sbdcsierra Chapter 1573 Zhao Jun's Wedding Banquet Planning
Chapter 1573 Zhao Jun's Wedding Banquet Planning
Chapter 1573 Zhao Jun's Wedding Banquet Planning
Today is March 1988, 3, and there are only thirteen days left until Zhao Jun's wedding.
So early this morning, Hu Sanmei asked Zhao Chun and Zhou Jianjun to come over and ask what was missing at home.
At the bridal chamber, everything was ready, with new bedding, pillows, and household appliances all ready for the couple to enter.
What was missing outside the new house was the banquet on Zhao Jun’s wedding day.
Weddings and funerals are different from family gatherings. How many tables to set, how many people to come, what dishes to serve, and what dishes to prepare all require planning and preparation.
The Zhao family had Zhao Youcai in charge, so he understood all this. But on Zhao Jun's wedding day, Zhao Youcai definitely couldn't cook.
Ever since Zhao Jun and Ma Ling got engaged, the brothers Han Dachun and Han Daming said that Zhao Jun's wedding banquet would be hosted by them and all the kitchen staff in the canteen.
Wang Meilan was absolutely relieved about the Han brothers being the chefs and the people in the canteen's kitchen helping out.
As for the tables, chairs, benches, bowls, chopsticks, plates and cups used in the banquet, how could this be difficult for Zhao Youcai, who has been running the forest farm canteen for twenty years?
So what’s missing now is the ingredients for the banquet.
Previously, Wang Meilan planned to have an all-meat feast, but after going to the city twice, Wang Meilan fell in love with the greenhouse vegetables in the city.
In addition, wedding cigarettes, wedding wine, peanuts and melon seeds will be needed on the wedding day, so Wang Meilan decided that before Zhao Jun got married, she would personally lead a team to go to the city to purchase a lot of things.
The ingredients haven’t been bought yet, but the chef is coming tomorrow.
But Wang Meilan waved her hand and said, "Let him come. When he comes, we will order the meat dishes first."
"Mom." At this time, Zhou Chunming asked Wang Meilan, "How many dishes will be on the table that day?"
"Twelve," Wang Meilan said, "eight meat dishes and four vegetarian dishes."
After hearing what Wang Meilan said, Zhao Chun and Zhou Jianjun couldn't help but look at each other.
The number of seats at funerals is single, while the number of seats at weddings is double, which means: good things come in pairs.
These days, the forest areas are all inhabited by workers' families, and the conditions are relatively better, but there is nothing that can be done about the shortage of supplies.
Therefore, wedding banquets here usually have six dishes. If they can have eight dishes, that's the limit.
The only wedding banquet held in Yong'an Forest District in recent years was when the Zhou family married Zhao Chun two years ago, when eight dishes were served on each table.
But it was summer then, and I had beans, eggplants, persimmons, peppers, and potatoes from my own garden, so I could easily make four dishes. Add four meat dishes, and there were eight dishes in total.
But Zhao Jun’s wedding was in March, so where would he get those vegetables?
At this moment, Zhao Chun slapped Zhou Jianjun on the arm and said, "What do you think? I said mom should prepare at least ten dishes, right?"
After saying this, Zhao Chun turned around, took Wang Meilan's hand in surprise, and said with a smile: "Mom, our family will be so proud!"
When hosting a wedding, the host family only wants two things: to receive gifts and to have a lively atmosphere.
For those who are dining at a banquet, what they care about is the number of dishes and whether the dishes are hard or not.
Especially these days, if you go to someone’s house for a feast, you’ll talk about it for years afterwards.
The Zhao family's conditions are there, and Wang Meilan is not after the gift money. What she wants is to marry her daughter-in-law in a grand manner.
The bigger the venue, the better; the more face you can gain, the better.
Wang Meilan is vain, she admits it herself, but she always thinks that she has only one son and her family has the means, so she must have a grand wedding.
