Chen Lan quickly presented the birthday gifts prepared for her mother—a silk scarf and a bottle of the new Chanel No. 5 perfume.
Her mother was both surprised and delighted. With trembling hands, a sign of her excitement, she received the gifts from Chen Lan, her eyes welling up.
Seeing the envious gazes from her two younger brothers sitting on either side of their mother, Chen Lan said, "Wenkai, Wenqi, the gifts for you and Mingzhe are in the storage room. Big sister is holding your little nephew, so I can't get them for you. You can go to the storage room later to get the birthday presents I've prepared for you."
The three little ones were overjoyed. Mingzhe, in particular, cried out happily, "Great! I have a gift too! I'm so happy! Thank you, sister-in-law! Thank you, auntie!"
Mingzhe's humorous and lively demeanor once again amused everyone.
Next, Mingzhe and Mingwei, brother and sister, kowtowed to their mother to wish her a happy birthday. They were followed by Uncle Fu and Mama Liu's family, and then Uncle De and Mama Cui's family.
Her mother also gave Xiao Shitue and Hutou small silver bracelets as见面礼 (meeting gifts), and larger silver bracelets to Cui Qiao, Zhao Xiaoyue, and Hu Yuzhen.
Finally, other people from the valley came one after another to wish the mother a happy birthday.
After Mingwei finished paying her respects and kowtowing, Chen Lan handed Mingwei her meeting gift—Chanel No. 5 Coco Mademoiselle perfume.
Mingwei's eyes widened in surprise, and with reddened eyes, she said, "Sister-in-law, there's a gift for me too? Is it real?"
Chen Lan nodded and said, "I picked out a perfume for you. Smell it? See if you like the scent?"
Mingwei was deeply touched. She sniffed and said, "I love it! I like everything you buy, sister-in-law! I trust your taste!"
Chen Lan smiled and patted Mingwei's small shoulder. "You flatterer, you have the sweetest tongue. Just for that, sister-in-law will definitely buy you more gifts in the future."
Regardless of the order of paying respects, her mother gave the same meeting gifts to the children, young ladies, and young wives. Naturally, everyone was delighted and deeply moved.
After the children, young ladies, and young wives had received their meeting gifts, Chen Lan also took out the gift for her mother-in-law from the system warehouse and handed it to her.
As she handed it over, Chen Lan said, "Mother-in-law, this is a gift for you. It's the same as my mother's, a silk scarf, but the colors are different. My mother's is more subdued, while yours is a bit brighter. Do you like this color?"
When her mother-in-law heard that she also had a gift, she was equally surprised and happy! She quickly replied, "I like it, I like it! Xiaolan, you have good taste! I like everything you buy."
Saying that, she joyfully accepted the silk scarf from Chen Lan, turning it over and over in her hands, unable to put it down. She kept praising it to Mama Cui, who was sitting next to her, "Chunmei, look at the flowers on this, they look real! And look at the color, the workmanship, it feels so smooth to the touch. You can tell it's a good item!"
After the birthday greetings, kowtows, and meeting gifts were presented, Uncle Fu began to arrange for everyone to be seated and announced the official start of the birthday banquet.
Everyone happily and lively took their seats. Xu Mingxuan's comrades were accompanied by Uncle De and Uncle Fu today. After they were settled, the banquet officially began.
First was the cake cutting and distribution. This task was handled by the adults at each table. For the children's table, Mingzhe insisted on cutting his own, and Chen Lan did not stop him.
Once everyone had a piece of cake, Chen Lan also took a piece for the twins to share. Chen Lan tasted it first. Mmm! It tasted really good. The cake was soft, the cream was silky. It truly was a case of you get what you pay for. The cake was expensive for a reason!
After feeding the twins a piece of cake, she let them play with their toys. The twins were exceptionally well-behaved and understanding today.
Jiahui, wearing her new clothes today, didn't crawl around everywhere. She sat on the sofa like a little lady! Everyone praised her beauty, and she even used her two little fingers to pinch the hem of her skirt and say "Beautiful! Beautiful!" which made everyone laugh again.
After settling the twins, Chen Lan quickly went to the kitchen to check on Lin Mai making pickled fish.
Meanwhile, at the banquet, Chen Lan had prepared sorghum wine for the male guests, and wine and beer for the female guests, along with a special tremella lotus seed soup for them.
For the children like Mingzhe, she prepared orange juice, grape juice, and yogurt.
For the young ladies like Mingwei, she prepared orange juice, grape juice, as well as corn juice and tremella lotus seed soup.
Chen Lan sat at a table with her mother, mother-in-law, Mama Liu, Mama Cui, Auntie Xiaoshan, and a few other elderly aunts. This table had a variety of drinks available.
Chen Lan drank corn juice; her mother, Auntie Xiaoshan, and Mama Cui drank red wine; her mother-in-law, Mama Liu, and the other aunts drank sorghum wine.
Before Chen Lan's main dishes for the banquet were served, Lin Mai first prepared several appetizers for each table: spicy and refreshing pickled radish, appetizing and fragrant kimchi, as well as cured sausage, cured meat, cured chicken, cured rabbit, and cured duck, steamed and served on a platter. These cured meats had just been taken out of the steamer, and their aroma was incredibly tempting. They were cleared from the table as soon as they were served.
The table for the male guests, who were drinking alcohol, was served six special braised dishes.
As the steamed pork and pickled fish were served, the eyes of the men, women, old, and young at the table lit up. The aroma of the steaming pork and the sour, spicy fish filled the air. Even before anyone picked up their chopsticks, they were drawn in by the fragrant, spicy, and sour scent.
Especially the unique aroma of the pickled fish wafting to their noses, its sour, spicy, and numbing fragrance made their mouths water. They couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks and feast.
Those who were quick tried a slice. The fish was smooth and tender, and the soup base was intensely sour and spicy, leaving a lingering aftertaste. It was simply too delicious to describe! Truly, this fish belonged in heaven, not on earth!
Needless to say, the sweet and sour pork ribs specially prepared for Mingzhe's children's table were also enthusiastically welcomed by the children.
When the stir-fried pork intestines with green peppers were served, everyone was conquered by the crisp, bouncy, and intensely savory flavor.
Then came the hot pot, allowing everyone to be more casual and choose whatever they wanted to cook!
Opening the lid and looking at the bubbling red soup, the spicy and fragrant aroma instantly filled the air. Some people inhaled without noticing and immediately started coughing.
Many people in the valley had already tried the delicacy of hot pot. Those who had eaten it introduced how to cook and eat it, and what was delicious to those who hadn't. The atmosphere at the table immediately became harmonious and friendly.