Chapter 459 - 391: Another Phone Call
In the Northeast, they have a saying about eating fish: fry the small ones, stew the big ones.
But here in the mountains, most of the fish were from the river. A carp weighing over a pound was considered quite large.
Zhao Youcai was stewing the fish in an iron pot, with large flatbreads stuck to the sides. Since he hadn’t soaked the vermicelli in advance, he just added it directly to the pot as it came to a boil.
The Northeast doesn’t have many specialties, but if you count potatoes, then vermicelli certainly counts as well.
Northeasterners love to eat vermicelli. It’s not because of a scarcity of food or vegetables; they just genuinely love it.
Besides the famous dish "Pork Stewed with Vermicelli," Northeasterners will add vermicelli to just about any meat stew.
Once cooked, the vermicelli soaks up the meat broth and becomes incredibly flavorful.
A large, steaming-hot platter was brought to the table. In the center was the fish, surrounded by a bed of vermicelli. Amidst the clamoring of Zhao Hong and Zhao Na, Zhao Jun scooped out the two fish eyes and gave one to each of them.
The old folks say that eating fish eyes is good for a child’s eyesight.
This stems from the theory that you are what you eat. The children, however, believed it without a doubt, and over time, it became a habit for them.
Wang Meilan was in a good mood today, too. She actually brought the wine jug and a cup to Zhao Youcai herself, though Zhao Youcai was the one who poured the drink.
Picking up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and taking a sip of wine, Zhao Youcai felt quite happy as well. He was a father, after all. Though he didn’t usually show it, his son’s marriage being settled was a great weight off his and his wife’s minds.
However, Zhao Youcai had another matter weighing on his mind: that Wild Leopard. He had wanted to take advantage of Wang Meilan’s good mood to bring up hunting in the Yongxing Brigade, but Zhao Jun had stopped him.
Zhao Youcai held his wine cup with one hand and raised his chopsticks with the other, placing a clump of vermicelli in both Zhao Hong’s and Zhao Na’s bowls. He then discreetly glanced at Wang Meilan. Seeing she was still smiling, he felt his resolve harden.
But when Zhao Youcai’s gaze shifted, he saw Zhao Jun subtly shaking his head at him. A flicker of displeasure crossed Zhao Youcai’s mind. ’I took care of such a huge thing for you today, and yet you wouldn’t agree to that one little thing I asked for yesterday.’
Zhao Youcai’s eyes darted, and a plan formed in his mind. He immediately cleared his throat and asked Zhao Jun at the dinner table, "Son, about that..."
The moment he spoke, the eyes of everyone else at the table turned to him.
To be honest, Zhao Youcai suddenly felt a pang of regret. But what was done was done. He could only ask Zhao Jun, "Did anyone from the Yongxing Brigade call you again?"
The words had barely left Zhao Youcai’s mouth when Wang Meilan, who had been head-down slurping vermicelli from her bowl, snapped her head toward him, her eyes glinting with a cold light.
What a stupid question. Tao Dabao had called Zhao Jun the day before yesterday, and Zhao Jun had told him he had to go to a matchmaking meeting today. Why would Tao Dabao call again yesterday?
Wang Meilan bit off the vermicelli dangling from her mouth, slammed her chopsticks down on the table, and glared at Zhao Youcai.
’This old coot,’ she thought. ’He just had to ruin my good mood!’
"Um..." Zhao Youcai grew a little flustered and shot a pleading look at Zhao Jun.
But how could Zhao Jun be bothered with him? Holding his bowl in one hand, he used the other to lift some vermicelli. Just as he was about to slurp it up, he heard dogs barking outside.
The three of them froze and looked out the window. A delighted expression appeared on Zhao Youcai’s face, and he smiled without saying a word.
’My savior has arrived!’
"Who could that be?" Zhao Jun put down his bowl, got up, and went to the window, just in time to see Zhao Jinshan jogging up to their front door.
