The waiter brought dishes. Liu Bei peeled each shrimp with a spoon and then threw the shells into the plate, eating rice vinegar with shrimp. Looking at those shrimp, he didn’t seem to be planning anything. Summer turned the plate and poured it into his own plate. The Hong Kong-style tea restaurant had no menu, and the last rice vinegar mixed with shrimp was quite delicious.
Liu Bei said, “If you take care of me more, I’ll always eat what she leaves behind in the house. I’m just a trash can. I’ll be fat early one day.”
Liu Bei seemed to be getting fat inevitably. Basically, during young times, this kind of relative would start getting blessed after thirty-five, with a round head, round belly, round hands and feet, ultimately becoming a gentle old uncle. The ideal type was a brain-muscle uncle.
On an early spring noon, with bright sunshine, the brain-muscle uncle was lying on a bench in the courtyard, with Little Sky and Little Alarm Clock playing beside him.
We were once Little Sky and Little Alarm Clock, who later became us, and when we’re old, we’ll be brain-muscle uncles and milk grandmothers.
Song Ruo’er remembered that milk grandmother’s age at that time?
Eldest Sister couldn’t imagine her old self. The old self wandering the world seemed unlovable. That aged appearance.
Liu Bei asked around, asking how Song Ruo’er’s body was. Little Palace Beauty had worked with you, and you looked much better. The performance wasn’t bad, right? When are you coming out?
Eldest Sister said, “Don’t you remember Little Palace Beauty? We drank three cups of tea at her place back then. The old lady and Song Ruo’er said, please come to our house for a meal. She raised pigs completely naturally, eating and growing big, with no additives, just meat. We went, and she made it for us that day.”
Liu Bei liked spicy and fragrant food.
That pig probably didn’t know it would be coming today. It should be. It’s always like this – when some animals smell spicy and fragrant, some animals are about to approach.
Eldest Sister came out of the tea restaurant, her car parked in the original spot. But he had a strange feeling. He didn’t immediately open the car door, stopping there to look carefully. There was a note on the car window that he wouldn’t normally ignore. The surroundings were bustling, people flowing, day and sun intertwining.
A young man took out his mobile phone and called a repair shop, saying his car was broken and asking the driver to come over. Then he called a taxi.
The old driver was sitting on the sofa. Through the dusty window, he could clearly see the few woven bags under the bed. The room was empty.
The apartment was the typical rental type, with not many tenants. Some tenants hung their slippers at the doorway, some leaned against the door frame eating noodles, and others were preparing to go out. The locked door’s lock type looked like a small white-collar worker’s dormitory, as if suddenly exposed after opening a stage curtain.
The young man asked: “Is anyone living in this room?”
He pointed to the old driver’s room.
The young man’s vigilant eyes: “It’s been empty for a long time.”
The young man left. He went to find the landlord. The landlord was carefully working, brushing his teeth vigorously, with sweat dripping like white foam.
“Boss, I want to rent this room. Who should I ask?” the young man asked.
The landlord’s mixed response: “Three hundred a month. Deposit. One month’s rent. Pay me and it’s yours.”
It seemed the old driver had indeed left.
The young man said: “Open the door, I’ll go in and take a look.”
The landlord glanced at him: “Nothing to see. Can’t see through the window. No one inside.”
The young man threw a hundred yuan on his body.
The room was almost empty. Besides a few woven bags under the bed. The young man pulled out the woven bags, and the zipper made a messy sound.
A raw iron pot, unused washing liquid, oily thread ball, burnt-edged food container, and a one-time lunch box. The one-time lunch box was tightly sealed, with each lunch bag packed with ingredients. Printed with “Welcome Light”, the back was the restaurant’s name and phone number.
The restaurant’s name was quite ordinary: Zhi Zun.
He was already familiar with the star landlord. The restaurant was in the urban area, considered a local eatery. The doorway was piled with iron scraps, inside were live chickens, ducks, and pigs, with an old dusty shelf inside, raising a few worms.
The young man ordered two dishes and a bottle of white liquor.
Before arriving at Zhi Zun restaurant, he first went to the base fund meeting. A colleague seemingly rushed over to tell him he had just spoken with Su Se on the phone. The enthusiastic elder if not insisting he eat lunch, the young man called Fang Bei to find him here.
Because it wasn’t a weekend, and during lunch hours, only the young man was in the restaurant. He called the old man over to drink together.
The old man said: “Feeling better? Looking at your face.”
The young man didn’t circle around: “Was it an old driver?”
“Which old driver?”
“You tell him about my sister. If he backstabs me again, I’ll destroy his whole family.”
The old man listened.
The young man loudly ate vinegar-soaked beans: “Your doorway’s eyeglass looks like wildlife protection. Why are you displaying it like that, waiting for the police?”
“It’s domesticated, not wild.”
“Domesticated requires a permit. Do you have such a breeding ground?”
The old man poured the young man a drink: “Brother, I could tell at a glance you’re from the municipal bureau.”
“Are you thinking the municipal bureau is done? I’ll call the bureau, your doorway’s fish tank has fish, Zhang Bureau likes grilled fish.”
The old man said: “The old driver is from the black society. I’m doing honest business. I can’t participate.”
The young man pulled out a phone number from the old man’s drawer, dialed a few numbers: “This is my contact. Tell the old driver when you see him. Thanks!”
The young man paid the bill, and the old man firmly refused to accept it, almost grabbing the young man’s collar. The young man slapped fifty yuan on the table and left.
The old man called behind: “I guarantee to complete the mission!”
29th day of the eighth month of the agricultural calendarBefore the Fire Stick Festival, a tall fire stick about twenty meters high was erected in the open space. The pine tree was used as the pole, with wheat stalks and pine branches on top, forming a flat surface. The pole was connected by three paper strips, called the “Three-Level Ascension”. Each level was hung with small paper strips featuring national flags, weather charts, population demographics, five-colored banners, and festive scenes.
At noon of the Fire Stick Festival, people brought small fire sticks. With money, food, and supplies, they arrived before the village square and prepared meals. After lighting the small fire sticks, they sprinkled three handfuls of pine fragrance, waiting for the fire to burn to the pole’s side before returning. Those far from home would eat at the village.
The old grandmother explained her hairstyle: hair wrapped in a fine net, replacing flowers with a head covering, a style called “Phoenix Head” popular in the eastern coastal region. Her headwear was double-layered, with two pieces of double-sided flower fabric. Unlike the short headwear of older women, young women wore single-layer white headwear with long flower edges, embroidered stone flower patterns, with decorative bands and accessories.
grandfather welcomed guests.
Successful opening.
Next year’s flowers will bloom, and Ah Ge will come again, finding gold flowers under the mountain, golden flowers like Ah Ru.
Summer entered the courtyard and saw the old grandmother hugging Ah Bei, laughing heartily on the elder’s face, like an old monkey. Summer also laughed.