"Twelve dishes...how do we make them?" Unlike Zhao Chun's excitement, Zhou Jianjun said to Wang Meilan with a little concern: "Can we serve You'er?"
I don’t know about it in the city, but when you hold a banquet in the countryside or forest area, usually all the men, women, and children from the village come.
On the third day of the second lunar month, the forest farm resumed work on the first day after the Lunar New Year. The workers came directly from the forest farm by commuter bus. The family members of the employees of Yongsheng, Yongfu, and Yongli generally did not come unless they had a special relationship with the Zhao family.
As for Yong'antun, everyone must come and try it.
There are three or four hundred family members of employees in Yong'antun alone, plus nearly two hundred employees in the forest farm. No one can entertain so many people at once.
So, you have to eat it in batches.
In rural Northeast China, dividing into several batches is called "fenjiyou".
"The villagers can eat first." Wang Meilan said, "I'll see if there's anything to do the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. After that, I'll find a few people and build a shed behind our new house. We can set up about 20 tables in a row. The villagers can eat the second half first, and then you can eat the rest after get off work."
"Ah?" Zhou Jianjun frowned and said, "Mom, how big a shed should we build?"
Twenty tables? That's almost like a big hotel taking reservations.
"I said to build it in a row." Wang Meilan said with a smile: "Build it from the east end to the west end."
As soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, she heard Jin Xiaomei's voice coming from the outer room: "Sister-in-law, we're building one too."
"Huh?" Wang Meilan looked towards the door and saw Jin Xiaomei coming over with a kitchen knife with chopped green onions stuck on it.
"I mean Baoyu's courtyard." Jin Xiaomei added: "Build a row of sheds there, and Baoyu's wedding will be held there. After that, we can use the shed as a warehouse."
Wang Meilan had said before that she would build a row of sheds to hold her son's wedding banquet first, and then use the sheds as warehouses to store fox skins after the banquet.
Hearing that Jin Xiaomei also wanted to build a shed, Wang Meilan smiled and said, "Okay, Xiaomei, I'll start preparing it tomorrow..."
"Mom, please wait a moment." Hearing Wang Meilan say this, Zhou Jianjun hurriedly stopped her and said, "You have built such a big shed, so you can set it up. But that night... you have to connect the furnace tube, right? You also have to pull the wires to connect the light bulbs, right?"
Normally, if a wedding is held at night, the first wedding is not held at night. If it is held at night, it is the second wedding.
But most of the families in the forest area are workers. It is impossible for them to not work during the day and come to the wedding.
Therefore, in the forest area, unless it is a break or a holiday, all banquets are usually held in the evening.
In this case, if there are two sets of banquets, the first one will be at 4 o'clock to entertain the villagers, and the second one will be after 5:30 to entertain the forestry workers.
Although it was near the end of March when Zhao Jun got married, the temperature was low at night and they had to keep warm when eating in the shed.
If the whole furnace is connected to a furnace tube for heating, then the large shed will have to be connected to a furnace tube of 20 to 30 meters!
In addition to heating, there must be light, after all, we can't let the guests eat in the dark. Although the days are longer at this time, it is still dark in the house after five o'clock.
At that time, if you wanted to eat in the shed, you had to pull wires to connect the light bulbs. For a shed that big, the wires had to be 20 to 30 meters long, and you had to pull them out to connect the light bulbs one by one.
These are all problems!
But Wang Meilan smiled nonchalantly after hearing this: "Will I not eat at night?"
"Hmm?" Zhou Jianjun was startled, and then he heard Wang Meilan continue: "Why don't we do it at noon?"
At this point, Wang Meilan raised her hand and gestured, saying, "We are building a shed. In order to store hides in the future, it must be ventilated and have windows. We won't install glass, but put a plastic sheet on it first. Then when the sun comes out in the morning, it will be very warm inside..."
