Chapter 324: Chapter 324 Banquet Chapter 324: Chapter 324 Banquet The house’s construction climbed higher day by day, and Xuexue and Big Bull, anticipating the upcoming beam-raising in a few days, were bustling about the town making purchases.
In the countryside, a house’s beam-raising ceremony was a significant event that required hosting a banquet, inviting the village head, respected village elders, and neighbors as well as friends and relatives to feast at the home–a customary practice.
Early in the morning, Madam Xie had enlisted several of the village aunties to prepare the banquet that day at the Li Family’s home; with their own home still unfinished, there was no alternative but to entertain guests at the Lis’. However, the Li family’s courtyard was spacious enough to accommodate ten to twenty tables without issue.
That afternoon following lunch, Madam Xie sat down with her daughters and Big Bull to discuss who they should invite to the banquet on the day of the beam-raising.
After contemplating for a moment, Madam Xie said, “The village head and a few village elders are indispensable; they are significant figures in our village and must be given a seat at the banquet.”
Xuexue nodded in agreement with her mother’s words and then asked, “Should we invite mother’s family as well?”
Madam Xie shook her head, considering the inconvenience of the long distance to her natal home, “Not this time. Once our house is built, we will invite your uncles and aunts to stay for a while.”
Xuexue agreed, reasoning that as grand as the Li family’s home was, it wasn’t her own; hosting guests there would indeed be inconvenient, and she consented to Madam Xie’s decision, “Alright.”
The mother and daughter selected several villagers with whom they had good relations to invite to the feast, twelve households in total.
“Xuexue, what about your grandmother and her side…?” Madam Xie questioned Xuexue with an inquisitive look.
“Don’t invite them,” Xuexue said decisively, frustrated by the constant chaos caused by those family troublemakers.
“Right! Don’t invite them, they’re too mean. The other day, Grandmother even stole my pork lard cake,” Chuner still harbored a grudge over the incident. She had been having a friendly competition with Xiao Gougou to see who could make their pork lard cake last longer, but before she could even bring it into the house, Old Lady Mo snatched it away, leaving her crying all night.
Xuexue declared, “Chuner is right, we won’t invite them to the feast.”
Chuner nodded vehemently in agreement, “Mm.”
Madam Xie expected Xuexue to react this way; after all, Concubine Sun was truly malicious and had nearly caused Xuexue to lose her virtue. After pondering for a while, she said, “Xuexue, no matter what they’ve done, they are still your family. If we go too far, people may say that once we got wealthy, we became heartless and ungrateful. As for me, a woman divorced by her husband, it doesn’t matter much. But you and Chuner are still young. If your reputation is tarnished, how will you manage in the future? Maybe we should tell your father not to allow Concubine Sun, that wretched woman, to come to our family feast; otherwise, none of them are welcome.”
Xuexue was somewhat reluctant to accept Madam Xie’s proposal; she would prefer not to invite any of the Mo family at all.
Xuexue remained silent.
Madam Xie continued, “Xuexue, you’re young and don’t understand how damaging gossip can be. Listen to your mother; you won’t be wrong.”
“Okay! I’ll listen to mother this time. If they cause trouble again, from then on, they can’t blame Xuexue for not acknowledging them anymore,” Xuexue finally relented.
Madam Xie was overjoyed and said, “I’ll talk to your father about it in a bit.”
“You’re going to the Mo family’s place again?”
“How else would I talk to your father about the banquet arrangements?” Madam Xie showed no awareness of the danger and stated it as if it were obvious.
“All this trouble for those wretches; I don’t know why you bother.”
“It’s all for you and Chuner. I don’t want people to point fingers at your back and accuse you of being unfilial,” Madam Xie responded.
“Just be careful not to let them bully you again,” Xuexue warned.