Chapter 117 A Sudden Surprise
At that time, the old street of the county town ended.
Han family.
The third child, Han Dixing, has a rare weekend to be at home. He sits in a corner of the yard with his grandmother, basking in the sun while holding a cat, leisurely drinking tea and reading to pass the weekend.
"Oh, it's almost five o'clock, third brother. We are going to Yang's birthday banquet tonight, so it's time to get ready to leave." Old Mrs. Han rolled up her sleeves, glanced at the hour hand on her watch, and reminded her grandson not to go too late.
Last night, when Han Dixing got home from get off work, he told his grandmother about this and asked her what she would give him.
The old lady always kept it in mind, fearing that if her grandson was the last one to arrive at Yang's house, people would say that the Han family was neglecting them and was being impolite.
"Grandma, I'm leaving now. Ask Aunt Huang to come out and have tea with you." Han Dixing was very filial. When he got up, he did not forget to find someone to accompany his grandma.
Mrs. Han smiled and blinked, "Don't forget to bring your things."
"I understand."
Han Dixing closed the book in his hand, got up and went back to the house, went upstairs and changed into a blue suit.
When he went downstairs, he had a scroll in his hand. It was a copy of a pine and crane longevity painting he had made, along with a congratulatory inscription. He gave it to Yang Weixian as a gift.
The Yang family and the Han family have been friends for many years.
Yang Weixian was once the head of a county bank. When he retired, he let his youngest daughter Yang Xitang take over.
Today, Han Dixing, the third generation of the Han family, has also entered the county bank system to work, so he interacts more frequently with the Yang family.
Upon receiving the invitation from the Yang family, Han Dixing readily agreed to attend the birthday banquet.
We got in the jeep and headed straight to Yang's house in the east of the city.
When Han Dixing arrived at Yang's house, the house was already full of guests. The dozen or so friends invited that night had all arrived.
"I'm so sorry, uncle, I'm the last one to arrive." Han Dixing politely wished Yang Weixian a happy birthday.
"It's no problem! We all know that you are filial. Your parents are usually busy working in the hospital. It's a rare weekend, so I guess you must be at home with your grandma." Yang Weixian laughed loudly.
Han Dixing nodded, "Uncle, you guessed it all."
"Here is a painting of pine and cranes that I copied as a token of my appreciation. I hope you will accept it."
"We invited you here so that we can sit together and chat and drink tea. You even brought a gift. Take it out and show it to us."
Everyone happily gathered together to look at the scroll that Han Dixing had brought.
Soon, cheerful laughter came from the living room.
With the radio playing music, the Yang family was in great excitement.
…
In the kitchen, Wang Ziru and her brother were leisurely preparing meals for 30 people in the evening.
The two daughters of the Yang family would frequently shuttle between the living room and the kitchen.
After a while, he came in with a thermos and added hot water.
Take a special look at the progress on the cutting board.
Gradually discovering that all kinds of ingredients were cleaned and cut in an orderly manner, Yang Xitang breathed a sigh of relief.
I have invited more than ten guests. If something goes wrong with the meal, how can I explain to my old father?
Not long after, Yang Xitang came into the kitchen again and saw Wang Ziru standing in front of the chopping board preparing noodles. Then he asked, "What delicious food are you planning to make?"
"I see you have some pickled mustard greens in your kitchen. There are so many kids at night, make some pickled mustard greens for them."
"Pot, pot helmet? That's great!" Yang Xitang herself is not very good at cooking, but she likes to eat. Her family's financial situation allows her to eat a lot of new things.
When Yang Xitang heard that there would be hotpot dinner that night, she was extremely happy.
"I ate Guokui when I was studying in the provincial capital! I never thought that you, my sister-in-law, could make Guokui! That's great!"
Yang Xitang walked out with a smile on her face and told the children the good news.
The living room was filled with laughter. Yang Weixian had turned 79 and was entering his 80s. His four children each invited one or two close friends to attend the birthday banquet that night.
Zou Bu's wife, Yang Xitang, was Yang Weixian's youngest daughter. After graduating from school, she took over Yang Weixian's job at the bank.
