aircannonsinc Chapter 126 The Child
Chapter 126 The Child
Xiao Wei frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded. He vaguely remembered that there used to be two red lanterns hanging in front of the state-run restaurant in the county town.
Sister Zhang said, "This isn't fashionable anymore. Fewer restaurants hang up signs now. Back then, hanging up a sign was a big deal for restaurants. They would hang it up on time every day and take it down on time every night. The manager would be there to oversee it, and everyone had to line up outside. It was a very grand affair. It signified opening and closing. If they forgot to take it down one day, customers still had to eat inside. If a chef left, the manager had to find a replacement, otherwise people would vandalize the restaurant and ruin its reputation."
Sister Shang said, "Of course, I also know how to make embroidered ...
Xiao Wei asked, "Why do we need to hang this up? It's such a hassle to hang it up and take it down every day."
Sister Zhang said, "We had never seen these before; we only heard about them from the older generation. Back then, we didn't have all these things. In winter, we had to seal the windows and doors to keep out the cold, so you couldn't see inside from outside. Hanging signs indicated what the business was, what they sold, and whether it was open or closed. It's only in recent years that we don't care about these things anymore. We can open the doors even in winter, and we have huge glass windows that go from the ceiling to the floor. We never had these things before."
Sister Shang said, "I remember it was more than 80 years ago, right? In the 80s, people started to lose interest in things."
Sister Zhang said, "No, it just means we don't have to pick them every day anymore. They're just hung up. It's only been a few years. Most restaurants still have them hanging up. It's a different story now."
Xiao Wei asked, "What does that mean?"
Sister Zhang said, "Honghu is Han Chinese and eats pork, while Lanhu is Hui and eats beef and mutton. If you go into Lanhu's shop and order a braised pork slice, they'll chop your whole body up with a knife." Sister Shang laughed heartily from the side.
Sister Zhang continued, "You can't hang a 'three, five, six, seven' sign on a sign. It has to be a single sign, a double sign, a four-sign sign, or an eight-sign sign. A single sign is like a roadside eatery where you eat whatever they have and you can't order from a menu. A double sign is where they cook whatever they have and you can order from a menu, but you have to order what they have. A four-sign is where they have everything you want to eat; they'll cook whatever you want for you. That's a proper, high-class restaurant. Most people wouldn't dare hang a sign there. If you order food, you have to get it out, or someone will smash it up."
Xiao Wei asked, "What about the other eight?"
Sister Zhang said, "I've never seen anything like it. It seems like they eat whatever they want, right? As long as you can think of it, they'll make it for you. I've never heard of many places in the whole Northeast that dare to do that."
Sister Shang added, "There's also a double-tiered banquet hall. It's a two-tiered hall, which means the restaurant has enough space to host banquets and even offers door-to-door service."
Sister Zhang said, "The patterns on the hoops are also different. Rhombuses mean no credit, ingots mean credit is allowed but collateral is required, and cloud patterns mean it doesn't matter and credit is allowed without collateral."
Xia Maosheng said, "Isn't that amazing? Four cuisines, that's equivalent to being proficient in at least six of the eight major cuisines, except for Cantonese and Fujian cuisines."
Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Impressive. There are so many intricacies involved? This is the first time I've heard of such a thing."
While the group was talking, An Laowu and Bozi had almost finished serving the dishes, filling the table with steaming food. Xiao Wei shook his head to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts, picked up his glass and said, "Come on, it's fate that we met. Let's have a drink to wish for a successful cooperation and for everyone to make a fortune."
Everyone raised their glasses in a lively toast. Of course, there was no need to drink, and everyone could drink as much or as little as they wanted. However, to Xiao Wei's surprise, even Li Wen, who was usually not very talkative, was drinking baijiu and quite a bit of it, downing a fifth of it in one gulp.
After serving the dishes, An Laowu walked to the table and said, "The food is all here. Please enjoy your meal. Let me know if it gets cold. I'm making dumplings for you; they'll be up in a bit. Xia, don't rush. Bozi will take you there after you finish eating."
They ate and drank, chatting and laughing. The more people there were, the more lively it was, especially when there were many women who dared to talk. Laughter never stopped at the table, and the two leading ladies took turns teasing the men.
Li Wen, like a squirrel, was gnawing on a bone with both hands, not saying a word. She would laugh when someone laughed, and clink glasses with someone who was drinking. Her two big, dark eyes darted around, watching the person who was speaking. Her hands and mouth never stopped moving. After drinking for half the night, there were several clean bones piled up in front of her.
Li Bing didn't say much either, but he ate slowly, as if he was a little embarrassed and couldn't finish eating. He hadn't finished gnawing on a bone in a long time and was still picking at it with his chopsticks in his rice bowl.
Xie Na, chopsticks in her right hand and bones in her left, ate with gusto while making conversation.
Needless to say, Sister Zhang and Sister Shang were the ones at the table who listened to the whole table. They didn't even miss a meal. They would pick up a bone, open it wide, tear it clean in a few bites, and then throw it down with another remark that made everyone burst out laughing.
Li Gengsheng remained silent throughout, eating and talking quietly on the side like an invisible person, and didn't drink much alcohol, not even as much as Li Wen.
Sister Zhang wiped her hands with a napkin and said, "Look at Xiaobing, why is she huddled up like a kitten? How can you possibly get full like this? Don't you like gnawing on bones?"
Sister Shang said, "What? She's just embarrassed to eat it in front of everyone. I don't know why she's so shy. Xiao Hongliang, cut the meat for Xiao Bing. Aren't you taking good care of your own wife? Do you still want to marry us?"
Liu Hongliang looked at Li Bing and said with a smile, "I'm just watching anxiously from the sidelines. If it were anything else, I would have already taken the plate over, but you know, I can't exactly gnaw on the bone for her, can I?"
Sister Zhang picked up the small bowl in front of Li Bing and placed it in front of Liu Hongliang, saying, "Here, spit the meat in here. She can just eat the meat without gnawing on it, and you can just savor the taste of the bones." Li Bing's face turned red, and she glared at Sister Zhang, calling out, "Sister Zhang~~."
Sister Zhang leaned back and laughed, "Oh my god, that was so soft! It made me weak in the knees. I have to learn that trick so I can show it to my husband when I get home tonight, so he won't keep saying I'm not gentle." Sister Zhang's husband's surname is also Zhang.
Xie Na swallowed the meat in her mouth and said, "Are you sure you can do this, Sister Zhang? If you really do this at home, your brother-in-law will be so scared he'll jump off a building. Don't you even know your own physique?" Sister Zhang is 1.75 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a large frame, making her look very big. She's not actually fat, but after all, she's middle-aged, so she can't compare to a young girl like Li Wen.
Liu Hongliang actually took a bone, used chopsticks to remove the meat, and put it in Li Bing's small bowl. He then removed two pieces of bone, ladled some soup from the small bowl, and handed it to her. Li Bing shyly ate it. It seems that Sister Zhang wasn't just joking; the two of them seemed to have something going on.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the dumplings were served. Sister Shang and Sister Zhang each picked one up, took a bite, and savored it while looking at it. Sister Zhang said, "I must say, it really is different. They're both sauerkraut filling, but this one is really delicious."