Chapter 24: The Old Qian Family Begins Fighting for Control of the Kitchen!

The dishes were:

Old duck soup, spicy chicken, scrambled eggs with chives, cold shredded cucumber, braised eggplant, steamed fish, pork belly stewed with cabbage and vermicelli, fried shredded potatoes with pork cracklings, eight-treasure rice, and pear soup.

Ten dishes in total.

On the surface, there was chicken, duck, fish, and meat, even desserts—everything seemed abundant. But in fact, it hadn’t cost that much.

Madam Zhao had only bought two ducks and six chickens from villagers. The rest were made using vegetables and grain they already had, plus meat coupons from Old Qian.

After all, this was her second son’s wedding feast.

He was also Old Qian’s favorite child.

Although Old Qian had ordered Madam Zhao to cover all the wedding expenses, he was still worried that she might be too stingy and embarrass Qian Ertian on his wedding day.

So Old Qian secured ten jin of pork and bought twenty fish from the village pond.

Meanwhile, Qian Ertian brought back a large basket of pears and two jin of red dates, telling Madam Zhao:
“My wife says there must be desserts at the banquet.”

At that time, even in towns, wedding banquets rarely included desserts—let alone in the countryside.

Clearly, Qian Ertian wanted this wedding to be extravagant!

For rural people, just having fish and meat was already impressive.

But now there was dessert too—practically unheard of!

By rights, Madam Zhao only needed to add a few more dishes, and it would already have been considered lavish.

But Qian Ertian was not easy to please.

Before the wedding, he kept pressing Madam Zhao:
“My wife’s family demands chicken and duck on the table. It can’t be shabby, otherwise she’ll be upset.”

Old Qian and the rest of the family backed him up, insisting that since he was marrying a city girl, they had to give her mother face.

Each time, Zhao Saihua sneered inwardly: “So much talk, all just to make me spend more money.”

But they had their demands, and she had her own counterplans.

It all came down to who could out-scheme whom.

Since she was in charge of the kitchen, there was plenty of room to maneuver.

Why not let them think they’d won, while saving money for herself?

So Madam Zhao even promised aloud that she’d buy chickens and ducks!

Her stance made the old Qian family visibly pleased.

They thought each chicken cost at least 1.5 to 2 yuan, each duck more than 2 yuan. With sixteen tables to serve, they assumed she would have to spend at least fifty yuan.

In reality, both sides were scheming.

The old Qian family wanted to bleed her.

But Madam Zhao had her tricks.

Duck soup was mostly about the broth anyway.

She bought two very fat old ducks for 6 yuan and added duck blood, making the soup look abundant.

As for the chickens, she bought six small ones for 10 yuan, added two plump ones from her own coop, making eight in total—enough for half a chicken per table.

She also bought 4 yuan worth of eggs.

The Qian family thought she had spent over 50 yuan.

In truth, she had spent only 20.

Even so, Madam Zhao’s heart ached.

When Zhao Qianqian married, Old Qian had only given her a 20-yuan dowry addition. Now, she had just handed that amount back.

On the other hand, the banquet was praised by everyone.

The duck soup, though just one bowl per table, had finely chopped pieces—seven or eight chunks of meat per bowl—plus plenty of duck blood.

Half a chicken per table, stir-fried with chili, looked like a heaping plate.

As for the vegetables—cucumbers, potatoes, eggplants—these were from their own fields, served in large dishes so guests could eat their fill.

The pork belly stew was served in basins, since cabbage was cheap and the pork came from Old Qian.

Steamed white buns were unlimited.

And most importantly—there were two desserts at the end: eight-treasure rice and red-date pear soup.

Such luxuries were things many villagers had never tasted in their whole lives.

It had to be said—the old Qian family’s banquet became the most extravagant in Qian village, earning universal praise.

Qian Ertian and his bride basked in glory.

But Zeng Cheng was displeased.

How could his wedding banquet be outshone by that of a rural fellow like Qian Ertian?

Their weddings were only a month apart.

Yet his own had featured only six dishes, with eight tables total.

Qian Ertian’s had sixteen tables, ten dishes per table, and even desserts!

Desserts were so expensive!

Zhao Qianqian had told him she bought just a few pears for 5 yuan.

So how could Qian Ertian carry home an entire basketful?

It never crossed Zeng Cheng’s mind that Zhao Qianqian might have lied to him.

If he had thought it through, he would have realized that even the most expensive fruit couldn’t cost 5 yuan for a few pears.

But—“In the eyes of a lover, she is always perfect.”

When it came to the banquet, Zeng Cheng was simply unconvinced!

Zhao Qianqian, however, didn’t mind at all.

In fact, she made a special trip back to Zhao village to invite her second uncle’s family, telling them to eat as much as they could.

Since most of the cost came from Madam Zhao, they had to eat their share back.

Besides, her second uncle was also Qian Ertian’s “second uncle” by marriage, so he had every right to attend.

At her own wedding, Zhao Qianqian’s second uncle’s family hadn’t all shown up—afraid of burdening the hosts.

This time, she told him explicitly:
“Second Uncle, you must bring the whole family. The banquet money was all paid by my mother. You have to eat your fill, and just give one gift money from the whole family.”

Such a good deal—of course they wouldn’t refuse.

Even if they had to take leave from work, they’d come.

It was like celebrating New Year early!

At a sixteen-table banquet, few knew exactly who was related to whom.

So Zhao’s second uncle’s family occupied an entire table of their own.

When the food arrived, they stared wide-eyed.

The youngest, Xiao Wu, was the first to exclaim:
“Wow! Such a feast. The old Qian family must be rich—our whole village doesn’t eat this well even at New Year!”

“Xiao Wu, don’t talk—just eat!”

Second Uncle, remembering his anger from Zhao Qianqian’s wedding, muttered:
“When Qianqian married, Old Qian wouldn’t spend like this. But for his son, he holds such a grand banquet.”

Second Aunt chimed in coldly:
“Hmph, I heard from Qianqian that this banquet was forced on her mother by Old Qian. Truly black-hearted!”

Meanwhile, the other sons of Second Uncle’s family were feasting heartily.

They were determined to help Qianqian eat their fill on her behalf.

This time, apart from the second son Zhao Diao, who was at work, the entire family had come—even skipping their work points for the day.

In fact, they brought along a few more distant relatives as well.

The gift money? Just twenty cents per family!

Hehe—what a bargain!