Spring Breeze Twenty Years

So what if Chapter 44 wasn't finished?

Li Guangzhao tossed the rag he was using to wipe his hands onto a cabinet and said, "I'm far from good enough. To be honest, I don't have any talent for this kind of thing. I just had no choice but to go down this path. I'll just make do. Anyway, running a small restaurant should be enough for me. What were you guys talking about just now? I heard something about betting on knives, but I didn't quite catch it."

Xia Maosheng explained the situation, and Li Guangzhao laughed. He said to Xiao Wei, "Come on, I'll bet too. They'll cover the knives, and I'll bet on clothes, okay? A full set of chef's uniforms with supplies, molds, and stuff. Want to bet?"

Xiao Wei tapped his chopsticks on the table and said, "I'll bet. I don't believe it. Whatever I bet, I'll take it. But let's get this straight: I don't own any of these things. I've never even seen them before. If I lose, I'll just treat you to dinner and drinks."

Chen Hui said, "Let's have another karaoke session. If you win, I'll treat; if you lose, you still treat. It'll be more fun with both food and singing."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I haven't sung this one yet, but it looks pretty good."

Yang Tiebin said, "What the hell is 'K'?"

Chen Hui said, "Karaoke is singing. Someone provides accompaniment, and you sing into a microphone, like those celebrities."

Yang Tiebin became interested, his eyes lighting up, and said, "That works! Where can I find it? Let's go check it out sometime!"

Chen Hui said, "They're everywhere around here now, including next to your Cultural Palace, right under that Railway Building. I've been there once. Let's go for a day trip sometime when you're free."

Xiao Hong asked, "Is it expensive?"

Chen Hui said, "A cup of tea costs five yuan and you can sing a song with it. It's not bad, not expensive. If you have more money, you can have white fungus soup for ten yuan for three songs, or coffee for twenty yuan, with no limit on the number of songs. You can also sing a song alone for three yuan."

Xiao Hong did the math and said, "Come on, this isn't expensive at all. An original soundtrack is only twenty yuan."

Chen Hui picked up a piece of meat and popped it into his mouth, laughing as he said, "That's different. This is for fun. You sang it yourself. Hmm, this meat is delicious and fragrant. Who made it?"

Xiao Wei pointed at Xia Maosheng and said, "Old Xia cut it, Old Yang put it in the warehouse, Old Li fried it in oil, you ate it, I watched it."

Everyone laughed, took a few bites, and Xia Maosheng put down his chopsticks, raised his wine bowl, and said, "Come on, this is the first time we've had a meal together at Xiaowei's house, let's have a drink together. Come on. I wish Xiaohong all the best in her studies, and I wish our Chef Zhang all the best in his apprenticeship."

Everyone put down their chopsticks, picked up their bowls, clinked them together, and took a sip. There was a chorus of "ha"s from the table. The liquor was quite spicy at first, but it would turn sweet after a while; it was pure grain liquor.

After putting down his wine bowl and taking a bite of food to cool off the spiciness, Xiao Wei said, "Actually, I'm not sure about myself yet. I've never even held a spoon before. You all saw it just now, I've never even cut meat before. I'll give it a try, and if I can't do it, I'll just give up."

Li Guangzhao said, "That's not necessarily true. It has little to do with whether you've done it before; it's mainly about talent, like writing—it's not something you can practice."

Xiao Hong nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I agree. I'm such a good student, but my handwriting is terrible... Little Wei didn't even finish elementary school, but his handwriting is so beautiful, I'm so jealous."

Suddenly, all eyes on the table were fixed on Xiaowei's face, and they asked in unison, "You didn't graduate from elementary school?"

Xiao Wei paused for a moment and said, "Oh, it wasn't finished reading? What happened?"

Xia Maosheng raised his hand to smooth his hair and said, "I graduated from the mining technical school."

Li Guangzhao said, "I studied until the second year of high school."

Yang Tiebin said, "I graduated from junior high school."

