“It’s beautiful! I really love this wedding gift.”
Su He looked up at him with a serious expression.
“Cough… as long as you like it!”
A wedding gift?
Xiao Zheng suddenly felt a gentle tug somewhere deep in his chest. He really liked that way of putting it.
Back in the main room, Su He couldn’t put down the wooden hairpin, turning it over and over in her hands. She planned to put her hair up tomorrow and use this very hairpin.
But on second thought, tomorrow was her wedding day after all. While this wooden hairpin was excellent for daily wear—elegant and understated—it ultimately seemed a bit too plain and simple for a wedding feast.
She frowned slightly, pondering how to style her hair for tomorrow.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on a corner of the room where a coarse cloth bag was piled. She remembered that she had asked the shopkeeper for this as a little extra bonus when she was at the tailor shop today.
The bag was filled with leftover scraps and remnants from cutting clothes. She had originally thought about bringing them back so Wang Guixiang and the others could use them to line shoe soles, or she could pick out a few usable pieces to sew a handkerchief. It was a practical use of resources.
But right now, an idea struck her.
She walked over, squatted down, and opened the cloth bag. Amidst the pile of multicolored scraps, she dug out a reasonably bright red strip of cloth.
“This… will do perfectly,” she murmured to herself. Then she sat back down at the table, gently winding the strip of cloth around her fingers.
Her idea was simple: make a tiny flower about the size of her thumb and tie it to the head of the wooden hairpin to add a touch of red. That way, it wouldn’t be too flashy, but it would still look festive.
However, ideas were one thing; her hands wouldn’t cooperate. She wound it around twice, but the cloth strip unraveled. She tried again, but it was still crooked and out of shape.
She really had failed the class! Back when she used to scroll through videos, it looked so simple, but actually doing it herself was frustrating at every turn.
Looking at the misshapen clump of cloth in her hands, Su He couldn’t help but sigh softly. “What clumsy hands…”
Xiao Yue, who was packing things up nearby, saw her state and couldn’t resist leaning over. “Sister-in-law, what are you making?”
Su He looked up with a smile and showed her the strip of cloth. “I want to roll a little flower to tie onto the hairpin.” She briefly explained her idea.
Xiao Yue’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. “Let me try!” She snatched the cloth strip and sat down. “Do I just wind it like this?”
“Yeah, roll it tight first, then tuck it inward,” Su He guided from the side.
Xiao Yue nodded, her fingers moving nimbly. She usually helped her mother line shoes and do mending, so she was quite good with her hands.
Sure enough, after just a few turns around her fingers, the cloth strip slowly tightened into layers. In moments, a tiny red cloth flower took shape! Though not exquisitely crafted, it was plump and round, looking just like a blooming flower bud.
“It’s done!” Xiao Yue’s eyes sparkled. “Look, Sister-in-law!”
Su He was also pleasantly surprised. “It really is pretty.” She took the little flower, looked at it closely, and couldn’t help but smile. “Not bad, Ah Yue. Your hands are much better than mine.”
Xiao Yue felt a bit shy from the praise, but she couldn’t hide her pride. “I just followed the method you described. I didn’t expect to get it right on the first try.”
Su He didn’t say more. She quickly fetched a thin thread and carefully bored a tiny hole near the head of the hairpin. She tied the red cloth flower next to the carved rice seedling and adjusted its position slightly.
Instantly, the entire wooden hairpin gained a touch of bright red. The contrast between the red and the wood tone didn’t look gaudy at all; instead, it looked all the more warm and delicate.
“There, all done,” Su He said softly.
Xiao Yue’s eyes were full of admiration. “It’s so beautiful! Sister-in-law, you’ll definitely look gorgeous wearing this tomorrow!”
Looking at the hairpin, the corners of Su He’s lips curled up slightly. She was very satisfied too.
Right then, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. What if these fabric scraps… could make more than just flowers?
Her eyes lit up slightly, but she quickly suppressed her excitement.
No rush.
She would take her time to explore and experiment after tomorrow’s feast!
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate.
