Once a rift forms between people, it is very difficult to repair.
Now, when Song Lili does such things, she no longer calls Lin Xue; Lin Xue has been excluded from Song Lili's social circle.
Sometimes, I would call him Zhang Qingguo, but each time it was always by calling him alone.
The children also come here, but they've become distant from Lin Xue alone.
Song Lili didn't think she had done anything wrong, nor did she believe it was necessary to continue pretending to be close to Lin Xue.
Anyway, she felt quite comfortable at her current distance.
Zhang Qinghua didn't say much about what Song Lili did, nor did he think that Song Lili had done anything wrong.
By the time of the Lantern Festival, Zhang Shengtian and the others still hadn't returned.
Song Lili knew they would definitely spend the Lantern Festival in Hongqi Village, so she didn't bother with them.
On the Lantern Festival, Song Lili gathered everyone together.
However, this time Song Lili did not plan to eat with everyone in the alley.
Song Lili felt that cooking was too tiring, and with so many people, it was a huge undertaking.
So, Song Lili invited everyone to a hot pot restaurant to have hot pot, which was a way to give everyone a different kind of Lantern Festival.
On the Lantern Festival, everyone has a day off, except for privately owned shops like those run by Song Lili and Song Fang. Zhang Qinghua and Zhang Zeyu also have a day off.
They all had the same schedule, so when Song Lili called them, they immediately agreed.
Song Lili arranged to meet everyone at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant before she and Zhang Qinghua went to the restaurant together.
We had hot pot today, and the kids were there too, but they didn't sit at the same table as the adults.
Song Lili asked them to set up another table so the children could eat and play by themselves.
Since they were in the store, Song Lili wasn't worried about them getting lost. There were staff members watching over them, so she wasn't concerned.
Besides, some of the topics the adults were talking about weren't suitable for children to hear, so we just let them go and celebrate the holiday on their own.
It's also a way to give the kids something new, since they've never experienced the Lantern Festival like this before.
This was Zhang Zeyu's first time meeting everyone, and he was very happy to see them.
They had all met before, like Chu Ci, whom they were very familiar with.
So when everyone got together, there was no awkwardness or discomfort. Since everyone was familiar with each other, after chatting for a while, the original feeling returned.
When everyone had almost finished eating, they stopped to chat, mainly to ask Zhang Zeyu how everyone had been doing over the years.
At the same time, they were also inquiring about how Zhang Zeyu had been doing all these years.
Everyone briefly talked about what had happened during the years they had been apart, which helped them get to know each other better.
After everyone had finished speaking, they couldn't help but sigh and say that life is not easy these days.
No matter who you are, you will face difficulties and there will be endless, unresolved issues.
Even Song Lili, who seemed to be living a good life in their eyes, faced all sorts of troubles.
That's why they lament how difficult life is, and that's why they feel so happy with their current lives.
Song Lili naturally agreed with what they said; life is inherently difficult.
They say life is a journey of self-cultivation, but how can a journey of self-cultivation be too comfortable?
Only after experiencing pain and sorrow can one truly appreciate the preciousness of happiness.
After everyone shared their experiences, Zhang Zeyu said to Song Lili with some admiration, "This is your hot pot restaurant? It looks really good."
"And it's very high-end. If you asked me to eat at a place like this normally, I definitely wouldn't dare to come in."
Although Zhang Zeyu had received his salary, it wasn't very substantial.
Zhang Zeyu was just getting by at home, perhaps even able to afford meat once a week, but he was still a little worried about spending money in such a nicely decorated place.
"What's there to be afraid of? The prices here aren't expensive, and it's all-you-can-eat. As long as you have room to eat and don't waste food, you can eat as much as you want."
"Many people come here to satisfy their craving for meat instead of buying it themselves."
This was something Song Lili discovered by chance; several families were doing the same thing.
After saying they were craving meat, they would bring their families to have a hot pot meal.
Anyway, there's no limit to the amount of meat here; as long as you don't waste it, you can eat as much as you want.
They did the math themselves and found that eating at a hot pot restaurant was more cost-effective.
Nowadays, people don't have much oil in their stomachs, and it's already a blessing to be able to eat their fill, so everyone craves meat.
If a family wants to have a proper meat meal, they need to buy several kilograms of meat to satisfy everyone's cravings.
However, not everyone can afford to buy several kilograms of meat. Many families will just buy a small amount to taste.
They discovered by chance that eating meat at a hot pot restaurant was actually cheaper than cooking it at home.
So after that, they stopped cooking at home and started eating meat at hot pot restaurants.
Song Lili didn't know what to say, and could only conclude that this was a good sign.
As long as there are customers in the store, and she hasn't lost money, Song Lili doesn't care about anything else.
However, Song Lili herself has also summarized the reasons.
That is, people nowadays eat a lot, especially meat.
People in later generations are not actually that craving meat.
Everyone can eat meat if they want to. Even families with very poor conditions can still eat meat if they want to.
Therefore, people's craving for meat has decreased significantly, and naturally, they are less likely to eat as much.
If you take people in the present and people in future generations out of the picture and put them side by side, you can see the difference.
People today eat several times more meat than people in future generations.
From this perspective, eating meat at a hot pot restaurant is a great deal, and this is not a joke; it's quite possible.
This also indirectly shows that the prices at Song Lili's store are actually not expensive.
Moreover, her shop hasn't raised prices much over the years.
Zhang Zeyu's statement that he dared not eat here was actually just a joke.
Given Zhang Zeyu's salary, his desire to eat here wouldn't significantly impact his life.
"My place is just a bit nicer decorated, but otherwise it's the same as the food stalls you usually eat at outside."
"What's there to be afraid of coming in? I think you're just teasing me today. Have them tell me if the things in my shop are expensive? Not at all, okay?"
Song Lili explained to Zhang Zeyu in a way that was half-joking and half-satisfying.
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