The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 102 Hospitality

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"What other side dishes are you preparing?" Li Yueting asked.

"Side dishes? What side dishes? We must carry forward the traditional style of hard work and frugality, and not engage in extravagance. Eating well and being full is the most important thing, otherwise it will leave a bad impression on the leader..." Yang Ming said.

"..." Li Yueting was completely speechless. When other cadres went to the countryside, they were served four dishes and a soup. But this high-ranking official only got cornbread and stewed small fish...

"What, you think what I'm doing is too extravagant? Fine, then just stick to the pancakes, and we can save on the little fish." Yang Ming smiled mischievously.

"Okay! I have no objection, but you must take good precautions to keep it a secret. Don't let everyone know. It's best if only the two of you know..." Li Yueting decided not to argue with Yang Ming anymore. He was just being difficult. Let's see if he can really pull it off when the time comes.

"Huh?" This time it was Yang Ming's turn to be frustrated.

"Is it okay to eat those dragon eggs from yesterday?" Li Yueting asked.

"Well, for a mature person, it's best to have their wife around when they eat, either before puberty or after menopause, so they won't be affected by that. Um, pregnant women should also be included," Yang Ming said somewhat awkwardly.

Li Yueting blushed, thinking of the ordeal she had suffered last night, and felt a surge of anger. She took a deep breath to calm herself down: "The commander must have already passed menopause. Let's give the commander a dragon egg..."

"He can't finish one. A dragon egg is the size of a football..." Yang Ming said.

"Can't you pack up what you can't finish?" Li Yueting glared at Yang Ming.

"Uh... okay, okay..." Yang Ming nodded repeatedly.

"What are the effects of eating the egg of that seven-colored bird?" Li Yueting asked again.

"It can make you feel energetic..."

"The leader is busy with countless affairs every day, working hard and mentally exhausting. Aren't you going to contribute?" Li Yueting said.

"Ah? I'll contribute one, I'll contribute one..." Yang Ming nodded repeatedly.

"One contribution isn't enough? Can you even offer one?" Li Yueting rolled her eyes.

"Then two...three...four will do, right?" Yang Ming asked, rather annoyed. "Four? Can we even eat that?"

"If you can't finish it, just take it home..." Li Yueting smiled like a little fox.

"Okay, okay, I'll pack it up..." Yang Ming nodded repeatedly.

"Is your milk quite special?" Li Yueting asked.

"Cow's milk strengthens the body, goat's milk enhances intelligence, and dog's milk enhances courage," Yang Ming said without hiding anything.

"That's amazing! What about your fruits? Are there any special features about them? I've been eating your fruits these past few days and I feel so light and refreshed..." Li Yueting asked in surprise.

"Fruit? It's delicious, right? What else can it do?" Yang Ming really didn't know what was so special about his family's fruit. It seemed that each fruit had a fairly comprehensive effect, enhancing both the physical and mental aspects to a certain extent, with some aspects being more emphasized or highlighted.

"I don't believe it..." Li Yueting shook her head firmly.

"If you don't believe me, fine, but why are you asking this?"

"I think you should pack all this fresh milk and fruit into a big gift package and have the leader take it back with him when he goes back..." Li Yueting said.

"They're taking food and gifts too? What are they bringing me?" Yang Ming asked.

"Look at the way you're talking, as if they really care about your stuff..." Li Yueting rolled her eyes. "As long as you behave well, the commander will basically give you whatever you want today. What other gift do you want?"

"He has to write a plaque for me, so that when our Zhengjia Village develops agritourism, we can hang it up as a signboard..." Yang Ming said, his eyes darting around.

"What's the use? Without the leader's signature, who can recognize it? You know, the leader will absolutely not let anyone know his whereabouts when he comes out this time. No one will think that it is the leader's own handwriting..." Li Yueting said.

"I find you to be really petty and short-sighted. I asked the leader to write the inscription so that I could use the celebrity effect to attract tourists, right?" Yang Ming said irritably.

"Why is that?" Li Yueting was puzzled this time.

"I plan to leave this to my children and grandchildren as wealth. Their net worth will definitely skyrocket. Maybe I'll even go down in history because of it..." Yang Ming said.

Li Yueting was exasperated. She now felt that Yang Ming was incredibly unreliable: "You want to become famous? Do you need to latch onto a high-ranking official's powerful backer? If you lend this egg-laying dragon to the Beijing Zoo for a month's exhibition, the whole world will know who you are..."

