Chapter 55: Mid-Autumn Festival Family Dinner
At this moment, Wang Jianguo had just returned from a meeting in Town and was in the yard tinkering with an oil can, adding oil to his bicycle chain.
"Uncle, busy?"
"Oh, it's Xiao Feng. I'm putting some oil on the bike chain! Something up?" Wang Jianguo frowned, thinking the Zhu family was causing trouble again.
Yue Feng grinned: "Got plans tonight? We made a couple of dishes at home. My parents sent me to invite your whole family over for a casual meal!"
Yue Feng was a little clever when he extended the invitation; he didn't just invite Wang Jianguo himself, but his entire family of four.
Of course, Yue Feng knew that Wang Jianguo wouldn't agree.
According to Northeast customs, unless they were very close relatives or friends with a long-standing family bond, the man of the house wouldn't bring his wife and children when going to someone else's house for drinks.
But this was precisely Yue Feng's cleverness. If he only invited you, you might find an excuse not to go. But if he invited your whole family, it showed a very sincere attitude of wanting to befriend your family, making it harder to refuse.
Even if you felt it wasn't appropriate, wouldn't you have to send a representative to the dinner? That way, Yue Feng's goal would be achieved.
"I don't have plans, but your younger brother hasn't finished his homework yet! And if any villagers need something, the house can't be empty! Besides, your Aunt has already made dinner. They won't come. Maybe next time!"
Wang Jianguo was an old hand who had been working at the grassroots level for a long time. He could see through these little social maneuvers at a glance, but he didn't expose it. Instead, he agreed, following Yue Feng's lead.
"Alright then! We'll wait for you! My dad said we won't start dinner until you arrive!"
"Okay, I'll wash my hands and head over right away!"
"Got it! I'll head back first!"
Wang Jianguo watched Yue Feng leave, unable to help but feel a sense of emotion.
They say that sometimes people become enlightened after just sleeping. It really seemed to be the case.
From the first time the Second Young Master Yue came to borrow a bicycle, Wang Jianguo had discussed it privately with his wife. Now, how much time had passed? The Yue Family had unknowingly established themselves in the village.
Wang Jianguo also knew about Yue Feng organizing people to go into the mountains to catch wild game and then selling it in Town. Buying a bicycle in such a short time already spoke volumes.
Furthermore, Yue Feng's performance in the fight with the Zhu family today was very much to Wang Jianguo's liking.
Life in the village had its own rules of survival. Constant yielding and compromise would only encourage things to escalate.
Especially for a family like the Yue Family, who were newcomers without deep roots in the village, the optimal solution when facing bullying from villagers was to fight back with a clear stance. Fight one punch to avoid a hundred.
Today, Yue Feng was neither servile nor arrogant. Although Li Wentong's Xiao Tao seemed to steal the spotlight, Wang Jianguo knew that Yue Feng was the core of the team, the one calmly in control of the overall situation.
Wang Jianguo already had a very good impression of the Yue Family. Now that their son had come to invite him, there was no reason for Wang Jianguo to refuse.
Thinking this, Wang Jianguo washed his hands, then went inside to change into clean clothes. He greeted his wife, took out two bottles of liquor from the chest of drawers, and headed to Yue Feng's house.
It wasn't dark yet, but the Yue Family house was already extremely lively. Kerosene lamps from several nearby households had been brought to Yue Feng's house. Looking through the windows from the yard, it felt a bit like it was brightly lit.
In the main hall of the north room inside the door, several older women were chatting and laughing while making dumplings. A large pot of catfish stewed with eggplant was still cooking; it hadn't come out of the pot yet, but the aroma was already spreading throughout the room.
Wang Jianguo pushed open the door and entered: "Oh, everyone's busy, it's quite lively!"
"Old Uncle is here! Quick, come to the east room and sit on the kang! Yue Lei, Mingyu's dad is here!" Meng Yulan saw Wang Jianguo arrive and immediately shouted into the room.
Yue Feng himself was sitting on the edge of the kang, attending to things. Hearing the call, he immediately opened the door to welcome him out.
"Old Uncle, this way! Quick, sit on the kang, I saved a spot for you!" Yue Feng directly welcomed Wang Jianguo in.
At this moment, on the kang table, the five generals who fought today were all present. Various substantial dishes were already on the table, waiting only for the last dish, catfish stewed with eggplant, and the dumplings to be boiled.
Speaking of which, as the Village Secretary, Wang Jianguo had seen many welcoming and sending-off occasions. He usually prided himself on having eaten and seen everything, but after seeing the spread for the Mid-Autumn Festival tonight, he was momentarily stunned.
On the table, there was hardly a single vegetable, all meat, various kinds of meat. The only vegetarian dish was braised tofu in sauce, but in this era, tofu wasn't something ordinary families could eat whenever they wanted.
"Uncle!"
"Old Uncle!"
"Grandpa!"
...
A group of juniors quickly greeted him.
"Jianguo! Quick, sit on the kang, we've been waiting for you. My legs aren't convenient so I couldn't go out to greet you, don't mind it!" Yue Lei got up and greeted him.
Wang Jianguo: "What are you saying, am I going to be formal with you!! The standard tonight is a bit high, I've come to the right place! Xiao Feng, warm up the liquor I brought. Let's have a good drink or two tonight!"
"Okay! Alright!" Yue Feng responded, picking up the liquor bottles and heading to the outer room.
Soon, the last dish, catfish stewed with eggplant, was on the table, and the dinner officially began!
Initially, everyone at the kang table was a bit reserved, but after a few drinks, the atmosphere became increasingly harmonious.
Yue Feng spoke very little at the table, mostly listening to the elders chat, adding liquor when needed, and pouring water when needed. He attended to the family dinner flawlessly.
With the alcohol and atmosphere just right, Wang Jianguo slowly let down his usual reserved demeanor. During the course of the meal, he praised Yue Feng for being promising at least five times.
With his son becoming promising, Yue Lei also felt proud. He pulled Li Wentong and Wang Jianguo into drinking, and by the time the sauerkraut and pork dumplings came, each person had nearly a catty of liquor in their stomach.
............
Around two in the morning, Yue Lei felt a bit thirsty. He turned over, and his wife, Meng Yulan, reached out to touch her husband's forehead.
"Lan, pour me some water!"
Soon, he took a mouthful of lukewarm water, and only then did Yue Lei become slightly more sober.
"Are Xiao Feng and the others alright?" Yue Lei's mind was a bit hazy. He rarely drank on weekdays, and scenes like today's heavy drinking were even rarer.
"Don't worry, our son didn't drink too much. He sent everyone home one by one! He even said you should drink less. In the end, you drank everyone at the table under the table! Your Old Uncle usually has a great capacity for alcohol, but today you somehow got him drunk! Not to mention Wentong." His wife, Meng Yulan, said with a hint of complaint in her tone.
"I'm happy today! My son is promising, and our Yue Family has established itself in the village!" Yue Lei's eyes were bright, his tone full of pride and confidence.
"Alright, alright! Drink a little when you're happy, I'm not against it! Want another drink of water?"
"No more. Starting tomorrow, I need to abstain from alcohol. I need to heal my leg injury quickly and go hunting in the mountains with my son!"
"You know that drinking affects your leg injury! Let's talk about hunting in the mountains after it's healed! It's only a little past two, hurry and sleep!"
Yue Lei on the kang was full of ambition. Outside the window, the moon hung high in the night sky, the cold stars twinkled, and the autumn insects chirped all night.
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