The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 3 Reunion

The world is big, but Santaizi is small.

Lao Tan didn't expect to meet Yanhua here, he thought he would never see Yanhua again in this life, but he didn't expect to meet Yanhua today.

He stood up and said pleasantly, "Yanhua—"

When Lao Tan called out her name, Yanhua knew that she was not mistaken, and the man standing in front of her was Lao Tan.Although he still looks like he was in his twenties in his memory, his iconic bandit portrait, deep-set eyes and sharp-edged face have not changed at all.

Both of them were very excited, and their clenched hands trembled slightly.

"You two know each other?" Yanzi asked in surprise.

Yanhua took a look at Lao Tan, calmed down her excitement, and said happily: "Well, I have known each other for a long time, we have worked together, and I haven't seen each other for more than ten years. I never expected to see you here." Then she was curious. Ask: "Why are you together?"

Yanzi said: "We played mahjong together at the mahjong club. I just finished playing and came out for a drink. You just called. Do you have to thank me, because you two can meet without me?"

"Thank you! I must thank you!" Yanhua hurriedly said.

14 years ago, Lao Tan worked in the Rose Hotel on Taishan Road.He is the chopping board, and Yanhua and Lin Yan are the waiters in front.Lin Yan came three months earlier than Yanhua, when Old Tan was dating Lin Yan.

Yanhua is pretty and quiet, and many boys pursue her.

Zhan Ze, who works as a chopping board with Lao Tan, likes Yanhua and always asks her out.A Chuancai student also likes Yanhua, seeing Zhan Ze as a rival in love, he gets angry, so he finds a few friends to clean up Zhan Ze.

The scene at that time was very chaotic, Yanhua was so frightened that she cried, and Zhanze was pressed to the ground by three young men, and his nose was about to bruise and his face was swollen.Just happened to be bumped into by Lao Tan who was going back to the dormitory, so a violent bloodshed was stopped.

When Lao Tan and Yanhua met before, they just nodded and smiled, they didn't speak, and it was only after this incident that they became familiar with each other.

Yanhua, from Xinmin, her mother died of illness when she was five years old, and her father raised her and her brother. When he was 17 years old, his elder brother married a wife and started a family. At that time, his father died in a car accident.After a year with my elder brother and sister-in-law, my elder brother was not good at being a sister-in-law, so I thought she was an idler sister-in-law, so she always used words to beat her up, so I went to a small private supermarket in the county to sell goods under the introduction of my relatives.

Children who have not had a mother's love since childhood are in danger and have no sense of security. Coupled with their pure heart, they are easy to trust others.The supermarket owner saw that she was pretty, so he took extra care of her, and gradually developed feelings for her, and the two got together in private.Later, the boss's wife found out, beat her up, and was kicked out while cursing.

After leaving the supermarket, she found out that she was pregnant, and silently aborted the child by herself, then came to the provincial capital alone, and became colleagues with Lao Tan.

She felt that Lao Tan was trustworthy and told her story.

Lao Tan was very sympathetic and took good care of her at work and cared about her in life. The two gradually became good friends without talking.It can be said that Lao Tan accompanied Yanhua through the darkest time in her heart.

Later, Yanhua found out that she fell in love with Lao Tan, and she left because she was afraid that she would not be able to control herself.

The last time we met was 12 years ago, Yanhua was working as a nanny, serving an old lady.The old lady saw that Yanhua was honest, sensible, and kind-hearted, so she introduced a partner to her, who was a section chief in an aircraft factory.She is eight years older than Yanhua, divorced, and has a son with her.

This guy is nice, he takes good care of Yanhua, the two get married after a year of marriage.

Later, Lao Tan moved to the east, west, north and south, and lost contact with each other.In fact, both of them live in Santaizi, and they are not far away, but they just don't know each other.

This is the case for working as a worker in a restaurant. Today they work together, and tomorrow they will go to other things when they quit, and they may not see each other in a lifetime.

It is reality, but also a kind of helplessness.

Yanhua thought that she would never see Lao Tan again in this lifetime.

If there was no Lin Yan back then, she would have married Lao Tan without hesitation.But the world is tricky, who told Lin Yan to know Lao Tan first? While he was jealous, he was also happy to find a good man for Lin Yan.What does a woman want in her life?Isn't it just to find a man who loves you?
The time at the Rose Hotel was the most fulfilling time I have ever lived.Although he is older than Lao Tan, he is more willing to treat him as an elder brother and follow behind him like a younger sister, listening to his commands.

When Lao Tan and Lin Yan were dating, Lao Tan led Lin Yan back to his home. His family was very satisfied with Lin Yan and had no objections.When the new year was approaching, Lao Tan went to Lin Yan's house, but Lin Yan's mother did not agree to the marriage, so Lao Tan came back dejected and alone.

Immediately after the Chinese New Year, the restaurant was open as usual, and Lao Tan did not go home.I originally planned to go back to my hometown with Lin Yan after the new year, but Lin Yan's mother disagreed, and I didn't have the face to go back alone.