"No, no." After hearing Wang Meilan's lively words, Zhou Jianjun's face changed drastically. He stopped Wang Meilan again and said, "Mom, you are doing it at noon. Who can come? Everyone has to go to work? Then on the first day of work, no one can skip work. Come to our house for a feast!"
After Zhou Jianjun said this, Zhao Chun turned to look at Wang Meilan.
What Zhou Jianjun said is right. Even if you serve 800 dishes at your home, the forestry workers have to skip work and come to your house for the feast.
"Tsk!" But after hearing what Zhou Jianjun said, Wang Meilan smacked her lips, then spread out her right hand and said to Zhou Jianjun: "Jianjun, don't say anything yet, just listen to mom first."
Zhou Jianjun is a filial son-in-law and his mother-in-law treats him well, so even if Zhou Jianjun has other ideas, he can only nod his head to show that he is all ears.
"Look, Jianjun." Wang Meilan said to Zhou Jianjun, "If we go to work normally, does the forest farm have to provide lunch?"
"Ah!" Zhou Jianjun nodded, and Wang Meilan continued, "Well, you go back and discuss it with my in-laws. Let's take a small train to send all the workers to our house at noon. If they eat at our house, won't that save the farm a meal?"
"Huh?" Zhou Jianjun was stunned and blinked, feeling that what Wang Meilan said seemed feasible.
"After we finish eating, we can take the train back to the place, is that okay?" Wang Meilan added, "At most, we can spend some money on the coal for the train. If that doesn't work, Mom will pay for it!"
When Wang Meilan said the word "Ma Chu", she waved her right hand outward with a palm, appearing very heroic.
"That's not necessary, Mom." Zhou Jianjun waved his hand, then thought for a moment and said, "It seems like it's possible. I'll go back and discuss it with my dad."
Wang Meilan smiled when she heard Zhou Jianjun's words. Zhao Chun, who was standing by, saw this and put his arm around Wang Meilan, saying with a smile, "Mom, do you think this will work?"
"That's not what mom thought." Wang Meilan said with a smile: "That's what your big brother Zhang thought, hehe..."
“Hahahaha…” Wang Meilan laughed, and Zhao Chun laughed too.
"Second Aunt." Suddenly, Xu Chunyan came into the room and interrupted the mother and daughter's silly laughter.
"What's the matter, Yan'er?" Wang Meilan asked. Xu Chunyan said, "There are still a lot of wood and planks behind my house. If you want to build a shed or something, just use them."
"Okay!" Wang Meilan nodded after hearing this. After responding to Xu Chunyan, she turned to look at Zhou Jianjun and said, "If it's not enough after this, Jianjun..."
"Mom!" Zhou Jianjun waved his hand and said, "Then don't use my second sister-in-law's. When the time comes, tell me how much you need and I will arrange it for you."
When building wooden sheds here, boards are mostly used and there is no need for large, thick materials. This is not a problem for Zhou Jianjun.
"Look!" Wang Meilan smiled and praised Zhou Jianjun, saying, "He is still my brother-in-law."
Zhou Jianjun and Zhao Chun laughed together, but then Xu Chunyan said, "Second Aunt, we have the material, but what about the work?"
"Hmm?" Wang Meilan was startled by Xu Chunyan's question, and then she heard Xu Chunyan say, "My second uncle, Shunzi and the others are all in the mountains, so they can't work for you."
"If they don't want to do it, I'll find someone to do it." Wang Meilan said confidently, "I'll find 20 or 30 people, and we can finish the work in our courtyard and Baoyu's courtyard in less than a day."
"Mom, are you looking for people from the village?" Zhao Chun asked, but Wang Meilan shook her head and said, "No need for them."
Ever since she lost the election for women's director to Li Ruhai, Wang Meilan knew that most people in the village had opinions about her.
Wang Meilan was a person with a bad temper. From then on, when she met most people, she would just nod and say hello. And those people would do the same when they met her.
However, since the Zhao family started collecting mountain products a year ago, the people of Yong'an Village suddenly became enthusiastic about Wang Meilan again.
