Chapter 520 Long Table Banquet

Once this biggest thing is done, the rest will basically enter the "praise group" mode, and no one will deliberately bring bad luck to others at this critical juncture.

Seeing that the situation was so good, a comrade from the subdistrict office sighed: "Your courtyard is worthy of its reputation as a civilized community. You are really like a family. Why don't you organize an activity together and have a family reunion dinner?"

The family reunion dinner is not necessarily the New Year’s Eve dinner. The New Year’s Eve dinner still needs to be eaten by each family at their own home.

When other neighbors heard this and were still wondering what this was, Yi Zhonghai's eyes lit up. This was a great idea!

All men, regardless of age, position, or status, hope to be able to do something that can lead the group and make concerted efforts. Even if this thing is not necessarily a big deal, just a call from a high place, but only for eating, drinking, and playing games.

Things like this that have a strong and real "leadership" connotation and are very positive would make them even more interested. To a certain extent, they can be regarded as the "political achievement" of the boss in charge.

Yan Bugui, the newly appointed second uncle, had some reservations, mainly because he was afraid that the uncle in charge would have to pay more. But it seemed inappropriate for him to oppose the suggestions of the comrades from the street office just after becoming the second uncle. Yan Bugui was not very smart, but he could see the small details clearly, so he did not say anything.

As for Liu Haizhong, it is even less likely that he would object. As long as the reason was brought up by the comrades from the street office, he would support it even if he had to hold his nose and bite the bullet.

Since these uncles in charge had no objections, the neighbors in the yard became even more excited. Watching the fun is one of our hobbies, as is joining in the fun.

"I think it's fine. What do you think of this suggestion from the street office?"

"Well, this thing can be done."

"Yes, yes, yes. The situation this year is much better than last year, and things are not so scarce. Moreover, the situation of every family in the yard is pretty good this year. Even the poor families are getting better. I think it's okay."

"This is a good suggestion from the comrades in the subdistrict office. We have worked hard for a year. It would be a happy thing for the whole compound to get together and have some fun at the end of the year."

"If the compound really does this, I'll be the chef, and no one can snatch it from me."

"..."

Lou Xiao'e was even more excited than Gao Zhendong after hearing this. She loved to join in this kind of lively and bustling atmosphere, so she shook Gao Zhendong's arm and said, "Zhendong Zhendong, I want to join in. I want to join in."

Looking at Lou Xiao'e who was like a little kid joining in the fun, Gao Zhendong nodded and said, "Well, Master Yi, this is something that can be done. I think you can organize it. This can be considered a good story."

In addition to fulfilling Lou Xiao'e's wish, Gao Zhendong had another purpose, which was what he was thinking about doing with the welfare benefits in his family.

Seeing that everyone was very interested, Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui, and Liu Haizhong discussed it and announced loudly: "Neighbors, after discussion, we have decided that this year, we will have a reunion dinner together in our yard. The time will be arranged at noon on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. What do you think?"

There were only twenty-nine days in the twelfth lunar month in 1961, so New Year's Eve was on the twenty-ninth, not the thirtieth. To be precise, around 1961, the twelfth lunar month had only twenty-nine days for many consecutive years.

If it were placed in later times, this time would be inappropriate.

On New Year's Eve, every household is either welcoming returning children or entertaining relatives who have returned to celebrate the New Year. In addition, preparing the family's New Year's Eve dinner is also a very time-consuming task. If you want to gather everyone at noon on New Year's Eve, it would be a bit of a delay.

But it was not so bad in the 60s. Transportation was inconvenient and there were not so many relatives and guests to entertain. As for the New Year’s Eve dinner, haha, although the situation has improved a lot, it still does not take too much time to prepare. With only those few things, it doesn’t take much time to make the flowers.

When people heard the decision, there was a burst of applause in the yard.

Sha Zhu was particularly excited: "Okay, I'll cook. I guarantee everyone will eat to their satisfaction and drink to their heart's content."

Some female comrades also laughed and said, "We will help and make sure it is done quickly."

There are only a few dozen people in the entire compound, less than a hundred. For a chef like Sha Zhu, it is enough for him to cook alone.

At this time, a neighbor suddenly asked: "Hey, uncle, where did you get the stuff?"

As soon as this question was asked, there was a sudden silence. Yes, where did the things come from?

There are more supplies this year, but to say that they are wealthy is out of the question. If we must say, only the comrades in the yard who are related to the Third Branch Factory have better supplies this year. At least they have enough for the New Year. But to ask them to share them with everyone seems a bit excessive.

The comrades from the subdistrict office stood up and said it was time for the administrative agency to play its role: "Don't worry, comrades. Your compound has also won the title of civilized this year. This title comes with prizes, which are some rice, flour, oil and the like. Not much, but enough for a meal, enough to sustain you."

