The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 76 Family Gatherings
The first thing Lao Tan went to was his eldest sister's house.

The eldest sister was born on the head and grew up on the head, suffered the most and contributed the most to the family.The father passed away early, and it was the eldest sister and mother who supported the family and brought up the younger ones little by little.

The younger ones respect the elder sister very much. Every time Lao Tan comes back, the other elder sisters may not have time to go, but the eldest sister must go.

There are still five days before the winter solstice, the day to eat dumplings, and it is guaranteed to be busy that day. Lao Tan first called Hua Qing and Wang Hong and told them to prepare in advance. At least a thousand copies of dumplings should be prepared.

Wang Hong and Lao Tan had experienced the winter solstice when they were working in Binhai, and they had experience, so they said that they had already started to prepare, and reassured him.

I called Li Shuang again and told her that on the day of the winter solstice, the employees were not allowed to rest and all staff must be on duty.Then I called Yanhua and told her to buy more raw materials in the next few days.

After arranging work, I went to my eldest sister's house with my son.

The eldest sister’s house is on the last street in the west of Fuyingzi, Nanguang, and the east and west courtyards of her son Lan Jun’s house.Both of them are courtyard houses, and one is four bungalows.There are two garages at the gate, one for Lanjun's car, and the other for my brother-in-law's electric tricycle.

To the east of the yard is a vegetable garden. There is nothing in the garden now, and the garden is full of melons and fruits in summer.To the west is a row of five wing rooms, from left to right are pigsty, donkey shed, thatched house, grain room, and spare room.An agricultural three-wheel and a large four-wheel are parked in the middle of the yard, next to a rotary tiller.

There are four main rooms with three steps, and the front is a flower wall guardrail.When the house was built, Lao Tan had just dropped out of high school and went out to work after helping to build the house.

As soon as they climbed the steps, the elder sister, elder brother-in-law, Lan Jun's wife, and Lan Jun's child came out of the house and welcomed Lao Tan into the house with a smile on their faces.

Old Tan's second sister and second brother-in-law arrived early and were sitting on the kang eating melon seeds.

Lao Tan said to his second brother-in-law: "You came early enough."

The second brother-in-law said: "Lan Jun picked me up first, and then picked you up after me."

Old Tan asked, "Why didn't you pick me up all the way?"

Lan Jun smiled and said: "I thought about bringing my grandma here too. If my grandma came, wouldn't there be room in the car? I never imagined my grandma would not come."

At this time, Old Sister Tan said: "Your grandma thinks there are too many people making noise, and people are used to being quiet, so they stay at your aunt's house and don't go anywhere." Where will the father-in-law and mother-in-law come?"

Lan Jun said: "My old aunt and grandma won't come, so I will stay with my grandma at home, and my father-in-law will go out today to accompany the ceremony."

"What about your old uncle?" Old Sister Tan asked.

"Come in a while, and go to Heichengzi to do some errands with his classmate. My old aunt will come over after school at noon, and I will pick him up then." Lan Jun said.

Old Tan's eldest brother-in-law handed over the cigarettes, and Lao Tan asked with a smile, "Didn't you serve dry tobacco this year?"

"What's the matter, are you smoking?" the eldest brother-in-law asked.

"Smacking, I really want to." Old Tan said.

Old Tan's brother-in-law served a good hand of dry tobacco, which was more flavorful and vigorous than paper cigarettes.Lao Tan has been gone for several years, I want to try it, and aftertaste.

The eldest brother-in-law went to the back room to bring the dry tobacco basket, which contained ready-made rolling papers.Lao Tan picked up a handful of tobacco leaves and rubbed them, rolled a tobacco stick skillfully, lit it and took a puff.

"How about it, is it okay for me to serve you?" The eldest brother-in-law also rolled one.

"Very good, do you add honey to it?" Old Tan asked.

"Well, I sprayed honey water and added some shredded tobacco." The eldest brother-in-law said.

"It's good to smoke, and the strength is fine." Old Tan said.

"I buy some every year, enough to smoke for a year. I don't want to smoke cigarettes, which are tasteless. Dry tobacco doesn't cough and has no phlegm. If you are willing to smoke some, there are a lot of them." The eldest brother-in-law said.

Old Tan smiled and said, "You can just smoke some at home. It's enjoyable. Lin Yan is against my smoking, and she won't let me out if I roll the tobacco."

While speaking, Lao Tan's brother-in-law came, and Lan Jun started playing mahjong, so the eldest brother-in-law, old brother-in-law, second sister, and Lan Jun went to the back room to play mahjong, and Lao Tan came to the outhouse.

The eldest sister and daughter-in-law are busy preparing meals.

Chicken is stewed in the east room pot, and sauerkraut is stewed in the west room pot.The daughter-in-law is making croquettes, and the eldest sister is cutting celery.

Old Tan took the kitchen knife from the older sister, and the older sister wiped her handle with her apron, and took a piece of meat and asked Old Tan to chop the celery after she finished cutting it.

In the first few years, life was difficult, and I was afraid of guests at home, so I had nothing to feed them.Now the days are better, I have everything, and I can eat whatever I want.But the guests are also worried, don't know what to eat?

