Riding the wind of rebirth

Maybe it was because the delicious food really made the old man happy, he started talking about his great achievements when he was young, which shocked Zhou Zhi. The repair arm of the space shuttle used to capture satellites was actually made by this old man!
In the United States, teachers and science and engineering talents have high incomes, and the old man has both. Combined with the money he once earned from NASA, he now has a generous pension for him to squander.

After drinking so much, the old man even went to his villa next door and brought out a guitar and a harmonica: "I'm so happy today, let's have some music."

"Elbow is also good at singing, and he can play the guitar too." Mai Xiaomiao cheered happily, then put two handfuls of beans in a Coke bottle and screwed on the lid: "I'll shake the shaker!"

"Let me play the chords." Zhou Zhi felt that if he was assigned to play the harmonica it would be a bit like kissing the old man indirectly. He shuddered with fear and quickly grabbed the guitar.

"Then what should we do?" After a few bottles of beer, McGeve became interested.

Zhou Zhi handed two empty plastic bottles to McGeve to hold upside down: "You can use these to knock against each other to make a rhythm... Auntie..."

He looked around, dumped the glass jar of lemonade, untied Mai Xiaomiao's shoelaces and tied them to the handle of the glass jar, and added a wooden stick: "Come on the beat, and cooperate with uncle."

"What's coming?" Old Crawford shook his head impatiently.

"I don't know many English songs, The Sound of Silence?"

This song will soon be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Even several cover versions of this song have won singers Grammy Awards, making it a household name in the United States.

"Okay, let's sing together." Mai Xiaomiao began to conduct: "This song is in 4/2 time, and the rhythm is dong-da-dong-da. Let's change it to ding-dong-dong-da. When it's ding, mommy and everyone else will hit the instrument in their hands, when it's dong-dong, daddy will hit the bottle, and when it's da, I'll shake the maracas. It's like in each rhythm, mommy hits the first beat, daddy hits the first three beats, and I shake the first and last beats."

"What about Elbow and your Grandpa Crawford?"

"Don't worry about them. We just need to set the right rhythm and they can find opportunities to join in." Mai Xiaomiao was confident: "Let's try it first."

The rhythm was actually not complicated. Mai Xiaomiao shouted "ding-dong-dong-da" while directing the operation. Soon, Mai Jeff and Louise were able to cooperate with her skillfully.

When the rhythm started, Zhou Zhi picked up the guitar, nodded slightly to the people to follow the rhythm, then swept the guitar and started playing.

Old Crawford's eyebrows twitched, thinking that he had met an experienced person today. He put the harmonica to his lips, and the melodious sound of the harmonica rang out in front of the villa.

“Hello darkness my old friend…

I've come to talk with you again……

Because a vision softly creeping,

left its seeds while I was sleeping,

And the vision, that was planted in my brain…

Still remains, within the sound of silence…”

After singing a section, Zhou Zhi took advantage of the break in the beat to raise his hand, signaling Mai Xiaomiao and the other two to join in.

“In restless dreams I walked alone…

narrow streets of cobblestone…”

The three of them sang well together, but they were all in one voice, so Zhou Zhi turned to harmony, and old Crawford saw this and simply played his harmonica more freely. Guitar, harmonica, a family of three, and Zhou Zhi formed four voices, and the singing and music suddenly became richer.

When the song ended, old Crawford raised his hand happily and high-fived Zhou Zhi: "Hey! Well done!"

“What about us?!” Mai Xiaomiao also raised her hand.

"Hahaha, sweetheart, you did a great job!" Old Crawford, Mai Xiaomiao, McGeoff, and Louise all high-fived. "There's a charity bazaar in Suffolk County tomorrow. How about we go there and perform for the benefit?"

"Oh, Crawford, you are so energetic." Louise shook her head and said, "It's a charity sale. Our level is still a long way from being a charity performance."

"No problem. As for the instruments... sweetheart, you don't need to change them. Jeffrey can use the snare drum, and Louise, you can use the triangle hammer. That's it." Old Crawford was as happy as a child. "Oh, by the way, we can sell fried fish nuggets! These sweet and sour fried fish nuggets made by George will definitely be popular tomorrow!"

"It depends on what Xiao Miao and Elbow think." McGeff was reluctant to agree on behalf of the two juniors.

"Elbow and I have visited flea markets in China several times." Mai Xiaomiao was very interested: "It's very interesting. I think we can participate."

"If we want to participate, we have to plan carefully." Zhou Zhi put down his guitar: "We have to go to the supermarket to buy some materials. If we don't want to do it, we don't want to do it. If we want to do it, we have to do it seriously."

"Do it!" Mai Xiaomiao and Louise nodded together.

"If we want to do it, we have to decide on the dishes." Zhou Zhi said.

"I think this salad is delicious." Louise pointed at several dishes on the table: "Egg custard, cola chicken wings, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and bacon, stir-fried lettuce with garlic, and this vegetable salad with spicy sauce, all of them are very good."

"Tomato bacon scrambled eggs and garlic stir-fried lettuce are too troublesome." Zhou Zhi shook his head: "Shredded vegetables are good. We can brush the shreds in advance and refrigerate them. We can prepare the sauce tomorrow morning, grab a handful and put it in a paper box when we get to the stall, and pour the sauce on it."

“In addition to making a Chinese spicy mix, you can also mix it with salad dressing and yellow mustard, which is great with chicken wings.”

"We can also make cola chicken wings tonight. Soaking them overnight will make them more flavorful. We can simply grill them tomorrow and serve. It's very convenient."

"It would be perfect if it were paired with a staple food. How about buying some bread to go with it?"

“Fried potato wedges! Fried shrimp chips!” Mai Xiaomiao raised his hand and said, “Elbow is the best at this!”

"Xiao Miao, do you often hold such activities in the Indian tribes in China?" Louise asked. "Just now you sang songs, and now you arrange cold dishes. You seem to be quite good at both!"

"It's not called the Indian Tribe. It's a minority ethnic group in China called the Yi people. It's said to be as ancient as the Han people." When talking about Lianhe Township, Mai Xiaomiao kept talking: "Well, Elbow and I were teachers in that village school! The children there were good at singing and dancing. Elbow would lead them in singing with his guitar, and as for other musical instruments, we made them ourselves."

"The school is often far from the children's homes, so the school also provides a free lunch for the children. They like the dishes cooked by Elbow the most." Mai Xiaomiao said proudly: "Thanks to Elbow's sponsorship, our Lianhe Township is the only school that provides free lunch among many surrounding towns. This is better than many government-run schools!"

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why sweetheart made such thoughtful arrangements during the singing." Old Crawford smiled and said, "How about we call on everyone to raise funds for your school tomorrow?"

Zhou Zhi waved his hand quickly: "Thank you, Grandpa Crawford, but charity fundraising requires integrity. Time is too short and there is no time to prepare materials. Besides, the county will definitely have its own theme tomorrow, so we can just participate and save the opportunity for next time."

"That's right." Louise now admired Zhou Zhi even more: "Then shall we go to the supermarket now?"

"Let's go, but don't buy any fish, I have too much in the freezer." Crawford stood up immediately, making Zhou Zhi wonder if the old man did this because he wanted to eliminate the inventory. (End of this chapter)