Since the purpose was to thank the Jiang family for taking care of Ruan Yuanxin over the years, Ruan Yuanqing naturally would not set the lunch location in the cafeteria of the guesthouse. Led by the accompanying staff, a group of people came to the luxurious Overseas Chinese Hotel that they passed by last night.
As soon as Jiang Dahai entered the hotel, he saw the shiny tile floor, the luxurious and classical interior decoration, and especially the huge chandelier on the ceiling of the lobby inlaid with thousands of rhinestones, which refracted light that almost dazzled his eyes. Everything made this honest country man feel hesitant, for fear that the slightest force would damage these precious things.
"Sir, Western or Chinese food?"
A waiter came over and asked Ruan Yuanqing.
You don't need to provide food coupons or overseas remittance coupons to dine at the Overseas Chinese Restaurant, but the price is unaffordable for ordinary families. As for the average income of ordinary workers, a worker's monthly salary is about 40 yuan, but a meal here costs at least 6 or 7 yuan per person. Generally speaking, apart from overseas Chinese returning to visit relatives, only government officials will come to such places to consume.
“Chinese food.”
Ruan Yuanqing nodded to the waiter and said, considering that the Jiang family did not understand the etiquette of Western dining, it would be better to have Chinese food to avoid embarrassing them.
"Okay, sir, please follow me." The waiter led the way, leading a few people towards the private room on the second floor.
"Uncle Ruan, this is very expensive. It's too wasteful. We can just have some noodles." Jiang Dahai said to Ruan Yuanjiang in a low voice.
"Mr. Jiang, don't mind. Thank you for taking care of your uncle. This meal is my small token of appreciation." Ruan Yuanqing did not miss Jiang Dahai's words and spoke to him with a friendly look.
Jiang Dahai didn't expect that his words would be heard by the other party, and he shrank his neck a little embarrassedly. He didn't know why, but he always felt inferior to Mr. Ruan, who was so kind. When he looked at him, he couldn't help but lower his posture.
Several people followed him into a private room, where the waiter brought them tableware and tea, and also brought them menus, waiting quietly for them to order.
This kind of service is rare these days, so even in this era, the privileged class and hedonism still exist, but ordinary people don’t know about it and can’t access it.
"Little Shaoxing white-cut chicken, glutinous rice chicken, smoked fish, four-happiness roasted gluten, what do Ruan Ruan and Xiao Bao want to eat?" Ruan Yuanqing took the menu and naturally reported a few Lao Haicheng specialties that his uncle liked to eat before he left. After that, he handed the menu to Jiang Yiliu who was standing beside him, and smiled at Jiang Dahai: "Mr. Jiang can also take a look at what he likes to eat."
He didn't know if Jiang Dahai could read or not, so he handed the menu to Jiang Yiliu who was sitting next to Jiang Dahai. He heard from his uncle that the child was very smart and had already taught himself the primary school curriculum. But he was only a seven-year-old child. It didn't matter what the basic education in the mainland was now. The primary school curriculum might just be to learn a few words.
Jiang Yilu looked at the menu in his hand and exclaimed in his heart. Black and white cameras had just entered the lives of ordinary people these days, and color photos usually had to be manually colored after being taken in black and white in a photo studio. The restaurant took a different approach and provided each dish on the menu with a painting illustration. The paintings were almost lifelike, and even illiterate people could come in and choose the dishes they wanted by looking at the photos.
"hiss--"
Jiang Dahai took a deep breath when he saw the prices of the dishes on the menu in his son's hand.
Cabbage in broth, even if it is added with Phoenix soup, it is still cabbage. Every household in this village stores a large cellar of this stuff in the winter. It is sold here for one yuan and fifty cents, which is enough to buy white flour and make a few baskets of white steamed buns.
These are the dishes that look relatively cheap on the menu. Hard dishes like Dongpo pork and braised crucian carp cost at least six or seven yuan. In Jiang Dahai's opinion, what is being eaten is not the food, but the money.
But since it was Mr. Ruan who was treating him, he couldn't say anything and could only try his best to help him save some money.
"Brother Xiaobao, Ruan Ruan wants to eat this."
Ruan Ruan clicked on a picture of drunken crabs, and then on a picture of squirrel mandarin fish: "I want this one too."
Jiang Yilu reported the two dishes ordered by Ruan Ruan, and also ordered a braised pork trotter and a bowl of Dongpo pork, all of which were meat dishes. Given the current conditions, if he ordered a meat dish, his father would definitely like it. He knew that Jiang Dahai would be embarrassed to order dishes, so he could only help him order the dishes.
When he wasn't noticing, he actually started to care about Jiang Dahai's thoughts and even considered the other party.
Ruan Yuanqing brought four or five entourages with him on this trip to Haicheng. Now, the only person accompanying him was a man in his twenties. The government entourage had already left when they were having dinner, which meant that there were only four adults and two children for their meal, and the dishes they ordered were already enough.
"Mr. Jiang, would you like to order anything else?"
Seeing Jiang Dahai baring his teeth and not saying anything, Ruan Yuanqing asked again.
Jiang Dahai waved his hands repeatedly. The two dishes ordered by his son cost thirteen yuan. He worked hard in the fields all year round, and apart from the grain he was given, he only got one or two hundred yuan at most. It would take him one or two months to earn back the thirteen yuan.
