Chapter 86
◎Will These Two Be a Couple◎
After it got dark, the snow started to fall again.
Dinner was sweet and sour pork ribs, braised cured fish, a soup with bok choy, stir-fried winter melon with dried shrimp, a platter of red sausage, and Yu Juanfang’s specialty, braised meat. A whole plate of thinly sliced braised meat was sprinkled with minced garlic, minced ginger, and chopped celery, and then a spoonful of vinegar sauce was poured over it. It was indescribably tempting.
“Little Zhou, try this.” Yu Juanfang was the first to serve a mouthful of braised meat to Zhou Shunian, her eyes crinkling with a smile.
“Brother Shunian, hurry up and try it! You can’t get this taste of braised meat that my mom makes anywhere else! She hasn’t made this braised meat for a long time. It’s only because you’re here that we’re getting to enjoy it.” Su Juesheng also couldn’t help but say.
Zhou Shunian ate a piece and nodded repeatedly. “Mhm, delicious. The meat is soft and glutinous yet chewy, fresh, savory, and numbing spicy. I’ve indeed never had such delicious braised meat anywhere else.”
Hearing Zhou Shunian’s words, Yu Juanfang was very happy and quickly served him a few more mouthfuls of vegetables. “If you like it, eat more. Little Zhou, come to our house again next time you’re on vacation. Auntie will make you something delicious!”
Tangtang couldn’t help but smile. She served a mouthful of fish to Zhou Shunian. “Brother Shunian, try this cured fish. This was given to us by a neighbor who got married next door to our house before the New Year, Sister Axiu. Osmanthus was added during the curing process, so it has a taste of osmanthus. You should try it.”
During the famine caused by the fake grain seeds, Tangtang’s family had once helped Zhang Axiu. In these few years, every New Year, Sister Axiu would send them things. In contrast, her relationship with her own parents’ family was indifferent.
“Delicious.” Zhou Shunian looked at her, his eyes crinkling with a smile.
“Tangtang, Juesheng, you two try it too. See if it’s still the same taste as before? I’m planning to set up a stall on the road in a couple of days to sell braised meat and tea rice.” Yu Juanfang hadn’t made braised meat for a long time. Thinking of resuming her old business, she was a little nervous.
Tangtang’s eyes sparkled. “It’s still the same taste, not a bit has changed!”
Su Juesheng also nodded eagerly. “Mom, this braised meat tastes just as delicious as before!”
Seeing this braised meat, Su Huimin was quite emotional. “That year, Tangtang and Juesheng were in the third grade. I was detained for half a month because of the hidden poems incident. After I was finally released, I was suspended from my job. I even broke my leg while fixing the roof. Our family was forced to separate from the old Su family. We relied on your mother alone to support this family. Thanks to her and Tangtang selling braised meat, our family didn’t have to go without grain for the winter.”
Running out of grain in the winter was a very dangerous thing. If a family ran out of grain in the spring, there were still grass roots and tree bark to get by for a while. But in the winter, when the heavy snow sealed the mountains, they couldn’t even eat grass roots and tree bark. It was very likely that they would starve to death.
“During that time, she had to work in the production team during the day and prepare the braised meat at night. She would be busy until eleven or twelve at night before she went to bed. The next morning, she would go to sell the braised meat at four or five. She was so tired she became as thin as a bamboo pole, dark and thin. Her eyes were dark underneath, and her two hands were as rough as old tree bark from decades of work.”
Zhou Shunian was not an outsider, so Su Huimin did not avoid him when he said these things.
Yu Juanfang was usually not willing to recall the poor days of the past, but she was also quite moved that Su Huimin could remember the hardships she had endured and her contributions.
Yu Juanfang also followed his words and recalled the past. “It’s all thanks to Tangtang. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to hold on by myself. I would go out at four or five in the morning to sell braised meat, and Tangtang would sit on the front bar of the bicycle. At that time, she was a thin and small thing… She was smart and nimble since she was a child. Many times, I would be confused, but thanks to her reminding me on the side… and Juesheng and the others, who took on all the miscellaneous chores at home. Our family worked together, and that’s how we got through one difficulty after another.”
The deep feelings between the mother and daughter were also built up through fighting side by side time and time again.
Zhou Shunian’s gaze fell on Tangtang’s smiling face. The image of an eight- or nine-year-old girl, thin and small, sitting on the front bar of a bicycle against the cold wind, suddenly appeared in his mind.
His knuckles curled, and a trace of pity flashed in his lowered eyes.
…
In another two days, school would start. Tangtang planned to use these two days to help out with as much work at home as possible, so that her parents could have less to do. Tangtang placed the logs piled in the corner on a wooden stump. Just as she was about to raise the axe to chop the firewood, she saw Zhou Shunian walk out of the house.
“Let me do it.”
Tangtang thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright.”
When Zhou Shunian took the axe, his fingertips, like ice ridges, brushed against her hot palm. Tangtang’s earlobes instantly burned.
The two were very close. Tangtang felt that she could smell a clear and cold scent of cedar on Zhou Shunian.
She couldn’t help but trace his outline with her eyes. His brow bones cast a cold, hard shadow. His eyelashes swept a gentle arc at the corners of his eyes. His nose was as high and straight as the ridge of a snow-capped mountain. His thin lips were pursed with a focused expression, and his Adam’s apple rolled gently with his breathing.
Zhou Shunian swallowed his throat and suddenly reached out to pull her half a step to the side. “Stand further away. Be careful of the wood chips.”
He rolled the log onto the wooden stump, raised the axe, and after a whoosh, the wood was split in two.