"Keep a low profile! One should keep a low profile! Don't be too arrogant. At least in my lifetime, I have no intention of becoming famous..." Yang Ming said modestly.

"..." Li Yueting rolled her eyes, completely speechless...

"Can you tell me which leader came this time?" Yang Ming asked with a curious look.

"State secret, no comment." Li Yueting started speaking in an official tone. She realized that she had to be serious when talking to this bastard, otherwise he would take advantage of her.

"Fine, I won't tell you then. I'll find out anyway, won't I? I still need to prepare cornbread and braised fish for the commander, so I won't keep you company any longer..." Yang Ming said, standing up, pushing open the gate, walking out, and locking the gate behind him.

"Hey, hey, I'm still inside..." Li Yueting complained.

"You're so skilled, why don't you just jump out yourself..." Yang Ming left without even turning his head.

Yang Ming took a small jar and a bucket from home, then took an apple from the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room. He took a bite, stuffed the bitten apple flesh into the jar, and then went to the stream at the edge of the field.

The wolf's listless howling had no effect on Yang Ming. He threw the small jar into the stream and sat quietly on the bank to wait.

Visibly, ripples spread across the water's surface, a sign of small, miscellaneous fish surging in frantically.

"Wow...that's amazing..." Although Yang Ming had seen apples wreak havoc in the sea, the sea was too deep to see anything clearly. But this place was different. The stream was crystal clear, and a group of small fish swam by, giving the surface of the water a dark and oppressive feeling, like a dark cloud.

Quickly, with lightning speed, the small jar acted like a vacuum cleaner or range hood, rapidly sucking away the dark, cloud-like school of fish...

"Wow..." Yang Ming was dumbfounded, but he didn't forget to lift the small jar up.

A whole jar full of small, miscellaneous fish, weighing at least twenty or thirty pounds. That many small fish would be enough for thirty or forty people, since small, miscellaneous fish aren't a staple food…

Yang Ming poured the small fish into a bucket, filling it more than halfway, then carried it home to clean it up.

When Yang Ming got home, he poured all the small fish into a large basin, added water, and the fish began to jump and splash around. He then took out a small shallow container from the cupboard to hold the fish.

"How did we catch so many small fry?" Wei Qingqing asked, somewhat puzzled, as she came out of the east room.

"I'm entertaining guests at noon today..." Yang Ming said, moving a small stool to sit by the large basin and starting to clean the small fish.

"Oh? Inviting guests? Who is it? Why are you bringing so many fish?" Wei Qingqing also moved a small stool and helped clean the fish.

"I heard they came from Beijing, but I really don't know who they are..." Yang Ming said, pinching open the belly of a small fish about the length of a finger, throwing out its internal organs, and throwing it into the shallow pool. The ones that were only an inch long were scooped up directly onto the shallow pool.

"You didn't know?" Wei Qingqing muttered, knowing it might be something important, and then stopped asking.

The couple worked hard for half a day and finally cleaned up all the small fish. They heated up a large pot, poured in oil, and after the oil was hot, they coated the small fish with a layer of batter and then fried them in the oil until golden brown.

After frying them all, I ended up with more than half a pot of small, miscellaneous fish. I sprinkled on some seasonings, poured in water, and simmered it over low heat.

Wei Qingqing scooped some cornmeal from the flour jar, put it into the flour basin, and started kneading the dough to make pancakes.

Around noon, a Santana pulled up under the big willow tree at Yang Ming's house.

"Sniff..." The car door opened, and an old man stepped out. He immediately smelled a strong fragrance. "What's that smell? It's so enticing!"

At this moment, the driver also got out. He was a stern-looking man, but his eyes were unfriendly; no matter who he looked at, it was as if he were looking at a bad guy: "Sir, be careful of the enemy releasing poison gas..."

I must say, the driver had a really loud voice, especially in the valley, the echoes were quite loud, almost as loud as Liu Lei from Liujia Village.

The old man rolled his eyes and said, "Xiao Qi, the domestic environment is still very harmonious. Don't always act like it's a class struggle; it'll scare the kids."

"Yes, sir..." Xiao Qi nodded hurriedly, but her attitude remained unchanged.

"Woof woof woof..." A series of barks came from the yard, and Big Black and the others ran out and barked at the old man and the driver.

"Oh no, there's danger..." Xiao Qi immediately stepped forward and stood in front of the old man, her big, round eyes fixed on Da Hei and the others.

