In his previous life, Yang Jiabo had long coveted this bike. When he found out Yan Ruofei had bought a new bike gears, he immediately pestered Yang Jianjun to buy it for him. At first, Yang Jianjun refused, but Yang Jiabo lied, saying he knew how to ride and that having a bike would allow him to commute to school on his own. He listed a bunch of benefits and used every trick in the book until Yang Jianjun finally bought it for him for 200 yuan.
But Yang Jiabo’s lie was exposed, he didn’t know how to ride a bike at all. However, he was clever and learned in just half an hour, quickly becoming quite skilled. In those days, there were few cars on the streets, so riding a bike was relatively safe. With the bike, Yang Jiabo found it much easier to get around.
The only downside was that during family gatherings, the adults always liked to boss him around because he had a bike. If he didn’t comply, they would call him lazy and complain to Li Guizhen, who would then scold him. In such situations, Yang Jiabo would simply ride off on his bike.
Yang Jiabo arrived at the vegetable field, locked his bike in the shed by the field, and grabbed a basket and bucket to gather ingredients for the day. He dug up some earthworms, hooked them onto a fishing line, and cast it into the pond, tying the other end to a patch of grass by the pond.
Then he took the basket to the ditch in the field to catch small fish. When the time was right, he pulled up the fishing line. The fish were quite naive and always bit the bait, so Yang Jiabo quickly caught six tilapia, each about the size of an adult’s palm.
With enough fish, Yang Jiabo rolled up his pants and waded into the ditch to collect snails and crabs. He also picked eight taro flowers and two water bamboo shoots. After that, he went to the fields to catch frogs and picked some vegetables from the garden. By the time he returned home, he was loaded with ingredients.
As soon as he got home, he dove into the kitchen to start cooking. In his previous life, Yang Jiabo had worked various jobs, selling cosmetics in malls in the morning, helping in restaurant kitchens in the afternoon, and performing tea ceremonies in teahouses at night. So, not only was he a good cook, but he also had excellent tea-brewing skills. Thinking about it, he had picked up quite a few skills while trying to make money.
Although Yang Jiabo had said he would handle the dinner, Yang Jianjun and Li Guizhen were still worried and came home early. When they saw what Yang Jiabo had prepared, they were stunned. Although most of the dishes were home-style dishes, the colors and aromas were no less impressive than those from a restaurant.
Looking at the scallion pancakes Yang Jiabo was about to fry, Li Guizhen was surprised. They only had fried scallion cakes in their area. She didn’t think much of it, but Yang Jianjun found it strange. "Jiajia, where did you learn all this?"
"I just watched you and Mom cook and picked it up naturally. Dad, don’t you have a few recipe books on medicinal dishes? I learned from those," Yang Jiabo said casually.
Yang Jianjun thought his son had a natural talent for cooking and didn’t press further. With their son being so capable, the couple felt somewhat useless and could only help with minor tasks. Yang Jianjun set up tables and chairs in the yard and cleaned them thoroughly. Li Guizhen helped serve the dishes and set the table.
When Wei Jing’s parents arrived with Wei Jing and Wei Feng, the table was already filled with a lavish spread. There was stir-fried snails with pickled vegetables, stewed frog, poached fish, crispy fried crabs, pan-fried small fish, shredded pork with water bamboo shoots, braised taro flowers, cold cucumber salad, scallion pancakes, and a soup made with melon tips and peanuts.
"Everyone’s here. Please, take a seat. Thanks to Xiao Jing, we all get to taste Jiajia’s cooking today," Yang Jianjun said, subtly showing off his son.
"Jiajia, did you make all this?" Wei Changdong was amazed.
"Yes, most of the ingredients were caught from the fields or grown at home. They’re fresh, green, and pollution-free," Yang Jiabo said, wearing an apron and looking quite professional.
Song Yufang praised, "Jiajia, you’re amazing. My two boys only know how to eat. They can’t even wash dishes."
"It looks and smells delicious. Jiajia, you’re so talented," Wei Feng said admiringly.
"Jiajia, it seems like there’s nothing you can’t do," Wei Jing felt that if only Yang Jiabo could come to Beijing with him, it would be great. Staying here felt like a waste of his talent.
"You’re exaggerating. There are plenty of things I can’t do," Yang Jiabo said, feeling a bit embarrassed by all the praise.
When the guests arrived, Yang Jianjun went to call the rest of the Yang family to join for dinner. Except for Yang Jianguo, who hadn’t been seen for ten to fifteen days, everyone else was present.
"Brother, you went catching crab without me," Yang Qing pouted, looking at Yang Jiabo with puppy eyes.
Yang Jiabo: "Be good. This time I was in a hurry. Next time, I’ll take you."
"I want to go too," Wei Feng said eagerly. He had been promised a trip to the fields before, but something always came up.
"Sure, sure. When we have time, I’ll take you. There’ll be food and fun."
"Jiajia, don’t lead them into the ditch," Yang Meizhen said with a mischievous smile, then started revealing embarrassing stories. "You don’t know this, but when Jiajia was five, he went to the fields with his dad. He was walking ahead, and his dad was following behind. Suddenly, Jiajia disappeared. After searching for a while, they found him, he had fallen into a ditch, headfirst into the mud, with only his little feet sticking out, kicking. His dad was terrified and immediately grabbed his feet to pull him out."
"Auntie, don’t expose my embarrassing moments," Yang Jiabo said, giving his scheming aunt a reproachful look.
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