Chapter 299 New Year
Lou Jiafu came to give a gift. Last year he bought a vest for his master, and this year he made a lot of money, so he bought a cashmere sweater and delivered it to the door in person.
The grandparents invited him to have a sip of tea, and Yue Baohua gave two red envelopes for his two children.
Yue Baohua told him that Asong was still studying in Japan this year, and Ming was managing Fuyunlou in Yuecheng, so the master-disciple reunion at the end of the year would simply not be held.
Hearing Yue Baohua say this, Lou Jiafu's eyes lit up, and then he suddenly burst into tears. He was alienated by everyone for such a small benefit, and only he knew how it felt.
Yue Ning handed him a tissue: "Wipe it off!"
Yue Ning watched Lou Jiafu leave. Although Baohualou no longer gave him a chance, he finally gave himself a chance to start over.
Yue Ning and Yue Baohua picked up their luggage and prepared to return to Yuecheng.
The two of them returned to Yuecheng to celebrate the New Year, so that Zhang Junming could go home and spend a peaceful reunion year with his family.
Zhou Xuanxiong also went home for the New Year. The reform and opening-up policy had already begun, and the banking industry was advancing reform. His son worked at the central bank in Beijing and was very busy. Zhou Xuanxiong had taken Fu Danqin to Beijing to visit his grandchildren. Only two months later, he insisted on not letting his son and his family come back to spend the New Year with him.
He also said that his daughter was busy and the family was run by his son-in-law, a high school teacher. He took the initiative to let his daughter go to her husband's house for the New Year. The son-in-law was very happy, but his daughter was still worried. During the New Year holidays, the nanny Afang also went home, leaving the old man alone at home. How could Zhou Wenting feel at ease? Later, Mr. Zhou told his daughter that the grandparents and grandchildren of the Yue family also returned to Yuecheng for the New Year, and Zhou Wenting was relieved.
On New Year's Eve, at a time when most restaurants were closed, the grandfather and grandson gathered with Mr. Zhou to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner while chatting.
Yue Ning blanchs the pig's trotters in water, stir-fries them in a pan until they are dry, and when the skin turns slightly yellow, adds Maotai liquor, which instantly ignites when it meets fire.
Zhou Xuanxiong smelled the aroma of the wine and felt distressed: "Ningning! You are so extravagant now that you actually use Maotai as cooking wine."
“Anyway, you and grandpa won’t be able to finish it, and you can eat it when cooking.” Yue Ning said as he added light soy sauce and dark soy sauce to the pig’s trotter.
Zhou Xuanxiong thought about it and it made sense. Yue Ning asked him, "Are you planning to go out in the spring?"
"Your Grandma Fu has already booked the trip. I'll go with her." He replied with a smile.
This year, Grandpa Zhou accompanied his older sister to many places. Not only that, they also agreed to travel to Europe for a few months next year.
"Have you ever thought about being a companion?" Yue Ning asked. After all, he had accompanied Grandma Fu to many places this year, and they had also agreed to travel to Europe next year.
Grandpa Zhou tapped her head and said, "What are you thinking about? We are just siblings. We just eat, drink and have fun together."
"It's friendship, but also family love." Yue Ning said as he put seasonings into the pig's trotters, fried them until they were colored, then added water and let them stew slowly.
She turned around and took the marinated chicken. For people in Guangdong Province, how can the New Year's Eve dinner be without a chicken?
The skin of the chicken had dried up, so Yue Ning lit a pan of oil, put the chicken into the oil and fried the quail eggs as well.
When making the magical chicken, the chicken skin can be fried or not, but Yue Ning prefers the texture of fried chicken - the chicken skin becomes tiger-skinned, and the taste is slightly different from when it is not fried.
Put the fried quail eggs into the pot first and stew them together with the pig's feet. When the pig's feet are almost cooked, put the chicken in and stew together to reduce the juice.
In addition, Yue Ning also steamed a green fish, fried a plate of green vegetables, and made a dish of hair vegetable soup, which means "getting rich". She walked into the living room with a casserole and said loudly: "It's time to eat the New Year's Eve dinner!"
Under the light, the skin of the chicken was red, and the fried tiger skin was soaked in thick sauce. The pig's feet lying next to it had absorbed enough soup, and a few fried quail eggs were embedded in the cracks of the skin. Yue Ning used the serving chopsticks to pick up the largest piece of pig's feet for Zhou Xuanxiong: "Grandpa Zhou, please try the tip of this claw."
