Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 38 Potluck

The years are like Juliu River, the hometown river of Fengtian people, flowing forward peacefully, and soon the end of the year is coming, and Fengtian is already freezing cold again.

But these are only the years of Fengjiu. For Ning Zheng, who is in the center of power, he is not at peace. rank of general.

As the saying goes, "when the water is full, it overflows, and when the moon is full, it loses." Ning Zheng is only 22 years old now, and he has started to lead the main force of the Ning army as the head of the general, preparing to fight the upcoming Northern Expedition.

Ning Jun, the "Southeast King" Sun Xinyuan, and the "Three Unknown Generals" Zhang Xiaokun, who came here again to turn against the water, formed a new "An Guojun".

The war in the Republic of China was very strange. The great turmoil and chaos are not just talking, but the armies on both sides fought and fought, and the fighting was not as intense as imagined, because both sides have to beware of their own generals who turn against them. This can be regarded as the characteristic of warlord melee in the period of the Republic of China.

So once he finds a chance to breathe, even if he is in a hurry, Ning Zheng, who has often been active in the Beijing-Tianjin area, will take a special train back to Fengtian to accompany Fengjiu.

After Ning Zheng came back this time, he told her that tomorrow, that is, Sunday, he would take her to visit the teacher who taught him English in the YMCA. Feng Jiu was also very curious. Her English teacher was Father Lin Mo from Xiaoxiguan Church. As for the teacher Ning Zheng, it is said that he was once a very influential pastor in the United States.

Feng Jiu asked Ning Zheng if he could take Ge Luoli with him?

Luo Li returned to the United States once after attending Feng Jiu’s wedding. For more than two months, she has been taking care of her seriously ill grandfather in Chicago on behalf of her father. She stayed and handled her grandfather's affairs with full authority, because apart from her father, her grandfather had no other heirs.

This 17-year-old girl is very capable and strong.

After returning, Feng Jiu and Ge Luoli naturally resumed their contacts, dated from time to time, and their relationship was very close.

Upon hearing this request, Ning Zheng naturally agreed.

At eleven o'clock in the morning that day, the couple first went to the US consulate to pick up Ge Luoli, and then they went to the Pride and his wife's residence in Yigong Temple together.

The Pride couple, who are in their 40s to middle age, warmly received them.

On the way, Ning Zheng told them that Pastor Pride and another British doctor helped him out and escorted him to Shanhaiguan to negotiate with the land warlords. The group finally reached a truce on an American warship docked in Jiaozhou Bay. The details, the hardships during the period needless to say.

Mr. Pu cared for Ning Zheng very much, and his character was upright. Ning Zheng, who has always lacked fatherly love, always remembered this, so once he could make his own decisions, he allocated an abandoned Lama Temple on Chaoyang Street to the Youth Association for a meeting. It also allocated a maintenance fund. Later, this meeting site became an important stronghold of the YMCA in the three northeastern provinces, and also won the gratitude of the American Christian Church.

Except for a large living room, the rest of their home is not very big, but the decoration is warm and simple, in a pure American rural style. Fengjiu likes the small floral tablecloth, striped fabric sofa, and star wallpaper. .

What I like more is that Mrs. Pu does as the Romans do, she actually cut a few balls of narcissus like the Chinese, moistened them in a shallow bowl with clear water, and waited to separate them during the Spring Festival. The elegant and fragrant little flowers like Yutai calendula .

Mrs. Pu is a red-haired and enthusiastic woman, born in the small town of Edwardsville, Illinois. .

A total of more than ten people came to the party, all of whom were close friends of Mr. and Mrs. Pride in Fengtian. Most of them were a couple who came hand in hand without children.

Among the guests who came one after another, many of them had seen Ning Zheng when he was young, and they were all excited to see the already well-known Young Marshal Ning again, especially the mysterious Young Marshal's wife. Not in vain.

