Chapter 82: Dumpling Soup
Chapter 82: Dumpling Soup
Fang Yuenian realized that her senior year of high school had actually started during the summer vacation because one afternoon when she was engrossed in doing her homework, she heard the voices of children outside.
They were a few boys, no more than ten years old, sweating profusely as they played with water guns on each other under the scorching sun. Their arms, exposed from wearing short sleeves, had clear tan lines.
Fang Yuenian could see them playing through the window by glancing up slightly. After watching for a while, he watched the little boys run away before turning his attention back to the math test paper in front of him.
The heat was unbearable, especially in the afternoons. Even with the fan running day and night, it only produced hot air. But for some reason, Fang Yuenian was quite used to the feeling of sweat slowly trickling down his back, so much so that he refused Wang Jing's repeated invitations to study in the only air-conditioned bedroom in the house.
With a lot of miscellaneous summer homework, he and Cheng Bing also bought an extra set of supplementary textbooks and English listening tapes, making their summer vacation plan much more meticulous than the previous one.
Wang Jing brought in a watermelon.
Previously, Fang Yuenian liked to eat half a watermelon with a spoon, but this was inconvenient when studying. So Wang Jing cut it up for him, filled a plate, quietly brought it in, and quietly closed the door behind her.
Sometimes Fang Yuenian wouldn't even notice that she had come in; she would only catch a glimpse of something new on the table when she glanced up by chance.
“Niannian,” Wang Jing didn’t leave immediately this time, but sat down next to her son, “Mom has something to tell you.”
Fang Yuenian put down her pen, turned her head to look at her, and asked, "What?"
"Your aunt's nephew, that little Jun, got into university. They're having a banquet tomorrow. Mom sent a gift. Do you want to go to the banquet?"
Fang Yuenian found it strange. He remembered that after starting junior high school, he stopped participating in these kinds of social gatherings involving congratulations and banquets.
"Should I go?" he repeated, puzzled.
Wang Jing smiled and said, "I didn't intend to interfere with your studies. Your mother-in-law insisted that you go. It's her old-fashioned way of thinking. She thinks it's good for you to go to the celebration for someone who has been admitted to university. You'll be taking the university entrance exam next year too, so it's a good omen."
Fang Yuenian listened with surprise: "There's such a way of saying it? I've never heard it before."
“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of it, even I haven’t,” Wang Jing said with a helpless smile. “I don’t know where your mother-in-law heard it from, but she insists that you go. But Niannian, you’ve been working too hard these past few days. Going out for a drink tomorrow to relax for a day would be nice. Aunt Xiaomei’s house isn’t far, what do you say?”
Fang Yuenian thought for a moment, "Okay, Mom, are you still going?"
"Yes, I'm going. Your aunt asked me to go and help out a little."
"Oh, okay. Uh, Mom, I don't have to actually drink alcohol, right?"
Wang Jing smiled and said, "No need, no need. Just eat a couple of bites of vegetables, and have a bowl of glutinous rice soup when it's served. If you don't want to stay any longer, just tell Aunt Xiaomei and come home. It's up to you."
However, celebrating a college admission is always accompanied by sweltering heat. In the countryside, banquets are held in the main room and courtyard of one's own home. Aunt Xiaomei's courtyard is not large, but it was packed with people, tables, and chairs. Wang Jing was helping to prepare a table of dishes in the kitchen, while the protagonist, Xiao Jun, who was about to become a college student, was cheerful and efficient, arranging the seating for the guests at the front.
It seems that Fang Yuenian's aunt had given prior instructions, because Xiao Jun, whom she wasn't particularly close to before, specially arranged a table for Fang Yuenian with more young people around, instead of having him sit at the children's table or squeeze in with the elders. So even though she wasn't good at handling these kinds of situations, Fang Yuenian still went over to congratulate him and chatted for a bit about university and her major.
The scene was so lively after the banquet started that people at the same table and the next table didn't know each other very well. Wang Jing came over to take a look and ended up chatting with a few mothers.
"Oh, you must be Jingjing, Yuehua's sister-in-law? Is this your son? He's so handsome and tall, you're so lucky!"
When Wang Jing heard others praising her son, she smiled so much her eyes disappeared into slits and said, "That's right, Yuehua is my sister-in-law... Oh dear, he's still so young!"
The woman was a grandmother, and she spoke in a loud voice: "How old are you? In high school?"
Wang Jing replied, "He's eighteen. He was born on the evening of the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, which is late in the year. He'll be in his senior year of high school after just one summer break."
Fang Yuenian gets a headache every time he hears his age in the traditional Chinese way. According to his family's custom, he is one year old at birth, and the following year is a new year, so he is two years old in the traditional Chinese way the day after he was born. There is really no way to reason with him.
"Wow! No wonder you came to drink today. You'll definitely be a college student next year! Which school are you going to study at?"
“At the city’s No. 1 High School,” Wang Jing quickly changed the subject, not wanting to brag about her child’s grades, “the students these days, they have so much homework they can’t finish it all day long. Take Xiao Jun for example, he probably didn’t get a break for more than a few days throughout his entire senior year. My sister-in-law tells me this every day…”
While the adults chatted, Fang Yuenian quietly ate the food in his bowl. The dishes at the banquet were mostly the same, oily and heavy, and few were not spicy. He noticed a plate of stir-fried wood ear mushrooms that wasn't spicy, so he ate that one, thinking only about how he wanted the meatball soup to come quickly.
