Chapter 9 New Years Eve Dinner(1/2)
"So, this guy named Wang Zhong is a hermit?"
The third child, Yu Shanqing, asked curiously.
Song Yunhui looked at the letter in his hand and was a little lost in thought. He didn't know what he was thinking and didn't respond at all.
When Yu Shanqing saw this, he didn't ask any more questions. The boss and second eldest brother next to him were also smart people. They saw the abnormality in Song Yunhui's expression and didn't ask any more questions.
Looking at the familiar handwriting on the letter paper and the familiar name, Song Yunhui's thoughts drifted away, and a picture hidden deep in his memory also emerged.
In every picture, there is a figure as tall and burly as a mountain.
Either in the fields, or deep in the mountains and forests, or at the desk, or on the stone slab next to the pig pen, or on the stone beach by the river.
Song Yunhui has shown intelligence far beyond his peers since he was a child. If it were not limited by his age, his reputation as a child prodigy would have spread far and wide.
Ever since he was a child, Song Yunhui had never seen anyone as knowledgeable and well-informed as Wang Zhong.
In particular, Wang Zhong not only took great care of his family, he was also a teacher and friend to Song Yunhui. After graduating from junior high school, Song Yunhui could not go to high school, so he learned all his knowledge by himself using textbooks that his sister had discarded.
In addition to the textbooks that his sister Song Yunping had discarded, there were also many books that Wang Zhong didn't even have from his sister Song Yunping.
Wang Zhong!
The name kept popping up in Song Yunhui's mind, as did that tall figure like a mountain, that elegant and soft voice, and that smile that made people feel like they were being washed by the spring breeze.
The mountain-back brigade is hundreds of miles away.
As the New Year is approaching, although the weather is getting colder and colder, the clothes on the folks are getting thicker and thicker. Some families are in poor condition. If not necessary, adults and children will either stay in bed, squeeze into the same quilt to keep warm, or have a fever.
There was a roaring fire in the stove, and the whole family gathered around the fire to keep warm.
The cold wind is howling outside, and the biting north wind is blowing in the face, blowing on the face like a knife. Unless necessary, the villagers basically stay at home.
Or a few people who have good fun and can talk easily gather together around the fire, roasting sweet potatoes, burning potatoes, or chestnuts saved in the autumn, and chatting about the shortcomings of the boss and the Li family.
.
It is the slack season for farming, and there is not much work in the fields. In order to save some energy and avoid being hungry, the villagers do not move as much as possible.
On this day, the sun finally came out again. Song Yunping rushed to Wang Zhong's house early in the morning and helped Wang Zhong take out the medicinal materials he had saved and dry them in the sun to avoid getting damp.
After the busy work was finished, Wang Zhong called Song Yunping into the room.
The door to the main room was open. Wang Zhong asked Song Yunping to sit at the Eight Immortals table while he entered the room.
After a while, Wang Zhong walked out of the house with a stack of money bills.
"This is your salary for this month and your bonus for many years. Keep it yourself." Wang Zhong handed the money ticket to Song Yunping.
There wasn't much money, just a few one-dollar banknotes, plus a bunch of fifty-cent, two-cent, and one-cent banknotes. There were a few bills on top of the key money. Song Yunping could clearly see that they were gas bills.
Oil is a precious commodity these days. Due to multiple reasons such as region and climate, the oil crops grown in the north and the south are different, and the vegetable oils mainly consumed are also different.
Oil crops in the south are mostly rapeseed, while in the north they are peanuts and soybeans.
But whether it is rapeseed, peanuts or soybeans, they are all cash crops, and in these days and months, ordinary people are not allowed to grow them privately.
But the collective output is not high. After the quota is turned over to the state, the rest can be squeezed into oil and distributed to each household.
Due to the low enthusiasm for production, each household cannot get much oil every year. When cooking at home, it is considered a luxury to roll a cloth in the oil pot and then spread it on the pot.
.
Most of the time, we eat thin vegetable porridge. At most, we add pickles and a few drops of sesame oil, which is considered a luxury.
Song Yunping looked at the money in her hand with a look of embarrassment on her face: "Brother Wang Zhong, this is too much!"
With that said, he prepared to return the extra money to Wang Zhong.
Song Yunping is a girl with strong self-esteem. Especially because of her family background, she has always been an alternative in the eyes of her peers in the brigade since she was a child. Being treated differently, although it does not make her vulnerable, it also makes her become weak.
More sensitive.
Wang Zhong smiled and said: "Don't refuse in a hurry, listen to me first. During this period, with the help of you and Uncle Song, I was able to concoct so many medicinal materials in such a short period of time. If it was up to me alone,
People don’t know how long they will be busy.”
"This money is not only for you, but also for Uncle Song! Uncle Song's body has not fully recovered yet and needs to be nourished slowly. Take this money back and see if you can buy a few old hens for Song.
Uncle nourishes the body."
Song Yunping looked at the smile on Wang Zhong's face, and then met Wang Zhong's gaze. Looking at those clear and transparent eyes with clear black and white, without any impurities, she thought of the current situation at home and tightened her hand holding the money.
, Beiqi tapped his thin lips, and although his eyes were still firm, he did not say any more words of rejection.
"Brother Wang Zhong, thank you!" If it were anyone else, Song Yunping would definitely return the extra money, but Wang Zhong's words...
Remembering the last time Secretary Yang came home, and remembering what Wang Zhong said to her last time, Song Yunping's pretty face, which was white from the cold, was covered with a layer of blush at some point.
