“When my father passed away, your Jia sent Qin Huairu to serve dishes, I remember that.”
“I remember even more that the Jia Family gave a three-mao gift, brought their entire family of five to the banquet, not only ate and took things, but also stole items from my house.”
“The Jia Family did a great job, everyone should learn from them, give a three-mao gift, and bring the whole family to eat until their bellies are round.”
Chen Jianye said loudly.
“Chen Jianye, you're talking nonsense! I'll tear your mouth apart!”
Jia Zhangshi became anxious.
If everyone followed the Jia Family's example, she would surely lose money by hosting a banquet.
What could three mao buy?
“It's recorded in my family's gift ledger, do you want to call the Courtyard residents over to see?”
Chen Jianye sneered.
“I'm not talking to you, you're a heartless thing!”
Jia Zhangshi's chest heaved with anger, and she fled in a hurry.
“Old hag.”
Chen Jianye watched Jia Zhangshi's retreating back, his gaze deep.
Originally, after killing Jia Dongxu, he wanted to lay low for a while and stir up trouble again when his Carpentry and Cooking skills reached level three.
Too frequent deaths in the Courtyard could easily cause panic and attract the attention of the Public Security.
It was not conducive for Chen Jianye to kill them one by one.
Now, the killing intent in Chen Jianye's heart was already a bit hard to suppress.
Closing the door, he returned to the dining table and continued eating.
Jia Zhangshi, having suffered a loss at the Chen Family's door, ran to the Backyard, still indignant.
“Damn thing, my son must have been dragged down by Old Chen, the Chen Family are all despicable.”
“I hadn't even asked to borrow briquettes yet.”
“Just wait, your bad luck will come sooner or later!”
Jia Zhangshi cursed at the air, venting her dissatisfaction.
After a tirade of curses, Jia Zhangshi felt a little better and continued to invite people to the banquet in the Backyard.
Except for Chen Jianye, the Courtyard residents all gave the Jia Family face.
After all, the dead are revered.
This traditional thinking was deeply ingrained and would not change in a short time.
Whatever the grudges or grievances, death settled all debts.
The next day at noon.
Chen Jianye finished his work, tidied his workbench, and walked out of the Workshop.
“Oh, Jianye, are you also going to attend the Jia Family's banquet?”
Yi Zhonghai called out.
“No.”
Chen Jianye replied.
“Jianye, it's better to resolve enmities than to deepen them. Although the Jia Family wronged your Chen Family before, they did eventually return those items.”
Yi Zhonghai advised.
“Are you going to pay for my gift?”
Chen Jianye said irritably.
“Look at you, how can a young person talk like that?”
Yi Zhonghai felt a bit embarrassed.
“Why are you so eager to persuade me to pay? I thought the money was going into your pocket.”
Chen Jianye's words were very harsh.
Yi Zhonghai was always like this, spending other people's money to build his own reputation.
Chen Jianye disliked such people the most.
Yi Zhonghai fell silent.
The two walked back together, silently along the way.
With nothing else to do on the road, Chen Jianye opened his panel.
Name: Chen Jianye
Skills: Yang Style Tai Chi (Mastery)
Cooking LV2 Experience 45/500
Carpentry LV2 Experience 423/1000
Seeing the accumulated experience for Carpentry, Chen Jianye felt very pleased.
People don't actually dislike labor, they just dislike laboring for others.
Now, working a full day and studying in the evening, he could gain about a hundred points of experience.
It would only take six working days to upgrade his Carpentry skill to LV3.
And unlock a round of draws.
It was worth looking forward to.
Although the Cooking skill grew slowly, Chen Jianye was not very anxious.
The main reason was that there were too few dishes he could practice with now.
To try various Cooking methods, the experience growth for Cooking could be faster.
He currently had no opportunity, so he could only accelerate the Carpentry experience.
Back in the Siheyuan (Courtyard).
Chen Jianye saw Yan Fugui sitting at a table with a gift ledger in front of him in the Middle Courtyard.
“Oh, Jianye, are you here to attend the Jia Family's banquet today?”
Yan Fugui said with a smile.
“No.”
Chen Jianye said with a cold face.
“Not attending is also good.”
Yan Fugui smiled and consciously did not try to persuade him.
This was Yan Fugui's cleverness.
He did take advantage, but his words were always pleasant, making people happy.
Chen Jianye glanced at the Courtyard.
At this moment, the guests who were supposed to be seated were already there, and the place was bustling with noise.
Sha Zhu stood in front of the steamer, watching the heat.
