Volume 2 Cold Dew Chapter 44: Digestion
Zhang Qiu asked them to sit down around the dining table.
Jiang You reached out and took a piece of honey cake.
Soft, just the right amount of sweetness, with a slight hint of burnt flavor.
Zhang Qiu made tea for them again.
A sip of fruit tea, a bite of cake, and then a piece of fruit.
"Is it delicious?" Xu Zhihai asked.
"It's so delicious." Jiang You praised sincerely.
"Take a few pieces back, the kids like to eat them."
"I'm here, and it's not enough for me to eat. I have to take some home. I feel so embarrassed."
After having afternoon tea, Xu Zhihai felt that his brain power was a little exhausted after playing three games of chess, so he said he wanted to take a nap for half an hour.
Jiang You looked at the five empty cake cups in front of him. He touched his stomach and felt that food was stuck in his esophagus. "Then I'll go out for a walk to help digest the food."
Liu Jun said, "I'll go too."
After going downstairs, Liu Jun took out a pack of cigarettes, took out one and handed it to Jiang You, "Mr. Xu really likes you. If you were a little older, he would definitely chase you to be his son-in-law."
"Then you'll find fault with everything and won't like it no matter how you look at it," Jiang You took the cigarette, "We just get along."
"Yes," Liu Jun laughed, "I think Zhang Lin wants to use his connections to get into college."
"It's a teacher-student relationship, so it's normal to help out."
"You don't know the ins and outs..." Liu Jun took a puff of cigarette. "Mr. Xu is very popular in colleges and universities. As long as he treats Jia Jia well and has some ulterior motives, I think it's okay. You are not a young lady in her early twenties anymore, right?"
"Not necessarily. Divorces were rare in the past, but now, even if they have children, they will still divorce."
"That's true. In the past, if someone wanted to get divorced in the workplace, it was really a big deal," Liu Jun said with emotion. "It's not easy for you to raise a child alone."
"It's OK."
I walked out of the community and around the streets outside the community. When I walked back, Mr. Xu had already woken up.
"Come on, let's continue!"
"Coming, coming," Jiang You changed into slippers and walked into the study.
"Xiao Jiang, you are very bad in the endgame." Zhao Lijun looked at the chess records of the previous three games.
"I can't figure it out. My head hurts when I try to calculate it," Jiang You sat down at the desk. He looked at the bookshelf full of books and said, "I also converted my small living room into a study. I just don't read physical books very often, so the shelves are all empty."
"What type do you like ?" Xu Zhihai asked.
"It's all OK. Two years ago, I read a book about food. It seemed to be called The Fragrances of the World: I Really Want to Try It. I read two pages every night before going to bed, then got up to cook instant noodles. It took me half a year to finish the book."
Zhao Lijun looked at Jiang You's belly and said, "You need to reduce your belly. It wasn't so obvious last time."
"I lost some weight recently. I don't know what happened recently, but I don't feel like moving." He glanced at the blue sky outside the window, "and I have to keep an eye on the workers in the yard."
"So is it okay for you to come here to play chess today?" Xu Zhihai asked.
"It's almost done. I'll be fine for the day."
They started playing chess.
After two consecutive games, Jiang You won one and lost one.
Xu Zhihai rubbed his temples and said, "No, I can't do it today. I'm old. When I was young, I would stay up all night looking up information and writing papers. Now I can't do it."
"I feel a bit of a headache too. Let's seal it up for today and continue next time."
Zhao Lijun said: "Then it won't rain tomorrow?"
Xu Zhihai waved his hands at Zhao Lijun and said, "It's no good. My head and eyes are swollen."
"It's the next day. It's hard for a professional chess player to play five games a day. Besides, Mr. Xu plays chess seriously and thinks carefully."
They walked out of the study and sat on the sofa for a while.
"Let's have a quick meal here tonight?" Zhang Qiu asked.
"I'm going back," Zhao Lijun stood up, "My grandson is coming to dinner tonight."
"I'm going back too," Liu Jun stood up, "Call us next time you continue."
"Xiao Jiang, you want to eat, right?" Xu Zhihai asked.
"Eat, eat."
Shortly after seeing Zhao Lijun and Liu Jun off, Xu Jiaqi and Zhang Lin returned.
Zhang Qiu was a little surprised, "You didn't have dinner outside?"
"There's nothing delicious." Xu Jiaqi's expression was obviously a little angry.
Zhang Qiu looked at Zhang Lin questioningly.
Zhang Lin explained: "There are too many people lining up at the store Jia Jia wants to go to. Even if you get a number in advance, you still have to wait in line for more than two hours."
Zhang Qiu nodded.
There were five people in the evening. Zhang Qiu prepared four dishes and a soup, and served them noodles with chicken soup.
"I won three games today. In the last game, if I hadn't ignored the two-way clamp of the white pieces in the upper right corner, I could have won four games today." After eating half a bowl of noodles, Xu Zhihai's spirits perked up again.
"Want to play Go?" Zhang Lin asked.
Xu Zhihai nodded, "We played ten-game chess. Back then, Wu Qingyuan defeated all the Japanese masters by playing ten-game chess."
"What is demotion?"
"That is, if I lose, then when I play chess with Master Xu from now on, we will not play with the opponent but with the first move," Jiang You explained to Zhang Lin, "that is , in the three games, I will play with black in the first and third games, and white in the second game."
Zhang Lin nodded, and then asked, "What's the point?"
"This is a symbol of status. From now on, Mr. Xu will be the top fighter and I will be the bottom fighter. Of course, if I win, it will be the other way around."
"They are just fooling around," Xu Jiaqi said, biting her noodles. "Don't take it too seriously."
Jiang You smiled and picked up a piece of shredded celery and pork with his chopsticks.
"How did you get to know Teacher Xu?" Zhang Lin asked Jiang You.
"I met him in the teahouse. I was sitting there drinking tea and daydreaming that day, and Mr. Xu came over with chess pieces and asked me if I knew how to play chess."
"Are you good at chess?"
"About 18k." Jiang You replied.
"What 18k? It should be at least 3k." Xu Zhihai defended Jiang You.
Jiang You smiled.
"How long will it take to finish your yard?" Xu Zhihai asked.
"It will be done soon," Jiang You thought for a while, " The project will be finished at the beginning of next month. I plan to do the green plants myself. I will go to Wenbing Mountain next month to soak in the hot springs and see if I can bring back some leaf mold."
"Leaf mold is troublesome to make."
Jiang You nodded and said, "Give it a try. If you can't get it, just buy nutrient soil online."
"It's a great time to soak in hot springs in this season," said Xu Zhihai.
Zhang Lin thought for a moment and said, "I have a friend who owns a hot spring hotel in Wenbing Mountain. Teacher Xu, shall we go together?"
"You and Jiajia should go. We are old, and soaking in too hot water is not good for our cardiovascular system."
Zhang Lin looked in the direction of Xu Jiaqi.
Xu Jiaqi asked: "Is it a natural hot spring?"
"It's natural."
"How many pools are there? Are there many people?"
"He runs a boutique hotel and provides services to high-end clients."
"That's great," Jiang You took a sip of the noodle soup, "Which restaurant is it? Is it too late to make a reservation now?"
"Let me ask for you."
"Okay."
