Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 817 New Year’s Eve
Wang Zhan, who had just returned home, was dragged to the backyard by his master by the ear. Wang Zhan looked at the angry master and he guessed that it was probably the two adults from Yard 95 who came with their children.

Qi Dasheng asked: "Is it bullying the weak if I teach you martial arts?"

Wang Zhan said aggrievedly: "Master, you don't even know the whole story, and you come up and talk about me first."

Qi Dasheng was amused and said, "Okay, then tell me, what happened? Why did the two parents bring four pig-headed children to the door to ask for punishment?"

Wang Zhan burst out laughing. He didn't expect his master to be so mean. Wang Zhan told him what happened yesterday. Director Li, who was drinking tea nearby, was surprised to hear that he had been fooled by that bespectacled Yan Bugui.

Wang Zhan looked at Qi Dasheng and Director Li who were a little confused, and asked, "What did they say?"

Qi Dasheng said: "The guy named Yan Bugui said that some kids were setting off firecrackers, and you went up to grab them. When they refused to give you anything, you beat them up. For this, I paid 40 yuan in compensation."

Wang Zhan Teng got angry immediately. Isn't this just making up a lie and putting the blame on someone else? How could he swallow this? Of course not, but he couldn't rashly go to the door and start a quarrel.

Wang Zhan's eyes rolled and he gave an idea to his master and Director Li. When they heard it, their eyes lit up and they turned around, changed into their police uniforms and went out.

After a while, Director Li and Qi Dasheng, accompanied by six policemen, entered the yard. They went to Yan's house without saying a word and handcuffed the Yan brothers, dragged them into the yard, and then went to the backyard and handcuffed the two guys and took them to the front yard. Yan Bugui and his wife were stunned. Liu Haizhong and his wife from the backyard trotted after them, as did Yi Zhonghai and the neighbors of the courtyard.

Yan Bugui asked tremblingly, "Director Li, isn't Wang Zhan's matter resolved?"

Chief Li ignored him and shouted at the four guys, "Stand still, everyone. I'm giving you one last chance. Wang Zhan has officially called the police and is suing you four for robbery. I'm giving you one last chance. Tell me what happened right now."

The four children had never seen such a scene before, and they were all scared and cried. Qi Dasheng looked at the noisy crowd and shouted, "Shut up, who is the oldest? You speak first."

Yan Jiecheng was so scared that he almost wet his pants, and he told the truth in a disjointed manner. Director Li said, "Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, come here and tell us what you told us this morning. At the very least, you are distorting the facts and putting the blame on others. At the most, you are committing fraud. Stop talking nonsense, and come back to the police station with me. You dare to cheat the police, you are too bold."

When Yan Bugui heard this, his eyes went dark and he almost fainted. Liu Haizhong said anxiously, "Director Li, Director Li, this is none of my business. This was all Yan Bugui's idea. He said that he could get the medical expenses by saying this."

Yan Bugui was stabbed in the back by Liu Haizhong and completely fainted.

Director Li brought the four children back to the station and found two police officers to educate them for a day. They were not released until the evening. Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong returned the money to Qi Dasheng. Qi Dasheng pointed at the two people's noses and scolded them for more than an hour. Finally, he warned them that if they did it again, they would be arrested for fraud. The matter ended like this. The direct impact was that everyone in the No. 95 courtyard knew that the little guy named Wang Zhan was not easy to mess with, and the police station was behind him.

As the New Year atmosphere becomes stronger and stronger in the streets and alleys, New Year’s Eve is approaching.

Early in the morning, the master said he was on duty during the day and left early. Wang Zhan knew that he and Aunt Sun had a lot of work to do today. They had to fry food and prepare the ingredients. After lunch in the morning, He Yushui and Wang Li got busy first, pasting up couplets with the word "Fu" and decorating the room. The lanterns in the yard were hung by Wang Zhan because they had to pull the lamp cords, which the two girls could not do.

It was not yet nine o'clock when Aunt Sun came with her bags and Erya and Xiaopang. Looking at the two children in festive clothes, Wang Zhan teased them one by one for a while. Aunt Sun was a straightforward person. She put the bags in the room next to He Yushui, put on an apron and went to the kitchen. Today was New Year's Eve, so the big kitchen in the front yard was used. The small kitchen in the backyard was not enough, so the New Year's Eve dinner was also eaten in the restaurant.

Wang Zhan finished all the high and low work here, and told the two girls to be careful. He went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients with Aunt Sun. Aunt Sun was preparing the fried food, and Wang Zhan was preparing the chickens, ducks, fish and wild geese. While cleaning up, Wang Zhan chatted with Aunt Sun. Wang Zhan also specifically said that his master and Director Li might not come back until four in the afternoon, so they could have the New Year's Eve dinner later and there was no rush.

Auntie Sun started to fry meatballs. This year, there were not only vegetarian meatballs, but also meatballs and small fried fish. The aroma of fried fish filled the yard, attracting Wang Li and the two children to the restaurant. Auntie Sun smiled and took out three small bowls, filled them with food, and let them have a taste. But they were not to eat too much, and told them that they would have dumplings for lunch.

In the afternoon, wild geese were stewed on a stove here, and eight-treasure duck was steamed on a stove in the small kitchen in the backyard. These were time-consuming dishes. When Wang Zhan finally finished preparing all the ingredients, it was already noon. He planned to make ten dishes plus a soup, and four side dishes.

After lunch, several people went to rest. Wang Zhan lay in front of the fireplace in the main room, drinking tea, closing his eyes and taking a short rest.

In the afternoon, the children had rested enough and were full of energy, so He Yushui took a few of them to the garden and provided a snack for the residents there. It was New Year, and the animals at home also needed to eat something good.

Seeing that it was almost time, Wang Zhan estimated that the chef and Director Li would be back, so he started to prepare the dishes. He Yushui came over and started to set the table. Wang Zhan prepared the cold dishes first, including five-spice peanuts, sweet and sour lotus root, three-loofah rolls, and winter bamboo shoots with shrimp roe. Then came the hot dishes, including eight-treasure stuffed duck, crispy chicken, squirrel mandarin fish, beef with oyster sauce, Dongpo pork elbow, Sichuan-style duck feet, stuffed tofu casserole, stir-fried king crab, corn with pine nuts, stir-fried rapeseed, and finally a Longjing bamboo fungus soup.

Wang Zhan's actions stunned Aunt Sun. Only then did she realize that Wang Zhan was also a skilled cook, and was not much inferior to his master.

In fact, when Wang Zhan was making the sixth dish, Qi Dasheng and Director Li came back. Qi Dasheng looked at the dishes on the table and lost interest in cooking. If they were simply comparing court cuisine, Qi Dasheng would be much better than Wang Zhan. However, if they were comparing the diversity of the eight major cuisines and local cuisines, Qi Dasheng could not compare with Wang Zhan.

When Wang Zhan brought the last soup, everyone was already seated. Qi Dasheng said, "Apprentice, go and light the firecrackers. Let's start celebrating the New Year."

Wang Zhan shouted "Okay!" and took out a long firecracker with 2,000 bangs from the side. He set it off directly at the door. When the firecrackers were almost burned, Wang Zhan returned to the restaurant and sat on the right side of Director Li. Qi Dasheng picked up the wine glass and said, "Happy New Year, cheers!"

(End of this chapter)