Chapter Thirty-Five: A Feast for Thousands

  The morning sunlight is like a maiden's eyes, gently gazing at the surface of Sword Horse Lake. The originally rippling blue waves suddenly donned golden scales, and with a blow from the breeze, the golden light flashed, as if it had come to life.

  On a fishing boat with a small cabin in the middle of the lake, a song "Flowers" is being sung, although it's a bit off-key and even has some awkward tones, but it wins for being crisp and youthful.

  The young girl's singing voice is always beautiful...

  Huā duǒ bǐ zhū xiǎo huā hái yào xiǎo sān suì, yī xiàng dōu shì bèi fù kē cháng dà ren xiàng hái zi yì bān de jiāo chǒng zhe, suǒ yǐ jiù lián gē shēng zhōng, dōu shì mǎn mǎn tiào yuè zhe de qīng chūn.

  Zhou Yi crouched on the foredeck, in front of him was a handmade red clay stove by a mountain villager, and inside the iron pot on the stove was simmering a milky white fish soup, emitting waves of fresh aroma, which attracted the wild cats in the grass thicket on the shore to meow incessantly.

  This is the most authentic fishing family method. No oil or seasonings are used, not even salt, it's just stewed lake fish with lake water, and the resulting fish soup can be whiter than milk and fresher than crabs in autumn.

  Even Guan Wei, who doesn't like to eat fish, has already circled the stove several times, and his drooling expression is not much better than Zhu Xiaohua's.

  But Little Flower comrade couldn't care about eating now, this guy was lazily lying on 'Flower's' knee, half of his face in close contact with 'Flower's' delicate jade leg, raising a left ear, enjoying the exclusive service from his wife.

  "Hua Duo" was combing his hair with a ear pick, gently digging out the earwax for him. This guy seemed to be doing it on purpose - every time Hua Duo dug out a blackish-yellowish lump of earwax, he would hum and murmur in praise: "So comfortable! My Hua Duo's skills are just great, I'm so jealous of that bachelor..."

  Xiao Hua was thoroughly stimulated by Zhou Yi, and the happiness of his wife was currently his only means of counterattack.

  "You're not laid-back, you don't live in a luxurious courtyard house, and you don't spend all day eating green food and drinking freshly squeezed oil? I'm no match for you, but my wife is beautiful and gentle, making me envy you to death."

  "En, can turn over now......"

  The Book of Changes murmured to itself.

  "Haha, I knew you were sneaking a peek at our flowers, otherwise how would you know that brother should change to the other ear?"

  Zhu Xiaohua is so pleased with herself, just like Hu Han San returning to his village.

  "Look at you? I'm looking at fish..."

  Zhou Yi picked up a pair of chopsticks, blew away the hot mist with a mouthful of air, and flipped the fish over.

  "You..."

  Zhu Xiaohua was so angry that she didn't even bother to clean her ears, and quickly got up: "Old Three, it's almost noon, isn't the long table banquet about to start? There will be plenty of delicious food then, what's the point of cooking this fish?"

  "Yes, but Lao San's stewed fish is indeed fresh and fragrant." Guan Wei also nodded in agreement.

  "Hehe, Xiaohua, you've revealed the true nature of a stick..."

  Zhou Yi smiled and took out four bowls, using a ladle to scoop the fish soup: "Do you know what we're having for dinner at this long table?"

  "What's up? Of course we're going to eat lamian in our Shandong province, what else could be surprising?" Zhu Xiaohua said.

  "The noodles are good, but what's used is a special beef and mutton bone broth that's been simmered for a long time!"

  Zhou Yi smiled and said, "People from the south emphasize drinking soup before meals. Even if it's just before eating noodles, they still drink soup first. This is because drinking soup can stimulate the taste buds, bringing out the full flavor of the meal to come. Not only does it increase appetite, but the flavors are also more pronounced. Although we northerners don't have this habit, today we're having beef and mutton noodles, so drinking fish soup beforehand is a must. Second brother, you're an educated man, you should understand."

  "Is the fish and mutton fresh?" Guan Wei's eyes lit up: "I said, Old Three, why did you want to cook fish soup? So that's it!"

  "Big brother guessed it right at once."

  Zhou Yi nodded and said, "This fish soup of mine is made with original lake water and original lake fish. The water is from a mountain spring, and the fish are wild, so the flavor is extremely fresh and can fully stimulate your taste buds. Moreover, with this bowl of fish soup as an appetizer, I guarantee that when you eat the beef and mutton noodles, you will be able to taste the wonderful flavors that you couldn't taste before. Now, everyone, are you going to drink or not?"

  "My god, I'm convinced by you, even a fish soup can be turned into a theory."

  Zhu Xiaohua really wanted to resist to the end, but as a foodie, she couldn't resist the fragrance coming from the pot and bowl. Moreover, 'Hua Dou' had already betrayed her, taking fish soup from Zhou Yi's hands, drinking with a 'gulping' sound, even the elegant demeanor of a lady was thrown aside.

