Chapter 74
◎Reunion with Zhou Shunian◎
At seven in the evening, Su Juesheng treated his younger brother and sister to a meal at a restaurant near Capital University. This restaurant looked quite high-end. The exterior walls were light white, and the doors and windows had European-style reliefs. The electric lights inside the restaurant were very bright, and there was a large glass window.
“Brother, this is too expensive. Let’s eat somewhere else.” Tangtang looked at the prices on the menu and couldn’t help but lower her voice.
The dishes in the restaurant were mainly classic Russian dishes. Beef stew in a pot was three yuan a portion, baked mixed vegetables with cream was two yuan and fifty cents a portion, fried pork chops were one yuan and eighty cents a portion, borscht was eighty cents a bowl, and pickled cucumber salad was sixty cents a portion. Even the fried rice was seventy cents a plate. A meal here would cost several days’ salary.
“It’s okay. Eat as much as you want. Big Brother’s monthly salary is several dozen yuan now.”
Since her big brother had said so, Tangtang simply sat down and ate this meal. The brother and sister found a seat by the window. After a while, Su Juesheng also came over from the University of Transportation. He saw the two of them by the window and quickly rushed towards them. Because he was too excited, he almost bumped into the corner of the table with a thud. “Brother! Tangtang!”
The three siblings were finally reunited. Tangtang and Su Juesheng kept asking Su Juesheng about his situation in the army, and Su Juesheng asked them about their situation at school and how their parents were doing at home. They talked happily, not even bothering to drink water.
After a while, Tangtang suddenly remembered something. “Brother Juesheng, didn’t you say you also called other friends? Why don’t I see anyone?”
Su Juesheng looked at the watch on his wrist. “He should be here soon.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a young man pushed open the revolving glass door of the restaurant and walked in.
He was holding a black plastic umbrella in his hand. He was tall and straight, with broad shoulders. His jawline was as sharp as if it had been carved with a knife and an axe. His temperament was as gentle and elegant as bamboo.
“Tangtang, Juesheng, long time no see.” Zhou Shunian’s eyes crinkled with a smile.
Tangtang felt that her brain hadn’t had time to react before her brother, Su Juesheng, next to her couldn’t help but hug him. “Brother Shunian! It’s you! Long time no see!”
Su Juesheng hugged Zhou Shunian and was unwilling to let go. In his heart, Brother Shunian was as close as their real older brother. He would take them out to eat and give them schoolbags. That year, when the fake grain seeds caused a famine, it was because of the money and grain coupons that Brother Shunian had given them that their family had safely weathered the crisis.
Tangtang’s vision was blurred by tears. After a long while, Su Juesheng let go, and Zhou Shunian’s gaze fell on Tangtang.
Zhou Shunian was a little surprised. The last time he had seen Tangtang was six years ago, when he was about to leave Yuanlin County to go to Wanqiu to work as an educated youth. At that time, Tangtang was still a little girl, wearing a goose-yellow floral dress and holding a pair of cloth shoes, squeezing through the crowd to see him off. He hadn’t expected that in a blink of an eye, she had grown into such a tall and outstanding young woman.
Tangtang couldn’t help but hug Zhou Shunian as intimately as her brother. “Brother Shunian, long time no see!”
The feeling in Tangtang’s heart was even stronger than Su Juesheng’s. In these years, the image of the young man in the rain would often appear in her mind, as well as his lonely and desolate back when he left Yuanlin County.
It wasn’t that Tangtang hadn’t thought of writing to him, but several times she had picked up a pen, she had given up in the end.
On the one hand, it was because the transportation was too slow. It would take at least half a month for a letter to get from Yuhuai Village to Wanqiu. With the delays in transit, it would be at least a month before he received the letter.
On the other hand, she was also afraid that her letter would bring trouble to Zhou Shunian. No matter how well he was actually doing, his letters would only say that he was doing very well. But they all knew in their hearts that after experiencing the death of his biological mother, his father’s remarriage in less than a year, working as an educated youth in the countryside, and his ideals being trampled by reality, how could Zhou Shunian be truly doing well?
“That’s about enough. The way you two are acting, one would think that Zhou Shunian is your real older brother!” Su Juesheng said with dissatisfaction.
Tangtang let go of him, her ears a little hot. She embarrassedly wiped her tears with a tissue.
“Hurry up and sit down.”
They hadn’t had time to order just now. Tangtang, Juesheng, and the others had never eaten at this kind of Western restaurant before. In the end, they decided to let Zhou Shunian order. “Since it’s your treat, we have to have a good meal.”
Su Juesheng put on a pained expression as if he were cutting his own flesh. “Hurry up, hurry up.”
Zhou Shunian’s well-defined fingers rested on the menu. He first asked them if they had any dietary restrictions. The three of them all said no. Only then did he start to order. “I’d like a portion of beef stew in a pot, baked mixed vegetables with cream, pan-fried potatoes with butter, borscht, two loaves of bread, and a portion of vanilla ice cream.”
The waiter took down their order. The food wouldn’t be ready for a while, so the few of them chatted at the table.
Tangtang’s eyes sparkled. “Brother Shunian, are you from the machinery factory?”
“No.” Zhou Shunian shook his head.
“Hmm? You’re not working at the machinery factory anymore?” Tangtang’s eyes widened.
