ebookland Chapter 133 Sense of Crisis
Chapter 133 Sense of Crisis
Aside from sashimi and raw fish slices, Lin Chang'er had already taught the chefs at Sihai Restaurant how to prepare the other dishes.
The gourmets that Pei Sihai had invited had all left one after another, so Lin Chang'er only needed to prepare ten servings of sashimi and raw fish today.
After that, you can go to a private room to have dinner with the villagers of Linshui Village.
Since she was the host, Pei Sihai had specifically asked her beforehand if she needed to cancel today's reservation so she could have a meal in peace, but Lin Chang'er refused.
Ten servings of sashimi and raw fish slices—it took a lot of time, but not too long either.
But to Lin Chang'er's surprise, when she arrived at the private room, the table was already full of dishes, but everyone was drinking tea and talking, and no one had touched their chopsticks.
Seeing her push the door open and enter, Aunt Zhou stood up first and said, "Chang'er is here, come and sit here."
Having said that, he personally came over and pulled her to sit down in the main seat.
Then, everyone in the private room looked at her, as if waiting for her to say something.
Lin Chang'er smiled and said, "Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. Today, please eat and drink to your heart's content! If there's not enough food, order more. And drink as much wine as you like, just a little, but don't get drunk!"
"Great! Third sister-in-law, you're so generous!"
Then, cheers of "Good!" rang out from the private room.
Then it was replaced by the satisfying sounds of chopsticks touching bowls and plates, and clinking glasses.
There were many people today. There were 11 men just helping with the patrol, plus Gu Dalang and Gu Erlang, and Uncle Zhou, who drove the cart, was also invited by Lin Chang'er to stay and have dinner together, making a total of 14 people.
The other women sat at a table with the children: Gu Jingzhe and his sister, Xiaoman, Gu Silang, Xu Gun'er, Zhou Li, Zhou Xiaoniu, Xiaoshan, Xiaoshu, Datou, and the youngest, Zhou Yi. There were 11 children in total.
On the women's side, there were Lin Chang'er, Gu's mother, Gu's eldest sister-in-law, Gu's second sister-in-law, Aunt Zhou, Zhou's third sister-in-law, Xiao Hua's sister-in-law, and the mothers of Xiao Shan, Xiao Shu, and Da Tou, a total of 10 people.
Lin Chang'er had originally booked two large tables, but after arriving at the Sihai Restaurant, she discussed with Pei Sihai and changed it to three tables.
The men sat at the large table, drinking heartily, while the women sat at another table.
The children prepared their own meal, and the dishes were adjusted accordingly. Fish with bones were not served, and the roast suckling pig and lamb chops were cut up by the kitchen staff.
Zhou Yi and Gu Xiaoman are young, but with their older brothers and sisters taking care of them, they don't need the women here to look after them. This allows the women who are usually busy to finally have a peaceful meal.
At first, Zhou San's sister-in-law was a little worried and would always crane her neck to take a look, but Gu Erlang was very relieved.
Aunt Zhou then joked from the side, "Little Bao's mother, stop looking. Today I can finally be a hands-off mother and eat your food. Kids, you always find a way to keep yourselves from going hungry."
It is also said that when Zhou Li was a child, he was a picky eater. He would not eat at the right time, but if it was too late, he would secretly go to the kitchen and tiptoe to find pickled vegetables to fill his stomach.
Everyone burst into laughter, and Zhou San's sister-in-law took it seriously and stopped paying attention.
As for Zhou Yi and Gu Xiaoman, they were too small and their arms were too short to reach the food, so they stood on chairs. Since they didn't know how to use chopsticks, they used spoons. With the help of several older children, they were always able to eat what they wanted.
The private room was bustling with activity, but Lin Chang'er was thinking about the pirates that Wu Qingfeng had mentioned.
The coastline of Linshui Village is short, the sea is wide, and there is no cover, so it is not a good place to land.
But if that side begins a large-scale invasion, it will inevitably be unable to escape.
She was in a hurry to leave today and didn't ask Wu Qingfeng where those villains were causing trouble.
But no matter what, a sense of crisis is essential, along with food, salt, sugar, medicine, shelter, and a guard team to organize the entire village for refuge.
Of course, it would be even better if one had the ability to fight against small groups of pirates; those people can only be suppressed by being even more ferocious than them.
Thinking this, she subconsciously glanced around the private room, her gaze sweeping over the men who were playing drinking games, and then turning to look at Gu Silang and the others who were thoughtfully serving food to the younger ones.
Then she closed her eyes again. Whether it was the men or the children, they were all people who had been toiling in the fields for generations, busy with their daily lives mainly just to make a living.
They had not experienced or even heard of the brutal wars that followed, so would they agree with her ideas?
We also need to make plans for the restaurant as soon as possible.
"Chang'er, Chang'er..." Suddenly, someone tugged at her sleeve.
Lin Chang'er snapped out of her daze and realized it was Aunt Zhou. She pointed to her side and said, "Your uncle brought a few of his brothers to toast you."
Lin Chang'er turned her head and saw Zhou Hai and those men standing behind her, all holding wine glasses.
Lin Chang'er rose unhurriedly, picked up her teacup, and said, "Uncle, please have a good drink with all of you brothers. I still have to teach the children when I get back, so I'll drink tea instead of wine. After I finish, everyone else can drink as they please."
After saying that, she finished the tea in her teacup, and the men also drank their wine in one gulp before returning to their seats.
Aunt Zhou was always good at reading people's expressions. Seeing that Chang'er was absent-minded, she quietly asked her, "Chang'er, what's wrong? Why do you look so preoccupied?"
Lin Chang'er laughed and said, "It's nothing, I didn't sleep well last night, I haven't recovered yet!"
Aunt Zhou nodded. "You've worked the hardest these past few days. How about this, I'll sell the goods for you for the next few days, so you can stay up later."
Lin Chang'er had originally planned to train Aunt Zhou's sales skills, "Okay, let's talk about the wages when we get back."
Aunt Zhou knew her temperament, so she didn't refuse her, only saying, "No rush."
After finishing her social duties, Lin Chang'er turned to Sister-in-law Gu and asked, "Sister-in-law, have you heard anything interesting this morning?"
Sister-in-law Gu was helping Sister-in-law Gu slice a roast suckling pig with a knife when she heard this. She paused and said without thinking, "It's just some trivial matter, nothing new."
Lin Chang'er said "Oh". If there were no rumors circulating among the people, it meant that the matter had not yet been brought to the forefront.
Just then, someone at the man's table said, "I was at the ferry crossing today and overheard some things from the boatmen."
Lin Chang'er paused, then asked curiously, "What is it? Tell us all."
The man didn't speak immediately. Instead, he looked out the window and, seeing that no one was moving, lowered his voice and said, "They say that a village in the south of Ninghai County was attacked by bandits. All the young women were kidnapped, all the grain and valuables were stolen, and the houses were burned down. Only a small number of people who ran fast survived."
After these words were spoken, the air in the private room fell silent. The men's table was alright, and the children's table was fearless, but at the women's table, several women turned pale.
Aunt Zhou murmured "Amitabha," then said, "Why are you saying all this out of the blue? Don't say it, it's kind of scary..."