You are unlucky and I am tough

"Actually, I came here for another reason."

Cheng Lizheng rubbed his hands awkwardly and said, "For tomorrow's banquet, the villagers can ask some women to help with the buffet, but for the county magistrate and the guests from the city, the old scholar wants to ask the restaurant chef to cook the dishes."

Cheng Shuang nodded, "We really can't neglect the County Magistrate. The feast must be a little different."

Cheng Lizheng said, "But this banquet is funded by the four families. Caijun's parents think it's too expensive to hire a chef from a restaurant and can't afford it. After much discussion, I thought of Gu Qiu."

Cheng Shuang blinked and said, "Auntie?"

"I've eaten at your house a few times, and Gu Qiu's cooking skills are impeccable!" Cheng Lizheng laughed, "He's as good as the chefs at the city's restaurants, so I'd like to invite Gu Qiu to take charge of the banquet at the old scholar's house."

Wei Qinglang laughed, "Grandpa Lizheng really has good taste. My aunt's cooking skills are indeed good enough to be a chef in a restaurant."

As he was speaking, Cheng Guqiu came out from the kitchen.

"Gu Qiu, come here!" Cheng Lizheng extended his hand to greet her, "I have something good to discuss with you."

Cheng Guqiu came over, wiping his hands. "What's wrong, Uncle Village Chief?"

When Cheng Lizheng explained his purpose, Cheng Guqiu was very surprised.

"I...can I do it? I can handle the village banquet, but what if I cook for those distinguished guests who are used to eating good food and they don't like it?"

Cheng Shuang pulled Cheng Guqiu to sit down and said, "Aunt, I think you can give it a try. Your cooking skills are really good. The whole family loves your cooking."

"That's different..." Cheng Guqiu was still a little nervous, "The county magistrate is here too. If we don't do it well, it will bring shame to our entire village."

Seeing her timidity, Cheng Shuang leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Aunt, I spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to build this restaurant, and I'm counting on you to be the head chef in the future. If you can't even handle this little bit of pressure, won't all those tens of thousands of taels of silver be wasted?"

Cheng Guqiu opened his eyes wide in fear. Finally, he took a deep breath and nodded: "I... I'll try."

Cheng Lizheng breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, "This is the tentative menu. Shuang girl, you have a lot of ideas. Can you see if you can add one or two special dishes that are not available elsewhere?"

Cheng Shuang took the menu and looked at it. Chicken, duck, fish, beef and mutton were all common banquet dishes.

"Uncle Village Chief, did you buy the sheep alive?" Cheng Shuang asked.

Cheng Lizheng nodded and said, "I spent twelve taels of silver to buy five sheep. I plan to kill them tomorrow morning."

"Then kill it tomorrow and send a whole sheep over. I'll make them a roasted whole lamb."

Originally, Cheng Shuang wanted to find time to buy a lamb and try roasting a whole lamb. Now that she had the lamb, she decided to help Cheng Lizheng out.

"Roast a whole lamb?" Cheng Li was surprised. "Roasting a whole lamb over a fire? Would it taste good?"

Cheng Shuang was confident, "It's definitely delicious, and I guarantee that even the distinguished guests from the city haven't eaten it before, so it won't be embarrassing."

"Okay, you girl always have a lot of ideas. Kill me tomorrow and have someone send one over." Cheng Lizheng chose to believe Cheng Shuang.

"Also, remember to buy some fresh spare ribs and pork belly tomorrow morning. I'll teach my aunt how to make salt and pepper spare ribs and pork belly tonight, and have her serve them to the guests tomorrow."

"What is pepper salt?" Cheng Lizheng asked curiously.

"I've researched a spice that can be used to marinate meat. Fried pork belly is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper for a slightly numbing, salty flavor. The more you eat, the more addictive it becomes."

Cheng Lizheng was drooling as he listened: "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."

After seeing off Cheng Lizheng, Cheng Shuang took Cheng Guqiu to make pepper salt powder and chili powder. They wanted to roast a whole lamb, but the small jar of pepper salt powder made at home two days ago was obviously not enough.

Both of these are simple. After they are done, Cheng Shuang will instruct Cheng Guqiu in the evening on how to make salt and pepper spareribs, and how to coat half of the bucket of small fish in flour and egg liquid and fry it, and make the other half into sauerkraut and fish stew.

Cheng Guqiu's cooking skills are really amazing. It has the same salt and pepper flavor, but it tastes better than what Cheng Shuang made last time. The mixed fish stew is especially unique.

Several people were full and went out for a walk to help digest the food.

Cheng Shuang also ran out and saw a light on the threshing ground. She looked over and saw that it was the woman who was invited to help. She lit a torch and was busy preparing food.

.

In the early morning of late spring, a thin mist shrouded Chengjia Village, and the air was filled with the fragrance of soil and grass.

Morning is the most beautiful time of the year in Chengjia Village, but the village is bustling with activity early in the morning. Some chickens and ducks for the banquet were bought at the market, and most of the rest were bought from the villagers. The first thing the villagers did when they got up was to catch their own chickens and ducks and send them to the river near the threshing ground.

There were several men by the river who were responsible for slaughtering chickens and ducks. When the villagers brought the registered chickens and ducks, they simply twisted their necks and threw them to the ground.

Someone brought boiling hot water in a wooden bucket and poured it into a large wooden basin. The chickens and ducks were plucked and then washed directly in the river water.

The threshing ground was also very lively, with more than a dozen makeshift stoves emitting steam, and the women in the village rolling up their sleeves and busying around.

Chen ordered the young wives, "Come to Cai's house and turn that pig over again!"

"Xiaoyan, it's time to add more firewood to the steamer!"

"Cheng Yong's, you cut the meat too thin, cut it thicker."

"Okay!" Laicai's wife skillfully turned the big pig's head in the pot.

There were five or six stoves steaming buns, and several women were in charge of wrapping them. The filling of the buns was half pork and half chopped mushrooms, and someone was specifically responsible for watching the fire.

The busy people were all hired villagers. Chen was the main person in charge. She was a good cook and worked diligently and efficiently.

Cheng Lizheng also got up early and patrolled around with a cane. The threshing ground could accommodate more than 50 tables, and the tables and chairs needed to be borrowed from each villager. When the time came, the food would be divided into two batches, and almost everyone in the village could have a meal.

Several sheep were also driven to the river for processing. Cheng Zhengyi and Cheng Zhengde brought three or four men to do the processing themselves. The braised meat business was suspended for one day today.

After killing the first sheep, Cheng Zhengyi carried it directly to the Wei family.

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang were in the yard, using bamboo to make a simple frame for roasting a whole lamb. After it was finished, they put the lamb on it and tied its limbs, then used bamboo to clamp it from the middle of the back to fix it. In this way, it can be turned over repeatedly after being placed on the rack.

As soon as the lamb was delivered, Cheng Shuang started to prepare the marinade. She evenly applied the marinade inside and outside the whole lamb, marinated it for more than half an hour, and then started to make the sauce.

Wei Qinglang set up a grill behind the house and brought some dry firewood over for use.

After it was completely light, Cheng Guqiu also went to the old scholar's house to work, and several servants in the old scholar's house were responsible for helping her.

The entire village seemed to be busy preparing for today's banquet. After some of the chickens and ducks were slaughtered, the chirping and twittering of the animals died down considerably. Some of the children had already skipped breakfast and were preparing to save their stomachs for the feast.