The women in the village were surprised to hear that Grandma Su had asked the new bride to cook some dishes to go with the drinks.
Could such a delicate-looking young girl even lift a stir-fry pan?
Did she really know how to cook?
The women in the village envied Grandma Su's ability to choose daughters-in-law.
From Wang Xianghua to Liang Xiu, each one was capable, able to handle both household chores and work in the fields and kitchen.
However, this granddaughter-in-law, from the first time they met, they felt she wasn't capable.
Grandma Su herself knew that Li Linlin looked a bit delicate, which didn't fit the aesthetic of the villagers.
The villagers generally believed that a fuller figure was more suitable for bearing children.
Even Grandma Su thought so, but Li Linlin was the one her grandson liked, so she liked her too.
Having been strong-willed her entire life, Grandma Su couldn't let anyone look down on her family.
She knew how good her granddaughter-in-law was.
Therefore, she asked Li Linlin to prepare a couple of dishes to go with the drinks in the kitchen.
This was naturally to show the villagers how capable their Su family's granddaughter-in-law was!
Li Linlin had learned from Grandma Su, and there was nothing she didn't know about frying, stir-frying, braising, and deep-frying, let alone preparing a few simple home-style dishes to go with drinks.
Su Xiaocao and a few others went to the kitchen to help, but Li Linlin was efficient and cooked quickly. Su Xiaocao and the others only helped peel onions and garlic.
Soon, Li Linlin had prepared four dishes to go with the drinks.
Li Linlin not only paid attention to the taste when cooking but also made simple decorative arrangements.
Moreover, she paid great attention to color matching.
As a result, the ordinary cucumber salad, cold vermicelli, stir-fried cabbage shreds, and onion and wood ear mushroom salad looked much more high-class.
The women in the village usually cooked only to be edible and to go with rice; who cared about anything else?
Seeing Li Linlin carrying these dishes out, they all came forward to watch.
Naturally, the original intention was to see if the Su family's granddaughter-in-law could cook.
As a result, when they saw them, they were all amazed.
"Sister-in-law, your granddaughter-in-law's cooking looks really good. Even just these few cold dishes make me crave them," said an old sister who was close to Grandma Su with a smile.
Grandma Su smiled and said, "Stay for dinner at my house tonight and let Linlin show off her skills."
Although the banquet was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, preparations actually needed to start today.
The flower-shaped steamed buns had to be steamed in advance. At this time, without baking powder, traditional leavening was used, and the dough had to be made tonight.
The long noodles also had to be made today, otherwise, tomorrow would be too hectic.
Furthermore, the minced meat sauce and other ingredients also had to be stir-fried today.
Although the Su family could do these tasks themselves, others offering to help showed that the Su family had good relationships.
Since that was the case, Grandma Su would certainly not be stingy with a meal or two.
"How can we impose on you? So many of us."
The woman who spoke was called Li Cuihua. She had been close to Grandma Su for decades, and now she felt a bit embarrassed.
"What's there to be embarrassed about? Your help is more valuable than anything. I've also prepared some pastries brought from the capital, which you can take back for your children."
Hearing that helping meant not only getting a meal but also receiving gifts, the women in the village became very enthusiastic.
Some actively went home to fetch their own cutting boards and knives, while others volunteered to chop firewood and do other tasks.
Everyone was busy in their own way.
When Grandma Su mentioned buying meat for the family, she also said she wanted to slaughter a pig from the village's pig farm.
Several women in the village exchanged glances, their expressions very strange.
Wang Xianghua was puzzled. She knew the pig farm well and there should be pigs ready for slaughter.
"Why are you making those faces? Have the pigs at the pig farm been sold?"
"Xianghua, after you left, the pigs at the pig farm got worse day by day. Two months ago, they got sick, and more than ten pigs died. Although the rest are still alive, they are not doing well!"
This meant there were indeed no pigs ready for slaughter.
"Then we must go to town quickly," Grandma Su said urgently.
If there wasn't enough pork, the banquet wouldn't be rich enough.
"Auntie, my family happens to have a pig that is ready for slaughter. My father was saying a few days ago that he planned to kill it and sell the meat," a young wife said softly upon hearing Grandma Su.
Clearly, she was afraid Grandma Su would refuse.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Su immediately slapped her thigh and said, "That's wonderful! We'll slaughter the pig this afternoon and have a pig-slaughter feast tonight!"
"Then I'll go home and ask my father," the young wife said and hurried away.
Others who also had pigs ready for slaughter regretted it deeply, wishing they had spoken up earlier. The Su family was now different from before; they were wealthy and influential, and surely wouldn't haggle over small matters.
Indeed, the Su family was not picky. They offered a price five cents higher than buying at the market, and even bought the head, trotters, and offal.
The Su family paid promptly, and the family that had a pig ready also had someone who knew how to slaughter it. They killed the pig and even cleaned the offal thoroughly before delivering it.
Dinner was mixed grain rice. Although it was called mixed grain rice, it was different from the village's mixed grain rice which had more yellow rice than white rice; this was mostly white rice.
Northwest China did not produce rice, and rice was expensive, so many people were reluctant to eat it.
Seeing that the Su family had used so much white rice to make mixed grain rice, they couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Dinner was mainly prepared by Liang Xiu and Li Linlin.
The pork needed to be stir-fried into minced meat sauce and made into braised pork belly for the banquet the day after tomorrow.
Grandma Su arranged for more pork belly and offal to be made.
The pork belly was cut into large slices and stewed with cabbage for dinner. The remaining offal was made into braised pork heart, stewed pork intestines, cold dressed pork liver, and dry-fried pork lungs by Li Linlin and Liang Xiu after discussion.
Both Li Linlin and Liang Xiu were excellent cooks; their skills were far beyond those of the women in the village.
Moreover, the villagers generally lived a hard life. By this time, the little bit of oil and fat they had stored from the New Year was long gone.
Smelling the fragrant aroma, their appetites were whetted.
Thinking about eating fragrant meat and mixed grain rice with more white rice than yellow rice tonight, the women who were helping worked with renewed vigor.
Those responsible for cutting the meat worked with swift precision, quickly producing a small pile of finely diced meat, slightly smaller than soybeans.
Those who were kneading and rolling the dough put in their full effort.
Most people in the village were honest and sincere. Thinking about eating the Su family's delicious food tonight, they naturally did not hold back their strength.
As the aroma from the kitchen grew stronger, everyone couldn't help but praise Li Linlin's excellent cooking skills.
As expected, how could Grandma Su, who was so good at choosing daughters-in-law, find someone bad?
Although this first granddaughter-in-law of the Su family looked a bit frail, she was also capable!