"Momo's here too?" Zhou Ming heard the voice and immediately looked around.
Zhou Momo had already run over excitedly, her little face full of pride as she introduced them to the onlookers: "This is my Guo Guo, my Guo Guo."
Zhou Yan pinned down the scoundrel he had knocked down earlier. He had gone a little too lightly, the guy had just recovered and was crawling on the ground, trying to run away. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Zhou Momo's smug face.
The little one is quite the attention-grabber.
"Momo." Zhou Ming tucked his injured hand behind his back, smiling broadly at Zhou Momo, his eyes full of doting affection.
"Guo Guo Ming!" Zhou Momo ran over, her eyes full of concern as she looked at his hand hidden behind his back. "Is your hand okay? I just saw it was bleeding! You need to bandage it quickly."
"It's nothing, a minor problem." Zhou Ming smiled so broadly his eyes were almost closed.
The little one breathed a sigh of relief, clapped her hands, and looked at Zhou Ming with shining eyes, saying, "Guo Guo Ming, you were so amazing just now! You knocked one bad guy away with one stick! And then you knocked down two other bad guys. Is this martial arts?! I want to learn!"
"Really want to learn? Then I'll teach you!" Zhou Ming grinned from ear to ear. Eighteen years of martial arts training, all the hardships he'd endured, were nothing at this moment.
Momo is so good at praising!
He loves hearing it!
The onlookers also smiled.
This little girl is so cute and sensible, she even knows to care for her brother first.
Just as Zhou Yan was about to ask Zhou Ming if he needed bandages, the thief, whom he had pinned to the ground, slapped the ground and said with difficulty, "Friend, fighting is fighting, give me some air..."
Zhou Yan quickly moved his leg to the side.
The thief was gasping for breath, his face turning bluish-purple, he had almost suffocated.
"Hey brother, call the police for us. Tell them there was a group of robbers who hijacked the bus, but Zhou Ming and Zhou Yan have already subdued them. We need backup." Zhou Ming said to the young man who was watching the commotion.
"Okay! I'll go right away!" the young man replied, pedaling his bicycle off at breakneck speed.
The thief, who had just been knocked unconscious on the ground, slowly regained consciousness and tried to argue, "We're thieves, not robbers..."
"Didn't you just say you were a ruthless bandit? Everyone had a knife, and you even stabbed me until I bled. You must be a robber who can't escape now." Zhou Ming laughed.
"I'm not going to be a bandit anymore, I'm done!" The young man cried, tears streaming down his face.
Zhou Ming shattered the bandit's dream with three blows.
His gaze fell on the shuttle bus beside him, and he said loudly, "Driver, don't rush off. Everyone, please take a look at your wallets to see if they're still there. When the police arrive, you can register and get your money back."
"Oh no! My thirty yuan for medicine is gone! Those damned bastards must have stolen it!"
"My new clothes have two holes cut in them, those guys are despicable!"
"My wallet is gone too! It had eight yuan and sixty five cents in it!"
The angry voices of the passengers quickly filled the bus.
They were very close to Suji, and soon six police officers on bicycles arrived.
Following them were five or six 28-inch bicycles, these were armed militiamen carrying guns, led by a one-armed young man named Zhou Weiguo.
All of them were fully armed.
Seeing the four men lying on the ground groaning in pain, they all looked surprised and astonished.
Weren't there supposed to be ruthless bandits who hijacked the bus? They even went to ask the armed forces for help.
These two young men took them all down?
"Those four lying on the ground! They were subdued by those two comrades!" the young man leading the way testified.
"Cuff them!" The deputy director in charge waved his hand, and the four thieves were immediately handcuffed.
"It hurts, it hurts so much!"
"Don't drag me anymore, my leg is broken..."
"Comrade, I think my ribs are broken, am I going to die?"
The thieves' screams grew louder and louder.
"Zhou Ming! Zhou Yan! How are you?" Zhou Weiguo stopped the bicycle and came forward to ask with concern.
He had just received a call about a bus robbery involving four armed robbers carrying knives, requesting assistance, and had immediately brought his men over.
"Little Uncle, I'm fine, but Brother Ming's hand is injured." Zhou Yan said, stepping forward.
"Little Uncle, I'm fine too, it's just a minor injury." Zhou Ming smiled, raising his blood-stained left hand. "It'll just need a bandage, the weather's not too bad for it to get infected."
Zhou Weiguo grabbed his hand and examined it. The wound was half a foot long, but fortunately it wasn't deep. It looked frightening with its blood, but it wasn't a big problem.
He was a man who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood so he could tell at a glance how serious one's injuries were.
However, robbing someone with a knife on a shuttle bus and injuring them is a particularly heinous crime.
