I'm back in 1990

Chapter 173: Rock, Paper, Scissors

One day in October, Yu Wei, unusually, took the initiative to contact Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan teased him on the phone, "Hey, has the sun risen in the west? You actually thought of your brother-in-law?"

"Brother-in-law, you and my sister aren't married yet!"

"I'll tell your parents about this later and let them judge whether I'm really your brother-in-law or not."

"Don't make me look down on you. You're trying to play the parent-teacher game with me. How childish!" Yu Wei shut Huang Xiaochuan up with one sentence.

Huang Xiaochuan was about to respond to Yu Wei with a "fuck your grandpa" when he thought about it again. Wasn't Yu Wei's grandpa his grandpa? He couldn't insult him like that!

Huang Xiaochuan swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"You?" Huang Xiaochuan was momentarily speechless, unable to think of a suitable insult for the time being.

"What do you mean, 'you'? Stop with the 'you' and 'me'. I have something to tell you. Tang Yuan and I have moved out, and Tang Yuan said he wanted to cook a meal at home and invite you and my sister over. But Tang Yuan can't cook, and you know me, I can't either. So I thought you could cook. After all, you're the best cook among us." Yu Wei revealed his true purpose in finding Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan was furious! Damn it, just because she can't cook doesn't mean she can't eat out! This isn't inviting someone to dinner; it's hiring a chef to come to her house, and she might even have to bring her own food. Is this how you invite someone to dinner?

As expected, Huang Xiaochuan guessed correctly, and Yu Wei immediately added, "Don't forget to buy more groceries and bring them over, because neither Tang Yuan nor I know how to buy groceries."

Hey! My temper is raging!

Huang Xiaochuan wished he could drag Yu Wei off the phone and give him a good beating to vent his anger.

"Why make it so complicated? Just go out to eat, isn't that enough?"

"Outside restaurants aren't hygienic, and there are so many cases of hepatitis B and hepatitis A these days. It's safer to eat at home!"

Huang Xiaochuan spat inwardly, "Pah! Last time at Haibaofang, you were the one who ate the most, devouring abalone and lobster with gusto. Why weren't you afraid of hepatitis A or hepatitis B back then?"

"No way. You're not only beautiful, you're also dreaming. You want me, a guest, to bring the food to your place and help you cook? I might as well just cook at home." Huang Xiaochuan refused outright.

Unexpectedly, Yu Wei didn't play by the rules: "Okay then, I'll talk to Tang Yuan and we'll go to your house to eat. You should buy more vegetables, especially meat dishes. Don't forget your specialties like braised pork, lion's head meatballs, and sweet and sour pork ribs."

If it weren't for the family relationship, Huang Xiaochuan would definitely have cut ties with this kid. Why does he have to order food when he comes to our house for dinner? And wasn't it supposed to be your treat, Yu Wei?

It's easy to imagine that as long as Yu Wei stays in Shanghai, this kind of situation will become very common. Isn't it normal for him to go to his sister's and childhood friend's house for a free meal?

Huang Xiaochuan used to think that Yu Wei had a few flaws, but there's a saying that flaws don't overshadow virtues. Overall, he was a pretty good person. How did he become so annoying after they became relatives?

After hanging up the call from his annoying uncle, Huang Xiaochuan went back to his dormitory to get his lunchbox and went to the cafeteria with Ding Yi and Chen Zhe.

The food in the cafeteria was pretty good today; they even had a hearty dish called "Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens." As soon as I entered the cafeteria, I could smell the aroma of preserved mustard greens and pork mixed together.

Then I saw a long queue at the window, and it looked like even if I queued up now, I might not be able to get a table.

Ding stretched his neck to look ahead, then asked Huang Xiaochuan for a rice bowl.

"You two go get two vegetarian dishes and also get me a meal. I'll come find you later."

Huang Xiaochuan knew that this kid was going to find someone to pull strings, so he smiled and gave him the biggest rice bowl in his hand. Then he and Chen Zhe went to get rice and vegetables, one of them getting rice and the other getting vegetables.

