Friends

The three of them worked quickly, setting up the stove in less than an hour. Auntie Liu was busy preparing the ingredients at home, slicing what needed to be sliced, shredding what needed to be shredded. After a while, she had reported ten dishes to Fang Zeng to see, so that he could cook the dishes without rushing or slowing down.

Fang Zhiyuan listened to Auntie Liu’s energetic words: “Mr Fang, I see that your family has ordered these dishes. Take a look. One braised beef with soy sauce, one braised pork, one eight-treasure duck, one crystal hoof, one braised crucian carp, one sour dragon and phoenix shreds, one tripe wrapped chicken, one tofu meatball soup, one braised cabbage, and one cold-mixed black fungus. This way, we have chicken, duck, fish and meat. Not only does it look decent, but you can also use the half pig you already have, so you don’t need to buy anything else. I see that you have quite a lot of black fungus and cabbage at home. Four trotters are enough, as well as fish and eels. You only need to buy three ducks and three chickens, and yes, you have to bring three pig tripes. With this combination, I guarantee that your family’s banquet will be decent and delicious.” Auntie Liu also made such an order because he saw that Fang Zeng was a straightforward person and generous.  

If it were an ordinary family, he would not prepare so many meat dishes. The young men in those families would definitely not want to share these dishes with others, but if he brought it up, they would be afraid of losing face and would not say it openly, and then he would be in trouble. This is also the experience gained from cooking for so many years.

Fang Zeng thought it sounded good, but he didn’t taste the dishes, so he didn’t know how they tasted. But just by hearing the names of the dishes, he felt that Auntie Liu was different from the young men and gers who were usually invited to cook. It seems that the money was not wasted, and he is really good at cooking.  

Thinking of this, he waved his hand and said to Auntie Liu: “Auntie Liu, you are the head chef, you have the final say. I will leave tomorrow’s banquet to you. Just tell me if you need anything. Just make sure the guests eat and drink well.”

Auntie Liu smiled and said: “Don’t worry, Mr. Fang, this table is as good as anyone else in town, and I guarantee it won’t embarrass you. You invited me from afar, so I have to do you justice. I have brought out my best skills.”

Auntie Liu set up the pot and prepared to prepare some big dishes today, so that she could save some time tomorrow. The first one to be made was crystal hoof, which had to be frozen overnight after being cooked. The hoof was just bought, and Liu Zhuang roasted it with fire to clean the hair. Looking at his skilled movements, you can tell that he often helps his grandmother.

 Auntie Liu cooked pork belly for braised pork again. She was very skilled and prepared the seasoning for braised pork. She started to simmer it slowly in a large pottery pot. While waiting for Liu Zhuang to chop the pig’s trotters, Auntie Liu started to stew the braised pork. Seeing the two grandparent and grandchild cooking in harmony, Fang Zhiyuan suddenly felt that he was not diligent enough.

Obviously, he and Liu Zhuang are not much different in age, and he is not inferior to adults in doing things. Watching him cut the eel strips with a knife, his knife skills and posture are professional. This person is afraid of comparison. In the past, he cooked with his uncle, and he was more proud of his cooking skills. After all, at home, his cooking skills are still very impressive, even compared with the gers of Lin Cheng’s family.  

But looking at the eel strips that were only slightly thicker than a hair, Fang Zhiyuan had to admit that even if he didn’t know how Liu Zhuang’s cooking tasted, his knife skills were far better than his.

Fang Zeng saw that it was already noon, so he planned to tell Auntie Liu that everyone should eat first and then cook. To be honest, although the grandmother and grandson are old and young, they are not inferior to others in their efficiency in doing things. Anyway, them, uncle and nephew are useless.

Lunch was also simple. With the braised pork stewed by Auntie Liu, Fang Zeng cut another plate of braised beef, and took the pickled radish and spicy cabbage from home, and put them on white flour pancakes. Originally, Auntie Liu wanted to eat separately from Fang Zeng and the others, but Fang Zeng said it was okay. There were two half-grown children. Although he was in his prime, Auntie Liu was so old that he was not afraid of any bad rumors. Four people sat at a table. Fang Zhiyuan also made an egg and radish soup.

 The braised pork made by Auntie Liu was bright red in color and fragrant, and the size of the meat was about the same. Fang Zhiyuan took the first bite and ate it, and then he didn’t stop eating. The meat melted in his mouth, the lean meat was not dry but fresh and delicious, the fat was not greasy but soft and delicious, and the skin was not old but chewy and refreshing. Fang Zhiyuan ate more than half a bowl in one breath before stopping his chopsticks. Fang Zeng also ate and picked up the chopsticks. Auntie Liu was relieved to see that Fang Zeng and his nephew were eating happily. It seemed that they were satisfied with his cooking skills. If they were not satisfied, it would be embarrassing for the person who introduced him.