Zhou Weiguo's face turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, "Director Lin, these ruthless bandits committed robbery and assault with knives, which is a heinous crime."
"Minister Zhou, rest assured, we will take them back for a thorough investigation and make sure they confess their crimes and submit to the law." Deputy Director Lin nodded to him, looking at Zhou Ming and Zhou Yan, "These two young comrades acted bravely and righteously, which is commendable. Go to the clinic to have your wounds bandaged first, and then go to the station to make a statement."
"Okay." Zhou Ming nodded, then said, "Comrade Director, these ruthless bandits all carry daggers, and they are extremely vicious, aiming for vital organs with every strike. Ordinary thieves wouldn't do that. You can check if they have any other cases against them. Many people on the bus had money stolen from them, and…"
Zhou Ming stepped forward and whispered a few words.
Director Lin's expression was grave. He nodded and said, "Alright, we'll investigate your report thoroughly when we get back!"
The handcuffed thieves' faces changed drastically, turning ashen.
Four robbers, three with broken bones, had to be carried onto the bus and taken back to the police station along with the victims on board.
"Little Uncle!" Zhou Momo finally called out to Zhou Weiguo.
"What's Momo doing here?" Zhou Weiguo smiled and picked her up, then looked at Zhou Yan and asked, "What's going on? Why are you two here, acting as heroes and catching those thieves?"
"Momo and I went to the city to buy things. We passed by and saw a bus parked on the side of the road. As soon as the door opened, Brother Ming kicked them all off. I saw they were holding knives and was worried that Brother Ming would get hurt, so I went to get a stick to help. Brother Ming took down three of them by himself. He truly deserves to be the national martial arts champion." Zhou Yan briefly explained the situation.
"I'm the national champion of Emei boxing." Zhou Ming corrected.
"It's all the same, you're a champion anyway." Zhou Yan laughed.
"These guys are despicable. Stealing money from old people is bad enough, but they also molested women. I couldn't stand it, so I stepped in to stop them. I didn't expect there were so many accomplices." Zhou Ming said with a smile, "Zhou Yan did a great job. If it wasn't for his reminder and handing me the stick, my injuries today would definitely be more than this."
"You two are both commendable, full of courage and spirit, worthy of being sons of the Zhou family." Zhou Weiguo nodded at the two men and said, "Come on, go back and bandage your wounds first, then cooperate with the police officers at the police station in handling the case. Once the case is closed, I will apply for commendations for your acts of bravery."
"Okay." Zhou Yan and Zhou Ming nodded with smiles.
"Brother Ming, why don't you ride my bicycle? I'll take you to the clinic." Zhou Yan ran over and pushed the bicycle over, then picked up Zhou Ming and Zhou Momo. They returned to Suji, first going to the clinic to disinfect and bandage the wounds, then dropping Zhou Momo back at the restaurant, and then heading straight to the police station.
After understanding the situation, the security guard led the two inside.
Zhou Yan glanced at his watch and said to the police officer taking the statement, "Comrade, I'm a chef at the restaurant, and I'm in a hurry to get back to cook. Could you please take my statement first?"
"No problem, you go first." The comrade nodded with a smile. They naturally gave priority to good young people who acted bravely and righteously.
Zhou Yan's statement was relatively simple. He was originally just an accomplice who got involved halfway through the journey. He was unaware of what happened on the bus and did not participate in it. He finished the statement in just over ten minutes.
"Brother Ming, after you've finished giving your statement, come to my restaurant for dinner. Let's have a small gathering first." Zhou Yan said to Zhou Ming.
"Okay, you go back and cook first." Zhou Ming nodded with a smile.
When Zhou Yan rode his bicycle back to the restaurant, Zhou Momo was at the entrance, vividly telling Aunt Zhao and Comrade Old Zhou how the two of them had subdued the bad guys and beaten them until they screamed in pain.
"Aiyo, our great hero Comrade Zhou Yan is back!" Aunt Zhao got up and went forward, circling around Zhou Yan and asking with concern, "Are you hurt?"
"I wasn't injured. I just went to hand Brother Ming the stick." Zhou Yan said with a smile, "He truly deserves to be the national champion, he took them down one by one, making the bad guys howl in pain."
Aunt Zhao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and patted his arm: "Next time you see someone with a knife, run away! Don't try to be a hero! Zhou Ming knows martial arts, you're carrying a kitchen knife, it's not the same."
"I know, if I hadn't seen Brother Ming today, I would have taken Zhou Momo and run as far away as possible." Zhou Yan nodded in deep agreement, his attitude quite sincere.
