Chapter 119: Hosting a Banquet 1/2

Li Qingzhi told stories to the three children for a long time, then started singing nursery rhymes in the local dialect: “Rocking, rocking to Grandma’s bridge, Grandma treats me to rice cakes…”

After singing for a while, the breathing of the three children had already become steady.

He and Jin Xiaoye embraced each other in the darkness for a long time. After a while, Jin Xiaoye asked, “Have they fallen asleep?”

Li Qingzhi replied, “Yes, they’re already asleep. I’ve taken them to the next room.”

Working together, they carried the three children to Li Damao and Li Ermao’s rooms.

Finally, they could have some private time together!

Of course, the next day they would inevitably be questioned by Li Damao and Li Ermao: “Dad, why are there mice again?”

“Dad, why don’t you drive away the mice and change rooms?”

Li Qingzhi cleared his throat. “Dad just wanted to sleep in your room for one night.”

So that’s how it was! Li Damao suddenly realized, “Dad, why don’t you and mom sleep in our room tonight? We can all sleep here!”

Li Damao and Li Ermao’s room had two beds, which could accommodate all five of them.

“Okay.” Li Qingzhi agreed readily.

After coaxing the three children to sleep in Li Damao and Li Ermao’s rooms, they went back to their own rooms to sleep. This was much more convenient!

As Li Qingzhi answered the questions of the three children and was about to take them downstairs, Jin Xiaoye was already preparing breakfast.

Breakfast was usually made by the female workers on duty, but yesterday she gave each of them fifty wen, so today she let them go out and buy some things with the money.

In any case, making breakfast was quick and easy. She could handle it alone.

“Xiaoye, I’ll light the fire.” Li Qingzhi saw what she was doing and went over to help.

Jin Xiaoye didn’t object and chatted with Li Qingzhi while cooking, “Ah Qing, when should we go back to Miaoqian Village to have a banquet?”

She really wanted to go back and have a banquet. Li Qingzhi’s top ranking in the prefectural examination was really exciting!

Seeing Jin Xiaoye’s eager expression, Li Qingzhi smiled and said, “How about tomorrow?”

Last night, after chatting with Jin Xiaoye for a long time, he knew that she wasn’t as busy now. Taking a day off to go back to the countryside for a banquet was entirely feasible, and it would also allow the female workers of Miaoqian Village to go home for a visit.

“Okay, then I’ll arrange for someone to order things,” Jin Xiaoye said.

A banquet required quite a bit of meat. It might not be possible to buy everything on the day, so they needed to inform the butcher in advance to prepare.

Generally, they would buy a whole pig directly.

As for chickens and ducks, they could just buy them from the people in Miaoqian Village.

Jin Xiaoye began to calculate how much they needed to prepare and how many people to invite.

Li Qingzhi made suggestions on the side and said, “Xiaoye, isn’t there a recipe for braised meat in the cookbook that Chang Zhan put on Chang Cui? Let’s make braised meat then. It’s convenient, delicious, and saves trouble.”

“Isn’t this someone else’s recipe? Will it be appropriate for us to use it?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

Li Qingzhi replied, “We’re not using it for business. It’s just for entertaining guests. What’s the harm?” Li Qingzhi was very interested in the dishes in the Chang family cookbook. He had already tried making several of them, and they hadn’t failed, but they were a bit troublesome.

After some thought, he felt that they could try the braised meat.

The recipe for braised meat was written at the beginning of the cookbook, and it looked quite complicated. After making it, it might be even more delicious than the braised meat sold in their county town.

For the villagers of Miaoqian Village, the braised meat in their county town was already the best dish. Buying some braised dried tofu during the New Year or holidays was already very prestigious.

If he were to host a banquet and treat everyone to braised meat… Compared to the traditional banquets they had attended countless times, the villagers would definitely prefer to eat braised meat.

Braised meat wasn’t difficult to make; just stew it in a big pot!

“Yeah, it’s just for entertaining guests; no big deal,” Jin Xiaoye agreed.

While Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye discussed how to organize the banquet, Li Laogen was boasting in the teahouse.

“Do you know? My son ranked first in the prefectural examination!”

“My son achieved the top score in the county examination, and now he’s also the top scorer in the prefectural examination!”

“My son is truly brilliant. He will definitely pass the imperial examination in the future!”

“Not only does the Magistrate of Gou County value my son, but also the Prefect.”

…

Li Laogen was already a prominent figure in the teahouse, and everyone envied him.

He used to be an ordinary old man from the countryside, but because of his good son, he not only moved to the city but also gained respect from others.

How lucky he was!

Besides admiring Li Laogen, the old men in the teahouse also bought some snacks to treat him and asked how he raised his child—people in the county didn’t know that Li Qingzhi was adopted by Li Laogen.

How did Li Laogen know how to raise children? He lifted the teacup and took a sip, his sharp chin with a few sparse hairs pointing upward. “I never bother with the child; he’s always been like this himself.”

The old men in the teahouse were even more envious.

As for the girls from the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop, they were out shopping with their money.

Fifty wen might not be much, but for these girls, even those from well-off families, they had never had this much money in their hands before.

They were used to coming to the embroidery workshop, and even though they were near the county town, they rarely had the chance to come here.

They had walked through the alleys near the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop many times, but because they didn’t have money, they had never bought anything.

Today was different. They could finally buy what they wanted.

“I used to be afraid to go into those shops, but today I want to go in and take a look.”

“I want to buy some good food!”

“I want a hairpin; it doesn’t have to be silver; bronze will do.”

…

The girls chattered as they walked forward.

They wore identical, beautiful dresses, though their looks were average. However, anyone who saw them couldn’t help but take a few more glances.

Some of them liked to buy food, so they bought fried dough sticks and buns. Some liked to dress up, so they bought rouge, hairpins, and silver earrings, and some even bought things for their parents or younger siblings.

Of course, there were also those who didn’t buy anything at all, like Jin Mao’er, who didn’t spend a penny.

When they finished shopping and returned to the embroidery workshop, it was already time for breakfast, which was prepared by their shopkeeper and Li Qingzhi, who had topped the provincial examination!

The female workers felt that the taste of breakfast was somewhat different from usual.

During breakfast, Jin Xiaoye said, “I’m going back to Miaoqian Village tomorrow to arrange a feast. I’ll give you a day off then! You can go back this afternoon and come back the day after tomorrow morning. I’ll arrange for a boat for you. If any of you want to stay at home for a few more days, you can tell me.”

These people had been away from home for almost two months. It would be nice to stay at home for two days. If they wanted to stay at home for a few more days, she wouldn’t mind.

However, no one planned to stay at home for long. Someone asked Jin Xiaoye, “Shopkeeper, are you going back tomorrow? Can I go back with you? I don’t want to stay at home.”

“Sure,” Jin Xiaoye agreed readily. “We’ll go back tomorrow morning and come back tomorrow night. Will any of you come with us?”

To her surprise, eight girls wanted to go back with her.

Either their relationships at home were not good, or their homes were dirty and small, making it uncomfortable to stay there… In short, they didn’t want to go back home.

Jin Mao’er was one of them.

Now that she had a beautiful new dress and was clean all over, she didn’t want to go back to live with the sheep at her house!

“Alright, then you can come with us,” Jin Xiaoye said.

After arranging the schedule, Jin Xiaoye asked Jin Xiaoshu to go back early today to help her invite guests from the village to their house for dinner tomorrow.

She also asked Jin Xiaoshu to take her to find a butcher and order a pig, and of course, find someone to make tofu and order some dried tofu, vegetarian chicken, and tofu skin.