The next morning, after breakfast, the group got into the same van from the day before and headed to town. Today, as the hosts, they had to arrive at the restaurant early.
Around eight o'clock in the morning, the air was still a bit humid, and the road was already covered with rice drying in the sun. Good drying spots like the road are highly sought after by farmers, and if you arrive a little late, the spot you like will be snatched up by someone else.
When we arrived at the restaurant, the proprietress returned from buying groceries on a pedicab, the vegetables filling the small cargo box at the back.
Xia Minmin looked at her watch and it was already past nine o'clock. There were only three hours left before dinner. Could she prepare ten tables of food?
"Good morning, you've arrived so early!" The restaurant owner quickly unloaded the bags and packages from the back of the tricycle.
"Boss lady, can you serve meals on time?" Xia Minmin asked.
"Don't worry, there's absolutely no problem. Our family often hosts banquets like this. We have many chefs who are fast. The main dishes we ordered yesterday are already prepared. All the dishes in the carriage are stir-fries, so they can be cooked quickly and definitely won't delay our banquet."
Hearing the restaurant owner's explanation, everyone finally felt relieved. Since it was still early, Xia Jianguo led everyone to the dock to eat.
Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo's hometowns are not far apart, and both towns are built along the river. Before the 1990s, water transport was well-developed, and heavy cargo transportation relied entirely on waterways. All kinds of good restaurants were located near the docks.
In recent years, with the revitalization of land transportation, there are fewer and fewer boats on the river. The restaurants still remain near the dock, but there are fewer customers.
A row of willow trees lined the riverbank, their huge canopies laden with clusters of fruit. Enjoying the river breeze while eating freshly bought willow balls was truly delightful.
There are still trees along the riverbank now, and a sand dredger is coming from about 50 meters away, transporting sand to the shore. In two years, these trees and the pebble riverbed will probably be covered with sand, and only sand dredgers will be sailing on the river.
"It's getting late, let's go back to the hotel!" Li Chunmei said.
Xia Jianguo also saw the sand dredging ships and was filled with emotion. "Hmm, it's been a long time since I've been here. It's still the same as when I was studying. I probably won't see this kind of scenery again in the future."
The chefs in the restaurant were busy cooking. The restaurant was not big enough to accommodate more than five tables at a time. The tables were already set up and the food would be served as soon as the guests arrived.
Half an hour before the appointed time, most of the invited guests had arrived and were sitting at the table waiting for the meal to begin.
Seeing that all five tables were full, the restaurant owner asked Li Chunmei, "Should we open them first?"
"Can."
Xia Jianguo, Li Chunmei, Xiao Wu, and Xia Xiaomei were being pulled aside for a chat, and Xia Xiaomei was now under Xia Minmin's care again. Fortunately, they had bought a lot of fruit and snacks, which was enough to appease him.
With more people, the restaurant became noisy, and all sorts of conversations reached Xia Minmin's ears.
“Jianguo is really making a lot of money now. He went to such great lengths to treat us to a meal and didn’t even ask for a gift.”
“The sisters have all settled in Shenzhen now, and I don’t think they will go back to their hometown to live in the future. It’s so inconvenient to have to give gifts as well as gifts.”
"Besides, he's treating us to dinner, so this amount of money is nothing to him."
"I heard that Jian Guo has already made hundreds of millions."
"I never expected his daughter to be so amazing; she got into Peking University at such a young age."
“His daughter and my daughter are in the same year, my daughter started in the first half of the year, and his daughter started in the second half of the year. They are only half a year apart. They are about 12 and a half years old this year. My daughter is still in the first year of junior high school, while his child has already taken the college entrance examination. The difference is really big.”
“That’s Peking University. In recent years, not a single student from our county’s high school has been admitted to Peking University.”
"I heard from Chunmei that the top scorer in the college entrance examination received bonuses from the district and city governments, which are said to add up to more than 100,000 yuan."
"With so much money, other people's children are given money to go to school, but my child's education costs money."
"More than 100,000 yuan, I couldn't earn it back in several years. Knowledge changes destiny, that saying is so true."
"When I get back, I'll have to push my child to study harder. He should at least get into a top-tier university in Beijing!"
“When they came back a few years ago, some people in the village urged them to have a second child, a son. But if you ask me, a daughter is much more successful than a son.”
“I agree. Look at the sons in our village, how many of them are good to their parents? The parents are basically taken care of by their daughters and daughters-in-law.”
"Who says otherwise? Quite a few people from our village go to Shenzhen to work, but only their family has made a fortune, and they even took their sisters with them."
"If their family is so rich, why don't they rebuild their old house?"
"He's got a lot of money, but he's not stupid. He might not even come back to live here all year round. Why bother repairing that house? It's just waiting to be abandoned!"
"Yes, that's true. It's a real shame. If his parents were still alive, he would definitely have repaired the house. What a pity..."
"They didn't clean their house when they came back this time; they just stayed in a hotel in the county town."
"I wouldn't want to clean it either; it's so dirty, there's no way to even begin."
“When my younger sister came back this time, I almost didn’t recognize her. She has changed so much. I still remember the year she left and came to my house. She was thin and small with dark skin. Now she has not only grown taller, but also has more flesh on her face. She looks so much better than before.”
"You know what, I didn't even recognize her when she greeted me yesterday. I thought she was someone's new wife, brought home to meet her in-laws."
"I didn't recognize myself either; my whole face looks different after giving birth."
“I think her husband must treat her very well, because the sadness on her face is gone now.”
The dishes from the kitchen were finally all served, and the noisy noise in the main hall gradually quieted down. Xia Minmin rubbed her ears; it really was noisy. She wondered how they could have so much to say.
Xia Minmin really didn't know how they could have such a vivid imagination. Their family really hadn't earned much money, and if the story continued, it would probably get even more exaggerated.
Xia, munching on a braised chicken foot, asked with his greasy mouth, "Miss, did Uncle really earn hundreds of millions? My classmates say his family has hundreds of millions, enough to fill a whole room."
Good heavens, do kindergarten kids talk about this kind of thing nowadays? That's outrageous. I wonder what kind of kindergarten he goes to.
Xia Minmin complained weakly, "Your uncle, my dad, hasn't even earned a few hundred million yet. Don't believe the rumors. Eat your chicken feet."
Xia took the chicken foot out of her mouth and said, "Miss, whenever you don't want to talk to me, you stuff things into my mouth."
"Wow, I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable at such a young age."
"Miss, I may be young, but I'm not stupid."
The person sitting behind Xia Minmin and Xia Xia chuckled at the conversation between the siblings; both children were adorable.
After seeing off most of the guests, those who went to the hotel to play cards were mostly older relatives who didn't have to do farm work, and they played the old-fashioned kind of card game.
Xia Minmin couldn't understand the rules of this game at all, and didn't know how to play it, so the task of raising the child fell on her shoulders again.
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