The elder sister chatted with Lao Tan while she was busy, and asked about Lao Tan's situation in the provincial capital, and Lao Tan explained it in detail.When asked about Lin Yan, Lao Tan said: "She is doing well now. She works in a logistics company and takes Sundays off. She earns 4000 yuan a month."

The eldest sister asked: "Logistics company? What do you do?"

"The one who delivers the goods is the transportation company." Lao Tan thought for a while, and said in a way that the eldest sister could understand.

"Can she drive?" the older sister asked.

"Well, she has a driver's license, but she doesn't drive and works in an office," Old Tan said.

The eldest sister asked, "Did you visit your mother-in-law this year?"

Old Tan said: "No——"

"Go back to your mother-in-law's house to see, that's your mother too," said the elder sister.

Old Tan hummed.

"Does your mother-in-law still raise pigs?" asked the elder sister.

"It's raising, fifty."

"That's quite a lot. It's enough for the old lady to keep busy. Your little brother-in-law isn't married yet, right?"

"Nope."

"Your old mother-in-law still has to work, and you have to marry the old boy." The eldest sister sighed, and then said: "This time I came back and thought about giving your fifth sister's husband, father-in-law, and old woman some money, that is also old, and our mother is here. "

Old Tan said, "Well, it's ready."

"Mom is enjoying the blessings of your fifth sister. No one gets angry. You can eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and your fifth sister is in charge of spending money on medicines and injections. Your fifth brother-in-law has no objections. Your fifth brother-in-law is right." My mother is good, she is like a son, there is nothing wrong with it. It stands to reason that my mother should be raised by you, and your fifth sister will take care of you to relieve a lot of burden, so you should be satisfied." said the eldest sister.

Old Tan nodded.

"Give some to mom when you earn money. Although mom doesn't spend much money, doesn't it look good? Don't worry about mom being with your fifth sister. Your fifth sister is patient and serves better than us. I saw it, and we Mom's physique can live to a hundred years old, but the blessings she cultivated, there is nothing wrong with her body, her physique is better than ours, she is not confused, she can eat better than me."

Old Tan smiled, put the chopped celery into a small pot, and started cutting the meat.

"You go back after celebrating mom's birthday? Are you not at home for the New Year?" the elder sister asked.

"Not at home for the New Year." Old Tan replied.

"It's okay, now this New Year's Eve is better, your second sister and I will go to your fifth sister's house to have fun on the second day of junior high school, and wait for the fifth day of junior high school to come to my house, like this every year." The eldest sister said.

"It's still a lively Chinese New Year at home." Old Tan said.

"Aren't you unable to come back? The pig will be slaughtered in the twelfth lunar month, this time you and Jiaheng can eat pork."

Old Tan smiled and said, "I can eat several."

Jiaheng came in from the outside holding the big yellow cat of the eldest sister's house, and said to Old Sister Tan: "Auntie, do you have anything to eat? I want to feed the big yellow cat."

The eldest sister smiled and said to the eldest nephew: "You don't think it's too heavy, don't feed it, it's full in the morning."

"Isn't it noon? I guess it's already hungry." Jiaheng said, looking for a reason to feed the cat.

The eldest sister looked around and took two fried meatballs for the eldest nephew.

Jia Heng put the big yellow cat on the ground, and said to the cat with the meatball in his hand, "Rhubarb, come, let's go inside and eat."

The big yellow cat stared at the meatball in Jiaheng's hand, "meowed", and followed into the back room.

Lao Tan's second brother-in-law didn't play mahjong, and came out after watching the battle in the back room for a while, watching Lao Tan chopping meat, and said, "Chef, let's show his skills today."

"No, the dishes I cook are not delicious." Old Tan said.

"We just want to taste the cooking skills." The second brother-in-law said.

Old Tan said: "I want to try it, wait, I will make one later, have you not played mahjong?"

"I don't play, and I can't sit still. If I have that time, I might as well watch TV for a while. I'm so upset." The second brother-in-law said.

The eldest sister said: "Your second brother-in-law doesn't play mahjong, but my father and son play every day. There is no day or night, so they leave when they leave their jobs." The eldest sister murmured, obviously opposed to playing mahjong.

"Did they come for the money?" Old Tan asked.

"It's hard to grind your fingers for nothing now, but your eldest brother-in-law and the others play small games, just for the sake of it. You don't have 50 yuan a day to win or lose, so you can play in your free time this winter, and stop playing when you are busy." The eldest sister said.

When it was almost twelve o'clock, Lao Tan's daughter, Lan Zhi, and her husband came by car, and took Lao Tan's Fifth Sister along the way.The mahjong player announced a truce, and Lan Jun called Lao Tan's fourth sister and third sister's family. The fourth sister's family was in trouble, and the third sister and third brother-in-law drove over after a while.

There were two tables in total, one for men and one for women.

"It's so lively, there are so many people eating." Son Jiaheng's little face flushed with excitement.

"It's more than your family." Lao Tan's second sister asked.

"Well, my mother and I are the only ones in my house. Sometimes my mother doesn't cook, so we go out to eat." Jia Heng said.

"Your mother, what do you both eat?" the second sister asked.

"KFC."

"Is there any delicious food from home?"

"No." The little guy looked at the delicious food on the table, and said, "I decided not to go home, and spend the New Year with grandma here."

(End of this chapter)