Chapter 806
The chicken was stewed at the bottom while the mixed flour pancakes were stewed on the sides of the pot. The mixed flour was basically made from corn flour, sorghum rice, fine flour and sometimes bean flour. Stewing some pickled vegetables, eggplant and garlic paste while doing so could save the family some firewood as well.
After an hour of burning, there wasn’t a need to add weeds into the fire to keep it going. They just simmered it on the charcoal under the pot so that the dish would be ready to eat when Han Qingsong came back.
Lin Lan clapped her hands, “Children, we are going to have a unique welcome party today to welcome Director Han home and formally report to him of your eldest brother’s good news!”
She was responsible for publicity and often asked her children to help with performances. Hence, they were all familiar with her routines. Even Dawang has been featured in the background for Lin Lan’s program before.
The children cooperated in the rehearsal and even though Dawang was not that enthusiastic about it, he did not refuse.
…
When Han Qingsong came back in the evening, he found that Lin Lan was leading the children to do something again.
Lin Lan and the five children, divided into two rows, smiled and bowed slightly to Han Qingsong, “Director Han, you have worked hard. We welcome Director Han back home.”
Han Qingsong stopped his bicycle and looked at them puzzledly, “What’s going on?”
Lin Lan immediately ran over and hugged his arm, “There’s good news, good news.”
It was a big deal for her that her eldest son succeeded in doing something seriously for the first time, so she naturally had to celebrate it in a very formal way.
This was the sense of ritual in life.
She wanted Dawang to have a sense of honour and pride. She wanted to let him know that he had done an amazing thing, to have him remember for the rest of his life how he and his mother worked hard together that summer in order to achieve an incredible task. No matter what he was going to do in the future, no matter what sort of difficulties he encountered, he could reminisce about this summer, this exam and how his parents, brothers and sisters were proud of him!