Shark's Fin Bird's Nest

The graduation banquet had to be held. Even if Song Shixia didn't want to hold her own graduation banquet, her mother-in-law wanted to hold it for Yanran. If she disagreed, it might be seen by outsiders as her mother-in-law treating her differently.

So Song Shixia could only persuade her mother-in-law to hold both of their graduation banquets together so that no one would focus their attention on her.

Han Rong thought it made sense. If she held a graduation banquet for her younger daughter and daughter-in-law together, neither of them would show favoritism. The most important thing was the appearance. Whose two children were admitted to university at the same time?

"Let's go look at the hotel. Our house is not big enough to host the party. Let's go to the hotel to treat our guests."

Song Shixia wondered how many people would be invited, her mother-in-law was too concerned about the graduation banquet.

"My first choice would definitely be the Capital Hotel. Not only is it a long-established hotel, but it also serves imperial cuisine, shark fin, bear paw, bird's nest, etc. I guess you haven't tried them before, so you can go there and try something new."

Song Shixia has eaten shark fin and bird's nest. Modern society is developing very rapidly and eating game is not encouraged. Shark fin and bird's nest are both artificially produced.

As for bear paws, bears will become protected species in a few years, and this thing will be even less edible.

Han Rong continued to introduce: "There are also Quanjude, Bianyifang, Hongbinlou Restaurant, Moscow Western Restaurant, etc. This is the menu I collected. You can take a look at which one has the best dishes and we will go there."

Song Shixia couldn't help laughing.

"When other people entertain guests, they consider the budget first, and then they want to make sure the guests eat and drink well. Why do you let me choose all of these?"

Han Rong grumbled at her, "The purpose of my hosting the graduation banquet is to show off. You and Yanran are the protagonists, so of course you two should eat and drink well. The guests are just here to take advantage of your good fortune of being the top scholar. Maybe their own children can also get good grades."

Since her mother-in-law said so, Song Shixia of course chose the Capital Hotel.

"Then I'll choose the Capital Hotel."

Han Rong was overjoyed.

"I thought the same as you did. You can only eat at the Capital Hotel two or three times a year, but you can eat at other hotels anytime. Call your family right away and ask them to come and have some fun. Your brother is taking the high school entrance exam, so he should come and try out the luck of the literary star."

Song Dongdong's high school entrance exam results haven't come out yet. It's estimated to be within this week. If he fails then, he will cry.

Song Shixia asked her mother-in-law to look at the menu first while she went to call the village grocery store.

When the owner of the convenience store heard Song Shixia's voice, she hurried to congratulate her. Only then did Song Shixia know that people from the county admissions office had gone to her house to hand out banners and reward her parents with a bonus of 200 yuan, and even reporters had come to interview her.

Song Shixia was extremely glad that he was not at home, otherwise he would have been paraded through the streets like the top scholar in ancient times.

When Song Dongdong learned that he had to go to the capital, he packed his clothes without stopping. He took out a small gadget from the treasure box under the bed. It was a wooden carved pistol that he asked a carpenter in the village to help make. It was a toy specially made for Dabao and Xiaobao.

Ever since Song Shixia's story of being the top scorer in science in the capital was published in the local newspaper in the county, Song Chunxia and her husband's business has become more and more prosperous. Old customers all know that she is Song Shixia's biological sister. With the help of publicity, the whole county knows that the female owner of the Malatang stall is the biological sister of the top scorer in science.

Even though they have a storefront, the couple still put the cart at the door of the store. After all, Malatang relies on the unique spicy and fresh flavor to attract customers. Customers can dine in or take the food away.

Song Chunxia did not hide it and shared with regular customers how her sister had taught her how to run her business. Now everyone felt that she was indeed the top scorer in science, and that people who knew how to study had more ideas than the average person.

In the first half of the year, Song Chunxia's business was not as prosperous as before because her competitors were trying to steal her customers with low prices. Although the taste of the competitors was average, they could not resist the price war. Many customers thought that since they were eating malatang anyway, it would be more economical to buy something cheaper.

Ever since they saw in the local newspaper that their younger sister had been admitted to Yenching University, the couple's small shop has become more prosperous than when it was the most profitable. There are even queues at mealtimes every day.

Song Dongdong pedaled his bicycle very quickly, all the way from the village to the county town. Due to his height limitation, he could only stretch his legs under the horizontal bar to pedal. Even so, he still liked riding a bicycle very much.

He stopped the car and shouted,

"Sister, my sister called us and said she would hold a graduation banquet at the Capital Hotel and asked us to go to the Capital."

His voice attracted the guests' attention. Song Dongdong straightened his back with a look of pride on his face. He did it on purpose so that everyone could hear it.

As expected, the guests waiting in line for their meals were talking about it.

"You are really promising. You must have been awarded a lot of money for being the top scorer in the exam. It would be great if you could eat at the Capital Hotel!"

"I was on a business trip with my boss before, and we went to the Capital Hotel to invite a foreign guest. They said we could only go in for a visit and were not allowed to eat. The Capital Hotel is specially used to receive foreign guests."

"It's good to be able to read. It seems that knowledge can change one's destiny. It's a pity that it's too late for us to go to school at our age. There is still some hope for the children."

"Who says it's not true? It's said that high school, college and teacher training are free, but if you look at the scores, you'll know that the higher the scores, the better. Otherwise, why would someone get such a high score and be in the newspapers?"

