Chapter 43: Lady
"Mother-in-law, Baozhen, you guys continue eating. Haha, Deming, you are just a little boy who can eat, take Renchun and eat more."

"I ate a lot at noon today, so I won't be hungry at night, so I'll go back first."

At dinner, Old Man Chang ate a few bites and left the table early, walking back to Yard 82 alone with a desolate figure.

In the dining room of the west wing of Courtyard 81, Yan Baozhen looked at Old Man Chang's back and moved her lips, but she didn't know what to do.
Wang Shuqin saw this, fed Yichun a mouthful of food, then turned to Wang Deming and said, "Deming, go have a cup of tea with your father-in-law later."

"My father-in-law must be feeling bad today."

"After all, such a big thing happened."

"Yeah, got it."

Wang Deming touched the head of his nephew Renchun who was eating dried meat, picked up a piece of pork elbow dipped in pickled leeks and gave it to him, picked up the rice bowl and started to eat rice in big mouthfuls.

Old Man Chang must have felt bad as his wife, daughter, son and entire family were taken away by the police.

When he learned in the afternoon that his sister Yan Baozhen was pregnant, his emotions were somewhat alleviated.

But when dinner was served that night, there were three fewer people at the table than usual, which made it seem particularly deserted, and this definitely brought out my sad mood again.

But Old Man Chang is worthy of having experienced many eras, and he can still laugh on the surface.

But the steps back to No. 82 Courtyard were much heavier than usual.

Wang Deming quickly got down from the table, picked up the thermos with a rattan cover, shook it, took off the wooden cork and took a look. He had been so busy this afternoon that he didn't even boil water and forgot to fill the thermos.

"I'll go boil some water first."

This thermos was brought by Wang Deming from Changping. It was produced in Nankou Town, Changping County.

Since the Patriotic Health Campaign, the government has called on the masses to drink hot water, and filling thermos bottles has gradually penetrated into every household in the capital.

Fortunately, the fire in the kitchen stove was still on. Wang Deming put a new coal ball in, opened the air inlet under the stove completely, sat on a small stool, and fanned it hard with a palm-leaf fan.

After a while, the flames in the stove lit up again, licking the bottom of the copper kettle.

While the water was boiling, Wang Deming went back to his room and brought the Tieguanyin tea he had bought earlier.

"Miss Zhang, why are you here today?"

As soon as Wang Deming came out of the west wing and into the courtyard, he saw two women coming in. One was quite old, about the same age as Wang Kui, about 50 years old, wearing an indigo cotton dress, a long, wide cheongsam with a large collar and a traditional Qing dynasty style.
One of them was a young girl of about 16 years old, about 1 meters tall, with beautiful and fashionable looks.

Her long, smooth hair was braided into two cute braids that hung behind her ears. She wore a pink pleated dress that was waisted and below her knees. She had willow-shaped eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, and cherry lips. Her skin was fair and rosy. She wore a pearl necklace around her neck, a small leather handbag in her hand, and small high-heeled leather shoes on her feet.

"I heard about what happened at your sister's house this afternoon."

The young girl spoke, her voice clear and pleasant like the call of a lark, "Before, I was thinking of you becoming my disciple today, so I asked Aunt Zhang to give you the gift in the afternoon."

"Then I was worried about your family, Sister Baozhen and Yichun, so I thought of coming over to see you in the evening."

"Are you going to make some tea?" Miss Zhang glanced at the teapot in Wang Deming's hand. "My second brother-in-law has a lot of Pu'er tea at home. Do you want some?"

"Uh, who is your second brother-in-law?" Wang Deming smiled embarrassedly, "Sorry, you have too many relatives."

Miss Zhang covered her mouth and laughed, "Well, it's a little too much. Sometimes I can't figure it out."

"My second brother-in-law is Kui Yuan, the grandson of Zeng Chong, the Minister of the Internal Affairs Department in Qinlao Hutong."

