1952: Walking through Nantongluo Alley

"Master Feng is indeed a skilled technician. I have other things to do, so I won't bother you here."

After bidding farewell to Feng Yishou, Chen Xiao separated from Sha Zhu.

Sha Zhu brought a jade pendant, peanuts, melon seeds and candies to Teacher Qian's house to propose marriage.

Chen Xiao rode his bike home.

Today he specially bought two pounds of beef, beef tripe and offal, as well as some dried mushrooms on the Old Drum Tower Street.

He plans to have hotpot with Qin Huairu at home today.

Back home, I put a bunch of ingredients on the table.

"Chen Xiao, do you mean we should eat hot pot tonight?" Qin Huairu looked at Chen Xiao with wide eyes.

This was the first time she heard of hot pot.

Then Chen Xiao began to explain to Qin Huairu what hot pot is, and also told Qin Huairu the difference between clear soup and red soup of hot pot.

Qin Huairu still had work to do in the evening, so she naturally couldn't eat red soup, otherwise Chen Xiao would suffer.

Then the two of them began to divide the work of cooking.

Chen Xiao is responsible for the hot pot soup base, while Qin Huairu is responsible for cleaning the ingredients.

Since there were no induction cookers in this era, Chen Xiao simply moved the coal stove used for heating over and placed a large iron pot for cooking on it.

By the time Qin Huairu finished washing the side dishes and walked into the house, the room was already filled with fragrance.

"It smells so good." Qin Huairu couldn't help but sniff a few times.

"It will taste even better later."

Chen Xiao brought over a few small stools and asked Qin Huairu to sit down.

Holding a plate of beef tripe and other items, Chen Xiao poured the whole plate in as if he had spent no money.

Then he handed the bowl of freshly prepared ingredients to Qin Huairu.

"When the meat is cooked, you can dip it in this."

Chen Xiao taught Qin Huairu step by step.

Seeing that the beef tripe in the pot was almost cooked, Chen Xiao personally picked up a piece for Qin Huairu, dipped it in her bowl of sauce, and then stuffed it directly into Qin Huairu's mouth.

"How is it? Is it delicious?" Chen Xiao asked.

Qin Huairu opened her eyes wide.

Today was her first time eating hotpot. The beef tripe and the dipping sauce were so delicious.

I feel that the food is even better than the last time I ordered from the restaurant.

......

In the courtyard, it was not completely dark yet.

Many people in the compound were preparing to cook.

Smelling the aroma of meat wafting from Chen Xiao's house, they swallowed their saliva.

Xu Damao: "Damn it, I don't need to guess to know that it's Chen Xiao's family eating meat again."

"What kind of family is he from? Why does he have to buy meat every now and then?"

Then he acted coquettishly to his mother.

"Mom, I want to eat meat too. Let's buy some meat tomorrow."

Xu Damao's father glared at Xu Damao.

"You still eat meat? Do you know how much money our family paid in compensation for that stray dog ​​you raised last time?"

"400 yuan! A full 400 yuan! That's all our family savings."

"You still want to eat meat now? I think you want to eat fried meat with whip!!!"

Suddenly, Xu Damao no longer dared to mention eating meat. He lowered his head and ate.

At the home of the third uncle Yan Bugui.

Ever since Sha Zhu introduced Teacher Qian to him, Sha Zhu has been sending him delicious food every now and then.

Today I even bought an old hen for Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui was so shocked. This was the first time that Sha Zhu gave such a big gift. After asking, he found out that Sha Zhu was going to Teacher Qian's house to propose marriage.

Yan Bugui felt a sense of loss when he heard the news.

He didn't want Sha Zhu and Teacher Qian to get married so early.

He thought that it would take at least two to three years, so that Sha Zhu would bring him food every now and then.

At this time, Yan Bugui's family was having dinner. The whole family gathered around the table, all looking at the old hen and swallowing their saliva.

Without Yan Bugui, the children and the three aunts would not dare to pick up their chopsticks to eat chicken.

Yan Bugui glanced outside the door with melancholy.

he sighed.

"I don't know how Sha Zhu's proposal went..."

"It would be great if Teacher Qian rejected Sha Zhu this time, told him she didn't want to get married so soon, and asked him to wait for two more years."

"How wonderful it would be if that were the case..."

Unfortunately, this can only deceive himself.

Since Sha Zhu has come to propose marriage, this marriage is most likely a done deal.

After sighing, Yan Bugui looked at the three aunts and several children.

"Eat, why don't you eat?"

The third aunt said embarrassedly.

"Didn't you say that every time you eat, you have to wait until you say it's time to eat before you can pick up your chopsticks?"

"Oh......"

"Hey, look at my brain, how could I forget about this." Yan Bugui slapped his forehead and blamed himself.

"Pick up your chopsticks, hurry up and pick up your chopsticks, or the old hen will get cold."

As soon as Yan Bugui finished speaking, several children quickly picked up the old hen with chopsticks.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the pot that was originally full of old hens was reduced to only a chicken butt.

This made Yan Bugui, who had not yet started eating, dumbfounded.

He hasn't eaten yet, so how come there's only a chicken butt left?

Looking at the children's bowls and chopsticks, I saw a pile of chicken bones.

"What a loser! What a bunch of losers!!!"

......

the other side.

Sha Zhu came out of Teacher Qian's house.

Teacher Qian was seeing Sha Zhu off as he went out.

"Then please walk slowly and be careful on the road." Teacher Qian said with a red face.

Just now in the house, her parents had already confirmed her marriage to Sha Zhu.

After not seeing each other for a few days, Teacher Qian didn't know why, but the more he looked at Sha Zhu, the more he liked him.

Not only do I think he looks good, I also think Shazhu is quite handsome, and his appearance and inner qualities are very reassuring.

Sha Zhu pushed his bicycle out.

This bicycle was not his; he borrowed it from someone at the steel mill for 5 cents.

"Teacher Qian, there's one thing I haven't told you yet."

"There's an old lady in our compound who's always been very kind to my brother and me. She said she wanted to meet you today."

"Why don't you come back with me now and let the old lady take a look at you, and then I'll take you back."

When saying this, Sha Zhu's face was red.

Taking Teacher Qian to see the deaf old lady was one thing, but in fact he was still thinking about having some kind of encounter with Teacher Qian.

For example, holding hands, kissing, or even getting on the kang...

“Ah??? This is not good, right?” Teacher Qian’s face turned even redder.

She continued shyly.

"It's so late today, I'm afraid that others will see us and misunderstand us..."

"Also, it's so late, I'm afraid my family won't let me go out."

Sha Zhu swallowed his saliva and looked at the shy Teacher Qian, his mouth felt dry.

"I'll go tell my uncle and aunt."

"This isn't a good idea... I'm afraid my family won't agree..."

"No, I'll go talk to you about it."

Then Sha Zhu ran to Teacher Qian's house again in a hurry.