Chapter 349 Happy New Year

Compared to the people of that time, the Xia family's thinking was quite open, and they did not have any particular ideas of favoring boys over girls. The first batch of comrades were indeed able to receive a good ideological education, and they generally accepted the equality of men and women.

There is no idea of ​​male superiority or female inferiority when sharing food; it's just that the tastes of men and women are different.

During festivals like the New Year, the domestic dining culture is that gay men have to drink a little.

There are lesbians who drink, but the proportion is definitely not as high as that of gay men.

For most lesbians, that kind of liquor is really not very appealing.

Fortunately, this year we have several bottles of fruit wine contributed by Xia Zhizhi, which tastes sweet and sour and is suitable for the palatability, so lesbians can also have a sip.

Everyone was drinking to their heart's content, except Xia Qingqing, who, after two cups, refused to drink any more no matter how much others urged her. If she drank too much today and said she was going to perform a ground crawling trick in front of a room full of elders, then when she woke up, she would really have to find a ground crawling trick.

After three rounds of drinks, a phone call came in. It was from the leader asking Xia Bangguo if he wanted to come over for a bite.

Xia Bangguo certainly didn't have much appetite for that, but since the call came, he naturally had to go.

Xia Bangguo stood up, put on his coat and walked out.

Xia Zhizhi also stood up quickly, carrying the large package she had prepared long ago and ran after him: "I'm going too, I'm going too!"

The leadership invited all relatives and staff working in Beijing to the West Flower Hall for a reunion dinner at noon. Adults and children were seated at several tables, making a lot of noise.

I called here at this time just to invite a few old folks over to chat. I usually don't bring my kids.

But Xia Zhizhi is thick-skinned and doesn't care about that.

She treated that place as her own home, coming and going as she pleased, and jumping around in the leader's office.

The elderly felt helpless when they saw her, but fortunately she would not cause trouble when others really had important work to do, so the leader could not get angry and could only laugh and scold her a few times and leave it at that.

Many people think that the food, clothing and other expenses of the comrades living there are all provided by the government, and that they only need to enjoy the treatment while living there, as meals are all arranged by the staff.

In fact, the real situation is not like this

Inside, each leader is responsible for his own profits and losses, and takes care of his own food, clothing and other expenses. His entire life depends on his own salary.

When working there, the leaders even had to pay for tea, and tea was not cheap these days, at 20 cents a cup.

The elderly love drinking tea and sometimes even chew the tea leaves. They spend a lot of tea every month.

Xia Zhizhi always ordered tea without any courtesy and never paid for it. After drinking, she would put the bill on the leader's head. Sometimes she would eat there as well, but she also didn't pay for it and would just put the bill on the head.

As it happened so many times, the old man didn't say anything, but Xia Bangguo and his wife felt embarrassed and sent tea and food to the leader, but the old man refused to accept them, saying that he had treated them.

Xia Bangguo looked helplessly at the enthusiastic Xia Zhizhi. He knew from her expression that she could not be persuaded to go back, so he could only acquiesce.

The car drove directly to the West Flower Hall. As soon as the car stopped, Xia Zhizhi opened the car door without waiting for Xia Bangguo, and shouted with full energy: "Grandpa, I'm here!"

She moved her legs very fast, pushed open the door of the West Flower Hall with a creak, and ran to the old man's side: "Grandpa, Happy New Year, Happy New Year to Grandpa Zhou, Happy New Year to everyone!"

The old man glanced at Grandpa Zhou next to him and said, "What did I say? Was it right?"

Xia Zhizhi put down the package and yelled, "Grandpa, why are you ignoring me, Grandpa!"

She went to the table again and saw a red roasted lion head on the table. Her eyes lit up immediately.

Grandpa Zhou was born in Chuzhou City, Huai'an, the birthplace of Huaiyang cuisine. He has a special liking for Huaiyang cuisine, and braised lion's head in red sauce is one of his favorite dishes.

During the three difficult years that followed, he insisted on not eating meat, eggs, or fish, and Lion Head never appeared on his table again.

It was not until the economy improved two years ago that he allowed the chef to make braised lion head for him.

When Xia Zhizhi was playing here some time ago, she heard that during the Chinese New Year in the past two years, the couple would invite the staff to have a "reunion dinner" together.

The two of them would cook several of their specialties themselves. The dish that Grandpa Zhou was best at, and which he always made every time he went to the kitchen, was braised lion's head.

After hearing this, Xia Zhizhi immediately ran to Granny Deng's (Grandpa Zhou's wife) office and said that she also wanted to eat red-roasted lion's head.

Grandma Deng smiled and said, "My cooking is not as good as your husband's. Go and ask him to cook it for you during the Chinese New Year."

After receiving the order, Xia Zhizhi immediately ran to Grandpa Zhou's office and pretended to convey the imperial decree: "Grandpa Zhou, Grandma Deng just said that you can still make a lion head for the New Year like before!"

Grandpa Zhou looked at Xia Zhizhi helplessly: "She wouldn't say that."

Xia Zhizhi kept talking nonsense for a long time, and Grandpa Zhou thought she was too noisy, so he had to agree and send her away.

Xia Zhizhi looked at the red roasted lion head on the table and called out happily, "You made this, didn't you?"

The eldest grandfather said beside him: "Couldn't I have done it?"

Xia Zhizhi looked at him with a look that said, "You are fooling a fool!" and said, "Do you believe what I said?"

The staff brought the remaining two dishes. When all the dishes were served, the old man invited everyone to sit down and eat.

Xia Zhizhi was full at home and had no interest in anything else except the lion's head.

To be honest, the taste is very good and authentic, no wonder it is their specialty.

She left the table as soon as she finished eating and went to look through the package she had brought.

She has maintained her habit over the years of giving gifts and gives them wherever she goes.

After the adults finished their meal, she was dressed in red, carrying a big package, and like Santa Claus, she walked around the table and began to distribute New Year gifts to everyone one by one.

What was given to Grandpa Da and Grandpa Zhou was a large bag of tea, which was Longjing tea with an orchid scent, as well as about two kilograms of nuts and a bag of preserved fruits.

Most of the others also ordered the same things, tea with dried fruit preserves, which is a perfect combination, but the quantity varies depending on the level.

When distributing the gifts, she felt like an HR in a company handing out New Year gifts to her colleagues...

As she distributed the food, she said with a smile, "Tomorrow is the first day of the new year. As the youngest, I should wish everyone a happy new year. But besides me, there must be many other children waiting to wish you a happy new year. I am afraid that you are too busy, so I will come here to wish you a happy new year first and be the first one to do so!"

My goodness, it is common for a group of children to pay respects to one elder, but this is the first time I see a child paying respects to a group of elders.

Xia Zhizhi knew that the grandfather liked to drink Longjing tea, especially Aju's special orchid-scented Longjing tea, the fragrance of which could be smelled through the paper package. He was craving for tea, and he was used to drinking strong tea, so he was not afraid of not being able to sleep at night after drinking it, so he asked someone to make him a cup.

Just as he was serving the tea, the old man couldn't help but laugh when he heard Xia Zhizhi say this: "Are you sure you're worried that we won't be able to handle it, not that you can't get up yourself?"