Chapter 14: Going to Zhang Shiye's House for Dinner
After playing with the tiger and getting covered in fur, Xia Wanyang took another bath and changed into a lapel, waist-hugging floral dress that reached just above her ankles. She tied her hair into a side braid and paired it with a pair of white crystal sandals, revealing a pair of white and tender feet with round and cute toes and a faint pink tinge on her nails.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I shamelessly said, "I look so good!"
After showing off for a while, the time was almost up. When she came out, Li Xiang was knocking on the door and yelling, "Sister Yang, it's time to go to Captain Zhang's house for dinner. You're the only one missing!"
After taking the prepared things, Xia Wanyang locked the door and followed them out, observing the big guy carefully.
Li Xiang brought two bottles of canned fruit, Zheng Yu and Gu Xiuyuan actually carried a pheasant, Huang Chen took about a pound of coarse grains, Duan Xiaoyu and Wang Yan brought a small bag of melon seeds, and Chen Qi also carried half a bag of peanuts. Only Xu Jiaojiao and Wang Jing were empty-handed.
Zheng Yu glanced at them and said, "Ladies, the captain is treating us to a meal. How dare you two go there empty-handed?"
Xu Jiaojiao looked at everyone belatedly and found that everyone had brought something with them. "Xia Wanyang, lend me your brown sugar for a while. I'll return it to you when I get back!"
Wang Jing said, "I didn't ask him to treat us, so why should I bring anything? If you guys want to pay, don't count me in. I came here to work sincerely. I can live well without giving gifts to anyone!"
These few words offended everyone. Li Xiang rolled his eyes and said, "What do you mean by gift giving? This is called reciprocity, understand? Someone else's family has a lot of food, but we don't have enough to eat at home. They kindly invite everyone to eat, but you just open your mouth. Your face is as big as a millstone!"
Everyone laughed in agreement. Wang Jing pointed at Li Xiang and said, "You...you are a factionist. You are trying to isolate me by forming cliques, right? Do you believe that I will report you?"
Li Xiang smiled crookedly, "Report me? Go ahead, anyone who doesn't go is a grandson!"
Wang Jing burst into tears and ran back quickly.
"Xia Wanyang, will you lend it to me?"
“No!”
Xu Jiaojiao looked at Li Xiang again and said, "Lend me one of the canned fruit, and I'll return two bottles to you when I get back!"
Li Xiang smiled and said, "Everyone heard it! Be my witness!" Then he handed Xu Jiaojiao a bottle.
When they arrived at the captain's house, the captain, his wife, and several sons were all standing at the door waiting. Xia Wanyang stretched her neck to look around, but did not see Zhang Shiye.
The captain's wife looked at everyone bringing food and felt a little embarrassed. "It's a custom in our team since we started accepting educated youth to come to dinner. Why are you kids being so polite?"
The captain also said: "Take everything back after you finish eating. Although my family is not rich, we can't snatch food from you kids!"
Zheng Yu continued with a smile: "Uncle Captain, everyone is short of food. If you let us eat for free, then we can go back!"
Seeing that everyone was sincere, the captain and his wife accepted it. The captain looked at his sons behind him and said, "This is my old woman, you can just call her Aunt Qiao. This is my eldest son Zhang Shifeng. My second son Zhang Shiyu is in the army. This is my third son Zhang Shijing. I also have a youngest son named Zhang Shiye, who is the accountant of our team and he hasn't come back yet."
Everyone greeted each other one by one. Xia Wanyang was a little unhappy because she didn't see Zhang Shiye.
"This big yard is so clean, and the house is so grand!"
"Yes, it's rare to see such a nice house even in the city!"
Everyone walked in one after another while talking.
As soon as they entered the room, everyone was attracted by the big white steamed buns on the table. In this day and age, how could anyone afford to waste so much white flour on a meal?
"Come on, come on, sit down, and make yourself at home."
Zhang Heping has been the team leader for nearly half of his life. His weather-beaten face is always filled with a warm smile, making people feel extremely warm and comfortable.
There is a kind of intimacy in his eyes. When you see his smiling face, the tension and uneasiness in your heart will gradually dissipate, replaced by a feeling of ease.
