Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 120 Liberation Wedding
As soon as Yan Jiekuang returned to Yuer Hutong, Yan Jiedi came in with Xiaodang, and then let them in. When they entered the main hall, Yan Jiekuang put down his bag and poured them two glasses of water. Yan Jiekuang asked, "Why are you two here?"

Yan Jiedi said: "I met Xiaodang when I was getting off work, so we came here together."

"Uncle San, I had nothing to do all day and stayed at home every day. Today I wanted to go out for a walk and I happened to run into Jie Di at the door, so I came over."

"Have you two eaten? Eat here today. I'll cook for you. You two sit down first." Yan Jiekuang got up and went to the kitchen. The two of them teased the five little ones in the hall.

Yan Jiedi ran over and said, "Brother, is there someone knocking on the door?"

"Go ahead and open it. I won't do anything here." Yan Jiekuang shouted.

Yan Jie Di went out to open the door. Sister Hui Zhen's voice came from the door. Yan Jie Kuang said, "Sister Hui Zhen, please sit down for a moment. I'm cooking. Let's eat together later."

"I understand. I want to eat sweet and sour pork. Don't forget." Xu Huizhen shouted in the hall.

Cai Quanwu wandered into the kitchen and saw Yan Jiekuang was busy, so he came over to help.

"Brother Cai, let's eat Northeastern cuisine today." Yan Jiekuang said.

"Okay!" Cai Quanwu said as he started to clean the chicken.

After a while, Yan Jiekuang fried the ingredients that needed to be fried and cooked the two dishes. Then he and Cai Quanwu left the kitchen and came to the main hall.

Xu Huizhen teased the big cat, but the big cat ignored her, so Xu Huizhen kept staring at the big cat, which made Yan Jiekuang happy.

"Sister Huizhen, how come you have time to come here today?" Yan Jiekuang said as he was cleaning the table.

"This is not my tavern. In response to the call, the shop next door was merged to form a state-owned canteen. I was thinking of finding someone who knows me well to come and help. So I thought of you. As a chef, can you recommend one or two to me?" Xu Huizhen said.

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "What a coincidence. Let me recommend someone to you first. It's Xiaodang. This kid is honest and will do anything you ask him to do. He's about to graduate soon and is also worried about finding a job."

Yan Jiekuang took a sip of water and said, "When she goes, I will teach her the skill of mixing vegetables and see if she can do it."

Xu Huizhen looked at Xiaodang, who ran over and said, "Aunt Huizhen, really? Can I go?"

Xu Huizhen looked at the pretty girl and said, "You can go. You look like this, and you can go even if you don't learn how to make mixed vegetables."

In just a few words, Xiaodang became a waiter in a state-owned tavern with a salary of 20 yuan.

Yan Jiekuang cooked a table of Northeastern dishes, including sweet and sour pork, three fresh vegetables, soft-fried pork tenderloin, chicken stewed with mushrooms, sauerkraut stewed with vermicelli, and potatoes mixed with eggplant.

Everyone was very happy with the meal. Xu Huizhen asked Yan Jiekuang if she could go to his place to cook more dishes when she had nothing to do.

Yan Jiekuang agreed and said he would go after get off work when he had nothing to do. Yan Jiekuang knew that Xu Hui really wanted him to teach cooking.

After dinner, Yan Jiekuang did not return to the courtyard. Yan Jiedi and Xiaodang went back by themselves. The next day, Xiaodang went to work, and the school just waited for the graduation certificate.

There are a lot of rumors in the old city. Air-raid shelters are being built everywhere, and the courtyard houses are no exception.

Yan Bugui would pull Yan Jiekuang aside to ask about it every now and then, and Yan Jiekuang would tell him that everything was fine and he could rest assured.

There was also talk of building an air-raid shelter in Yuer Hutong, but after searching for a long time, the street office couldn't find a place to build an air-raid shelter. However, there was vacant land available for construction in the nearby Dongmianhua Hutong.

Yan Jiekuang also participated in the construction work. The neighbors in Courtyard No. 95, those who had jobs and those who did not, were all busy doing voluntary labor.

During this period, Director Wang went to Siheyuan again to talk about going to the countryside, but she once again found that all the people of working age in Siheyuan had jobs.