There was no queue at the food counter. Huang Xiaochuan handed in a meal ticket, got three meals, and then found an empty table to wait for Ding Yi and Chen Zhe's food.

Suddenly, he felt a fragrant breeze, and the long bench he was sitting on wobbled slightly. Huang Xiaochuan turned his head and saw Sang Weihong smiling at him.

She asked him, "You only got rice, no vegetables? Can you finish all this rice? I got a lot of vegetables today. I've gained a little weight recently and can't eat this much. You can have this one." As she spoke, she pushed a plate of braised pork with preserved mustard greens in front of Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at Sang Weihong, then at the dishes, and said, "Senior, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Are you really giving me a free meal, or do you need something from me again?"

"Haha, you're pretty smart! There's something I want to talk to you about."

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan immediately pushed the braised pork with preserved mustard greens back to him.

"I knew this food wouldn't be that good. My roommate went to get some, it'll be here soon. Senior, you'd better hurry up and take your food and leave!"

"Look at you, don't be so stingy! I've already brought the food, and I'm not going to take it back once it's been delivered."

At this moment, Chen Zhe and Ding Yi returned with their respective loads of vegetables. Ding Yi had brought back a large basin of braised pork with preserved mustard greens, and to avoid attracting attention, he even covered it with another basin.

The two were not surprised to see Sang Weihong and Huang Xiaochuan sitting together; instead, they both greeted Sang Weihong.

"Senior!"

"Senior sister is here too? Perfect, join us at the same table. I got a lot of dishes. Oh! You got this dish too?" Ding Yi plopped down opposite Huang Xiaochuan and Sang Weihong, took the empty rice bowl off the rice bowl, and divided the rice from the rice bowl in front of Huang Xiaochuan.

When Sang Weihong saw the large bowl of braised pork with preserved mustard greens, and then looked at the portion she wanted to give to Huang Xiaochuan, it was simply insignificant compared to the large portion.

"How could you print so many? Isn't it supposed to be one serving per person?" Sang Weihong asked, looking puzzled.

Huang Xiaochuan has already started eating. The young man has a fast metabolism, and by the end of the morning, all the carbohydrate energy he had consumed was long gone. Now that he smells the aroma of meat, how could he resist?

While eating, he explained to Sang Weihong, "Ding Yi has a distant relative in the cafeteria; she's his aunt."

Ding Yi smiled and said, "Senior, if you can't get any food in the future, I'll help you."

"Thanks, but no need. I'll have come earlier." With that, Sang Weihong angrily poured her own rice into the braised pork with preserved mustard greens that she couldn't give away and started eating.

Huang Xiaochuan teased her, "Senior, didn't you say you were going to lose weight?"

Sang Weihong rolled her eyes: "You need to eat well to have the energy to lose weight."

Huang Xiaochuan and the other two looked at each other, suppressed their laughter, and continued eating.

Sang Weihong really had something to discuss with Huang Xiaochuan, otherwise she wouldn't have stayed here.

Huang Xiaochuan and his two companions had quite a good appetite. They ate a whole bowl of braised pork with preserved mustard greens, along with vegetables and rice.

After dinner, as usual, they played rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner, and the loser had to wash the dishes.

Ding Yi spoke first: "Let's play rock-paper-scissors, whoever loses does the dishes."

Huang Xiaochuan and Chen Zhe tacitly put one hand behind their backs.

"1, 2, 3," Ding lost.

Huang Xiaochuan and Chen Zhe exchanged a glance, and before Ding Yi could back out, they dispersed.

Sang Weihong pushed her own rice bowl towards Ding Yi, saying, "Wash mine too, and don't forget to scald it with boiling water afterwards!"

After saying that, she went to chase after Huang Xiaochuan.

Ding Yi looked at the pile of rice bowls on the table and angrily slapped his right hand.

"How stupid!"