Chapter 86

He Yuzhu, clutching the Tan family recipe, excitedly returned to Yagangchang.

In the blink of an eye it was Xu Damao's wedding day; He Yuzhu, to express his gratitude to Tan Yali, specially invited his master Ma Hongtao to personally take charge of Xu Damao's wedding banquet, while his apprentice Ma Hua helped the master. Ma Hua also treasured this chance to learn from his master and worked very diligently.

I don't know whether Lou Banche had looked after Xu Damao, but Xu Damao's wedding was especially low-key, without inviting other workers from Yagangchang; besides the Xu Fugui family and Lou Banche and his wife, the other guests at Xu Damao's wedding were just the neighbors from the Siheyuan.

After the wedding, the banquet officially began; seated at the main table were Lou Banche, Tan Yali, the Xu Fugui couple, Li Bin, Li Qiang, He Yuzhu, and Xu Damao and his wife Lou Xiao'e; this time even Liu Haizhong was not arranged to sit at the main table.

"Dad, let me introduce you: this is Li Qiang, my best friend in the Siheyuan; as I told you before, the ingredients for today's wedding feast were procured with his help. He is not only our Siheyuan's Household Manager but also the Section Chief of the Security Section at Yagangchang." Xu Damao said to Lou Banche.

"Section Chief Li, Damao often mentions you in front of me. Today I finally get to see the real Buddha; let me offer you a cup, hoping you will look after Damao and Xiao'e in the future." Lou Banche lowered his posture greatly. He did this also hoping to maintain a good relationship with Li Qiang, after all Lou Xiao'e will be living in this Siheyuan from now on, and the Lou Xiao'e couple will still need Li Qiang's care.

"Factory Director Lou, you're being too polite; I and Damao are good brothers, this little thing actually doesn't need my help—with your ability you could easily settle it." Li Qiang did not take credit; he understood Lou Banche's meaning and could also understand a father's feelings.

"Father-in-law, Qiangzi is a good kid; you don't need to call me Factory Director or Section Chief Li—since there are no outsiders today, just call him Qiangzi. Qiangzi, you should call him Uncle Lou; let's not be so formal." Xu Fugui said with a laugh from the side.

"Alright, then I'll go ahead and call you Qiangzi." Lou Banche was very pleased with Li Qiang's attitude—neither arrogant nor humble, and not taking credit.

"Qiangzi, Auntie also toasts you; from now on, please look after Damao and Xiao'e. Xiao'e has been spoiled by us since childhood; now that they're married, neither set of parents is around, so if she ever falls short in anything, please be more tolerant." Tan Yali said, holding her wine cup.

"Auntie, please don't go overboard," Li Qiang said modestly; listening to it sounded like entrusting one's orphan.

"Let's not stand on ceremony; from now on we're one family, let's drink together." Xu Fugui said with a smile.

"Come, let's drink one; wishing Damao and Xiao'e a happy marriage, a hundred years of harmony, and early birth of a noble son." Li Bin said, raising his wine cup in agreement.

"Sure enough, it's Lou Banche—these dishes are really solid." Yan Butgui sighed from the neighboring table.

"Old Yan, you're mistaken about this; as far as I know, today's dishes were all procured with Li Qiang's help—Lou Banche had nothing to do with it." Liu Haizhong said sourly; when his son got married he prepared ten dishes, six of them meat, and he thought that standard was the ceiling in the Siheyuan, but who knew Xu Damao would be even harsher, serving twelve dishes, eight of them meat, directly outclassing him.

"Old Liu, you don't need to say that; setting aside Factory Director Lou's ability, just look at Old Xu—they only have this one son, Damao, and their father-in-law is Factory Director Lou; Old Xu is very face-conscious, how could he not make Damao's wedding a success?" Yi Zhonghai detected the implication in Liu Haizhong's words.

"With all these delicious dishes, you can't shut your mouths; anyway, it's an addition to our Siheyuan's population—I hope our Siheyuan will keep getting better and livelier." The deaf old lady said with a smile.

"Right, I hope our Siheyuan's population thrives." Liu Haizhong also threw in a phrase at this point.

After the wedding banquet ended, Lou Banche and his wife did not rush back; instead they sat down to drink tea and chat with Li Qiang and Xu Fugui.

"Uncle Lou, forgive my frankness, but when we were eating I got the impression from your wife that you might have something in mind." Li Qiang's words weren't too blunt, after all it's Damao's wedding today—if you directly said it was like entrusting an orphan, it would seem somewhat inauspicious.

"Qiangzi, let me be frank with you—there are no outsiders now—do you know why I didn't invite anyone else to Damao and Xiao'e's wedding today?" Lou Banche's words had a testing tone toward Li Qiang.

"I can somewhat understand." Li Qiang figured out Lou Banche's meaning.

"Oh, Qiangzi, could we talk privately for a few sentences?" Lou Banche hadn't expected Li Qiang to be so perceptive, and immediately became interested.

"Alright, let's go to my place." Li Qiang didn't refuse either; he also didn't want the Lou family to end up like in the original story.

"What are you two whispering about, being so mysterious?" Xu Fugui had drunk a bit too much and momentarily couldn't grasp what the two were saying; even if he hadn't drunk much, he probably still wouldn't understand, after all he and Lou Banche aren't on the same level—many things he truly can't access right now; if Li Qiang weren't a time traveler, he wouldn't know so much either, after all it's only 1962 now.

"Nothing much—Qiangzi, aren't you the Section Chief of the Security Section at Yagangchang? Let's talk about Yagangchang affairs." Lou Banche and Xu Fugui exchanged a glance, since nothing has happened yet, he also didn't want others to know his worries.

"Father-in-law, go ahead and chat; I won't disturb you." Xu Fugui could sense that these two definitely had something to hide from him, but he didn't feel comfortable asking directly.

"Qiangzi, have you heard any rumors?" As soon as they arrived at Li Qiang's home, Lou Banche eagerly asked.

"Uncle Lou, shouldn't it be you who's heard the rumors?" Li Qiang asked Lou Banche with a smile.

"Actually I haven't heard any rumors either; I just feel a bit uneasy inside, as many old comrades have gone abroad—I'm worried." Lou Banche said after taking a sip of tea.

Li Qiang felt much more at ease hearing Lou Banche say that, after all that big movement wasn't proposed until May 1965; at the time China experienced policy mistakes such as the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Anti-Rightist Tendency" movements, plus natural disasters and the Soviet Union's betrayal in tearing up contracts, which led to severe difficulties in the national economy. To correct these mistakes, the central government decided to implement the policy of "adjustment, consolidation, enrichment, and improvement" for the national economy. If Lou Banche could now know what will happen in the future, Li Qiang would even suspect that Lou Banche is also a time traveler.