My 1995 Small Farm.

Chen Ling's cooking skills are fine, but he's still a little unsure about preparing a large banquet.

Even he himself, who was used to eating home-cooked meals, would eventually crave the food served at weddings and funerals.

Despite his uncertainty, he was certain that his skills wouldn't lead to a mistake.

Moreover, being a chef who prepares large banquets isn't without its advantages.

At least there are fewer miscellaneous tasks, so he doesn't have to do chores.

For families like Wang Laifu's, which have little interaction with outsiders, it's awkward to go and inform relatives of a death.

Being a cook allows you to have some peace and quiet.

It's true that Wang Laifu doesn't interact with many people, but when Chen Ling went there, she found that quite a few villagers were going.

I guess they're not busy anymore around this time.

Knowing that Chen Ling was the chef this time, everyone greeted him and joked with him when they saw him coming.

Make sure he makes some pastries for his first meal today.

Stop making delicious food at home every day. The aroma of that food fills the whole village, making everyone else envious.

When they came out to burn the offerings, they hid something.

Then we should talk about it.

Chen Ling laughed and scolded, "If you want to eat well, then go and chop firewood."

"Don't even mention chopping firewood, we'll even wash your pots for you."

"That's right, we'll do whatever you ask us to do, just hoping to enjoy the feasts you cook for us for a few days."

"Haha, you guys don't know, Fugui is going to build a greenhouse soon, and then we'll have to provide meals. You can count on your fingers, this time we'll be eating him for seven or eight days, I guarantee we'll get tired of it."

"..."

"Alright, alright, their family members are starting to arrive, so stop making jokes here." Chen Ling saw Wang Jusheng and the others approaching.

They should shut them up immediately.

Wang Jusheng and his brothers had just returned from the county town... some were buying mourning clothes, and others were buying firecrackers.

Wang Laifu doesn't have many family members, but he has plenty of nephews and brothers, so he feels more at ease leaving these kinds of things to his own people.

"Fugui, since you're in charge of the banquet, just follow your recipe. Find someone to buy the ingredients, write down a list, and assign them tasks."

Wang Laishun walked over and said.

He is the Party branch secretary and also Wang Laifu's brother, so it's natural that he's in charge here today.

"Alright, Xiao Chao, once you've finished your training, you guys can go fishing at the old river bend and the reservoir."

Chen Ling glanced at Wang Jusheng, and seeing that he didn't seem very energetic, he didn't call on him. He made arrangements for the younger men, and then said to Wang Lihui, "Brother Lihui, you and Baoliang will go to the county town to buy groceries. I'll write up a list first."

A funeral is not as good as a wedding.

For a wedding, we served half a pig carcass, which made the occasion joyous and the villagers all praised it.

Funerals don't need to be too grand.

You don't need to buy too much pork.

On the first day, Chen Ling made a pot of fresh fish soup, which was his specialty, so that the villagers who came to mourn and help would have a bowl of soup to drink as soon as they arrived at his home.

Fish is cheap, and there's plenty of it in the river.

It's especially easy to catch fish after the water level drops this season.

Why not do it.

After writing the list on the paper, Chen Ling handed it to Wang Lihui and the other person.

After inspecting the items, the two noticed that the amount of vegetables they had bought was small, with little greens and not much pork.

Besides the essentials like cigarettes and alcohol, the main things to buy are having them grind flour and make oil, and buying things like tofu, vermicelli, and eggs.

This is quite a low cost for a family holding a funeral.

The two glanced at the order and, fearing Chen Ling would be criticized, said, "Fu Gui, isn't there a bit too little meat? Only five catties? Is that enough for today? When guests come, they should at least see two or three pieces of meat in their bowls!"

"Don't worry, it's definitely enough. There are other dishes too. I'm just worried you won't be able to finish them. If you need more, you can get some from my house, okay?"

Chen Ling chuckled: "By the way, speaking of which, if we're staying here tonight, remember to bring back a few more pig heads. They're really cheap. I'll clean them up for you when we get back."

"Hey, okay, since you've said so, we'll follow your arrangements."

Chen Baoliang thought about it and realized that Chen Ling was not inexperienced. They knew how much meat to use when building their own house, holding a full-month celebration, and cooking.

I won't say any more.

I went to Wang Lihui's house to hitch up his donkey cart.

"Dirty kid, go and borrow some bowls, chopsticks, tables, chairs and benches from your aunts and sisters-in-law."

After making the arrangements, he went into Wang Laifu's house to clean up the stove and pots.

Wang Laifu's home is not far from Wang Lishan's home.

That is, if you walk east from the threshing ground at the west entrance of the village, and pass four or five houses, you will reach Wang Lishan's home.

Wang Laifu lived in the third house south of Wang Lishan's house.

This house doesn't even have a proper gate in its yard, and the yard walls are all made of adobe bricks.

It seems that even though many building materials were cheap, the villagers were still unable to rebuild their houses after the houses were destroyed by floods a couple of years ago.

The fence gate of the courtyard was also dilapidated, with many wild jujube tree branches woven on it, covered with long thorns.

In the past, almost every family in the mountains built their doors like this.

You definitely can't defend against wolves.

It is to prevent weasels, civets, and other animals from sneaking into the house and stealing poultry.

Chen Ling glanced at the white paper banner hanging on the side of the door.

In the courtyard, Wang Laifu's two sons were helping others set up a mourning tent.

Just then, Wang Laifu's wife came out to greet him. "Fugui is here! Come in quickly, we've been waiting for you. See if our pot is usable. If it isn't, I'll quickly go and borrow one from another house."

