booktalesy Chapter 132: Ah Huang, that scoundrel
Chapter 132: Ah Huang, that scoundrel
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Huang Xiaochuan had already told Yu Xiang that he would be in charge of buying groceries and cooking today, so that Yu Xiang could taste her cooking skills.
Yu Xiang was naturally happy to agree, but she asked Huang Xiaochuan to invite Yu Wei and Tang Yuan as well, so that it would be more lively with more people.
Although Huang Xiaochuan was somewhat reluctant, he still had to listen to his wife, so he called Yu Wei in advance and arranged to pick him up from school on Sunday morning, but he didn't mention the house to him.
Since moving to this old apartment on Huaihai Road, Yu Xiang has taken the time to add a lot of things to the house. She bought pots and pans, electric fans, tables and chairs, etc. Otherwise, the house would look empty and wouldn't feel like home at all.
Knowing that Yu Xiang was reluctant to spend money, Huang Xiaochuan went and bought all the popular home appliances of the day, including air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, and VCRs.
Ji Mei was overjoyed. She was bald but benefited from the moonlight, and it was more comfortable than at home. She could take a shower whenever she wanted in the bathroom every day, without having to queue like she did at school, where the water in the showerhead was sometimes hot and sometimes cold, and the water flow was pitifully weak.
This place is so nice. Taking a bath in the big bathtub is so comfortable. Of course, taking a bath is most comfortable in winter. Usually, just rinsing off is the most convenient.
Not to mention there's a big color TV and a VCR watching, she really doesn't want to go back to the dorm! Let those two snobs live in that kind of place!
To be honest, Huang Xiaochuan had barely seen his brother-in-law Yu Wei, who valued women over friends, since after the Lunar New Year. Whenever he did see him, it was always to demand that Huang Xiaochuan keep his promise. If this guy weren't his own brother-in-law and friend, Huang Xiaochuan would have sent him to find somewhere else to cool off long ago.
Early in the morning, Huang Xiaochuan rode his bike to Fenyang Road and, as usual, went straight to Yu Wei's dormitory building, looking up and shouting, "Yu Wei! Yu Wei!"
Soon, Yu Wei came running downstairs.
"Damn, you're here so early?"
"Isn't that obvious? Didn't we agree to buy groceries and cook today? Of course we have to go to the market early, otherwise we'll only get what other people have left over."
Upon hearing that Huang Xiaochuan was going to cook for him, Yu Wei immediately thought of lobster: "I want to eat lobster."
"Okay, but that depends on whether the market here sells them. If they don't, then there's nothing I can do."
Suddenly, Yu Wei realized something: "Wait a minute? Buying groceries and cooking? Where are you planning to cook?"
Huang Xiaochuan deliberately provoked Yu Wei: "Why do you have so many questions? Come with me, you'll find out soon enough!"
Then he asked, "Where's the tangyuan?"
"Is she probably putting on makeup and changing clothes right now?"
"Then you lead the way and pick her up so we can go grocery shopping together."
Yu Wei immediately went to find his bicycle.
To make it easier for the two of them to go out, Tang Yuan asked her older brother to help her get a bicycle. Huang Xiaochuan, who knew about this, secretly despised Yu Wei. This gigolo had completely forgotten that he himself had once wanted to live off Yu Xiang.
Just as Yu Wei predicted, he waited for more than twenty minutes downstairs at Tang Yuan's dormitory before finally getting the young lady to come down.
Upon meeting, Tang Tuan greeted Huang Xiaochuan, "Hello, brother-in-law!"
Huang Xiaochuan was overjoyed and replied, "Okay!"
Yu Wei pouted in dissatisfaction. Although he was still a little uneasy, it was much better than at the beginning. Besides, his older sister was happy with it, and his parents agreed, so what was the point of his objection?
But she still impatiently urged, "Alright, alright, are we going or not?"
Huang Xiaochuan thought to himself, "Wow, he's putting on airs in front of me. Let's see if he can still be so tough when Tang Yuan deals with him later."
To be honest, when I got to the market, I found that the Shanghainese had quite a variety of food available. They had everything from large yellow croakers and palm-sized fat ribbonfish to large prawns, provided you had money in your hand. Actually, Huang Xiaochuan didn't think the prices were expensive.
You know, twenty or thirty years from now, a big yellow croaker like the one I just bought, weighing over three kilograms, would cost several thousand yuan. But now it only costs a little over thirty yuan. Of course, wages aren't high now either, so most people wouldn't spend that much money to buy such a big and expensive yellow croaker.
People from Shanghai are known for their thrift and careful budgeting. Just look at their old recipes: "stuffed small yellow croaker." This shows that if they couldn't afford large yellow croaker, they would eat small yellow croaker to satisfy their cravings. It's a typical example of being able to eat well without spending a lot of money.