“Zhou Shunian, stop keeping us in suspense.” Su Juesheng couldn’t help but laugh. “Your Brother Shunian is in the same school as Tangtang now. He also took the college entrance examination this time and got into Capital University! But he’s in the physics department, not the same department as Tangtang.”
Tangtang felt that she should have thought of it earlier. Zhou Shunian’s studies were so good. How could he not have taken the college entrance examination this time? And with Zhou Shunian’s grades, it would have been a piece of cake for him to get into Capital University.
But she still couldn’t help but confirm it again. “Really?”
“Really.”
Su Juesheng was very excited. “Then why didn’t you tell us earlier?”
“We haven’t seen each other in six years. I wanted to give you a surprise, so I didn’t let Su Juesheng tell you. I wanted to tell you in person.” A warm smile appeared on Zhou Shunian’s face.
“That’s great!”
The joy in Tangtang’s eyes couldn’t be hidden. “Then Brother Shunian is my schoolmate!”
As the few of them were talking, the food they had ordered was also ready. The steaming food was served. The portions at this restaurant were not large, and it was just right for the few of them. There was beef stew in a pot, baked mixed vegetables with cream, pan-fried potatoes with butter, borscht, and two large loaves of Russian-style bread.
The beef stew in a pot was made by stewing large chunks of fresh beef with potatoes and carrots in a clay pot. The beef was stewed until it was soft and tender, and the soup was rich. It was just right to eat with the sliced bread.
The baked mixed vegetables with cream were made by baking ham, chicken, and potatoes with cream. The outside was baked until it was golden and crispy. A poke with a fork would release a thick cream. Underneath were ham and chicken, which were fragrant and tender to eat.
The pan-fried potatoes with butter were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They were sprinkled with a little fine salt. The fragrance of the butter was mixed with the sweet and glutinous taste of the potatoes. They were hot and fragrant to eat.
The borscht was wine-red, with beef and cabbage inside. It was sweet and sour and very delicious to drink.
As for the bread, the crust was a bit hard. When torn open, the inside was honeycomb-shaped. The wheat fragrance was very strong, and it was very chewy to eat. It was very good to eat with the soup from the beef stew in a pot or the borscht.
Juesheng and his brother, Juesheng, didn’t eat sweets, so the ice cream was ordered for Tangtang alone. Two scoops of ice cream were piled in a glass goblet, with a small spoon for scooping the ice cream next to it. Back home, the most Tangtang had ever eaten was a popsicle that cost a few cents. An ordinary popsicle was two cents, a red bean one was three cents, and a milk one was five cents. This was her first time eating ice cream.
She scooped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth with a spoon. It melted as soon as it touched her tongue. The clear sweetness of the vanilla mixed with the rich milky flavor melted in her mouth. Tangtang ate it in small bites, feeling the sweetness in her eyes and eyebrows.
This meal lasted for more than two hours. The four of them chatted and ate. Every dish tasted particularly good, especially the beef stew in a pot. The large chunks of beef were stewed until they melted in your mouth. And the restaurant’s environment was very good, elegant and quiet. It was the first time they had eaten at such a restaurant. They had really opened their eyes and broadened their horizons. But when she saw her brother, Su Juesheng, pay the bill, Tangtang still felt a little pained.
This meal had cost a total of five yuan, which was equivalent to several days’ salary.
When she got up from her seat to leave, Tangtang saw her own reflection in the glass window.
She was wearing a set of wrinkled clothes she had made herself, with a pair of gray trousers. Her two braids hung down her chest. When she walked on the street, people could tell at a glance that she was from the countryside.
And Zhou Shunian, opposite her, was wearing a navy blue polyester shirt, with the collar and cuffs crisp. His dark gray khaki trousers were ironed with a fine, straight crease. He was wearing a Shanghai brand mechanical watch on his wrist, with a black cowhide strap. His whole person was both refreshing and capable, and also had a bit of a refined and presentable air.
Her big brother, Su Juesheng, was in a green military uniform, with a pair of rubber shoes issued by the army on his feet. His clothes and trousers were also crisp.
Finally, she glanced at her third brother, Su Juesheng. He was wearing a brand new blue polyester shirt, with a new short haircut. His whole person exuded the neat and energetic air of a young man.
Tangtang had always known that her style of dress was quite rustic, but she had never paid much attention to it. On the one hand, her main focus was still on her studies.
On the other hand, this set of clothes was made by her mother, Yu Juanfang, stitch by stitch. Tangtang cherished it very much, and there were many people at school who dressed worse than her.
But now, especially after comparing herself with the three of them, she was really too rustic! Under the presentable clothes of Zhou Shunian and the other two, she looked particularly like a country bumpkin and clumsy.
No wonder the waiter had given her a couple of extra glances when she entered the restaurant.
Tangtang stared at her brother’s set of clothes and swallowed her throat. “Brother Juesheng… where did you get those clothes?”
“Oh? You mean this?” Su Juesheng touched the clothes. Hearing her ask, he became interested. “I bought them at the state-run store a few days ago. You don’t know, the ready-made clothes in the store now are so beautiful, much more stylish than the clothes we make ourselves. I had to queue for a long time to buy this set of clothes. I almost didn’t get it. And it’s true that clothes make the man. After changing into new clothes, I instantly feel much more presentable. I feel like I’m half a city person…”