CHAPTER 1300: CHAPTER 1299: BANQUET FEAST

What do you mean by slaughtering a few pigs, a few sheep, how many fish, and a few chickens?

And what kind of vegetables do we need to buy?

How elaborate is the feast? Is it the auspicious six courses? Or the prosperous eight courses? Or is it the perfect ten?

In situations like Song Chongjin’s, it’s usually either six main dishes or eight dishes, with a good mix of hot, cold, meat, and vegetarian.

Old Granny Zhang, having lived most of her life, is extremely knowledgeable about these customs. She can speak about them fluently and in detail.

Wang Yongzhu listened and was completely puzzled.

It’s just hosting a guest, you make the dishes and serve them one after another, isn’t it? Why are there so many rules?

Old Granny Zhang looked at her daughter with disappointment, thinking there are so many ways to do this. If she weren’t her biological daughter, would she impart all this knowledge so generously?

Others’ families want to learn, but she’s not willing to teach them.

But on second thought, if her daughter doesn’t like learning, then so be it. Now that she is an official’s madam, with her mother around, these small matters can be arranged meticulously.

She directly said, "Alright, leave the flowing feast to me. Don’t frown anymore. It’s just that I’m indulging you—"

Wang Yongzhu chuckled and went along with it, "Then it’s tough on you, Mom! I’ll slack off just this once! But don’t worry, Mom, I’ll find you two reliable assistants, just instruct them if there’s anything you need."

Saying this, she called for Yao Da and Shitou.

Such capable subordinates, naturally should be put to good use.

Yao Da and Shitou had never handled such a flowing feast before. Listening to Old Granny Zhang’s descriptions, they found it quite interesting and went off to discuss it enthusiastically.

Which family’s chefs to invite, how much firewood, rice, oil, and salt to buy, how many helpers to hire, and considerations of tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks, all aspects were thought of.

Wang Yongzhu happily became the shopkeeper who shirked responsibility, pulling Song Chongjin to the courtyard, lying down on a recliner, rocking slowly, gazing at the sunset across the sky, feeling that life was truly comfortable.

Afterward, the whole family got busy, whether Wang Yongzhu claimed to be relaxing, there were still quite a few things she had to worry about.

This trip to Chicheng County, it’s not the same era she lived in before. When you have money, you can buy anything when traveling.

At this time, going on a trip truly meant moving the whole family, bringing along bedding, clothes, considering how far the travel is, pots, bowls, utensils, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, everything cannot be left behind.

Especially since the weather in Chicheng is harsher than here, for the thirty-something people here, their bedding has to be thicker, and clothes too, by the time they reach Chicheng, it’ll probably be cold there.

Cotton jackets might not withstand the border’s wind and snow, and they might have to find fur coats for everyone.

Furthermore, there are rumors that land is scarce in Chicheng, not sure if it’s easy to get vegetables there? Wang Yongzhu considers that they might have to bring more vegetable seeds.

She made several lists, some things could be purchased completely, some not yet, requiring patience to wait.

Because of this, Wang Yongzhu took Shitou aside to focus on purchasing these things, to avoid discovering some things missing when it’s time to depart.

Just let Yao Da handle the daily tasks and the flowing feast at home, that’s enough.

On the second day, inviting the dean and the teachers of Changqing Academy, Song Chongjin specially brought Lord Du along, to make his face familiar before the dean and teachers.

Lord Du had also gotten instructions from Old Doctor Du, knowing that Song Chongjin was paving a road for him. With Song Chongjin’s recommendation, he would naturally be more valued than other students.

At the banquet, he behaved very appropriately, always staying by Song Chongjin’s side, being perceptive, pouring wine when necessary, smiling shyly when needed, projecting the image of a somewhat shy but well-mannered young man with good potential.

The dean and teachers of Changqing Academy already valued Song Chongjin, this time he ranked as a Second Class Imperial Graduate, though not as high as Xie Lang’s top scholar.

But with the Gu Family and the Duke Weiguo Residence backing Song Chongjin, his future prospects are likely to be better than Xie Lang’s.

Not to mention, Song Chongjin’s banquet for the teachers this time made a great impression on everyone.

Although everyone says to respect teachers and uphold their teachings, those who rank as scholars, once they achieve high status, only focus on their career pursuits, truly valuing their mentor teachers, similar to parents.

These academy teachers were quite good if the students respected them when they saw them.

Where can anyone be like Song Chongjin, returning and giving a gift of gratitude to each teacher who taught him in the academy, and even arranging a special banquet to thank them?

Moreover, at the banquet, though Song Chongjin was already an official, he still adhered to the etiquette for juniors, sat at the end respectfully, showing great respect for the dean and teachers.

This respect alone was enough for the teachers to particularly acknowledge Song Chongjin.

Therefore, Song Chongjin boldly brought Lord Du to the banquet and straightforwardly said that he was the grandson of Old Doctor Du, a man of sincerity and filial piety, who abandoned the lavish life in the capital city to serve his grandparents in Jing County.

He had some aptitude for reading, long admired Changqing Academy’s reputation, and wanted to study there.

No matter the dean or teachers, at this moment, how could they not give Song Chongjin face? They all smilingly agreed.

Lord Du observed all of this, taking it to heart.

After returning home, Old Doctor Du asked him if he understood anything from following along today.

Lord Du felt he understood something but also felt he understood nothing.

Old Doctor Du himself was not a person skilled at teaching, otherwise, when he taught Wang Yongzhu initially, he wouldn’t have just shoved books at her to memorize so harshly.

Fortunately, Wang Yongzhu had a good memory and genuinely wanted to learn medical techniques, so she persevered. If it were someone else, they might have been frightened away just by the thought of memorizing books.

He was impatient to explain carefully to Lord Du, thought about it, and bluntly said, "Since you can’t understand, let’s do this. In a couple of days, your little mistress and master will return to the countryside, you follow them, observe more, even if you don’t understand now, eventually you will."

And then decisively passed the responsibility onto Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin.

Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin were unaware they had been tasked by Old Doctor Du with the responsibility of leading the child.

They were busy running a day’s flowing feast, and according to Old Granny Zhang, no matter who it was, even giving a red paper bag, or two eggs, or a handful of millet sufficed, they could join the feast.

On this day, men and women, young and old, available on the street all came to help.

One by one, they moved tables, chairs, and benches from their homes along with bowls and chopsticks.

Women had long been helping Madam Gu in preparing vegetables, rinsing rice, and steaming rice.

The chefs invited from the restaurant displayed their skills, showcasing their best techniques. The aroma of meat drifted over several streets, making people salivate.

The women who helped were amazed looking at the perfectly slaughtered and clean pigs and sheep on the counter, smelling the aroma.

In ordinary families, such a feast was already considered top-tier, and hosting ten tables already seemed lavish.

If they were to hold a flowing feast, how much Silver would that cost?

The children didn’t understand, only knew that today they could eat meat, so they called friends and ran cheerfully through the alleys, screaming in excitement.

When the dishes were served, indeed, there were four hot dishes and four cold dishes.

Hot dishes included stewed pork with vermicelli, chicken stewed with mushrooms, a plate of braised fish fillet, and a bowl of lamb offal soup, though the four cold dishes were vegetarian, they were well-oiled too.

Bread and coarse rice were unlimited.

Once the dishes were served, one could hardly hear anyone talking, only seeing chopsticks flying, as everyone exerted their utmost skill, wishing they had two mouths and two pairs of hands.