Yan Jiefang has already sent me a letter, saying that I will enter the military academy this year. The official notice has been issued, and I will officially start school in September.

Yan Bugui and his wife had already gone to Shijia Village to discuss the marriage of their second son with Mr. Shi, and were waiting for Yan Jiefang's first holiday. Yan Bugui had been urging Yan Jiefang to submit the marriage application, because it would take time for Shi Xiaoya to review it. Yan Jiefang was not in a hurry at all, but Yan Bugui and his wife were very anxious.

Yan Jiekuang still goes to work every day to see if he has any tasks or work. He spends the whole day chatting with Qi Ye and Lao Liu. However, during this time he also learns a lot of experience and knowledge about cultural relics restoration from these two elders.

In October, Yan Jiefang first went to register, and after completing the school procedures, he returned to the courtyard with the documents. Yan Bugui and his wife immediately started to get busy, and Yan Jiekuang was also assigned some work, all of which were purchasing work.

The new house is the two rooms on the south side of the west wing, a wing room and an ear room. Yan Bugui and his wife moved to the room near the middle courtyard. Because the house had been renovated before, the house was simply cleaned and repaired.

Yan Jiekuang specially made latte art and decorated the two rooms. Yan Bugui also equipped them with bicycles and radios. Yan Jiekuang was responsible for the sewing machine, while Yan Jiecheng was responsible for other things such as thermoses and washbasins.

When Yan Jiefang's comrades rode several 28-ton trucks towards Shijia Village, Yan Jiefang's wedding officially began.

Yan Bugui set up ten tables in the courtyard. He Yuzhu volunteered and said that he must be the chef for Yan Jiefang's wedding. He also asked the kitchen workers from the steel rolling mill to help.

The main reason was that there were many of Yan Jiefang's comrades-in-arms, and only three tables of neighbors in the courtyard were not full.

After cooking, He Yuzhu went to the table with Yan Jiefang's comrade. The old lady didn't come out, and neither did Li Cuilan.

The night before, Yan Bugui asked Yan Jiekuang to prepare two of his signature dishes and send them to the old lady when the banquet started.

As soon as the banquet started, Yang Ruiping took Yan Jiekuang and the food box to the deaf old lady's house in the backyard. Most of the neighbors saw it and said that Yan Bugui knew how to behave.

Yan Jiekuang made two dishes for the deaf old lady, one was braised pig's trotters and the other was Dongpo pork. Yan Jiekuang also carefully simmered a small pot of rice in a casserole and sprinkled it with black sesame seeds.

After entering the house, Yang Ruiping said, "Old lady, today is our second son's wedding, so I asked our third son to prepare two dishes for you. Please try them."

Li Cuilan helped the old lady up, then put the kang table on it. Yan Jiekuang brought the dishes up and said, "This is the first time you've eaten my cooking. Please taste it." Then he scooped out a small bowl of rice and put it on the table.

The deaf old lady looked at the mother and son, and without hesitation, she picked up her chopsticks and started eating. After the first bite, her eyes lit up and she said, "It's authentic. Where did the third child learn this?"

"I inherited Yu Chu's legacy and slowly figured it out on my own," Yan Jiekuang said.

"The one who works for the Zongli Yamen?" asked the deaf old lady.

"Yes. How is it? It's okay, right?" Yan Jiekuang said.

The deaf old lady gave Yan Jiekuang a deep look and said, "The disciple is better than the master. You have surpassed him."

"Old lady, take your time eating. I'll go out and take care of things first." Yang Ruiping said, then pulled Yan Jiekuang.

Yan Jiekuang also said, "I'm still busy outside. If you have anything, please let Aunt Li find me."

The mother and son turned and went out.

The deaf old lady said, "This Yan Lao San is a master who keeps his talents secret. His martial arts and cooking skills are both top-notch. There are many people who don't know this."

Li Cuilan said: "I heard from Lao Yi that he is also a wood restoration expert from the Archaeological Institute."

The deaf old lady said, "Why did I let my heart get blinded by greed? He really had nothing to do with us. I was just imagining things and scaring myself."

Li Cuilan said, "It's all over, let's eat, I want to try it too."

"Eat it, this is the dish that the old lady eats, exactly the same." said the deaf old lady.

Li Cuilan was shocked and quickly picked up the chopsticks.

(End of this chapter)