Chapter 532: Grandpa Liu’s Birthday Banquet
Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
If one wanted to offer birthday wishes, one naturally needed to give a birthday present to the elderly at the very beginning.
“Jianan, you can present your birthday banquet now.” Sitting at the seat of honor, Grandpa Liu looked at Liu Jianan and said smilingly.
“Okay, grandpa. Let me go to check if it’s ready.” When Liu Jianan stood up and prepared to leave, the person arranged by Liu Jianan to carry dishes for Yuan Zhou happened to be carrying a big plate into the room.
“Grandpa, I don’t need to go now. Boss Yuan has prepared it.” Liu Jianan said happily.
“Um. Carry it to me and let me have a look.” Grandpa Liu wasn’t really gluttonous. He just felt it was his grandson’s respect for the elderly and thus he was very cooperative.
“Come, come here. Let me see what the first dish prepared by Boss Yuan is.” Liu Jianan was also curious about it. Even before that person got close, he directly went up and took the tray. Judging from his behavior, he was prepared to serve the dish by himself.
What that person carried here was a big tray, on which five smaller plates were laid out. Obviously, they were the cold dishes.
Of the banquet dishes, the first dish was definitely a cold dish. However, five cold dishes did not seem too much for all the people at the table.
“The amount in each plate might be a lot.” Liu Jianan straightforwardly put them on the table while thinking that.
“Let this elderly see what’s the craftsmans.h.i.+p of the great master invited by Jianan like.” Grandpa Liu said smilingly.
“Sir, that chef told me to inform you to eat it immediately after you open it. Otherwise, the taste will change once it gets cold. Then, it won’t be suitable for you.” The young person that carried the dishes here said hurriedly.
“Then let me help to uncover the plate.” Seated at the right side of the grandpa was Liu Jianan’s father, Liu Jianguo.
“No. This is my grandson’s respect for the elderly. I must uncover it by myself.” Grandpa Liu refused bluntly before he opened the plate covered by something with a smile.
After five continuous sound of “Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua”, the grandpa removed the lid quickly.
As soon as the lid was removed, everyone at the table looked at each other, puzzled.
There happened to be five colors for the five plates, black, white, red, yellow and green.
Five colors happened to correspond to five internal organs.
In the black plate were two pieces of black crystal cake-like things about two-finger-wide and a circle of green plants decorated the edge, which seemed to be quite harmonious. And in the white plate, there were small cubes similar to the almond cakes. The main point was that everybody can clearly see a ginkgo seed inlaid in each of the cubes. Besides, the little flowers painted at the edge were also very beautiful.
In the red plate were shredded carrots dressed with sauce, over which some chilies were interspersed. On the whole, it appeared to be refres.h.i.+ng and tasty.
In the yellow plate was some yellow mashed potatoes that emitted some slight steam with chopped green onions poured over it.
As for the last green plate, there were only two pieces of common bamboo sprouts.
The things in the several plates had some characteristics in common. They were all exquisite and appetizing, but with one problem, that was, the amount was way too little. The plates basically became empty after Grandpa Liu took some himself with the chopsticks.
“Haha. Jianan, is the great master invited by you coming here to feed the cat? How shall we eat the meal since he cooks so little?” The girl, Hongjun, pointed at the dishes on the table and mocked her younger brother immodestly.
“The cold dishes are usually for whetting our appet.i.te, so the little amount is quite normal.” Liu Jianan straightened up his neck and contradicted loudly.
“Humph. They are simply too little to eat my fill.” Hongjun snorted coldly.
“Stop fighting. Let me taste it first.” The grandpa didn’t really get angry, but instead, became quite interested.
“You ought to. The five colors coincidentally correspond to the Five Elements and the five internal organs. And according to my observations, the five dishes are also good for the five internal organs. What an ingenious conception!” It was said by the other son of the grandpa at his right side.
He majored in the traditional Chinese medical science. Once these plates with five colors were carried on the table, he understood the chef’s intent.
“Right on. It is for the good of my grandpa’s health. Boss Yuan really cooks perfectly. Please taste it quickly.” Liu Jianan immediately nodded the head to echo his uncle.