The bowl of meat was emptied under the chopsticks of the uncle and nephew. At this time, Fang Zeng and Fang Zhiyuan felt a little embarrassed. His family had no shortage of meat, but the taste was not so good. It was too embarrassing to eat so much in front of others. It was also because Fang Zhiyuan and Fang Zeng were used to being lazy at home, and for a while they forgot about the other people at the table.

 Actually, they couldn’t be blamed. Auntie Liu picked up a few pieces of beef for Liu Zhuang, soaked them in the soup, and picked up some radishes to eat. Liu Zhuang didn’t even stretch his chopsticks to the table. The grandparent and grandchild sat on the other side like little transparent people. Fang Zhiyuan and his uncle were too embarrassed to talk to them, and they didn’t even look over there. Auntie Liu saw them and pushed the untouched bowl of braised pork next to them to the uncle and nephew, meaning to give it to them. Fang Zeng and Fang Zhiyuan were even more embarrassed. When they first started eating, they were afraid that they would be embarrassed, so they divided the beef and braised pork into two portions, one in front of each of them. Now, they had finished eating, but they hadn’t touched it yet. Even Fang Zhiyuan, who was thick-skinned, felt embarrassed. 

 However, Fang Zhiyuan, relying on his age as the youngest among the group, said to Auntie Liu: “Auntie Liu, the meat you cooked is so delicious that I ate it all. Uncle, you have to ask Auntie Liu to make me some more braised pork and save it for me to eat slowly.”

Fang Zeng was a little embarrassed to begin with, and after hearing what his nephew said, he said to Auntie Liu: “Auntie Liu, your cooking is really great. I still have a lot of pork at home. Please make me more braised pork. I don’t have a ger, so my cooking is not so good. This time I have tried Auntie Liu’s cooking skills, and my nephew will definitely remember it.”

Auntie Liu’s face wrinkled with smiles after hearing what the uncle and nephew said, “No trouble, I will make more delicious food for your nephew today and let him eat it well. It’s rare that Mr. Fang thinks highly of my cooking skills, so I will make more dishes that can be kept. It’s cold in this weather, so it’s okay to eat them for ten days or half a month.”

Fang Zeng hurriedly thanked him, and Fang Zhiyuan ran to serve him a bowl of braised pork. Seeing that Liu Zhuang didn’t eat anything, he knew that he couldn’t let go when he was at someone else’s house, so he simply took chopsticks and picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his bowl. Liu Zhuang looked up at Fang Zhiyuan in surprise. Fang Zhiyuan smiled and said, “I saw that you didn’t eat it, so I gave it to you to try. It’s delicious.” He said and shared it quickly.

Liu Zhuang wanted to say that he didn’t need to taste it because he knew that his grandmother’s cooking was delicious, but looking at Fang Zhiyuan who was full of kindness to him, he said inexplicably: “Thank you!”

Fang Zhiyuan smiled, then picked up a few bites of braised pork for him. He said to Liu Zhuang: “Eat it quickly, otherwise it won’t taste good when it gets cold.”

Liu Zhuang looked at Fang Zhiyuan and smiled. Fang Zhiyuan suddenly found that Liu Zhuang was very cute when he smiled, and he had two dimples, looking like a silly giant panda. 

He didn’t expect that Liu Zhuang, who looked like a tough guy, would have such a big contrast when he smiled. It was so funny.

Fang Zhiyuan said to Liu Zhuang: “You look good when you smile. You should smile more.”

Liu Zhuang was stunned. This was the first time someone described him as good-looking. What he heard the most was “sensible, capable, and strong”. He never had anything to do with good-looking. He knew that he looked like a man. His grandmother always said that he looked like his deceased father. He was always worried that he would not be able to find a good family in the future and would suffer when he talked about others.

Because of his great strength and strong appearance, he was kept away by the young gers in the village. He could not learn the tenderness and love of other gers, so naturally other young men kept a distance from him. This was the first time someone said that he looked good when he smiled. Although he knew that Fang Zhiyuan is just being polite, Liu Zhuang’s ears still blushed.

 After lunch, Auntie Liu and Liu Zhuang cooked other dishes, while Fang Zhiyuan and Fang Zeng prepared things for the birthday tomorrow. Lin Cheng’s family sent Fang Zhiyuan new clothes a few days ago. They were a cotton jacket and cotton pants, with rabbit skins brought from Fang’s family sewn inside the clothes, which looked light and tight.

