Chapter 356 Meeting Yuan Jie'er Again
Hejia Village has changed a lot. It is more crowded and more prosperous than before. The streets are bustling with people coming and going.
He Shuqiang said: "There are more and more people in our village, and the village has expanded a lot. The houses on the street are rented out to outsiders or they do business themselves. Villagers with money go to the opposite side of Hejia Village to buy land and build houses."
Sun Shan understood that Hejia Village had a good location, connecting the South City and the East City, and was sandwiched in the middle, so naturally more people came here to do business.
The village gradually became less like a village and more like a commercial district.
Although there are many people and many different opinions, there is money to be made when there are more people, and the villagers will definitely be happy with such changes.
Uncle He and Aunt Sun's dessert shop business is getting better and better, and He Dalang's seafood shop is also getting bigger and bigger. They should have made a lot of money in the past few years.
This time, the money for the banquet hosted by the eldest cousin was paid mostly by He's father and mother, while He Dalang and uncle-in-law paid less.
But I heard from Aunt Sun that my eldest cousin was going to work in the capital and would stay there for at least three years, and the He family had already discussed buying a house.
"Everything is expensive in the capital, and it is not easy to live in a big city."
My eldest cousin is studying in the Hanlin Academy. He has no rank and no salary. Although he receives subsidies, they are not much.
I can’t even afford food relying on my cousin, let alone buy a house.
They don't buy houses, they only rent them. However, for the people of Daqian who are obsessed with houses, they definitely don't want to rent houses all the time.
Aunt Sun and the He family are also people of Daqian, so naturally they want to buy a house.
Aunt Sun said that He Shujin was buying a house, and He Dalang had already said that he would sponsor the majority of the money.
Sun Shan thought about it and thought that He Dalang must have made a lot of money. He was also very kind to his nephew, giving him real money whenever he asked.
He Dalang and his eldest cousin have always had a good relationship.
People came and went in Hejia Village, and Sun Shan and Gui Ge'er watched with great interest.
More and more shops are opening up on the streets.
He Shuqiang led Sun Shan into a teahouse. He said he was tired from shopping and wanted to have afternoon tea.
He Shuqiang said with a smile: "Brother Shan, the best thing about this teahouse is not the tea, but the dim sum. You must try it, I'll treat you."
Since He Shuqiang was so generous in offering to treat him, Sun Shan was also happy. He quickly said, "Okay, I want to try some of the snacks on the menu."
After a while, stacks of snacks were placed on the table. Sun Shan and He Shuqiang ate snacks while drinking tea.
As for Gui Ge'er, Sun Shan ordered a large plate of fried noodles with lean meat for him.
According to him, dim sum is not filling enough and a plate of fried noodles is more satisfying.
Sun Shan and He Shuqiang chatted while eating.
Suddenly Sun Shan raised his head and looked towards the front desk, where a familiar and fat figure came into view.
Sun Shan looked at He Shuqiang, then looked at the figure. Without needing to confirm, he already knew who the fat figure was.
He nudged He Shuqiang and pointed at the counter: "Brother Qiang, is that Yuan Jie'er?"
The two siblings were cut from the same cloth, and it's impossible to pretend not to recognize each other.
Sun Shan was also puzzled. How come he and He Shuqiang came here to drink tea and met Yuan Jie'er?
He Shuqiang is of course more familiar with his sister than Sun Shan. Not to mention her figure, he can tell that it is He Chunyuan just by looking at her clothes.
He shouted loudly: "Yuan Jie'er, why are you here?"
I thought to myself that my sister must have come out to eat secretly. This teahouse was recommended to me by her. She said the snacks there were the best, but the tea was average. It would be best to bring your own tea to brew instead of using the teahouse's tea.
He Chunyuan turned around and saw He Shuqiang and Sun Shan beside him. He ran over and asked with a smile, "Brother Shan, when did you come?"
The little maid who followed her coughed quickly to remind He Chunyuan that she was a lady from a noble family and should pay attention to her words and actions.
Sun Shan looked at He Chunyuan, whose face was full of fat and who was smiling brightly.
I was secretly shocked. Yuan Jie'er was taller than before, but also fatter.
If He Shuqiang is Fat Boy 2.0, He Chunyuan is Fat Girl 1.0.