A moment later, there were two knocks on the door. Zhao Jinshan opened it and walked in, greeting Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan, "Uncle, Auntie, you’re eating?"
"Ah!" Zhao Youcai said with a smile. "Jinshan, come on, have a bite with us."
"No thanks," Zhao Jinshan said, waving his hand. "My family is about to eat too."
"Oh? Then what brings you here?" Zhao Youcai asked, looking at Zhao Jinshan with anticipation. He figured that Jinshan must have come because there was a phone call for someone in their family.
And out of everyone in the family, only Zhao Jun was likely to get a call. It was probably that Director of Security from the Yongxing Brigade, asking Zhao Jun to come hunt the leopard.
Therefore, Zhao Youcai was filled with anticipation.
It wasn’t just Zhao Youcai; Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan were thinking the same thing. Wang Meilan, in particular, shot Zhao Youcai a fierce glare.
But to their surprise, Zhao Jinshan said to Zhao Youcai, "Uncle, there’s a call for you from the Forest Farm."
Hearing this, the smile on Zhao Youcai’s face instantly froze. His chopsticks clattered onto the table before he reacted, glumly starting to get off the kang.
The Forest Farm was open as usual today, but Zhao Youcai had taken the day off. A call now probably meant there was an unexpected reception, and they needed the master cook to come back.
"Jinshan," Wang Meilan said to him. "Why don’t you have a bite here?"
"I can’t," Zhao Jinshan replied with a smile. "My mom just finished cooking and sent me to the Village Office to get my dad. That’s when I heard the call for my uncle. I should get back, my mom’s waiting for me."
Zhao Jinshan had it tough. It seemed that every time he went to find Zhao Guofeng, a phone call would come in, and he’d have to run an errand for him.
"That’s a lot of trouble for you, Jinshan," Wang Meilan said, then gestured to Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun naturally understood. He had already put down his bowl and stood up to see Zhao Jinshan out.
After seeing Zhao Jinshan out of the yard, Zhao Jun turned and went back inside, sitting down again at the kang table to eat. Just then, he heard Wang Meilan say, "Your father... his obsession with hunting is getting out of hand."
"Yeah," Zhao Jun replied. Hearing his mother’s words, he couldn’t help but recall Zhao Youcai’s fixation on hunting the Pig God before and after the New Year.
"Ai!" Wang Meilan sighed and said to Zhao Jun, "Son, look, if that Director Tao calls for you again in the next couple of days, you should take advantage of your break and bring your dad over to their area for a look."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback. He never expected his mother to say something like that. ’Could it be she’s in such a good mood because I went to the matchmaking meeting today?’
Then, he heard Wang Meilan continue, "If your dad doesn’t go and check it out, he’ll be restless, like he’s got ants in his pants. Anyway, as long as you’re with him, I won’t worry."
Hearing her say this, Zhao Jun replied, "Okay, Mom, I get it."
’Since Mom gave the green light, I guess we can go take a look,’ Zhao Jun thought. ’But we have to wait for Tao Dabao to call. If he doesn’t call, then we’ll just drop it.’
Just then, Wang Meilan’s hand, which was picking up some vermicelli, suddenly paused. She warned Zhao Jun, "But there’s one condition. You can go, but you’re not allowed to spend money on buying a sheep again!"
"Am I stupid?" In front of his mom, Zhao Jun finally let out the words he’d been holding back. He continued, "Who would be dumb enough to do something like that!"
"What a way to talk," Wang Meilan said, feigning a scolding tone, but her face was all smiles. "You can’t talk about your father like that."
Zhao Jun smiled too and was about to say something when the door was yanked open. Zhao Youcai’s voice boomed, "Zhao Jun!"
"Whoa!" Zhao Jun jumped, thinking, ’Crap, he heard me talking behind his back.’
But in the next second, Zhao Youcai said, "Stop eating! Let’s go, there’s a phone call for you."