Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 418 Father Xu Explores the Way
After May Day, Yan Jiekuang started to go to his shop in Houhai frequently. Construction had already begun according to the decoration drawings he had drawn. His idea was to create a simple, comfortable and quiet atmosphere, so he designed many green areas and flowers in the house.

The partitions between the booths are all made of red pine wood, with a 50-centimeter-high glass fish tank on top. The bottom of the fish tank is covered with fine river sand and pebbles, and is also decorated with some water plants. Some small green plants and flowers are placed on the windowsill on the side near the window, and one of the three walls is an open workbench, and the other side is a whole wall of bookshelves.

There are no booths on the second floor, but round sofas. Three sofas surround a wooden round table, which are placed irregularly in various corners of the second floor. In the middle is a round bookshelf that reaches the ceiling. It is also decorated with various green plants and flowers.

Yan Jiekuang also read a lot of information when choosing coffee beans, and finally chose two types, one is Arabica coffee beans, and the other is coffee beans from Pu'er, Yunnan. He has already contacted the source of supply and will ship the goods soon.

The reason why he wanted to open a coffee shop was that when he was in school, he wanted to open a bookstore, but he didn't have such an opportunity. Now that he has the time and the conditions, he wants to open a store that won't have too many customers, but they must be people who like the food. For example, in a coffee shop, not many people will come, but they can taste coffee, and they must be people who like coffee. Of course, this kind of store can't make a lot of money, but in the quiet space here, you can see the wonderful lives of many people. Yan Jiekuang has always felt that observing the world and observing different people from a third-person perspective is also a kind of practice.

Yan Jiekuang looked at the progress of the decoration and was quite satisfied with it. Since he couldn't help much here, he just left the shop and walked towards his parents' home.

When they arrived at their parents' house, Yan Bugui was still not there, so Yang Ruiping asked, "You haven't been here these few days, what are you busy with?"

"Nothing, I just want to open my own shop and do some real business." Yan Jiekuang said.

Yang Ruiping laughed and said, "You are still doing business? Opening a store is business?"

Yan Jiekuang said: "I am trying to experience different lives. Maybe one day I will get tired of it and stop doing it."

"Okay, I'll trust you for now. By the way, do you want to have dinner here today?" Yang Ruiping asked.

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "I'll be alone at home, so I'll eat here at noon. I'll cook. I'll go next door to see if there's anything good."

Yan Jiekuang stood up and went to the restaurant next door. Wei Xiaobao was busy in the kitchen with his apprentices. They were making soup stock. Yan Jiekuang took a look and said, "Next time, put more chicken feet. Chicken feet are rich in gelatin and can improve the freshness of the soup stock."

Wei Xiaobao nodded and said, "Master, why are you here?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "I'll see if there's anything delicious and prepare some for my parents."

Wei Xiaobao said, "Master, some conchs and abalone from the South China Sea were shipped in yesterday. They are all alive. I'll take you to see them."

"Come on, take me to see it." Yan Jiekuang was happy and followed Wei Xiaobao to the seafood pool in the west wing of the front yard. It was also renovated recently. The whole room was made of glass tanks, equipped with an oxygen supply system and air conditioning, all for the purpose of better storing seafood ingredients.

Yan Jiekuang picked out four large conches and six abalones, packed them up and carried them back to the west wing. Yang Ruiping came over and asked, "What's delicious?"

"Mom, this is good stuff. It's not common. I'll make two Cantonese dishes for you at noon." Yan Jiekuang poured conch and abalone into the basin.

Yang Ruiping smiled and said, "It depends on whether your father is lucky enough to eat this. I won't go to look for him. I'll see if he comes back."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he burst out laughing. They say old children are old children. The older you get, the more childish you become.

Yan Jiekuang was preparing to make braised abalone slices and blanched conch slices, which were famous dishes of Nanyuan in Guangdong during the Qing Dynasty and were once very popular.

When it was almost noon, Yan Bugui came back slowly with his hands behind his back. Yang Ruiping was standing at the kitchen door washing vegetables. When he saw Yan Bugui, he burst into laughter and shouted into the kitchen: "Third brother, your father is in for a treat."

Yan Jiekuang didn't put down the work in his hands, and said directly: "Let my dad get the wine, the food will be ready soon."

Yan Bugui asked in confusion, "What do you mean by good fortune?"

Yang Ruiping said, "The third brother brought seafood from the restaurant and is cooking it in the kitchen. He said the ingredients are very fresh and rare. Go and get some wine. We're having dinner at this restaurant today."

Yan Bugui was happy and said, "This is great. I'm in for a treat." Then he ran to the backyard.

Yan Jiekuang cooked four dishes. His parents were old and they couldn't eat greasy food, so he prepared lettuce with oyster sauce, pork ribs with garlic, lotus seed and pork heart soup, and two seafood dishes. Yang Ruiping helped bring them to the table, where Yan Bugui was already waiting.

Yan Jiekuang and Yang Ruiping also sat at the table, and the three of them started to eat lunch. Yang Ruiping praised the conchs highly, while Yan Bugui had a special liking for the braised abalone slices and he ate almost the entire plate.

Yan Jiekuang accompanied his parents as they ate and chatted. Yan Bugui said, "I'm not eating your food for nothing. I'm telling you something strange. Today, Lao Yi and I were taking a walk and we saw Xu Damao. He looked like he was not doing well. He was selling clothes on the street in front of the door."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned, thinking, didn't he hook up with a rich man? Why did he come back? It felt like this change was too fast. In March, I heard that he was competing with Xu Delin at an auction, but only two months later, he was setting up a street stall.