Chen Hui looked at everyone and said, "I'm studying at an open university, and I still have six months until graduation. What's wrong?"

Li Guangzhao took a sip of his drink, shook his head, and said, "The guy here who got the least education, he can't even hold a knife, yet he found a wife who can do everything and is from Northeast Institute of Technology. Where can you go to reason with that?"

Xia Maosheng said, "He's the richest. This guy is a tycoon. He's much richer than us. We still have to ask our families for money. This kid spends all his own money."

Chen Hui looked at this and that, and suddenly said, "Do you think we're poor because we've studied too much? While others were making money, we were spending it all on exams."

Xiao Wei picked up a piece of meat and put it in the small red bowl, glanced at Chen Hui and said, "Come on, you're poor because you spend too much money. I don't know about them, but you earn just as much as I do."

Chen Hui sighed, picked up his wine bowl, raised it to Xia Maosheng, and said, "Sigh, forget it, let's not talk about this sad thing. Come on, Lao Xia, let's have a drink. I'll come visit you sometime; I've never been before."

Xia Maosheng clinked his bowl against his, took a sip, and said, "Okay, we'll all go after we finish our studies and get our certificates. I'm afraid you'll be disappointed if you go to my small town."

Yang Tiebin said, "Just go visit my hometown and come back. Everywhere is a big city."

Li Guangzhao said, "My hometown is a big city, even famous throughout the country. It looks like it's just been bombed, all dilapidated and covered in dust."

Everyone laughed. In terms of fame, Fushun was definitely among the top cities in the country in this era. Although the city was not large and its development was slow due to the depletion of coal resources, one Lei Feng was enough. Every March, the whole country would launch a massive publicity campaign for this small city.

In those days, March was the month for the whole nation to learn from Lei Feng.

"The Xiangjiang River flows quietly. After passing Changsha, the water makes a bend. If you follow the waterway for about ten miles, there is a place called Leijiachong..." The Biography of Lei Feng was once a very popular storybook. In those days, it was indeed read as a storybook.

In the 1990s, this city, which had developed based on its coal resources, fell into a resource crisis and struggled to survive.

While drinking and eating, they chatted about all sorts of things. The meal lasted for more than an hour. On this cold autumn night, the room was warm and cozy. Xia Maosheng and Yang Tiebin had both taken off their coats and were wearing thermal underwear. One of them had drunk the most at the table, and the other had drunk the least. The two of them were in similar condition, shouting and vying for the topic.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, everyone sat on the chairs in the dining room, smoking and drinking tea. Xiao Wei helped Xiao Hong tidy up, and Chen Hui also came over to help. This guy was quiet and unassuming, but he was also a heavy drinker, no less than Yang Tiebin and Li Guangzhao. Apart from the smell of alcohol on his breath, you really couldn't tell that he had just been drinking.

Xiao Wei didn't stand on ceremony with him; you can't be polite when you're friends. The three of them tidied up the table, Xiao Hong did the washing, and then kicked the other two out.

After Xiaohong came out wiping her hands, the guys had already smoked a cigarette and chatted for half the car. Xiaohong hung the rag to dry and said, "Oh, it's so nice to just wash dishes after a meal. If only Brother Xiaowei had learned that sooner, I would have been so lucky, haha."

Xiao Wei said, "Two months. Just you wait. It'll definitely be two months."

Xia Maosheng turned to Li Guangzhao and Yang Tiebin and said, "How about we come once a week from now on? Anyway, there's nothing to do there, so why don't we get together here?"

The two nodded in agreement, and Chen Hui said, "Count me in, I'll join too."

Xia Maosheng said, "Okay, you can take care of the drinks. Xiaowei, do you have any playing cards? Let's play some cards."

Chen Hui said, "That's boring. Hey, shall we go sing karaoke? It's on me."

Xiao Wei glanced at him and said, "You've got money again? Fine, I'll treat. Where to? How far? Too far won't do, we're almost drunk, we can't ride our bikes."

Chen Hui said, "If we don't ride bikes, let's take a taxi. It won't cost much."