Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 854 853 State Banquet
For the next few days, Tang Zhitong began a routine of going to Sijiucheng Restaurant for breakfast, attending meetings, and going home to sleep after dinner.

Ma Wei received a letter from Wu Aijun, which was not surprising to her at all. Wu Aijun's meaning was as clear as a louse on a monk's head; anyone with eyes could see it.

However, Ma Wei hesitated. What Fu Caiyun said became her concern: she was indeed three years older than Wu Aijun.

In addition, going to the municipal bureau to collect and receive her salary took up some time, so Ma Wei did not reply to Wu Aijun immediately.

As a result, Wu Aijun became uneasy. Every day, he would make a special trip from the Police Academy back to the Municipal Public Security Bureau just to ask if there was any news about him.

On the 31st, the day he returned from the escort center, he wrote a letter. He waited until the 3rd, but Wu Aijun still hadn't received a reply. He was in great anxiety. Could the letter have been lost?
Even knowing that the probability was very low, Wu Aijun still held a sliver of hope and picked up his pen to write another letter to Ma Wei.

The contents of the two letters were largely the same. On the afternoon of the 4th, Ma Wei received another letter.

Looking at the two letters, Ma Wei truly felt Wu Aijun's sincerity. Let's put age aside for now.

Ma Wei could no longer deceive herself; she knew that she also had feelings for Wu Aijun, only perhaps not as strong as for him.

As soon as she got off work, Ma Wei finished dinner, locked herself in her room, took out a pen and paper, bit the pen tip, and began to think about how to reply to Wu Aijun.

"Weiwei has been acting strangely these past few days. Could she be dating someone?" Ma's mother whispered to her husband, who was reading the newspaper beside her.

"Go for it, it suits your taste perfectly," Mr. Ma replied casually, his eyes still glued to the newspaper.

"What do you mean by 'just what I wanted'? Is that what I meant?" Ma's mother was dissatisfied with her husband's perfunctory attitude and began to direct her anger at him: "I do hope she finds a good family, but I didn't say she should find one herself! How old is Weiwei? She has limited experience. What if she makes a mistake?"

"If you help Weiwei find someone, won't you make a mistake? Is it Weiwei who's going to live the life, or you?" Mr. Ma finally looked up from the newspaper. He only had one daughter, and it would be a lie to say he didn't worry about her. But his daughter was very opinionated and resented her mother arranging blind dates for her.

"Are you even a father? How can you just ignore your daughter's marriage?" Ma's mother was getting impatient and sat down to sulk.

“If I ask, will Weiwei tell me? Didn’t we keep it from our families back then too? Let’s wait and see. When the time is right, we’ll have a proper talk with the child.” Mr. Ma’s gaze returned to the newspaper.

"How can that be the same? I didn't make a mistake in choosing a man, Vivi..."

“Weiwei takes after me and has good judgment. We should trust our child.” Mr. Ma was actually helpless in this matter. His daughter had been used to it since she was a child and would not listen to her parents’ opinions on many things. Of course, he was also confident that he would pay for the mistakes his child had made.

At the same time, Tang Zhitong showed the invitation to the banquet to his family.

"Are you going to a state banquet?" Zhang Guifang couldn't read, but that didn't stop her from carefully holding the invitation with trembling hands.

"You could say that." Tang Zhitong didn't know what dishes would be served tomorrow, nor whether this kind of event could be considered a state banquet, but since the invitation was signed by such a prestigious person, it should be considered one, right?

"Mom, this is a state banquet. Anzi has really made something of himself." Little Wang gave an affirmative answer from the side, her dimples never disappearing. She was happier that her husband received an invitation than if she had gone herself.

"Brother, brother, what kind of dishes are served at the state banquet? Can we bring some back?" Fengzhi's first thought was food; she had never eaten at a state banquet before in her life!

"Get out of here! Why are you letting your brother take her back? You're just making your brother do shameful things!" Zhang Guifang pulled her daughter off her son's lap.

"I definitely can't bring it back. After my meeting, I'll recreate a few dishes for you at home. They may not be as refined as those made by the chefs at state banquets, but they should be edible." Tang Zhitong replied to her sister with a smile. The delegation had held a meeting, announced the agenda, and emphasized the etiquette of the reception. They had to be mindful of their table manners, let alone bring anything back.

Tang Zhitong was equally curious about state banquets. Even decades later, when some famous restaurants were open to the public, reservations were difficult and prices were not affordable. As an ordinary person, Tang Zhitong had no chance to witness their splendor and could only catch a glimpse of the Heavenly Palace through videos of people visiting the restaurants.