Ning Zheng has always carefully protected Feng Jiu's privacy. Since his marriage, he has also attended some events as the wife of the young commander of Ning Jun, but the photos have never been published in newspapers.In fact, thinking about it carefully, Fengjiu was very active in middle school and left a lot of photos of participating in various public activities, but so far, none of them have been released. It is conceivable that the Ningjun Intelligence Department has done this It is conceivable that how many people work confidentially and the workload is huge.

Fortunately, everyone stared at Fengjiu for a while, and after the amazing period, they got used to it. Some of the visitors were playing chess, some were talking about the Chinese civil war and the international situation, and the wives were chatting about which western restaurant More authentic, what kind of fabric and style of new clothes are more suitable, how to educate children and other topics.

Luoli took advantage of the hostess' opportunity to greet other female guests, and got together with Fengjiu again. The girlfriends always have a lot to talk about when they get together. They communicated in Chinese, and they all admired Mrs. Pu's good decoration taste; Luo Li's Chinese has not improved much, but fortunately she has been practicing very hard, after all, Chinese is the most difficult language in the world to learn.

Suddenly the door slammed, and another young man came in. He was tall, with broad shoulders, "thin" facial features, and good looks. He was wearing a tweed plaid suit, and the trousers were deliberately cut thin to make his legs appear longer.

The two of them looked up at the young man at the same time, looked at each other in unison, and thought of the same thing with a tacit understanding—Jeff, the hero in "Virginia" they both like, should look like this, because he is also "A head of black hair, looks as beautiful as a painting."

Feng Jiu watched Ge Luoli's snow-white sweet-hearted little face turn red, secretly happy in her heart, and Xiao Nizi's heart was moved.

Ning Zheng also saw this young man, and waited patiently for him to finish greeting the smiling hostess and his wife before he went up to him, said a few words to this young man, and then brought him to Fengjiu and Luo. in front of Li.

Loli stood up a little nervously, her green-feathered birds' tail-like thick and rich eyes showed a little shyness, Feng Jiu secretly patted her on the back from behind to cheer her up - Loli is a bit shy by nature, I talk a lot with people I know well, but I feel a little restless when I don't know them well.

Unexpectedly, this young man was also shy. He blushed when he saw Ge Luoli, his pearl gray dazzling eyes flicked away when they made contact with Ge Luoli's green eyes, and he turned around to take a look after a while.

Gloria couldn't help laughing, but now she wasn't nervous anymore.

Ning Zheng scratched his head helplessly when he saw the virtue of his old friends, and introduced them according to the etiquette.

This man is Yin Yager, a native of California, who was born in a wealthy manor family. He liked railways since he was a child. When he was eleven or twelve years old, he followed his uncle Cook, a railway engineer, to China: Cook is a professional railway talent. When he was in the United States, he had rich experience in leading railway construction, especially good at designing criss-crossing railway networks, so a Guangdong government official who visited the United States to investigate the construction of railway networks kindly invited him to work in Guangdong.

Cook felt that this was a rare opportunity, so he came to China and successively applied for the Guangdong Provincial Railway Bureau and the Railway Bureau of the three Northeast provinces to supervise the construction of railways. Compared with the two, the Northeast has more opportunities, and his personality is more similar to that of the people in the Northeast. They were compatible, so I decided to live in Fengtian for a long time.

Although the young Yin Yage seemed shy, he actually had the pioneering spirit of those pioneers. He stayed in China with his uncle like a fish in water, and was reluctant to leave until he was 16 years old. His father sent telegrams to urge him to return home, and he was admitted to New York University as a major in civil engineering.

As soon as he graduated, he couldn't wait to return to Fengtian, because he had already regarded this place as his home.

When the two of them met, Ning Zheng's mother had just passed away, so he had to come from Xinmin to Fengtian's father, hoping to make friends to dispel the lonely age. They are very adventurous in their bones, so they get along very well.

The two universities that Ning Zheng chose to study in the United States were also influenced by Yin Yager.

His standard New York accent was influenced by Injager, who studied in New York for four years.

At that time, the railways in the three northeastern provinces were still in the initial stage of construction. The old man believed that in order to compete with the strong neighbors of Japan and Russia, the development of national industries in the northeast must be given priority, and the transportation issue was a top priority.

