Chapter 6 Hot Pot with Lamb
Donglaishun is always a good business, and it's especially bustling at this time.
People who arrive late have no empty tables and can only wait at the back of the table if they look like they're about to finish eating.
Luo Yan was shy and refined, but while she was quick-witted, she wasn't fast-handed. She whispered to her brother, "I just came in, and everyone cut in front of me."
Luo Hong knew her well enough to take out a dollar and said, "Go buy a pancake to tide you over. Stand over there and wait. I'll call you when there's a seat."
There's a small window in the shop selling mutton pies. You pay and get your pie with a ticket, but there's no queue. Whoever gets their pie first gets it.
Luo Yanguang felt her head was huge just looking at her, her eyes wide open.
Luo Hong held the money in one hand and flicked his sister's forehead with his other finger: "You're always so fierce at home."
He turned his head again and said, "Fangzi, I'm going to buy some cakes. You two wait here for a seat."
Zhou Weifang responded and continued to keep his eyes and ears open.
With one less person around, his field of vision was wider, and he could catch a glimpse of Luo Yan's hands idly twirling around. After thinking for a moment, he decided to exchange a few pleasantries: "What time do you get out of school?"
Luo Yan was memorizing vocabulary words, and her reaction was a little slow. She suddenly looked up and said, "Five o'clock."
Zhou Weifang, who had only been a student for a short time and hadn't really attended school properly, said, "So late?"
Luo Yan was used to it: "That's considered early. In the summer, we work until six o'clock."
If it weren't for the fact that the lights need to be turned on later in the night, and the school is trying to save on electricity due to tight finances, it would probably be around 8 or 9 p.m.
Zhou Weifang: "It's tough enough; studying isn't easy."
Luo Yan: "It's alright."
The conversation seemed to have reached a point where it was almost over. Zhou Weifang felt he had perfectly expressed his friendliness, since he and his childhood friend, whom he hadn't seen for almost ten years, didn't really have much in common.
To be precise, it has never existed since before.
Zhou Weifang and Luo Hong were best friends since childhood, and their childhood can be summed up in the four words "daring and audacious".
Looking back now, I realize that I was on the verge of death several times.
However, when we were kids, who knew how to write the word "fear"? We even had a lot of complaints about people who stopped us from going up mountains or down to the sea.
Luo Yan is one such child.
As soon as she climbed the tree, she stood below and shouted, "I'm going to tell my mom!"
As soon as she got into the water, she stood on the shore and shouted, "I'm going to tell my mom!"
The word "Mom" can act like a tight band around most children's necks, making them reluctant to go home and get another beating, so they have no choice but to slink away and stay put.
However, in private, the two of them often talked badly about Luo Yan and discussed how to do "bad things" without her noticing.
Looking back now, Zhou Weifang still feels a little embarrassed.
When a person feels guilty, they can't help but want to talk. He said, "I heard from your brother about your grades..."
Before he could finish speaking, he darted forward three steps and occupied a table.
The people at the previous table had just stood up, and someone, used to it, made room for them.
Zhou Weifang turned around to see if Luo Yan had followed, only to find that she had silently appeared behind him at some point. Startled, he swallowed back a curse.
Luo Yan quickly took a step back, stepping squarely on her brother's foot, who had just bought the pancakes.
Luo Hong roared, "So you repay kindness with enmity, huh?"
Luo Yan ignored him and "snatched" a pancake from his hand. Even though she took small bites, the steam from the pancake still made her face wrinkle up.
Luo Hong handed one to his childhood friend: "Freshly baked."
The three of them stood around the table and ate, while the waiter cleared the table and took their orders.
Zhou Weifang politely said, "Yanzi, please order whatever you would like to eat."
"Stop being so polite, let me order," a pancake whetted Luo Hong's appetite, and he spoke quickly because he was so hungry, "Cucumber strips, beef tendon, and a pound of each, please."
Luo Yan naturally swallowed back the words "I'm fine with anything, you guys order," and subtly tugged at her brother's sleeve.
Luo Hong didn't even glance at her, only asking, "Want to drink something tonight?"
Zhou Weifang nodded and added to the waiter, "Two bottles of Yanjing beer."
Luo Hong: "I'll have a liter of draft beer, and a bottle of Beibingyang soda."
A bottle of Yanjing beer is equivalent to half a pound of meat, but it doesn't taste much better than draft beer.
Zhou Weifang was about to say something more, but the waiter ignored him completely, scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper, tore it off, and said: "Go to the front and pay first."
That's the attitude of state-run stores; if you don't eat there, plenty of others will.
Zhou Weifang was quick at this moment, grabbing the order form and saying, "I'll go."
Luo Hong readily agreed: "I won't argue with you, it's pointless. I'll treat you next time."
But Luo Yan felt it wasn't appropriate, and after the person left, she whispered, "Is this suitable?"
Luo Hong: "It's okay, you can eat yours."
As long as he knew what was going on, Luo Yan didn't worry about it and sat down to take out her English book.
When Zhou Weifang returned after paying the bill, he saw her reviewing her lessons. He put her drink on the table and lowered his voice, "Studying so hard?"
Luo Hong pushed the Arctic Ocean canister in front of his sister: "Just speak normally, she can't hear you."
When Zhou Weifang was in school, he would be so distracted by a bird flying past his window that he would be absent-minded for an entire class period: "No wonder he got good grades."
Then the conversation turned to more serious matters: "I'm going to visit Dahai's house tomorrow. How much red envelope do you think is appropriate to give him?"
Dahai's baby is only a month old, so it would be inappropriate to go empty-handed. Luo Hong said, "The current rule in the city is 50 cents. We all grew up together, so I think 80 cents is about right. Bring a box of Daoxiangcun rice wine too, that'll be more than enough."
