Back in Guangcheng this ti, between having fun, attending the wedding banquets and running errands, ten days had gone by. Cheng Su, after all, still had her studies, so she had to return to Qing City.
She took Xiao Qi and the family to the Cheng family ho to say goodbye, brought along so local specialties and such, and after two days of rocking on the train, they were back in Qing City.
As soon as they walked out of the Qing City train station, it started to snow. The north wind was biting. Cheng Su shifted Qi Xiaoqi around to her front, pulled the hood of his clothes up over his head, then took a little wool blanket and wrapped him up tight.
The weather was cold and they had a lot of things with them, so Cheng Su didn’t bother trying to save money. She hailed two taxis and rode all the way to the gate of the compound.
Thankfully Qing City had developed rapidly these past few years; there were a lot more taxis in the city now, which made things easier for the residents. Of course, the price was a bit on the high side, but for soone like Cheng Su, who would never shortchange herself, no matter how expensive it was, it couldn’t compare to being comfortable.
Especially with their group: either not-yet-one-year-old babies or people over fifty, and the weather so bad—if anything happened to them, no amount of money could make up for it.
"Qing City and Guangcheng really can’t be compared in terms of cold. I think Qing City is much colder," Mother Cheng said, rubbing her hands.
Cheng Su smiled. That was heaven looking out for them. They’d had good weather the whole ti in Guangcheng; otherwise, if it had rained, they probably would’ve been clamoring to co back to Qing City.
Qi Xiaoqi had already fallen asleep. Cheng Su settled him in the room to continue sleeping, then called Qi Taiguo to let him know they’d arrived safely.
It was already three or four in the afternoon by then. Cheng Su boiled a kettle of hot water, bundled herself up again, and got ready to go to the farrs’ market to buy ingredients for dinner.
Mother Cheng said, "It’s already this late, and it’s snowing outside. How about you don’t go? Just ask Taiguo to get a few portions of food from the cafeteria and we’ll make do with that? Or we can just cook up so noodles."
It really was too cold outside.
Cheng Su glanced out; the snow hadn’t eased up, it was actually coming down harder. She rummaged through the fridge—there were so leftover ribs in the freezer and two radishes—so she said, "Alright then, I’ll cook a pot of radish and pork rib soup, put on so rice, and he can just bring back whatever dishes he feels like from the cafeteria."
No one had any objections. After resting a bit, Cheng Su rolled up her sleeves, took the ingredients, and headed to the kitchen to get busy. It got dark early now, and radish only turned soft and tasty if it was cooked a long ti. The longer you stewed it, the better it tasted, so it was good to get it on the stove early.
Radish stewed with ribs was simple: cut the radish into chunks or thick slices, blanch the ribs, then stew the two together. In about an hour you could drink the soup and eat the at; if you wanted the broth richer and more flavorful, you just stewed it longer.
Once Cheng Su had everything prepped and in the pot, she brought it to a boil over high heat, then turned it down to low. After that, it hardly needed watching.
By dinnerti, the neighbors in the compound had all co back—those who needed to cook, cooked; those who needed to mind kids, minded kids. Cheng Su took out the specialties she’d brought back from Guangcheng and handed them around. Everyone chatted and laughed, and then Qi Taiguo ca ho.
The family greeted each other again, and Cheng Su reheated all the dishes he’d brought back. Only then did they gather around the small dining table to eat, chatting as they went about the funny monts from Cheng Yaozu’s wedding.
After dinner, the elderly sat watching TV. Cheng Su held Xiao Qi in their room to nurse him, and Qi Taiguo ca in, mysteriously closing the door.
Seeing him putting on this air of mystery, Cheng Su couldn’t help asking, "What is it? Why so secretive?"
Qi Taiguo grinned. "Close your eyes first."
Cheng Su raised an eyebrow—so he was playing this ga—then cooperatively closed her eyes.
"You can open them now!" Qi Taiguo said, holding sothing out in front of her.
Cheng Su opened her eyes, and when she saw what lay in his palm, she froze.
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