When Zhou Xuanxiong took the pig's trotter, the sauce dripped into the bowl along the grain. He leaned in and took a deep breath. The aroma was so familiar that his eyes suddenly warmed up: "It tastes the same as the soy sauce pig's trotter your father used to make..."
Zhou Xuanxiong immediately felt something was wrong when he said this. Why did he bring up these sad memories when we were celebrating the New Year happily?
He took the first bite, and the pork skin was so soft that it almost melted. Although he said he didn't want to, his mind was full of Yue Zhirong's situation in Fuyunlou: the three generations of the Yue family had better skills than each other, how great it would be if all three generations could be there in one piece?
Yue Ning paused for a moment, then picked up a piece of skinned chicken for Grandpa: "Grandpa, you eat too."
"Eat! Eat!" Yue Baohua was eating the Fairy Chicken, and was also brought into sadness by Zhou Xuanxiong's emotions.
"Grandpas, don't be sad," Yue Ning consoled them, "Based on the amount of gold ingots I burned for Dad, he must be one of the richest men in the underworld. Maybe they are celebrating the New Year now!" When burning the gold ingots, Yue Ning automatically ignored her father's advice in her dream not to burn paper. At this time, she would rather believe that her father was living with her grandmother over there, running a restaurant, and living a good life.
"Yes, yes!" Zhou Xuanxiong raised his glass, "Xiao Yue must be doing well. Let's toast to each other and wish Ning Ning's business will be more prosperous next year."
The three of them clinked their glasses and ate and drank together. At this time, the sound of firecrackers rang out outside.
"Grandpa, let's go set off the fireworks after dinner."
Yue Ning bought a lot of fireworks. The big fireworks were intended to be used to welcome the God of Wealth at Fuyun Building on the morning of the fourth day of the New Year, while the small fireworks were for herself to play with.
In her previous life, having fun during the New Year was exclusive to her younger brother, and it was her turn to entertain the relatives. Her parents always asked her to play the piano, dance and sing for the relatives.
In this life, Dad and Uncle Mo wanted to give her the best, but unfortunately they were short of money at the time and could only give her two sorghum candies at most.
She had never experienced the joy of setting off fireworks.
After dinner, the three of them came to the street outside the door. Yue Ning lined up a dozen small fireworks, and Yue Baohua lit a stick of incense and handed it to her.
Yue Ning lit a firework, and the crackling sound attracted the children on the street.
"Watch the fireworks! Watch the fireworks!" the children cheered.
Yue Ning shouted: "Grandpa, take out the candy and share it with everyone."
Yue Baohua went in, took out a bag of assorted candies and a bag of chocolates, poured them into the candy box, then took a square stool to the door and placed the candy box on it.
Yue Ning said to the children watching the fireworks: "Go get the candy quickly."
When the children heard this, they looked at the fireworks and ran over excitedly to get the candies. The adults on the side reminded them:
"Watch your step and walk carefully."
"Did you thank Grandpa and Sister for the candy you got?"
"Thank you, Grandpa! Thank you, sister!"
"Why don't you know how to say Happy New Year?"
"Happy New Year, Grandpa. Happy New Year, Sister..."
The children's blessings echoed in the night.
Yue Ning lit the last firework, and colorful sparks poured down like a waterfall. In the brilliant firelight, she looked at her grandfather's smiling face, which looked like her father's.
Just now she was still thinking that her father must be living a very good life over there, but no matter how good her life was here, she very much wished that her father could be by her side, watching her set off fireworks like a grandfather.
*
The New Year holiday passed in a flash, and Yue Ning soon returned to Hong Kong. During the few days she was away, the refugee incident in Hong Kong continued to ferment.
The cause was a documentary broadcast by an American TV station in which reporters interviewed many Vietnamese refugees. The content of the interviews once again deeply touched people's hearts.
The refugees were crowded in the small cabin and experienced numerous hardships. One of the refugees in particular recounted his experience of coming to the port city from Vietnam: the first batch of pirates looted all the valuables on them, and the second batch of pirates not only robbed them of their money but also raped them. His sister died in this way. A lady couldn't take off the gold ring on her finger because it was too tight, so the pirates chopped off her finger. In the end, the lady died of infection from the wound due to the hot weather.
After arriving in Malaysia, the ship was driven away and had to return to the sea and head towards the port city. The journey was still full of dangers and by the time they arrived at the port city, the refugees were already half-naked.
The documentary concluded that only half of the refugees were able to reach shore safely, while the other half died during the dangerous journey.
The refugees repeatedly mentioned the port city in the documentary, saying that it was the only port they could reach after going through all the dangers and the only place with life.
