Chapter 80: Chapter 80: My brother-in-law's feelings
Cai Dexiang After they left, Mei Yiliang stared at Feng Yiping, 'Is this still my naughty nephew?'
This question allowed no ambiguity, and Feng Yiping immediately exploded, 'Who's naughty? Let's go back and ask Grandpa and the other neighbours, shall we? You, Comrade Mei Yiliang, were the most mischievous person in Meijiawan. When I was young and ignorant, I was led by you to do a lot of bad things, and I still regret it when I think about it now!'
'Okay, okay, I'm scared of you. You're just like my third uncle now, always running your mouth like a woman and never willing to admit defeat!' Mei Yiliang laughed.
'Who told you I was naughty? We're close, but I'll sue you for defamation if you keep talking nonsense!' Feng Yiping smoothly told a very familiar anecdote.
'Okay, okay, I was wrong,' Mei Yiliang raised his hands in surrender, "I just want to ask, how come you know so much now?'
'Read more, uncle, just look at history and you'll know that in every era, after people get rich, the land prices in big cities don't go down. Don't just grow muscles and not brains, okay?" Feng Yiping picked up the newspaper on the coffee table and looked at him with contempt.
Hearing his nephew's words, Mei Yiliang felt a little embarrassed. He took a few steps out of the room, thinking, 'You're so smart, I can't argue with you, but I can still beat you up, right?'
When Feng Yiping spoke, he already anticipated this consequence. As soon as Mei Yiliang moved, he immediately stood up and ran out of the room. In front of outsiders, especially in front of his future father-in-law, his future brother-in-law, and his future wife, as long as Mei Yiliang's mind was still normal, he would definitely not dare to chase after him and beat him up.
Hmph, you have a clever plan, but I have a way out of it!
As soon as he dashed out the door, he slowed down because he almost bumped into Cai Hong. 'What's going on? Did your uncle bully you?'
'Yes, yes, Auntie, help me bully him back!' Cai Hong smiled with her teeth as she heard this, shielding the plate she was carrying with her hands. 'Okay, here, just-fried lotus root sandwiches, you can eat them to fill your stomach.'
'Thank you, Auntie, you're still the best!' Feng Yiping was really hungry. At school, he would have already eaten dinner by now.
Cai Hong walked into the room and pinched Mei Yiliang. 'You just know how to bully kids. Can't you be more successful in life!'
Poor Mei Yiliang, his girlfriend had also been bought off, and at this time he could not even say anything.
The fried lotus root sandwiches made today were exquisite. Those on the plate were all the same size, a light yellow colour, and each sandwich had a few green onion flowers on top. The lotus root sandwiches were not coated in too much batter, and with a light tap of the chopsticks, meat juice leaked out through the small holes.
Feng Yiping, whose stomach was rumbling, swallowed hard on the spot. However, it was not good to show such a gluttonous appearance in front of strangers. He carried the plate and turned back into the house, after all, Cai Hong was protecting him now.
'Brother-in-law, you must be hungry too, come and eat. Your sister-in-law is a great cook, these fried lotus root pockets are even better than those made by my mother. Brother-in-law, you are going to be very lucky in the future!'
Cai Hong's fried lotus root sandwiches are of course better than Mei Qiuping's, because Mei Qiuping has never made this dish before. But for anything like lotus root that the family doesn't grow and has to buy, Mei Qiuping makes it less.
Mei Yiliang of course knows this, but at this time he dares not even say a word, Cai Hong is just blushing with secret joy!
He could only prepare to turn all his pent-up frustration into food. But Feng Yiping had a good point: the only pair of chopsticks was in his hands, and in front of Cai Hong, he couldn't very well snatch them. Cai Hong had repeatedly asked him to be hygienic, and he hadn't washed his hands when he got back. At this point, in front of her, he didn't want to just take them directly.
If he went to wash his hands and came back, there would be very little left on the plate. As for going to the kitchen to get more chopsticks, Cai Lei's wife would not let him get away with it. He didn't have the nerve.
So, after thinking it over, he could only give Feng Yiping a hidden, fierce glare and say, 'I'm not hungry, you eat!'
Then he picked up the newspaper and held it in front of his eyes to block out the view. He couldn't see it, but he couldn't block out the smell. He was actually hungry, too, and usually by now he would have already eaten dinner.
He held back, not swallowing his saliva!
Over there, Feng Yiping was eating while talking to Cai Hong. She heard that he was responsible for cooking for Feng Zhenchang and the others these days, and Cai Hong was surprised again. 'You're so young, and you can cook? Can the food you cook be eaten?'
Feng Yiping said, 'What's the big deal? Where we come from, even kids in elementary school can cook. Of course the taste can't compare to yours, but it's still fine to eat. My younger brother-in-law is the same. He could cook when he was little. You don't believe me, just ask him.'
Mei Yiliang couldn't remain silent at this point. This was a major issue that would affect whether he would do housework in the future. Before Cai Hong could ask him, he immediately explained, 'Don't listen to Yiping. I really can't cook! I'm the youngest in my family, with one older sister and three older brothers, so it's not my turn! When it's my turn to cook, I'll just be out of the way. I really can't cook!'
'It's okay if you can't cook. You can learn, right? Auntie, I learned how to cook even though I was so young.'
'Yes, yes, you can learn, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future!' Cai Hong immediately raised her hands in agreement.
Well, I'd better not say anything, and Mei Yiliang could only sulk and hide his head behind the newspaper.
After all this bickering, it is estimated that Mei Yiliang's initial feelings of emotion were also thrown out of his mind. Feng Yiping also reflected on himself, was it that today his words and actions were a bit out of line? Or was he just being too sensitive? Getting excited when he heard such things?
As for whether his parents had such feelings or doubts, he didn't worry about it at all. Parents have unconditional trust in their children! Especially for a child like him, who is good at studying, sensible and attentive, all of his behaviour is attributed to one reason by his parents: 'My child is just that outstanding!'
It was just after eight when Lao Wang from the street office arrived late.
Old Cai accompanied his eldest son the whole way, while Cai Xin greeted the others in front of the building. Next to him was a girl who also wore glasses. It seemed that she worked for a foreign company at home, and when she spoke, she always kept her head high, as if she wasn't talking to you, but rather to the air in a daze.
I heard that Feng Yiping has published several articles. When she introduced herself, she repeatedly emphasised to Feng Yiping that her name was Xie Li, with a Li as in Jasmine, not the beautiful Li as Cai Xin had said, and that she could also be called by her English name, 'Shelly'.
'By the way, you're in junior high school now, so you should have studied English, right?'
'Yes,' Feng Yiping thought, feeling sick to his stomach, but not wanting to be rude. This person is probably the most pretentious person he has ever met.
Seeing him sitting next to Cai Xin, acting like a little bird, he talked about how he had gone with his colleagues from work the other day to eat a five-minute-rare fillet steak, which was still bloody but very tender, and how delicious the cheese was.
Maybe she really wasn't showing off or being pretentious. Eating Western food was still a novelty for ordinary people at this time, and she was simply sharing it with everyone.
But Feng Yiping hated this kind of thing the most. When she said 'steak' for steak and 'cheese' for cheese, it was just fried beef and cottage cheese, so was it worth all this fuss? It was as if having a meal like this would make you rise above the common people and join the upper classes.
Fortunately, Lao Wang arrived just then and saved him. If she had continued talking, Feng Yiping didn't know if he would have dared to say something to her.