The rehearsal ended and the tasting session began.
Yuan Feng personally prepared three tables of dishes.
As Elder Shen ate, he said, "Why even bother with a tasting? With Yuan Feng's cooking, everything will be devoured tomorrow."
Shen Jianrong, unable to be refined with food in her mouth, chimed in, "Oh my, after eating Yuan Feng's food, can I still stomach Jiyong's cooking?"
Elder Shen glared at his youngest daughter, "Then give Jiyong to me."
"No, no, impossible," Shen Jianrong refused. "Jiyong's cooking, while not as good as Yuan Feng's or Little Yuan's, is much better than my own."
Elder Shen didn't let up on his ungrateful daughter, "Then I'll get you a different cook."
Shen Jianrong shook her head repeatedly, "No, no, no, not changing. I was just saying, Jiyong's cooking is still very good."
"Hmph!" Elder Shen snorted heavily, then smiled.
"Tomorrow, the banquet alone will shock everyone. By the way, how many tables are you preparing?"
Shen Jianrong hesitated, "Thirty tables, is that too many?"
"Too many? What do you mean?" Elder Shen put down his chopsticks. "You've prepared too few. I estimate forty tables won't be enough."
"Ah?" Shen Jianrong was surprised. "According to our guest list, twenty-five tables should be sufficient."
Elder Shen asked, "How did you calculate that?"
Shen Jianrong said, "Two people per family."
In their compound, it was customary for families to bring at most two adults, rarely bringing children to freeload.
Elder Shen nudged his daughter, "Quickly add more tables, calculate for families of three or four."
Shen Jianrong didn't understand. "Why?"
"Because..." Elder Shen looked at Tian Jing, "Because many people are coming specifically for Captain Tian."
Shen Jianrong frowned. "Don't all families only have two people coming? It's not fashionable to bring the whole family to a banquet these days. I didn't invite them, so I won't host them."
Elder Shen said helplessly, "You child, you're being stubborn again."
"What did I do?" Shen Jianrong was unhappy. "I even told the Cai, Wu, Tang, Gong, and Tu families not to come. If they dare to come, I'll kick them out."
Elder Shen sighed. "First, have a good wedding. We can discuss other matters later."
He then looked at Tian Jing, "Captain Tian, what do you think?"
Tian Jing nodded. "Yes, let's get the wedding smoothly organized first. We'll take our time with everything else."
"Yuan Feng, take Yuan Jiyong with you to do more shopping. You'll have to work hard again tonight to prepare."
"Yes," Yuan Feng replied, and called Yuan Jiyong to note down the ingredients that needed to be replenished.
Tian Jing glanced at the white tablecloths spread on the round tables, covered by red disposable tablecloths, and added red tablecloths to Yuan Jiyong's shopping list.
However, it was already dark, so the tablecloths could only be purchased the next morning.
If it was left until the next morning, Yuan Jiyong would definitely be busy preparing dishes and wouldn't be able to go.
Li Weihao voluntarily took on the task of buying tablecloths, and Yuan Jiyong gave Li Weihao the address for hotel supplies.
In reality, they were all located within the large wholesale vegetable market, but the market was vast, and once categorized, the directions were different.
Furthermore, Yuan Jiyong could only buy ingredients that needed to be prepared tonight from supermarkets, and he would go to the wholesale market to purchase fresh vegetables in the early morning.
Shen Jianrong was still dissatisfied. Why should her family's banquet host guests she disliked?
Tian Jing comforted her, "You're feeling stifled, aren't you? Just speak your mind directly to your friends and relatives."
"Exactly!" Shen Jianrong was persuaded. "I'll just be direct in front of everyone. Let's see if the Gong, Tang, and Tu families can hold their ground!"
Elder Shen cautioned, "Tell the truth, don't be sarcastic."
"Do I need to be sarcastic?" Shen Jianrong said dismissively.
"I'll just say the word 'bumpkin,' and then others will laugh at her. She herself is a big bumpkin who came from the countryside, yet she uses the word 'bumpkin' to describe others."
Shen Jianrong pulled Tian Jing along and told her the history of the Gong family's development.
The Gong family were not originally from the capital. They were family members of the family members of the soldiers who moved to the capital after the founding of the country.
Such dependents could not only not integrate into the compound, but they also had no right to live in the compound.
However, what the Gong family wanted was simple: to follow the trend and settle in the capital.
