Chapter 92 Wang Yuqing treats everyone to dinner
Lei Yongxia stepped forward and instructed, "Comrade Wang Shuo, you must help Tang Wan a lot while you stay at her house. There is no man in her family, and she does all the work herself, the dirty, tiring and heavy work. Her in-laws never lift a finger to help her. It's really a tragedy."
Upon hearing this, Wang Shuo felt a pang of heartache for his beloved, yet he still shouted in his loud voice, "I will!"
Lei Yongxia was startled.
At this moment, Tang Wan pursed her lips and revealed a very faint smile.
Wang Shuo naturally saw it and was quite mesmerized. He thought to himself: "My goodness, that smile is so beautiful, just like the chrysanthemums by the roadside."
However, he didn't stare at it. Instead, he quickly looked away, carrying the firewood and striding ahead with his head held high, looking as proud as if he were carrying a gun on his shoulder.
As soon as they stepped into the yard, they heard Zhang Cuihua's sarcastic voice coming from inside the house: "Are you trying to die? Why aren't you back yet? Do you want to starve us two old folks to death? Everyone else has finished work and gone home, and the food is all ready. My kitchen chimney isn't even smoking. You're getting lazier and lazier."
Zhang Cuihua heard footsteps in the yard, which is why she deliberately cursed like that.
Wang Shuo put the firewood in the woodpile, clapped his hands, and said loudly to the people inside the house, "Auntie, if you're hungry, cook for yourself. You seem quite nimble."
The people inside the room fell silent instantly.
He then lowered his voice and whispered to Tang Wan, "Why don't you rest for a bit?"
Tang Wan didn't reply to him. Instead, she went to the window and said to her mother-in-law inside the house, "Mom, I was a little late because I was collecting a bundle of firewood outside. I'll go cook now."
Zhang Cuihua came out of the house, frowned and glared at Tang Wan, then turned to Wang Shuo with a smile: "Comrade Wang Shuo, are you starving? I'll tell her to hurry up and stop dawdling."
Wang Shuo nodded: "We're hungry. Auntie, go start a fire, and I'll chop all this firewood for you."
Zhang Cuihua: "..."
Wang Shuo walked to the woodpile, picked up the axe on the ground and started chopping firewood. He glanced at Zhang Cuihua, who was still standing there, and said, "Auntie, why don't you chop the firewood and I'll start the fire?"
Zhang Cuihua chuckled dryly a few times: "I'll go... I'll go start the fire..."
She was really unhappy; she hadn't lit a fire for several years.
After Wang Yuqing finished cooking, she went to Tang Wan's house. As soon as she entered the door, she saw Wang Shuo chopping wood with a large axe, which looked a bit intimidating.
She greeted him first: "Comrade Wang Shuo, are you chopping wood?"
Then he asked, "Have you eaten?"
Wang Shuo turned to look at Wang Yuqing and chuckled, "Not yet. We just got back, and there's not even any smoke coming out of the chimney. Comrade Tang Wan is about to start cooking."
Hearing the noise, Tang Wan and Zhang Cuihua, who had just entered the kitchen, came out.
Zhang Cuihua glanced at Wang Yuqing, who was empty-handed, and put on a sour face: "He's probably here to borrow something again. Don't even think about borrowing my old bicycle."
Tang Wan asked, "Yuqing, what brings you here? I was just about to cook."
Wang Yuqing said with a smile, "I've come to invite you and Comrade Wang Shuo to my house for dinner. I've already prepared the food, and all that's missing are you two distinguished guests."
She added, "I cooked a big pot of wild boar stew with radishes. It smells delicious. Go and try it."
Wang Shuo quickly threw down the axe, swallowing hard, "There's meat to eat? I love wild boar stewed with radish the most. You're being so polite, let's go then..."
He was especially happy to invite Tang Wan because he was going to invite her too. He figured if he couldn't eat Tang Wan's cooking today, he could eat it tomorrow, and maybe he could eat it every day in the future.
Tang Wan glanced at Zhang Cuihua and politely declined, saying, "I've already picked all the vegetables, all that's left is to start the fire. My in-laws are hungry."
Wang Shuo interrupted Wang Yuqing, "Let them do it themselves. There's wild boar meat here, are you stupid not to go eat it? Hurry up and go... let's go."
