Chapter 170 — The Happy Tang Zhi Family

Back home, Mother Tang cheerfully set about marinating the chicken wings and meat skewers according to the recipe Wei Zhao had given her, humming a little tune as she worked. It was a longing for the life to come. If the barbecue stall's business picked up, the family's dire straits would ease, and perhaps by the second half of the year they could scrape together enough for her husband's surgery.

Even Tang Jucheng, lying there in his sickbed, found it strange — what had gotten into his wife today? She was actually this happy.

"Yun'er's mother, what's with you today? Has something good happened?" Lying in bed all day every day was dull work, and Tang Jucheng could not help his wife even if he wanted to; apart from sleeping, there was nothing he could do.

"Yun'er's classmate gave me a barbecue recipe. If I can get it right, our business is bound to boom!" Mother Tang put the marinated chicken wings and meat skewers into the freezer to chill, and said.

"Really? Well, that would be wonderful!" Hearing his wife's words, Tang Jucheng was delighted too. "If it really works, we'll have to thank that classmate properly!"

"Your precious daughter is proud as a peacock, you know. That boy has feelings for her, and she won't give him the time of day — she gives him the cold shoulder!" At this, Mother Tang grew a little cross. "When she finds a man like you in the future, we'll see how she gets by!"

Harsh as Mother Tang's words were, Tang Jucheng was not offended. Lying in bed these past six months, he had thought everything through. It was his own uselessness that had dragged the two of them down — his wife and daughter. If he had saved a little money in the past, things would never have come to this.

That his wife had never abandoned him filled Tang Jucheng with guilt, and at the same time he thought to himself in secret: their daughter must not suffer the same way in the future. This sort of life was truly not one for normal people!

But then his wife's words set Tang Jucheng to worrying again. "Is he some rich family's young master? Don't let him be like that boyfriend of Xiaofen's — just playing around..."

"I don't think so," Mother Tang said. "That boy doesn't have the slightest air of a spoiled rich kid about him. I feel he should treat our Yun'er well..."

The house was small, and Tang Zhi had heard every word of her parents' conversation from inside her room. She was secretly annoyed. She did not know why her mother thought so highly of Wei Zhao. That fellow was a bad one, through and through — no air of a spoiled rich kid? What about kicking Zhong Yongliang flying — did that count as spoiled?

Thinking about Wei Zhao, Tang Zhi could not even study properly. After reading for a while she grew restless, stood up, and walked out of her room — only to see that her mother had already finished marinating the barbecue ingredients and was getting ready to grill a few skewers to try out the flavor.

"Mom, shall I help you?" Tang Zhi could not concentrate on her books, so she had to find something to do.

"Then help me thread a few chicken wings onto skewers. I'll start the fire." Mother Tang set the bamboo skewers aside and went to light the fire.

"Okay." Tang Zhi went to help her mother thread the skewers. She did not know whether they would taste good, but they certainly smelled fine.

After a few skewers were threaded, Mother Tang had the fire going too. Tang Zhi laid the chicken wings on the grill and helped her mother fan the flames.

Before long, waves of fragrance came wafting over. Even Tang Zhi, who was not much of a meat eater, could not help but drool. She thought to herself that Wei Zhao really had not been lying — the fellow did have some skill.

Tang Jucheng caught the scent as well. "Yun'er's mother, that smells pretty good, doesn't it?"

"What? Getting greedy?" Mother Tang had not tasted it yet, but judging by the aroma alone she could tell it would be delicious. Grilled like this at the school gate or on a snack street, there would surely be no shortage of customers. "It'll be ready in a moment — I'll let you have a taste first!"

Tang Jucheng felt a little ashamed. Lying in bed, he could do nothing at all, yet when mother and daughter had something good, they still gave it to him first — which made him feel utterly useless. If not for the depth of his love for his wife, and his certainty that if anything happened to him she would be heartbroken, he would have wanted to end it all himself.

For all that his wife grumbled about this and that, saying she had made the wrong choice back then, she still worked herself to the bone every day for this family, keeping the household in perfect order.

"Yun'er, take this chicken wing to your father to taste." Mother Tang handed a freshly grilled wing to Tang Zhi and told her to bring it to Tang Jucheng.

Tang Zhi took the wing and looked at it — golden-brown, giving off an irresistible aroma — and could not help swallowing. It really did smell wonderful! But she could not bear to eat it. She ran to her father's sickbed and handed the wing to Tang Jucheng.

"Yun'er, you eat it." How could Tang Jucheng fail to see the longing in Tang Zhi's eyes? A girl of eighteen or nineteen was at the age when she was growing; ordinarily, Tang Jucheng did eat some of the less fresh meat skewers, but that was only out of fear that Tang Zhi would eat the leftovers and upset her stomach, affecting her schooling the next day. These chicken wings, though, were clearly freshly marinated and very fresh, so Tang Jucheng wanted his daughter to have them. "Dad, I'm not hungry. Eating too much makes me fat," Tang Zhi said, shaking her head.

"All right, you two, stop arguing. Old Tang, just eat it while it's hot. Another batch will be ready here in no time, and Yun'er and I will eat from this side!" Mother Tang said with a smile.

"All right then," Tang Jucheng said. Only after hearing his wife's endorsement did he nod and take the roasted chicken wing. One bite was all it took for his thumb to shoot up. "Well I'll be—the flavor really is something unique. I'd say this is bound to take off."

By then the remaining wings were done as well. Mother Tang handed a skewer to Tang Zhi and took one for herself.

Tang Zhi did not want to admit it, but this batch of wings was far, far better than any her mother had ever roasted before—indistinguishable from the ones Xiaofen's boyfriend had once treated her, Xiaofen, and Liu Xinsou to at that big restaurant.

"Yun'er, what do you think?" Mother Tang had not tasted hers yet, but seeing how eagerly Tang Zhi was eating, she felt sure this attempt had been a success.

"It's all right, I guess," Tang Zhi said against her own judgment. She did not want Wei Zhao to get too full of himself—though Wei Zhao was not even there beside her.

Mother Tang took a bite, and her eyes lit up at once. "You call this 'all right'? Child, have your taste buds gotten that picky? I'd say there's no difference between this and the signature wings at those big barbecue joints! From now on we roast them just like this—I'm telling you, it'll work. Tomorrow I'll go to the wholesale market and buy up a batch of seasonings."

"It should sell better than before," Tang Zhi had to concede. The flavor really would draw more customers. True, most students ate just to fill their bellies and were not terribly fussy about taste—so long as it beat the school cafeteria, that was enough—but there was no denying that good food always brought in more buyers.

"Yun'er, this weekend, why don't you invite Wei Zhao and that classmate of his over to our house? I'll treat them to a barbecue, as a thank-you!" Mother Tang was eating happily, and she had not forgotten who dug the well.

"Huh?" Tang Zhi froze, and the wing in her hand nearly went flying to the floor. Invite Wei Zhao to her home? Had she heard that right? How could she possibly let him come to her house?