He understood how difficult it was for everyone to leave their homes and go to the countryside, and he always treated these educated youth with a friendly face. No matter what their personalities were, he would always make sure they had a full meal on the first day and felt the warmth of home.
Aunt Qiao, the captain's wife, was a cheerful rural woman. She led several daughters-in-law to serve dishes one by one. There were several plates of shiny stir-fried vegetables that exuded the aroma of lard, a large plate of scrambled eggs with green onions, and finally a pot of fish stewed with tofu.
"I exchanged this tofu with someone else. If you like it, you can go and exchange it yourself. It's at Old Yuan's house at the west end of the village. The fish was caught by my youngest son in the river. It's very fresh. Hurry and use your chopsticks!"
"Aunt Qiao, stop busying yourself and sit down and eat with us!"
Apart from Captain Zhang, his eldest son and his third son, there were no women at the table.
"You eat yours, we've left some in the house!"
Aunt Qiao was polite again, and when she turned around, she ran into Zhang Shiye who had just returned from outside, "You're back, wash your hands and eat."
Zhang Shiye didn't say anything, nor did he look at the table. He went outside to the well to wash his hands.
Since he came in, Xia Wanyang's eyes have never left him. He can feel it, but can only pretend not to see it. His father's words have been lingering in his ears. She is the cloud in the sky, and he is the mud on the ground. He can't reach her, he can't reach her...
Gu Xiuyuan's attention was always on Xia Wanyang, and of course he saw her expression, which changed from joy at the beginning to confusion later, and now to loneliness.
But Gu Xiuyuan was very confused. It was their first day here. How did these two people know each other? Love at first sight? Just that one glance just now? He didn't believe it!
Zheng Yu and Li Xiang ate the delicious food and praised it while eating, "Aunt Qiao's cooking skills are really good. It tastes much better than what my mom cooks!"
Xia Wanyang couldn't eat. Li Xiang looked up and said, "Sister Yang, why don't you eat?"
"I had some snacks in the afternoon, so I'm not very hungry." Xia Wanyang forced out a smile that was uglier than crying.
Zhang Shiye washed his hands and sat aside, a million miles away from Xia Wanyang. The two of them ate their meal with their own thoughts.
Aunt Qiao went to the inner room. Before she entered, she heard the eldest and third daughters-in-law muttering, "You say father-in-law is really bragging about being rich. Such delicious eggs and fish are given to outsiders, and we have to eat coarse grains with pickles."
The third daughter-in-law snorted, "He eats his own food and has a good reputation in the team, so he can sit in this position securely. But he even got his youngest son to be the accountant in the team. He is his biological son, and I don't know why he is so partial to him. My son Shi Jing doesn't want to go, and he didn't even ask me. Even though I haven't been to school, I know numbers!"
The second daughter-in-law, Yuan Hong, knocked on the edge of the bowl and said, "Hurry up and eat your food. You can't stop your mouth from opening. How can we, as their daughter-in-law, question what our parents do?"
Aunt Qiao opened the door and went in, then locked it behind her. "Old eldest family, third eldest family, if you two don't want to eat, you don't have to. One of you is in poor health, and the other just got out of confinement. You can't earn a penny, and yet you eat white rice so confidently!"
The eldest daughter-in-law Liu Fang secretly curled her lips and dared not say anything. The third daughter-in-law Li Ling stiffened her neck and retorted, "Mom, are you not allowed to say that this family is unfair? I just gave birth to a child and I don't have much milk, so why don't you give me some soup with the fish? Why do you give everything to outsiders?"
Aunt Qiao pinched her waist and cursed, "Bah, you are not worthy of being stewed for you? The third son has no arms or legs, if you want to drink it, just let him catch it for you! That fish is given by my oldest son as a gift to me and his father, we can give it to whoever we want. You have lived in your mother's house for twenty years, and you still make fish soup? You can't even complain about fish bones, and now you are picking on us at the Zhang family!"
"I'm telling you, if you want to stay, then stay. If you don't want to, then get out of here. As soon as you leave, I'll find another wife for my son. If I hear you talking behind my back again, I'll have my third son divorce you!"
After being scolded, Li Ling became completely obedient.
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