On the third day of the Lunar New Year, early in the morning, before dawn, the lights were on at the farmhouse, and smoke rose from the chimney. There were shadows of people under the lights, and the sounds of conversations and busy activities were intertwined.

The kitchen of the farmhouse uses an earthen stove made of refractory bricks, with white ceramic tiles on the outside. It has five burners, two large and two small, plus a water-boiling stove. It is cut into a pile of firewood about 40 to 50 centimeters long.

In the corner, men and women wearing aprons were walking in and out of the nearly 60-square-meter kitchen.

"The fire should be lower, not too high. When steaming glutinous rice, steam it slowly over low heat and don't rush it." Wang Zhong was wearing a white initial outfit with an apron in front of him, directing everyone in the kitchen to be busy.

Outside the kitchen, Wang Zhong, an uncle from the family, was directing the men and women who came to help to put things in place one by one, such as tables, chairs, benches, tea dishes, all dressed in red and colorful colors. There were several stoves cut from oil drums in the yard.

, thigh-thick firewood burned blazingly in the barrel, dispelling the surrounding darkness and bringing warmth.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, although the twelfth lunar month has passed, the weather is still cold, especially for breakfast. The cold wind is biting, and the low-temperature water pipes are frozen. Fortunately, Wang Zhong has already made preparations and placed several aluminum alloy boxes on the top floor.

The water tower and water pipes are all insulated, so you don’t have to worry about using water.

Working until eight o'clock in the morning, Wang Zhong led several chefs to fry breakfast. After breakfast, everyone began to prepare for the lunch meal.

As soon as it was noon, the villagers who had not come to help gradually gathered around the farmhouse. Today, Wang Zhong was setting up a banquet at the newly opened farmhouse and entertaining the whole village, old and young, with twelve dishes on each table.

A total of twenty-four tables will be set up.

There would definitely not be enough room to sit inside the farmhouse. Wang Zhong had discussed it with the first few households at the entrance of the village years ago. The tables were placed all the way from the farmhouse. They were not round tables, but long wooden boards.

Spread a piece of red plastic film.

If it is a round table, twenty-four tables will definitely not be able to seat them. There are more than 70 households in Longtan Village with more than 300 people. Even if you exclude the dozens of people who help, there are still nearly 300 people. Even if you can sit at one table

For ten people, that would be thirty tables, not to mention the many relatives and friends who came to support us.

"Wang Zhong, the leaders of the county and town are coming over later, please help make arrangements!" The village secretary pulled Wang Zhong aside and said with a cautious expression.

Wang Zhongdao: "What are the arrangements? Sit wherever there is space. If there is no space, the same goes for standing up and eating!"

"How can this be done!" The village secretary immediately shook his head and said, "Those are the leaders of the county and town."

Wang Zhong was unmoved: "What's wrong with the leader? He has one nose and two eyes. Is it possible that the leader has more mouths than us common people?"

"You have to arrange a private room anyway!" the village secretary said.

Wang Zhong said: "What private room do you want? This private room is not open to the public today. If you want to eat, come to the banquet to eat. Yes, I am still busy and have no time to greet you! If you want to eat, just find a seat by yourself. If you are not hungry, just wait for us.

Come and eat with us when you're done."

Wang Zhong was really too lazy to chat with the village secretary. He, Wang Zhong, was not doing this farmhouse to curry favor with anyone. Those leaders would come if they wanted to, and if they didn't come, Wang Zhong would not beg them to come.

Wang Zhong doesn't need their support, and he won't ask for any subsidies or subsidies from them. Besides, everyone is eating out on a table today, let alone the leaders of a few towns and counties.

When the first and second leaders from the county and city came over, Wang Zhong had the same attitude.

Seeing that Wang Zhong couldn't make sense, the village secretary went to Wang Zhong's uncle, who was in charge of things today, but that man was like a mirror in his heart and said that he couldn't make the decision in this matter, so he just helped.

He only arranged for the food to be served and maintained order. He couldn't decide other matters, so he asked the village secretary to ask Wang Zhong himself.

The village secretary was rejected in disguise, but it was not easy to get angry. After all, Wang Zhong was the head of the family today. Although he was the village secretary, he was really not very good at speaking in the village.

At twelve o'clock, at noon, Wang Zhong, the uncle of the family, gave an order, and the men and women lined up in a long queue, each holding a tray, and came out of the kitchen neatly.

Within a few minutes, the long table was filled with steaming dishes. My cousin said a few auspicious words and started the meal.

While he was eating, Wang Zhong's phone rang again. Wang Zhong took out his phone and saw that it was Yuan Xiao again. He was about to answer the phone when he saw Yuan Xiao holding Li Qin, followed by Li Wanruo, who was smiling.

waved to him.

"Why didn't you tell me in advance that you were here so that I could have someone pick you up?" Wang Zhong walked up to him and said with a smile.

Yuan Xiaodao: "What can you say? You have explained the place so clearly. I still can't find it!"

"Brother Chong!"

"Brother Chong!"

Sisters Li Qin and Li Wanruo greeted Wang Zhong one after another.

"Hello, hello, welcome, welcome!"

Wang Zhong looked at Li Qin who was holding Yuan Xiao's arm and said, "Should I call you Li Qin or sister-in-law?"

Li Qin glanced at Yuan Xiao and said with a smile: "I haven't said anything about the eight characters yet, so I'd better call them as before!"

