Chapter 48

The day for Song Qiaoli and Yu Gaoshan to come to Menguhuling was set for Friday. Early that morning, Su Xinghui ran to the vegetable market and bought a slab of pork, a four-to-five-pound fish, and quite a few eggs and green vegetables. The vegetable sellers in the market liked Su Xinghui quite a bit, and every time he bought vegetables, they gave him a discount. Buying so many things today cost him less than twenty yuan.

Granny Lu wanted to give him eggs again today, but he insisted on paying. He told Granny Lu that he was buying the vegetables for the township government today, using public money, so she had to accept it. Only then did Granny Lu accept.

He asked Granny Lu if Luo Ming'an had been giving her any trouble these past few days. Granny Lu said no, and she hadn't even seen him these past two days.

Su Xinghui guessed that Luo Ming'an had lost face that day, and his uncle hadn't been able to vent his anger for him, so he didn't have the face to show off on the street anymore. This was a good thing. Although a dog can never change its habit of eating excrement, being able to let the common people have a few days of peace was a good thing.

He asked Granny Lu again if Lu Dawang had returned home these days and how her daughter-in-law was doing now.

Granny Lu said that Lu Dawang hadn't returned home, but a neighbor who went with him had returned and said he was doing quite well in the county town, and her daughter-in-law's health had also recovered and she could get out of bed now. This made Su Xinghui feel relieved.

Returning to the township government, Huang Sao saw him buy so many vegetables and asked in surprise, "Director Su, why did you buy so many vegetables today? Want to add a meal?"

Su Xinghui smiled and said to her, "There are guests going to Wild Boar Gully today. A guest agreed with me to let me cook a meal for her, so I bought the vegetables and plan to take them to Wild Boar Gully to cook for her."

Huang Sao smiled, "I can't tell that Director Su, a college student, can even cook."

Su Xinghui said, "Just cooking casually, I can't compare to you, Huang Sao."

Huang Sao beamed with joy, looking very happy. Now Su Xinghui was her direct leader, and whether she could continue this cooking job for a long time depended on Su Xinghui's intentions. Su Xinghui praising her made her very happy.

Su Xinghui waited in the Party and Government Office for a while. Yu Gaoshan arrived. He had set off by car at five in the morning and arrived at Menguhuling before eight. Getting up so early was a common occurrence for him; when he was selling fish, he often got up even earlier than this.

Su Xinghui let Yu Gaoshan sit in the Party and Government Office for a while, as he still had to wait for Song Qiaoli and the others.

Around nine o'clock, Song Qiaoli arrived in the same large van as last time, followed by a small truck. This truck was naturally for bringing the goods back.

Chen Hongfu, Dong Jianshu, and Li Maofa all warmly welcomed Song Qiaoli and her party. Today, besides Lu Xiaoya, there was also a deputy manager and two drivers who came with Song Qiaoli.

Taking advantage of the leaders chatting with Song Qiaoli, Lu Xiaoya whispered to Su Xinghui, "Did you buy the vegetables?"

Su Xinghui took her to the Party and Government Office and pointed to the pile of vegetables he had bought, "Look, I bought so many."

Lu Xiaoya couldn't help but laugh. She was already very happy that Su Xinghui could keep this matter in mind. She asked, "Can you really cook? How about I help you later?"

Su Xinghui said confidently, "No need, you will definitely be satisfied with what I make!"

The group took the large van to Wild Boar Gully. Song Qiaoli and Yu Gaoshan went to the village committee to sign the contracts separately. Su Xinghui carried the vegetables he bought and went to Xia Zhu's house with Lu Xiaoya. He told everyone to come to Xia Zhu's house for dinner in an hour.

He had told Xia Zhu the day before that he would cook at her house today, so Xia Zhu had already tidied up the house and was waiting for him.

As soon as they arrived at Xia Zhu's house, Lu Xiaoya affectionately took Xia Zhu's hand and said, "Xia Zhu, I'm here again!"

Seeing Lu Xiaoya, Xia Zhu said with surprise and joy, "Welcome, Sister Xiaoya!"

Lu Xiaoya said, "I'm going to eat at your house today, don't mind me disturbing you."

Xia Zhu said, "How could that be? You are a distinguished guest that we couldn't invite even if we wanted to!"

Lu Xiaoya saw the sketch Xia Zhu was drawing and asked curiously, "Did you draw this?"

Xia Zhu nodded, "Yes, I am learning sketching from Brother Xinghui. Brother Xinghui said I need to learn some things about art, which will promote my bamboo weaving."

This sentence made Lu Xiaoya look at Su Xinghui, who had already entered the kitchen and was busy. After a glance, she looked at Xia Zhu's sketch work and asked, "Then how many days have you been learning?"

Xia Zhu calculated the time and said, "Today is only the fourth day. Brother Xinghui teaches me for an hour every day."

Lu Xiaoya said in surprise, "You've only learned for three days and you've drawn so well?"

Xia Zhu said embarrassedly, "What's good about this? Brother Xinghui's drawings are the ones that are good! He also said that after I learn sketching well, he will teach me how to paint Chinese paintings."

