Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 18 Going to a fancy restaurant

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Xiao Wei and the driver ran to the door and unloaded their luggage and belongings from the car. They carried several bags of various sizes inside.

Chen Shulan covered her mouth and laughed when she saw the large and small bags, saying, "I was like that before I came. My family was busy, and no one saw me off, so I carried my luggage all the way from the station to here by myself. But when I got here, I found out that the school provides luggage and tableware for free, as well as meal tickets and meat tickets. We only need to pay tuition and dormitory fees. Tuition is 200 yuan, and dormitory fees are 30 yuan. After that, we can receive a subsidy of 21 yuan a month, which is like doubling the dormitory fees back to us."

Xiao Hong exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? What are we going to do with all of this?"

Chen Shulan said, "It's okay, just use it. The ones the school gave us are a bit thin; the ones from home are much more comfortable. We can put on several layers, and it'll be warm and soft to sleep in. Let's go, we'll talk about it over there."

Everyone followed Chen Shulan, carrying their belongings. Xiao Hong asked, "When will we receive all those things?"

Chen Shulan raised her hand to push away the tree branch above her head and said, "They'll be given to us when classes officially start. There are no classes yet, the dorms are open, but the cafeteria isn't."

Following Chen Shulan, we wandered through the buildings and woods for a good twenty minutes, until we were all dizzy and disoriented, before finally arriving at the girls' dormitory. The buildings in this area were all historical relics, somewhat old, but charming and not dilapidated.

I picked up my blanket and tableware from the dormitory manager's office downstairs: two enamel mugs and a steel spoon, all in drawstring bags. The blanket was one sheet and two covers.

I carried my things up to the third floor, found the dormitory, opened the door, found my bunk by name, made the bed, and arranged my things.

The others in the dormitory hadn't arrived yet; Xiaohong was the first to arrive. After making her bed and tidying up her things, the group found a place to sit and rest. Xiaohong said, "The school is really big. I saw several sports fields when I came here earlier; I wonder if they charge admission."

Xiao Wei didn't know either, and looked at Li Zhongguo. Li Zhongguo laughed and said, "School stuff doesn't charge students, you can play whatever you want. But those are for boys, what are you doing playing with them, little girl? Are you hungry? Let's go out and get something to eat, then I'll take Xiao Wei to find my comrades. Are you staying here or coming with us?"

Xiao Hong said, "I'll go too, I'll go with you. Just bring me back afterwards."

Xiao Wei scratched his head and said, "Are you sure you can still find it? I'm completely confused."

Xiao Hong thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, definitely, we can. We just need to come back in through the same gate we just went through." The group had just realized that the school had several gates, and the one they had just gone through was the north gate, which was also the main gate.

Li Zhongguo stood up and said, "Then let's go. I'll take you to eat something good."

Wherever in China is associated with a long history, a certain phenomenon immediately emerges.

A huge variety of delicious food, all of which have a history of over a hundred years.

Fengtian, a city with thousands of years of history, the political, economic and cultural center of Northeast China for hundreds of years, a former capital city and a crossroads of six provinces, and a gathering place for many ethnic groups including Manchu, Mongol, Hui, Han and Korean, has countless delicacies to offer.

Northerners love to eat dumplings. They eat them during the Spring Festival, holidays, and good days. They even eat them when they crave them. Therefore, the most famous century-old restaurant in Fengtian is Laobian Dumplings.

Then there are countless kinds of snacks, such as smoked meat pancakes, oven-baked pancakes, "Huitou" (a type of Korean cold noodle), Korean shumai, spring pancakes, and baked flatbread. Major delicacies include lamb giblets, hot pot, and "killing pig" stew, but not as abundant and diverse as the snacks.

Li Zhongguo didn't ask Xiaowei and Xiaohong, because it would be pointless. It was the first time for both of them to leave the county. Xiaohong had at least been to the city once or twice, but Xiaowei had never left home.

