Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 855 Thank You Luncheon
The commendation meeting was held smoothly. What Wang Zhan gained was a certificate and a considerable bonus, of course, mixed with some receipts. What surprised Wang Zhan the most was a ticket for a watch, which was something he could hardly get. Although Wang Zhan already had a watch, who would think that this was too much?
After returning home, Wang Zhan and He Yushui each went back to their rooms to pack up their harvest. Wang Li, surrounded by envious eyes, went to the garden to find the hens and express her heartfelt feelings.

Wang Li knows her own sister well, and she is actually not very envious. Wang Li is now better than her brother and sister Yu Shui who were of the same age as her. Wang Li is now a treasure in the eyes of the teacher. However, Wang Li is a little keen on being a class leader, which is completely different from Wang Zhan.

When it was almost noon, there was a knock on the door. When he opened the door, Sha Zhu came in carrying vegetables, meat, and a chicken. After he came in, he didn't even ask Wang Zhan, but said, "We'll thank the two directors tomorrow. We agreed to have dinner at your house. Today I have to prepare some ingredients and I'll show you my skills tomorrow."

Wang Zhan knew that Sha Zhu's crisis was over and his case had been cleared up. For his sake, Director Li even invited Director Wang to hold a meeting in Courtyard No. 95 to help him.

Wang Zhan nodded and let him in. At this time, Sha Zhu also knew that his sister had been living so close to him. He felt incredible at first, and then felt guilty.

At noon the next day, Sha Zhu came to Wang Zhan's house again. The dishes and broth prepared yesterday were already ready. Looking at Sha Zhu busy in the kitchen, Wang Zhan, as a senior chef, was very curious about how delicious the Tan family cuisine was. He really couldn't cook Tan family cuisine. At most, he could cook some dishes from the eight common cuisines. Of course, he must have eaten them before, and he only cooked the ones he thought were delicious. This was the product of his two years of experience in the martial arts world.

Sha Zhu was busy explaining things to Wang Zhan at the same time. Only then did Wang Zhan get to know about Tan's cuisine. The more Wang Zhan got to know Tan's cuisine, the more he felt that this was really not something that ordinary people could eat. A few days ago, Qi Dasheng instructed Wang Zhan to give Sha Zhu the shark fins, sea cucumbers, abalone and other dried goods that Wang Zhan bought when he just came back. Sha Zhu started processing these dried goods yesterday.

If it was Wang Zhan, he would only soak it for an hour or two and then cook it. He would not be like Sha Zhu, who took a whole night to prepare it. Judging from the time, the processing of the ingredients alone took more than ten hours, not to mention the broth, which took nearly fifteen hours. The Tan family cuisine is really exquisite.

On the afternoon of the 21st, Qi Dasheng and Director Li had a day off. Coincidentally, tomorrow was also a day off, and the family had nothing to do. Qi Dasheng went out of his way to buy a box of wine. Wang Zhan rolled his eyes and asked, "Master, do you want to get drunk for two days?"

Qi Dasheng didn't say anything, but Director Li spoke up and said, "Haha, I'm so happy. Our comrades have returned one after another in the past few days, and we are celebrating their victory."

Wang Zhan was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Didn't the North win a long time ago? Why are they celebrating now?"

Qi Dasheng laughed and said, "What do you know? What is a complete victory? Now is the time. In the next one or two days, our team has finally returned from there. This is the end."

Wang Zhan didn’t quite understand, but he seemed to understand that this meant the final clearing of the area, which was considered a complete withdrawal from the north.

Wang Li was hanging around in the kitchen. Wang Zhan didn't laugh at her because he was also hanging around here. The delicious taste of Sha Zhu's broth was so tempting.

Just as it was noon, Director Wang and the Deputy Director came, followed by Auntie Sun from next door and her two children. Actually, Erya and Xiaopang had been clamoring to come over, but Auntie Sun was making winter clothes for the children, so she didn't let them. Now it was noon, and they were hungry, so they brought their two children over. At noon, two large tables were set up under the grapevines in the backyard, one for adults and one for children. Today was Shazhu's thank-you banquet, and he was going all out, using all his tricks.

The first dish at the banquet was stir-fried tiger claw bamboo shoots with ginger sprouts and diced shiitake mushrooms. Although it was a vegetarian dish, it was quite exquisite. Eating shiitake mushrooms is not uncommon in Beijing, but using diced shiitake mushrooms that are the same size as abacus lumps requires careful processing and selection. Especially the tiger claw bamboo shoots are grown in Tianmu Mountain. Each one is only an inch long, with a single claw standing upright, resembling a tiger claw. The bamboo shoots must be properly fermented so that the fried bamboo shoot meat can be as tender as jade fat, with a light and long-lasting taste.

The second dish is Braised Chinese kale with crab roe, also known as green coral, a typical Cantonese dish. The crab roe is made from crab paste cooked in autumn, which is not Yangcheng hairy crab but Shengfang crab, so it is always full of fat no matter what season it is. In addition, only the tender tips of Chinese kale are used, and with proper cooking, it naturally turns red and green, with an attractive color and fragrance, and is fresh and refreshing.

As soon as the two dishes came up, everyone was dumbfounded. According to Sha Zhu, these two dishes were considered vegetarian dishes, so what would the main course be like? Everyone was suddenly full of expectations.

The third dish was served under everyone's expectant eyes. It was braised duck feet. Sha Zhu washed the chicken feet and duck feet, removed the membranes, and soaked them in sorghum wine. Sha Zhu had soaked them for three months in private and used them today. The soaked chicken feet and duck feet were like baby fingers, strong and tender. They were braised in broth and seasonings. The sauce was thick and the taste was authentic. It was rich but not greasy. It was really a delicious dish that was suitable for both rice and wine.

Then the dishes came up one by one, including almond white lung, honey barbecued pork, steamed scallops, fish cooked with eggplant, and pigeon fern with dried oysters.

After the eight dishes, there were four main courses. The first one was braised giant black sea cucumber, which was the main ingredient provided by Wang Zhan. Wang Zhan had never dared to make it for fear of making it bad, but today, Sha Zhu made a difference.

The second dish is braised shark's fin. It actually takes seven days to prepare the dish from soaking the ingredients to serving. Shazhu simplified it. Besides, Wang Zhan only provided ordinary shark's fin, not the top-grade Tianjiu shark's fin, so it took a short time. However, the chicken soup base is made from free-range hens from BJ Xishan. It is golden and transparent, and tastes fresh and non-greasy, with a long aftertaste.

The third dish was braised abalone, and the last one was steamed chicken with straw mushrooms. Each one was a delicacy, but no one at the table, including the children, dared to pick up their chopsticks. They were all waiting for Sha Zhu to finish his work. Although everyone was drooling, they were all holding back.

Not long after, Sha Zhu came in with a bowl of Tremella soup and said with a smile, "Everyone, come and eat. No need to wait for me. I've had a great time today. This is the first time I've cooked Tan's dishes. Although they're not very fancy, I put a lot of effort into the dishes. Well, Director Li, why don't you have a drink and let's eat."

Director Li looked at Director Wang, but Director Wang didn't even look at him. He just stared at the dishes. It seemed that Director Wang was very interested in the shark fin and was admiring it. Director Li stood up and said, "Everyone is gathered here. Although this is a thank-you banquet for Sha Zhu, we are lucky to have such a meal today. It is estimated that we will not be able to have such a meal for several years. I won't say more. Congratulations to Sha Zhu on his new life. Let's eat."

As soon as he finished speaking, chopsticks flew up. Drinking is something only fools do. Didn't you see that even the picky Wang Zhan was just picking up the food?

(End of this chapter)