When Zhang Linghui heard that she was being invited to eat hot pot, she immediately became flustered and asked in surprise, "Why did you suddenly think of inviting me? And at Xie Yan's house?"
Their relationship isn't good enough for them to meet each other's parents yet, is it?
Gu Bin quickly leaned close to her ear, lowered his voice, and explained mysteriously, "The main thing is that there's meat today. Yu Yue prepared it for her master, and she prepared quite a lot. We're just going to take advantage of it and freeload."
Seeing that Zhang Linghui seemed a little hesitant, Gu Bin was afraid that she wouldn't go, so he quickly added fuel to the fire, saying, "Let me tell you, Yu Yuehui's hot pot is absolutely amazing! Once you've tried it, I guarantee you'll love it and want to eat it again and again!"
Under Gu Bin's enthusiastic invitation and lavish praise, Zhang Linghui shamefully felt tempted. However, she was still somewhat worried and asked in a low voice, "Wouldn't this be inappropriate?"
Gu Bin quickly shook his head and patted his chest to assure him, "It's okay. Xie Yan and I are best buddies, you must have heard that I often eat at their house and we always buy things together. You can rest assured."
Seeing this, Zhang Linghui nodded and said, "Wait for me a moment, I'll go back and get something and come right back."
Gu Bin said to Zhang Linghui's retreating figure, "Alright, I'll go call Gu Che then. You can take your time packing."
But before he could even reach the door, he saw Gu Che come out of the house.
Gu Che looked at him expressionlessly and said coldly, "I'm leaving first. You guys hurry up and follow."
Gu Bin: "?"
He stared blankly at Gu Che's departing figure, muttering to himself, "I haven't even said anything yet, and he already knows?"
Gu Che, who was walking ahead, couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard this. He thought to himself: I'm not deaf, I heard it a long time ago!
When Zhang Linghui came out, she saw Gu Bin staring blankly into the distance, so she quickly ran over and asked, "Haven't you called Gu Che yet?"
Gu Bin shook his head. "I called, but they're already gone!"
"Let's go! We need to hurry."
As he spoke, he turned his head and saw Zhang Linghui carrying something in her hand. He quickly reached out and took it from her. "Oh, it's something! I'll carry it. You should put your hands in your pockets. This weather is freezing."
"How's the heating in your youth settlement?"
Zhang Linghui shivered from the cold wind blowing in her face, and said, "Don't worry about that, our kang (heated brick bed) is very warm. In this cold weather, if the kang isn't warm, people can really freeze to death."
Gu Bin nodded in agreement, "If you run out of leaves for heating the kang (heated brick bed), remember to come to me. I swept up a lot this year, enough to heat another kang."
Zhang Linghui smiled and shook her head, refusing: "That's enough. We educated youth have swept up quite a few leaves too."
"The rest of us who arrived later didn't sweep up the leaves, but we all contributed some money, so don't worry, we heated the kang (heated brick bed) ourselves and it's really warm. I'm quite the kang-heating expert now!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Bin gave him a thumbs up in full support, "You're really amazing. I'm not as good as you; I've been learning for a long time."
Zhang Linghui chuckled at his words, knowing that Gu Bin was just saying it to make her laugh. Speaking of which, Zhang Linghui sighed with emotion, "This kang (heated brick bed) is so nice! I wasn't used to it at first, but after a few days I couldn't live without it."
"It was just an ordinary kang (heated brick bed), but when it was heated, it made the whole room much warmer. In such a cold winter, it was simply a lifesaver!"
Gu Bin wholeheartedly agreed, echoing, "That's right! In winter, a heated kang (traditional heated bed) is practically our lifeline. Without it, we really can't get through the winter."
"When I first came here, I didn't know that, and I even looked down on it. Looking back now, I was really ignorant!"
Zhang Linghui was amused by Gu Bin's exaggerated tone...
And so, the two chatted and laughed as they slowly walked toward Xie Yan's house. When they arrived, everyone else was already seated, waiting for them.
Xie Yan and the others were already itching to curse. It was unbearable to have such delicious meat in front of them and not be able to eat it!
As soon as Yu Yue saw Zhang Linghui, she greeted her warmly with a smile: "Xiaohui, come here quickly, we've been waiting for you two, come and sit down."
Zhang Linghui said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sister Yueyue, we're late. These are dates I brought from my hometown, they're so sweet, please try some."
Yu Yue smiled and took it. When she opened it, she saw that there were quite a few bright red dates. She quickly pushed it back and scolded, "You came in person, why did you bring anything else! And such good dates, so many of them. No, you should take them back. When you get busy in a while, you can eat them to nourish yourself."
Yu Yuehui was absolutely telling the truth. Getting busy can really be exhausting, especially for these newly arrived educated youth.
Zhang Linghui quickly pushed it back, saying eagerly, "Oh! Sister Yueyue, please accept it. It's homegrown, it's not worth much. If I want some, I can just write to my mom and ask her to send some more."
"If you don't accept it, is it because you think it's your own property?"
Yu Yue quickly shook her head and said with a wry smile, "Who would complain about something so good!"
Unable to refuse, she had no choice but to accept, but she couldn't help saying, "These dates are so good, how could I possibly refuse them? They look so sweet, I can't resist trying one myself."
After saying that, he grabbed a handful and gave two to everyone present.
After taking a bite, Yu Yue looked at Zhang Linghui with surprise, "So sweet! Linghui! Your jujubes are even sweeter than the ones I bought before!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Linghui smiled proudly, "Sister Yueyue, I'm not bragging, but the jujubes from our area are famous. They taste better and are sweeter than those from other places!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Yan raised an eyebrow slightly, savoring the sweetness and firm texture of the jujube in his mouth, lost in thought.
Smelling the aroma wafting from the pot, Gu Bin couldn't resist any longer and interrupted their boasting session, saying anxiously, "Alright, Xiao Hui, sister-in-law, let's all sit down and eat. The water has boiled several times already; if we don't eat now, the meat inside will get overcooked."
Yu Yuehui quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! We just had a big feast with lots of meat, everyone eat up!" As soon as she finished speaking, several pairs of chopsticks reached into the pot, and everyone grabbed a large mouthful of meat.
Gu Bin picked up the meat and was about to put it in his own bowl, but when he turned around, he saw that Zhang Linghui hadn't touched her chopsticks yet, so he smiled and put the meat in her bowl. "Xiaohui, eat quickly. Let me tell you, this hot pot has to be eaten while it's hot."
Yu Yuehui also took a moment to say, "Xiaohui, hurry up and eat. This is how we eat; everyone's always scrambling to get some food."
"Don't be shy, hurry up and eat, or they'll snatch it all up."
Zhang Linghui was indeed taken aback by the scene.
Of course, the main reason was that it was my first time visiting someone else's home, and I didn't want to be too casual.
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