Chapter 42. The evening drinking event begins

When Luo Yihang was educating Ding Xiaoman.

Luo Cheng and Qiang Wa have already set up their fishing rods and turned into fishermen.

After walking around for a while, Zhang Guiqin felt bored and went down the mountain to go home.

Sui Wa and Su Jing walked down the stream, playing in the water and kissing each other.

Teacher Zhang and his wife went upstream, taking pictures and kissing each other. It seems that Zhang Yue really likes taking pictures.

Those great egrets were just ordinary ones, not rare in Tianhan, and locals didn't like to see them. Only a couple of Teacher Zhang looked at them for a while and took a few photos.

After a while.

The tool man Zhang Yue came back and took Ding Xiaoman away to be a model.

Luo Yihang and Liu Yang were the only ones left on the riverbank, staring at each other.

“I don’t play FIFA, I have a PS4.”

"let's go."

……

Luo Yihang and Liu Yang went back and played FIFA for the whole afternoon.

It was not until after four o'clock that the main force returned.

Started preparing dinner again.

Chop leeks, fry eggs, chop stuffing, knead dough, and roll out dough.

There is strength in numbers, so we worked together to make the vegetarian dumplings with leeks and eggs that Qiangwa had been craving for.

If you don’t have shrimps at home, it’s just as delicious with vegetarian fillings.

I haven’t digested the lunch yet.

But once the dumplings are out of the pot and served on the table, people still rush to buy them.

It was not even six o'clock yet and dinner was over.

Fortunately, I had experienced the baptism of lunch, mainly because all the leeks in the fields had been harvested and there were not many left, so I had a limited number of dumplings to make.

Everyone was full, but not overfed.

After dinner, clean up.

Zhang Guiqin and Luo Cheng found an excuse to go to the village entrance to chat, leaving the house to the young people.

The old couple knew that young people still wanted to make trouble at night, and this was a regular item in Luo Yihang's annual gatherings.

But Zhang Yue and Zhang Yue didn’t know this.

Seeing that the time was almost up, they decided to say goodbye.

How can this be done?

Others tried their best to persuade him.

"The party has just begun, the fun will only get better in the evening."

"I haven't eaten the lamb leg I brought yet. Let's roast it for a midnight snack."

"It's hard to get a taxi here. If we don't leave, you two won't be able to leave either."

"That's right, Sister Yue. Tomorrow is the weekend and you don't have to work. Let's have some fun."

"My place is big, so I can sleep right away at night. Every time we have a party, it's a day and a night. I'll get up tomorrow morning to pick vegetables. I haven't rinsed the water chestnuts yet."

Anyway, they kept talking and talking and wouldn't let me go.

The two Teacher Zhangs couldn't save their face and had to stay and continue playing.

Play cards, chat, browse the phone, and listen to a movie on the TV.

By seven o'clock, it was already dark.

It was as if he had received some instructions.

Sui Wa and his wife cleaned up the three rooms as if they were familiar with the place and used them for sleeping at night.

Qiangwa asked Zhang Yue for help and carried the large grill out of the utility room and placed it in the middle of the yard.

The grill is about 1.2 meters long and 40 centimeters wide, enough for roasting a whole lamb.

This was the year when Qiangwa just graduated from high school. He learned welding for a while and welded iron plates by himself. In a blink of an eye, he had been using it for six or seven years.

Luo Yihang called Liu Yang for help, and propped up the house by inserting two thin bamboo poles into the holes reserved under the eaves.

The light strip was wound up, two large 36-watt energy-saving bulbs were hung up, and the whole yard was lit up with a press of the plug.

"Come on, come on, light the fire, light the fire!" Qiangwa shouted.

Everyone gathered around. Then Qiang Wa lit the newspaper with a lighter and threw it into the grill.

The grill was filled with charcoal, with dry branches underneath and kerosene poured on it.

As soon as the open flame went in, it started burning.

The flames were raging, but soon died down because the kerosene was burned out.

Qiangwa concentrated intently, staring at the flames until the fire died down, the branches started burning, and the charcoal began to turn red.

Immediately pick up the hair dryer that you had hidden on the ground.

Open it and blow hard at the charcoal.

The charcoal quickly turned red and the open flame was blown out.

"Light it up!"

Clap, clap, clap, everyone gave a round of applause to show their respect.

Qiangwa bowed in all directions, packed up his things and left.

There is nothing else for him to do after that.

Qiangwa’s job at every gathering is to start a fire; this is his strong point.

The fire is lit and the lamb is roasted.

Several low tables were put together and small stools were placed in a circle.

Luo Yihang's house has a lot of stuff, which are usually piled up in the west room. They can be taken out, wiped and used.

Peanuts, edamame, smashed cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as some braised food taken out of the refrigerator, were all placed on the table.

Most importantly, cold beer.

Each person opens a bottle.

Because Su Jing was breastfeeding, she opened a bottle of orange juice and joined in the fun.

"Come on, come on, hold up your glasses. Wine or water, drink. Cheers!" As the host, Luo Yihang raised the bottle and shouted, calling out the words of encouragement that he would say at every gathering.

Everyone responded, including the newcomers Zhang Yue, Zhang Yue and Liu Yang, who followed suit and shouted, "Drink!"

Raise the bottle to the sky, tons, tons, tons, tons!
This is called having a sense of ritual in life.

There was, but not much of a party starter, and that was it.

Such gatherings have been held several times every year when Luo Yihang and Ding Rui come back since they graduated from high school.

It’s summer vacation when I’m in school, and after graduation there’s the May Day and National Day holidays.

Luo Yihang's place is large and the neighbors are far away, so he can just wander around and naturally turn it into a fixed base.

……

The night is deep, the moon is bright, the stars are shining, and the mountain breeze is gentle.

A few good friends sit around a table, chatting, drinking, reminiscing about the past and talking about the future.

Also listen to the two teachers Zhang tell their stories.

"We both have the last name Zhang, we are from the same year, the same department, and the same class. We also have the same name, Zhang Yue, one for "Yue" (happy) and the other for "Yue" (surpassing)."

"When I first started normal school, during the first class, when the roll call was called, Zhang Yue stood up. It was really interesting."

"Then we met. What a coincidence..."

Later, they met, became familiar with each other, fell in love, got married, and never left each other.

Go to teach together, feel the wind together, and eat sand together.

We also taught many, many children together.

"Later, I got asthma and he stopped living with me." Teacher Zhang Yue pointed at her husband and complained, smiling happily.

Teacher Zhang Yue grabbed his wife's hand and continued, "We taught in Gansu Province for three years, as part of the "Three-Assistance" program. After the program ended, we came here. I taught mathematics at No. 1 Middle School, and she taught geography at No. 3 Middle School. We both taught the first grade of high school."

"Well, we are no longer together this time." Zhang Yue continued, "He could have gone to the provincial capital, but he came here for me."

"I don't want to go to the provincial capital." Teacher Zhang Yue squeezed his hands on the table and said stubbornly, "The competition in the provincial capital is so fierce. I'm saving the country by taking a roundabout way. It's easy to get promoted here in Tianhan. I plan to be a class leader in five years, a dean of studies in ten years, a vice principal in fifteen years, and maybe a principal in twenty years."

"You..." Zhang Yue rolled her eyes at her husband, but instead of pulling her hand away, she squeezed it.

As we watched, we watched the couple express their affectionate looks.

Luo Yihang, Sui Wa, Su Jing, and Qiang Wa all watched silently without saying a word.

Only Liu Yang had no tact and came out to ruin the atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)