278 Chicken Broth Jelly (1/2)
He Xiufang's coach and teammates were not the only ones who went to Shanghai along with her. Her father, He Zhong, was also present.
He Zhong was an honest farmer. He was anxious, solemn, profound, concerned, and stubborn at the same time.
Even though he arrived in Shanghai the same day as He Xiufang, he had departed from his house a day before her.
He Xiufang was immediately teary-eyed when she saw her father standing at the exit of the station with a nylon bag, smoking restlessly.
She last saw her father when she was recuperating in the team, and back then, her fate was hanging by a thread.
Meeting him again this time, she was already a medalist of a national competition. Even though it was only a bronze medal and a national track and field championship, the fact that she got to stay in the team meant that her biggest crisis had already been averted.
However, it felt as if her father had always remained the same ever since she was young.
”Why did you take the green train again? [1] Didn't I buy you a bullet train ticket?” He Xiufang felt that she was the epitome of a country bumpkin in her team. However, when she stood next to her father, she realized that she was already a far cry away from being a country bumpkin.
He Zhong mumbled in their native dialect, ”It's a few times more expensive than the green train. I returned the ticket and got a refund.”
”It only takes a few hours to reach Shanghai by bullet train. Even our neighbors take the bullet train when they go to work in the city…” He Xiufang also started to speak in their native dialect a little without realizing.
He Zhong said scornfully, ”They can take the bullet train if they want to. I don't want to.”
”Uncle He.” The coach only went forward to shake his hand at that moment. The coach was around ten years younger than He Zhong and often spoke on the phone with him.
When He Zhong saw the coach, he flashed an honest and good-natured smile again. ”Sorry to trouble you once more…”
”Don't mention it…”
He Zhong held the coach's hand tightly and said, ”If my daughter hadn't gotten a medal this time, I would've been too embarrassed to even come and see you. You've wasted quite a few years just to train her, and she didn't deliver any results at all. She did nothing but waste the country's money.”
The coach did not know how to respond. He Xiufang took off her bronze medal from her neck and passed it to her father. ”Dad, take a look at my medal.”
”Good! Good!” He Zhong held the medal with one hand and ran his fingers over it. But then he adjusted the straps of his nylon bag and said, ”Let's make a move first. I'm carrying something. I'll look at the medal later once I've settled down in the hotel.”
”Dad, you said that you wanted a kitchen, right? So I rented a house for you…” He Xiufang paused for a moment and quickly added, ”It's not too expensive. I rented a cheap place. Nowadays, they call it short-term rental.”
”As long as it has a kitchen.” He Zhong did not scold anyone this time.
He Xiufang froze for a moment and said, ”There's a kitchen. The place has cooking utensils too.”
”You can rent it for as many days as possible, right?”
”You can stay as long as you want to.” As a member of the track and field team, He Xiufang received a monthly salary. It was not a lot, but she did not usually spend much because her meals and accommodation were taken care of by the team. Hence, she had some savings. Even though she would be reluctant to rent a house for herself in Shanghai, she was very willing to rent a house for her father.
He Zhong nodded. ”All right then, let's hurry up and go over.”
It was only after they took the bus to the short-term rental home that He Xiufang got to know why her father wanted a house with a kitchen in it and why he was in a hurry to come over.
He Zhong's nylon bag was filled with wild vegetables.
”Dad, why did you bring so much shepherd's purse… You could have bought less.” As He Xiufang grabbed a bunch of vegetables, she felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Because they could not afford proper vegetables when she was young, they often ate shepherd's purse and other wild vegetables.
He Zhong snorted and said, ”I didn't bring them for you. I brought them for your leaders and coach. I'll also give some to the doctors. You can just take a few bites. Come on, let's go and buy a chicken.”
”Are you making chicken broth jelly?” He Xiufang immediately knew what her father was planning the moment she heard that.
At home, chicken broth jelly was considered a very scrumptious dish. It was made by grinding shepherd's purse into powder and mixing it with flour. The mixture was cooked until it became a paste before it was chilled. It would then be cut into small pieces, over which chicken broth would be poured over.
Even though it sounded like a specialty snack, if you thought about it carefully, it would just be an upgraded version of Fan Zhongyan's [2] solid porridge with salted vegetables [3], with the salted vegetables being replaced by wild vegetables.
However, it was a relatively new thing to add chicken broth into the dish.
”Dad, people don't really eat that anymore,” He Xiufang said, sounding a little troubled.
”It's other people's business if they want to eat it or not, but it's up to us whether we want to make it.” He Zhong waved his hand and began to busy himself. He only secretly glanced at He Xiufang's ankle when she walked out the door.
”He Xiufang's Achilles tendon is in pretty good condition. We only allowed her to participate in the competition because our team's doctor said that it has completely recovered.” The coach knew He Zhong well and took the trouble to explain the situation to him.