Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 388 Eldest Brother

On the other end, Xiao Hong pouted and hung up the phone, saying angrily, "You dare hang up on me? You wait and see how I deal with you, you traitor!"

Aunt Wang came out of the house in her pajamas and said, "What are you muttering about? Are you done? What's wrong, Xiaowei?"

Xiao Hong turned to her mother and said, "He hung up on me. Tell him to wait. If we don't teach him a lesson, he'll think he's going to fly."

Aunt Wang sat down and asked, "What did you say?"

Xiao Hong rolled her eyes and said, "Didn't you hear what I said? If you didn't hear me, why did you come out to ask?"

Aunt Wang reached out and patted Xiao Hong on the head, saying, "What are you listening to? I just heard you, a grown woman, shamelessly letting someone kiss you on the phone. Aren't you ashamed? Only Xiao Wei spoils you."

Xiao Hong chuckled and said, "You believe his face is bright red right now? Hehe, let me tell you, he's incredibly shy, it's so funny."

Aunt Wang laughed and scolded, "Who's as shameless as you? Such a big girl, acting so recklessly. I think it's Dajun getting married!"

Xiao Hong said, "It should be. They said he transferred to the volunteer army and will work there and not come back here. He's found a girlfriend, and it should be enough for him to tell his family. Gui Zi said he'll send some money to his older brother tomorrow so he can buy a house there."

Aunt Wang said, "Dajun hasn't had it easy either. He was so young, running off to make a living all by himself, and now so many years have passed, eight or nine years. He's finally made it through. We country folk, tsk, it's never easy anywhere. If Xiaowei wants to give, then give. You can't stop him, you hear me?"

Xiao Hong said, "Is your daughter that stingy? You're really looking down on me!"

Aunt Wang patted Xiao Hong's head and said, "Hmm, my daughter is a good girl, that's good. Go to sleep." She got up and went back to her room. Xiao Hong went to the kitchen to wash her face and then went back to her room to sleep.

The next morning, Xiaowei got his older brother's phone number from his father and went to the cake shop to see the multi-tiered cake that Chef Li had prepared. The cake was made with a bakelite board as the base, lined with paper pads cut from tracing paper, and then the cake base was placed on top to make the flowers.

Chef Li designed the cake to symbolize "abundant blessings and longevity." The top layer is a large peach, surrounded by smaller peach decorations. Below are three layers: one of peonies symbolizing wealth and prosperity, another of flowers symbolizing good fortune, and a third of five bats symbolizing good luck. The cream on each layer is shaped into an arc, with a base of fine, pale yellow strands, and topped with layers of blooming flowers of various colors, large and small, clustered together, partially embracing the four red characters for "wealth, prosperity, longevity, and blessings" in clerical script, giving it a dignified and grand appearance.

The main structure was complete, and Chef Li was meticulously filling in the details. Xiao Wei didn't disturb him, and after looking around, he went to the restaurant to check on the food preparations. Because this type of cake doesn't have a special stand, it can only be assembled on-site, using stemmed glasses to support the weight and putting the four layers together. Once it's set up, it can't be moved.

As soon as I stepped out of the cake shop, I heard Huang Laowu call out, "Xiao Wei."

Xiao Wei stopped and turned around, saying, "Um, is something wrong?"

Huang Laowu walked over and said, "Last night, Lao Hou and I went to Heizi's house. We didn't return the money; his family is really struggling. In the end, we agreed that his side would remain the same, and from now on, we'll give this money directly to Heizi's mother. Do you think this arrangement is acceptable?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's between you two, I won't interfere. But it's best not to let Hei Zi know about this, we need to make him give up, otherwise it'll cause trouble sooner or later. Forget it, you guys handle it yourselves, as long as it doesn't affect things here."

