Liu Tao and Luo Jun were walking down the street, and the neighbors along the way were happily greeting them.
Luo Jun didn’t respond much, hands in his pockets, looking emotionless, while Liu Tao smiled and greeted each of them, used to it as the neighbors were, who whispered among themselves after the couple walked past.
"Mr. Luo and Mrs. Luo really have a great relationship."
"Are they going to Master Jiang’s again? Master Jiang’s place isn’t cheap either. Mr. Luo and Mrs. Luo are either dining at the Wu Family Restaurant or at Master Jiang’s every meal. They must be quite wealthy, so why do they live here with us?"
"You don’t understand, right? I heard that Mrs. Luo likes that small foreign-style building, so Mr. Luo bought it for her. It’s called something like... something like Liqin or something, good feelings, Mr. Luo is from Shanghai and specially accompanied Mrs. Luo back to visit relatives."
"I think Mrs. Luo is great too. Mr. Luo is cold and ignores people every day, but Mrs. Luo is always smiling and doesn’t put on airs. She doesn’t mind everyone coming to the yard to listen to the stories."
"If I didn’t have a sick old man to take care of at home, I’d go listen to the stories in the afternoon too."
As the affectionate Mr. and Mrs. Luo walked on, they conversed about family affairs that onlookers didn’t expect.
"That stack of newspapers in the northeast corner, the ones with the ’Heroic World’ serial, you haven’t flipped through in two months. That spot never gets much sun. If you don’t want to reread them soon, I’ll have someone sun them tomorrow and put them on the second floor, where there are some spots that get sunlight."
"Uncle Liang gave me an invitation this afternoon, saying that Mr. Huang from Shanghai is having his eldest son marry Mr. Wang’s daughter next month, and they sent a special invitation. Should we..."
"Just bring a gift, it’s a hassle to make a trip," Luo Jun said, "What else is there?"
"Ah?" Liu Tao was a bit confused.
"Wasn’t there a letter given to you this afternoon as well? You had Miss Zhang read it for you," Luo Jun said.
"Oh, that was Master Liu writing to me. The troupe is leaving Shanghai. It’s not safe with the fighting in the north now, so they’re planning to head south, leaving only Sister Hong in Shanghai. Didn’t she get married again last year? Her husband is in Shanghai, so she didn’t leave."
"Is she the one who taught you to make Dried Tangerine Peel Tea?" Luo Jun asked.
Liu Tao nodded, "Sister A hong has great skills. The soups I made for you earlier were all boiled by her for me, but you never drank them. The only time you did was when I made it myself."
"It’s not safe in Shanghai now. Ask Old Liang to send a message over there, get her a place in the concession area. Consider it the fee for her teaching you to make Dried Tangerine Peel Tea," Luo Jun said.
Liu Tao smiled shyly and happily nodded.
The two of them walked to the street corner.
The street corner was a typical farmer’s small courtyard with a low house. Vegetables were planted in the courtyard, and two children were playing with mud on the ground. The door of the low house was ajar, and Liu Tao stepped forward to knock twice.
A young man came out of the low house, smiling as he welcomed Liu Tao and Luo Jun in.
"Mr. Luo, Mrs. Luo, you came just in time. The last dish of braised tofu just came out of the pot, and I was wondering whether to keep it warm when you arrived."
Inside the low house were two small tables, very simple, but spotlessly clean.
There were three dishes and a soup on the table: braised tofu, stir-fried carrot shreds, pan-fried small fish, and pork liver soup.
The braised tofu had an excellent appearance: the tofu was stewed in seasoning till it turned dark, then fried golden after being coated in egg, and topped with chicken broth. The appearance was great, the aroma excellent, and the tofu’s surface was golden crisp with a slight sheen of oil. In this era, it was definitely the kind of dish that would make the neighbor’s kids drool.
For the sake of the good food, Luo Jun didn’t mind the simple dining environment, sitting down to eat.
He mainly ate the tofu throughout the meal, occasionally taking a piece of crispy fried fish, and finally drank some pork liver soup to finish off. His chopsticks never reached the carrot shreds.
Luo Jun and Liu Tao ate inside while Master Jiang squatted by the stove eating.
The standard chef’s meal, the guests eat what he eats.
There were a few obvious leftover pieces of braised tofu, half a bowl of carrot shreds, a fried fish, a bowl of pork liver-less pork liver soup, and two sweet potatoes. Master Jiang was squatting by the stove, eating heartily.
Even this made the neighbor’s kids cry out of envy.
The kitchen had a back door, and the children who had been playing with mud smelled the aroma and sat by the back door watching Master Jiang eat. Master Jiang couldn’t help but put down his bowl to pat the mud off the child’s body, wash his little hands, and put a piece of tofu in his mouth.
The child, with tofu in his mouth, hugged Master Jiang, mumbling "Mingming, Mingming."
Liu Tao knocked and entered the kitchen, intending to discuss tomorrow’s dumplings with Master Jiang, only to see this scene.
"Master Jiang Weiming, I really didn’t expect someone would still call you Mingming," Liu Tao laughed.
Jiang Weiming put down the child and fed him another mouthful of carrot shreds, "He’s the neighbor’s child, always likes to run over here. His dad joked with me yesterday, saying now he learns to talk like me, with a northern accent."
As he spoke, Jiang Weiming’s eyes dimmed a bit, "This child is about the same age as my nephew. I’m not sure where my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are now."
"As long as you keep inquiring slowly, there will eventually be news," Liu Tao said, "I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow’s dumplings."
"Can you continue making carrot dumplings tomorrow? But not in the shape of carrots, but in the shapes of dates, apricots, apples, and pears, while the stuffing should be carrot."
Upon hearing Liu Tao, Jiang Weiming instinctively looked outside. Luo Jun, finding the house too low, had already gone out after dining, leaving a half plate of carrot shreds on the table.
"Mr. Luo doesn’t seem to love carrots," Jiang Weiming observed.
"He doesn’t like them, says carrots have a strange taste," Liu Tao laughed. "But he reads newspapers and books at home every day, and the house we live in doesn’t have electric lights, so we have to use candles."
"Candles harm the eyes. I remember when I was little, there was an old embroiderer in the village who lost her sight before 30 because she always rushed work at night by candlelight."
"I heard from Dr. Liu that eating carrots is good for the eyes. I know he doesn’t like them, but I wonder if you can make them taste like something he loves to eat, or even look like what he loves?"
"I know why he bought a house here. He knows I’m not used to living in foreign buildings elsewhere. Those places are great, but... they don’t look up to me."
"I’ve gotten used to it, but I do like it here."
"I also don’t want him to ruin his eyes reading the newspaper by candlelight, so I have to find a way to make him eat carrots."
Jiang Weiming thought for a moment, "I... will give it a try."
"I’m not particularly skilled with dumplings either. It was when I was in Beiping, when a Suzhou master my dad hired taught my second brother, that I learned a bit. But I’ll research, ok?"
"Thank you so much," Liu Tao was extremely pleased. "I’ll come early tomorrow to get the dumplings. Please make them a bit firmer, as my husband likes to have them as snacks while reading in the afternoon, and he prefers them to be firmer."
Jiang Weiming accepted this bit of flattery and sent Liu Tao off before continuing with his meal.