The police car was on the road again, coming out from the North Gate of Southeast University, passing the gate of Nanhu Park, turning right onto Nanwu Road, and arriving at Taiyuan Street.

This is the area around Fengtian South Station. However, Taiyuan Street was developed earlier and is a well-known commercial street in Fengtian. So, although it belongs to the South Station area, it has its own management organization and is not as chaotic as the area around the station.

In the 90s, Taiyuan Street was the most famous street in Fengtian, much more famous than Wu'ai and Zhongjie. It wasn't until the late 90s that Taiyuan Street was surpassed by Zhongjie, Xita and other streets for various reasons, but it is still one of the famous commercial streets in Fengtian.

The driver skillfully navigated the road, making a series of turns that completely confused Xiaowei and Xiaohong, before finally stopping in an open space amidst a cluster of old buildings.

This is the entrance to the Nationalities Cinema. If you walk through the alley next to the Nationalities Cinema, you will reach the Liberation Club on Taiyuan Street.

Taiyuan Street is surrounded by high-rise buildings as well as old bungalows, where modernity and history coexist, creating a unique atmosphere. In fact, this is the case in most big cities. Even the famous Nanjing Road in Shanghai has low, old, damp houses behind its skyscrapers, where rats roam freely.

Several people got off the bus. The two younger ones looked around blankly, finding everything novel. Even the old houses, which were much older than those high-rise buildings, looked impressive and were indeed more impressive than the houses in the county town.

Li Zhongguo straightened his clothes, looked around, and said, "Come on, let me treat you to something fresh. Venison, you've never had it before, have you? I'll treat you to a meat feast today, haha."

Xiao Wei said, "Venus meat? Is it delicious? I've never even seen a deer before."

Xiao Hong said, "I've seen them. They're so cute and beautiful. They look a bit like roe deer, but I've never eaten them. I heard they're very expensive."

Xiao Wei asked, "Where were you looking at it?"

Xiao Hong said, "The city zoo, you big idiot, it has all kinds of animals. And Garden Hill, haven't you been there?"

Xiao Wei shook his head, then nodded, and said, "I've never been there. I've never even been to the city."

The little girl fell silent and reached out to grab Xiaowei's arm.

Li Zhongguo said, "What's the city? Our city isn't that big, it's chaotic and dilapidated, it's nowhere near as good as the provincial capital. You should do well here, and go back in glory in the future. What's the city? Come on, let's go eat."

Right at the corner of this open space, there is a gate made of large logs, with three big characters written on it in a flamboyant style: Jiuge City.

The entire wooden workshop is painted bright red and carved with large black cursive characters, clearly written by a master, thick and vigorous, with an imposing presence.

Xiao Wei stood there staring for a while, then whispered to Xiao Hong, "What does that say?"

Xiao Hong covered her mouth and laughed, saying, "You're quite impressive, being able to recognize the character 'nine'!"

Xiao Wei blushed, and Xiao Hong said, "Jiuge City, the song of singing, the city of a city, these words are written so beautifully."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "It really looks good. I can't recognize it, but it feels quite powerful."

Li Zhongguo led a few people inside, then turned and said, "Stay here and buy some books. Study when you have nothing to do. You're still young, you need to learn something. When Xiaohong graduates in the future, you can't fall too far behind." Xiaowei nodded.

Xiao Hong shook Xiao Wei's arm and said, "Then I'll tutor you tonight, it'll be a good time for review."

Xiao Wei glanced at Xiao Hong and whispered, "Can I really learn those physics and chemistry subjects?"

Xiaohong said, "I'll just study. If I can do it, I will; if I can't, I won't. I'll mainly study Chinese and math."

Li Zhongguo interjected, "If you're going to learn, learn properly. It'll save you face wherever you go in the future. Don't wait until you know nothing and people look down on you. You're so smart, why can't you learn something?"

Xiao Wei scratched his head and said, "Okay, I didn't say it was impossible."

Xiao Hong covered her mouth and laughed.