A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1231 New Year's Eve dinner? Don't eat it! (Please subscribe!)

PS: Yesterday’s chapter wrote that Feng Yue was four or five years old. I checked it in the summer and found that she should be two years old at that time. The previous text has been modified and specially stated.

Hua Shier felt that the atmosphere was not right when he returned home at noon. Zhou Bingyi looked at him with much more politeness and even took the initiative to greet him, while Zhou Rong looked at him with an unconvinced look.

Zhou Zhigang saw him coming back and greeted him:

"Old lady, your little son is back, let's cook some dumplings!"

This voice was not actually a greeting to Li Suhua. When he called out, Li Suhua moved, and the two daughters-in-law and Zhou Rong hurried into the kitchen to get busy, some boiling water and some getting tableware.

Zhou Zhigang smiled and nodded, then asked Zhou Bingyi:

"Are the firecrackers ready? Let's set off some small firecrackers after the dumplings are out of the pot!"

Zhou Bingyi smiled and said, "It's ready. Dad, you can light the fire later!"

Zhou Zhigang responded, and then asked Hua Twelve:

"How are things going? Have you visited all the needy families? What did you give them during the New Year?"

Hua Shier told Zheng Juan about his work in the morning. After the old man finished asking questions, he finally had time to ask Zheng Juan:

"Why do I feel like the boss and Zhou Rong are looking at me in a weird way?"

Zheng Juan said in a low voice while arranging the dishes:
"Nothing, I just told you that you are the deputy director!"

Hua Shier suddenly realized, then shook his head. He had never taken this seriously. In his opinion, identity was just like a tool. He would mention it and use it when it was beneficial to him. It was nothing worth caring about.

Firecrackers were heard outside one after another, and Zhou Zhigang shouted towards the kitchen:
"Old lady, please hurry up and make the dumplings. We haven't even gotten to the top yet!"

Li Suhua poked her head out from the kitchen and said with a smile:

"No matter how anxious you are, you have to wait for the dumplings to roll three times. Besides, there's nothing good about grabbing firecrackers. If you wanted to grab one, you should have set it off last night. I guarantee you'd be the first to go off!"

Several women laughed in the kitchen. Zhou Zhigang was not angry. He smiled and said:
"You have long hair but little knowledge. New Year, new atmosphere. Who doesn't want to win first place? This is called the jackpot!"

Soon the dumplings were out of the pot, and Zhou Zhigang stood up from the sofa:

"Where's Yueyue? Grandpa will take you to set off firecrackers!"

Hua Twelve reminded him, "Dad, the child is still young, you can scare her again!"

Zhou Zhigang picked up Feng Yue who ran over to call him grandpa, and said to Hua Twelve:

"What are you scared of? Children love setting off firecrackers. When you were little, you would run out to watch the fun whenever someone set off firecrackers. You would cry if you were not allowed to go!"

Hua Shier waved his hands and was too lazy to persuade him anymore.

A few minutes later, there was a crackling sound of firecrackers outside, and Zhou Zhigang ran in holding the crying Feng Yue, looking embarrassed and said:

"Why is this child so timid!"

Feng Huacheng and Zhou Rong both went to coax the child. Maybe Feng Yue was really frightened by the firecrackers and no matter how they coaxed her, it didn't work.

Li Suhua kept complaining to Zhou Zhigang, but the old man kept silent and lowered his head as if he had made a mistake.

Hua Twelve walked over and stretched out his palm towards Feng Yue, indicating that there was nothing, then clenched his fist and opened it again:

"Clang clang clang clang!"

A piece of White Rabbit milk candy appeared in the palm of my hand.

Feng Yue was attracted by the sudden scene and stopped crying immediately.

Not only were the children confused by this move, but even adults were curious about it.

Li Suhua asked: "Bingkun, how did you do that? You had nothing in your hand just now!"

Hao Dongmei also became interested; "Yes, Bingkun, how do you become like this? Please teach us!"

Hua Shier chuckled, "This is the magician's secret. If I teach you, how can I perform magic in the future?"