Wang Guixiang walked in carrying a few pieces of semi-tailored clothing. Beads of sweat stood out on her forehead, showing she had been busy for quite a while.
“Are they all cut?”
As soon as she entered, her eyes fell on the red paper on the table.
“Just about,” Xiao Yue quickly replied.
Wang Guixiang nodded and set the clothes aside. “By the way, I just heard at Aunt Zhao’s place that the Shen family is also hosting a feast tomorrow?”
At these words, everyone in the room looked over at her.
Xiao Jun immediately spoke up, “Yeah, the whole village already knows.”
“The Shens really know how to pick a time.” Wang Guixiang’s face darkened slightly, her tone laced with displeasure.
But she quickly suppressed her emotions. “Forget it, if they want to host it, we can’t stop them.”
She turned to face everyone. “No, let’s go over tomorrow’s menu again to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
She spoke calmly, but with a stubborn streak of determination.
With that, the family sat in a circle to discuss tomorrow’s banquet menu once more.
“If we slaughter that rabbit and mix it with other side ingredients, we can manage to make three meat dishes out of it. Add the cured meat and eggs, and that makes five meat dishes in total.”
“Then we can add a few vegetable dishes to make a perfect table of ten. What do you all think?” Su He was the first to share her ideas and suggestions.
Since there were only two tables of guests tomorrow, a feast of this scale naturally didn’t require hiring a professional cook. Wang Guixiang had already decided earlier to have two of her old friends bring their daughters-in-law over to help out. Five people would be more than enough.
Times were tough these days, so being able to put together a full table of food was already excellent; no one would get picky about the cooking skills. This was pretty much how banquets were done in the village.
The others were taken aback. “That one rabbit can make three dishes?”
Su He nodded and explained how to cook the rabbit with a calm, composed tone.
“We can braise the two rabbit legs. Then chop up the skeleton and stew it with wild mushrooms to make a soup. For the remaining meat, we can dice it up, add some diced cucumber and radish, some scallions, and make a cold-tossed diced rabbit salad.”
She briefly gestured as she spoke.
“Cooking it separately like this gives us meat, soup, and distinct flavors.”
In short, it was about making the best use of everything and fully unlocking the value of a single rabbit.
Wang Guixiang’s eyes lit up as she listened. “You can actually do it like that?”
“It sounds delicious…” Xiao Yue couldn’t help swallowing hard.
Su He continued, “Then we add wild greens, green beans, Chinese cabbage…”
She counted them down one by one, and before long, she had put together ten dishes.
While not extravagant, the selection was well-balanced, featuring both meat and vegetables, soups and dry dishes. In times like these, people rarely got to eat meat. Although the amount of meat for this feast wasn’t massive, it made up for it with variety and plenty of oil.
After all, they had specially prepared a slab of pork fat earlier; what they lacked in actual meat, they could make up for with grease. Even so, for the villagers nowadays, this was already a rare and hearty feast.
“Great! It’s settled then! This menu is definitely respectable!” Wang Guixiang clapped her hands in delight, immediately finalizing the decision. The lingering unease in her heart instantly vanished, replaced by a faint sense of anticipation.
Having said that, she looked at her eldest son. “Ah Zheng, have you confirmed everything with your guests?”
Xiao Zheng nodded. “I’ve already invited the village chief, and a few of my colleagues from the military camp said they would come.” He paused, his tone flat. “As for the Battalion Commander? I can’t guarantee anything.”
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Su He smiled and said, “It’s fine, let’s leave it up to them.”
If they came, they would give them a warm welcome; if not, it was only natural.
Wang Guixiang agreed, “Ah He is right. Let’s wrap things up then. Get some sleep early, we have a busy day tomorrow.”
The oil lamp flickered slightly, casting moving shadows on everyone’s faces. There was anticipation, but also a hint of nervous tension.
As the night grew deeper and the wind died down, the family went to bed one by one.
This night was destined not to be entirely peaceful.
Tomorrow, two banquets would open on the same day. Who would come out on top would soon be clear.