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It wasn't until school was over and his roommate came back that Song Zigan's roommate pulled back the covers and realized he had a fever. "Song Zigan, wake up!"
Song Zigan opened his scarlet eyes and looked at everyone in confusion.
The dormitory head squeezed through the crowd and said, "Song Zigan, you have a fever. Should we take you to the infirmary?"
Song Zigan shook his head, feeling as if his head weighed a ton. "No need. I have some Analgin in my cabinet. Just give me two tablets to induce sweating."
Several people fetched medicine and water. They quickly fed him two tablets of Analgin, then covered him with a quilt to help him sweat.
"Song Zigan, we've gone to eat. We'll get you some porridge when we get back."
"Okay, thank you all. There are some sugar packets on the table, so please share them."
Several people refused. Although they weren't starving, refined grains were still very precious.
In the end, it was only because the dormitory head saw that Song Zigan was determined that he decided to give one to each person.
As for Zhang Hongmei, she wandered into Shuren Hutong and stood in the courtyard, looking at every corner, trying to imprint everything in her mind. Although three years is not a long time, many memories will fade.
I chuckled self-deprecatingly. What's wrong with me? Am I being melancholic? No, overly sentimental? Maybe a bit of both.
I roused myself, went into my room, and looked around. Suddenly, I regretted wanting to use this place as a processing plant. Luckily, they agreed to let me move to the house next to the building; this would be my own private space.
I drew the curtains and went inside. Without even showering, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
This was a habit Zhang Hongmei had in her previous life. Whenever she was under a lot of pressure, or suffered a setback, or had something she didn't want to face, she would go to sleep, and she would feel much more relaxed when she woke up.
But this time Zhang Hongmei slept very soundly. When she woke up, she felt a headache and quickly drank a cup of spiritual spring water, which made her feel much better.
I let go of the burden in my heart and realized that I didn't need to be like this, and that made me feel better.
When they came out of the space, they also brought out a large grass carp, which is what we'll be having for dinner tonight. We'll make fish balls, and the main dish will be rice.
Actually, the food was secondary; the main thing was to improve their health. People are all human; they'll repay those who are good to them tenfold.
First, I cleaned the fish. It had been months since I'd cooked, and I felt rusty. Humans can be so lazy.
It took half an hour to clean the large grass carp, which weighed six or seven pounds. Looking at the skin that had been peeled off, she felt it was such a waste to throw it away. There were onions in her storage space, so she decided to stir-fry them. After all, neither of them would ask. Zhang Hongmei thought to herself, feeling a bit like an ostrich.
I'll cook the rice in the rice cooker. It's still early, so there's no rush to cook. I'll just chop up the fish, season it, and let it sit for a while.
I repeatedly chopped the fish meat with the back of a knife until it was fine enough before putting it into a bowl. Then I chopped some ginger, scallions, egg whites from two eggs, a large bowl of cornstarch water, salt, and a little soy sauce for steamed fish. I didn't add any other seasonings. Finally, I added a cup of spring water so that I wouldn't add any more to the soup. This amount was already quite large and enough to improve their health.
All the ingredients were prepared. I checked the time and it was already past five o'clock. I figured the two of them would arrive by six-thirty at the latest. So I started cooking rice at six o'clock, and then made fish balls when they arrived at six-thirty.
Zhang Shouyi arrived at Xinyuan at six o'clock sharp. After hearing what Old Gu said, he took the car keys from Xiao Li and the two drove to Shuren Hutong.
"Hehe, you're here a quarter of an hour earlier than I expected. Brother Zhang, help me start the fire. Grandpa, go set the table. We'll have two dishes today: fish balls and stir-fried fish skin."
"Hehe, this is the best. I've been thinking about these fish balls for a while now."
This time, Zhang Hongmei didn't use fish heads and bones to make soup; she just made fish balls in plain water, otherwise it would be a waste since the three of them couldn't finish it.
Gu Chuanming watched the young couple busy at the stove, feeling like the head of the household. It felt really good. Thinking about how many children would be around him in the future, he could wake up smiling from his dreams.
Zhang Hongmei was also incredibly fast. She served 108 small and adorable fish balls, sprinkled with chopped cilantro and a few drops of sesame oil.
The rice was cooked, but it still needed to simmer for a while, so I stir-fried the fish skin in the pan. Actually, I should have added chili peppers, but because Gu Chuanming is old, Zhang Hongmei was worried that eating too much spicy food would be bad for his health, so she simply didn't add any.
Ten minutes later, the three sat around the table. Zhang Hongmei served Gu Chuanming a bowl of fish balls. She also gave Zhang Shouyi a bowl of soup.
Gu Chuanming knew this was good stuff, so he didn't say anything and just kept stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing it.
After removing the head, bones, and internal organs from the seven or eight-pound grass carp, you'd be lucky to get three pounds left. So the three of them just ate fish balls and drank fish soup. Nobody ate the fish skin or rice.
After finishing their meal, no one touched the food. Zhang Hongmei tried to clean up, but the two men stopped her. In the end, Zhang Shouyi got up and cleaned the kitchen.
It's almost eight o'clock, but none of the three of them seem to want to go home. They cherish this rare opportunity for the family of three to be alone together.
No one spoke again. They had already explained everything that needed to be explained many times and made all the necessary promises.
Finally, Zhang Shouyi broke the silence, "Grandpa, Hongmei, let's go back. It's too late, you should all rest."
"Yes, it's time to go back. Let's go. It's already good enough that the three of us can have this gathering. We should be content. Girl, let's go back."
"Um."
Once outside, the father and son refused to take the car and insisted on walking back, so Zhang Shouyi had no choice but to accompany them.
"Grandpa, I'm so sorry I can't make it to your birthday party. I can't even attend your first birthday since we became a family."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Don't you know? The older people get, the more they fear their birthdays, because they're afraid of ending up on the King of Hell's list."
Zhang Hongmei took Gu Chuanming's arm and said, "Can we go quietly? It's not possible this year, and I'll probably still be on the ship then, so nothing will be convenient."
“Girl, I’m content with your kindness. It’s a blessing from heaven that I was able to find you before I die.”
"Me too, it's my blessing to have met you. I hope you can stay with me for several more decades, watch me get married and start a career, watch me have a house full of children and grandchildren, and you'll still have to help me raise my children."
"Hehe, I will definitely wait. You can go without worry. I can't guarantee anything else, but there will be no problem with you coming back. So don't put too much pressure on yourself. Grandpa can wait."
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