Outsider: The Fifth Young Master of the Kang Family

Chapter 100 Southern Henan Cuisine

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day fall on the same day, which is a good omen. Many people choose the days around the Mid-Autumn Festival to hold weddings. Sister Jiao received invitations from three relatives in the countryside. The relatives invited her to a wedding banquet and the Mid-Autumn Festival. After discussing it, the old lady decided to give Sister Jiao a two-week vacation and let her come back on time after the festival.

Sister Jiao went back to the countryside for the holiday. The weather was hot and they had no appetite, so everyone wanted to change the taste and eat something else. Xianglan volunteered to cook a large table of southern Henan dishes. She obviously overestimated the Kang family's acceptance of southern Henan dishes.

"Apart from those dough dumplings, noodles, pancakes, steamed buns and green onions, is there nothing else?" Dou asked with a frown. He is an old Cantonese man, and for him, eating noodles occasionally for breakfast and lunch is ok, but a whole table full of noodles for dinner is something he really cannot accept.

"Yes, there are some pancakes in the kitchen." Xianglan didn't notice her father's expression.

The old man put down his chopsticks and said in an unhappy tone: "Pancakes again, I'm sick of eating them." The mother touched the old man with her arm, and the old man stopped talking. Everyone saw the mother's action, and the atmosphere was a little awkward. "Mom, how about I serve you some more dough balls?" Xianglan took the initiative to break the silence.

"I have more, I have more. I'll serve myself later." The nanny declined politely.

"Brother and sister-in-law, you haven't eaten enough yet, right? I'll give it to you." Before Xianglan could finish her words, the second brother and his wife covered the bowl with their hands almost at the same time, "I think we should leave these good things for everyone." The second brother smiled to hide his embarrassment.

"Yes, yes, I still have to save some space for Chinese medicine." The second sister-in-law found a more reasonable excuse for herself. Xianglan smiled helplessly, and she didn't want to make trouble. "You haven't eaten enough yet." Xianglan said to Kang Qirui, Zhu Wanling, Sachiko, Azu Yumi and others.

Yumi thought for a while and finally came up with a reasonable reason, "Sister-in-law, I'm on a diet these two days, so I won't eat." She even pretended to pat her belly.

"Sister-in-law, we are both full." Kang Qirui pointed at Zhu Wanling and said to Xianglan, "Before dinner, my mother-in-law stewed black chicken soup for Wanling. She couldn't finish it, so I took two sips and ate the soup residue." Kang Qirui also found an excuse to politely refuse, saying that he had something to eat before the meal so that Xianglan could back down. It was okay for him to eat one bowl of noodles, but he was really not interested in two bowls.

But A Zu was not so polite. He said bluntly, "Sister-in-law, I would rather eat instant noodles than these." A Zu even threw his chopsticks on the table. "Ahem." A Yao coughed to signal A Zu not to be so excessive.

"How do you talk like that? You're not giving face to your sister-in-law." Yumi directly scolded A-Zu in a low voice.

"Hubby, you come and eat." Xianglan glared at A-Zu, then turned her attention to Da Lao Guang. "Okay, wait a minute, honey, I really want to give you face, but I've already eaten five bowls, and I can't eat any more." Da Lao Guang responded instinctively and then immediately realized and declined Xianglan.

"You said that the weather was too hot and you had no appetite and wanted to eat something else. Then I cooked a table full of dishes, but you didn't want to eat them." Xianglan asked around and no one responded to her, so she felt aggrieved.

"Sister-in-law, there are still people eating." Kang Qirui pointed at Tianxiu who was showing off his noodles. "Tianxiu, you are really giving face to your aunt, I will give you another bowl." When the boss heard this and saw that Tianxiu was almost finished, he quickly gave Tianxiu another big bowl.

"Okay, okay." The second sister-in-law looked at the full bowl and wanted to stop him, "It's okay, he can eat it." The eldest brother continued to fill the bowl until he finished Tianxiu's bowl.

After Tianxiu took the bowl, he lowered his head and continued to show off. Erlao felt that something was wrong and asked worriedly, "Zai, are you okay?"

"Xiuzi is worried about something." No one knows a son better than his mother. The second sister-in-law knew at a glance that Tianxiu was hiding something on his mind.

"What nonsense is that? What's on your mind, kid?" the nanny said to the second sister-in-law, then looked at Tianxiu. "Xiaozi, tell me what's on your mind."

"You adults are all not serious." Tianxiu said shockingly.

Everyone was surprised by Tianxiu's words. How did this little guy come up with this idea? "You are unlucky. You must have caused trouble at school, right?" The second sister-in-law questioned Tianxiu.

"No, my school is planning to organize an event called 'I will add color to the National Day', and I'm thinking about what to bring to participate in the election." Tian Xiu explained. "So that's how it is, I thought it was a big deal, saying we were not serious." Kang Qirui was also amused, this kid was so presumptuous and had so many things on his mind, he thought something big had happened.

"That's easy. Listen to your father. First, you need to be serious and earnest. Second, you need to be innovative and stand out." The second brother rolled his eyes and thought of a bad idea. "I got it. Take a big paintbrush and a big bucket of paint and paint all over the school wall. Then sign your name and call it "The Countryside Is So Beautiful."

"Second brother, I think you want Tianxiu to stand on the table as punishment, right?" Kang Qirui complained. What kind of stupid idea is this? Tianxiu will cry if he is caught? "That's right, you think this is the dining room, you can draw as you like." Second sister-in-law also thinks it's not okay. "Hey, hey, hey, you can't draw in the dining room, don't teach my grandson bad things." The old man said with a smile.

