Chapter 76: Celebration Banquet

Red clouds filled the sky, magnificent and varied.

Inside and outside Ye City, cooking smoke curled up gently.

In the many camps scattered outside the city, the crowds gradually gathering together spontaneously lined up before one stove after another.

Most people in the Qihuo Army had, during the process of learning to queue, experienced memories etched into their bones.

Earth soldiers holding wooden sticks stood to the side; whoever dared cut in line was directly struck with a wooden stick.

If they still refused to listen, then they simply would not eat.

Those who dared fight back were directly beaten and thrown out of the Qihuo Army, to go forage for food in the wilderness themselves.

People driven mad by hunger never feared wooden sticks; they only feared not getting food to eat.

"Smells so good~~~"

In the crowd, people kept sniffing their noses: "There's meat today?!"

"The Lang Lord captured such a huge city; this is a reward feast for us."

Once they had eaten, the argumentative types started arguing: "Rewards are for those with merit; what merit do you have to deserve a reward?"

Everyone burst into laughter: "The truly meritorious have all gone inside the city to eat."

The mocked person refused to accept it: "I went to scrape the ground too; I scraped up a huge patch of that blood and minced flesh covering the ground."

"That was also exerting effort for the Lang Lord; what's wrong with eating a good meal?"

Cleaning the battlefield is also physical labor.

Like those Hu captives crushed by the Hundred-Ton King Mining Trucks.

Deeply fused with the earth, they couldn't be pried out at all; they could only be shoveled up together with the soil on the ground.

The cooks knocked on the pot rims: "Hurry up, all of you!"

This meal's rations were indeed very good, unexpectedly good.

Refined rice that usually only military households could eat was directly boiled into thick porridge.

Every large pot had several cans of luncheon meat added; the aroma was overflowing.

Among the crowd that used to survive on just two potatoes a day, the sound of swallowing saliva was incessant.

"Really getting to eat meat~"

Those who received their food wept with joy.

Refined rice and fragrant meat — a delicacy they never even dared dream of in the past.

"This doesn't count as anything that good." With food in their bellies, someone inevitably boasted: "A fellow villager of mine, named Gan Fu, chopped off two Hu captives' heads, immediately had his military merit recorded and was converted to a military household, bringing his whole family into the city."

"From now on, eating rice and white flour until their bellies are round every day."

Someone immediately complained in dissatisfaction: "Maybe he faked it with fake heads."

"Fake?" That man shook his head, sneering: "You think the clerks just eat for nothing? Every single head has to be carefully examined!"

"Whoever dares kill innocents to claim merit gets caught on the spot and beheaded."

"So, if you truly want to live good days, you have to rely on Hu people's heads."

"Get a Hu person's head, and you can enter the city to eat your fill and dress warmly."

"Only hate that there are too few Hu people; can't find them no matter what!"

These words voiced the heartfelt desire of everyone present.

Everyone looked toward the tall Ye City walls not far away.

The sky was growing dark, but flickering firelight shone in many places inside the city.

That was the military households inside the city holding banquets.

Our joyous meal here is merely the ordinary daily fare of the military household regular soldiers.

"Truly envious~~~"

Inside the city.

Figures swayed, laughter and joy incessant.

The cooks and civilian laborers, under the clerks' supervision, transported cartloads of supplies to each squad.

"Squad Leader Zheng."

The clerk holding the receipt signaled at the things on the large cart.

"Fifty cans of boxed meat, fifty cans of honey-glazed golden peaches, fifty cans of yellow wine."

"Fifty blocks of brown sugar, fifty pieces of rabbit candy, fifty vanilla sticks."

"Five barrels of large meat stew, five hundred white flour steamed buns."

The clerk handed over the receipt: "Please verify, Squad Leader Zheng."

The Qihuo Army follows the Jin system: fifty men per squad, with one squad leader appointed.

In this great battle, a large batch of people outside the city who obtained various Hu heads earned merit and were selected into military households, basically filling the organizational rosters of all departments to full strength.

Squad Leader Zheng held the receipt, carefully checking and comparing against the supplies on the cart.