As a result, Yin Yage, who was proficient in railway construction, was recommended by Duan Yinhuai, Director of Fengtian Management Office of Beijing-Fengfeng Railway, to participate in the construction of railways in Northeast China.With their help, the old man not only rebuilt the Jingfeng Railway, but also built the railway transportation lines from Fengtian to Chifeng, Tongliao, Jilin, Siping, and Fengtian to Qiqihar. It can be said that it is the work of their uncles and nephews. It was only because of this that the railway network in the three northeastern provinces was built so smoothly, so the old man also paid special attention to the two of them.

Today's gathering is mainly to celebrate the New Year in advance. The guest's family brings one or two dishes or desserts together. This is the American style "potluck", which is "potluck meal". For a main dish, Feng Jiu thought it was a very good form. In this way, the host would not be so tired, and the host and guest could have a good time. He couldn't help thinking that it could be the same when gathering with classmates in the future.

The main dish is "Turducken". You can tell from the name that this dish is a three-in-one dish, that is, stuffing the chicken into the duck, and then stuffing the duck into the turkey, so the turkey is the largest, visually Eleven or twelve catties, these three kinds add up to seventeen or eight catties. After being baked in the oven for three hours, it is still sizzling and oily. Although this turkey has been raised in China, it is nine She still felt that the pure Chinese chicken and duck in it were more delicious. She secretly compared the fruit wood roast duck made by the chef in the house, and felt that the taste was not a little bit worse.

The nine belts are Jiaoliu meatballs and pot-packed meat from the "Four Juicy Dishes". Because Ning Zheng told her that Americans like to eat sweet and sour tastes and fried things, these two are really suitable. As for the roasted kidneys It won't work, Americans don't eat animal offal.

Both of these are made by herself. Ning Zheng has long discovered that Fengjiu has an extraordinary enthusiasm for food, but she did not expect to be a practical practitioner. It was only later that she found out that she often went to the kitchen to ask the cooks for advice when she was in her mother's house.

Others brought very traditional American meals: boiled green beans, cheese pie, vegetable salad, creamy mashed potatoes, macaroni, cheese and potato risotto, salty scones, margarita biscuits , Madeleine, raisin cupcakes... The drink is a mixed juice drink in a large open saucepan, commonly known as "punch", with a long-handled spoon in it for guests to scoop into cups for drinking.

Looking at the first dish of smoky brown kidney beans on the dining table, Feng Jiu was also a little dumbfounded. How dare you bring such a simple thing?Unexpectedly, a pastor’s wife who brought this dish said excitedly that it was planted in Fengtian with the green bean seeds she brought from her hometown. It was specially harvested in summer, dried and kept until winter. Everyone, everyone Immediately applaud warmly, welcome this vegetable that has come to a foreign country to take root.

It's a pity, Feng Jiu sighed secretly, only stewed beans can live up to the effort of washing and drying, but Americans, they have nothing to do with vegetables except boil them rotten Law.

As soon as the banquet started, the atmosphere became even more lively. Everyone picked their favorite food with their plates, stood or sat, and chatted while eating.Most of the guests were under the age of 40. Apart from their husband and wife, there was also a Chinese couple and a single man who were Ning Zheng's friends and childhood playmates. One was Yang Liren and the other was Lin Yanlai.

Yang Liren and his wife usually live in Nanjing, and this time they happened to be working in Fengtian. They are both Christians.

Yang Liren?Feng Jiu looked at Yang Liren, who was magnificent and strong, and Mrs. Yang, who was as gorgeous as a peach and plum beside him, suddenly remembered that the newspaper said that he was the son-in-law.After all, in China, it is very embarrassing to visit a son-in-law: the woman's family has no children, and the man's family has no money, so that such a combination can be born.

The guests chatted and tasted. As expected, the two unique Fengtian dishes prepared by Fengjiu received the warmest welcome, and everyone praised them generously. Although Ning Zheng, the husband, did not say anything, Yang Liren and Lin Yan Lai could see that Fa Xiao'er followed with You Rongyan.