Zhou Rong rolled her eyes: "I told you you were fat and you gasped, as if we haven't seen any magic before!"

Hua Twelve chuckled: "Zhou Rong, you better understand, I'm just helping you coax the child!"

Seeing that the brother and sister were about to quarrel again, Zhou Zhigang quickly said:

"Eat, eat, no one should make things difficult for me during the New Year!"

Feng Huacheng also pulled Zhou Rong and turned to thank Hua Twelve:
"Thank you, Bingkun. This child likes to cry a lot. It's hard to comfort him once he starts crying. I hope you have a solution."

Hua Shier waved his hand. Normally, he didn't want to waste time talking to Feng Huacheng, but when it came to the issue of coaxing children, he felt that this matter had to be discussed.

"It's not that I know how to coax children, but your way of coaxing children is wrong!"

"I've seen it all these past few days. It's more like scaring the child than coaxing him. Just like what Zhou Rong said just now, if you cry again, I won't like you or want you anymore. Can you be more sensible? I'm going to beat you up. If you scare other people's children like this, other people's children will cry too."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Rong said loudly:
"Zhou Bingkun, I can coax my daughter however I want. You should take care of yourself. You have been married for several years and don't even have a child. Don't let your parents worry about you!"

Hua Twelve turned around and said, "Zhou Bingyi, sister-in-law, Zhou Rong is calling you two!"

Hao Dongmei once fell into a well while fetching water in the Construction Corps in winter. She froze her body and became infertile. This matter was still a secret at the time. When Zhou Bingyi heard about it, his face turned pale and he also looked embarrassed.

Zhou Rong saw that Hua Twelve's trick of transplanting flowers and trees had hurt her elder brother and sister-in-law, and she immediately said awkwardly:
"Brother and sister-in-law, I didn't say anything about you."

Hua Twelve said, "My eldest brother hasn't had any children yet, how can it be my turn? Our father has said that there is order of seniority, and everyone knows who you choose, so don't explain!"

Zhou Rong was furious: "Shut up!"

Zhou Zhigang slammed the table:
"You're not done yet, are you? Zhou Rong, you can't win over him, so just say less. And Bing Kun'er, you're using my words to say something to me, right? Stop showing off and eat quickly. The child is crying again. Come, put Yueyue next to me, and grandpa will feed Yueyue dumplings!"

Hua Twelve responded with a smile and ate with relish the whole time. Zhou Rong could not eat any more after eating two. The sauerkraut and pork filling that she usually liked also tasted like chewing wax. She felt so angry that she was full.

After dinner, it is the most relaxing time for Thirty-year-olds. All the work that needs to be done in the morning is done, and they just wait for the time to eat the New Year’s Eve dinner. The whole family gathers around to play cards.

As soon as it gets dark in the evening, every house is brightly lit. Hua Twelve dislikes the food cooked by others, so he cooks a New Year's Eve dinner himself, including sweet and sour pork, three fresh vegetables, stir-fried pork slices, candied sweet potato, braised carp, and stewed bones with sauerkraut. There are ten dishes in total, which symbolize perfection and are the staple dishes for the New Year in Northeast China in that era.

When the meal was ready, Zhou Zhigang went out to set off firecrackers again. This time Feng Yue did not dare to go out, but watched the fun through the glass, clapping her hands.

Zhou Zhigang held the hanging firecracker in one hand and lit the fuse with a cigarette in the other, and shouted:
“Booming!”

After saying that, he threw the firecracker out, and it exploded with a popping sound.

After Zhou Zhigang and Zhou Bingyi finished setting off firecrackers and entered the house, the New Year’s Eve dinner officially began.

Zhou Zhigang was the first to pick up his chopsticks and took a bite of the braised carp made by Hua Shier. After finishing the meal, his eyes lit up:
"Not bad, he's as good as the chefs in state-owned restaurants. I didn't expect our Bingkun to have this skill. Come on, everyone, pick up your chopsticks and taste our old man's cooking!"

Everyone started eating, and except Zhou Rong, everyone praised the food.

