Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1110 Two Perverts
After listening to Fei Qing's story, Wang Zhan suddenly felt that the room was a bit stuffy and made it hard to breathe. He walked to the window and opened it a crack to let in some fresh air.

Xiao Si hadn't said a word from beginning to end. After Fei Qing finished speaking, he seemed a little relieved, leaned back in his chair, and lit a cigarette.

Wang Zhan knew that Fei Qing was right. He told his brothers that he could only worry and couldn't help at all. But when he thought that Fei Qing couldn't take the college entrance exam and that he would have been sent down to the countryside with his family if he hadn't used his father's military merits to get a spot in the army, he got a little angry.

A cold wind blew, and Wang Zhan suddenly thought of Fei Qing's grand dinner invitation at Fengzeyuan earlier today. Inviting them was fine, but why invite those people from the compound? If this got back to the higher-ups, Fei Qing would probably have a hard time getting a chance to become a soldier.

Wang Zhan turned his head and looked at Fei Qing. Fei Qing suddenly smiled at Wang Zhan, and Wang Zhan suddenly understood that Fei Qing had deliberately invited him to this meal in order to make him look like a spendthrift, neglectful of his family, and a hedonist. His purpose was to avoid joining the army and to stay with his family.

Wang Zhan walked up to Fei Qing, stared intently into her eyes, and asked, "Why are you doing this? That was your best way out, yet you so easily gave it up. What are you thinking?"

Fei Qing smiled and said, "I had no choice. This incident was a huge blow to my father. He was already riddled with injuries, and recently I noticed he was coughing up blood. My father always tries to hide it from the family, always pretending to be nonchalant in front of us, always saying that everything he does is to contribute to the country. But I know very well that this incident has been a huge blow to him. I'm afraid that once I join the army, I will never see him again. I can't leave my family, especially when they need me the most."

"So you put on a big banquet at Fengzeyuan? Sigh, what can I say to you? Do you know that what you did today will be written into your file and follow you for the rest of your life? You're really something. You're so smart, you have so many ways to achieve your goals, why did you choose the most foolish one?" Wang Zhan looked at Fei Qing with a hint of disappointment.

Xiao Si, who was standing nearby, understood that Fei Qing had done this on purpose to tarnish his own reputation and force him and his family to be sent to the countryside as well.

Fei Qing said with a bitter face, "There's no time. My family has to leave before the Chinese New Year. We've already returned our house. My parents and sister are staying in a guesthouse waiting for further notice."

Xiao Si said indignantly from the side, "This is too much! Aren't they kicking us when we're down?"

“It’s not kicking someone when they’re down. The person who reported my father is now the logistics director of that compound. He can’t wait for my father to disappear,” Fei Qing said.

For the first time, Wang Zhan felt utterly useless. He couldn't help Fei Qing at all. Looking at Fei Qing, Wang Zhan said, "Fei, I know you might not come back after we go back today, but you must write to me. You know my home address, so don't let me lose track of you, okay? By the way, what do you want to eat? I'd like to cook you a meal today."

Fei Qing thought for a moment and said, "They say you should make dumplings when you leave home and bring them back when you return, so let's make dumplings. I want meat ones. When I come back one day, you can make me noodles with soybean paste."

Wang Zhan nodded and said, "We'll make dumplings today. Wait a minute, I'm going out for a bit. Oh, by the way, Xiao Si, there's some flour in the kitchen. Put the flour in and beat some egg whites."

Wang Zhan turned around and went out. Fei Qing and Xiao Si thought he was going to buy groceries, but in reality, Wang Zhan was just making an excuse to go out for a stroll and bring back the ingredients from his space. This time, Wang Zhan went all out and planned to slaughter a cow and a sheep. He was going to make three kinds of meat dumplings: celery and pork, beef and onion, and lamb and scallion.

Not long after, Wang Zhan returned. Xiao Si and Fei Qing were kneading dough in the kitchen. Wang Zhan sent them out and busied himself in the kitchen. Once the dough had risen and the dumpling filling was ready, Wang Zhan called Xiao Si and Fei Qing over and brought everything to the main room. They set up a large round table and started making dumplings together.

And you know what? Everyone in the room knew how to make dumplings. Wang Zhan was working at full speed, rolling out enough dumpling wrappers for five people all by himself. His technique was incredibly skillful; he finished in the blink of an eye, even managing to take a break and smoke a cigarette in between. No one in the room mentioned Fei Qing's family affairs anymore. Everyone was laughing and making dumplings. When they were almost done, Wang Zhan handed over the work to Xiao Si and went to the kitchen to make water and prepare the dipping sauce.

As the sun set, the first batch of dumplings was already in the pot. The girls bustled between the main room and the kitchen, placing bowls, chopsticks, dipping sauces, soup bowls, and other ingredients on the round table.

Wang Zhan told Xiao Si to eat first, saying there was wine in his study's bookshelf and they could take whatever they wanted. Xiao Si took the dumplings and went out, but he and Fei Qing still didn't sit down at the table. The three girls had already started eating. Everyone says girls are foodies, and that's really true.

The last plate of dumplings was ready, and Wang Zhan carried it back to the main room. Fei Qing had already opened the liquor and poured a glass for each of the three of them. Wang Zhan said, "Alright, let's eat. We're all family, so let's fill our stomachs first before we drink."

The six of them started eating. Among the three little girls, Wang Li ate with great gusto, while Fei Lanlan and Cheng Xue ate rather reservedly, taking small bites at a time.

After they had eaten enough, the three men started drinking and chatting about all sorts of things, while the three girls ate and talked about things that interested them.

Wang Zhan suddenly asked Fei Qing how he knew Xu Damao, a person they had absolutely no connection with. He even specifically mentioned that Xu Damao lived in courtyard number 95 and that his family was long-time residents who had lived there for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Fei Qing pondered for a few seconds before saying, "No wonder, that courtyard really produces talented people. Speaking of which, I wasn't the first to know Xu Damao, it was Yu Fei. You know No. 39 Dongmianhua Hutong, right?"

"Oh, I know, it's the cradle of beauties," said Xiao Si, who hadn't spoken for a while.

Wang Zhan was stunned. Fei Qing looked at Xiao Si in surprise and said, "Xiao Si, Xiao Si, I always thought you were a gentleman, an honest and upright person. I never expected you to be so cunning."

Xiao Si realized he had made a mistake and quickly said, "No, I heard it from Xiao Wu. He went there with Yu Fei once, specifically to see the pretty female classmates."

Wang Zhan believed what Xiao Si said. He turned his head and asked, "Go on, Xiao Si isn't the kind of person who attracts attention."

"You're just siding with him. By the way, where were we? Oh, Yu Fei and Xu Damao met there. Those two are really birds of a feather. That day, Yu Fei went there alone to look at pretty girls. When he saw one that caught his eye, he muttered to himself, 'Tsk tsk, amazed.'"

"He was admiring her when a voice came from the side saying that he had bad taste and that when looking at a woman, you can't just look at her face, you also have to look at her figure. And so, the two of them started discussing it. You know, Xu Damao, it was fine to discuss it for a while at the entrance of the academy, but after the academy closed, he insisted on dragging Yu Fei to a small bar to continue the discussion. Yu Fei was also a womanizer, and he agreed without thinking. And now, the two of them have become buddies."

Fei Qing recounted how Xu Damao and Yu Fei met. After listening, Wang Zhan and Xiao Si felt that these two were rather unreliable. They were still hungry, yet they had the leisure to gossip.

(End of this chapter)