As they were talking, Jiang Chunlan and Fu Liang arrived with their things. Seeing that everyone was there, Ye Xiaocui decided to bring forward the evening's main meal and invited Jiang Chunlan and her son to have lunch at home.
Jiang Chunlan didn't hesitate and rolled up her sleeves to go into the kitchen to help.
Fu Ming and Fu Liang assisted each other, while Fu Wan prepared the side dishes in the kitchen.
Qin Anning and Bai Qianzhou didn't treat themselves as guests either, and sat in the yard peeling garlic with the two children.
The courtyard suddenly became extremely lively, so much so that when Boss Fu returned from Fu San's place and entered the courtyard, he thought he had entered the wrong house. He went back and looked around for a long time before realizing that guests had arrived.
This lunch at Mr. Fu's house was more lavish than any previous Chinese New Year.
A table full of dishes, everyone showing off their culinary skills.
Fu Wan made garlic scallops and steamed red carp; Ye Xiaocui made braised pork trotters and stewed pork rib soup; and Fu Ming pan-fried mackerel and steamed blue crab and mantis shrimp.
Fu Wan even specially made some steamed sea urchin eggs for Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu, but in the end, it turned out that Qin Anning liked this dish the most.
Of course, in addition to meat dishes, there were also some green vegetables from the garden. One reason was that we were worried that too much meat would make people feel greasy, and the other was that the green vegetables from the garden were indeed growing very well, fresh and tender.
Because there were many people, Boss Fu specially brought out the large round table from his house and set it up. The table was full of people, but when it was time to eat, Fu Wan always felt that something was missing.
Qin Anning had been back from abroad for so long, and this was the first time she had eaten at someone else's house. She felt excited and curious. Suddenly, she remembered something, left a message, and ran outside.
"Wait a minute, I'm going to get something!"
Fu Wan was a little puzzled, so she followed Qin Anning out to see if there was anything she could do to help. But when she saw the several large bottles that Qin Anning took out of the back seat of the car, she was shocked.
She could hardly believe her eyes; what Qin Anning was holding was a large bottle of Coca-Cola.
"Ah Wan, come quickly and help me with this!"
"Oh, here it comes!"
Fu Wan regained her senses and quickly walked over to take the Coke from Qin Anning's hand.
Seeing her shocked expression, Qin Anning was afraid that she would find the thing strange, so she quickly explained it to her.
"This is a beverage called Coca-Cola. I bought it specifically from the Friendship Store."
"I only remembered to grab the cookies, but I forgot to take these Cokes from under the seat!"
Fu Wan nodded, but couldn't help herself. This was the first time she had seen Coca-Cola, which was known as the "happy water for fat otaku" in her previous life, since her rebirth. She never expected it to look like this in the 1980s.
Unlike the exquisite packaging of later generations, the Coca-Cola packaging at this time could be described as somewhat rough. The unusually large plastic bottle contained a brownish liquid, and Fu Wan could even see the occasional bubbles floating on the surface.
Friendship Store, it seems this place has a lot of good stuff. Fu Wan thought to herself, since her ship needs to be repaired in the next few days, she can take the opportunity to visit the Friendship Store while she goes to the shipyard.
Making money also requires spending it, otherwise it would be so boring!
The two carried the cola into the courtyard. When Bai Qianzhou saw that it was cola, he suddenly realized and said, "An Ning is indeed a girl. She is very clever. She even thought of this."
He passed by the Friendship Store several times, but never thought of buying this thing.
Bai Qianzhou simply didn't like drinking this; he felt it was better to drink tea or alcohol.
However, Fu Ming stepped forward and took the large bottle from Qin Anning. Fu Wan unscrewed the cap of her cola and poured half a bowl for Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu.
Fu Laoda and Bai Qianzhou poured wine into their bowls. Although Jiang Chunlan and Ye Xiaocui were a little curious, they didn't really want to try it.
"Why is this thing so dark, and there are foreign words on it!"
Jiang Chunlan muttered a few words under her breath, and Qin Anning patiently explained to her.
"Auntie, Comrade Anning specially bought this at the Friendship Store. It's called Coca-Cola, and it's sweet. Try some after you finish your soup."
Jiang Chunlan had heard of the Friendship Store before; it was full of extremely expensive items, and was exclusively for foreigners.
Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu couldn't wait to take a sip, their eyes sparkling as they exclaimed to Qin Anning, "Auntie, this is so delicious! You're such a good buyer!"
"Oh, thank you. But you can't drink too much, you should eat some food first."
"OK!"
Kids really can't resist carbonated drinks, so Fu Wan didn't dare give them too much. She gave the two kids a few mantis shrimp instead. Now, these two can eat shrimp and crabs without any adult supervision; peeling shrimp is a piece of cake for them.
Seeing the children eating happily, Fu Wan picked up her bowl and clinked it against Qin Anning's, saying, "Thank you, Anning, for buying so many things. I hope you have fun."
Qin Anning smiled, her eyes crinkling, "I should be thanking you. Mingzhu likes everyone here very much. I like it too."
She was sent abroad to study by her family when she was young. After returning to China, her older sister, who was her only family member, passed away, leaving behind a niece whose whereabouts were unknown.
If it weren't for meeting Fu Wan's family, she wouldn't dare to think about where she would go to find her sister's only child for the rest of her life, let alone now that Fu Wan treats Qin Mingzhu as her own daughter, Qin Anning can wholeheartedly put all her life's knowledge to use.
After a few rounds of drinks, Boss Fu looked at the people at the table and raised the bowl of baijiu in his hand.
"I'm happy today that we're all here to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together. I have no other wishes but that everyone can be happy and have a smooth journey!"
Upon hearing this, everyone raised their bowls in response.
There was no other way; we didn't have any cups for guests at home. These days, people drink alcohol or water from bowls or enamel mugs.
Even Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu learned how to toast. The two little ones had almost finished eating, so they toasted each other and had a great time.
After lunch, Bai Qianzhou bid farewell to everyone and returned to the camp.
As he left, he gave Fu Wan a meaningful look. Fu Wan was puzzled, but she vaguely saw a notebook in his bicycle basket that looked somewhat familiar.
Qin Anning wasn't in a hurry to leave. She had been busy for more than half a month and had finally managed to ask her boss for a day off. She was planning to spend some quality time with her niece here.
"Ah Wan, Mingzhu told me that you go out to sea to fish and even encountered sea turtles laying eggs and orcas bringing fish. Is that true?"
Qin Anning was genuinely curious, since these were all things she had never encountered before.
Fu Wan nodded, "There are two sea turtles and several killer whales, and they are quite intelligent."
"Can I go out to sea with you guys in the next couple of days?"
Qin Anning asked impatiently, only to see Fu Wan shake her head regretfully.
Fearing that Qin Anning might misunderstand, Fu Wan specially explained to her, "It's not that I don't want to take you, but yesterday my family's boat was punctured by a swordfish, and we need to find someone to repair it before we can go out to sea."
Seeing Qin Anning's disappointed expression, Fu Wan softened a little: "But do you want to go beachcombing? I can take you to the beach tonight."
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