Fengjiu is also very rewarding. When she is at home, she often cooks some simple small pastries that are not so strict with the baking temperature. The cake, called "Qifeng", is sandwiched with three layers of cream, and the cream layer is covered with crumbs from canned fruits such as strawberries and cherries. Because the cake tastes as smooth and delicate as silk, so there is this silk in English name.

After Fengjiu inquired about the host's family, he deliberately found Mrs. Smith, who made the cake, and is now teaching at the university founded by Xu Yong.

Seeing that the young wife of a Chinese dignitary was so enthusiastic about this American pastry, Mrs. Smith immediately poured out her money. Feng Jiu took out a brocade satin hard-shell notebook and a tube of pens from her small handbag, and carefully Jot down the recipe.

Mrs. Smith thoughtfully converted the cups and scoops commonly used in Western-style pastries into metric volume and weight. The two met head to head and had a lively conversation for a long time; their conversation attracted Yang Liren's wife, and it turned out that two The young Chinese lady took notes seriously, and she looked like elementary school students who wished to move a small bench to sit in a row and listen carefully.

Fengjiu had a very good impression of Yang Liren's wife, Duan Mingli. Although she was said to be the bead of a wealthy Chinese businessman, she had a beautiful appearance, but she had no arrogance or vulgarity, and she spoke very fast. Pai was also straightforward, and Feng Jiu couldn't figure out why Yang Liren, who in her eyes was mediocre in appearance, had anything to be picky about.

Taking advantage of Duan Mingli's inattention, she gave this guy who was very ignorant in her eyes a blank look, so she stood in a circle with Ning Zheng, Mr. Pride and other Americans, talking Yang Liren, who was talking about the past in the martial arts hall very happily, was baffled. He didn't know when he caught the attention of the precious wife of Marshal Ning.

Ning Zheng noticed the look in his wife's eyes, and he could only grin in his stomach. It seems that last time he said something casually, Yang Liren's score in Feng Jiu's mind plummeted.

Looking at Ning Zheng, who had a happy conversation with Mr. Pu and other Americans, Feng Jiu couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart: Ning Zheng, as the son of China's top dignitaries, has been in contact with these missionaries since he was a child, making Christianity serve the society Consciousness had a great influence on him.

And the Confucian classics and Taoist works that he learned since he was a child allowed him to calmly deal with the endless enjoyment brought by an overabundant material life, because these external things can easily cause people to feel full, and thus degenerate into pursuing more exciting things. have fun.

In the past six months of getting along, she firmly confirmed that Ning Zheng is a person who can look down on material pleasures and fame, and can treat world affairs and human relationships very peacefully. This is the positive education of traditional Lao-Zhuang thought.

At the end of the prosperity, there is desolation behind him. Mr. Li Shutong, respected by Fengjiu, was tired, relieved, and let go of the enjoyment day and night. Hupao Dinghui Temple, turned from Pianpian Zhuoshijia son to Master Hongyi.

Feng Jiu didn't worry about whether Ning Zheng became a monk or not. She just thought that his experience was similar to that of Mr. Li, and his combination of Chinese and Western characteristics was also obvious. This strange mixture inevitably made her feel very interesting.

In fact, when a person starts to find another person "interesting," it often means only one thing.

However, those who are not enlightened to Fengjiu's level in this respect, I'm afraid there will still be difficulties.

Feng Jiu once heard something from his eldest brother. When Ning Zheng was forced by the old man to go to the Northeast Lecture Hall where he resumed school for a short-term training, a classmate named Zeng Zhongce debated with him on the South Manchuria Railway issue. When he said the word "hu bandit bastard", all the onlookers changed their faces - ordinary people can't bear such insults, let alone the only legitimate son of the supreme commander of the Northeast.

But no one expected that Ning Zheng paused, just smiled, and left without saying a word; and the student surnamed Zeng was also terrified, and later asked Ning Zheng to apologize, and Ning Zheng accepted it calmly.

