When they returned to the front of the house, Miller's wife and son were already sitting outside the swimming pool. When she saw Miller coming back, Jennifer immediately took her son's hand and stood up.
"Let's go back, Yang has played long enough today," Jennifer said.
Miller grinned and said, "Okay."
After speaking, he turned to Zhang Chi and said, "Then let's go back."
Zhang Chi didn't think much about it and said casually: "How about eating here tonight?"
Zhang Chi was just being polite, or maybe it was because his family was here and he stayed with them for a long time, so he subconsciously had to be polite before the guests left. In fact, he didn't really want to invite the Miller family here.
have dinner.
When Yang heard this, he immediately grabbed his mother's hand tightly and looked at his father pitifully. He was really bored at home alone now. Now when he goes home, even his sister Nancy is not at home, except playing with the dog.
, and he couldn't find a playmate, unlike here, where Xiaoxiao is just a living, breathing human being.
Jennifer looked up and looked up at Miller.
Miller hesitated for a moment and asked Zhang Chi, "What are you going to eat tonight?"
Zhang Chi paused for a moment. He really didn't want the Millers to stay for dinner, but since he invited them and they agreed to stay, let's eat together.
Anyway, it's not a big deal. Zhang Chi's family can still afford a meal for the three of them.
"How about barbecue? Roast beef, Amber beef, tenderloin, eye and upper brain," Zhang Chi said.
I said it once in English and repeated it in Chinese.
When Xiaoxiao heard this, he looked bitter and muttered, "Ah, we're eating barbecue again."
The little guy has been eating meat every three days since he came to his uncle's house. At the beginning, the little guy was very happy. Every time, he would hold a piece of meat bigger than his face and chew it. He couldn't eat it himself, but he ate it.
Don’t let it go, there are many guys in Zhang Chi’s family who are waiting for the end.
Needless to say, Shiren and Bailao, these two guys are the ones who crush the leftover meat.
The rest, whether they are Daniel, Erhu or Sanbiao, are not small eaters. Even Ergou and Santiao's family are also experts at dried meat.
Therefore, no matter how much meat is cooked, there will be no leftovers.
Meat is delicious, but Xiao Xiao can't stand it if he eats it every day. Not to mention Xiao Xiao, even Da Xiao can't stand it now.
"Are you going to eat beef tonight?" Sun Yanping asked.
Zhang Chi thought for a moment and asked, "How about roasting lamb?"
"Change the method and stop grilling." Sun Yanping, like his son, wanted to roll in the barbecue when he first came here. Now when he hears barbecue, he doesn't want to eat it.
It’s not that the barbecue is not delicious, but that after eating too much, you naturally don’t want to eat it. Now if you give each of these two men a bowl of stick noodle porridge, they probably both think that the porridge is better than the barbecue.
Zhang Chi wanted to make a barbecue, but because it was a simple job, he said to his brother-in-law, "You have to ask the guests whether it's up to you."
After that, Zhang Chi asked Miller and his wife, "Are you going to have barbecue or something else tonight?"
Miller was not polite either. Americans probably don’t know what politeness means. He opened his mouth and asked about his son and wife: “Would you like barbecue or Chinese food tonight?”
“Chinese food!”
Jennifer and Yang said in unison. After speaking, they saw that their mothers still had such a tacit understanding, and they high-fived each other.
Zhang Chi thought for a while and said: I just have to ask two Americans whether they want barbecue or Chinese food. Nine times out of ten, they will choose Chinese food because they have never eaten it before and find it novel.
This is just like when Zhang Chi was a child, adults took him to KFC or something. It doesn't really matter how delicious it is, the main thing is the novelty.
Since all the guests are talking about Chinese food, Zhang Chi can't escape now.
Chinese food.
What on earth are you having for dinner?
Speaking of vegetables, Zhang Chi’s family has them, as well as meat, but Zhang Chi just can’t think of what to make.
