Chen Xingling invited his friends to sit down and handed chopsticks to Ma Sanyue and her sister.
"You're welcome. Eat whatever you like. We're all women here, so don't be restrained."
Ma Sanyue smiled shyly: "...Okay."
Jia Shuangyin didn't dare to look at the delicious dishes on the table. He looked left and right with great curiosity.
"Lingling, when I saw the design draft before, I never guessed that it would be so beautiful after it was built! It's really elegant, retro and modern!"
"Eat your fill first and watch later." Chen Xingling urged, "Eat quickly."
Jia Shuangqi glanced left and right, swallowing his saliva secretly: "I want to go upstairs and take a look."
"Sure!" Chen Xingling said generously, "I'll take you upstairs to see it after we finish eating. Come on, eat."
Jia Shuangqi looked at the extremely sumptuous meal, which was almost full of delicious dishes, and once again felt envious of the real financial resources of his good friend's family.
"Lingling, your lover's salary should be very high, right?"
Chen Xingling's eyes flickered slightly, and he lowered his voice: "It was mainly the money from my parents, plus some of my own savings."
When Jia Shuangqi heard this, his eyes immediately lit up.
"...My parents both hope that my cousin and I can get married soon. They also said that they would give me the small house that the company gave me as a dowry. It's in the east of the city, so it's closer to my school."
Chen Xingling smiled and said, "That's great!"
"What's good about it?" Jia Shuangqi pouted and muttered, "My aunt is very satisfied, but my uncle is asking for three more turns and one more ring. He said that I am the only daughter of my parents, and a richer dowry will make the neighbors and his peers envious."
Chen Xingling smacked his lips and asked, "Three turns and one ring? How much does that cost?"
In this era when social materials are still scarce, the "three turns and one ring" are all practical and good items, referring to bicycles, sewing machines, watches and radios.
Jia Shuangqi explained gloomily, "They said they wanted a 'Forever' bicycle. My dad asked and it cost at least over 130 yuan. If there's no ticket, it would definitely cost more. They said they wanted a 'Flying Man' sewing machine, which would cost at least 80 or 90 yuan. They said they wanted a Shanghai watch, which would cost at least 100 yuan even if it's a women's watch. The radio also said it wanted a 'Red Star' brand, which would cost at least 70 or 80 yuan."
Chen Xingling didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Even the brand is pointed out?"
"Yes." Jia Shuangqi pouted angrily, "I have grown up, and this is the first time I have found my uncle so hateful. He also said that the employees of their towel factory now pursue 'three turns and one ring' when getting married. My cousin and he both work there, so we must prepare everything for them even if we lose the battle."
Chen Xingling couldn't help but ask, "All in all it would cost about 400 yuan - can your family raise enough money?"
Jia Shuangqi shook his head: "It's impossible to pay so much at once. My parents usually live frugally and save a few kilos, which is only more than 200 yuan. My cousin said that my aunt and I will find a way to find 100 yuan."
"You must not let your uncle know about this." Chen Xingling reminded.
Jia Shuangqi nodded: "How could my cousin and aunt dare to let him know. This summer, my mother didn't dare to buy any new clothes, and didn't dare to buy a piece of meat for more than ten days, just to save a little more money. My aunt and cousin are similar. My uncle is too concerned about his reputation, so he made us suffer."
Chen Xingling quickly picked up a large piece of barbecue for her and lowered his voice: "Eat more. There's still a large piece of bacon left in the kitchen. There are too many hard dishes tonight and we can't eat them at all. I'll wrap it in newspaper later and you can take it with you to satisfy your cravings occasionally."
"Ling Ling~~" Jia Shuangqi's eyes sparkled: "Why are you so nice~~Eating and taking, aren't you embarrassed?"
Chen Xingling blinked: "There's no need to be polite between us."
Jia Shuangqi laughed and asked, "Have you prepared everything for the start of school?"
Chen Xingling shook his head: "Preparing for what?"
"...It seems that we don't need anything." Jia Shuangqi laughed: "We don't plan to stay overnight, so we don't need to prepare bedding, clothes or daily necessities."
Chen Xingling smiled and said, "Yes! It's much closer than going to Chongwen Middle School. It only takes about ten minutes to get to the east of the city."