Wang Zhong also looked at Yuan Xiao and said in a deliberately sinister manner: "You can't tell, you kid has eaten all the food and wiped it clean, are you still going to deny it?"

"You two should stop singing together. Xiaoqin and I are still secretly in love. If I weren't here to cheer you up today, you kid wouldn't be so lucky to know." Yuan Xiao joked.

Wang Zhong smiled and said: "It's better to come early than to come by chance. Dinner has just started. You should also try the craftsmanship of our village masters. Sister-in-law, Wanruo, you don't want to go out. Just treat it as returning to your own home."

, eat and drink as you should, don’t be polite.”

Yuan Xiao hurriedly said: "You go about your business quickly, I don't need you to say hello!"

"Don't leave in a hurry after dinner. I'll take you around." Wang Zhong said.

"Can you walk away?" Yuan Xiao asked with a smile.

Wang Zhongdao: "If there is anything you can't get away from, someone is watching, so I don't have to do anything."

As soon as Yuan Xiao, Li Qin and Li Wanruo left, the village party secretary came over with a few middle-aged men and women who he knew were leaders.

"Xiao Chong, let me introduce to you. This is the cultural section chief of our county tourism bureau. This is Mayor Zhang of our town..."

"Deputy! Vice!" Deputy Mayor Zhang is a middle-aged fat man with an unattractive appearance, but he is actually the chief of the liberal arts section, looking like Tingzhou Town.

"This is Director Gong from the town!" Director Gong is a woman. She looks to be in her thirties. She has no makeup, her skin is slightly rough, and her face has a lot of spots, but her foundation is not bad. If

How can I get a score of 60 or 70 if I put on makeup?

"Welcome, welcome! We just happened to have a banquet. If the leaders don't mind, would you like to have something together?" Although Wang Zhong didn't like these so-called leaders very much, he couldn't really look down on others for no reason.

After all, he was doing something good today, and people came to congratulate him with good intentions. Wang Zhong couldn't treat them lightly, but he wouldn't treat them specially because of their status.

"Xiao Wang is so talented at such a young age!" The head of the liberal arts section, who is not very old, in his thirties, is looking around at the farmhouse with his eyes: "Such a big farmhouse, it must cost a lot of money to build!"

"It's okay, you have to spend the money you earn back!" Wang Zhong said.

The village secretary stood beside him with a smile on his face: "When our village starts tourism in the future, Xiao Wang's investment will be earned back sooner or later."

"·······"

After a few words, Wang Zhong handed over to the cousin in charge to greet him. Although his cousin's drinking capacity was not the best in the village, his ability to persuade people to drink was famous throughout the country. After a while,

, a few people started drinking.

The little episode passed quickly.

The flowing table was eaten quickly and cleared out quickly. After the guests had finished their meal, those who had something to do would go their separate ways, and those who had nothing to do would stay. They chatted and gossiped about family affairs and national affairs. The tables, chairs and benches were all tidied up to help.

He also started eating.

Wang Zhong called Yuan Xiao after dinner and learned that the three of them were fishing in the fish pond by the river behind the farmhouse, so he rushed over.

"Why are you here? You don't feel cold?"

The three of them sat around on the terrace, with a charcoal-fired brazier in the middle. Li Qin and Li Wanruo were chatting and laughing, while Yuan Xiao stared at the float and interjected from time to time.

"This is the only place where your farmhouse is more acceptable!" Yuan Xiao said.

Wang Zhongdao: "This is a place for me to eat, not a place to enjoy the scenery. It only needs to be decently decorated. The key is to look at the dishes."

"Not to mention, the beef hot pot and braised pork with pickles and vegetables just now were quite good." The main dishes of the rural banquet are just the same, chicken, duck, fish, pork feet and ribs. If you are willing to order,

Just replace the pork trotters and ribs with beef and mutton.

"Don't leave in a hurry. I will cook in person tonight and let you have a taste of my cooking."

"Just you?" Yuan Xiao looked at Wang Zhong with disbelief.

Wang Zhongdao: "Just open your eyes and take a look!"

Wang Zhong finished his work and Yuan Xiao stopped fishing. Wang Zhong led the three of them back home, took the baskets, carried the hoe and went straight to the ground.

"A lot of radish and cabbage!" Yuan Xiao looked at the rows of radish and cabbage in front of him and asked curiously: "Do these pieces of land belong to your family?"

"The land does not belong to my family, but these radishes and cabbages all belong to me." Wang Chong said with a smile.

Yuan Xiao said in surprise: "Did you grow it yourself?"

"What did I grow? I bought it." Wang Chong said with a smile.

"Let me tell you, you don't look like a farmer."

Wang Zhongdao: "If you want to say anything else, I may not dare to guarantee it, but if you want to talk about farming, I really dare to pat my chest and say that there is no farm work in the fields that I can't do."

"Really?" Yuan Xiao looked unbelieving.

Wang Zhongdao: "Do you think I am you, the rich second generation who grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth and has no worries about food and clothing since childhood?"

"screw you!"

Next to them, Li Qun and Li Wanruo smiled at each other as they watched the two making fun and belittling each other.

After a while, Wang Zhong was carrying a basket full of radishes, Yuan Xiao was holding two big cabbages, and Li Qun and Li Wanruo were each holding a big cabbage from the fields back to Wang Zhong's house.

"It's still early, why don't we play cards?" Yuan Xiao suggested.

"I can do it!" Wang Zhong said.
To be continued...