Chapter 36: Deliver this bowl of meat to the Ji family (1)
Zhong Siqi was already starving, so he picked up the bowl and prepared to eat. The first thing he did with his chopsticks was to pick up the braised pork with potatoes.
Mother Zhong frowned and raised her hand to knock away his unruly chopsticks, but was stopped by Father Zhong.
Mr. Zhong was always serious, but at this moment he tried hard to squeeze out some kindness from his old wrinkles, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere.
"Alright, Siqi has been studying hard and doesn't usually eat meat. We're all family, so let's not follow any rules this time and eat as much as we can."
Mother Zhong's brows relaxed slightly, but she still scolded him: "No matter what, there must be rules. The elders haven't even started eating yet, but the younger ones are already digging into the bowls. What if someone says that our family has no rules?"
"You just love to daydream."
Mr. Zhong smiled and shook his head, then reached out and patted her shoulder to comfort her.
Zhong Qiao has eaten a lot of meat these days, such as crucian carp soup, scrambled eggs with vegetables, shredded pork with tofu, and fried pork liver... He only dared to carefully pick up a piece of potato with chopsticks.
She took a bite and it melted in her mouth, soft, glutinous and sweet. Just as she was about to eat the crystal clear white rice, a pair of chopsticks reached out and a piece of braised pork with 80% lean meat and 20% fat fell on the tip of the rice.
Zhong Qiao was stunned.
Mr. Zhong hunched his back, put away his chopsticks, and looked a little embarrassed, even shy and awkward, which was rare to see.
He seemed to want to say something, and it brewed between his lips and teeth for a long time. In the end, thousands of words turned into a light, emotion-filled sentence.
"Dad hasn't touched it, the chopsticks are clean."
After saying that, he lowered his eyes, not daring to look Zhong Qiao in the eye. He pretended nothing had happened and picked up a piece of potato to eat.
Zhong Qiao looked at the piece of braised pork in the bowl and was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to do.
When she was bullied by outsiders in public, Zhong's father was the first to step in. But when they were together in private, as father and daughter, their relationship became awkward and tense, even a bit like that of strangers.
And this strangeness is mixed with deep concern.
Mother Zhong's eyes wandered between the two of them, and she sighed in her heart.
After a while, she smiled and said, "What are you doing? Do you think my braised pork is not tasty? What's the point of you two just standing there staring at me? If you keep doing this, I won't make it next time."
Zhong Siqiao, who was busy eating, became anxious when he heard it and quickly expressed his loyalty: "Delicious, delicious! Very delicious! Mom, you made this..."
"Shut up and eat your food."
"Oh..." Zhong Siqi quickly lowered his head and continued to eat.
Zhong Qiao nodded, put the braised pork into his mouth, savored it carefully, looked up and smiled, "Mom, the braised pork you made is really delicious."
Seeing Zhong Qiao eating the braised pork, Zhong's father's expression eased a little.
Mother Zhong smiled and said, "You haven't drunk alcohol for a long time. Since you are happy today, I will allow you to drink a little."
Father Zhong's eyes lit up: "Really?"
Mr. Zhong's health has not been good since last year. No one knows what went wrong. He went to the hospital for a check-up but the cause could not be found. The doctor forbade him to drink or smoke, but it made him very depressed.
"Can I still lie to you?" Mother Zhong came into the room and took out a bottle of wine from under the bed. She put it on the table and poured him a small cup. "But first, I'll tell you, don't drink too much. This wine is very strong. You can only drink a little bit."
Mr. Zhong nodded repeatedly, holding the glass of wine as if it were a treasure and taking small sips.
Seeing him drunk, Zhong Siqi couldn't help but be curious: "Dad, what does this wine taste like? I want to drink it too."
Zhong's father frowned and said, "This is white wine. Why would a kid like you drink it?"
"Give me a taste, Dad." Zhong Siqi put his face closer with the braised pork in his mouth.
Mr. Zhong hesitated.
"Okay, I'll give you a taste, but first, make it clear that you want to drink it yourself."
Zhong Siqi snatched the wine from Zhong's mother's hand, drank it fiercely, wiped his mouth, nodded, and patted his chest to assure: "It's okay, Dad."
After one mouthful, Mr. Zhong was so frightened that his eyeballs almost fell off the table.
"This wine is very strong, you little rascal." Father Zhong snatched the wine from his hand.
Zhong Siqi was still grinning: "Dad, you are my son, how can I not be at ease?"
"What the hell?" Mr. Zhong paused with his pouting lips, pricked up his ears, and almost thought he had misheard.
However, Zhong Siqi no longer paid any attention to him.
Although the Zhong family has a lot of assets in Hong Kong, they are very frugal when it comes to food.
Perhaps it was because Mr. Zhong had lived a hard life when he was young, and Mrs. Zhong had become ill when she gave birth to Zhong Siqi because she had helped Mr. Zhong make a comeback in his youth. The doctor recommended that they eat less greasy and meaty food, so their family rarely ate meat.
