New family members would use the opportunity of the hot pot dinner to show their faces to the neighbors, both to show their appearance and to let everyone get to know them. The wine and food for the dinner didn't need to be extravagant; everyone could just buy what they could, and no one would complain.
To put it bluntly, everyone uses this as an excuse to get together, talk and chat, and have some fun.
Zhou Yuanyuan had been at the Northern Military Region for four or five days, and there had been no activity. A few of the more idle military wives began asking Ma Hongyu why Wen Ziqing's family hadn't yet hired someone to cook the hot pot. What kind of person was this new Wen brother-in-law? Was she too stingy to treat? Or was her family simply too poor to afford it?
Ma Hongyu was embarrassed by the question. She wanted to say that she and Zhou Yuanyuan were not familiar with each other, but she couldn't open her mouth to say it. After all, the man in Ma Hongyu's family was Wen Ziqing's partner.
Early this morning, Ma Hongyu saw Wen Ziqing go to work. She thought about it and decided to remind Zhou Yuanyuan.
"Sister Ma, do we really have to have everyone eat at home? I can't cook." Zhou Yuanyuan hesitated. It was fine to let Zhou Yuanyuan treat everyone, but if she had to cook, that would be a tragedy. Zhou Yuanyuan believed that few people could eat the food she cooked.
"Ah? Is that so? Sister-in-law forgot that you haven't gotten married yet. You can't cook? It's okay. It's okay if you don't invite guests." Ma Hongyu's smile froze.
Before arriving at Zhou Yuanyuan's house, Ma Hongyu had assured Wu Xiuhe and the others that Wen Ziqing's family would definitely treat them. After all, judging by her attire, Zhou Yuanyuan didn't look like someone who was short of money.
But Ma Hongyu missed the possibility that Zhou Yuanyuan couldn't cook. She was inviting everyone to dinner, and Zhou Yuanyuan couldn't cook. She couldn't let Wen Ziqing, a grown man, cook for everyone, right?
However, Ma Hongyu was a little envious of Zhou Yuanyuan. She heard that Zhou Yuanyuan was admitted to university this year. Today's college students should be at least 18 years old. An 18-year-old girl still can't cook, which means that Zhou Yuanyuan was really brought up in a pampered environment.
"No, no, it's not that I don't want to treat you, Sister Ma. I want to invite everyone to a restaurant for dinner. Is that okay?" Zhou Yuanyuan saw the stiff smile on Sister Ma's face and knew that Sister Ma might have misunderstood.
Wen Ziqing arrived at the Northern Military Region and needed to establish himself quickly, so he needed to build good relationships with his comrades. Even if Zhou Yuanyuan couldn't help Wen Ziqing, she couldn't hold him back.
Ma Hongyu had just mentioned that new neighbors who moved into the residential building all invited guests over, regardless of how genuine their intentions were. At least everyone did the same thing. But Zhou Yuanyuan didn't do that; the neighbors probably would have complained that they weren't sociable.
Zhou Yuanyuan had lived two lives, so how could she not know that being unsociable would lead to rejection? She also wondered what the neighbors would say about her family: aloof? Aloof? No matter how she thought about it, it seemed inappropriate.
"Go to a restaurant? That will cost so much money!" Ma Hongyu was stunned and exclaimed.
Honestly, although life has improved significantly in recent years, dining out is still a luxury. A typical hot pot dinner would involve at least five or six close friends, plus one family member per household, which would definitely be close to twenty people.
A table of food and drinks in a restaurant costs hundreds of yuan. For twenty people, at least two tables are needed. Two tables of food and drinks in a restaurant, even at the cheapest, cost at least three hundred yuan!
Although Ma Hongyu's husband is also a regimental-level cadre, his monthly salary is less than 100 yuan! For Ma Hongyu, a single meal cost her husband Li three months' salary, which is really a sky-high price. Buying groceries and cooking a meal yourself would only cost about 30 yuan at most.
"It's okay, Mrs. Ma, money is not a problem." After listening to Ma Hongyu's analysis, Zhou Yuanyuan waved her hand, choking Ma Hongyu's persuasion in her throat.
"It's okay to treat us to a meal at a restaurant, but it's a bit expensive. A meal will cost at least three or two hundred yuan." Ma Hongyu was afraid that Zhou Yuanyuan was young and didn't understand the market situation, so she reminded him again.
Three or two hundred? That's quite a bargain. Zhou Yuanyuan blinked, not understanding Ma Hongyu's implication, and decided to arrange the dinner according to her own ideas.
"Sister Ma, you've lived here for quite a while, haven't you? I heard the roasted whole lamb here is quite famous. Could you recommend a place that makes authentic roasted whole lamb? Let's go have roasted whole lamb tonight." Before coming to the Northern Military Region, Zhou Yuanyuan had planned to have a good roasted whole lamb. Unfortunately, she hadn't had time to eat roasted whole lamb in the past few days, and she hadn't even had a bite yet! Besides, a roasted whole lamb is enough for eight or ten people, so it would be a bit unreasonable for Zhou Yuanyuan and Wen Ziqing to eat it alone!
"Roasted whole lamb?" Ma Hongyu exclaimed again.
Even though Ma Hongyu had lived in City X for over a decade, she had only tasted the famous roasted whole lamb once, when Li Guodong's friends hosted a welcome dinner for them when she first arrived with the army. The aroma of roasted whole lamb had stayed with Ma Hongyu for over a decade.
"Mrs. Ma? Is that not possible?" Zhou Yuanyuan was a little disappointed. Their army wouldn't have a rule that forbids soldiers from eating out, right?
"It's not impossible, but a roasted whole lamb meal would cost a fortune! Sister-in-law Wen, why don't you ask your headmaster Wen before making a decision?" Ma Hongyu kindly suggested. Money comes hard for everyone, and if Sister-in-law Wen just offered to treat everyone to roasted whole lamb, would headmaster Wen blame her for not managing the household? If the couple started arguing, she, the one who suggested burning the pot, would be in big trouble.
"It's okay, no need to ask him, it's decided. Sister Ma, let's go eat roasted whole lamb tonight. By the way, who in the family building needs to be invited? Sister Ma, please tell me." When Zhou Yuanyuan heard that they could go out to a restaurant, she immediately became interested and asked Ma Hongyu about the guests to invite.
Half an hour later, Ma Hongyu left Zhou Yuanyuan's house with a dizzy head.
"Mrs. Ma, how is it? Would the Wen family's sister-in-law be willing to treat us?" Wu Xiuhe saw Ma Hongyu coming down from upstairs and hurried over.
"Ah? Oh. Is it the Wu family? The Wen family said they'd treat everyone to a hot pot dinner tonight." Ma Hongyu's voice was a little hazy as she spoke. The conversation she had just had with Zhou Yuanyuan was still replaying in her mind. Zhou Yuanyuan asked Ma Hongyu who she wanted to invite, and Ma Hongyu said she'd pick a few families close to Wen Ziqing, like Cheng Yuanhui's family next door, or the family of Battalion Commander Zhang, who lived in the same regiment as Wen Ziqing.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuanyuan waved her hand and simply asked Ma Hongyu to help inform all sixteen households in the entire residential building. As for those who still needed to be invited in Wen Ziqing's group, Wen Ziqing would go and inform them individually.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