"I said, Xiao Qi... never mind, I won't say anything more..." The old man felt that Xiao Qi was possessed by Don Quixote, and he had a feeling that everything was a threat.

"Big Black, stop barking..." At this moment, Yang Ming ran out of the house and stopped Big Black and the others.

Big Black and the others grumbled at Xiao Qi twice and reluctantly went back into the yard.

Only then did Yang Ming take a good look at the two people in front of him. The big man was alright, just a big, silly-looking guy. But the old man, beneath his kind and benevolent face, had a steely and bloody aura. Clearly, this old man must have experienced real battlefields when he was young.

However, no matter how Yang Ming looked at the old man, he could not equate him with the old men who often appeared on television.

"I wonder who you two are...?" Yang Ming asked.

"You must be Yang Ming? This is a leader from our provincial military region. We're on an incognito visit, so please don't tell anyone..." Xiao Qi whispered mysteriously.

Of course, his voice was relatively soft, but basically everyone in Zhengjia Village heard it. Every household opened their doors and stood at their doorways looking around. Even the construction workers building Zhang Yang's house stopped what they were doing and looked over. Everyone thought that shout was someone showing a movie, until they heard someone calling Yang Ming, and then they realized it was a person speaking.

"Xiao Qi, you big mouth, shut your mouth..." The old man glared at Xiao Qi and said angrily.

Xiao Qi immediately lowered her head and dared not utter another word, just like a child who had done something wrong.

"Top-notch..." Yang Ming gave Xiao Qi a very fair assessment in his mind. With someone like this around, at least he wouldn't be bored to death.

"You must be Comrade Yang Ming, right? Just call me Old Li, haha. This old man will be retiring at the end of this year, finally I can relax a bit... What's that smell in your house? Can I... take a look?" The old man looked at Yang Ming and smiled kindly.

"Just looking?" Yang Ming asked with a smile.

"Ah..." The old man nodded.

"No need to look, I'll just tell you what this is..." Yang Ming said seriously, "This tastes like cornbread stewed with small fish."

"How do we know you're telling the truth? We'll have to see for ourselves..." Xiao Qi said, her eyes wide as saucers.

"Xiao Qi, if you want to eat it, just say so. How will people know if you don't say anything? You're so straightforward, don't try to beat around the bush like some people..." The old man said in a lecturing tone.

"Oh! So you two wanted to eat? You should have said so earlier..." Yang Ming said, feigning sudden realization.

"Who wants to eat? What haven't I eaten? I've tasted everything from delicacies to grass roots and tree bark..." the old man said.

"That's right, who wants to eat it?" Xiao Qi chimed in, playing the straight man for the old man.

"Well... I misunderstood. You two have come from afar, please come in and have some water. If you get lost, I'll show you the way out after you finish your water..." Yang Ming said quickly.

"..." The old man was speechless for a moment, his eyes wide open, not knowing what to say. This kid, isn't he a bit too mischievous? I heard that this kid used to be quite kind, how come he has become like this now?

Xiao Qi was also stunned. He hadn't expected that this skinny little guy would be so... Xiao Qi couldn't think of a suitable adjective.

"Ah...in that case, come in and have a glass of water..." The old man nodded.

"Please..." Yang Ming quickly ushered the old man into the house.

Sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), the old man suddenly felt as if he had returned to the era of the War of Resistance against Japan, living in a fellow villager's home.

"The water isn't hot, so please make do with this milk," Yang Ming said, handing the old man a carton of milk.

"Have some fruit..." Wei Qingqing quickly washed some fruit and brought it over.

"Ah! Sitting on your kang (heated brick bed), I suddenly feel like I've returned to the time when the rural revolutionary base was established. How many years has it been? I was just a little kid then, and now I'm an old man." The old man reminisced. "Back then, we'd go fishing with the villagers by the ditch. The fish back then were truly natural and unpolluted. We'd catch a net full of small fish, put them in a big pot, and simmer them... the taste... if we stuck a ring of cornbread around the edge of the pot, that taste is the most memorable delicacy of my life..."

goooo...

Xiao Qi swallowed at just the right moment, adding a touch of magic to the old man's story.

"Are you talking about cornbread and stewed small fish?" Yang Ming asked.

"Oh? Could that be the legendary cornbread with boiled small fish?" The old man, still a bit of a child at heart, asked with a look of surprise.

"Ah...why don't we serve you a bowl, and you can taste it to see if it tastes the same as it did back then?" Yang Ming said.

