msmithbooks 026 Let's each discuss our own points.
026 Let's each discuss our own points.
After we had almost finished the cold dishes, the hot dishes began to be served in a continuous stream.
This time, Uncle Jiang really went all out.
Steamed grouper, garlic-flavored split shrimp, braised sea cucumber with scallions, and even Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup for each person. This meal would easily cost less than two thousand yuan.
"Come on, waiter, open the wine!"
Uncle Jiang waved his hand, and the waiter immediately brought over a bottle of Moutai.
"Uncle, this wine..." Wang Zhe looked at the bottle of Moutai and raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I'm so happy today, I have to drink well! I listened to you in the finals too, and I got a full 200,000 yuan, 200,000 yuan! Come on, Xiao Wang, this glass is for you!" Uncle Jiang raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Wang Zhe couldn't refuse, so he could only drink a small cup with her.
After a few drinks, Uncle Jiang started talking non-stop. The alcohol made his already outgoing personality even more unrestrained, and he even began to ramble on.
He held Wang Zhe's hand and began to recount his glorious youth, his later downfall, and his recent comeback. Wang Zhe listened patiently with a smile throughout, occasionally offering a few words of agreement.
Jiang Di buried her head in her food, occasionally glancing up at her father with a look of both disdain and helplessness. Song Zhiyi, on the other hand, ate her food elegantly and slowly, seemingly detached from the situation.
After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,
The two bottles of Moutai were empty, with most of them ending up in Uncle Jiang's stomach. His face was as red as Guan Yu's, his tongue was slurring, and his eyes were becoming glazed.
"Little Wang... no, Brother Wang!"
Uncle Jiang suddenly slapped Wang Zhe on the shoulder with such force that he almost knocked Wang Zhe to the ground.
"Brother Wang! You're a capable man! I'm a very good judge of character... hiccup, I'm very good at judging people! You'll definitely be someone important in the future!"
"Uncle, you've had too much to drink." Wang Zhe helped the swaying Uncle Jiang.
"No more! I didn't do much!" Uncle Jiang flung Wang Zhe's hand away, stood up unsteadily, raised his wine glass, and said loudly, "Today...today I have something to announce!"
Everyone at the table fell silent.
Jiang Di's mother tugged at his sleeve with some concern: "Old Jiang, what are you doing? Sit down and talk."
Uncle Jiang waved his hand, pointed at Wang Zhe, his eyes brimming with chivalrous loyalty: "Young Wang, you've done me a great favor! I, Jiang, am a man who repays kindness! Today, over this cup of wine, let's become sworn brothers!"
"Pfft—cough cough cough!"
Jiang Di, who was drinking soup, spat it out and coughed violently.
The shrimp that Song Zhiyi had peeled fell into the plate with a "plop," and a crack finally appeared on her usually calm face, her expression becoming extremely interesting.
Even Wang Zhe was stunned.
Although he had thought that Uncle Jiang would thank him, and even that Uncle Jiang would entrust his daughter to him, he never expected that things would unfold in this way.
"Uncle, this...this isn't appropriate, is it?" Wang Zhe's lips twitched.
"What's inappropriate about it!" Uncle Jiang glared. "Do you look down on me? Do you think I, Jiang Peng, am unworthy to be your older brother?"
"It's not a matter of whether they're a good match or not..." Wang Zhe glanced at Jiang Di, who was still coughing, "The generations are all mixed up, Uncle."
"What's all this chaos! Let's keep things separate!" Jiang Peng, in his forties, waved his hand with boundless pride. "From now on, you'll call me brother, and I'll call you younger brother! We'll share the good times and the bad! As for Xiao Di..."
Jiang Di's eyes widened, and her cheeks trembled.
Jiang Peng, however, paid no attention to his daughter's hesitation and said, "Xiao Di, quick! Call him Uncle Wang!"
"Dad!" Jiang Di finally couldn't hold back any longer, slamming down her chopsticks. "You're drunk! What's wrong with you?! Wang Zhe is my age, he's my classmate at school!"
Uncle Jiang, his eyes glazed with drunkenness, retorted, "He's your uncle. This is an adult matter; what right do kids have to meddle?"
Before he could finish speaking, his wife next to him pinched the soft flesh on his waist hard.
"What are you saying!" The aunt laughed in exasperation. "Talking nonsense in front of the child! Xiao Wang, just ignore him, he's just drunk some horse piss and doesn't know which way is up."
"I'm not lying! I'm serious! Brother Wang, just tell me, do you acknowledge me as your elder brother?"
Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, whose face was flushed but whose eyes were unusually persistent, Wang Zhe suddenly felt that the scene was full of absurd humor.
Perhaps it was because he had a few drinks, but he suddenly felt that life didn't have to be so serious. Wouldn't it be better to have some fun? Being his girlfriend's uncle was just too much fun.
Wang Zhe stood up, picked up his wine glass, and clinked it against Uncle Jiang's glass, making a crisp sound.
"Alright, since Brother Jiang thinks so highly of me, then I'll drink this glass."
Wang Zhe tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.
"Good! Good brother!" Uncle Jiang was overjoyed, hugging Wang Zhe tightly and patting him hard on the back. "From now on, we're brothers! If anyone dares to bully you, just tell me!"
Seeing the two brothers hugging each other, despite being more than twenty years apart in age, Jiang Di covered his face in despair.
If I date Wang Zhe in the future, will it be considered promiscuous?
"Um..." Song Zhiyi suddenly spoke, her voice clear and melodious, standing out sharply in the chaotic scene, "Now that Wang Zhe has become Uncle Jiang's brother, shouldn't Jiang Di really change how he addresses him?"
Jiang Di suddenly looked up, staring intently at Song Zhiyi, her face puffed up like a steamed bun with anger.
"Song Zhiyi! Shut up!"
"I'm doing this for your own good," Song Zhiyi blinked innocently, "Let's get used to it first."
Uncle Jiang didn't care about the girls' little thoughts and kept pulling Wang Zhe to continue drinking.
"Come on, bro! Let's do one more!"
Ultimately, the celebration banquet ended with Uncle Jiang completely drunk and passed out under the table.
When it came time to pay the bill, Uncle Jiang had boasted that he would treat everyone, but now he was completely unconscious. Auntie awkwardly rummaged through her bag for her wallet, only to realize that she had rushed out without bringing enough cash.
"Auntie, let me pay." Wang Zhe took out the two thousand yuan red envelope, added a few hundred more, and settled the bill.
"Oh dear, I can't accept this. I promised to treat you..." The aunt looked apologetic.
"It's alright, it's just... a red envelope from my older brother." Wang Zhe smiled and helped the aunt lift the extremely heavy Uncle Jiang. "Let's go, let's take my older brother home first."
The group helped the drunkard out of the Haiyue Grand Hotel.
A night breeze blew by, slightly dispersing some of the smell of alcohol.
Wang Zhe and Jiang Di supported Uncle Jiang on either side, while Song Zhiyi and Auntie followed behind.
Looking at the boy's back in front of her, Song Zhiyi touched the 600 yuan red envelope in her pocket and suddenly felt that tonight's show was more exciting than any movie she had ever seen.
"Make your girlfriend call you 'uncle'..."
The girl murmured something softly, her voice barely audible, and it vanished instantly in the wind. But the smile in her eyes grew ever stronger.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.