Chapter 13 - Banquet [1

 

After Cao Simei left, as if seeing money flying to her, Li Hehua's mouth curved into a grin.

She didn't expect that she would have another business before Wang Laotou's banquet was even completed. This was much better than what she had expected. It seems that when she showed her ability that day, she had laid a good foundation in the hearts of the villagers. Maybe more people will come to her in the future. She didn't have to worry about earning money anymore.

Looking at Li Hehua's smiling face, Zhang Lin had a sense of reality. She realized that this woman really had the ability to prepare a banquet. She had even won the praises of others.

Zhang Lin's heart is not calm. Of course, everyone's hearts are not calm except for the little child, Shulin. In their hearts, Li Hehua is a vicious, fierce, and, lazy shrew. It can be said that she is useless. However, this useless woman could now have others come to the house and invite her in person to prepare a banquet. This is undoubtedly that of a boulder thrown into the lake, stirring the hearts of these people.

Zhang Lin couldn't help but ask, "You can prepare banquets?"

　　
Li Hehua's smile stopped slightly. She's thinking about how she would respond. She didn't know how the original owner's cooking skills were, and she didn't know how the Zhang family treated the original owner. Now that she is cooking and preparing banquets, she didn't know if this will arouse the suspicion of the Zhang family.
　　
However, cooking is her way of making a living. She can't hide her cooking skills for fear of being suspected by others. If she is suspected because of her cooking skills, then she has no choice but to leave the house early.
　
After thinking for a while, Li Hehua nodded generously, "Yes, I can prepare banquets. When I went to Lianhua Village last time, a family made a reservation for me to prepare their family banquet. The eldest sister who came here this time is also from Lianhuan. Seeing my craftsmanship, she asked me to prepare theirs."

(T/N: "Why Lianhua village now? It's supposed to be Shiliba Village right?" This embarrassed translator will explain it below hehe.)

Seeing that Zhang Lin wanted to ask questions again, Li Hehua took the lead to cut off the conversation, "I'm hungry. I'll cook some food first. I haven't eaten since morning." She then went to the kitchen.
　　

Zhang Lin's question had to be swallowed. She also couldn't make herself chase that woman and talk to her. Anyway, this woman has nothing to do with their family. It doesn't matter even if she can prepare a banquet. Her eldest son already said that she (LH) will leave soon.
　　
Li Hehua entered the kitchen and sighed softly.
　　
She's afraid that the Zhang family is already suspicious of her now. She is very different from the original owner after all. Their suspicion is inevitable. She just doesn't know if they will think about the matter of her, as a soul, resurrecting from the dead. Ancient people are superstitious. If they do know about it, the whole village might unite to clean her up. It would be over for her.

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However, they shouldn't have thought of this.

After calming down, Li Hehua started to cook. She also had to make pastries to sell for tomorrow after cooking.

Just now, Cao Simei said that her eldest brother's family is rushed to do the wedding and it will be done the day after tomorrow. This means that she can only sell the pastries for another day after tomorrow, as there will be no time to go to town the day after tomorrow to sell pastries. 

(T/N: LH said that after selling pastries the next day, she will suspend selling pastries and do it again after the banquet (the day after tomorrow). This is for people who find the previous passage confusing ---like me. )

Based on the ingredients provided by Cao Simei, Li Hehua thought about what dishes she has to prepare for the banquet while cooking. After cooking, she ate in the kitchen and started making pastries non-stop. It was already evening when she finished. She ate two cakes for dinner, washed up early and slept.
　　
The next day, Li Hehua woke up early as usual. She sold all pastries in town after half a day only and hurried home to pack up. Cao Simei's elder brother's village is far away from here, and the banquet is a two-day event.

The first day was for relatives at home to eat firat, and the next day is for the formal wedding banquet. It will be too late if she went back and forth from home, so Cao Simei asked her to pack her things and go there ahead of time. They set up a room for her to stay there and she can then return when the banquet was officially finished.
　　
Li Hehua agreed. She can live anywhere anyway. She has no sense of belonging here. It is fine as long as she has a place to live. So this afternoon, she rush to Lianhua Village to meet with Cao Simei, and then go to Cao Simei's mother's house together.
　　

Li Hehua didn't bring much. She simply brought a change of clothes and her towels. She then tied it into a bundle and carry it behind her.
　　
Li Hehua walked out of the woodshed with a bundle on her back and then closed the door. When she turned around, she saw Zhang Lin drying clothes in the yard.
　　
Zhang Lin glanced at Li Hehua. She then turned around and continued to work. Her (ZL) eyes showed that she didn't want to pay her (LH) attention. Li Hehua swallowed her words of saying hello. After thinking about it, she decided to stay silent. She lowered her head and walked out of the door.
　　
When he arrived at Lianhua Village, Li Hehua inquired about the address of Cao Simei's house from others, and went all the way to find it. At the gate, she saw Cao Simei who was feeding chickens in the courtyard.

***
T/N: So about the issue of Shiliba Village in the previous chapter (I already edited it for new readers). I mistaken it as a name of the village while it was actually referring to 'eight villages in ten miles'. Shi means ten, Li means miles, and Ba means eight. Li is a measure of distance used by Chinese if I'm not wrong. I only realized this when I reached this chapter hehe.  Sorry it's my bad. Had to revisit the previous chapters for confirmation and done a lot of revision.

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