"Didn't my second brother-in-law's sixth uncle marry a Fucha? There are a lot of Pu'er teas sent from Yunnan at home, but not many people drink them here."

"It's filled up an entire warehouse."

"Okay, bring it over next time when you are free." Wang Deming raised the bamboo teapot in his hand, "Well, I'll go make some tea first. My sister is in the north east room with the kids."

"I'm going to have a cup of tea and chat with Uncle Chang."

"he"

Miss Zhang smiled and said, "Well, go quickly. Mr. Chang must be feeling uncomfortable today."

"I'm going to find Sister Baozhen. This is a gift for you." "To celebrate your apprenticeship."

As he spoke, he took a small box from the elderly woman next to him, Aunt Zhang, and handed it to Wang Deming.

Wang Deming hesitated for a moment, but still took it, "Oh, okay."

"Well, thank you."

"Miss Zhang."

"Hehe, Wang Deming, you're welcome. We have a new China now. You can just call me Zhang Shouchun."

"Uh, good Zhang Shouchun."

"Well, I'm going to look for Sister Baozhen." Zhang Shouchun waved his hand and took Zhang Ma into the north room. "Sister Baozhen, Renchun, Yichun, do you miss your aunt?"

"I miss my sister."

"Call me auntie"

Wang Deming looked down at the small box. It was very light and he didn't know what was inside. "Woo" the kettle in the kitchen was already boiling.

Wang Deming went back to the house, put the small box away, went to the kitchen to fill two thermoses, took one for himself, and said outside the window of the north room's east room: "Sister, the water is ready, fill the thermoses."

"I went to the next courtyard to accompany Master Chang."

"it is good!"

"Grandma Jiba, please help me make a cup of honey water for Shouchun and Zhang Ma. Deming bought it some time ago. He will buy it."

In Courtyard 82, the east wing where Chang Yourong used to live was completely dark, and only the main room in the north wing was lit with orange-yellow lights. A record was playing a passage from the Peking Opera "Silang Visits His Mother": "As soon as I saw my lovely child, tears welled up on her cheeks, and drops of tears fell down."

It sounded even more desolate.

"Uncle Chang!" Wang Deming raised his voice to remind him, "Come and try the Tieguanyin I bought the other day, and I'll have a taste of your Taiping Houkui!"

"Hey, Deming is here!" Old Man Chang, who was lying on the armchair beside the long table on the north wall with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and saw Wang Deming at the door. He immediately waved happily, "Did you buy the Tieguanyin from Wang Yuanchang Tea House?"

"Yeah, their Tieguanyin tastes good."

"They have their own tea plantation in Anxi, Fujian. Both Tieguanyin and rock tea are good."

"But it's far from our capital, so not many people drink it."

"Oh, Uncle Chang, you know so much about Tieguanyin?" Wang Deming walked into the room and put the thermos under the table, then brought two tea bowls from the square tables on both sides of the main room with ease.

First, scald the tea bowl with hot water, then pour a dozen Tieguanyin tea leaves from the bamboo teapot into the tea bowl, add hot water to 1/3 of the bowl and cover the bowl.

After letting it sit for a while, reopen the lid of the bowl and continue adding water, stopping when the water reaches 7% of the filling.

Remember, when pouring tea, you must fill it to 7%. As the saying goes: Pour the tea to % full, leaving % is a favor.

There is an old saying in Beijing: "People are bullied by those who are rich in tea."

"Hey, Deming, have you forgotten that I had dealings with the Japanese before?" As the aroma of tea overflowed, Old Man Chang became interested, "Mm, it smells good!"

"The Japanese like to drink this Tieguanyin."

"We Beijingers all have our own preferences, such as Longjing tea from West Lake, Biluochun tea from Dongting Lake, Maofeng tea from Huangshan, Guapian tea from Lu'an, and Houkui tea from Taiping."

“There’s nothing I don’t like.”

"Don't they say that people in Beijing like jasmine tea?"

"Well, isn't it that the water from the wells in front of our houses is bitter, to suppress the smell?"

(End of this chapter)