As for the student surnamed Zeng who respected Ning Zheng all his life and would never allow others to say a bad word about him, that was something for later.

Feng Jiu realizes that Ning Zheng does hold the advanced concept that everyone is equal, and he is able to exercise a high degree of restraint, which is his remarkable side.

Except for treating yourself, of course.

Yang Liren noticed that Ning Zheng's wife was listening attentively to what he was saying, so he went on to say: "Our third young master Ning's physical strength is also amazing. Once in winter training, we asked to march to a place [-] miles away from Fengtian. Sifangtai also had to conduct offensive, defensive, chasing and retreating training; when they arrived at the place, they were required to lie down on the spot and stay in the position all night. They returned early the next morning, and first "shifted their forces" to march for [-] miles, and then they were asked to run forward. Twenty miles, after such a toss, many people fell behind. At the end of the flag-raising stage in the playground, only five people came back on time, and among them was our energetic and fighting spirit Mr. Ning. Many people thought that he It’s just that the students who are vulnerable sons suddenly change their minds, which really cheers up our buddies.”

He gave Ning Zheng a thumbs up, and then glanced at Feng Jiu seemingly unintentionally, but his eyes were full of wickedness.

Duan Mingli was very sensitive. Seeing that there was something unclear in his husband's eyes, he immediately reached out and squeezed his lower back secretly. It hurt - but he held back, without any expression on his face, Ning Zheng narrowed his eyes. Eye.

But Lin Yan, a "useless person" wearing a pair of round-rim glasses who is obsessed with photography and astronomy every day, asked: "May I ask if Mr. Yang is one of these five people?"

Yang Liren immediately turned his face away, "Actually, I should be too, but..."

"Oh, I see." The conversation was cut off by Lin Yanlai, and the people around laughed, and Yang Liren threw a few punches at him in resentment.

Ning Zheng smiled slightly, as a way to save face for his classmates in the military school. It was during this period that he met Ji Songling, a handsome soldier five years older than him, but already a model soldier who was an instructor in the martial arts hall. Had an immeasurable impact on his life.

Although Yang Liren was pinched by his wife, he still paid attention to Fengjiu's reaction, who knew that she also laughed heartily, without any shyness, and couldn't help but feel a little strange, so he stared at her hard for a few more times, and suddenly his eyes closed. one jump.

Ning Zheng looked at his weird performance and stared at him dissatisfied.

Yang Liren turned to look at Ning Zheng again, with the same strange expression.

After a while, he couldn't pretend to be anything, he pulled Ning Zheng aside, and asked in a low voice, "You—you haven't consummated the marriage with your wife yet, have you?"

Ning Zheng narrowed his eyes, "What's none of your business?"

"Oh, I didn't see it, you're really—" He looked at Ning Zheng up and down with an unbelievable look, and Ning Zheng became impatient, "You boy, your eyes are so poisonous. How did you get it?"

"You wife, when it comes to your physical strength, don't the wives who understand human affairs have to be embarrassed? She is good, and she is also silly and happy."

……I see.

Ning Zheng said with a cold face, "Don't pass it on to me."

"Oh, such a embarrassing thing, you can't say it alone—what's the difference between this and saying you 'don't raise'? Why don't you silence me?" Shrinking his neck, pretending to be scared.

Ning Zheng's face was gloomy, and he began to think whether to shoot him dead, or to poison his broken mouth.

"However, how can you bear it?" He asked curiously, after all, they were all young men, and Ning Zheng was not an abstinent person before.

"Just hold it back then." He looked at Yang Liren with a smile, but there was no smile in his eyes.

Yang Liren really felt a chill this time.

However, he still sincerely complained for his friend: "You, why bother? Could it be that you, a beautiful wife, are so worried about your past, so you made a high profile? Just ask if you regret it? ——Is it uncomfortable? No wonder you have always been dissatisfied with desire and dissatisfaction these days. Let me tell you, the wife is not used, but married in to make a living? Are you stupid? It’s almost done. .”

"Shut up." Ning Zheng saw Feng Jiu walking over with a smile, and took his arm, so while warning the old friend opposite with his eyes, he put his other hand on the back of her hand.