The three children of the Zhou family toasted Zhou Zhigang and Li Suhua, as did the son-in-law Feng Huacheng, and the two daughters-in-law Hao Dongmei and Zheng Juan.

Zhou Zhigang and Li Suhua were all smiles when they saw this reunion scene.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Zhou Bingyi suddenly picked up the wine glass:
"Bingkun, let's have a drink!"

Zhou Zhigang smiled and said, "Yes, you two brothers should make a move. Bingyi, you should also make a move. Don't just drink!"

Hua Twelve picked up the wine glass, and Zhou Bingyi said with a smile:
"Dad asked me to make two sentences, so I'll make two sentences!"

"Bingkun, I'm going to tell you the truth today. I, your elder brother, looked down on you in the past. You said that you did all those things, such as climbing trees to catch birds and fishing in rivers, and you were almost going to take off the roof of a house. But you just didn't like reading."

Zhou Zhigang and Li Suhua both laughed. Even Zhou Rong couldn't help but smile when she thought of Zhou Bingkun's naughty appearance when he was a child.

Zhou Bingyi changed the subject:
"Later, you stopped calling me brother and said that I had never done anything that made you admire me. I thought you were bragging, but I didn't expect that after three days of separation, you should look at people with new eyes. In the past few years since we last met, I have to admit that you have surpassed me by a lot. At such a young age, you have already reached the deputy director level."

"But, big brother, I am not convinced. I will study harder and work harder when I return, and strive to catch up with you and surpass you as soon as possible, so that you will be willing to call me brother!"

Zhou Bingyi's words immediately heated up the atmosphere at the dinner table, and Zhou Zhigang clapped his hands and laughed happily:

"Great! This is the seed of our Zhou family! This is how brothers should compete to improve themselves!"

Hua Shier bumped into Zhou Bingyi and said with a half-smile:

"Then you have to work harder!"

After saying that, they both drank it all.

Zhou Rong was standing aside, and seeing that her elder brother whom she had always admired admired Zhou Bingkun, she felt uncomfortable and said with some sourness:

"What's wrong with being a deputy director? Our leaders always have people lining up to give gifts during the Chinese New Year. But look at Bingkun, the leader. Not even one person came to visit during the Chinese New Year. I don't know if anyone will come to pay New Year's greetings tomorrow. This is unpopular!"

Zheng Juan couldn't bear to see her man being wronged, so she immediately said:

"Sister, it's not what you said. When Bingkun first became a leader, there were too many people giving gifts. There was no room for them at home. Bingkun accepted all the gifts at the time. Later, he was criticized in the factory. Anyone who gave gifts would have one day's salary deducted as a warning." "He also said that the workers are the masters of the factory. He asked the masters to give gifts to him, who manages the factory for the masters. Isn't this against the will of heaven? If this happens again, one month's salary will be deducted!"

"Since then, no workers have come to our house during the holidays, but there are still New Year's greetings!"

After hearing this, Zhou Zhigang immediately said to Hua Twelve:

"Bingkun, you did the right thing!"

Zhou Bingyi also nodded in agreement, saying that what Hua Shier did was right and that this was how it should be done.

When Zhou Rong saw that her father and elder brother both recognized Zhou Bingkun, she felt even more uncomfortable, because when she was at home before, during the holidays, she, the apple of her parents' eyes, was the focus of the whole family.

Seeing Feng Huacheng sitting next to her, eating without saying a word, Zhou Rong suddenly felt like her family was being left out.

In this mood, negative emotions began to erupt, and things in the past came to mind. The grievances and sorrows of the past were still vivid in my mind.

She said, "Let me say a few words!"

Everyone put down their chopsticks and wine glasses and looked at her. Zhou Zhigang smiled and said:
"What does Rong'er have to say? We are all listening."

Li Suhua also gave Zhou Rong an encouraging look: "Just tell me what you want to say. Mom is listening."

The whole family thought she was going to say a blessing or something, but Zhou Rong said to Hua Twelve:
"Bingkun, I think you should give your brother-in-law a toast and apologize!"