Meatball soup is a must-have dish at banquets in the surrounding villages and towns, symbolizing reunion and completeness. Therefore, if you wait for this dish at the end of the banquet, it doesn't matter if you don't eat anything else, just drink this bowl of soup, which basically means you have completed your task.
After much anticipation, the soup finally arrived, and Wang Jing arrived just in time. She had been worried that Fang Yuenian, being a young child, wouldn't get to eat the first bites, since many people at banquets like to scramble for food. However, she was relieved to find that the table with Fang Yuenian consisted of rather refined young people. Seeing that Fang Yuenian had already ladled out a bowl and was drinking it, she felt she had finally fulfilled her mother's instructions. So she went over and whispered, "If you've finished your soup, you can play for a while if you want. If you don't want to play, go home. Remember to say hello."
Fang Yuenian said, "I understand."
He still had things to do. After finishing his soup, he simply told the people at the table, "Enjoy your meal slowly," and then he left and went around to the kitchen.
Wang Jing thought he was going to say hello, so she pointed to the place and said, "Aunt Xiaomei is over by the stove, go ahead."
Fang Yuenian then went into the kitchen. There weren't many people around at the moment. He recognized Aunt Xiaomei and went up to her, saying, "Aunt Xiaomei."
Aunt Xiaomei turned around and said with a smile, "Oh, you must be Niannian?" "Your aunt always talks about you. I used to see you a lot when you were little, but I haven't seen you much in the last two years."
Fang Yuenian smiled and said, "Yeah, I have to go to class, so I don't come home much."
Aunt Xiaomei liked him even more because he looked nice and spoke kindly. "Did you eat well? Did you like today's dishes? They were cooked too hastily, so they weren't very tasty."
Fang Yuenian hurriedly said, "It's delicious. I've eaten quite a bit and I'm full. Aunt Xiaomei, I was just about to ask you if the kitchen still has any glutinous rice ball soup today? If so, I'd like to pack a small bowl to take home."
Aunt Xiaomei hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, yes, there's still quite a lot left in the pot. It's all clean and no one has touched it. Who are you taking it back for? How many people are there? There are also quite a few other dishes. Take a lot of each kind; there's plenty more."
Fang Yuenian quickly waved her hand: "No need for anything else, Auntie, I'll just have a small bowl of soup."
However, Aunt Xiaomei was worried that he wouldn't have enough to eat, so she filled a big bowl and specially scooped out several extra glutinous rice balls. Luckily, there were plenty of plastic takeout containers available for the banquet these past two days, so she packed them up for him.
Fang Yuenian said thank you a few times, then said she was going home after she finished eating. She then walked out of the yard again, casually waved to Wang Jing from a distance, and indicated that she was leaving.
Fang Yue Nian rode her bike back home. Without entering the house, she parked her bike at the back door, not disturbing Grandma Fang who was taking a nap at home, and then went straight to the carpenter's shop.
Cheng Bing didn't know why he had been called to the carpenter's shop. She figured it was probably for homework, so she brought over half a watermelon with two spoons stuck in it and two rolled-up exam papers.
Just as I turned on the air conditioner and was making room on the desk, Fang Yuenian sneaked in somewhat furtively. "Brother Cheng?"
Cheng Bing emerged from the small room: "Here."
Fang Yuenian smiled and said, "It's so hot! Hurry up, is there any water?"
"We have watermelon, it's chilled."
"Great!" Fang Yuenian headed straight for the small room, handing the takeout box to Cheng Bing halfway there. "Here, this is for you. You have to finish it and drink the soup."
"Huh?" Cheng Bing didn't understand. "You went to a bar and then took the drinks home?"
Fang Yue Nian wanted to laugh. The two went into the small room, closed the door, and he scooped out a piece of watermelon and put it in his mouth. "What's wrong with packing it up? It's not like I'm the only one packing it up. Didn't you see? Lots of adults are packing it up, they're so enthusiastic. But this is glutinous rice ball soup, it's very meaningful, after all, it's a graduation celebration, you should drink it quickly."
Cheng Bing sat down and slowly unpacked the takeout box. "What's the point? Does drinking this mean I can also hold a graduation celebration?"
"Bingo!" Fang Yuenian simply sat down on the table, hugging the watermelon to cool off, swinging her legs non-stop. "That's the idea, so I specifically asked the host for it. It's not leftovers, so drink it without worry."
Cheng Bing had already opened the bowl of soup.
Aunt Xiaomei's family's banquet was quite generous, with good quality meat and vegetables, and plenty of portions. The meatball soup was fresh, fragrant, and refreshing, and it looked very appealing.
He looked at Fang Yuenian and smiled, "I've noticed that you seem to be a bit superstitious."
Fang Yuenian objected, "This isn't superstition, okay, Cheng Bing? What's wrong with having some positive aspirations for the future?"
"Good, good, very good," Cheng Bing looked at him, "How about we go have some drinks? Did anyone compliment you, handsome young man? Good student?"
Fang Yuenian raised his chin and said smugly, "Of course, you don't know how much attention I get." As he spoke, he scooped out another spoonful of watermelon. "It's just too hot. Oh, you even brought your homework? Hmm, I'm going back to take a shower, and we can do it together tonight."
Cheng Bing nodded, "Okay, eat your watermelon before you go."
Fang Yuenian jumped off the table, spun around, changed the spoon, scooped out a round watermelon ball, and held it to his lips. "Open your mouth."
Cheng Bing was stunned.
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