Ruan Yuanqing saw his embarrassment and took the menu back: "Add one Chongming cake, six bowls of rice, and two baskets of steamed buns."
"For drinks, give me a pot of Shaoxing rice wine, and two glasses of milk for the two children."
Ruan Yuanqing knew that people in the north liked to eat pasta, and was worried that they might not be used to rice, so he specially asked for some buns for Jiang Dahai and Jiang Yilu.
He handed the menu to the waiter beside him, who wrote down their orders before closing the door and leaving.
"Mr. Jiang, my third uncle will have to rely on your care in the future. I hope you can accept these small gifts." Ruan Yuanqing took out an envelope from his suit pocket. It was bulging with something, but no one knew what was inside.
He had already persuaded his third uncle to leave with him. They didn't need any of the Ruan family's property on the mainland, as long as the people were alive. But his third uncle refused. He knew that his third uncle would not change his mind, and he couldn't persuade his third uncle. He could only use his own way to make his third uncle's life on the mainland better.
There is no one in this world who doesn't like money. It's true that the Jiang family is good people, but their conditions are really too poor. With these things, Uncle San's life will be more affluent.
"No, no, no, I can't accept these things. Uncle Ruan is my father's life-long comrade-in-arms. It's our responsibility to take care of him. Besides, we didn't actually do anything."
Jiang Dahai felt a little frightened and embarrassed. He felt that if he really accepted the money, he would not know how to face Uncle Ruan in the future since they were originally close friends.
Ruan Yuanjiang did not expect his nephew to do this and frowned slightly.
"Yuan Qing, Dahai is an honest man. You are slapping him in the face by doing this." Ruan Yuanjiang shook his head: "But Xiaobao is my godson, which means he is your nephew. As an elder, it's my first time meeting Xiaobao, so I should show some appreciation."
Jiang Yilu glanced at Grandpa Ruan. When did he become Grandpa Ruan's godson? Jiang Dahai was also stunned.
When Ruan Yuanqing saw their expressions, he understood that his uncle just wanted to help them in a more appropriate way. He was negligent and forgot that this was not a port city and the Jiang family were just simple and honest country people. If he rashly took out the money like this, not only would it embarrass the other party, it might also make people think that he looked down on them, which would pose a hidden danger.
"Hahaha." Ruan Yuanqing laughed a few times to ease the somewhat silent atmosphere. "I didn't expect that Third Uncle also adopted a godson. This way, Xiaobao should call me uncle like Ruan Ruan. Uncle didn't bring anything with him, so consider this as a New Year's red envelope from Uncle. You must accept it."
Ruan Yuanqing stuffed the envelope into Jiang Yilu's hand. Jiang Yilu wanted to return the envelope, but Ruan Yuanqing turned his hand and with a little force, stuffed the envelope into Jiang Yilu's pocket.
The envelope was so heavy that a big bulge appeared in the pocket of the cotton-padded jacket. One could imagine how much money was in the envelope.
"Come on, come on, everyone, eat some food."
The door of the box was pushed open, and the dishes they had just ordered were brought in. Ruan Yuanqing warmly invited everyone to eat, and Jiang Yilu didn't even have the chance to return the envelope.
The local cuisine of Lao Haicheng is usually rich in oil and sauce, with a hint of sweetness in the sauce. The Ruan family enjoys the food and the Jiang family finds it fresh.
When it was time to pay the bill after the meal, Ruan Yuanqing directly took out a stack of big unity bills and handed it to the waiter. This meal, including the drinks, cost a total of 103 yuan.
While Jiang Dahai felt heartbroken, he also felt a little inferior. Looking at his son who was eating happily, he thought of his parents, wife and daughter who were far away in his hometown. These might be things they would never be able to eat in their lifetime. Or he was useless as a son and a father. If he had to be a peasant all his life, when would he be able to let his family live a good life? Jiang Dahai couldn't help but ponder.
When the group was leaving the Overseas Chinese Hotel for lunch, they happened to run into Mr. and Mrs. Ruan Yuankuan, who were coming out of the guesthouse, looking dejected after returning empty-handed. They had specially taken the afternoon off to come to the guesthouse, but they didn't expect that they would still be empty-handed when it was time for lunch. They didn't know where the old man had gone.
Unexpectedly, when they walked to the Overseas Chinese Hotel, they happened to meet Ruan Yuanjiang and others who had just finished their meal. They immediately became excited and ran over with loud noises.
"Cousin, you must be cousin Yuan Qing, right? I'm the third cousin Yuan Kuan. Do you still remember me?"
The first person Ruan Yuankuan noticed was Ruan Yuanshen. If he wanted to go to Gangcheng, the most important thing was Ruan Yuanshen's consent, so naturally he had to coax him first.
As for Ruan Yuanjiang, the old man would always coax him. He was his son, how could he not acknowledge him?
The couple rushed forward, pushing aside Ruan Yuanjiang, Jiang Dahai and others beside Ruan Yuanqing. Their rough movements almost knocked Ruan Yuanjiang to the ground. Fortunately, Jiang Yilu was quick to hold him and prevented Mr. Ruan from falling to the ground.
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