Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 678 Doubts
When the three of them were happily eating breakfast, the alley behind them suddenly became noisy with people crying and shouting. Qi Dasheng asked in confusion, "What's going on in the alley behind? Why is there a commotion so early in the morning?"

While eating, Wang Zhan said nonchalantly: "That's other people's business, let's eat ours." Qi Dasheng thought about it and agreed, so he didn't take it seriously and continued eating.

After the three of them finished breakfast, Wang Zhan urged the master to go to the shelf. When the master left, Wang Zhan became busy and went down to the basement with a broom and dustpan to clean. Wang Li also wanted to go down to help, but Wang Zhan did not allow it, mainly because there was too much dust.

After a thorough cleaning for a morning, the three rooms and a foyer had been cleaned. Wang Zhan looked at the brand new basement and was very satisfied. But when he saw the kerosene lamp next to it, he frowned. It seemed that he had to learn how to connect the electricity. It would be very inconvenient without an electric light in the basement. When the electricity connecters came, he would have to learn from them.

When Wang Zhan came out of the basement, Wang Li was wandering around the garden bored, so he walked up to her and said, "Why didn't you go back to the house? It's so cold here?"

"It's not cold at all. It's okay. I'm waiting for my brother. Let's go and drink some hot water. I'm thirsty." Wang Li said.

The brother and sister returned to the backyard. Wang Zhan lit the fire, and the two of them each held a teacup, drank hot water, and talked about plans for the New Year.

"Sister, how about we have hotpot for lunch? It's not only convenient but also fast?" Wang Zhan asked, and Wang Li nodded with a smile.

Wang Zhan went to the kitchen to prepare the hot pot. When everything was ready and brought to the restaurant, the brother and sister had just put down the pot when they heard a knock on the door. Wang Zhan asked, "Who is it?"

Then I heard Qi Dasheng's voice coming from outside the door, "Me!"

Wang Zhan opened the door, and several soldiers began to carry some antique display racks and shelves to the backyard. Although there were not many, they were enough for Wang Zhan.

After the soldiers carried the racks, they left. Qi Dasheng and Wang Zhan returned to the restaurant and ate hot pot together. While Qi Dasheng was eating, his face looked a little solemn and he didn't say a word. Wang Zhan didn't know what was wrong with the master, and he wasn't that curious, so he continued to eat the delicious hot pot with his sister.

After eating the hot pot, Wang Zhan made a cup of tea for his master using the enamel pot that his master brought. Qi Dasheng looked at Wang Zhan and asked, "Did anything happen here after I left last night?"

Wang Zhan shook his head and said blankly: "I don't know, probably not. I closed the door and went back to sleep. If you don't believe me, you can ask my sister."

Wang Li gave Qi Dasheng a big smile and said, "Yes, Master, we slept soundly until dawn."

Qi Dasheng still frowned, then turned his head and stared at Wang Zhan again, and asked, "Is there really no one coming?"

"Master, what's wrong with you? Who are you talking about? What? Is there anyone else coming?" Wang Zhan answered seriously.

When Wang Zhan asked this, Qi Dasheng looked a little embarrassed. He quickly waved his hands and said, "No, there are not many people here. You guys stay at home. I have something to do and have to go out." After that, he left in a hurry.

In the afternoon, Wang Zhan had already cleaned up the basement thoroughly. The three rooms were all clean. Wang Zhan and Wang Li returned to the yard. Wang Li asked her brother, "What about the things in the middle room?"

"Those are useless and not worth much. I'll throw away what should be thrown away and keep what should be kept. Let's connect the lights first and then decorate it later. Okay, go and play. I'll go to the kitchen and make you something delicious in the evening." Wang Zhan said.

Wang Li smiled and said, "Okay, brother, I'll play in the front yard. It's closer to you here." Wang Li is really attached to her brother now. She doesn't want to be too far away from him. She has already been away from him once. For some things, once is enough.

It was almost time for dinner when Qi Dasheng came back, sighing and drinking tea by himself, and sat down on the stone bench in the front yard. Wang Zhan looked at the chef and said, "Let's go to the restaurant in the hall. It's time to eat anyway. It's so cold outside. The dishes I cooked will be ready soon."

After hearing what Wang Zhan said, Qi Dasheng picked up his teacup and slowly walked into the restaurant in the main hall. Wang Li saw the master coming in and greeted him with a smile. Qi Dasheng just nodded and sat there in a daze, sighing from time to time. Wang Li didn't know why the master was hungry, so she kept stealing glances at him.

Not long after, Wang Zhan came in with a tray and placed two plates of fried dishes and a pot of rice on the table. Then he returned to the kitchen to serve the dishes. After a while, four dishes and a soup were placed on the dining table, and steamed rice was served to the three of them.

Qi Dasheng came back to his senses at this time. He looked at the dishes on the table with a little surprise and asked, "Did that Li Meili teach you this?"

Wang Zhan shook his head and said with a smile: "How could that be? This is Shandong cuisine. Squirrel mandarin fish, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, vinegar and pickled cabbage, fresh crab and mullet egg soup. I learned it from another Shandong cuisine chef." Wang Zhan introduced the dishes to his chef.

Wang Li took a bite of the sweet and sour pork tenderloin, and her eyes narrowed instantly. It was obvious that she liked this dish. She said, "Brother, this is delicious, sweet, and really delicious."

"Well, then you should eat more. This is also delicious. Try it." Wang Zhan said as he picked up a piece of squirrel mandarin fish meat with chopsticks and put it in Wang Li's bowl.

Qi Dasheng didn't care about the brother and sister at this time. He ate with big mouthfuls. Halfway through, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and walked out quickly. After a while, he was seen holding a bottle of wine and a glass, sitting down again, pouring himself a glass, and then eating again.

After the three of them finished their meal, they were all a little full. No one moved, and they all sat there, slowly digesting their food. Wang Zhan looked at his master, hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "Master, what happened to you today? You're coming in and out so often, it's a bit strange?"

Qi Dasheng took a sip of wine and said, "Oh, don't mention it. Didn't we catch a spy last night? But something strange happened in the alley behind. In the yard of Aunt Li who took care of you for a while when you first came, a child was inexplicably lost in the backyard in the middle of the night."

"What does that have to do with the spy you caught?" Wang Zhan asked puzzledly.

"Some comrades think that this is a diversionary tactic by the spies. They should know of my existence and that I live here. They probably want to transfer me away and then abduct the children in the backyard." Qi Dasheng said with a frown.

"Isn't this nonsense? Making a feint to the east in this alley and attacking from the west in another alley, are there such stupid spies?" Wang Zhan said in pretended anger.

When Qi Dasheng heard Wang Zhan's words, he thought about it carefully, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Yes, isn't this stupid? No, this is definitely not right."

Wang Zhan pretended to think about it again and said, "You should try the spy first, and then investigate the kid to see if he has any outstanding qualities. Then you will know."

Qi Dasheng nodded in agreement and said, "You are right. We need to investigate this matter thoroughly. It feels fishy everywhere."

Wang Zhan thought to himself, how could this not be strange? I was the one who led the spy there, but he was really afraid of trouble, so he pretended that he knew nothing and stood up to clean up the dishes.

Qi Dasheng stopped drinking, put on his military coat, and went out again. Wang Zhan stood at the front door, looked at his master's back, chuckled, but then thought of the group of people who came yesterday, and frowned again.

(End of this chapter)