roccoschili Chapter 17 End of Heat
Chapter 17 End of Heat
"Mr. Ma, what is this?"
The two elderly people took the willow wood eyepiece handed to them by Zhu Jin, turned it over and over, but still couldn't figure it out.
The purple clay teapot on the table has been replaced with an iron kettle from the cabinet. Ma Ye is still wondering if the ginger tea will taste different.
"These are small tools we'll need later. Don't worry, they're made of pure wood."
Although the two still had some doubts, they put on the goggles as Ma Ye instructed and slowly leaned back in the recliner.
A gentle sandalwood scent, mixed with the aroma of herbs, brought a strong sense of drowsiness to the two elderly people, who closed their eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, it was pouring rain outside the window, and the world was still somewhat dark.
"Honey, what time is it?"
Mr. Liu propped himself up and sat up from the sofa. The calendar on the old house was set to the day of the Autumnal Equinox.
"It's almost four o'clock, get up and get ready for dinner."
Wearing aprons, the two elderly people opened the refrigerator as usual and started washing vegetables and cooking.
The television was broadcasting news that a typhoon, a rare occurrence in decades, had made landfall in Jinchuan in the autumn.
"A typhoon is coming so late; this year's crops are going to be a disaster again."
"You've become a compassionate soul."
I cooked porridge in a small pot, and there were still some mussels in the refrigerator, so I threw them directly into the rice porridge without thawing them.
Mr. Liu clearly remembered bringing a crab home, but after searching the refrigerator, he only found a mackerel that he had forgotten in the freezer last year.
I wanted to ask my wife, but I found her staring blankly out the window.
"Knock knock knock".
"Who is it? Honey, could you open the door for me? I'm too busy."
Hearing the greeting, Liu's mother still sat up from the sofa.
A quick glance at the calendar also made her feel puzzled. Wasn't it just the beginning of July? How come it's already the Beginning of Autumn?
She simply attributed it to her age, saying she was no longer sensitive to time.
"Who is it that comes on a rainy day?"
As she opened the door and saw the figure before her, soaked to the bone, Liu's mother inexplicably shed two lines of tears.
"Mom, what's wrong? Why are you standing at the door in a daze? Let me in!"
"Oh, honey, Gan's back!"
Mr. Liu, who was in the kitchen, paused for a moment, but still washed his hands and came out to take a look.
Liu Gan's raincoat had been blown open with a large hole, water was trickling down his face, and it seemed that rainwater had gotten into his eyes as well.
"Honey, hurry up and get a towel from inside, or you'll catch a cold."
Go back inside and change into clean clothes. Turn on the water heater yourself, and you can eat after you shower.
Liu Gan threw the plastic raincoat directly at the door and placed the things he was carrying on the shoe cabinet.
It was a box of duck, already sliced at the restaurant, with a bag of duck carcasses underneath.
"It's okay, I'm a grown man, it doesn't matter whether I wash it or not."
I bought some duck from a roast duck shop on my way home from get off work. They say you should eat duck during the Beginning of Autumn (the solar term of Autumnal Equinox) to keep everyone healthy.
Taking the towel from his mother, Liu Gan vigorously wiped his hair, and the rainwater on his face dried considerably.
The cottage is still the same cottage, unchanged for over thirty years, except for the calendar which has been replaced one after another.
Pushing open the door to her small room, she found a clean set of pajamas that her mother had personally found, which was a new set bought during the Chinese New Year.
Liu Gan doesn't usually go home, and this set of pajamas has a faint floral scent after being left out for a while, all from the sachet of lavender in the closet.
"Why did you run back in this heavy rain? Couldn't you have waited for the rain to stop?"
"It's a holiday, and the design institute isn't busy, so I just took the subway back."
"It's not a major holiday, why did you rush back?"
"Have your dad stew the duck carcass later. Have a hot bowl of it so you don't catch a cold."
Liu Gan hummed in agreement and leaned back on the sofa to watch TV with his mother.