If Zhong Qiao had not been in confinement during this period, the Zhong family could have continued to eat stir-fried vegetarian dishes for another half month, and the only meat would probably be eggs.
This also has some advantages.
Other families in the compound built a shed at the door to make it convenient for cooking. When it was time for dinner, the aroma of food wafted out from each family, but the Zhong family's stove was deserted.
Others mistakenly thought that the Zhong family was really poor, and only Mrs. Qian's family would send them some food from time to time.
"It's nothing, my mouth just feels a little burning, and it tastes bitter and spicy." Zhong Siqi smacked his lips, still savoring the taste.
Father Zhong sneered but said nothing.
The next second, a burning sensation rose from the stomach to the throat, as if it was about to turn into flames and burst out.
Zhong Siqi's face changed drastically, his fair skin instantly turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, his lips became red, and his eye sockets were red from irritation.
"Oh my god!" he yelled, jumping up and pouring cold water into his mouth. "What the hell? It's like swallowing a ball of fire."
Zhong's mother and Zhong Qiao laughed along.
Father Zhong picked up a piece of green vegetables with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth: "Boy, will you dare to be curious next time?"
Zhong Siqi was too busy to take care of himself.
He drank a few big gulps of cold water, and then he felt the burning sensation in his stomach gradually eased. He couldn't help but curl his lips, and his little mouth was filled with nothing but meat and rice.
The family enjoyed their meal happily.
There was a strong wind outside, and it happened to be snowing lightly. The crackling sound seemed to be mixed with small hailstones, which hit the glass windows covered with old newspapers. The evergreen tree next to the windowsill swayed its branches and leaves in the wind.
The room was warm.
"What a heavy snow!" Zhong's mother exclaimed, looking out the window. "I've never seen such heavy snow in Suzhou before."
Mr. Zhong nodded in agreement: "Yes, but you know what, it seems to be particularly cold this year, and it snows a lot."
Zhong Qiao didn't say anything, but agreed in his heart.
The winter of 1976-1977 was one of the coldest winters on record.
Suzhou is located in the south and it rarely snows. It only rains during the rainy season. The weather forecast is also inaccurate, which makes people feel irritated.
She hadn't seen snow and hail for a long, long time.
Zhong Qiao supported his chin and looked down at the balcony.
Those flower buds that were already withering probably wouldn't survive this night.
Fortunately, the snow subsided after the family finished their meal.
Mother Zhong took two porcelain bowls from the kitchen, thought for a moment, and then grabbed a handful of White Rabbit milk candies and put them all in the bamboo basket, and considerately covered it with a piece of floral cloth.
"Siqi!" she shouted.
"Hey." Zhong Siqi responded in a voice as soft as a mosquito.
Mother Zhong opened the door and said, "Siqi, send these two to Mrs. Qian's house and the Ji family next door."
Zhong Siqi lay motionless on the bed, like a dead body, groaning: "Mom, I feel uncomfortable, I can't go."
Mother Zhong was startled and went forward to check on him: "What's wrong?"
Zhong Siqi was a little embarrassed: "...I feel dizzy."
"Dizzy?" Mother Zhong noticed his face was abnormally flushed and reached out to touch his forehead. "Did you catch a cold?"
"No." As soon as Zhong Siqi opened his mouth, a smell of alcohol mixed with the smell of meat rushed into Zhong's mother's nose.
"You bastard!" Mother Zhong suddenly understood and was speechless. "Can a glass of wine make you so drunk?"
"Mom, I'll go." Zhong Qiao, who was reading a book, heard the noise here and took the initiative to speak.
Mother Zhong tucked the quilt for Zhong Siqi, hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed and handed over the bamboo basket.
"Of course I don't need to tell you where Mrs. Qian's house is. The Ji family lives behind it. Just walk along the cobblestone path. There is a very grand gate. That's their house." She reminded him worriedly.
"good."
Zhong Qiao weighed the bamboo basket; it was heavy.
When I opened it, I saw a bowl of steaming braised pork, a small jar of lard, a plate of lard residue, and a handful of White Rabbit milk candies.
Mother Zhong sent her out the door and considerately put on a coat she had brought from Hong Kong for Zhong Qiao, buttoning it up one by one from bottom to top.
"The lard and lard residue are for your sister Qian, and the braised pork and toffee are for the Ji family. The kid from the Ji family who returned from studying abroad saved you last time, so I'll give you a bowl of potatoes and braised pork as a token of my appreciation."
The one from the Ji family.
Ji Hebai?
Thanks to Zhong's mother, Zhong Qiao had an impression of him.
When she suddenly had a fever after giving birth, it was Ji Hebai who treated her and prescribed Western medicine.
Mother Zhong has mentioned it frequently in the past half month, and every time she does, she praises it highly. Zhong Qiao's ears are almost callused from hearing so much.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