At the end, Squad Leader Zheng frowned: "That's not right; where's the vanilla?"

At these words, the clerks and others instantly turned pale, sweat pouring down their foreheads.

According to military law, losing military supplies not only requires double compensation but also a beating with the military cane.

A second time, direct execution!

Fortunately, Squad Leader Zheng quickly found the box holding the vanilla between the meat barrels: "Found it; it fell over here."

He climbed down from the cart and saw the clerks and others collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

Squad Leader Zheng hurriedly took his own seal, stamped it on the receipt, and handed it to the clerk.

With this, the handover of the supplies bestowed by the Lang Lord was complete; subsequent matters had nothing to do with those responsible for transport.

The clerks and the others drove the empty carts back to report completion of their mission.

The military households of this squad crowded forward, all staring at Squad Leader Zheng.

If he dared to embezzle any, they would immediately swarm him, tie him up, and send him to the Military Law Office.

Embezzling the Lord's bestowal merits only death.

"Cough~~"

Squad Leader Zheng coughed once, led everyone into formation, facing the direction of Xianyang Hall.

"We bow in thanks for the Lord's bestowal~~"

They saluted the Lord respectfully to express thanks, each voice louder than the last.

"Line up to receive your share." Squad Leader Zheng called out, "One portion per person, no need to fight over it."

The military households had eaten luncheon meat and yellow peach canned fruit before; they were not rare items.

As for the yellow wine, it was actually beer.

Because its color was yellowish, the military households all called it yellow wine.

Alcohol was usually only distributed after winning a battle, and was deeply loved by the military households.

Brown sugar was alcohol chocolate, rabbit candy was White Rabbit milk candy.

This was the first time Lin Dao distributed these things.

In an era where sweets were scarce, sweet-tasting sugar was undoubtedly wildly popular.

Many military households did not eat it directly, but solemnly put it away, preparing to take it back for their families to enjoy.

Sugar in these times was too hard to come by.

Besides maltose, the only way was taking huge risks to raid beehives for honey.

Even maltose was made from grain.

The Lord gave out sugar; this was truly too precious.

As for vanilla, it was tobacco.

Lin Dao purchased tobacco shreds and cigarette paper from the Modern World, and had the female workers of Yonghe Spacetime package them.

They had been distributed during previous combat; that floating sensation was avidly sought after by the military households.

Next came five large vats of big meat stew.

The so-called big meat stew was actually cubed pork, paired with cubed potatoes, komatsuna sprinkled with salt and boiled together, similar to hoof soup.

Each person received ten steamed buns; ten people shared one vat of big meat stew.

Everyone sat down around the big meat stew.

First, each person ladled a large bowl of big meat stew, then opened the beer holding steamed buns.

Eating and drinking, talking and laughing, it was extraordinarily lively.

After eating and drinking their fill, they lit up vanilla.

Amidst the clouds of smoke, their heads felt a bit dizzy, yet also wonderfully pleasant.

"Before following the Lord, who would have imagined we would have such immortal-like days."

"The Lord is the reborn parents of us all."

"Parents? Would parents make claypot rice? Would they go swap children with other families to put on the table?"

"The Lord is the heaven of my whole family, willing to die for the Lord~~~"

Inside Xianyang Hall.

Lin Dao's phone was playing the "Welcome March".

Amidst the cheerful music, aside from the sentry personnel, basically all officers of Colonel rank and above in the Beggar Army were present.

When Lin Dao stepped into the hall, everyone stood up and saluted, respectfully welcoming the Lord.

Waving his hand, Lin Dao signaled everyone, "Sit, sit."

After he sat down, everyone then followed and took their seats.

Everyone knew clearly in their hearts.

The Beggar Army's current situation relied entirely on Lin Dao's material support.

Otherwise, they would still be serving as dogs for Shi Hu at this moment.

Serving as dogs for Shi Hu, he not only didn't feed them, but also slaughtered them at the drop of a hat.

Serving as dogs for Lin Dao, they had no worries about food and clothing and could win battles to earn rewards.