Huang Laowu handed a cigarette to Xiaowei and said, "I've explained everything to Heizi's mother before and after, and told her to keep it from Heizi. That should be it. After that, Lao Hou and I are planning to put together four more cases. Do you think that's feasible?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "You guys can chip in four bills. Hua Sheng and Li Xing should have enough for four bills too. Eight bills, fourteen... okay, I'll add six more. I'll cover the rent and renovations first. Once the money comes in after we open, just pay me back. Is that alright?"

Huang Laowu laughed and said, "That's definitely going to work. To be honest, Xiaowei, you're really generous. Let's stick together like this, and you don't withdraw your shares, okay? If you withdraw, we'll be cut off. How can we shamelessly follow you in if there's anything good in the future?"

Xiao Wei chuckled and said, "You guys are planning pretty far ahead. Whether I withdraw or not doesn't matter, we'll talk about it later. You should hurry up and talk to the food supplier and get the money together. I have a table available for lunch, I'll go check it out." He waved and walked towards the restaurant, then turned back after a few steps and said, "By the way, Lao Wu, hurry up and get someone to pave the ground with cement, make it solid, otherwise it'll be ruined in a few days when the rainy season starts."

Huang Laowu looked down and said, "Okay, I'll have someone calculate it this afternoon." In fact, there isn't a strict rainy season in Northeast China; if you really want to calculate it, it rains from May to the end of September. Rainfall in the Northeast isn't as frequent as in the south, and there's no situation where it rains continuously for four or five days at a time. However, the rain here is heavy; it can be a torrential downpour.

After entering the restaurant and taking a look around, everyone was busy. The five tables of dishes were quite formal and were prepared according to traditional customs, which was rather troublesome.

The traditional birthday banquet in Liaodong is actually very similar to that in Shandong cuisine. Longevity noodles and longevity peaches are indispensable, followed by spring rolls, braised pork knuckle, cold pork liver with mixed sausages, sausage with peanuts, jellyfish salad, four-happiness meatballs, dry-fried fish, crispy boneless chicken, braised pork knuckle, braised pork belly with sauce, braised beef strips, braised sea cucumber with scallions, bamboo shrimp, braised pork ribs with baby squid, two-color squid flowers, and shrimp with bok choy.

When Xiaowei came in, several interns were massaging the crispy chicken machine. This dish uses young chicken broth cooked in the same year. The chicken meat is separated from the bones by kneading, and after all the bones are removed, the whole chicken is deep-fried in an egg crispy pan. It is a very time-consuming and complicated dish.

Brother Zhai is frying meatballs. Four Happiness Meatballs, also known as Lion's Head, are four fist-sized meatballs that are fried thoroughly before being cooked into a dish.

The kitchen was filled with the aroma of fried food.

Xiao Wei asked, "Is it almost done?" Sister Zhang said while chopping vegetables, "It's a piece of cake. We could easily have another ten or eight tables. Don't worry, little boss. Just make sure you check the bonuses carefully when you hand them out."

Several people laughed, and Xiaowei walked through the kitchen to the front to make a phone call.

The phone rang a few times before being answered: "Hey? Who's looking for?"

Xiao Wei said, "I'm looking for Zhang Jun; I'm his younger brother."

After a while, Zhang Jun's voice came from the other end: "Feeding? Xiao Wei?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yeah, bro, it's me. Your family has the letter. My mom asked me to call you."

Zhang Jun said, "Couldn't you even write me a letter yourself? If my mom hadn't written to me, I wouldn't have known you moved, you little rascal. Are you even doing well now? My mom just said you moved there to do business with someone else, but she didn't explain anything clearly. What are you doing now?"

Xiao Wei said, "I've partnered with some people to run a restaurant and a food factory. It's doing alright, business is pretty good. Brother, you can contact the family anytime now, right? We can reach you anytime by calling this number, right?"

Zhang Jun said, "Sure, it's settled now. Just call this number if anything comes up. I'm usually available during the day. Could you give me your phone number? Do you have a phone at home?"

(End of this chapter)