Plates of stir-fried dishes were placed on wooden boards.
There was stir-fried wood ear mushrooms, stir-fried shredded potatoes, and stir-fried cabbage.
There were two meat dishes: cucumber stir-fried with eggs, and green beans stir-fried with meat.
However, the meat in the bowls was like stars in the sky, few and far between.
Pathetically little.
Steam rose from the dishes in the steamer, drifting through the Courtyard.
Chen Jianye took a sniff but didn't detect even a hint of meat scent.
‘Granny Jia is really stingy, good thing I didn't attend the Jia Family's banquet.’
Chen Jianye thought to himself.
There was a saying that was truly accurate.
A leopard never changes its spots.
Jia Zhangshi loved to take advantage, how could such a person let others take advantage of her?
Chen Jianye shook his head and entered the Chen Family home.
He still had to prepare his own lunch.
The Courtyard was very lively.
Sha Zhu had specifically taken a morning off to host the banquet for the Jia Family.
Although there were many vegetarian dishes, Sha Zhu tried his best to make them well.
Soon, as the dishes in the steamer were ready, Sha Zhu gave the order, and Liu Haizhong called Liu Guangtian, Yan Jiecheng, and others to help move the dishes to the tables.
When the dishes were served, everyone's expressions were not very good.
There was too little meat.
Even with Sha Zhu's Cooking skill, dishes without meat didn't look appetizing.
The main reason was also that the Chen Family's previous banquet was too lavish, which raised everyone's expectations for the Jia Family's banquet.
If Jia Dongxu had passed away before the Chen Family's banquet, everyone might have grudgingly accepted the current standard of the banquet.
Compared to the Chen Family's previous banquet, the Jia Family's banquet was truly disappointing.
“Today, I am very grateful that everyone could take the time to come and attend the banquet hosted by my Jia Family.”
Qin Huairu was busy greeting guests.
The guests at the tables all smiled and replied, saying that the Jia Family had arranged things well, and so on.
A few words of flattery.
“Everyone, please eat and drink well, don't be shy.”
“Everyone who should come has come, I am very happy, and for those who didn't come, I won't fuss over it.”
“That person has lost their conscience, and they will surely receive retribution later!”
Jia Zhangshi also shouted with a joyful expression.
She specifically cursed someone a few times.
She had already seen Chen Jianye return.
But Chen Jianye didn't come to the banquet; instead, he hid in his room.
Jia Zhangshi was truly infuriated.
This time, no one chimed in.
Everyone knew who Jia Zhangshi was talking about; Chen Jianye was staying in his room, so whoever responded to Jia Zhangshi would clearly be provoking Chen Jianye.
After everyone had taken their seats and started eating, Jia Zhangshi went to Yan Fugui's side, winking and gesturing.
“Can you let me finish eating before settling the accounts with you?”
Yan Fugui held his bowl, and with a thought, he guessed Jia Zhangshi's intention.
“How much money did you collect? Give me a rough number.”
Jia Zhangshi felt itchy with curiosity and pressed for details.
“Roughly a bit over ten yuan?”
Yan Fugui said uncertainly.
“Only that much?”
Jia Zhangshi's eyes nearly popped out, and her breathing became heavy.
The Jia Family had hosted eight tables!
Although Jia Zhangshi had saved and saved, borrowing pots, pans, and even honeycomb briquettes, and only bought two liang of meat and eight eggs.
But averaged out, the cost per table would still be over one yuan.
Calculating this way, the Jia Family would not only fail to make money but would actually lose money.
“Hosting a funeral is supposed to lose money, what, you want to make money?”
Liu Haizhong said irritably.
Weddings and funerals were both big events.
Jia Dongxu died young, it wasn't a joyous funeral, so everyone who could come tried to come, which was already giving the Jia Family immense face.
“That's not it, I just feel that the amount of gift money collected is a bit small.”
Jia Zhangshi looked displeased.
“Then wait for Old Yan to finish eating and settle the accounts with you, what are you so anxious about?”
Liu Haizhong said unhappily.
Jia Zhangshi was rebuffed twice in a row, she swung her arms and left, her face dark.
She specifically looked around to see how many people each family brought.
The Liu Family and the Yan Family both came with their entire families.
Just these two families alone were not enough for one table.
‘Eat, eat, why don't you eat yourselves to death.’
Jia Zhangshi gnashed her teeth in anger, thinking that she would check how much gift money the Yan Family and Liu Family gave later.
If they gave too little, she would definitely go to their doorsteps and curse them.