“Um. I’m going to eat the shredded carrots first.” Grandpa Liu showed more interest in the seemingly hot and refres.h.i.+ng shredded carrots.
The shredded carrots were actually bright pink instead of being deep red. It was cut into very thin pieces and the amount was just enough to be picked once with the chopsticks.
He stuffed it into his mouth directly.
“Ka Ca Ka Ca”, the shredded carrots emitted a clear and melodious crunching sound in the mouth.
They were so thin that they didn’t need much effort to chew. In the meantime, the thinness didn’t affect its refres.h.i.+ng taste. The red little chilli had no functions but slightly stimulated the tongue.
After swallowing it up, there was still a kind of extremely sour taste pervading in the mouth. After the sourness, however, Grandpa Liu surprisingly felt the intrinsic bland taste of the radish.
“Um. This shredded radish is really nice. It’s very refres.h.i.+ng.” Grandpa Liu said with a very satisfied tone.
When he lowered his head and prepared to take another sip, he found the plate had been empty with nothing at all left.
“It’s just that the amount is rather small.” Grandpa Liu muttered.
“How do you like it? Grandpa, is it delicious?” Liu Jianan asked with an expectant look.
“Not bad. Let me taste this now.” While saying that, Grandpa Liu reached his chopsticks toward the green bamboo sprouts.
When Liu Jianan first heard his grandpa say not bad, he became a little upset. But when he saw his grandpa turn to reach for another dish, he got relieved.
After all, Grandpa Liu had been 91 years old now. At this age, people normally had very little requirements, but meanwhile, also had the most requirements. Very few people could eat so proactively even though the amount was not much.
As for other originally discontented people at the table, they shut their mouth temporarily when they found Grandpa Liu revealing a satisfied look. After all, Grandpa Liu mattered more than anything.
The green bamboo sprouts also tasted refres.h.i.+ng, but they were all cut into thin slices. Once they entered the mouth, they almost melted immediately. Not long after that, however, the delicate fragrance of the green bamboo sprouts emitted from the bottom of his tongue. The taste was indeed pure.
“It also tastes good, but is just too little.” Grandpa Liu said that this time.
The older one got, the more childish he became. Since the dishes were so little, Grandpa Liu ate up the five plates of dishes by himself without saying anything to his younger generations. A new dish arrived again from the kitchen even before he urged them.
It was the hot soup this time, a cup of hot soup. The amount was so little that it was gone after Grandpa took only a sip.
“Sigh. It’s so annoying. Why is it gone so quickly?” Grandpa Liu sighed and looked out of the door.
On the contrary, Liu Jianan became more and more embarra.s.sed. There had been two dishes served one after another, a cold dish and a bowl of hot soup, of which the amount is way too little. Other family members even started to stare at Liu Jianan.
Grandpa Liu didn’t care about them anymore as there was rarely such satisfying dishes during normal times. Having eaten so many appetizing cold dishes, he was really hungry.
“Sir, here are the six hot dishes.” The young man carried the dishes to them again. As soon as he arrived, he put them in front of Grandpa Liu and said.
When the lid was removed, however, Grandpa Liu found that the amount was, again, too little to eat his fill, and furthermore, the dishes were exquisite and cute.
Just in a little while, Grandpa Liu ate up all of the dishes. After all, there was only one mouthful of each dish and moreover the dishes were so delicious.
Therefore, Grandpa Liu totally didn’t notice that his sons, his daughters-in-law and his grandsons were all anxiously watching him eat.
“Liu Jianan, is this chef the great master you find after so long time? So he can only prepare a banquet like this?” Liu Jianguo, namely Liu Jianan’s father, stared at him and asked directly.
“I think these dishes are specially prepared by Boss Yuan for my grandpa as he knows my grandpa doesn’t have a good appet.i.te. The remaining dishes definitely won’t be served like this.” Liu Jianan braced himself to explain with a tone of self-affirmation.
“You go check what’s the matter.” Liu Jianguo said with authority.
“Okay.” Liu Jianan answered and then immediately ran away. He happened to pa.s.s by the young man that carried the dishes to them.
What the young man carried to them this time was the birthday noodles, which was usually the last dish in a birthday banquet. After all, other dishes had all been served.