Chapter 80
As soon as Lan Yingde and Yueming returned home, the milk and newspapers at the door indicated that the Lan family, which had been quiet for several years, would become lively again, so lively that the father and daughter were unable to cope with it.
Today was the day to entertain the neighbors. Because there were Hui Muslims among the guests, the banquet had to be held in two locations: the Han people were invited to Changmeiju, and the Hui people were invited to Shunnianyuan, which was just one street away from Changmeiju.
Yueming felt that it was too troublesome to run back and forth, so he suggested that they just invite the guests to Shunnianyuan. Hui people do not go to Han restaurants, and Han people do not have such taboos.
Lan Yingde shook his head and said gently, "When entertaining guests, the key is to ensure that both the host and the guests are happy. The fact that the guests are in front of the host shows that their happiness is the most important thing. Hui people don't drink alcohol, but Han people can't have a feast without wine. Forcing them together for convenience not only neglects the other guests but also defeats the purpose of entertaining. Anyway, the two restaurants are not far from each other, so walking a few more steps is not a big deal." After speaking, he taught Yueming, "When you enter the Tusi Mansion in the future, although you will only be the younger daughter-in-law and Yin Tai and the eldest young lady will worry about everything, you still need to know these things. Being thoughtful is not just about giving people a hot meal or hot tea. It's about the heart, understanding others' difficulties, and forgiving others' difficulties."
Yueming nodded and said that he had learned his lesson and would remember it.
Shunnianyuan opened earlier than Changmeiju because the guests had to go to the mosque for prayer after dinner. Yueming asked Yehu, Aiye, and Liu Ma's men to stay at Changmeiju to greet the early guests, while she and Lan Yingde took a car to Shunnianyuan, located across the street. After seeing off the Shunnianyuan guests, they hurried back to Changmeiju.
Only after the banquet at Changmeiju began did she truly understand Lan Yingde's words when he arrived. The guests toasted each other, a lively atmosphere quite different from that at Shunnianyuan. It wasn't that the guests at Shunnianyuan weren't lively, but compared to the banquets here, Shunnianyuan's banquets were less boisterous and unrestrained.
After helping the drunken Lan Yingde back home and settling him on his bed, Yueming ordered Yehu and Aiye to bring some hot water. She unbuttoned Lan Yingde's collar and wiped him with a hot towel. The silk dress he had just put on was stained with wine, and the green fabric looked as if it had been splattered with ink, glaring. She wondered if it could be washed out.
She took off her father's shoes and socks and prepared to wipe his feet. He stared at the person in front of him with his sleepy, drunken eyes for a while before recognizing his precious daughter. He smiled drowsily and said, "My dear daughter has really grown up and can take care of Daddy now."
Yueming also laughed: "You're talking as if I left you lying on the street when you were drunk before. How could you repay me for not serving you tea and water, wiping your face and feet when you came back drunk?"
The bedside lamp was too glaring. Lan Yingde covered his eyes with the back of his hand and murmured, "You are daddy's good boy, but when you get married, you will belong to someone else's family. When I think of you, the image of you nestling in Aunt Liu's arms and eating rice rolls comes to mind. How come you have grown up in the blink of an eye?" His tone was full of sadness and sigh.
Lan Yingde's sadness made Yueming stunned, and her heart was filled with bitterness. The hot towel in her hand gradually cooled down in the cold night of early spring. She put the towel back into the hot water to wring it out, and then wiped Lan Yingde's feet. The thick calluses on the soles of his feet were caused by his travels all over the country over the years. Thinking of his hard work and dangers over the years, Yueming choked with tears and said, "How can I be your good son? Everything I have done since I was a child has disappointed you. I didn't study well, and I told you that I wanted to study abroad but then I regretted it. Even though you don't like Han Yunkai, I still want to marry him. I am so unfilial, my mother would definitely beat me to death if she were still alive."
Lan Yingde propped himself up and endured the dizzy feeling of nausea. He held her wrist and led her to the head of the bed, saying softly, "You are my dearest daughter. If Yueming wasn't well behaved, how could Daddy be at ease making money outside? It doesn't matter if you're not good at studying. Daddy sent you to school to make you sensible, not to have a female scholar in the family. Daddy doesn't dislike Yunkai, but he can't bear to leave you. If you get married, there will only be Changsheng and me at home. With a widower and a bachelor, who knows how desolate our home will be?
Thinking that if she really got married, there would be no one at home who would care for them, Yueming could no longer hold back and cried on Lan Yingde's chest, "Dad, you promised me that even if I get married, you would always be by my side. Wherever I go, you will go there. Don't abandon me. Don't ignore me just because I have another family."
Lan Yingde's eyes were hot, and he held back his tears, patting her shoulder gently as if he was coaxing her to sleep when she was a child, and assured her: "Don't worry, Daddy won't go anywhere. Daddy will be there to protect you wherever you are and won't let anyone bully you."
Because the father and daughter had cried bitterly the night before, Yueming was particularly well-behaved the next day. She didn't even bargain with Liu Ma for breakfast, just ate whatever was given to her.
Lan Yingde's head ached from the hangover, but seeing Yueming sipping porridge, frowning as she struggled to swallow the stir-fried bitter vegetables, he couldn't help but smile. "Liu Ma has a plan. When you were little, you wouldn't eat vegetables. I'd put a rattan stick on the table, but you wouldn't eat them. Even when Liu Ma called you to eat, you'd choke and gag, but you didn't dare spit it out."
Yueming held the bowl and smiled slyly, "I'm sure your cane is just for show, so I dare not eat it. But Aunt Liu is different. If I don't eat it, she will chase me for three miles with the bowl in her hand, nagging me."
Lan Yingde felt he had never quite grasped his precious daughter's temperament. She seemed sweet but in reality, she was unruly. But if you could call her erratic, she knew when to provoke her and when not to. When she was sweet-tongued, she could coax people into doing anything for her. But when she got angry, her temper sent anyone's blood pressure soaring.
He had no appetite due to the hangover, but as a doctor, he knew skipping breakfast was a bad habit. There was no other way when he was in the middle of nowhere on the horse racing trail; he had to get back home and take care of himself. He endured the nausea and picked up the bowl of porridge, sipping it slowly while talking to Yueming, "Don't just play around when you come back to Kunming. I've signed you up for the YMCA, so you can catch up on your lessons every afternoon."
Yueming, holding her rice bowl, was stunned. She couldn't believe that her father, who had just last night vowed that the family didn't need a female scholar, had announced this morning that he was sending her to cram school. He and Han Yunkai always used the same routine: first, they would open up to her heart, then immediately spur her on to study hard.
She wailed in her heart, life is so hard with two fathers!
Tears welled up in her eyes as she broke the bad news to Zhaoqing, but Zhaoqing responded with surprise, "Really? That's great! I've been taking French classes at the YMCA for a long time now, and having you here is perfect for keeping me company."
Hearing Zhaoqing say this, she felt a little comforted. Although she felt a little upset when she went to the YMCA for the first few days, when Lan Yingde hired an etiquette teacher to teach her manners and dancing, she immediately understood her father's intention.
There was no point in Yunxiang having to deal with all this; her father was definitely going to take her and Yunkai away from Yunxiang. The thought of being able to live with Yunkai and her father in Kunming filled her heart with excitement. What was the hardship of studying? From then on, she put aside her grumpiness and studied with extraordinary enthusiasm.
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