"There's no need to ride a bicycle." Jia Shuangqi whispered, "Da Li said he doesn't plan to live in the dormitory. He also said that you paid him a lot of money, and the tuition is covered by the government, so he feels a lot more relaxed."
Chen Xingling chatted with her in a low voice and invited the two sisters of the Ma family to eat from time to time.
Zhao Xiaoxing had been busy the whole afternoon and was very hungry. However, her mother-in-law was around, so she didn't dare eat too much. She could only bury her head and eat quietly.
Ying and Gu Miao devoured the food voraciously, attacking the most delicious dishes on the table and enjoying their meal very much.
Gu Xuan never liked strangers, nor did he like to chat with them. Seeing three strangers eating around him, he became even more reserved.
If the food on the table wasn't so delicious, she might not be able to eat it.
Ma Sanyue and her sister also ate voraciously. Although they tried to slow down their movements, there was too much food and they could hardly control themselves. They could only keep their heads down as much as possible to avoid feeling embarrassed.
Chen Xingling was very enthusiastic. He picked up the serving chopsticks and picked up meat for them. He also called on Zhao Xiaoxing to eat more, saying that she had worked the hardest today and should eat more. He then picked up the largest roast duck leg for her.
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Zhao Xiaoxing couldn't help but secretly glance at her mother-in-law.
Ying was busy eating and had no time to pay attention to her.
Gu Miao would steal glances at Ma Sanyue and her sister from time to time, with disgust in her eyes and on her face, just because their clothes were full of patches and the shoes on their feet were very old, it was just that the word "poor" was written on their foreheads.
She boasted that her family was well-off and that she was doted on by her old mother. She would go to department stores to buy the latest styles of clothes and would never buy cloth from a tailor. She would also never wear patched clothes and would replace them immediately if they were a little worn.
Therefore, she looked down upon Ma Sanyue and her sister with a condescending look, and even always reached out to them to take the large shrimps, with an attitude of "I am the master and I am qualified to eat".
Chen Xingling discovered it quickly and hurriedly placed the roast chicken in front of Gu Miao, blocking her hands.
"You like roast chicken, have it."
Gu Miao picked up a big chicken leg without hesitation and started to chew it.
Chen Xingling gave each of Ma Sanyue's sisters a chicken wing, and said gratefully, "Luckily you guys came to help today. It would be impossible for Xiaoxing and I to handle it alone. Come on, come on, great contributors, please don't be polite, eat as much as you can, and don't be restrained."
Ma Sanyue and Ma Sifang smiled shyly and ate happily.
The guests enjoyed the meal very much. At around seven o'clock, the male guests left, slightly tipsy, supporting each other.
Gu Qi was worried, so he rode his bike out to see the person off.
Ma Dali and Gu Yi helped to clean up the living room, while Ma Sanyue and her sister washed the dishes with Zhao Xiaoxing.
Chen Xingling took Jia Shuangqin and her cousin to visit the three gardens, and then sent them away.
Jia Shuangqi held her hand reluctantly, holding the packaged bacon in his other hand.
"Lingling, I haven't seen you for a long time. I missed you so much. If you weren't so busy here, I would have come to see you a long time ago."
"Come and keep me company tomorrow." Chen Xingling said with a smile, "I've been too busy lately. I need to take a good rest in the next few days."
Jia Shuangqi said, "I'll come and play with you the day after tomorrow."
Chen Xingling agreed and promised to wait for her at home the day after tomorrow morning.
My cousin said goodbye with a smile and left with his lover.
Chen Xingling hurried into the house to help clean up and put away some leftover meat and vegetables.
The man had a big appetite, so there was almost nothing left in the living room, but there was half a roast chicken, half a roast duck, and some seafood left on the table in the study.
Ying picked her teeth and waved lazily: "Put it all away. I'm going to take it to eat tomorrow."
Chen Xingling didn't argue with her and let her go along with it.
Gu Qi happened to come over, and after sending his old mother and two younger sisters to the first floor of Linjiang, he came back exhausted.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the door, I saw the factory director's car parked at the gate of the new house, and Director Guo was standing at the door of his own house, laughing and chatting with his wife!
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