At that time, the capital had just been liberated and truly needed a large influx of people.
The Gong family quickly bought a house in a hutong within the Second Ring Road. With a house and the policies at the time, the Gong family settled in the capital and became Beijing residents.
In the 1960s, the two brothers of the Gong family, who were in the prime of their youth, married their maternal cousins.
This was because the Gong family's maternal relatives did not have the foresight and courage of the Gong family back then and were still farming in their hometowns.
Seeing that the Gong family had truly settled in the capital, they selected two beautiful girls from their family to come to the capital for further alliances.
In the 1970s, the Gong brothers quietly acted as intermediaries for others to exchange houses.
The person wanting to exchange houses wanted to move to a location closer to their workplace but had no time to inquire, so they sought help from 'capable people' in the hutong.
The two parties in the house exchange would pay the price difference based on the estimated value of the houses, and then go to the housing management office to exchange the house deeds.
After the transaction was completed, both parties would give the intermediary a fee for their service.
Gradually, the brothers gained a small reputation in this field. After the reform and opening up, the Gong brothers established a real estate agency company.
Later, they established a real estate development company, transforming from house-exchange intermediaries to major bosses. Their net worth and temper both grew exponentially.
Influenced by the Gong brothers, the Gong sisters-in-law gradually became arrogant and looked down on others. They always insulted outsiders as bumpkins.
Of course, the maternal relatives of these sisters-in-law, meaning the Gong family's two maternal clans, also moved into the capital.
At that time, there were no restrictions on Beijing hukou, so they also settled and became Beijing residents, starting a building materials business.
As the Gong family's business grew, they met more and more people.
When the sisters-in-law went shopping and were addressed as 'madam' by store clerks, they learned more from the wealthy wives on television...
"Before, they were often called bumpkins."
"Later, as the Gong family became richer and the sisters-in-law became more arrogant, people stopped calling them that to their faces."
"But behind their backs, 'bumpkin' was used to refer to them, and even to their two families."
"Yet, they would often condescendingly call outsiders bumpkins."
"My second sister-in-law, coveting the wealth of the Huang family, who were the parents of the Gong family's eldest son's wife, married her eldest daughter into the Huang family."
"She didn't gain much advantage from the Huang family. Instead, the Huang family used the Shen family's reputation to develop rapidly in the building materials industry."
Ouyang Lei looked at the silent Tian Jing and said, "That Mrs. Gong said she saw me at the sales office of Jingyuan Company with her husband. I really don't remember them."
"However, since the Gong family is also in real estate, they probably want to build connections and contract Jingyuan Company's construction projects."
"Don't even think about it!" Shen Jianrong waved her hands repeatedly. "The projects submitted by the Gong family will be incredibly difficult to pass inspection."
"If you say they are not up to par, they will argue that they are on the borderline. If you say they are up to par, they truly won't meet the ideal data the inspectors desire."
"The properties built by the Gong family are only purchased by outsiders who are new to Beijing and don't understand the inside story."
Tian Jing looked at Ouyang Lei. "Tomorrow, don't agree to anyone, not even vaguely. Be firm."
Ouyang Lei nodded.
...
Including the groomsmen, bridesmaids, and the bride and groom, there were eight people. Li Weixin had planned to ask his elder brother to ride with him, but his elder brother was accompanying their grandmother.
He was alone, sandwiched between couples, but not awkward at all.
He watched the four couples chatting animatedly and his eyes darted around.
He knew his eldest cousin fancied Li Wanxin. What was the deal with these two bridesmaids? They were chatting 'hotly' with his younger cousin and younger paternal cousin, looking coy.
"Cough, cough, cough." He couldn't help but cough a few times to interrupt them.
'They' looked at him, then turned back to chat with his younger cousin and younger paternal cousin.
Li Weibo gently nudged his younger brother's 'hoof' and whispered, "Don't cause trouble. No one will fancy a child."
A child? Li Weixin glared at his second brother. Was he a child? He was 19.
Li Weibo touched his face, "A smooth chin means an immature hand. Mature men are most charming."
Looking down on him? Li Weixin shook his fist at his second brother. Seeing Yu Ziyu turn to look, he immediately lowered his fist.
"Hehe, second sister-in-law."
Yu Ziyu smiled at him, then turned back to talk to Li Weibo.
Li Weixin was left alone again.
He simply went to accompany his grandmother. Hmph, his grandmother would never ignore him.