He walked ahead first, then thought for a moment and turned back to Zhang Cuihua, saying, "Auntie, we're going to Comrade Wang Yuqing's house for dinner. You can cook for yourself."
Zhang Cuihua: "..."
She stared sharply at Tang Wan, wanting to see if this woman dared to go!
Wang Yuqing saw this and stepped forward to take Tang Wan's arm: "You've helped me a few times since I came to our production team, I must treat you to a good meal, let's go..."
After saying that, she deliberately said to Zhang Cuihua, "Comrade Wang Shuo is right. Let the old lady cook by herself. She has hands and feet and can cook by herself. Don't treat her like a disabled person. That will hurt her self-esteem."
Tang Wan glanced back at Zhang Cuihua, who glared at her fiercely. This time, she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine!"
Zhang Cuihua stood at the kitchen door, her face contorted with anger, watching helplessly as the three of them left, still discussing how chewy the wild boar meat was.
She also wanted to eat wild boar meat. When she went back inside, she first complained that Tang Wan didn't cook for them, and then she complained that Wang Yuqing was unreasonable and didn't even invite the two of them to eat together.
There were many people sitting in front of the Ji family's house, making it very lively.
Among them were Old Man Li, Chen Wei (a male educated youth), Chen E, Chen Zhong, Feng Chunxia, Er Gou, Lei Yongxia...
Actually, Wang Yuqing didn't want to call Feng Chunxia, but she did it for Chen E's sake. However, this gesture made Feng Chunxia feel flattered and even uncomfortable, as she had often complained about Wang Yuqing before.
Ji Xuening moved the main table out of the main room.
Ji Daming and Ji Xiaoming brought out the dishes: a large pot of wild boar stewed with radish, a plate of dried fish, a plate of shredded potatoes, a plate of stir-fried eggplant, a plate of corn kernels, several dishes of pickled vegetables, and several bowls of stir-fried snails.
There was also a large bowl of tomato and egg soup. The eggs were brought from home by Chen E, and the tomatoes were brought by Lei Yongxia.
Old Man Li also brought a bottle of wine from home, but Chen Wei wouldn't let him drink it, and the two of them bickered a bit and had a little tiff.
Chen Wei scratched his head in despair and helplessness: "Old Man Li, do you want to live a few years less?"
Old Man Li pouted like a child: "If you don't let me drink, you're making me live a few years less."
Finally, everyone persuaded him, and he reluctantly handed a bottle of wine to Chen Wei, who then secretly hid it.
Ji Xuening returned home after washing vegetables in the river. The basket contained Chinese cabbage and spinach, as instructed by Wang Yuqing, who also said that these should be cooked in wild boar meat soup.
The staple food was red date and corn buns. Wang Yuqing used the red dates she bought last time to make a steamer basket of them, and added a little honey.
These are suitable for children, but fearing that adults might find them too sweet and not be used to them, she steamed another pot of cornmeal rice.
Holding up a red date steamed bun, Ji Meimei boasted, "My mom cooks even better than my dad. This red date steamed bun is so sweet!"
After saying that, she generously handed it to Er Gou, who took a bite and said with bright eyes, "Mmm, delicious."
When Wang Yuqing brought Wang Shuo and Tang Wan back, everyone was already sitting at the door chatting and laughing, waiting for them to come back and start the meal.
Wang Yuqing also lit a fire on the ground, placed a triangular iron frame on it, and put a large pot of wild boar stew with radishes on top of it. She said, "Let's eat while we cook vegetables."
Wang Shuo praised, "You really know how to eat! Eating like this keeps it warm and cozy, and the atmosphere is wonderful too."
The wild boar meat was seasoned with a lot of spices, and everyone present praised Wang Yuqing's culinary skills. Even Lei Yongxia admitted that she was not as good as him, saying, "I, a proper baker, am not as good as you."
The meal was particularly enjoyable and heartwarming. Wang Shuo, being a chatterbox, was good at creating a lively atmosphere. He very impolitely asked if there was any baijiu (Chinese liquor), to which Ji Xiaoming replied, "I saw Uncle Chen Wei hiding a bottle of liquor."
Chen Wei was happy to bring out the wine for him to drink, otherwise Old Man Li would always be thinking about it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com