Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 620 - 319 Turbulence from Nowhere_1
At the second watch, seek the rosy hues.
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On the Dragon Boat Festival, Lian Manman’s family had done business all morning, and after closing their store, they began to prepare their own meal, which was the festive feast for Dragon Boat Festival. In Thirty Mile Camp, it was customary to have celebratory banquets during festivals and New Year at noon.
Since the private school was on a holiday today, Wu Lang and Xiao Qi were both at home; they had even invited Mr. Loo over early.
Festivals emphasize family reunion and dining together, so Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye helped finish up the morning work and then returned to the old house.
With Mr. Loo present, the feast prepared by Lian Manman’s family was naturally even more sumptuous. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
"I know you all cheer for eating meatballs, but it’s getting hotter by the day and they won’t keep well, so let’s fry just a few, enough to last two days," said Lady Zhang, as she heated the oil pot and held a sieve with three large bowls on top.
For the Dragon Boat Festival, her family prepared to fry three types of meatballs: one was the usual vegetarian meatballs made with glass noodles and tofu, another was sweet meatballs proposed by Lian Manman, made with eggs and flour, filled with pitted dates, and the last type was also made with eggs and flour, filled with seasoned minced meat.
Ordinary farmstead families usually only fry meatballs during the New Year. Having meatballs for the Dragon Boat Festival, especially those filled with meat and dates, made Lian Manman’s children ecstatic.
Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin lived frugally, but when it came to their children’s food, they always were willing to spend money. Perhaps the hardships of the past, with memories of children unable to eat their fill, motivated Lady Zhang to compensate as much as possible once they had money in hand.
In fact, their way of living might seem extravagant to those farmstead families used to frugality. Even among families from the same background, the way of life can be quite different.
Lian Manman believed that both excessive thrift and excessive extravagance were not good. Her family was willing to spend money and effort on food, but it couldn’t be considered wasteful or lavish. The children were growing, Wu Lang and Xiao Qi needed to study, and both Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin had a lot of work to do every day, so nutrition had to keep up; this was not an area to cut corners. Besides, dining was one of life’s great pleasures, and Lian Manman was not one to earn money for the sake of it.
Everything had its limits; too much was as bad as too little. In their village, a Little Landlord surnamed Wang also had a hundred or so acres of land and some family wealth, but his family was reluctant to spend on food and clothing, almost wishing to split a wen money in two. They dressed and ate worse than ordinary tenant farmers, looking so thin and yellow that it was pitiable.
There were also those of moderate or even poor circumstances who insisted on eating and dressing well. Take Lady He’s brother, He Laoliu, for example. His family once had some assets, but he squandered it all on eating, drinking, and gambling. On the rare occasion that he brought money home, he would immediately spend it on liquor or meat, and in an instant, it was gone, leaving them with meat for one meal and not a single grain of rice for the next.
Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin were still in charge of frying the meatballs, while Lian Manman and Lian Zhizhi were preparing other dishes.
They had braised pork, small chicken stew with mushrooms, sweet and sour carp, potatoes braised with pork, braised pork knuckle, stir-fried bok choy with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with wood ear mushrooms, spicy minced pork sautéed with tender peas, stir-fried chives with clam meat, and a big plate of shredded cooked meat with segments of green onion and dried tofu on the side,, cold kelp noodles, cold mixed wild vegetables, cold shredded jellyfish, and additionally, they bought a soy-sauce duck from the town.
The main dishes included white rice, Lian’s famous broth-filled buns, and of course, zongzi in accordance with the season.
With various dishes closely packed together, the table was full. Wu Lang invited Mr. Loo over, Lian Shouxin and Mr. Loo sat together, and they even opened a jar of Almond Village wine that Wu Jiaxing had sent, intending to drink with Mr. Loo until they were fully satisfied.
Everybody chatted and laughed, Wu Lang kept pouring wine for Mr. Loo and Lian Shouxin, and the meal took up half a Chinese hour. Mr. Loo and Lian Shouxin were both a bit drunk by the time the feast dispersed.
Mr. Loo was helped back to the temple by Wu Lang and Xiao Qi to rest, and Lian Shouxin was assisted by Lady Zhang to the kang bed in the inner room.
Lian Shouxin had a good temper when drunk, and after chuckling foolishly for a while, he fell sound asleep.
A short time later, Wu Lang and Xiao Qi came back, saying they had seen Mr. Loo to bed. Lady Zhang, together with Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman, tidied up both inside and outside the house.
