At the beginning, he took his seven younger siblings to join Yi Zhonghai.

Chapter 12 Bianyifang

Not long after.

The family arrived at Bianyifang.

"Ding Ya Zi, when it comes to Peking duck in Beijing, everyone knows Quanjude, but if you're talking about the first restaurant in Beijing to make Peking duck, that has to be Bianyifang."

"Quanjude's ducks are quite fatty, and I'm worried that you might not have enough oil in your stomachs, and it will be too greasy and upset your stomachs. So let's have a little feast here today."

"Let's go try Quanjude again tomorrow. Your brother and sister-in-law have never had their duck before, so we'll get to enjoy it with you."

Yi Zhonghai pointed to the Bianyifang signboard and said softly.

"I'll listen to you, brother. But let's make a deal about Quanjude. I'll treat you and your wife to it once I start working and earn my first month's salary."

Yi Zhongding nodded and said.

"Hey, okay, I'll do as you say, then I'll really benefit from this."

Yi Zhonghai chuckled.

"Shameless! How dare you spend your child's money?"

Tan Xiulian smiled silently from the side.

"How can we be embarrassed? Dingya is thinking of us. He's about to graduate from university and get a good job in a good unit. That'll be a cadre position. What's wrong with treating his older brother and sister-in-law to a nice meal?"

Yi Zhonghai said with an air of self-righteousness.

"I can't argue with you. Go order the ducks. Things aren't like they used to be; no one's going to wait on you anymore."

Tan Xiulian rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Alright, Dingya, Huaya, let's go see what we want to eat."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand with great gusto.

"Brother, you can arrange it as you see fit, as long as there's enough to eat."

Yi Zhongding said directly.

"Alright, then I'll arrange a meal."

Yi Zhonghai smiled and walked to the order window.

Bianyifang became a joint state-private enterprise as early as 1950, two years earlier than Fengzeyuan and Quanjude.

So now there's no one to serve us.

Diners have to go to the window to order and serve their food themselves.

If diners knew how to slice duck, they might have had to do it themselves.

This is in contrast to the later blatant display of signs that read "Customers must not be beaten without cause."

The current public sector managers still largely uphold the concept of "serving the people".

They weren't as arrogant as some people thought.

He still wore a slightly distant smile.

"Comrade, please. Here are two ducks, one for soup, and the other to take home after you finish them. Also, two pounds of lotus leaf buns and eight servings of condiments."

"Two more hot dishes, braised sea cucumber with scallions and cuttlefish roe soup, plus some refreshing radish strips."

Yi Zhonghai walked to the window, looked at the menu, and ordered without hesitation.

"Alright, comrade, a duck is eight dollars, a large bowl of duck bone soup is six mao, a serving of scallion sauce is two mao, braised sea cucumber with scallions is two dollars and eighty, cuttlefish egg soup is one dollar and eighty, lotus leaf buns are one dollar per pound, and radish strips are one dollar. It's more expensive in winter, so the total is eighteen dollars and twenty mao."

While writing down the menu, the manager of Bianyifang calculated the prices.

Yi Zhonghai didn't even blink when he heard the price.

He readily took out his money and paid the bill.

More than half an hour later.

A steaming bowl of cuttlefish egg soup and braised sea cucumber with scallions were served by the waiter.

The golden broth, with its savory and fragrant aroma, forcefully filled everyone's nostrils.

The slices of cuttlefish eggs in the soup are white and smooth.

"Come on, have some soup first. This is called cuttlefish egg soup. Let's not talk about the past, because ordinary people like us couldn't afford it. Now it has another name: state banquet soup."

Yi Zhonghai cheerfully picked up a bowl and ladled soup for everyone.

"Brother, let me do it, please have a seat."

Yi Zhongding took the spoon from his hand and said with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll enjoy it."

Yi Zhonghai put down his soup spoon and sat back down contentedly.

"When have you ever not been enjoying yourself? I'm always the one serving you."

Tan Xiulian said with a laugh.

"How can that be the same? This is our own brother. Ever since 1938... Never mind, we're happy today, let's not talk about this. I'll go get a bottle of wine."

"Dingya, can you have a drink?"

Yi Zhonghai swallowed back what he wanted to say, and deliberately got up to buy wine to hide the sadness in his eyes and the tears streaming down his face.

"Go away, you're so irresponsible. Dingya still has to study. You can just drink yours."

Tan Xiulian patted his arm and laughed and scolded him.

"That makes sense, sister-in-law. You don't know, before I came here, the township head told us that Ding Yazi is a promising college student. Hehe, as soon as we heard that, we knew that the Yi family had a prodigy."

Yi Zhonghai nodded in deep agreement, raising his eyebrows smugly as he spoke.

"Of course, Dingya's kids all look smart and quick-witted, each one of them is a good candidate for college."

"Don't drink anymore. Drink when you get home. If you reek of alcohol, how will you take care of the kids? If you bother our baby, I'll never forgive you."

Tan Xiulian smiled in agreement, and then said.

"It's my fault. I didn't think things through and was just too happy."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai slapped his forehead and sat down again.

Yi Zhongding smiled somewhat awkwardly and placed the ladled soup in front of him first.

"Dingya, don't worry about us, you guys eat. Your older brother and I will feed these little ones first. Look at them, all of them are waving their arms and legs, they're so eager to eat."

"Isn't that right? Xinxin and Yanyan, the two little ones know that there's something good to eat now, haha. Don't worry, don't worry, your sister-in-law will feed you right away."

Seeing his actions, Tan Xiulian smiled with satisfaction, then lowered her head to tease the two little ones.

Bianyifang saw that there were too many children here, so they brought over two cradles.

It's just the right size to fit four little dolls inside.

Yi Zhongding placed another bowl on his elder brother's seat.

Then he ladled a bowl for the second child, Yaomei, and Miaomei.

"Yes, I'll feed Zhongren and Zhongmin. Dingya, you watch Huaya and the other two eat."

"Listen to these children's names, how wonderful! They represent all five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. China, People's Republic of China, each one more resounding than the last."

"I know Ding Ya's name. His grandfather had someone calculate the characters for his name, which means 'pillar of support,' hoping that he would become the top scholar in the imperial examination and reach the pinnacle."

Yi Zhonghai held a bowl and a soup spoon, bent down, and fed the two little ones spoonful by spoonful, muttering to himself.

"The second brother's name is taken from the Chinese nation, while the names of my third sister and the others were chosen from the characters left by the old Taoist priest who taught me to read, learn martial arts, and practice medicine."

"Zhong Ren and Zhong Min were born on the day the People's Republic of China was founded. The person on the radio announced the People's Republic of China, so the originally chosen character with the wood radical was replaced with the grass radical."

Yi Zhongding followed his words and explained the meaning of his younger brother and sister's names.

But he didn't dare mention the words "father" and "mother".

Otherwise, if the children start crying, it will be hard to stop them from crying in a short time.

"Alright, Si... Dingya, you're also practicing martial arts and medicine?"

Tan Xiulian subconsciously wanted to say "Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt," but after glancing at the children, she quickly changed the subject.

Yi Zhonghai already knew about it.

So there was no surprise.

"Having studied for three or four years, I wouldn't even qualify as a half-baked expert."

Yi Zhongding nodded.

"That's great! Now we can go to medical school and our Yi family can produce a doctor."

Tan Xiulian said with a beaming smile.

"Let the child learn whatever they want."