The comrades in the subdistrict office are not idle. There are so many courtyards. Do they attend the general meeting of all courtyards before the New Year? They don’t have the time. The ones they will attend are nothing more than two types, either too bad or too good, and the reasons are self-explanatory. No. 95 Nanluoguxiang is undoubtedly the latter. This is a typical example. They still have to attend and give some support to the "leadership team" in the courtyard.

This yard stands out among the good ones, so the street office hopes to be able to make some fun things happen.

This year, the funds and materials related to the construction of spiritual civilization will be more abundant, and the Civilization Courtyard will also have actual prizes.

This also solved a small problem for Yi Zhonghai and his team. If they divided the rice, flour and oil equally, each person would not have much, and it could even be described as shabby. If they gave them special care, it was hard to determine what the "special care" should be.

It's a good idea to just sit down and eat together.

Everyone felt relieved after hearing this.

At least the staple food is fine, and there is flour and oil, so let's just come together and make some oily vegetarian fillings to make dumplings, or add some toppings to make noodles. At least it won't be too ugly.

Yan Bugui could play a role at this time: "I heard that in other places, there is a custom called long table banquet, that is, each family prepares a dish, regardless of high or low, meat or vegetable, the purpose is to create a lively atmosphere. I think we can do the same, what do you think?"

This is something new. In fact, there are similar ones in the capital. But with the name "Long Table Banquet", it becomes more interesting. "Banquet" means that there are certain standards, and the word "long table" makes the banquet feel down-to-earth.

"Okay, that's a good idea."

"Interesting, this is a good name. Uncle San... Uncle Er is worthy of being a teacher."

"Well, no matter how poor you are, you can still afford a dish."

"That's it. This is our compound this year!"

The comrades from the subdistrict office were also smiling happily. Now this matter had more to say. Well, the Civilized Courtyard really lived up to its reputation.

Gao Zhendong also spoke at the right time: "Dear neighbors, everyone knows that I have a lot of miscellaneous work. The relevant units were very enthusiastic during the New Year and sent some welfare benefits. There are only two people in my family, Xiao'e and I, and we can't eat so much, so, neighbors, please help me solve this problem together."

If you can’t finish it yourself, take it out and share it with everyone.

As for whether someone would be jealous, that was just overthinking. Gao Zhendong's family received a lot of benefits, and many people saw it. If I kept it to myself, no one would be jealous? Maybe if I kept it to myself and enjoyed it slowly, no one would gossip too much, but at least it was certain that the reputation of the people would definitely be better than if I kept it to myself.

To put it bluntly, if you try to hide it, people will suspect that your origin is not legitimate.

Everyone was stunned. Chief Engineer Gao was very generous, but wasn’t this a little too much?
"Zhendong, isn't this inappropriate?" Yi Zhonghai was a little worried.

"What's inappropriate about it? It's from a legitimate source. Don't worry, just eat it. But compared with the whole school, the number is not that large. We should just make up a few dishes. We still have to grasp the essence of the long table banquet proposed by Teacher Yan."

Gao Zhendong's "inappropriateness" and Yi Zhonghai's "inappropriateness" are completely different things, but he deliberately distorted them.

Everybody laughed and the comrades from the subdistrict office nodded secretly. This is what a leader is like. Although this matter is high-profile, he tries to be thoughtful in everything he does and says.

As a section-level cadre under the street office, Gao Zhendong's rank is much higher than hers.

This matter has been settled. The long table banquet will be held at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang at noon tomorrow.

After a while, Sha Zhu took a few neighbors to help and went to Gao Zhendong's house to move the welfare items of various units to the Central Courtyard. He had a lot of things to do. They would have lunch tomorrow, so he had to start preparing at least tonight. Also to be moved was Gao Zhendong's iron stove.

Although ordinary people have nothing to do before the New Year, some people do not have this festival because they are very busy.

Even on the morning of New Year's Eve, somewhere in Beijing, the leader of the Defense Work Committee was reporting to a leader on the termination of the K-5 air-to-air missile replication.

The country spent a lot of effort in introducing K-5. Now that it has decided to stop imitating it, it must report it in place.

"You mean, after careful discussion, the final consensus is to stop imitation?" The chief was not displeased, but discussed the matter at hand and understood the situation.

The leader of the Defense Work Committee nodded and said, "Yes, Commander. After rigorous discussion, the technical experts and air force comrades present at the meeting unanimously determined that the technical and tactical performance of this missile is backward, and its functions are completely covered by better equipment. There is no point in imitating it."

(End of this chapter)