Pastoral little master

Chapter 348 Provocation
Five days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, that is, the tenth day of the eighth lunar month, is Mr. Tan's 60th birthday.

In previous years, on his old man's birthday, he just had a low-key family meal together, and his children and grandchildren said some words of blessing, which was fine.

This year's family conditions are better, plus it is a full year, which is a big event. Tan Dejin intends to hold a big event for his father, as a show of filial piety.

He knows that his father is a person who cares about face very much. When he sees other people in the village holding birthday banquets, although he doesn't say anything, his expression is obviously a little lonely.

These years, the life of the Tan family is getting worse every year, and they dare not spend whatever they can save.

Tan Dejin talked about his thoughts at home, and Xu Shi and Qiduo also agreed. Cooking and entertaining guests at home will not cost too much money.

Vegetables, melons and fruits are available in our own fields, and chickens, ducks and fish are also available in our own ponds. This saves us, and we only need to buy some meat and wine.

The birthday banquet was held in Qiduo's new house, which was more spacious, and the kitchen was twice as big as Tan's kitchen, and her house had a complete range of condiments and cooking utensils for easy operation.

Mr. Tan was very happy, his eyes were almost narrowed when he smiled, and he specially asked Tan Decai to go to the home of his eldest son and second daughter, and invited the two in-laws to the birthday banquet, so as to show off in front of his in-laws.

When he went to the birthday banquet of his in-laws before, he was always asked when the in-laws would come to his birthday banquet, and he just hid it every time with a haha.

Today, the eldest son is taking care of it for him. How could he not invite his in-laws to take a look at such a respectable matter, to see whose son is more filial.

Every household in the village invites one person over for dinner.

The elderly just love face!

When Qiduo and Tan Dejin went to the county town to invite a theater troupe, Wen Xiuyi and Xu Youxuan found out about it, and they took over the job of inviting a theater troupe, saying that it was their birthday gift to Mr. Tan.

On the day of her birthday, Qiduo's family got up before the cock crowed and got busy.

The birthday hall is located in the main hall, where everyone will pay their respects later.

In the middle of the main hall are the Eight Immortals Table, Taishi Chairs and long tables. The neatly arranged chairs on both sides are covered with red silk cloth, red cushions, and red carpets on the floor.

The whole room was glowing red and full of joy.

On the wall facing the gate hangs a big longevity character, in the center.

On the left, right, and bottom of the Dou Da Shou character are a hundred Fu characters of different shapes, which means that all blessings will lead to longevity, and both good fortune and longevity. I hope that Mr. Tan will be as blessed as the East China Sea and live longer than Nanshan, which has a profound meaning.

Shen Huairen was asked to help write these longevity characters. He is the most famous in the village, and his characters are vigorous and powerful, with a sense of high-end atmosphere and class.

In order to write these birthday characters, Shen Huairen spent some effort.

In addition to Baishou, there are several longevity paintings hanging on the walls on both sides of the main hall, with blessings from heaven officials and the three stars of Fu, Lu, and Longevity. Anyway, the theme of the entire main hall is celebrating birthdays, implying auspiciousness.

"Let's take a closer look, but there must be no negligence." Tan Dejin took a few brothers to check the birthday hall again to see if there were any mistakes or omissions.

After everything was settled, the men hurried to the empty drying yard in front of the sauce shop, preparing to set up a stage.

At this time, there is almost no entertainment in the countryside. If you want to listen to opera, you can only go to towns or county towns during the Chinese New Year.

So when the villagers learned that Qiduo's family had invited an opera troupe to sing an opera, the whole village was ebullient, and almost everyone went to call their friends and invite them to listen to the opera.

It is estimated that there will be a lot of people at that time, so the stage is set up on the drying yard, and there will be a lot of people here.

When Mr. Tan learned that there was still an opera troupe singing, he was so excited that he didn't sleep well for several nights. This kind of birthday banquet, let alone in Tanjiazhuang, was a first-class high-end event even in these ten miles and eight towns.

