chsdbacks Chapter 262 New Year's Eve Dinner
Chapter 262 New Year's Eve Dinner
4:30 PM.
The aroma of meat wafted from every household in the courtyard, especially from Wang Feng's house, where the smell was so strong that almost the entire courtyard could smell it.
Today is New Year's Eve dinner. If we eat well, the people in the courtyard will only be jealous and won't dare to say anything. We can eat well openly and honestly.
Previously, Qin Jingru had brought out a chicken, a duck, and a fish for Aunt Wu to help kill. This caused Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi to have a big argument. Everyone in the courtyard knew that Wang Feng's family had a particularly lavish New Year's Eve dinner today.
There's no way around it; it's no secret that Wang Feng and Qin Jingru's combined monthly salary is only 166 yuan. Besides, they don't have any children yet, so even if they eat well, they can afford it, which is something others can't compare to.
The most miserable person in the courtyard right now is Sha Zhu. He Yushui won't eat with him for the New Year's Eve dinner tonight. He made a few white steamed buns, a dish of hot and sour cabbage, and a small plate of peanuts.
Sha Zhu now only has forty-odd yuan left. He's lost his job, and the factory doesn't give him any meat. He can't bear to buy meat, so he can only eat whatever he can find.
He Yushui made dumplings tonight, and also cooked braised pork and braised fish, which was quite a feast.
Smelling the aroma of meat wafting from He Yushui's house, Shazhu kept swallowing his saliva. Unfortunately, an hour ago, when he went to Yushui to ask if he could have New Year's Eve dinner with her, she kicked him out.
Today, everyone in the courtyard except Shazhu cooked meat dishes.
If we're talking about the second most lavish New Year's Eve dinner in the courtyard, it has to be Xu Damao's family.
After lunch, Li Sumei started killing chickens, fish, and rabbits. In the evening, she also made dumplings, a total of four meat dishes, only two fewer than Wang Feng's family.
Five o'clock in the afternoon.
Qin Jingru brought out the dishes one after another from the kitchen: stir-fried mutton with scallions, braised fish, stewed old hen with mushrooms, stir-fried duck, braised pork, and dumplings made with premium flour.
As soon as the dishes were served, Wang Feng smelled the rich aroma. Starting next year, he wouldn't dare to eat such a lavish meal so openly anymore.
"Brother Wang Feng, the dishes are all ready, go set off the firecrackers."
"Um."
Wang Feng went outside, disassembled the firecrackers he had prepared, took out a match, and lit the firecrackers with a "sizzle".
"Crackling and popping."
As the firecrackers went off, Wang Feng rushed back into the house, closed the door, and prepared to have his New Year's Eve dinner.
After the firecrackers went off at Wang Feng's house, firecrackers started going off one after another in the yard.
Qin Jingru covered her ears, a happy smile spreading across her delicate face.
Who would have thought that she, a country girl, would become the wife of a deputy section chief in just a few months? Moreover, Wang Feng is not only very rich, but also a great hunter, and she herself has become the head chef of the steel rolling mill, earning more in a month than her family earns in a year.
Thinking of this, she felt even more grateful to Wang Feng, because all of this was thanks to him.
Once the firecrackers stopped, Qin Jingru smiled and said, "Brother Wang Feng, it's time to eat."
"Um."
Wang Feng sat down, and Qin Jingru placed a large chicken leg on his plate, a sweet smile on her face.
"Brother Wang Feng, have a chicken leg."
"Hehe, Jingru, you eat too. It's New Year's Eve dinner tonight, let's all eat more."
Wang Feng also put a big chicken leg on Qin Jingru's plate, which made Qin Jingru smile even wider.
Today, Qin Jingru steamed a bowl of rice. She and Wang Feng each had half a bowl. The rice used for steaming was top-quality rice. If they ate too much rice, they wouldn't be able to eat much of the other dishes. She deliberately cooked less rice.
......
The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.
Tonight, Qin Huairu made dumplings and also used the last of the white flour at home to make steamed buns with a mixture of wheat and flour.
As soon as the dumplings were served, Banggeng eagerly reached into the bowl to grab some dumplings to eat. Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi quickly grabbed Banggeng's hand.
"Be careful, it's hot. Grandma will put it on your plate later."
As she spoke, Jia Zhangshi began to distribute the dumplings. This large bowl of dumplings, mostly filled with cabbage, numbered about sixty. Of the pound of meat that Qin Huairu had brought back earlier, there were still three ounces left to cook, which were to be saved for the first day of the Lunar New Year.
First, Jia Zhangshi scooped about thirty dumplings into her bowl, then scooped about twenty more into Banggeng's bowl. In the end, there were only ten dumplings left in the big basin. This time, Jia Zhangshi was quite generous and gave Xiaodang five dumplings as well.
Qin Huairu brought the steamed buns made from the two kinds of dough to the table. She noticed that there were only five dumplings left in the bowl of dumplings, along with some dumpling soup. She then looked at Jia Zhangshi's large bowl, which was almost overflowing with dumplings.
She said coldly to Jia Zhangshi, "Mom, you're taking up half the food by yourself. Are we supposed to eat or not? If you keep doing this, I'll give you five yuan a month for living expenses, and we'll each live separately."
When Jia Zhangshi saw that Qin Huairu was angry, she pouted in dissatisfaction and took out eight dumplings from her bowl.
Now, Jia Zhangshi really doesn't dare to go too far. If she really makes Qin Huairu's life unbearable, and if Qin Huairu really finds someone to marry, she'll be finished. It's impossible for her to go to the factory to work and earn money to support the family.
Seeing that there were thirteen dumplings in the bowl, Qin Huairu gave five to Xiaodang, leaving herself with eight. She didn't say anything, picked up a dumpling, and put it in her mouth.
The dumplings were fragrant with meat. Qin Huairu ate the delicious dumplings and a smile appeared on her face. This was the life she wanted. Before, when her family ate meat, she would never get a share.
......
The backyard, the Xu family's residence.
Tonight, Li Sumei cooked four meat dishes: braised chicken with mushrooms, braised fish chunks, stir-fried rabbit meat, and dumplings.
"Crackling and popping."
As a firecracker went off, Xu Damao quickly ran back into the house and shouted:
"Sumei, dinner is ready."
"Um."
Li Sumei placed a chicken leg on Xu Damao's plate, and Xu Damao took the chicken leg and began to gnaw on it in big bites.
"Sumei, what do you think? Marrying me isn't a bad deal, is it?"
Li Sumei rolled her eyes at Xu Damao: "What a character."
Xu Damao laughed smugly, his mouth greasy from eating.
"Su-mei, let me tell you, my dad and I are both projectionists. If my mom hadn't been fired this year, the three of us in our family would be earning money, and we'd never run out of money."
"Also, don't underestimate my salary as a projectionist, which is only 35.5 yuan. You've seen it yourself lately. Every time I go to the countryside to show a movie, the village head or village chief gives me a chicken or some local produce. All of that adds up to more than my salary. If you follow me, you'll be set for life."
Li Sumei felt that living with Xu Damao was indeed quite comfortable. She only had to do housework every day and didn't have to work in the fields. She could even eat meat every few days.
Xu Damao is just terrible in that area. Besides getting her covered in saliva, what else can he do? Every time he gets her excited, Xu Damao just stops, which makes her feel really bad.
Recently, she hasn't let Xu Damao touch her. Xu Damao has been forced to take that kind of medicine, but after taking it for a long time, she can clearly feel that Xu Damao is not as effective as before. She is now really scared that she will be living a widow's life in a few months.