There are definitely no lobsters available. They haven't really made it onto the tables of Shanghai residents yet. They're only sold in some smaller cities. And no one knows how to cook them like Huang Xiaochuan does, so naturally, lobsters aren't going to become popular for the time being.
When Yu Wei saw that there were no crayfish, he wanted to eat meat. Huang Xiaochuan rolled his eyes at him, thinking, "This good-for-nothing only knows about meat. There are so many better ingredients than meat that he doesn't choose."
After buying groceries, we ate breakfast at a roadside eatery. It was pan-fried buns. People from other places usually call them pan-fried dumplings, but people from Shanghai insist on calling them pan-fried buns. Actually, people from Suzhou call them that too. Huang Xiaochuan has never understood why it doesn't work in southern Jiangsu and Shanghai. It's true that dumplings with fillings are called dumplings and those without fillings are called buns, right?
After arriving at the old apartment on Huaihai Road with Yu Wei and Tang Yuan, Huang Xiaochuan took out his key to open the door, grabbed two pairs of slippers from the shoe rack and gave them to Yu Wei and Tang Yuan, then changed into his own slippers and prepared to go inside.
Ever since they got this house, Yu Xiang has cleaned it eighteen times a day. The house is spotless thanks to her and Ji Mei's efforts. No one is allowed to enter without changing into slippers. Do all medical students have obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness? Huang Xiaochuan sometimes couldn't help but wonder.
Hearing the commotion, Yu Xiang and Ji Mei came out of the house to greet Tang Yuan with smiles.
"Tangyuan's here! Come in and sit down!"
"Big sister!" Tang Yuan greeted Yu Xiang with a smile.
Yu Wei greeted Yu Xiang, "Sister!" Then he looked around for a while, still muttering to himself.
This house is huge! Did that bastard Ah Huang rent it? That must have cost a fortune! Did this guy already sleep with my sister? What a scoundrel!
Huang Xiaochuan carried the groceries to the kitchen on his own. He had bought a lot of groceries today, and the workload was heavy, so he had to get busy quickly.
After changing into slippers and looking around the house for a while, Yu Wei asked, "Sis, how much is the rent for this place per month?"
Yu Xiang handed a banana to Tang Yuan: "It wasn't rented, your brother-in-law bought it."
Since getting this house, Yu Xiang has felt at home, and naturally, she has changed how she addresses Huang Xiaochuan.
Yu Wei, forgetting even to eat the banana he had just peeled, asked in surprise, "What? Where did he get the money?"
Huang Xiaochuan had told Yu Wei that his uncle had given him a sum of money, but Huang Xiaochuan only said that he had given him 10,000 yuan. This house could not be bought for 10,000 yuan. How could Yu Wei not be surprised when he heard Yu Xiang say that Huang Xiaochuan bought it?
Even Tang Yuan was stunned, let alone him.
Yu Xiang then repeated what she had said to deceive Ji Mei. Yu Wei remembered that incident, and upon hearing Yu Xiang's words, he angrily cursed, "That bastard actually lied to me! He told me back then that his uncle gave him ten thousand."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiang was so angry that she slapped Yu Wei on the back: "Why did you have to insult your brother-in-law for no reason? Are you bored or something?"
Tang Yuan also felt that Yu Wei had gone too far.
Yu Wei quickly explained, "We've been like this since we were kids, it just got into our head."
Yu Xiang said disapprovingly, "You're not allowed to talk to him like that in the future, or I'll teach you a lesson."
Yu Wei complained, "You're already protecting him like this before we're even married. What will you be like after we get married? I'm your own brother!"
Yu Xiang turned her face away and went to talk to Tang Yuan, ignoring her unlucky, nonsensical younger brother. Ji Mei watched the siblings bickering and smiled without saying a word, watching the fun from the sidelines.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Yu Wei started to tour the house on his own.
There are three rooms in total. Ji Mei occupied the children's room. She was also a shrewd person. When she first arrived, there was only one big bed, so she squeezed onto that big bed with Yu Xiang. A few days later, she went and bought a 1.2-meter wire bed and moved to another room, which was the children's room.
According to Ji Mei, I'm already very grateful that she lets me stay here. It would be a bit much to be ungrateful and act as a third wheel. Yu Xiang thought about it and agreed. It was indeed inconvenient for Ji Mei to always be around when Huang Xiaochuan came, so she tacitly approved of her actions.
In fact, Huang Xiaochuan had already planned it out. There are plenty of houses available. He had been looking for suitable houses and planned to buy several to keep on hand. He and Yu Xiang could live in whichever one they wanted. He would let Ji Mei live in this house first, as if Ji Mei was helping them look after the house. Huang Xiaochuan was a person who would repay kindness. Ji Mei had helped him a lot when he was pursuing Yu Xiang, and he would remember this favor.