Chapter 170 — The Happy Tang Zhi Family
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Back home, Mother Tang cheerfully set about marinating the chicken wings and meat skewers according to the recipe Wei Zhao had given her, humming a little tune as she worked. It was a longing for the life to come. If the barbecue stall's business picked up, the family's dire straits would ease, and perhaps by the second half of the year they could scrape together enough for her husband's surgery.
Even Tang Jucheng, lying there in his sickbed, found it strange — what had gotten into his wife today? She was actually this happy.
"Yun'er's mother, what's with you today? Has something good happened?" Lying in bed all day every day was dull work, and Tang Jucheng could not help his wife even if he wanted to; apart from sleeping, there was nothing he could do.
"Yun'er's classmate gave me a barbecue recipe. If I can get it right, our business is bound to boom!" Mother Tang put the marinated chicken wings and meat skewers into the freezer to chill, and said.
"Really? Well, that would be wonderful!" Hearing his wife's words, Tang Jucheng was delighted too. "If it really works, we'll have to thank that classmate properly!"
"Your precious daughter is proud as a peacock, you know. That boy has feelings for her, and she won't give him the time of day — she gives him the cold shoulder!" At this, Mother Tang grew a little cross. "When she finds a man like you in the future, we'll see how she gets by!"
Harsh as Mother Tang's words were, Tang Jucheng was not offended. Lying in bed these past six months, he had thought everything through. It was his own uselessness that had dragged the two of them down — his wife and daughter. If he had saved a little money in the past, things would never have come to this.
That his wife had never abandoned him filled Tang Jucheng with guilt, and at the same time he thought to himself in secret: their daughter must not suffer the same way in the future. This sort of life was truly not one for normal people!
But then his wife's words set Tang Jucheng to worrying again. "Is he some rich family's young master? Don't let him be like that boyfriend of Xiaofen's — just playing around..."
"I don't think so," Mother Tang said. "That boy doesn't have the slightest air of a spoiled rich kid about him. I feel he should treat our Yun'er well..."
The house was small, and Tang Zhi had heard every word of her parents' conversation from inside her room. She was secretly annoyed. She did not know why her mother thought so highly of Wei Zhao. That fellow was a bad one, through and through — no air of a spoiled rich kid? What about kicking Zhong Yongliang flying — did that count as spoiled?
Thinking about Wei Zhao, Tang Zhi could not even study properly. After reading for a while she grew restless, stood up, and walked out of her room — only to see that her mother had already finished marinating the barbecue ingredients and was getting ready to grill a few skewers to try out the flavor.
"Mom, shall I help you?" Tang Zhi could not concentrate on her books, so she had to find something to do.
"Then help me thread a few chicken wings onto skewers. I'll start the fire." Mother Tang set the bamboo skewers aside and went to light the fire.
"Okay." Tang Zhi went to help her mother thread the skewers. She did not know whether they would taste good, but they certainly smelled fine.
After a few skewers were threaded, Mother Tang had the fire going too. Tang Zhi laid the chicken wings on the grill and helped her mother fan the flames.
Before long, waves of fragrance came wafting over. Even Tang Zhi, who was not much of a meat eater, could not help but drool. She thought to herself that Wei Zhao really had not been lying — the fellow did have some skill.
Tang Jucheng caught the scent as well. "Yun'er's mother, that smells pretty good, doesn't it?"