Yan Jiekuang said: "In fact, I admire Xu Damao very much. He is like an indestructible cockroach. Every time he goes bankrupt, he always manages to turn things around. But after that, he does all kinds of things. How many times has this happened?"

Yan Bugui nodded and said, "His personality can make him successful, but it can also make him fail miserably. This personality cannot be changed, and the final outcome will be the same."

Yang Ruiping also nodded, agreeing with Yan Bugui's words. The three of them were eating when they heard some noise at the gate. The restaurant in the west wing was in the front yard. Yan Jiekuang was sitting on the side near the door. When he stretched his head, he saw Shi Lei and Xu Jingyi coming in, talking and laughing.

Yan Jiekuang shouted, "Have you two eaten?"

When Shi Lei heard that it was his father who was having dinner with his grandparents, he took Xu Jingyi to the restaurant and said with a smile, "After we finish eating, we went to McDonald's. There were so many people there."

Xu Jingyi said, "Hello, uncle!"

Yang Ruiping said, "Okay, you two go ahead and do your work, we'll eat our meal." Shi Lei and Xu Jingyi went to the backyard, and the three of them continued to drink and chat.

In the teahouse, Jia Zhang was sitting at the counter wearing a pair of reading glasses, sewing a sleeve. At this moment, the door darkened and a man came in. Jia Zhang looked up and saw that it was Xu Wude.

Jia Zhang said, "Oh my, this is a rare guest. Old Xu, where did your family move to? You haven't been here for such a long time?"

Xu Wude smiled and said, "I moved to Caihuying, but I'm not used to the life there. I came back to see my old neighbors."

"Look, old neighbor, you must be busy. It's really unfortunate that everyone has gone home to eat at noon. Have you eaten?" Jia Zhang said with a sneer.

"It's okay. What can happen to me? I've already eaten. Give me a pack of tea leaves. I'll make it myself." Xu Wood said.

Jia Zhang took out a bag of tea from the counter and said, "One piece."

"Isn't it 50 cents?" Xu Wude said in surprise.

Jia Zhang said happily, "That was a long time ago. The price has gone up a long time ago. Didn't you go to Zhang Yiyuan to have a look?"

"Oh, I really don't know." Xu Wude took out a dollar and put it on the counter, and Jia Zhang took out a teacup and handed it over.

Xu Wood walked to where the kettle was and made tea himself, then found a table close to the door and sat down.

Jia Zhang ignored him and continued sewing her sleeves.

After a while, Yang Yue'e came in with Liu Haizhong. When they saw Xu Wude, they were stunned at first, and then Yang Yue'e said, "Oh, it's been a long time. Why are you here?"

Xu Wood smiled and said, "Come and see the old neighbor."

Liu Haizhong pointed to the seat next to Xu Wude, and Yang Yue'e said, "You want to sit here? Okay, sit here."

Yang Yue'e helped Liu Haizhong sit down next to Xu Wude. Xu Wude looked at Liu Haizhong in shock and asked, "What happened to Lao Liu?"

Yang Yue'e said, "Don't mention it. He was cheated by a group of swindlers. He got anxious and angry, and then he got hemiplegia. But fortunately, he just couldn't speak clearly, so he simply stopped talking."

Yang Yue'e took out a teacup from her cloth bag, filled it with tea, and placed it in front of Liu Haizhong.

Liu Haizhong looked at Xu Wude and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Xu Wood said: "You are asking me how I am. I am fine, just my blood pressure is a little high, but everything else is fine."

Liu Haizhong pointed at the ground again, and Xu Wude said, "You're asking me why I came here. I just came to see my old neighbor."

After listening to this, Liu Haizhong shook his head. This action happened to be seen by Jia Zhangshi, who laughed and said, "See, even Old Liu doesn't believe it."

Yang Yue'e asked, "Old Xu, we have been neighbors for many years. What's the matter?"

Xu Wude said, "My son Damao is back. He is getting old now and wants to find a companion. I am looking for a suitable old neighbor here. Widows and divorced women are fine, preferably those with children."

Jia Zhang was interested when she heard this and asked, "Your family's Damao is back. How is he doing? Has he become rich?"

Xu Wood said: "It's OK, it's OK, isn't this like returning to one's roots?"

Yang Yue'e thought for a moment and said, "You know what, there is actually a suitable person in our alley. She is a divorced woman with two children, a boy and a girl. The older one is in the second grade of elementary school, and the younger one is only five years old. She opened a noodle restaurant at the entrance of the alley near Nanluoguxiang, and her business is pretty good."

Liu Haizhong was very anxious. He wanted to cover his wife's mouth, but unfortunately he couldn't lift his hands.

Jia Zhang curled her lips and said, "Old Xu, did your family marry her into the family, or did they marry into the family instead?"

Xu Wude thought what Yang Yue'e said was good. He didn't want to talk to Jia Zhang any more, so he said, "It's all right, it's all right."

Then Xu Wude said to Yang Yue'e: "Yue'e, you have to help me. For the sake of our old neighbors, can you help me make a connection?"

Yang Yue'e was about to say "Leave it to me", but Liu Haizhong got anxious and said, "Tell me later, later, later."

Yang Yue'e then realized that her old man didn't want her to get involved in this matter, so she immediately changed her tone and said, "I'll help ask. If there's any news, I'll let you know."

Xu Wood was such a cunning old fox that he understood what Yang Yue'e meant as soon as he heard it. He decided to ask around himself. Thinking of this, he stood up and said, "I'm going to go out for a walk. I haven't been here for a long time. I'll put the teacup aside for now, Aunt Jia."

Jia Zhang waved her hands in annoyance. She guessed what Xu Wude was trying to do.

(End of this chapter)