Li Xiumei saw her son frowning all the time, so she came over and asked: "What happened? Why does he look so sad?"
Zhang Chi said to his mother: "I was just thinking about what to eat at night."
"Then what's not easy? You can eat whatever you have at home. There's meat and vegetables. What's so hard about it? Okay, don't worry about it tonight. I'll do it here and make some stews.
A few cold dishes and two stir-fried dishes," Li Xiumei said.
Li Xiumei knew that the Miller family was staying for dinner, but she also heard from her cousin-in-law Gu Ying that the customs of foreigners here were that unless it was a particularly important occasion, eating was not very particular, so Li Xiumei thought of asking Miller.
Let the whole family show off their skills.
It’s not to show off, it’s just to see if they can get used to eating what they think is the most authentic Chinese food. If they are used to it, that’s all. If they are not used to it, they Americans will have to think about the reasons. Anyway, Li Xiumei will not change.
"Okay, okay, I'll help you." When Zhang Chi heard that my mother had taken over the task, he immediately felt relaxed all over his body.
Li Xiumei thought for a moment and asked her son: "Today's dinner is not official, is it?"
Zhang Chi was startled by his mother's question, and then he smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, as long as the guests are invited casually, they will stay. Just cook as much as you like. It doesn't need to be complicated. Home-cooked food is good."
"Then don't worry, your mother is good at nothing else but home-cooked food," Li Xiuqiao said with a smile.
Next, the two of them looked at the refrigerator and what vegetables were in the small vegetable garden outside, and started to prepare them.
Six cold, six hot and two stews, it’s really a home-cooked meal.
The cold dishes include cucumbers, preserved eggs with vinegar, tomatoes mixed with sugar, dry-cut beef, and the other two items are pork skin jelly and pork head meat that were just brought back from Auntie Gu Ying's restaurant.
The six hot dishes are even simpler, shredded potatoes braised in vinegar, shredded pork with celery, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, etc.
The most important ones are two stews, one is cabbage and mutton vermicelli, and the other is a hodgepodge.
Stews include vegetables and soup, so naturally there is no need to serve soup on the table.
Miller and his family were not polite when they arrived. They agreed to stay for dinner and then started to play their own things. Needless to say, Yang and Xiaoxiao went crazy together. Miller, his eldest brother-in-law Sun Yanping, and Zhang Chi's grandfather Laozi
A few people found a table to play poker. Miller didn't know how to play Chinese poker, so he even offered training.
Although everyone doesn't understand the language, in the high-tech era, the emergence of voice pens has solved most of these problems, and the four of them are still playing enthusiastically.
Naturally, Jennifer and Melika got together.
But it is a pity that these two people among the three people are a little uncomfortable. There is no way. Jennifer is just an ordinary western woman with a low level of education. She graduated from a community college. Although she can be regarded as a college graduate, she is not as good as Melika.
Compared to someone who is from an Ivy League school and is an outstanding graduate, he is far behind.
[By the way, the best app for reading aloud and listening to books is Yeguo Reading, install the latest version. 】
Although they are both women and not too far apart in age, they have different levels of knowledge, social roles, and birth classes.
In this case, the two people who seem to be the most compatible are actually the ones with the least topics to talk about. When they talk about business and economics, Jennifer wants to wipe her neck, talk about cosmetics, gossip, and celebrities, and Melika wants to hang herself.
So the two chatted awkwardly for about five minutes, and Jennifer went to watch her husband play cards. Melica took a walk around the kitchen, was kicked out by her mother-in-law and grandma, and then went upstairs to the study to read.
There were many people busy in the kitchen. In addition to Zhang Chi, Li Xiumei and her son, there were also Miao Guifang and Zhang Juan. The four of them worked together, and the dishes were not slow to come out.
After waiting for all the dishes to be put on the table, dinner was not placed inside the house, but was placed directly on the large dining table outside, that is, on the terrace.
"time to eat!"