Yanhua accompanied him during the New Year, and told him that if he didn't dislike her, she could be his wife and go back with him.Lao Tan was very moved, but he had Lin Yan in his heart, so he didn't agree.As a result, Lin Yan broke through her mother's resistance and came out from home to find Lao Tan on the third day of the first lunar month.

Yanhua left.

Neither of the two of them expected to meet again, so let's take this reunion in our lives as God's arrangement.

"What are you doing now?" Old Tan asked.

"Nothing to do, just stay at home. What about you, are you still a cook?" Yanhua asked.

"Well, cook, cook for others." Old Tan said.

"How old is your child?" Yanhua asked.

"Five years old."

"Boys and girls?"

"boy."

"You are tired enough, let's fight for your son." Yanhua laughed after finishing speaking, and then asked, "What is Lin Yan doing?"

"Go to work, in a cold chain company." Old Tan replied.

"That's good. Both of you earn money. Have you bought a house yet?"

"Not yet, I plan to buy it in the next two years."

In order to celebrate the reunion of old friends, Brother Liu suggested: "Brother Tan is reunited with his old friends today, I am happy, we should celebrate. Come, the four of us sisters have a drink together, and it will be lively."

Old Tan was the first to take the lead.

Because of his joy, Lao Tan drank a lot of wine and chatted with Yanhua about the past. Many things came up in front of his eyes clearly, as if it was just yesterday, but in fact it was far away and became a memory.I can't help but sigh that the years are merciless, and I have reached middle age before I know it.

After reuniting with Yanhua, Lao Tan continued to look for a job, and continued to accept Lin Yan's harassment every day, which made him very depressed.

Lao Tan said that being a chef doesn’t mean that you can find it when you find it, and you are not idle at home. You clean up the house, wash and cook every day, isn’t it okay?Lin Yan turned a blind eye to this, but felt that Lao Tan was under a lot of pressure and felt a sense of urgency because he didn't have a job.

She planned to buy a house at the end of this year or early next year, but the plan did not change quickly. She did not expect that Lao Tan would be laid off, which disrupted the plan.Lao Tan earned 150,000 in three years in Binhai. The money was the house payment, and Lin Yan saved it and used it for special purposes.If the couple want to earn more money this year, the down payment and decoration money are enough, and they can still have a surplus.

People who live in a hurry are anxious, seeing Lao Tan staying at home makes them upset, wishing that Lao Tan will have a job soon so that she can buy a house.

There is another reason for Lin Yan to see Lao Tan upset.Lao Tan was not at home for five years. She and her son got used to the life without Lao Tan, and developed an independent life pattern.Lao Tan broke the rules this time, and he was not used to it.

What she couldn't stand the most was that Old Tan was smoking in the house, and the whole room smelled of smoke. She really wanted to kick him out in a fit of anger and never come back for the rest of her life.

The most hateful thing is to go to the mahjong club to play mahjong.

snort!What kind of good people are there in the mahjong club?Look at those girls, they don't look good, they dress up pretty, they stay in the mahjong club all day long when they don't go to work, they have no other ability except to seduce men.

Don't come back if you old Tan go to the mahjong club, find a girl there.My son and I are fine at home, clean, out of sight and out of mind.

Lin Yan became angry after thinking about it, glanced at Lao Tan who was sitting on the bed, and asked angrily: "Old Tan, do you want to stay at home like this?"

Seeing Lin Yan's unkind expression, Lao Tan knew that this was the rhythm of a fight, so he said angrily, "No."

"I'm looking for a job without you. I don't think you're in a hurry."

"I've been looking for it for the past two days."

"I wonder when will you find this job? Let me tell you, if you can't find a job, you can work as a loader in our unit's cold storage. It will cost more than [-] a month." Old Tan looked at Lin Yan, a little puzzled what she was thinking. Yes, he actually asked a dignified chef to work as a stevedore.

Lin Yan went on to say: "It's fine to stay at home. Give me 3000 yuan a month, pick up the children every day, cook the meals, tidy up the house, and wash all the clothes."

"What else are you doing?" Old Tan asked.

"What are you doing? I don't know what to do at home? Ask me? You are not from this family!" Lin Yan raised her voice.

Old Tan just wanted to raise his voice, afraid that brother Li and his sister-in-law next door thought he had a fight with Lin Yan and ran over again, so he endured it, swallowed the unpleasant words he was going to say, calmed down, and then said in a normal tone: " Lin Yan, can we have a good talk?"

Lin Yan said: "What are we talking about? We have nothing to talk about now, you live your life and I live mine, and no one interferes with anyone else. I just ask, give me and my child 3000 yuan every month. If you go to work Give four thousand, and I don’t care about the rest. Also, no smoking in the house, no playing mahjong. That’s all, I’m done, sleep, don’t bother me.”

Lin Yan lay down with her back on her back and stopped talking to Lao Tan.

Old Tan got angry, put on his down jacket, opened the door and went out.

(End of this chapter)