It seems the weather across the country isn't very good right now; I've switched channels several times, and they've all been talking about extreme rainfall.
The mother was also puzzled. It was already past the end of summer, and the whole country should be dry and hot, waiting to harvest crops, not experiencing wind and rain.
She kept checking the group messages on her phone; in extreme weather like this, the emergency room is usually short-staffed.
Perhaps her son's return brought good luck, because no one in the emergency room asked her, this elderly woman, to rush back and help today.
"Mom, take a break. Don't always put your energy into work."
"You and Dad are both this age, retiring earlier would allow you to travel more."
"Why are you retiring? Why don't you get married sooner?"
Unless I bring my grandson back, I'll report to my boss the next day and ask to be transferred to stay home and take care of the child!
"Don't say that again. I'm going to help my dad!"
The kitchen exhaust fan was already on, and its buzzing sound wasn't drowned out by the wind and rain outside the window.
Opening the refrigerator, Liu Gan pulled out three flower crabs from somewhere and staggered into the kitchen.
"Hey, you bought crabs, why aren't you eating them? If you leave them overnight, you'll have to throw them away tomorrow!"
The father looked at the three crabs with a puzzled expression.
He remembered that he had bought crabs today, but not this many.
Perhaps I'm just getting old, and I forget things after a good night's sleep.
Before his father could reach out, Liu Gan threw the three crabs into the pond.
The waving crab claws gradually quieted down, and Liu Gan, without wearing gloves, cleaned the three crabs thoroughly.
"Dad, is there any room on the stove? I'm going to steam the crabs."
Two stove burners held duck bone soup and seafood porridge; both dishes needed to cook a little longer.
If the fire goes out halfway through, it will be very difficult to get it back on.
"Just leave it there. I'll bring the steamer out once these two pots are done."
"What the hell? Look what this is!"
While rummaging through the cupboard, Liu Gan somehow pulled out a large box. His father took a closer look and saw that it was an induction cooker that he had bought two or three years ago.
If he remembered correctly, this was the last time Liu Gan received his year-end bonus, and after having hot pot with it once, he put it away at the very back of the cupboard.
After filling the water tank, Liu Gan picked up the steamer and placed it on the induction cooker.
As soon as it was plugged in, the LCD screen on the induction cooker started displaying rotating characters.
"That's great, maybe we can cook them all together."
"Dad, how about I take over?"
Mr. Liu put down the iron spoon in his hand. He had just tasted the seafood porridge and duck bone soup and found no problems. The rest would just depend on simmering over low heat.
"Okay, but you can keep an eye on the heat and make sure the pot doesn't burn."
"Don't worry!"
After wiping his hands clean, Liu's father returned to the living room, where Liu's mother had already thrown Liu Gan's clothes into the washing machine.
Now, the two elderly people can finally take a break.
The rain outside the window, accompanied by a strong wind, lashed against the glass. Only by listening carefully could one hear the sounds coming from the kitchen.
Soon after, the old-fashioned washing machine in the toilet joined in, making a rumbling sound.
"Honey, when did we get back from outside?"
"I forgot, I guess it was after lunch."
Are you not very hungry? Why don't you give those three crabs to the kids?
"Alright, I see there's still a lot of meat on that duck carcass, it'll taste pretty good if we gnaw on it."
Mr. Liu was getting annoyed by the weather news that kept looping on TV.
Just as I was about to change the channel with the remote, I heard a greeting coming from the kitchen.
"Mom and Dad, stop watching TV and wash your hands for dinner!"
Crab, seafood porridge, duck bone soup, and duck meat heated in the microwave were served together on the table.
There were no green vegetables for dinner, but the cilantro garnished in the seafood porridge and the scallions served with the roast duck added a touch of green to the table.
A bowl of porridge and a bowl of soup were placed in front of the two elderly people, and Liu Gan felt that the meal was too high in purines.
My father also suffered from gout in his early years, but eating this one meal should be fine.
"Dad, eat more dry food, don't just drink water to fill your stomach."
I'll pour half of the soup back into your bowl, eat more meat.