Wang Meilan is a straightforward person, more generous than many men. But no matter how straightforward and generous she is, Wang Meilan still has a temper.
So when those people were enthusiastic towards Wang Meilan again, although Wang Meilan also acted enthusiastic, there was a hint of alienation in her enthusiasm.
Wang Meilan wasn't angry, she just didn't want to pay attention to them.
Hearing that Wang Meilan was not going to ask the villagers for help, Zhao Chun asked hurriedly: "Mom, if you don't ask the villagers for help, who are you going to ask?"
"There are plenty of people there." Wang Meilan said this without any hesitation.
Just when Zhao Chun and Zhou Jianjun were wondering, Xu Chunyan smiled and said, "Chun'er, don't worry about it. My second aunt said that forty or fifty people would be no problem, not to mention twenty or thirty."
"Ah?" Zhao Chun looked at Wang Meilan in surprise and asked, "Who is it? Mom, who are you looking for?"
"The people from Xishan Village." Wang Meilan said, "I talked to your father last night and asked him to kill wild boars again and keep all the meat. I will go to that village tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to make arrangements. Whoever comes to build a shed for me will be given ten kilograms of wild boar meat."
Ten catties of wild boar meat could be sold at the market for three or four yuan. It was less than a day's work, and they were paid three or four yuan. Besides, setting up the shed was not tiring. Those vagrants in Xishan Village were very happy about it.
In fact, not only Wang Meilan is willing to do this, but there must be many people in Yong'an Village who are also willing to do so.
But Wang Meilan's idea is, whoever supports me will benefit from it. As for the others, just wait and see.
"Mom!" Zhao Chun asked a crucial question at this time, "Where did you get so much wild boar meat?"
"Let your brother and his men go and hunt them." Wang Meilan waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "If there weren't those wild boars, wouldn't we still have the black bear and the big one?"
As soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, she heard four red dogs barking outside the house.
Wang Meilan turned and looked out the window, then turned back to Jin Xiaomei and said, "Xiaomei, Aunt Jiang and Sister Sun are back."
"Ah?" Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaomei stood up, looked out the window, and then quickly walked out of the house.
Soon, the sound of a door opening was heard, and Xie Sun's voice said, "Sister, let me and your aunt sell those thirty kilograms of beef!"
"Ah?" Wang Meilan was shocked and asked, "What's the matter, sister? Who has the help?"
There was a market today, so Xie Sun carried thirty kilograms of beef and went to the market with the old lady to sell meat.
Originally, Wang Meilan didn't want her to carry so much, but Xie Sun refused.
What Wang Meilan didn't expect was that she went to sell beef herself the day before yesterday, but she didn't sell more than 20 kilograms. But today, Xie Sun brought 30 kilograms of beef and bought it all.
Xie Sun came into the room, picked up the large teacup, and gulped down several mouthfuls of water.
After putting down the teacup, Xie Sun wiped her mouth and asked Wang Meilan, "Sister, guess who bought our beef?"
"Who bought it?" Wang Meilan asked. Xie Sun said, "The gang of hooligans from Xishan Village!"
"Ah?" Not only Wang Meilan was surprised, but even Zhao Chun and Zhou Jianjun were also shocked.
"Ruffians buying beef?" Zhou Jianjun asked in surprise, "What are they doing?"
"Let's eat." Xie Sunshi smiled and said, "Over there, every family has run out of vegetables now, so they'll just think about eating meat."
Zhao Chun, Zhou Jianjun: "..."
Is this reasonable? Even the families of forestry workers are not like this!
"Aunt, then..." Zhou Jianjun asked Mrs. Jie Sun: "Why don't they store any vegetables?"
"I saved it." Xie Sunshi said with a smile, "Don't you know about Chun'er's family? Your mother-in-law bought all their vegetables."
Zhou Jianjun: "..."
(End of this chapter)