The Yang family had three other children. The eldest and second sons were middle school and elementary school teachers respectively. In the terms of that era, the whole family had urban household registration and their lives were much better than those in the towns or villages below the county seat.
That night, several of Yang Weixian’s old friends, who were also retired bank executives who had worked with him back then, came to visit.
It was a rare occasion for everyone to get together, and the most talked about topic was some of the embarrassing moments that a few retired elderly people had made when they were young, which made everyone in the room laugh.
Everyone laughed and talked about their children's work, and Yang Weixian's grandchildren all surrounded the adults and played.
"Thinking back then, when a bank had just appeared in our county, the director Xu Zhongming called on each of us to deposit some money. The next day, I took 5 yuan to apply for a deposit slip and was even rated as advanced. Hahaha..."
Amidst the laughter, a talented young man wearing silver-rimmed glasses, the third son of the Han family, stood up from the sofa with a smile and said to the people next to him, "I'm going to relieve myself."
A young man in a blue suit came out of the living room, walked out, and went to the public toilet on the first floor to relieve himself.
When I went there, I was in a hurry.
When I came back from the toilet and passed by the stove window, I was greeted by a spicy and fresh aroma.
In such a familiar atmosphere, Wang Ziru felt very comfortable.
"In addition to boiling and steaming seafood, you can also peel fresh shrimps like this and chop them up to make garlic shrimp balls..."
Hearing the slightly mature female voice suddenly coming from the kitchen, Han Dixing paused as he was about to walk past the window, recalled the scene, and quickly turned back.
There was smoke and fire in the stove room.
A man and a woman are cooking. Under the light of the lamp, the woman standing by the stove cooking is wearing a red flowered jacket and blue cloth pants. Her profile is fair and pretty, and her black braids fall freely over her ears. She cooks skillfully.
Han Dixing was stunned, and the face in his memory suddenly flashed in his mind.
Wang Zonghao was washing the wok in high spirits, while his elder sister was busy standing in front of the chopping board, kneading dough and rolling out pancakes, making pork and dried plum vegetable pot cakes.
Suddenly, he inadvertently discovered a man standing outside the window.
After a careful look, he shouted with surprise, "Han Dixing."
"Ah? It's really you. I thought I was seeing things." Han Dixing adjusted his glasses on his nose awkwardly, and when he saw Wang Ziru's very familiar face, he excitedly called out, "Sister Ziru."
Perhaps because she didn't expect someone to be peeping outside the window, Wang Ziru opened her mouth slightly as if she was shocked, and a flash of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she quickly calmed down and smiled lightly: "...You are Han Dixing"
"Yeah! Why are you two siblings here?"
There was a window between us and it was hard to explain in a few words.
Wang Ziru didn't expect to accidentally run into the third son of the Xing Han family at the Yang family, and her heart tightened a little.
At this moment, Yang Xitang walked into the kitchen with a thermos bottle in her arms, and seeing Han Dixing standing outside the window, she asked with a smile, "What are you looking at outside the window?"
"Oh, I didn't know that my uncle's birthday celebration tonight was so solemn." Han Di smiled politely and went to the living room.
"This is my colleague Han Dixing from the bank. He is a very humble guy and his date is a college student..."
After listening to Yang Xitang's introduction, Wang Ziru realized that the grown-up Han Dixing also worked in a bank.
After returning to the living room and sitting down, Han Dixing held the enamel mug and pretended to drink tea, but his ears were secretly erected.
His eyes kept looking towards the stove.
Many things that happened in those years suddenly came to my mind.
He still remembered that one day when he came home from school, he heard that the Lord Wang had come to the city to cancel the engagement. He was shocked. He never thought that such an outstanding second brother would end up in such a situation and be broken off by his fiancée.
However, he secretly felt a surge of excitement in his heart because he also liked Sister Ziru.
He is the same age as Wang Zonghao, just three years younger than Wang Ziru. However, before he could express his desire to get engaged to Sister Ziru, he heard from the Wang family that Sister Ziru had decided to marry someone else, so he gave up the idea.
If I hadn't called off the marriage proposal with the Han family, my life would be so good now.
Han Dixing couldn't help but recall his childhood when his second brother took sister Ziru to live with him at the Han family. Although she was his second brother's fiancée, sister Ziru would patiently help him with his homework and chat with him.