"That's settled!" Faced with her mother's slap, Fengzhi didn't back down this time. Compared to delicious food, what was a slap?
Although Fengzhen remained silent, she carefully read the invitation word by word after it was delivered to her, especially the signature, which was a name that she had only ever seen in newspapers before.

After enjoying the festivities with their families, Tang Zhitong and his classmate Xiao Wang returned to their room.

"From now on, you'll be someone who's eaten at a state banquet," Ms. Wang teased her husband with a beaming smile.

"Want to eat at a state banquet? It's simple. Brother Ma is quite something now. Although he's not in the kitchen of the conference hall, his unit has entertained many foreign guests. When we have the chance, we'll prepare the ingredients and ask Brother Ma to cook a meal for you all." The title of state banquet is too grand. Tang Zhitong wasn't confident in his mediocre cooking skills, but he had connections, so it wasn't a big problem.

"Go away, how can you treat Third Brother like that? Third Brother Ma is your savior after all." Xiao Wang disagreed. A few days ago, after hearing that her husband had been saved by Ma Kejian from heatstroke, she realized why her husband had gone to such lengths to help Wang Yan coordinate the tiger matter.

Gratitude isn't just about words; it's about actions.

"Hey, it's alright. I don't stand on ceremony with Brother Ma. After all, I'm practically his matchmaker." With the friendship cultivated since childhood, Tang Zhitong felt grateful to Ma Kejian, but also maintained a calm and composed attitude.

Normally, they act as they always do, but if one of them is in trouble, the other will absolutely do everything in their power to help.

"I wonder if Third Brother and Wang Yan have any good news." When talking about Ma Kejian, Xiao Wang naturally thought about the next generation. They all got married around the same time. Lü Lixian had been pregnant with Wu Hanguang for half a year, and Liu Yue was due to give birth in a month or so. Only she and Wang Yan had no news yet.

"Maybe she's already pregnant. Brother Ma has plenty of food on his side. But Brother Ma is old-fashioned; he won't tell anyone right away if there's good news. He'll wait at least three months until the pregnancy is stable before saying anything," Tang Zhitong replied confidently.

In fact, not only in Beijing, but nowadays most couples will announce the good news of pregnancy after three months, because there is a folk saying that announcing pregnancy in the first three months will harm the fetus.

"Oh, then let's wait three months before we talk about it again." Xiao Wang had heard this idea before, but he didn't think much of it at the time. However, when it came to his own situation, even though he believed in materialism, he still felt a little apprehensive.

"Hehe, such old-fashioned ways. Have you had any stomach discomfort these past few days?" Tang Zhitong chuckled. Ever since Xiao Wang said that her stomach hadn't started to ache, the two of them had stopped their daily communication. These past few nights, they had been lying in the same bed, treating each other with utmost respect, not daring to venture too far to investigate, for fear of affecting the implantation. In this day and age, an ectopic pregnancy could be a matter of life and death.

"No, I don't think so. I've had a vague feeling of it these past two days, but then again, it doesn't seem like it." Xiao Wang wasn't very confident.

"That's because you're too concerned. Anyway, I haven't felt any difference in the feel of my hands these past few days." Xiao Wang said that his hands hadn't risen in the past few days, and Tang Zhitong also didn't feel anything unusual. This time, it must be a secret pregnancy.

"Let's wait and see, let's go to sleep." Xiao Wang thought it made sense. At this moment, he was as calm as a still well. The task of creating a successor was showing signs of great success, and the tool could step aside for now.

For the sake of the next generation, Tang Zhitong is happy to cooperate and has been exercising frequently lately, which is quite tiring. But what will he do after he has recovered his energy?
Tang Zhitong counted on her fingers; she'd have to endure at least two more months—the days seemed endless…

Saturday, October 6.

Tang Zhitong has been reading the newspaper every day for the past few days. After lunch, he goes back to his room and reads it attentively for a while. This habit has earned him praise from Luo Qingquan.

The conference had been going on for several days, and the newspapers had reported on this gathering of cultural and educational elites. Through the speeches of many representatives, culture and revolution were linked together. This served as a reminder to Tang Zhitong that the subsequent developments were merely a deepening of the situation, not something that happened without warning...

The reception banquet was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but before that, each delegation was fully prepared, and every representative was very excited. After the delegations entered the banquet hall on the second floor, at exactly 7 p.m., the national anthem was played, and everyone stood up.

Next came the address, in which I extended warm congratulations to all the heroes from the cultural and educational front present.

At this moment, thunderous applause resounded throughout the banquet hall.

"This conference was held under favorable circumstances both domestically and internationally, and under the unprecedented prosperity of our country's cultural and educational undertakings."

As Tang Zhitong listened to the familiar Shaoxing accent below, he suddenly realized a truth: confidence is more precious than gold.