Su Huimin added some hot water to the washbasin, washed his hands and face, and looked out the window. He could just see Tangtang and Zhou Shunian. He frowned with some suspicion. “Why do I feel that Tangtang and Little Zhou are a bit strange?”
Yu Juanfang was sewing a button. Hearing his words, she looked out. “What’s strange?”
Su Huimin moved closer to her. “I feel that the relationship between these two is too good. You didn’t see it. During the meal, both Tangtang and Juesheng served Little Zhou food, but Little Zhou only served Tangtang. They would talk and laugh for a long time. Do you think Tangtang and Little Zhou are a couple? They’re in the same school now. I think it’s really possible…”
Yu Juanfang frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“Group Leader Su, you’re usually so slow to react to any emotional gossip. Why are you so abnormal when it comes to your own daughter?” Yu Juanfang bit off the thread with her teeth, her eyes glancing at Zhou Shunian and Tangtang outside the window. “Don’t overthink it. What’s so strange about young people getting together to talk?”
“Hey, you don’t understand.” Su Huimin sighed. “How come in a flash, that girl Tangtang has grown so big? If our Tangtang is in a relationship, are you for or against it?”
Yu Juanfang threw the scissors back into the sewing basket with a slap and glanced at him. “I’m neither for nor against it. The child is grown up. Let her do what she wants.”
…
A new semester, a new atmosphere.
The final exam results came out. There were a total of six basic professional courses. With a high score of five hundred and eighty, Tangtang ranked first on the list, a full seventy points higher than the second place.
At the beginning of this semester, Tangtang was a second-year student.
In the first week of school, the school arranged for course selection. As agreed with Sheng Ruiru before, Tangtang chose to take her course, “A Study of the Art of Chinese Poetry.” Tangtang was not very interested in poetry, but she liked to attend Sheng Ruiru’s classes. She felt that even her way of speaking was very kind and comfortable.
The second-year curriculum was not easy. Besides the professional courses and elective courses, Tangtang also signed up for a joint research and development project between the Capital No. 2 Daily Chemical Factory and Capital University. The main direction was the extraction and stabilization of jasmine essence. The domestic natural spice industry had just started, and jasmine essential oil relied on imports and was expensive. The second year was still mainly based on textbook theory. Joining the research and development group was a very meaningful thing to be able to get in touch with the factory’s research and development technology in advance.
The person in charge of the group was a highly respected old professor in the department with the surname Ruan. Many people in the whole department had signed up, but in the end, only a dozen or so were selected. In Tangtang’s dormitory, only she and Chen Xiaohui were selected.
This was Tangtang’s second time at the Lu family’s house. If it weren’t for Teacher Sheng’s warm invitation, she would not have been willing to come to the Lu family’s house. She would always inevitably feel nervous and reserved.
Sheng Ruiru placed a plate of cut fruit on the coffee table in front of her and said with a kind smile, “Hurry up and try this mango and pineapple. My friend brought them from the south.”
Tangtang used a fork to pick up a piece of yellow mango and put it in her mouth. Her eyes couldn’t help but light up. “It’s so delicious.”
She had never eaten or heard of this fruit called mango before. After a slight sourness, there was a rich sweetness, mixed with the unique rich fragrance of tropical fruits, which spread in her mouth. The pulp was very soft, but not the kind of mushy softness of being overripe.
After eating, she felt a faint honey-sweetness lingering in her mouth. Even her breath carried the unique lazy sweetness of tropical fruits.
The pineapple was also delicious. When she bit into it, there was a refreshing sourness at first, and then the sweetness came. The pulp was crisp, and the juice gushed out when she chewed. A light fruit fragrance was left in her mouth after she finished.
Old Mr. Lu was still wearing that simple and elegant dark gray tunic suit from that day. He had a kind and approachable smile on his face. “Comrade Little Su, we meet again.”
Old Mr. Lu was in his sixties this year. The hair on his temples was all white, but he looked strong and hale.
“Grandpa Lu.” Seeing Old Mr. Lu come down, Tangtang quickly stood up and greeted him politely.
“Comrade Little Su, do you know how to play chess? Play a game with me.”
Tangtang saw a chessboard on the coffee table. She shook her head with some regret. “Grandpa, I don’t know how to play chess.”
“It’s very simple. Grandpa will teach you.”
“Alright. If you don’t mind my being stupid, I’ll dare to ask for your guidance.”
As Old Mr. Lu spoke, he cheerfully explained the rules of Go to her. Tangtang listened carefully and then started to try a game. Tangtang was extremely quick to learn. Although she had never played Go before, she had basically figured out the rules after listening once. After two or three games, she was already able to play back and forth with Old Mr. Lu.
Sheng Ruiru was a little surprised. Old Mr. Lu was usually a rather eccentric old man. He was very strict with his two grandchildren, whether it was his grandson Lu Mingbai or his granddaughter Lu Youxin. One year, after Youxin had stolen something and lied, he had been so angry that he had given Youxin a good beating. From then on, Youxin would hide whenever she saw him, and the relationship between the grandfather and granddaughter had never been very good.
After the old man retired from his post, he didn’t like to go and have tea, play chess, or chat with his old colleagues. He would always be cooped up in his room alone, or he would walk around the vicinity of his old workplace repeatedly. She and her husband were busy with work and didn’t have much time to accompany the old man. She hadn’t expected the old man to get along so well with Tangtang.
When she was taking Tangtang back to school, Sheng Ruiru couldn’t help but pat the back of Tangtang’s hand. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the old man so happy. Tangtang, come to our house more often when you have time. Keep your Grandpa Lu company and play chess with him. Just treat it as your own home. Don’t be formal. The old man is quite lonely. He… and Youxin’s relationship has never been very good.”