Chapter 506: Silly Zhu, how can you stand up and kick!
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Jun was drinking tea and watching the people in the kitchen making bread.
"Chen Jun, Chen Jun!"
Chen Jun turned his head and saw that it was Xu Damao who had sneaked into the kitchen with a sly look in his eyes and was waving at him.
Gee...
Why does this guy look like a thief? If you don’t know him, you would think he is here to steal something from the kitchen!
"Come in and talk." Chen Jun waved his hand.
Xu Damao happily squeezed in upon hearing this, then came close to him and said, "We should set off. It will take more than an hour to get to Shitun Commune."
"You're going too?" Xu Damao's words surprised Chen Jun a little.
"That's not great. Director Song came to me this morning and asked me to go to Shitun Commune to show movies for two consecutive days."
Judging from this guy's excited look, Director Song must have promised something good.
For example, give him a big red envelope as well.
Oh, this guy is really popular as a projectionist.
"Okay, then let's set off after Shazhu is done with his work."
Half an hour later, Chen Jun and his two companions left the steel mill on their bicycles. The security department at the gate saw them but did not stop them to question them.
Director Song went to Shitun Commune first, reportedly to help his cousin find a car.
Tsk tsk, these days it’s already a great honor if the bride has a bicycle, but how much more impressive would that be if she had a car?
"Xu Damao, didn't you have lunch? Pedal faster!"
They had just left the city when Sha Zhu, who was sitting in the back seat, couldn't help but urge them on.
The speed was too slow, and Chen Jun had to stop and wait for them every once in a while. Sha Zhu, who had a bad temper, couldn't stand it anymore.
"You are so special......"
Xu Damao was breathing heavily from exhaustion, with a layer of sweat on his forehead.
"You really don't need to worry about your back when you're sitting down and talking. Don't you see how much stuff I'm carrying behind me? If you feel tired, just go take Chen Jun's car."
These two brothers have been enemies since childhood. Although Xu Damao cannot defeat Sha Zhu, he never admits defeat.
Sha Zhu curled his lips in disdain: "It's because you have kidney deficiency that you pedal like a woman."
"Get down, get down. Let grandpa do the pedaling."
Upon hearing this, Xu Damao immediately stopped the car with his foot brake and gave up his bicycle without saying a word.
This journey must have made him very tired.
Sha Zhu also did what he said. After getting on the bicycle, he started to exert all his strength, stood up and pedaled. After a while, he caught up with Chen Jun in front of him.
"Damn it, are you stupid? This is my bicycle, how can you stand up and pedal it!"
But Shazhu seemed not to hear it and pedaled even harder.
It’s not his own bike, so he certainly won’t feel bad about pedaling it.
It took the three of them more than an hour to get there, and it was almost six o'clock when they arrived at Shitun Commune.
The sun is setting in the west and it will soon be dark.
"Stop, stop, stop, we're here!"
Xu Damao pulled Sha Zhu's pants from behind and forced him to brake.
Then, without waiting for Sha Zhu to react, he jumped out of the car and started unloading things from the small cart at the back.
"You say you're not weak, but you're exhausted just by moving these little things!" Sha Zhu didn't pursue the matter of Xu Damao pulling his pants, and came over to lend a hand.
Before the two men had moved all their things down, they saw seven or eight people coming in a crowd under the archway not far away.
These people are from Shitun Commune. They heard that there would be projectionists coming from the city today and tomorrow, so they started waiting under the commune’s archway early in the morning.
"Is that Master Xu from the Red Star Steel Mill?"
Xu Damao took a look at what he said and replied with a grin, "Secretary Shi!"
It was obvious that the two knew each other before.
After handing the projection equipment to the villagers of Shitun, Xu Damao enthusiastically introduced Chen Jun and Sha Zhu to Secretary Shi.
Only then did Chen Jun realize that the Secretary Shi in front of him was Director Song's cousin.
Although the two are of the same generation, Secretary Shi has half of his hair white and looks to be in his fifties.
But this is normal. There are more children in the family these days, and the age difference between them is quite large. Sometimes the eldest and the youngest can be more than ten years apart.
When Secretary Shi learned that Chen Jun was the canteen director of the steel rolling mill, he was extremely surprised.
He didn't expect that his cousin who used to be the canteen director could invite the current canteen director!
Although he had never met Master Chen, he had heard of him before. Many bigwigs like factory directors in the city went to the steel mill to eat for free.
According to what his cousin said before, Master Chen’s craftsmanship was good enough to be accepted at Diaoyutai State University long ago, which shows how amazing he is.
The woman should have no objection to a chef of this level cooking the banquet, right?
It’s a great honor. What a great honor!
Following Secretary Shi inside, we soon arrived at his yard in the village.
This yard occupies a large area, at least 7 or 8 mu. A small stage has been built in the yard, on which are tied a lot of big red flowers and bright red cloth, which looks very festive.
Sha Zhu took a closer look and couldn't help grinning. These red flowers and red cloths were actually brand new. Secretary Shi's family was quite wealthy.
Steel mills also have a lot of these things. For example, when the Russian engineer team visits, they will take out these things to liven up the atmosphere.
After use, I will put it away carefully and use it next time.
If properly preserved, it can be used for many years and will not be thrown away until it is broken and unusable.
Secretary Shi is actually using a new one, which shows that he bought it with his own money instead of borrowing it from somewhere.
Looking at the yard again, I saw eight or nine women wearing aprons busying themselves. Although it was getting dark, they were still busy and having fun.
"Secretary Shi, have we decided on the dishes for tomorrow's wedding banquet?" Chen Jun asked.
Secretary Shi shook his head and said, "Here at our wedding banquet, the host family sets the standards, and the chef decides the dishes."
"Tomorrow we plan to have 24 dishes on each table. Director Chen, you can order the rest as you wish."
Twenty-four courses?
Hey!
Secretary Shi’s family is indeed extraordinary.
Generally speaking, when people get married in the countryside at this time, those who don’t have money can just have a good meal at home, while those who are rich can set up a few tables and invite friends and relatives to join in the fun.
A table would have at most sixteen dishes, which is already the highest standard.
Twenty-four dishes cannot fit on an ordinary dining table, so a large table must be used.
Chen Jun thought for a moment and said, "Then let's have 16 hot dishes and 8 cold dishes. We need to have both meat and vegetables, hot dishes and cold dishes. We also need to have two servings of soup. Secretary Shi, do you think this is okay?"
"It's a great success!" Secretary Shi laughed heartily and was very satisfied with Chen Jun's allocation.
He has to be a great chef in the city. A wedding banquet is so elaborate and everything is taken into consideration.
The banquet of eight cold dishes and sixteen hot dishes will surely be very grand when it starts tomorrow.
"So how many tables will we have tomorrow?" Chen Jun asked again.
"We have tentatively arranged eighteen tables. Let's prepare for twenty-one or twenty-two tables!"