Seeing Feng Jiu's smiling face, Ning Zheng also became happy. What does it matter if an old friend sees through such a weak boudoir privacy?Anyway, after she married herself, most of the time she was in a happy mood, it was more worthwhile than anything else.

Feng Jiu covered her mouth and secretly said to Ning Zheng: "Look at them both." The fingers covering her mouth also moved slightly.

Ning Zheng followed Feng Jiu's finger and looked over. Yin Yage was holding a glass of drink, and leaned over to watch Gloria show him the small photo in the necklace pendant on his neck. It was a photo of her grandfather and her .They were hidden in a corner behind the piano in the living room. From this angle, their bodies were very close. Of course, it may be because everyone in the living room was talking, so they had to get closer to hear clearly.

Fengjiu looked around at the people around her, a little strange, because none of the Americans she knew in Fengtian came, and her own English teacher, Father Lin Mo, was also an American. There are not many people, and they should all be connected with each other; but thinking about it this way, it seems that Father Lin Mo has never been involved with Fengtian's YMCA, that is, the YMCA. And she was afraid that she and Ning Zheng had already met at the party.

She asked Ning Zheng inexplicably, and Ning Zheng explained to her that Xiaoxiguan Church was built by the French and belongs to Catholicism; while the YMCA belongs to Protestantism, which is commonly known as "Christianity" by the Chinese. The two understand God. They are different, and the bloody wars launched in Europe because of this are unknown, so in Fengtian, they also try to avoid contact.

Why is this necessary?

Feng Jiu himself does not believe in religion. Although Father Lin Mo once expressed regret for this, Feng Jiu told him that we Chinese are generally atheists. We do not believe in God, but we believe in our ancestors and believe in "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith, gentleness, respectfulness and thrift."

After hearing this, Father Lin Mo thought about it for a long time, and smiled appreciatively, saying that it is really rare that your Chinese politics can not be kidnapped by religion.

Finally, Mr. Pu suggested that everyone sing a song together - "Youth is the Light of the World".

So everyone ended the party with relaxed and happy singing, and Feng Jiu also had a deeper understanding of the youth association whose motto is "serve people instead of serving people": no matter what, teaching people to be good always is good, no matter where it comes from.

When the party was over, Feng Jiu told Ge Luoli empathetically that she and Ning Zheng had other things to do, please ask Mr. Yin to take her back.

Yin Yage stood in front of his car with one hand in his pocket, staring at Luoli without blinking. Luoli couldn't tell that it was a good intention from her best friend, so she accepted it gratefully.

"It seems that our husband and wife will join hands to create a marriage that we both love and love, and the merits will be immeasurable." Ning Zheng said with emotion as he watched Yinjager's dark green Ford car go away.

Feng Jiu glanced at Ning Zheng, but hesitated to speak.

"What's the matter, what do you want to say?" Ning Zheng knew exactly what Feng Jiu wanted to say, so he deliberately put on a tiger face.

"You also know that a marriage of two people's love is boundless, you, huh?" Feng Jiu couldn't understand how Ning Zheng's face could be so big, didn't he know how he got married?
Ning Zheng looked at Feng Jiu's dissatisfied eyes, smiled, let her into the car, and said while driving: "We are naturally in love, you are still young, so you don't understand."

Feng Jiu was so choked that he rolled his eyes, I'm so embarrassed, is there some misunderstanding about the love between two people?How to say it well, in terms of thick-skinned, she is willing to bow down.

She was not convinced, and raised the bar with a smile: "One moment you say that I am old enough, and my mother is already a mother at this age; another moment, you say that I am still young, so I don't understand; then, may I ask if I am old or young?"

This time it was Ning Zheng's turn to be choked by Feng Jiu, so he simply played a rogue, and said with a half-smile: "I said you are big when you are big, and small when you are young, where are you talking so much?"

Feng Jiu laughed.

Ning Zheng turned his head to look at Feng Jiu's radiant face, and laughed with her.

(End of this chapter)