"Don't rush, Fourth Aunt. Let me see how much flour you have left. Is it enough to make steamed buns? We can't let people drink noodle soup on the first day."

Chen Ling stopped Wang's fourth aunt.

Fourth Aunt was a short, slightly dark-skinned old woman.

When Wang Laifu died, Aunt Si wasn't too sad.

That's true. The old man is of little use now. We can't count on him for anything at home or outside.

Previously, even his two sons didn't think much of their father.

It was only in recent years, when Wang Laifu started to learn how to work, that the family's situation began to improve.

“Oh, right, right, Fugui, you’ve thought of everything. We don’t have much white flour, but I reckon we can make two or three batches of steamed buns. Come and take a look…” Auntie Si said, leading Chen Ling into their storeroom.

Lift the lid of the jar containing rice and flour and let him see.

These days, the cooks who prepare banquets usually don't handle tasks like steaming buns; they just cook the dishes.

But no matter what, you have to be aware of it.

Some dishes are best eaten with staple foods, like rice or steamed buns.

Chen Ling glanced at it: "Okay, that's enough for today. I told Bao Shuan and the others to come back and grind the flour."

Then they went to look at the big pot.

At this time, Wang Jukun also arrived. He couldn't be the cook this time, but Wang Laifu was his fourth uncle, so he had to come.

The old man is using a cane this time.

He hunched over, looking like a withered old shrimp.

Seeing this, Chen Ling quickly went over to help him.

When he arrived, he told Chen Ling to cook according to his own recipe. There weren't many formalities in the village; as long as there was wine and meat, and the guests were treated well, that was enough.

Chen Ling readily agreed.

Then he went to borrow a large pot from other villagers.

Wang Lishan said there was no need to borrow it; you could just use it at his house.

Chen Ling thought it made sense, so they decided to steam buns at Wang Lishan's house and cook dishes in Wang Laifu's yard.

Soon, after news of Chen Ling burning the banquet spread, many men, having finished their other tasks, came over to help, setting up tables, washing dishes, and cleaning fish.

That's really something, we're just hoping to have a few good meals in the next few days.

When he first arrived, Chen Ling was a little unsure of himself, but seeing everyone making such a fuss, he felt much less anxious.

It's just like home.

Light the stove to render lard.

This oil refining is necessary; people in the mountains are frighteningly frugal these days.

Especially oil; everyone tries to save as much as possible on it.

Although the cooking of the feast is mostly decided by the cook.

We can't be too extravagant either.

Let's use the meat we bought, cut off the fat and render some more oil.

The lunch usually consists of pork stew with vermicelli.

The amount of meat used is essential. According to the tradition of serving a hundred dishes, fifteen catties of meat must be added to ensure that everyone has meat in their bowl.

Chen Ling only had someone buy five catties of meat.

He took a shortcut.

Instead of making a stew, I used the meat to make a vermicelli and meatball soup.

This dish doesn't sound like it should be served as the main course at weddings or funerals.

Even in the village, it didn't seem like enough to fill people up; it was far inferior to the communal meals served in large pots.

But you never know until you try.

This big pot of vermicelli and meatball soup didn't even have a strong aroma when it was first cooked.

It was just a matter of Chen Ling throwing away a bunch of cilantro, and the aroma 'whoosh'ed out.

Have a bowl and try it.

Goodness, many people are even skipping steamed buns and just guzzling down this meatball soup.

Everyone drank two or three bowls in a row.

On this first day, there weren't many people.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough for everyone to drink.

Chen Ling didn't even have time to cook the second dish.

He had originally prepared two dishes and a soup.

The other two dishes may not contain pork, but they do contain fish, and there's plenty of fish in them.

The water is teeming with fish this season.

These are fish that drift downstream with the current and seek shelter in low-lying areas to overwinter.

Catching this kind of fish couldn't be easier.

Find a narrow opening in a stream or creek.

Simply place a bamboo basket over the opening, and check back after half an hour; the bottom of the basket will be full of fish.

There are all kinds of fish, big and small.

Loaches are especially plentiful this season.

Once there are too many of these fish, carnivorous fish will mix in with them.

Chen Ling himself has caught many fish with injuries on their bodies.

Most of the carnivorous fish mixed in with the others had pretty good meat quality, and Chen Ling planned to make fish soup and pickled fish for dinner.

In ordinary families, the midday meal at a funeral is usually quite substantial, with meat on the table.

In the evenings, it's mostly just noodle soup.

Quite plain.

If Chen Ling brings out this dish, there's absolutely no problem with it.

"Come on, Fugui, let's go outside and set off some firecrackers. Didn't you used to love setting off firecrackers?" Wang Xuesheng called out to him.

She then stuffed cigarettes into his arms.

This was the portion the cook was supposed to take, and Chen Ling took it and stuffed it into his pocket.

The cigarettes aren't worth much, but we're already here, so it's fine.

"Where did you get the cannon? I won't fire it if it wasn't bought from Wangba City," Chen Ling said with a laugh, taking off his apron.

Many mines operate in Wangbacheng, producing powerful explosives, and the fireworks factory there is famous far and wide for its firework displays.

For example, the double-bang firecracker shoots higher and louder than regular firecrackers, making them incredibly fun to set off.

It happened to be the first day, so there weren't many people coming to pay their respects. Setting off a few firecrackers for fun wouldn't hurt.

"Hey, hold on a minute! Look over there, a flock of cranes is flying over." (End of Chapter)