The second sister-in-law smiled and said, "Master, I was just joking." Then she said to Tianxiu, "Son, mommy will give you an idea. You can embroider a national flag yourself. It will be outstanding and meaningful."

"Sister-in-law, do you have any legal knowledge? Can you make a national flag casually?" The old man complained. "Even if you can, let alone Tianxiu, I'm afraid you can't embroider it yourself, right?" Kang Qirui was speechless. The sister-in-law thought that she really couldn't embroider and smiled awkwardly.

"If you ask me, if you want to be creative, just make two big lanterns and write the words 'National Day' on them. Hang them at the school gate. That's creative," said the old man excitedly. Kang Qirui complained helplessly in his heart: How can this be called creative? Does Tianxiu need to make the lanterns at the school gate? Isn't this a standard holiday item?

"Too old-fashioned, isn't it? If you ask me, Tianxiu, you should buy a long red cloth and ask your father to write a few big words on it, and then hang it on the tallest building of your school. It will be eye-catching." A Zu complained about his father and then gave his own suggestion.

Kang Qirui rolled his eyes, "Fourth brother, you said that Dad's idea is old-fashioned, how fashionable is your idea?" Aren't hanging red cloth and lanterns at the door standard for festivals? Do we need Tianxiu to do it?

"That's right, and there is no fence on the highest floor of their school. Do you want to kill my son by throwing him to death?" said the second sister-in-law unhappily.

"You adults are all brainless." Tianxiu stood up and said. "Do you want to listen to Uncle Yao?" Kang Qirui asked. "No, I'll think for myself." Tianxiu looked like a child. Kang Qirui shrugged. It's okay to think for yourself. For this kind of thing, you have to think for yourself to show your sincerity.

Seeing that Tianxiu wanted to think for himself and didn't need anyone to help him, Er Lao changed the subject, "By the way, there are seven days of vacation next. Where are you going to go?"

"Let's go traveling?" A-Zu suggested.

"You guys can go on a trip. National Day is a good time for business. Our store won't be closed." Xianglan said calmly. It was hard to tell what she meant. Azu Yumi looked at Sachiko. They thought that the clothing company was closed but the clothing store was not. Xianglan had something against Sachiko.

"Why are you looking at me? Their store is their store, and our company is our company." Sachiko said she was innocent. "To be precise, their store is a franchise store of our company. We are responsible for supplying goods and they sell them. It is not a subordinate relationship. It is not my decision whether they take a holiday or not."

It was true. The clothing store where Xianglan was the store manager belonged to Qingjin Clothing Company, and Xingzi was the general manager of Guangzhou Metersbonwe Company. They belonged to two different companies. Although the two companies had equity relations and were actually controlled by Kang Qirui, they were indeed two independent companies. Xingzi really had no control over whether Xianglan and her friends took holidays.

Azu Yumi changed her target and started to focus on Kang Qirui. Xianglan saw that everyone misunderstood and explained: "That's not what I meant. We are used to not having holidays. We rely on holidays to make money, and not only the boss makes money, but we can also earn overtime pay and commissions, which is good."

"Look, they are working overtime voluntarily." Kang Qirui knows what PUA is. But there is really no way. If the clothing store is closed during the holidays, he will be crazy. How much business can three stores do during the National Day Golden Week? Holidays? Shenjing Ice Bar.

"Wow, you've finished your meal till now?" At this time, A Yao walked in from outside carrying a few lunch boxes.

As soon as A-Zu saw the lunch box, he couldn't wait to open it, "Wow, this is really a timely help, roast goose and baby pigeon, what great stuff!" A-Zu's eyes lit up, and everyone became excited.

"Helping someone in need? Today's meal was so boring that I got cramps. That Taiwanese businessman ordered a table full of dishes, but he stopped eating after a few bites. Seeing that he didn't eat, I didn't dare to eat either, so I had to pack up and take it home." A Yao said bitterly.

A'zu held roast goose in his left hand and squab in his right hand, and kept saying, "It's right to pack it up. You said it's boring, but look at these things, they are really uncomfortable." Staring at the southern Henan dishes on the table, Kang Qirui quickly patted A'zu, hinting him not to speak so directly.

"What's so boring? This Taiwanese businessman is very nice. If he doesn't want to eat, he can pack it up and bring it back for us to eat." Er Lao also picked up a squab and ate it. "Er Lao, the problem is that if he doesn't eat, I can't do business." A Yao explained.

A Yao works at the Foreign Trade Office. Taiwanese businessmen, such as foreign investors, want to invest in the mainland, which is a key task for their units. Foreign Trade Offices in various places are scrambling to get Taiwanese businessmen to invest in their own places. (Note: Chinese law refers to all investors outside the mainland, including foreign investors and those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as foreign investors. The above-mentioned foreign investment also means this, and has no other meaning.)
"Ayao, you haven't eaten yet? There's plenty." When the mother heard Ayao say that he didn't eat much, she pointed to the southern Henan dishes on the table. Ayao lost his appetite when he saw the noodles. "Forget it, let's leave these things for the boss and his wife to make breakfast. I'll just eat some squab." Xianglan was a little unhappy when she heard Ayao's words.

"Sister-in-law, I'm not the only one who said this." But A-Zu wanted to rub salt into the wound. Xianglan felt even more aggrieved. She felt that her good intentions had been wasted.

(End of this chapter)