When Miao Guifang saw that the dishes were almost ready, she shouted to everyone.
When Miller and other card players saw the dishes starting to be served on the table, they put away their cards and began to prepare. When they heard Miao Guifang's words, they immediately gathered around the table.
Of course Miller couldn't understand Chinese, but he was still deeply impressed by the three words "eat", because when he came to Zhang Chi's house for dinner, these three words were the most pleasant to his ears.
The dinner style is not like us Chinese eating together, but a separate meal system. All the dishes are placed on the table, but no one goes to pick up the dishes. You can use which plate you want to eat.
Communal utensils from the plate are transferred to bowls for eating.
It can be regarded as Chinese and Western food.
As for why you eat this way, there is one reason, and that is hygiene.
The Miller family is not used to anything. They usually share meals. Zhang Chi's family is not used to anything. They eat a lot of barbecue here. Every time, everyone is given a plate to pick their own food.
.
Therefore, this Chinese meal would seem a bit awkward to outsiders, but none of the diners really felt that there was anything out of the ordinary.
Wherever there is food, there is naturally wine.
Zhang Chi provides liquor, beer, red wine, and white wine. Anyway, as long as you can think of any kind of wine, Zhang Chi has it.
Anyone who wanted to drink could drink. No one was trying to persuade him to drink, and no one was making fists. Everyone was just eating and chatting quietly, just like an ordinary home-cooked meal.
"Try this, it's not as scary as others say".
Miller persuaded his wife to eat preserved eggs.
Americans have vilified preserved eggs in every way they can imagine, such as deviled eggs, so when many Americans hear preserved eggs, they feel that they will definitely not be able to accept this taste.
It was like this when Miller ate it for the first time, but when he tried it and ate a piece of preserved egg topped with balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, and coriander and garlic, he felt that the taste was not the same.
As unbearable as he thought.
That's how people are. If you suddenly eat something you didn't dare to eat before, and you still think the taste is bearable, you will naturally regard this as a kind of bragging capital.
The same is true for Miller. When chatting with American friends, whenever someone talks about Chinese deviled eggs, he will always say with a proud tone that he has tried it and the taste is okay.
Generally speaking, this will quickly arouse a burst of questioning and exclamation.
After hearing this, Jennifer ate a small piece about the size of a fingernail in the mood to give it a try. However, after chewing it a few times, her face obviously didn't look that good.
Jennifer couldn't stand the taste.
Turning around and spitting the preserved egg onto the napkin line, Jennifer waved her hand and said, "I'm sorry, I really can't stand the smell."
Melika smiled when she saw it and said, "It's okay, some Chinese people can't accept this taste."
Jennifer was a little curious after hearing this: "Are there any Chinese who don't eat this?"
Merika nodded: "Yes, there are also Chinese people who can't accept the taste. It's a bit like our moldy cheese. Some people here can't accept it. In fact, it's the same for everyone."
"Same," Jennifer smiled.
After looking at the dishes on the table, Jennifer asked Melika: "Today's dishes are all very good."
This is a polite statement.
Melika smiled and said: "This is home-cooked food, the food on the dining table of ordinary Chinese families. Doesn't it make you a little strange? They say Chinese people eat dog meat or something like that?"
Jennifer smiled and said: "I have lived in China for several years, and no Chinese I know eats dog meat. This is the case in some places, but it is very rare...".
When they talked about Chinese customs, Jennifer became energetic. Now Americans understand China much better than before, and many people know that China is actually not that poor.
The younger generation's impression of China is completely different from that of their parents. Many of their parents still think that the streets in China are filled with people wearing yellow military uniforms and green military trousers and riding bicycles.
When talking about China, Jennifer's interest obviously grew, and she and Melika finally found a common language.
Two men chatting passionately takes time, and two women chatting passionately consumes a lot of time.
Unknowingly, as everyone was eating and chatting, it was past nine o'clock, and it was time for Xi Sanren to go.