  Guan Wei had already started drinking his second bowl, and the soup cooked by Zhou Yi, although without any seasonings, brought out the fish's natural sweetness completely. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the best soup in the world. Faced with such temptation, even if the real Guan Erge were reborn, he might not be able to resist.

  With a glance at the nearly empty pot of soup, Zhu Xiaohua took a swift step forward: "Hey, where's my bowl?"

  The fish soup was quickly drunk clean. The three amateur eaters, two men and one woman, rubbed their stomachs, but instead of feeling full, they felt even hungrier, and were all the more looking forward to the upcoming long table feast.

  A loud whistle sounded at this moment. Immediately following were countless whistles rising and falling, Yunshui Village, Shangxia Zha Village, Liulilouzi Village was in an uproar, old people, children, men and women, swarmed out of their homes, carrying tables from their homes, holding stools, forming long snakes, beginning to gather on the roads...

  The biggest event in Yunshui Mountain area, the annual long table banquet has begun!

  "Foodies, arrive at the shore, set off!"

  ***

  There are seventeen villages of various sizes in the Yunshui Mountain area, but most of them are located deep in the mountains, far away from here. Some have even crossed the provincial border and entered Yusheng Province.

  Moreover, the villages that retain the folk custom of having long table banquet are only Yunshui Village, Shangxiazhavillage and Liulilouzicun around Jianmahu Lake.

  Even if only four villages participated, the momentum was extremely grand. Thousands of households were fully mobilized, with at least 6,000 to 7,000 people, and each household brought out at least one table. This is also in the depths of the mountains; if it were in a city, a long-table banquet would be enough to congest the entire city.

  Fortunately, more than half of the thousands of tables were arranged in Pingshi Valley at the junction of Yunshui Village and Liulou Village according to a pre-planned plan. Those that couldn't be placed were extended from the valley entrance to the mountain roads on both sides. The whole shape is like a big octopus head, except that this octopus has fewer tentacles and some longer ones.

  Even so, the rows of tables stretched out from the valley mouth for tens of meters, magnificent beyond compare. Zhou Yi and the others followed behind Li Yuanfang, walking while marveling at the sight, truly unable to fathom how they would manage to get seven or eight thousand people eating noodles in soup at the same time, just how many stoves would be needed.

  Until he walked into Ping Shi Valley, Zhou Yi finally understood.

  This valley is indeed aptly named, the ground inside the valley has only a thin layer of yellow soil, underneath which are layers of rock, three sides of which are cliffs that just enclose this piece of land with an area of about 3,000 to 4,000 square meters.

  Such landforms are common in the northern hilly areas, not only can't grow crops, but also have difficulty growing wild grasses, which is suitable for a large number of mountain people to gather.

  In the valley, tables have been set up in circles, and the mountain people are arranged in groups by village, neatly lined up. In the central circle, dozens of "standing stoves" have already been piled up with red mud.

  This 'standing stove' is over half a person tall, and even the large iron pot used by troops on the march can be placed under it; with one furnace mouth, hundreds of people's worth of noodles can be cooked; next to these 'standing stoves' are rows of noodle-making tables, with piles of flour sacks beside them, and the masters in charge of the noodle-making have already started busily working away, with lump after lump of risen dough neatly arranged on the table, just waiting for the noodles to be pulled and cooked.

  Li Yuanfang settled Zhou Yi and the others at his home's table, then smiled and said: "Brother Zhou, isn't this a grand occasion? Don't be impatient, the beef and mutton soup in the pot is almost boiling, just wait until noon, when the soup is served, you all must eat your fill!"

  "Brother Yuanfang, don't worry, these few people I brought are all foodies."

  Ji Chang smiled and raised his eyes to see Master Hong standing in front of a table, beckoning him over with a wink. He said: "Second Brother, Xiao Hua, you two sit down first, I'll have a word with Master Hong."

  "What's wrong, Master Hong?" Zhou Yi walked up to the counter and asked in a low voice.

  "Xiao Zhou, this time it's a bit of trouble..."

  Master Hong looked at the dense crowd of mountain people surrounding them and sighed, "Usually, when we have a cook-off, it's in the final stage of the banquet, where chefs from each village compete in the restaurant in Liu Li Louzi Village. But this time, several villages' villagers requested an outdoor cook-off, and our village agreed..."

  "Street fighting?"

  The I Ching is also a frown.

  "Right, this open-air fight, how are you going to make your move? Otherwise, Xiao Zhou, you'd better go up yourself, I'm not capable of it..."

  "Don't worry, I have a way."

  The eyes of Zhou Yi turned, and the plan came to mind.

  "What else can be done about it?"

  "Just two words..." Zhou Yi whispered into Master Hong's ear, "Fake it!"

  PS: Thanks for the 5-star review from 'Twelve Deadly Horse' brothers, it was worth the expense, thank you:)

  Brothers, now it's already the third name, and I took a look, our clicks, recommendations, are about to surpass the second name, just because he got on the list early, the base of collection is relatively large, so it can't be rushed for the time being.

  But as long as we keep trying, there's still hope. Let's fight on! Bring out your collections and recommendations, and let's break through to the second place, Chrysanthemum!

  Caw caw caw......