Now there is news that the port city will set up a closed refugee camp and limit the number of refugees. Does this mean that these people’s livelihood will be cut off?
Sympathetic people from all over the world have accused the port city of closing its doors under such circumstances.
Yue Ning was invited to participate in a social interview facing the public. Also invited were the chairmen of the boards of directors of several listed companies, the younger generation who actually hold power such as Qiao Junshen and Cui Huiyi, and PN's representative in Hong Kong.
They sat in the audience, while on the stage sat Cai Meiyue, another celebrity, and two scholars, including Professor Ma.
The host asked everyone: What do you think about the recent news that the Hong Kong government is planning to set up closed refugee camps but has been criticized by the whole world?
Cai Meiyue spoke first: "My uncle, Mr. Cai Haonian, went from Chaoshan to Singapore in his early years, and then from Singapore to Hong Kong City. Our family, like these Vietnamese Chinese, was one of the ones who took the red-headed boat to travel overseas. I can empathize with the hardships they have experienced. However, we must consider the balance between humanity and reality. Hong Kong City has received more than 100,000 people so far, and is the area with the largest number of refugees in the first asylum port. It was originally agreed that the first asylum port was for refugees to come to Hong Kong City and wait to be sent to the receiving country, but in the end all the pressure fell on Hong Kong City. While the world public opinion sympathizes with the refugees, it blames the area that receives the most refugees..."
After Cai Meiyue finished speaking, another celebrity began to list the differences between the promises made by those refugee receiving places and their actual situation, and listed data to illustrate: If these receiving places can accept refugees as promised, the quota of 20,000 people is actually high enough.
Professor Ma continued, “The plan currently being considered by the Hong Kong government has fully taken into account the balance between humanity and reality. We are not giving up on refugees, but rather striving for opportunities for them to go to their destination countries. In addition, there are corresponding supporting measures…”
Professor Ma detailed the initiatives to set up factories and training courses in refugee camps.
These measures were actually proposed by Yue Ning, but she believes that even if the public knew that these measures were taken by a young girl like her, they would probably just listen to them and forget about it. Moreover, there may be some people who do not like her to be too involved in such affairs and may even feel disgusted by it. Therefore, it is better to say that the Hong Kong government has solicited opinions from celebrities and scholars and put forward a preliminary plan.
Of course, there will always be people who remember that this was her proposal, and these will become resources she has accumulated. There is a distance between being rich and having status.
Since the proposal was put forward by Tsai Mei-yueh, the government asked Tsai Mei-yueh to test the public's reaction at this critical moment.
Cai Meiyue looked at the audience, as if looking for resonance: "Enterprises are the backbone of Hong Kong City. Now Hong Kong City is facing difficulties and needs your help. We plan to set up a vocational training center in the closed refugee camp to enable refugees to master a skill, and this cannot be achieved without the participation of enterprises."
She set her eyes on Yue Ning. "I have already communicated with Miss Yue Ning of Baohualou. She agreed to set up cooking and pastry training classes in the refugee camps for her Ning Xiaochu. After the refugees finish their training, they can spread the oriental food culture to the receiving countries in the future. This is also a rare opportunity for enterprises to expand overseas markets."
Cai Meiyue turned to PN's representative in Hong Kong: "Companies such as electronic manufacturing and mechanical processing can move some basic production lines into refugee camps. By allowing refugees to participate in production, they can not only receive labor remuneration deposited into a dedicated account, but also learn modern industrial technology. These skilled laborers will become an important talent pool for Hong Kong companies to explore international markets in the future."
Cai Meiyue paused and turned her tone earnest: "I know this is an additional burden for the company, but this is also a way for you to do something for this land."
At this time, Cui Huiyi took the microphone and stood up: "If a closed refugee camp is really established, Lide Food will open a food processing factory near the refugee camp and recruit qualified refugees as employees. Just like our ancestors, they supported each other in difficult times and took root in this land. Now, we also have the responsibility to light a lamp of hope for these wandering people."
Several other guests also expressed their support for the government's decision, believing that this move not only takes into account the actual difficulties of the port city, but also retains a humane touch.
After the show aired, the public who opposed refugees thought that locking up the refugees would solve most of the problem; for those who were more compassionate, this approach was acceptable. Public opinion in Hong Kong gradually calmed down.
Externally, Cai Zhiyuan contacted German TV stations and journalists who were concerned about the refugee issue and conducted detailed interviews with them, telling them about the difficulties faced by the city and the various measures taken by the city.
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