Because he couldn't recite a text at school, his head teacher kept him back until dark. His family members asked him what happened, but sister Ziru didn't ask him why he couldn't recite the text. Instead, she silently accompanied him to recite the text until midnight.
Many years have passed, but Han Dixing still remembers the scene of endorsing that night.
"Alas! Things are no longer the same now."
A young man sitting next to him looked at Han Dixing in surprise, "When it's so lively, you seem to be sighing?"
"Me, what? No way? You must have heard me wrong. I was saying when is the dinner ready? It smells so good." Han Dixing smiled slightly on his handsome face, acting like someone obsessed with food.
This scene immediately caused all the guests to burst into laughter.
Yang Weixian smiled and said, "The Han family is not an ordinary family that lacks food and clothing. Are you worried?"
"How could that be? Uncle, you see, it's so lively today, why don't we play chess, and whoever loses will drink three cups as punishment."
"That's a good idea. Come on, bring the chessboard over..."
That night, Wang Ziru made spicy diced chicken, roast duck with sour radish, fish ball soup, jade shrimp balls and other dishes.
There is also pork hotpot with preserved vegetables and pickled mustard greens.
After all other dishes are ready, start making fish balls. Add some sweet potato flour to the fish meat and mix well.
When cooking, first add a ladle of water to the iron pot, put two slices of ginger in the pot, and after the water boils, add a little salt. Just use a small spoon to hang the fish meat mixed with salt into the pot until it boils. Remove from the pot, add a small spoon of lard, pepper and vinegar, and sprinkle some chopped green onions.
A bowl of delicious fish balls is ready. The fish balls are springy, the soup is clear and slightly sour and spicy, very refreshing.
While a group of men were playing chess in a tense manner in the living room, three round tables had already been set up.
There were tableware and white wine on the table.
Yang's two daughters and two daughters-in-law helped out, carrying out the prepared dishes and placing them on the table one by one.
Yang Xitang looked at the three round tables filled with rich dishes and said to her third sister, "I feel like the food here is even richer and more delicious than what the state-owned restaurants serve."
"It's a pity that your sister-in-law can only stay in the village. If there is a chance, bring her to the city to work. She will definitely be a good cook again."
Yang Xitang smiled and shook her head, "Sister, don't worry, my sister-in-law will be with the army soon."
"Really? That's great. She will definitely have a place to shine in the military."
The two sisters were chatting happily.
Then I heard my two sisters-in-law coming over with fish ball soup and placing it on the table, "Stop chatting, go ask dad and the others to come over and sit down. We made so many delicious dishes, but they won't taste good if they get cold."
Yang Xitang smiled and went to the sofa and asked everyone to move to the round table and sit down.
Not long.
There were three round tables, all filled with people.
When everyone saw it, they were delighted. There was chicken, duck, fish and six or seven vegetarian dishes. It was truly a sumptuous birthday banquet.
"Hey! Who did this? It certainly wasn't you four?" Someone pointed at the four women of the Yang family and joked.
"You guessed right, we can't cook such delicious dishes..." Yang Xitang smiled happily and told the truth while helping to pour wine for everyone.
Considering that it was the old man’s 80th birthday that night, Wang Ziru specially cooked a bowl of fish ball noodles for him.
Boil water and cook the noodles. Add salt and vinegar to a bowl, boil water, then pour in the noodles and fish balls that have been cooked together. Sprinkle some chopped green onions and white pepper powder in the bowl.
When Yang Weixian saw the fish ball longevity noodles, he was stunned.
After taking a bite, I found the meat to be tender, smooth and delicate in texture.
"It tastes so good!" The birthday star gave a thumbs up with a bright smile.
After eating a mouthful of longevity noodles and a fish ball, Yang Weixian was very satisfied and said quickly, "My dear, why don't you go and call the two chefs who have worked so hard for half a day to come out for dinner?"
An old friend of Yang Weixian immediately shouted, "Old Yang, I'm not saying anything bad about you, you clearly said you wouldn't make a big deal about it, but you even hired a chef? Where did you find such a capable chef? Hurry up and invite him out so we can meet him."