We have indeed encountered difficulties in production in recent years, and everyone knows that. But if the leaders don't say that the situation is good, then who will have confidence?
If confidence is lost, how can the situation be turned around?

After the speeches, the banquet officially began.

The tableware on the banquet table was arranged very neatly, and the staff served the dishes very efficiently, with a dish being served approximately every five minutes from the start of the speech.

The dishes were exquisite and beautifully presented.

Besides the dishes, there were also drinks, alcohol, and cigarettes on the table. The cigarettes were served in small dishes, and Tang Zhitong noticed that the liquor was Maotai.

Despite having emphasized this in a meeting before the banquet, the food was so tempting that some people still couldn't resist.

Tang Zhitong had supplies on hand, and although he wasn't lacking in resources, they were just the usual kind.

Looking at the dishes that they couldn't even eat during the New Year, Tang Zhitong felt that it would be a bit difficult for Brother Ma to recreate a few dishes based on what he had previously stockpiled.

However, there is one dish that Tang Zhitong thinks is worth trying.

"Comrade, what's this dish called?" When the dish was served, Tang Zhitong didn't hear the name clearly. After the waiter came over, Tang Zhitong waved to him and stopped him to ask.

"Coral cabbage." The waiter smiled and announced the dish, nodded in acknowledgment, and then went back to work.

"Would you like to try?" Luo Qingquan knew that Tang Zhitong liked to cook, so he turned around and asked after the waiter left.

"Yes, but we'll have to wait until winter." Tang Zhitong smiled. Luo Qingquan took great care of him, not only asking the head of the delegation to sit at the same table as Tang Zhitong before the meeting, but also specifying that they should sit next to each other.

Etiquette is important, but it seems less so at this moment. At a banquet of more than 5,000 people, apart from the members of the presidium, the other representatives are mainly distinguished by their length of service and industry.

"Don't forget to give me a copy when you're done," Luo Qingquan asked with a smile.

"Yes, I will never forget you," Tang Zhitong replied.

The reason for choosing this dish is that it looks simple, with cabbage, mushrooms, chili peppers, shredded scallions, and shredded ginger. It tastes sour, spicy, and refreshing, with a hint of sweetness and the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns.

The ingredients that can be used are nothing more than the few that can be seen with the naked eye, plus vinegar and Sichuan peppercorns.

Tang Zhitong was able to put together these items.

"Eat quickly, or it will get cold." Luo Qingquan picked up his chopsticks and served food to Tang Zhitong.

"Okay, Uncle Luo, you can eat too." There were serving chopsticks on the table, but almost no one used them. Tang Zhitong picked up the serving chopsticks and put a piece of fish on Luo Qingquan's plate. If she didn't put it on him soon, there wouldn't be any left.

Aside from the higher quality of life in Beijing and Shanghai, the quality of life in other places can be gleaned from how quickly representatives pick up their chopsticks.

After the leaders offered their toasts, the banquet came to an end.

We had to finish, so all the food on the table was cleared out; not a single dish was wasted.

When Tang Zhitong came out of the banquet hall on the second floor, he glanced at his watch; it was 8:15.

By the time I got back to the Sijiucheng Hotel, retrieved my bicycle, and returned home, it was already nine o'clock.

Zhang Guifang didn't sleep. Her son had gone to a state banquet, and as his mother, she felt she had to wait for him to come back and ask him how he felt.

"It's alright, quite fresh, but not salty enough," Tang Zhitong commented honestly.

In fact, Tang Zhitong was not the only one who thought so; many other representatives said the same thing after leaving the banquet hall.

The vast majority of the delegates at this conference came from the grassroots level. They sweat a lot on weekdays, so it's understandable that they prefer salty food and have a stronger palate.

"How many dishes are there?" Zhang Guifang asked curiously.

“It’s quite a lot, more lavish than what we had for Chinese New Year.” Tang Zhitong didn’t give a specific number, as saying it would disrupt unity.

During the meal, Tang Zhitong heard that the standard for this banquet was 8 to 10 yuan per person per time, and the higher tier was 10 to 14 yuan. These were all standard and would not be changed arbitrarily.

"Brother! Brother! Can you do it?" Fengzhi was so anxious that she couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Yes, don't worry, I'll definitely make it for you to try," Tang Zhitong said, patting his sister's head to comfort her.

"When are we going to do it?" Fengzhi's face was full of impatience.

"Oh, that's a long wait. We'll have to wait until winter, when the cabbages are harvested."

"Huh? Does it take this long?" Fengzhi, who was excited just a moment ago, now looked disappointed.

"Of course! To make cabbage, you have to wait for the cabbage to ripen, right?"

(End of this chapter)