"Yes, it all depends on the individual. If your child has the talent to study and can go to college, then he should take the college entrance exam. If he doesn't have the talent, then he can go to a technical secondary school and still have a stable job after graduation."

Song Chunxia's hands were busy, and the smile on her face never faded. Listening to the guests' discussion about her sister's admission to Yenching University, she became more determined to let her child study hard.

The leaders of the town supply and marketing cooperative regretted their decision since they knew that Song Chunxia was Song Shixia's biological sister. If he had not taken ten yuan and two bottles of wine, the honor would have fallen on their supply and marketing cooperative. Unfortunately, he was blinded by the temporary benefits and gave Song Chunxia's position to his own relatives.

The girl who replaced Song Chunxia did not have a smooth job in the supply and marketing cooperative. With Song Chunxia, ​​a three-good employee, in front of her, no matter how enthusiastic she was, the customers were sorry that Song Chunxia left. She thought she could get the three-good employee award by replacing Song Chunxia, ​​but it was taken away by another employee.

Now Song Chunxia has left the supply and marketing cooperative and is doing very well in business. Her younger sister has been admitted to Yanjing University. She is the only university student in the county this year. Everyone in the county knows her. Song Chunxia's business will only get better and better. If she hadn't taken Song Chunxia's position, she might still be an ordinary salesperson. Thinking that she indirectly helped Song Chunxia, ​​the girl felt even more uncomfortable.

After Song Chunxia resigned, she no longer paid attention to the supply and marketing cooperative, so she was unaware of the jealousy of others behind her back. Even if she knew, she would not take it to heart. She would only move forward. Only incompetent people would look back.

Song Chunxia and her husband apologized to the customers after selling today's spicy hot pot.

"Our house will be closed for the next week. We are going to the capital to attend my sister's graduation banquet. Please cook a bowl of noodles at home."

Song Chunxia was joking with the guests while her husband was busy cleaning the table.

The guests expressed their understanding.

"Take some of your luck and let my child come to your restaurant for dinner. Maybe he will pass the exam."

Song Chunxia smiled and said, "If it's useful, I'll let my fur eggs rub it more."

Song Shixia called home to inform her parents, who called back to say that her second uncle and his family also wanted to come, so she naturally expressed her warm welcome.

Since guests were coming, there definitely wouldn't be enough space at home. The hotel check-in process was too troublesome, so Song Shixia had to ask her brother for help.

"Capital Hotel, wow, your mother-in-law is so nice to you. I can only eat there because of your sister-in-law's status as a guest of honor, but this time I can eat with my own sister."

Song Shixia rolled her eyes at her brother.

"Help me think about how to arrange for Second Uncle's family. There will definitely be five people coming to Second Uncle's house. They are in the village to take care of our family, so we definitely can't search them. We just need to spend the money."

Song Qiusheng thought about it.

"Don't you have a courtyard house? Why don't you just clean up your courtyard house?"

"But there's no decoration inside, and people are just allowed to live there like that."

Song Qiusheng looked at his sister speechlessly.

"What do you want to decorate it like? Are you going to build it into a palace for people to live in? Your house should just be a shelter from the wind and rain, with furniture and a bed."

Song Shixia slapped his forehead.

"I was so busy that I forgot that my original renovation plan was to lay floor tiles indoors. I thought that it would be uncomfortable for guests to stay here before the renovation. I forgot that the floors in our village are all made of mud bricks."

Song Qiusheng was helpless.

"You're stupid, but you scored 700 points. You're smart, but you're stupid again."

Song Shixia stretched out her hand to stop him, "Correct, it's 690 points, not 700."

"It's only ten points off. I like to round up. By the way, I said before that you would be awarded a car if you were admitted to the university. I, your brother, had to borrow your sister-in-law's car. But I have to do what I promised you, so..."

Song Shixia's eyes lit up.

"so?"

Song Qiusheng sighed with heartache.

"What else can we do? We're on our way. We'll try to catch up with our parents when they come to the capital. You should find time to get a driver's license. Otherwise, you'll have to let your brother drive for you reluctantly."

"Don't worry, I guarantee you'll get your driver's license in less than a month. What car is it?"

"I really don't know. I asked Yao Xue to find someone to help me buy it. I didn't go there. I just said it was a car suitable for girls."

Song Shixia thought of the colorful carapace cars in American TV dramas, which seemed pretty. If it were an ordinary car, it would be a bit ugly.

Forget it, I’ll see when the time comes.

Song Shixia went home and discussed the menu with her mother-in-law. Ji Yanran sat aside flipping through magazines with a carefree attitude and refused to get involved in the adults' conversation. She knew that the dishes chosen by her sister-in-law would not be bad anyway.

You don’t know until you see the full menu. Only then did you realize that you cannot underestimate the stomach of wise people. There is everything from swimming in the sea to flying in the sky.

It turns out that poverty limits imagination. Although I am not poor, I have never seen the menu of Capital Hotel before. I never thought that this menu is not inferior to the state banquet.

Mother-in-law chose 20 dishes in one go, which Song Shixia felt was a bit exaggerated.

"Isn't that too much? Even a wedding banquet wouldn't have so many dishes."

Han Rong smiled broadly.

"Some dishes are not served, we can pack them up and eat them when the time comes."

Game is only mentioned in the book and in the context of the times. In reality, it is not recommended that you eat any game.