Hua Twelve was stunned by what she said:
"What am I apologizing for? Apologize to me, tsk, how much have you just drunk? You're already drunk."

Feng Huacheng quickly advised Zhou Rong: "Stop talking, we can talk later if there is anything else!"

Zhou Rong slammed the table and said, "No, Lao Feng, I can't let you suffer this injustice!"

She pointed at Zhou Bingkun and said:

"This man, my dear brother, wrote a letter to frame you and almost got you shot. Even though he escaped death later, he still herded sheep for several years, surrounded by wind and sand all day long. When I saw you, you looked like a human being. Shouldn't he apologize for what he did back then?"

Before anyone else could say anything, Hua Twelve exploded:

"Zhou Rong, you must have been kicked in the head by a donkey, or hit by the door bow when you opened the door. Guizhou is too humid, you can't adapt to the hydrocephalus, right? If you don't have a two-year history of mental illness, you can't say such things!"

He slapped the table:
"Everyone is here. If sister-in-law Zheng Juan doesn't know, how could my parents and Zhou Bingyi not know?"

"Mom and Dad, Zhou Bingyi, please judge for yourself. When Zhou Rong eloped with Feng Huacheng in Guizhou, Feng Huacheng was demoted there. He made a mistake. If this matter is exposed, will you be able to stay in the Third Front? Zhou Bingyi, will your corps still want you?"

"Maybe the whole family should hang up a sign and go out for a stroll on the street!"

"I went to the street office to report Feng Huacheng. Who was I doing this for? It was to distance our family from Feng Huacheng. Did I care about you for even a dime?"

Zhou Rong didn’t know the meaning of the dime joke, but she understood the previous part:
"Zhou Bingkun, you finally admitted it, you are selfish. I think you are not doing this for your parents and brother, you are doing it for yourself. You are selfish and self-sacrificing..."

"fart!"

Hua Twelve interrupted directly:
"Zhou Rong, can you please have some shame? I was selfish. But you ran away with someone regardless of the danger of implicating your family. What do you call that? I think you are extremely selfish. You are a selfish ghost!"

Hua Twelve continued to talk to Feng Huacheng:

"Besides, how could I have wronged Feng Huacheng in the slightest?"

"Did he hide his marital status when he was dating you?"

"What year did you go to Beijing? How old were you when you confirmed your relationship with him? Do you dare to tell me?"

"Did he communicate with you and flirt with you during his relocation? Is this a good way to reform him?"

Hua Twelve pointed upstairs:
"I still have your letters. Do you want me to take them out and show them to you?"

Zhou Rong's face turned pale, and Feng Huacheng looked pale.

Zhou Zhigang said in a deep voice:
"Well, why bother talking about the past? People have to look forward. Since I have accepted Huacheng in the past, let him let the past go. As long as he can be good to Rong'er in the future, be worthy of this family, and be a qualified husband and father, that's enough!"

Feng Huacheng knelt down directly: "Dad, I will definitely listen to your teachings!"

Zhou Zhigang helped Feng Huacheng up and said to Zhou Rong:
"Look at you kid, why are you bringing up this matter on New Year's Day?"

Zhou Rong cried, "Dad, it's not what you said. It's a thing of the past. We are almost done with it. He was wrongly accused when he went to Guizhou."

"And you don't know, Bingkun did something even more outrageous!"

Zhou Zhigang frowned and asked, "What else did Bingkun do?"

Zhou Rong got up and went back to her room. After a while, she took out two letters:
"Look at this. After you approved Huacheng, Zhou Bingkun wrote to me, saying that Huacheng had made mistakes in his work style at the border, and fabricated his sexual problems. I called them to inquire, but it turned out that there was no such thing at all."

"You said Zhou Bingkun made up these things. Does he still have me as his sister in his heart? He bullies his brother-in-law, which is bullying me!"

"I've been holding this in my heart for years, like a thorn in my throat. I drank some wine today, and I just can't hold it in any longer!"

"Dad, you have to make the decision for your daughter."