Of course, except for the landlord's house.

Some landlords have money, so they simply raise their own theater troupe, and they can listen to operas anytime they want.

The men were busy with these rough jobs, while Xu, Wu, and Yang brought the three sisters Qiduo, Sizao, Zhang Chunyu, and Tan Guihua to work in the kitchen.

The Yang family hurried back yesterday.

Both birthday peaches and birthday cakes are steamed with noodles by oneself, and birthday peaches are made into the shape of peaches with noodles.

Qiduo originally wanted to make a birthday cake, but after thinking about it, it's better not to be too high-profile and eye-catching. It's better to pay attention to traditional customs, so I just follow the trend and see for myself how Xu and the others make birthday cakes.

Longevity noodles are simple, take the wheat to the noodle shop, and ask someone to process it into dried noodles.

This kind of dried noodles tastes a little salty, is as thin as hair, and is very long, so the implication of the noodles is also long. Eating longevity noodles means prolonging life.

The tradition of eating birthday noodles has continued to this day. Qiduo still remembers that in her previous life, whenever the family celebrates a birthday, her mother would wake up early, cook a pot of noodles, and add two poached eggs to the birthday party. The whole family gathered around the table, laughing. Eating happily.

The poached egg longevity noodles sprinkled with chives is the most beautiful food, and it will always remain in Qiduo's memory.

Shou Tao Shou Noodles and Shou Tao Shou Cake are three essential items when celebrating birthdays.

The weather gradually brightened, and relatives at home rushed over one after another.

Mr. Tan's eldest daughter and second daughter also brought their husbands and children over, and Tan Damei and Wang Honglei also brought Wang Tianci.

Although Kang Jin and Er Xia are not married, but Mr. Tan must come to celebrate his birthday.

Not only him, Mrs. Kang and Master Kang also came together, prepared generous gifts, and wished the old man his birthday.

Fortunately, Qiduo's family is big enough now, otherwise there would be too many people all of a sudden, and the family really wouldn't be able to accommodate them.

"Hehe!" Mr. Tan was wearing a brand-new Baifu Tuan flower cocoon silk robe and sat on the grand teacher's chair in the middle of the main room. The big red flower on his chest made his face glow red, and the corners of his mouth almost grinned behind his ears.

Although Mrs. Zhao is not a birthday star, she is also wearing a brand-new purple peony dark-pattern armor, a red gold hairpin inlaid with bluestone is inserted in her hair, and her hands are clasped on her knees, just revealing the jade bracelet on her wrist, like a dignified woman. Like a noble lady, with a gentle and kind smile on her face.

The clothes and jewelry worn by the two old people were bought by Qiduo's family for them.

When Qiduo's family moved before, Mrs. Wu often teased Mrs. Zhao, saying that Mrs. Qiduo's house was big and magnificent, and it was many times better than the Tan family's compound, so Mrs. Zhao and Mr. Tan were not allowed to move there to enjoy the blessings. .

Not only the Wu family, but when Tan Hehua and Tan Meihua returned to their parents' home, they also scolded Tan Dejin and his wife for their unfilial piety.

Hearing the sarcastic remarks from his daughter-in-law and daughters, grass grew in Zhao's heart at that time, and the grass grew crazily in his heart.

Just when she was about to go to Qiduo's house to find fault, Tan Dejin and the Xu family came to the Tan family compound to discuss the matter of Mr. Tan's birthday banquet.

After listening to the decent arrangements for the birthday banquet, old man Tan's eyes turned red and his voice choked up.

Moreover, Mrs. Zhao learned that she would also get new clothes and jewelry, and at the same time, there was a promise from Tan Dejin and his wife that when she turned 60, she would do it in a more dignified manner.

The son and daughter-in-law were so thoughtful, in front of the full of filial piety, Mrs. Zhao finally had some conscience, swallowed the harsh words, but told the son and daughter-in-law to plan carefully, spend as little money as possible, and the money comes well. Easy, don't waste extravagance, and say that you have clothes to wear, you don't need to make new clothes, etc.

