Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 43 Bet

Xiao Hong excitedly opened the door and rushed in, only to be immediately bewildered by the scene inside.

"Brother Guizi, uh... hehe, hello." Xiao Hong was still closing the door with one hand, twisting her body, her big eyes darting left and right, scanning the faces of Xia Maosheng and Yang Tiebin who were standing at the kitchen door, and then turning her body to look into the kitchen.

"Hello." Xia Maosheng turned to greet Xiao Hong.

Yang Tiebin didn't say anything, but smiled at Xiao Hong.

Xiao Wei peeked out from the kitchen and said, "School's out? This is a classmate from my cooking class. He's just dropping by to teach me how to cook. Put your bag down, wash your face, and get ready to eat."

Xiao Hong nodded, looked at the faces of the others, hung her schoolbag on the wall, and went inside.

Yang Tiebin whispered, "Zhang Wei, your wife is really tall and beautiful. How come you're so lucky?"

Inside, Li Guangzhao scooped the vegetables out of the oil pan, poured the oil into a strainer, and muttered to himself, "You're supposed to be cooking, washing clothes, and cleaning the house? Haven't you noticed that this old man can't actually do anything?"

Xia Maosheng chuckled, covering his mouth and whispering, "He's a top student in the engineering department, Xiaowei. Tell me, did you pull some kind of trick? How come you always get all the good things?"

A scream rang out from inside, followed by silence. Xiaowei rushed out of the kitchen and ran into the house, shouting, "What happened? What happened?"

Xiao Hong came out of the house with a flushed face, and said a little embarrassedly, "No, there isn't anything." Then she pointed into the house and asked, "Where did that, that tape recorder, come from?"

Xiao Wei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I bought it for you. Lao Xia and I went to Sanhao Street to buy it at noon today. I didn't know where you were going to put it, so I just put it in my room for now. What's up?"

Xiao Hong paused for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh, saying, "You're wasting money again without even telling me." But she immediately turned back and headed straight for the tape recorder.

Xiao Wei walked to the door and said, "Time to eat. We'll do it after we eat. Anyway, it's yours now. You can cuddle with it every day from now on." He also brought a few cassette tapes, saying they were original soundtracks. The blank tapes are there too. He didn't charge me; he gave them to me for free.

Xiao Hong raised the microphone, turned to Xiao Wei, and asked, "You mean this too?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Yeah, they say it's the best on the market right now. It has eight channels, and it can record while singing and playing accompaniment. It can also do high-fidelity copying. Anyway, it has a lot of functions, but I haven't figured it out yet."

Xiao Hong reached out and touched the tape recorder, saying, "It's really nice. How much does it cost?"

Xiao Wei took a step back, licked his lips, and said, "Nine... hundred and eighty."

Xiao Hong's gaze suddenly flew over and pierced Xiao Wei's face. Xiao Wei gave an awkward laugh and said, "The stuff is good."

Xiao Hong pointed at Xiao Wei and whispered, "You wait here, they'll be gone in a bit." Then she glanced at the tape recorder, turned and walked out. Xiao Wei quickly stood against the wall to let Xiao Hong pass. As they passed each other, Xiao Hong turned and kissed Xiao Wei on the cheek, saying, "This is a reward. We'll settle the score later. I'm fair in rewards and punishments. Hmph." She then looked up and ran off to the dining room.

Preparing the dishes was troublesome and slow, but cooking them was quick. In the short time it took the two of them to come in and exchange a few words, three dishes were already on the table. As they walked over, Xia Maosheng said, "Wash your hands and eat. Do you have any wine at home?"

Xiao Wei looked around and said, "No, I don't drink at home. Do you want baijiu or beer? I'll go downstairs and buy some."

"Knock knock knock," there was a knock on the door. Xiao Wei went to open it, and Chen Hui walked in with a smile. He sniffed the air and said, "What are you making? It smells delicious."

Xiao Wei stepped back to let Chen Hui in, saying as he closed the door, "You've come at the perfect time. What kind of wine do you want? I'll go downstairs and buy some."

Chen Hui pulled two bottles of liquor from his pockets, one in each pocket, and held them up, saying, "I brought some, what else do I need to buy? Two bottles should be enough, right?"

Xiao Wei took the bottle and examined it. It was Lao Longkou, a local baijiu from Fengtian, quite famous in those days, and indeed delicious, without causing a headache. He said, "That's enough, two bottles of baijiu aren't enough." Turning to Xia Maosheng, he said, "Chen Hui brought Lao Longkou, shall we drink this?"

Xia Maosheng nodded to Chen Hui and said, "Okay, it doesn't matter what I drink, I won't drink much anyway."

After placing the wine on the table, Xiao Hong went to get a bowl, and Yang Tiebin brought over a plate of dishes, which Li Guangzhao was cooking.

Chen Hui looked at the dishes, smelled them, walked to the kitchen doorway, and looked inside, saying, "You're a chef after all. This stuff is so different from what we make at home. It smells delicious. Xiao Wei, can you come over?"

Xiao Wei blushed and said, "Right now, all I can do is eat, and I'm still learning."

Everyone burst into laughter. Xia Maosheng said, "Chef Zhang hasn't even cut a single vegetable yet. He's holding the knife like he's about to start a revolution."

Xiao Wei scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and said, "I've never cut meat, but I have cut vegetables. I've even chopped chicken and ribs."

Xiao Hong nodded to testify: "Yes, he chopped ribs and chopped my cutting board in half. After that, my dad never dared to let him into the kitchen."

"Hahahaha," everyone laughed again. Xia Maosheng laughed so hard he squatted down, struggling to say, "Holy crap, I'm impressed, Xiao Wei, you're absolutely a talent."

Chen Hui looked at Xiao Wei, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Sigh, it seems there's still a long way to go. Keep up the good work, comrade. It looks like the first person you need to surpass isn't Xiao Hong, but me. I can still handle two of them."

Xiao Wei pointed at the group of people with his finger, gritting his teeth as he said, "Remember this, you just wait and see if I can pull it off in two months. I don't believe it."

Xiao Hong invited everyone to sit down and eat, then poured drinks for them, saying, "He even made a bet with me, saying he'd definitely do better than me in two months. I'm just waiting to eat here."

Xia Maosheng tapped his fingers on the table, an old custom to express gratitude for someone pouring him wine. He said, "Okay, I'll bet too. If you win, I'll give you a complete set of knives."

Yang Tiebin brought out the last dish, sat down, and said, "I'll bet too. Old Xia got the knives, I'll get a set too, a carving knife. If you win, I'll give it to you. Hey? Why do I have more wine than you guys? Who poured it?"

Xiao Hong poured wine into Li Guangzhao's bowl, saying, "I'm pouring it, isn't I? I'm pouring it now. You and Brother Li can drink, so have more. Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng can't drink, so have less. What's wrong?"

Yang Tiebin raised his hand to wipe his face and said, "It's okay, alright, let's drink some more."

Li Guangzhao finished cleaning up the stove, wiped his hands, and walked out of the kitchen. He sat down at his seat and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Tiebin shook his head and said, "It's alright, come on, let's get started. Old Li's cooking looks pretty good, have a taste." He picked up his chopsticks.