"Why are you being polite to me?" Wang Zhong said softly: "Your father is stubborn and keeps everything in his heart. He would rather feel uncomfortable than tell others. If you have time, observe more and talk to him more.
If you talk, you will feel better and your body will recover faster."
"Yes!" Song Yunping nodded solemnly and said, "I've written it down."
In a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, and just after midnight, Wang Zhong got busy, taking out the broiler chickens, mutton, a large carp, and several kilograms of pork that had been processed from the space.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Cut the chicken into pieces, stir-fry, and stew it in a casserole with the mushrooms. Cut the mutton into mince and add it to the celery and green onions.
Dumplings, half of the pork was stir-fried, and half was made into lion heads. The last carp was also braised by Wang Zhong.
A total of six dishes, including dumplings, were brought to the table. The charcoal fire was burning brightly in the small clay stove, and the fresh soup was boiling in the casserole. The whole room was filled with the aroma of meat.
I took out a bottle of bayberry wine without a label and was about to go out to call Song Yunping's family when there was a knock on the door.
"Who!" Wang Zhong asked.
"Brother Wang Chong, it's me!" Song Yunping's sweet voice came from outside the door.
Wang Zhong stood up and walked to the door, opened the door latch, and saw Song Yunping holding a steaming open porcelain bowl covered with banana leaves, saying with a smile: "Brother Wang Zhong, we have stewed some meat at home.
My mother asked me to bring you a bowl."
Song Yunping walked into the room while talking, preparing to fill a bowl with radish stew for Wang Zhong and put it on the Eight Immortals table. But as soon as she entered the room, she smelled the rich aroma of meat all over the room. Naturally, she also saw the dishes on the Eight Immortals table.
As he served six hard dishes, his voice became quieter and quieter.
"Thank you!" Wang Zhong took the stewed meat from Song Yunping with a smile and said, "I just made the meal and was planning to go to your house!"
"By the way, your food has just been cooked, right?"
Song Yunping nodded subconsciously.
Wang Zhongdao: "It's just the right time. I can't finish all these dishes by myself. If you don't mind, would you like to eat some with me?"
Wang Zhong knew the temperament of Song's father, Song's mother, and Song Yunping, so he made a plan early in the morning. After both families had prepared meals, he would invite them to his home to eat together.
After bringing it over, Father Song and Mother Song naturally found it hard to refuse.
"Gulu...Gulu..."
Before Wang Zhong finished speaking, Song Yunping swallowed due to the strong fragrance.
It's not that Song Yunping's determination is not weak, it's just that her food is too poor these days, and there is a serious lack of oil and water. Even on New Year's Eve, Song Yunping's house only has a radish stew, with very little meat, and most of it is radish.
The staple food is finally no longer porridge, but steamed dry rice that is sweet and soft.
For Song Yunping, such a meal was already an extremely rich meal, but after seeing Wang Zhong's dining table, Song Yunping knew what it meant to sit in a well and look at the sky.
Before Song Yunping could say anything, Wang Zhong pushed her to sit down at the Eight Immortals table, and said: "You sit down first, I'll call Uncle Song and Aunt Song!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he was already out the door. By the time Song Yunping reacted, Wang Zhong had already walked away.
Looking at the rich delicacies on the table and smelling the fragrant aroma, Song Yunping swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, but Song Yunping still resisted the temptation, got up and walked to the door, heading towards her home, but she hadn't yet
When she walked to the door of her house, she saw Wang Zhong leading her parents out of the house, carrying a large vat. Song Yunping recognized it at a glance as the vat that her mother had used to stew radish and meat.
Mother also held a pottery urn in her hand, which contained steaming white rice and some browned rice cookers covering it.
"Dad! Mom!" Song Yunping rushed to greet her and took the pottery urn from her mother's hand.
Song's mother explained to Song Yunping: "Your brother is not here, and Doctor Wang is also alone. It just so happens that our two families have a New Year's Eve dinner together, which is lively."
Song Yunping thought of the scene she saw at Wang Zhong's house just now, and was about to say something, but when the words came to her lips, she didn't know how to speak.
Until Father Song and Mother Song entered Wang Chong's house, they smelled the aroma of meat all over the house and saw the six steaming dishes on the table. Their faces showed a look of shock.
Song's mother tugged on Song Yunping's sleeve: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Song Yunping said helplessly: "Mom, what do you want me to say?"
Before the mother and daughter could say anything more, Wang Zhong warmly greeted the three of them to take their seats: "Come on, come on, Uncle Song, sit down! Aunt Song, sit over here!"
"Xiao Ping, go and get the dishes and chopsticks from the cupboard!"
Song Yunping worked with Wang Zhong for several months and often helped Wang Zhong with housework. She was not even more familiar with the layout of Wang Zhong's home than Wang Zhong, but she was definitely not unfamiliar with it.
After the dishes and chopsticks were put on the table, Wang Zhong took two cups, opened the bayberry wine, and was about to pour it for Song's father, when Song's mother next to him couldn't help but said: "Xiao Ping's father is not well yet, can he drink?
"
Wang Zhong smiled and said: "Aunt Song, don't worry, this is bayberry wine. Considering Uncle Song's current physical condition, drinking a little will only do him good, not harm."
Only then did Song's mother realize that she had overreacted, but she still did not forget to tell Song's father: "Drink less!"
To be continued...