Lu Xiaoya looked at Su Xinghui in the kitchen again and said, "This Su Xinghui, why didn't he show this skill when he was in school? I thought he only knew how to write articles. Which painting is his? Take it out and show me."

Xia Zhu took out the sketch Su Xinghui had drawn for her and Xia Lan that day and handed it to Lu Xiaoya. Lu Xiaoya stared at the painting for a long time. She had also received some art training since she was a child, so she could naturally tell the good from the bad. This sketch had sharp, smooth lines, accurate character proportions, and natural expressions, capturing the beauty of the sisters Xia Lan and Xia Zhu very well.

This could truly be called a superior work. However, it was obviously drawn by Su Xinghui casually, and the tools were not complete; all the lines were outlined with a hard pencil. The more this was the case, the more it showed Su Xinghui's profound foundation in art.

Lu Xiaoya muttered in her heart, just how many more skills does this Su Xinghui have that I don't know about?

Lu Xiaoya looked at the sketch again and saw Xia Zhu in the painting. A sense of sourness welled up in her heart, but she suppressed it in the blink of an eye. She knew that Xia Zhu was a pure girl and was harmless to anyone.

Moreover, Lu Xiaoya had also heard Su Xinghui talk about Xia Zhu's life story on the way today. She felt that Xia Zhu was too pitiful and too strong, and she admired Xia Zhu very much.

She handed the sketch back to Xia Zhu and smiled, "No way, I have to make him draw one for me too."

Xia Zhu said innocently, "Sister Xiaoya, you are so beautiful, he will definitely draw you even more beautifully."

Lu Xiaoya smiled and touched Xia Zhu's hair, "I'm not as beautiful as you!"

Xia Zhu said shyly, "Sister Xiaoya, you must be teasing me!"

Lu Xiaoya said, "I'm not, you are really beautiful!"

Xia Zhu said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. I'll go in and help Brother Xinghui cook."

Lu Xiaoya went into the kitchen with Xia Zhu. Come to think of it, cooking in such a kitchen, one person really couldn't handle it, because firewood had to be added to the stove from time to time, and one person busy on the stove and off the stove would really be in a rush.

Water and rice had already been put in the smaller iron pot, ready to cook. There were many people eating here today, and a lot of rice was put in, so Su Xinghui had specially bought ten pounds of rice today.

The reason he ate at Xia Zhu's house was also to let Xia Zhu eat something good. Moreover, he was also thinking of borrowing their van to take Xia Shisheng to Yu Maode's house for treatment. The van had more space, which was more convenient for Xia Shisheng; if they took the bus, it would be too inconvenient.

This was the first time Lu Xiaoya had seen such a stove. Only then did she realize that if she were to cook this meal, she probably wouldn't be able to do it well. She curiously followed Xia Zhu and started adding firewood to the stove.

Xia Zhu smiled, "Sister Xiaoya, you can't put too much firewood in at once. Too much will block the ventilation, and it won't burn."

Sure enough, Lu Xiaoya added too much firewood at once, and thick smoke suddenly rose in the stove. Lu Xiaoya quickly pulled out more than half of the firewood. Xia Zhu lowered her head and blew gently. Soon, the flames came out again, and gradually, the fire grew bigger and bigger.

Lu Xiaoya also quickly mastered the trick, and she had a sense of proportion when adding firewood. The two women cooperated very tacitly.

The iron pot was heated, and Su Xinghui brushed the pot clean with a bamboo pot brush and began to stir-fry. Seeing him familiar with the process and stir-frying in a decent way, Lu Xiaoya couldn't help but wonder, "Su Xinghui, you can even stir-fry using this kind of stove!"

Su Xinghui smiled, "I've already stir-fried at Xia Zhu's house for the second time. Practice makes perfect!"

Lu Xiaoya said, "You can do everything. By the way, the sketch you drew for Xia Zhu is quite beautiful. You have to draw one for me today!"

Su Xinghui said without hesitation, "Sure, no problem!"

Seeing Su Xinghui agree so readily, Lu Xiaoya laughed secretly.

Su Xinghui bought three pounds of meat today. He made a large bowl of mushrooms with meat, a large bowl of wood ear stir-fried with meat, and he made a dish of pickled fish with the fish. The pickled vegetables used were bought at the vegetable market; these were pickled vegetables made by the locals themselves, and the taste was quite good, which was just right for making this pickled fish.

When the pickled fish was out of the pot, because the smell was so fragrant, Lu Xiaoya couldn't help but pick up her chopsticks and taste a piece. After this bite, she was so hot that she kept panting, but she couldn't bear to spit out the fish meat. After swallowing the fish meat, she said, "Why is it so delicious?"

Su Xinghui smiled, "Can it not be delicious? Do you know where this fish comes from? It's a fish from an underground river in a cave in the mountains. The water is clear, sweet, and the water temperature is low, so the fish meat grown is tight, delicate, and delicious. This water is the mountain spring water here, and these pickled vegetables are pickled by the common people themselves. Of course, the pickled fish made this way is delicious."

Lu Xiaoya said, "Hmm, this fish is good, the water is good, the pickled vegetables are good, and your skills are also good!"