's banquet is not very big, only six tables. This is the custom here. Before the child gets married, the family relatives will be invited to a meal. On the wedding day, the man's and woman's relatives will have another meal together. So today's banquet is six tables, and tomorrow's will be fourteen tables.
Li Hehua first went to the kitchen to check the ingredients, then put all the dishes together and told the helpers to wash and cut them. She then prepared the seasonings that would be used later and placed them in convenient places.
When it was almost time for lunch, Li Hehua started cooking.
Today, there are eight main dishes and eight side dishes, totaling sixteen dishes, which is a very good banquet in the countryside. Li Hehua started two pots at the same time, one pot cooking the main dishes and the other cooking the side dishes. He was busy and methodical, and the people helping in the kitchen were full of admiration. If it were an ordinary person, one person would not be able to handle so many dishes, let alone one person cooking two pots at the same time. The speed of serving the dishes was the fastest they had ever seen, and the aroma was so good that they had never smelled such delicious dishes in their lives. They had to hold back their saliva while helping in the kitchen, which was very uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Li Hehua left a little bit of each dish and gave it to the people helping in the kitchen at the end of the banquet. He couldn't expect there to be anything left on the table.
While the people in front were still eating enthusiastically, Cao Simei's mother came in in a hurry. When she saw Li Hehua, she praised, "Oh, your dish is really well cooked. Not only is it beautiful, but it tastes so good that you can swallow it with your tongue. You don't know, the people in front are praising today's banquet, and they are eating like they are snatching food."
Cao Simei's mother's face was full of pride and satisfaction, so she took time out of her busy schedule to come over and thank Li Hehua.
Li Hehua was very happy that the food he cooked could be so praised by the host, but he was still a little modest, "You are too polite, Auntie. Since I have accepted your money, I must do my best to make you feel proud."
After hearing this, Cao Simei's mother became even happier, and kept praising the job. Finally, she hurried out to do her work.
Li Hehua worked for nearly an hour to cook all the dishes. She let out a long sigh of relief only after the last dish was taken away. She saw that the other people helping in the kitchen were also exhausted.
Li Hehua hurriedly brought out the dishes that had been left over. "Come on, come on, everyone must be hungry. We are finally done. Let's all come and eat."
These words refreshed the people who had been working hard for a while. They had been in the kitchen for such a long time and had been very hungry. They were secretly looking forward to eating, and now they could finally get what they wanted.
Cao Simei and her two sisters-in-law quickly took the chopsticks and couldn't wait to pick up the food and put it into their mouths.
Before she even swallowed the first bite, Fourth Sister Cao gave a thumbs up and said, "Big sister, I was right to find you. Your cooking skills are amazing!"
"This is the most delicious dish I have ever eaten. It's so tasty!" Cao Simei's sister-in-law praised it and ate it voraciously, fearing that it would be gone.
Cao Simei's second sister-in-law took the time to say while eating: "If my son gets married in the future, I will also look for you, big sister, you can't refuse."
Li Hehua smiled. Although he was physically tired, he was still very happy in his heart.
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