Lin Cheng’s fulang also sewed a hat and gloves with extra skins, which were furry, white and soft. It looked good, but Fang Zhiyuan thought it was too feminine and refused to wear it. Fang Zeng didn’t force it, and put it in Fang Zhiyuan’s box.

Fang Zhiyuan cleaned up his room. Someone was coming tomorrow, and he might come to his room to take a look. Although he was not lazy at ordinary times, it was not spotless. In order not to be called sloppy tomorrow, Fang Zhiyuan planned to clean every corner today until there was not a single hair.

 Fang Zeng was the same, cleaning his room in full swing. Liu Zhuang prepared all the ingredients his grandmother wanted. Auntie Liu felt sorry for her grandson, so she asked him to take a break and go out to play. Liu Zhuang couldn’t help with the rest.

Liu Zhuang thought about it and went out. When he came here just now, he saw that there seemed to be wild rabbits on the mountain here. He might be able to get a rabbit if he went out for a walk. He has learned kung fu from Uncle Liu in the village for several years. In addition, he is naturally strong, so it is not difficult for him to hunt a rabbit or a pheasant. Although he is only twelve years old, his kung fu is not as good as that of ordinary hunters, so he dares to go up the mountain alone to find mountain delicacies and rabbits. If his grandmother never allowed him to go to the mountains, he could get big prey, so his grandmother wouldn’t have to work so hard.

 He took a sickle and was about to go out for a walk when he saw Fang Zhiyuan holding a feather duster and flicking the dust off the top of the gate. Unfortunately, he was not tall enough and didn’t have a stool, so he was standing on his toes. Seeing this, Liu Zhuang moved a stool and said to Fang Zhiyuan, “Mm, you can stand on the stool and flick it. I’ll hold you up, and it will be cleaner.”

Fang Zhiyuan was embarrassed when he heard Liu Zhuang’s voice and looked at his stupid way of reaching up on his toes. He had to laugh and said, “Thanks, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Fang Zhiyuan, you can call me Huzi.” After that, he climbed up the stool Liu Zhuang brought. Liu Zhuang was afraid that he would fall, so he held him steadily from below.

 Fang Zhiyuan quickly dusted off the door, and came down to thank Liu Zhuang: “Thank you! If it weren’t for you, I would have to do it for a while. By the way, where did you want to go just now?”

Liu Zhuang didn’t hide it, and said to Fang Zhiyuan: “When I came here, I saw rabbits on the mountain, and I wanted to go up the mountain to have a look.”

Fang Zhiyuan became interested when he heard it. His uncle had never taken him into the mountain except for that time when he took him into the mountain to pick some wild fruits. He knew that although there were no big prey on the mountains here, he had to follow his uncle, and his uncle was distracted to take care of him, which delayed hunting. He didn’t mention it again, and when it came to winter, he was afraid of the cold and didn’t want to move. When he heard Liu Zhuang’s words today, he aroused a little thought in his heart.

 However, he still said, “Mm, Liu Zhuang, there are wild animals on the mountain, and only old hunters like my uncle can go there, otherwise it might be unsafe. You are still young, if you really want to go, wait until my uncle has time and take us there.” Fang Zhiyuan said it with an old-fashioned look, which made Liu Zhuang feel interesting.

Liu Zhuang thought about it, after all, he was visiting someone else’s house, and if nothing happened, it would be fine if he wandered around the mountain, but if something happened, it would be embarrassing for him and others in the end. There was no need to cause trouble for a rabbit, so he didn’t tell Fang Zhiyuan that he was good at fighting.

Fang Zhiyuan saw that Liu Zhuang no longer talked about going up the mountain, thinking that his words had worked, and stopped Liu Zhuang.  Thinking of this, he was afraid that Liu Zhuang would be listless, so he habitually coaxed Liu Zhuang with the same method he used to coax Xiao Zhuang. He took out two tangerines from his pocket, stuffed them into Liu Zhuang’s pockets, and said, “Come, let’s eat something first. I’ll take you to see my newly hatched chicks later. It’s fun.”

Liu Zhuang was eating tangerines for the first time. His grandmother was frugal. Although she loved him, she was reluctant to buy tangerines for him to eat and no farmer would buy such a rare thing. Two tangerines could buy a pound of meat. It was too hard to live.

Liu Zhuang refused to take them, but how could he argue with Fang Zhiyuan? Eating tangerines, looking at the fluffy chicks, and then looking at Fang Zhiyuan who was laughing happily, Liu Zhuang thought, this must be the friend that Brother Xiao Qiu talked about.