Her crying and making a fuss scared Feng Yue in Li Suhua's arms and made her cry again. Li Suhua hurriedly coaxed the child and looked at what was happening in front of her with worry.

Zhou Zhigang's face was as gloomy as water. He picked up the two letters and started reading. He found that it was indeed the handwriting of his youngest son. He read the letters and his face turned pale with anger.

The table was slammed suddenly. Everyone present, except Hua Twelve, didn't dare to breathe, and their breathing became lighter.

Zhou Zhigang pointed at the two letters and looked at Hua Twelve:
"Bingkun, did you write this?"

Hua Twelve: "What's wrong? Is it not written clearly?"

"fart!"

Zhou Zhigang was so angry that he slammed the table again: "Is this how you treat your sister and your brother-in-law? When did you become so despicable!"

Hua Twelve waved his hand and said, "Calm down. What I said in this letter is all true, and I'm putting it mildly. The truth is more serious than this!"

Zhou Zhigang frowned slightly. He was not sure about his youngest son's promise. He looked at Feng Huacheng:

"Huacheng, what do you say about this?"

Feng Huacheng's face turned pale, and he knelt down again:
"Dad, I am innocent. I am herding sheep over there. How could I have made mistakes in my lifestyle? I swear to God that I have never done anything to let Zhou Rong down."

Zhou Rong cried, "Dad, you believe Bingkun and don't believe me. I called to ask about this specifically. This matter is completely false. Zhou Bingkun made it up just to disgust me!"

Zhou Zhigang said to Zhou Bingyi: "Go, bring me the stick used to set off the firecrackers, and I will turn it into an explanation!"

Hua Twelve was so angry that he laughed: "No, Dad, what did you tell me? Let Zhou Bingyi get a stick so you can beat me? You just believe what they say."

Zhou Zhigang's face turned red with anger, and he shouted angrily: "It's already now, do you still want to quibble?"

Hua Twelve stood up and said, "You don't want to eat the New Year's Eve dinner, right? Then don't eat at all!"

He reached out and overturned the dining table, and all of a sudden, plates, bowls, rice and soup were scattered all over the floor.

Li Suhua hugged the crying child and shouted, "Bingkun, what are you doing? Kneel down and apologize to your father."

Hua Twelve stiffened his neck and shouted, ignoring Zheng Juan's attempts to stop him:

"What's the point of compensation? I worked so hard all afternoon to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, and now you're picking on me at the dinner table!"

"What's the matter? Are you bullying me? If you don't want to eat, then don't eat. Don't you want to explain? Okay, wait a few minutes and I will explain to you!"

As he spoke, he didn't even put on his coat. He said hello to Zheng Juan, asked her to wait here, then he strode out the door and left.

Zhou Zhigang went to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife and said, "You little bastard, come back here!"

Bang! The only response he got was the sound of a door slamming.

Zhou Zhigang was about to chase him out, but Li Suhua shouted to Zhou Bingyi, "Boss, stop your dad!"

Zhou Bingyi hurried forward to grab the kitchen knife. As the two were struggling, the door was opened in a short while and Hua Shier came back.

But he was not the only one who came back. There was also another young man with two children who looked four or five years old.

The two children both had features of ethnic minorities, with high noses and deep eyes, and wore two felt hats, and it was obvious that they were of foreign descent.

Zhou Zhigang, who wanted to get angry and teach his son a lesson, was stunned:
"Zhou Bingkun, what's going on? Who are they?"

Hua Shier pointed at the two children and said to Feng Huacheng:

"Feng Huacheng, I wanted to talk about all this shit with you after the New Year, but since Zhou Rong chose to turn hostile on New Year's Eve, I'll let you get to know her in advance!"

"You still remember the name Ayiguli Mamtim, right? These two children are your twin sons with her. You are so awesome! You have achieved two successes with one shot!"

Feng Huacheng's face turned pale at this time!
Thanks to: 08a, Little Tiger in the Demon World, and book friend 150228065556580 brothers for their rewards. Thank you to the brothers who voted for monthly votes and recommendation votes. Thank you very much.