Facing Zhao's understanding and reasonableness, Xu also froze in his heart.

But regardless of whether Mrs. Zhao had any new clothes, Mrs. Xu still hired a tailor to measure the two elders, made two sets of autumn clothes each, and added jewelry for Mrs. Zhao.

As a result, Zhao's mouth was tightly gagged.

"Mother, the eldest brother and sister-in-law are so rich now, you and father will follow behind to enjoy the happiness. Mother, I want to open a small shop in the town, but I need some money. Go and talk to the elder brother and ask him to borrow some money first." Give it to me, and I'll pay her back when I make money." When Mrs. Zhao went to Qiduo's house, Tan Meihua came up with the idea of ​​Qiduo's house.

Tan Hehua followed behind, "Yes, mother, I see that the yard you live in is also dilapidated, let the big brother and sister-in-law pay some money to build a new one. And... and I want Lin My son is going to study in the county, mother, please ask your elder brother to help you."

She is not far behind.

Mrs. Zhao immediately turned serious and stared at the two daughters, "Shut up, your brother and sister-in-law can live a good life today, that's what they earned hard, don't be jealous and sarcastic. How much hardship did they suffer back then? , do you know, don’t imitate those shallow-sighted people.”

Tan Meihua and Tan Hehua looked at each other in dismay. How long ago did the mother start to come to the eldest brother and sister-in-law?

When they were still about to say something, they met their mother's knife-like eyes and shut their mouths immediately.

The birthday star sat upright in the hall, everything was ready, and he began to bow.

The whole birthday ceremony was presided over by Tan Jizu, the oldest man in the village. He originally wanted to invite Shen Huairen, but he said that he was not old enough to take on the important task, so he suggested that Tan Jizu should take over.

The sky-shaking firecrackers sounded, and Tan Dejin lit the birthday lamp.

After lighting the longevity lanterns, the old man Tan Jizu said some words of blessing, and then Tan Dejin and his wife held the birthday wine to respect the old man Tan.

Mr. Tan left his seat with his wine glass in hand, and went to the front of the hall to respect the sky outwards and the ground inwards.

After doing all this, he went back to do it again, and then everyone bowed to him in turn according to their seniority.

Mr. Tan also prepared some red envelopes and distributed them to every junior who knelt down and saluted.

After everyone bowed down, Tan Dejin and his wife led everyone to the side hall to eat longevity noodles.

After eating the birthday noodles, Mrs. Xu took everyone to prepare a feast at noon.

Xu Youxuan and Wen Xiuyi brought the theater troupe over, and the drying stage became lively immediately, but the real play didn't start until after lunch.

The guests arrived one after another, Mr. Tan chatted and laughed with everyone.

If you are quick to talk, ask why you haven't seen the Sandao couple.

Mr. Tan suddenly looked a little embarrassed, and said that Sandao was pregnant and it was inconvenient to travel, so he asked my uncle to bring a congratulatory gift.

Han Hecheng did send someone to bring birthday noodles and birthday gifts.He also knew that the Tan family didn't like him, so he didn't want to make fun of himself, so he asked the close servant to deliver it.

Hearing that Sandao was pregnant, everyone smiled and congratulated Mr. Tan.

Both Mr. Tan and Tan Deyin had embarrassing expressions on their faces.

They were all thinking, what an exciting thing it would be if Sandao got pregnant after marrying Xiang Guangyang!

Ugh!
Just as Mr. Tan and the others were sighing, Tan Deyou suddenly ran into the room in a hurry and whispered something into Mr. Tan's ear.

Mr. Tan's complexion suddenly became very ugly, he hurriedly apologized to the guests with a smile, then winked at Tan Deyin, and they left the main hall.

Before the few of them could get down the steps, they saw Wu Xing and Xiang Guangyang, who were born in the Ming Dynasty, coming together.

(Note: The transitional chapter may be a bit boring, please forgive me!)

(End of this chapter)