The brother and sister have very obvious pot waists, big apple faces, and chubby fingers.
Sun Shan wondered if the He family’s food was too good, as it kept the two siblings fat and plump.
Sun Shan quickly stood up and greeted He Chunyuan, smiling and asking, "Sister Yuan, I haven't seen you for a long time. I hope you are doing well."
He Chunyuan stared at the snacks on the table, turned his head and bowed, performing a standard etiquette: "Brother Shan, I'm fine, how about you?"
The round eyes blinked and looked at Sun Shan.
Sun Shan was not used to such ladylike etiquette, so he asked Yuan Jie'er to sit down and then sat down himself.
He nodded and said, "Everything is fine."
He Shuqiang asked in a low voice: "Big sister, how did you get out? Didn't you learn to play the piano at home?"
Mrs. He believed that girls in every family should be able to both housework and cook, and be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework and embroidery.
I specially spent a lot of money to hire a pianist to come to my home for one-on-one tutoring.
Mrs. He felt that there were too many students in the girls' school and the teacher could not teach them in detail, so she would rather pay a musician to come to her home to provide service.
When he heard about learning to play the piano, He Chunyuan was just like He Shuqiang when he heard about losing weight. His face fell and he said bitterly, "Brother, go tell my mother that I don't want to learn to play the piano. I don't have the talent. I can't play well no matter how hard I try. Let me learn it. The teacher said that I have a good aptitude and can play well."
He turned around and asked Sun Shan: "Brother Shan, can you play the piano? Is it difficult to learn?"
He blinked, trying to find resonance from Sun Shan's mouth.
Sun Shan was also very supportive, nodded and said: "It is indeed difficult to learn the Qin, and it requires talent. I am not good at it either."
Sun Shan didn't learn to play the zither until his second year at the provincial school. Whether it was because of his teacher's limited ability or because he himself had no talent, his learning was mediocre. He could barely play a simple tune, but his performance was terrible when he tried to go deeper.
He Chunyuan's eyes sparkled, and he nodded quickly, saying, "Brother, listen, Brother Shan also said it's hard to learn, so that's not my problem."
He Shuqiang rolled his eyes at He Chunyuan and said frankly, "Big sister, it's no use for you to tell me. Anyway, mother wants you to learn, so you must learn. Humph, mother spent a lot of money to hire a musician. If you don't learn, the consequences will be..."
He looked at He Chunyuan meaningfully.
The He family's money didn't come from the wind. Mrs. He has already spent a lot of money, so He Chunyuan has to learn some tricks no matter what.
He Chunyuan didn't want to talk anymore and felt depressed.
Looking at the snacks on the table, he said unceremoniously, "Brother Shan, the snacks are delicious, you should eat them quickly too."
Saying this is a polite greeting.
In order to have snacks herself, she didn't really care whether Sun Shan had snacks or not.
It’s best not to eat it, give it all to her.
Afterwards, He Chunyuan showed his true nature as a foodie and claimed that He Shuqiang did not know how to order dishes and that none of what he ordered were signature dishes.
He Chunyuan ordered some more dim sum, saying that these were the most distinctive features of this teahouse.
Sun Shan didn't believe it. If He Shuqiang didn't order well, why did she keep eating?
After eating their fill, He Chunyuan said with a smile, "Brother Shan, thank you for the snacks. They are delicious."
Sun Shan wanted to say that it was not his treat, but He Shuqiang said directly: "Brother Shan, my sister ate too much, and I didn't bring enough money."
Sun Shan's forehead was covered with black lines. He reluctantly took out the silver and said very politely, "Okay, I'll pay for this meal."
In the end, he only got a change of one cent for five or two taels of silver for the small table of snacks, and Brother Qiang gave it as a reward to the resident singer.
Sun Shan's heart was bleeding.
He Shuqiang, He Shuqiang, why did you bring me to such an expensive teahouse to drink tea.
No wonder I felt uncomfortable when I came in. The flowing water under the small bridge and the elegant strings of a musical instrument, it turned out that this was a high-end teahouse.
His strength had been reminding him not to come in, but unfortunately Sun Shan was a lost lamb, and he came in in a daze, waiting to be slaughtered.