"Want to try some?" The old man raised an eyebrow.

"Try it..." Yang Ming nodded repeatedly, and asked Wei Qingqing to go to the outer room to serve the small fish.

Wei Qingqing covered her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter, and went out to serve the fish.

A bowl of small, yellowish fish, each one standing upright, with a rich, savory aroma that tantalizes the nose. Yellowish flatbreads with potstickers, one end of which is soaked in fish soup, are slightly sticky and make one's mouth water.

"This is quite similar to the legendary cornbread stewed with small fish, but I wonder what it tastes like, and whether it's the same..." the old man said with a smile.

In the old man's eyes, he was just teasing a child, and the banter with the young man made him feel better.

"Why don't you try it and see?" Yang Ming said.

"Then... I'll try it for you..." The old man picked up his chopsticks, took a small fish, put it in his mouth, and chewed it gently.

"How is it? Does it taste the same?" Yang Ming asked curiously.

"Hmm...it has a bit of flavor, but...I'll have another one and savor it properly." The old man tasted it carefully, took a bite of the pancake, and then picked up a small fish to eat.

"Yang Ming..." Li Yueting's voice rang out, and then the girl rushed in. Upon entering the room, she saw only four people; Aunt Liu and Zhang Yang were not there. She gave the old man a military salute: "Old Li..."

"Oh...it's Xiaohong...would you like to have something to eat with me?" the old man greeted her warmly.

"No, I have a mission..." Li Yueting quickly refused, but her face darkened.

"If you don't want to eat, then don't eat. Why are you making such a face?" The old man reluctantly started eating.

"Yang Mingqing, the commander is already waiting for you in the back garden, hurry up... Oh, and bring the cornbread and braised fish you prepared, the commander specifically asked for them," Li Yueting said.

"Okay, okay, no problem..." Wei Qingqing hurriedly went to the outer room to serve the fish, and Yang Ming and Li Yueting followed her out.

"Why are you called Xiao Hong?" Yang Ming asked Li Yueting furtively.

"Is it any of your business? I can call myself whatever I want..." Li Yueting blushed and glared at Yang Ming.

"Hehe, don't mind him, this old man is a bit frivolous..." Yang Ming quickly changed the subject.

"Your grandpa is not proper at all..." Li Yueting's eyes widened even more.

"Is he your grandfather?" Yang Ming's eyes widened even more than Li Yueting's.

"What's wrong? Is it not okay..." Li Yueting rolled her eyes. "Having experienced so much life and death, you've become indifferent to everything. Isn't it better to live a more relaxed life?"

"That makes sense..." Yang Ming nodded slightly.

Wei Qingqing put the fish into a large earthenware basin and had Yang Ming carry it, while Li Yueting carried a large plate of cornbread. She herself took a large handful of chopsticks and a large bag of fruit.

"You'd better call Zhang Yang over..." Li Yueting said as she left.

"Oh! Right, right, it was almost impolite to have Zhang Yang accompany your grandfather..." Yang Ming quickly said.

"No, that's not it... Actually, my grandpa would love for him to be all alone in the house..." Li Yueting said, pursing her lips.

"Why?" Yang Ming asked curiously.

"Because he lives alone in your house, he will turn your house upside down. He can throw all sorts of things that involve privacy all over the place..." Li Yueting said with lingering fear.

"Huh?" Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing were both so shocked that their mouths dropped open.

"What is he looking for?" Wei Qingqing was a little unhappy. It was one thing to talk about a man's things, but what about a woman's things?

"It's not about looking for anything... it's a habit. My grandfather participated in a counter-espionage operation back then. Before entering a room, he would check every nook and cranny. Didn't you see his bodyguard? He was such a heroic man. I've caught his habit," Li Yueting whispered.

"So that's how it is..." Yang Ming nodded in agreement, recalling Xiao Qi's Don Quixote-like behavior just now.

"Zhang Yang, Zhang Yang, come and keep the guests company..." Wei Qingqing called out to Zhang Yang, who was supervising the construction site.

"Why does what you're saying sound so awkward? It's like your house is a brothel, isn't it, Madam Wei..." Zhang Yang came running over, still complaining.

Everyone was speechless. Wei Qingqing whispered a few words to Zhang Yang, and after Zhang Yang solemnly assured her, she followed Yang Ming and walked towards the back garden.

P.S.: Please recommend and add to your favorites...

(End of this chapter)