Precisely because of this, serving Lin Dao as their lord, they felt no psychological burden, even secretly delighted.

Such an opportunity is not something just anyone can have.

". The stone bandits are cruel, acting in accordance with Heavenly Mandate to punish them~"

". The officers and soldiers fight bravely, as if with Divine Aid~"

". Reward merit, punish fault~"

"."

Lin Dao recited the draft Wang Meng had written in advance, considering the formalities completed.

He nodded to Jin Lian and Sun Rong standing beside him.

The two went to the rear hall and soon brought out two squads of palace maidens.

In each person's hands, they held a dining tray with a semi-circular lid.

Jin Lian and Sun Rong directed the palace maidens to place the dining trays on the tables before everyone in turn.

The cuisine of Yonghe Spacetime was usually boiled, stewed, or roasted.

There was also kuai, which is raw eating.

The idiom goes that everyone loves to eat it raw or roasted.

Today is a celebration banquet, so naturally we must eat well.

Having made a huge profit selling jewelry, Lin Dao was also generous in his spending; he ordered a takeout banquet from the high-end restaurant Fulinmen.

Honey-glazed Char Siu, Buckwheat Asparagus Abalone, Preserved Yunnan Ham Pigeon Breast, Ginger Beef Cubes, Winter Melon Tureen, and so on.

Naturally, the restaurant's signature dishes were not missing: Drunken Crab Shell, and Red Sliced Skin Roast Suckling Pig.

These Cantonese dishes were all superbly prepared in color, aroma, taste, and presentation.

"My Lord~"

Wang Meng carefully turned the plate before him. "Could these be immortal realm delicacies?"

Everyone chimed in agreement, expressing the astonishment in their hearts.

Most of them, not long ago, couldn't even get a meal to eat.

"It's not that exaggerated."

Lin Dao picked up his phone and switched to "Spring River Flower Moon Night".

"No need to stand on ceremony; tonight we don't leave until we're drunk."

When everyone moved their chopsticks, because the dishes' presentation was excessively exquisite, the usual wolfing down of food was completely gone; all carefully lowered their chopsticks.

"Father." Xie Daoyun turned her head to ask the father beside her, "Such unheard-of food — could it truly come from the immortal realm?"

"How would I know."

Xie Yi smiled. "Compared to these delicacies, I'm more curious about that treasure by the Grand Commander's side that can produce immortal music."

Xie Daoyun looked over and saw Jin Lian and Sun Rong, one on the left and one on the right, kneeling and sitting to the side, serving Lin Dao food and drink.

She treated this as if unseen; her gaze remained fixed on the phone.

Xie Daoyun, educated from childhood, understood very clearly that as a woman, the most unacceptable thing is feminine jealousy.

A hero of heavenly mandate like Grand Commander Lin — how could a jealous woman be tolerated by his side?

If one doesn't understand this, there is no chance to stay by his side.

"Father has no chance to know."

Xie Yi picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. "You, on the other hand, have a chance."

Following with another chopstickful, he complained slightly, "Although the dishes are good, the portions fall short by a lot — too little."

Lin Dao here was also in an adaptation period, adapting to the constant changes in his identity.

"Just treat it as the company annual meeting; I'm the boss."

"Everyone helped me earn so much; what's wrong with eating a good meal?"

He looked at the two girls beside him who were serving him dishes and pouring wine, regarding them as secretaries.

He spoke to instruct them: "You two go sit and eat as well."

"This slave only wants to serve my Lord~" Jin Lian's words weren't finished before she was half-dragged, half-pulled away by Sun Rong.

Before the Lord's face, Jin Lian couldn't fly into a rage.

Once seated, she then bit the bullet and said, "What are you doing!"

"I'm doing this for your own good; don't be ungrateful."

Sun Rong glanced at the opposite side, at Xie Daoyun sitting behind the table drinking wine. "The fact that you and I have a place in this grand hall is the face the Lord gave us."

"If you don't want it."

"From now on, forever you'll only be a serving slave maid!"

(End of Chapter)