The gifts from Beijing are quite generous. Zhou Weifang said, "In the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, this would be at most two eggs."
Luo Hong was quite ignorant: "I thought your corps only raised cattle and sheep, but it turns out you also raise chickens."
Zhou Weifang: "I can't even respond to what you're saying. Of course, I can raise them."
Luo Hong thought about it and realized it made sense. He laughed to himself, "Looking at it this way, the Production and Construction Corps is actually pretty good. We get paid. The educated youth in northern Shaanxi are paid work points, and they end up owing the brigade money at the end of the year."
It's not that we didn't work, it's just that the harvest was really bad.
Zhou Weifang: "There are also bad things, like winter..."
The two men ate meat and drank wine, but eventually ran out of things to say and just kept raising their glasses.
After Luo Yan finished eating and drinking, she closed the book temporarily and shifted her gaze back and forth between them.
Zhou Weifang met her gaze, then suddenly realized and looked at his watch: "It's getting late, we should go back."
Luo Yan thought that she must have failed to hide her expression well, and lowered her head in embarrassment.
Zhou Weifang didn't seem to think anything of it, and stood up to put on his coat: "Let's go."
Luo Hong responded by taking his sister's schoolbag and heading outside.
Luo Yan followed her brother with small steps: "Can you ride a bike like that?"
Luo Hong: "Yes, I'm not drunk."
That's too unsafe. It's okay if you fall, but what if someone else bumps into you? Luo Yan: "I think walking is better."
His gaze drifted towards Zhou Weifang.
She seemed open to discussion, but it was clear that she didn't need anyone's consent at all.
Zhou Weifang inexplicably recalled the way she used to stand with her hands on her hips and say "I'm going to tell my mom" when she was little, and couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, then let's walk."
Since he said it was okay, Luo Hong had even less reason to object.
The three of them walked slowly towards Fengshou Hutong, and returned home twenty minutes later.
As soon as Luo Yan entered the house, she quickly took off her coat and tossed it aside with disdain: "I knew I shouldn't have worn the new sweater; it made me smell like smoke."
The couple were listening to the radio in the living room when Liu Yinfeng said, "Change your clothes. Mom will scrub you a couple more times with soap tomorrow and let you dry in the sun."
Luo Yan said sweetly, "Mom, you've worked hard."
"It's not hard work, it's not hard work," Liu Yinfeng said. "Have you not done your homework yet?"
Of course, there's no time to chat idly here.
Luo Yan said anxiously, "I'm going back to my room first."
She wrote for who knows how many hours. Luo Xinmin said, "Son, when you have time, talk to your sister. She listens to you. How can she stay up like this every day?"
Perhaps because he was young, Luo Hong felt that it didn't matter if he slept late for a while.
He sat down and took a sip of tea: "Let her be. She won't listen anyway. She'll be fine after the college entrance exam."
Thinking that the college entrance examination is still several months away, Luo Xinmin said, "Yanzi has been losing weight recently, and her eyes don't look very energetic."
Luo Hong, who was used to being disrespectful at home, chuckled and said, "How dare you talk about her with your eyes like that?"
Luo Xinmin's eyes are small, and at first glance they look like they are not open, making him look always dejected.
He laughed at himself: "It's true, it's a good thing you guys are like your mother."
Liu Yinfeng wasn't particularly stunning; her only striking feature was her pair of almond-shaped eyes that were full of moisture.
She slapped her son lightly, annoyed: "How dare you talk to your father like that?"
Luo Hong: "Dad has his good points too. He's tall and has a straight nose. Luo Yan and I are a perfect match for you two."
Liu Yinfeng: "Stop patting yourself on the back. Your sister is much better."
Luo Hong: "Yes, yes, everyone in the surrounding area knows she's beautiful."
Even beautiful children can cause their parents worry. Liu Yinfeng lowered her voice and said, "The people from the neighborhood committee just came by today. They said there's someone acting like a hooligan on Yangpi Street, and they haven't caught him yet. They told us to keep an eye out."
Luo Hong: "This bastard dares to come here and try."
Liu Yinfeng: "Don't just talk tough. If your sister goes to the toilet at night, you must follow her closely, don't let it be like last time."
Last time, Luo Yan knocked on the wooden board, but her brother didn't wake up. She went there herself with a flashlight and came back saying that she thought she saw a man's shadow, which scared her quite a bit.
Luo Hong was also terrified, thinking that it was fortunate that nothing bad had happened, otherwise he would never be able to sleep at night again.
He said, "There will absolutely not be a second time."
Liu Yinfeng was at ease with her son's work, but she emphasized another matter: "There have been a lot of fights lately, and Bingzi has been made an example of. Don't hang out with those people."
Luo Hong: "I haven't had any contact with Bingzi since I came back from northern Shaanxi. That was all when I was a child."
That's good. Liu Yinfeng gave him a stern warning and then offered a sweet treat: "Our children are definitely fine, honest and well-behaved."
Luo Hong thought these two words didn't describe him, so he stood up, leaning on the table: "Don't worry about me, I'm going to sleep."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yinfeng became a little uneasy, but she couldn't bring herself to criticize him without reason. She just muttered to her husband, "I said I wanted to ask him what he was doing so mysteriously with Sanfang, but you wouldn't let me ask."
Luo Xinmin: "Young people have their own ideas. Do you think they'll just tell you if you ask them?"
That makes sense, Liu Yinfeng said, "Forget it, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Let's ignore him and go to bed early."
Then, as usual, he called out, "Yanzi, finish writing and go to bed early!"
Luo Yan agreed loudly, but it went in one ear and out the other.
Anyone with eyes can see that she will never take a proper rest until the college entrance examination.
A note from the author:
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