He has always been a man who values his life, and the reason he was involved today was indeed because of Zhou Ming. He couldn't just stand by and watch his brother be attacked with knives while he was empty-handed.
"Guo Guo is a hero! He's a good person!" Zhou Momo ran over and stood in front of Zhou Yan, looking at Aunt Zhao and saying, "Mommy, you have to respect him!"
Everyone laughed upon hearing this.
Aunt Zhao smiled and looked at Zhou Momo, saying, "Are you thinking of taking action too?"
Zhou Momo nodded, clenching her little fists, and said, "I want to learn martial arts! I want to be a policewoman and catch bad guys!"
"Well done!" Comrade Old Zhou stepped forward, patted Zhou Yan's upper arm, and looked at him with satisfaction.
Zhou Yan's lips curled up, revealing a smile that any man would understand.
The two plaques on the Old Zhou family mansion weren't hung there for nothing, every son of the Zhou family is a man of courage and integrity.
It would be shameful to run away from something like this.
"Zhou Ming is injured. Should we inform Third Brother and Third Sister in law?" Aunt Zhao asked, looking at Comrade Old Zhou.
Comrade Old Zhou shook his head and said, "No need. Let Zhou Ming talk about this minor injury himself when he gets back. It's better to avoid them rushing to town in a panic. They don't know how long they'll be waiting outside the police station, and the longer they wait, the more anxious they'll become."
"Brother Ming just reminded me about this, and he said the same thing." Zhou Yan nodded. This was probably the tacit understanding among the men of the Zhou family. "I've already asked him to come to the restaurant for dinner after he finishes giving his statement."
"So, can I learn martial arts from Guo Guo Ming Ming?" Zhou Momo leaned closer, her eyes full of anticipation.
"That depends on whether he'll accept you." Zhou Yan chuckled, taking four magazines from his bag and handing them to Aunt Zhao. "I bought four."
"Keep one for Xia Yao." Aunt Zhao said, handing him one.
Zhou Yan: "I kept one..."
"Good, not entirely a blockhead." Aunt Zhao said with a smile.
"Guo Guo, where's the hat you bought for Grandma? Let Mommy see it." Zhou Momo gently tugged at Zhou Yan's bag.
"You even bought a hat for your grandma?" Aunt Zhao asked, somewhat surprised.
"Momo said Grandma's hat was torn and she wanted to buy her a new one for winter so she wouldn't be cold. She's more thoughtful than I was, all I thought of was buying liquor." Zhou Yan smiled and took the purple hat out of his bag.
"It's a top hat, isn't it? It looks great! The stitching is really good, it must be machine-knitted, right?" Aunt Zhao took the hat and nodded repeatedly.
"The purple color looks so nice, and the style is great too!" Zhao Hong nodded in agreement.
"I chose this hat, it even has rabbit fur inside!" Zhou Momo said, pointing to the inside of the hat like it was a treasure.
Aunt Zhao reached out and touched it, her eyes immediately lighting up. She turned the hat inside out and saw that there was indeed a layer of fluffy rabbit fur inside. She exclaimed, "It's lined with rabbit fur! This rabbit fur feels so smooth and comfortable! It will definitely be very warm to wear in winter."
"Zhou Yan, this hat must be expensive, right?" Zhao Hong asked, looking at Zhou Yan.
Aunt Zhao also looked at him.
"The saleswoman said it's machine-knitted and has added rabbit fur, so it'll keep out the wind in winter. It's eight yuan and twenty cents a hat." Zhou Yan replied.
"Eight yuan and twenty cents!" Both of them were startled.
"That's so expensive!" Zhao Hong exclaimed. "If you sold it as yarn, you could make a dozen hats."
Aunt Zhao smiled and said, "If the hats were handmade, they wouldn't be this good. You can send them to your grandma later. Not to mention you, I didn't even think of buying her a hat or clothes. It's the youngest daughter who thought of her grandma."
"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded, pushing his bicycle inside.
Zhou Momo ran in, opened her small purse, took out a stack of small bills tied with a rubber band, and handed them to Zhou Yan, saying, "Here you go, Guo Guo!"
"You're giving me money?" Zhou Yan looked at her.
"Here's four yuan and ten cents. I asked Daddy to count it for me!" Zhou Momo said earnestly, "We bought this hat together as a gift for Grandma, so I have to pay half the money."
"You've already figured out all the accounts?" Zhou Yan was both amused and exasperated, not expecting the little one to be serious.
"No wonder she asked me how much half of 8.2 yuan was when she came back, and even asked me to count out 4.1 yuan for her." Comrade Old Zhou said with a smile as he entered the door.
"Here you go!" Zhou Momo handed the money forward firmly.
"Okay, then I'll keep it." Zhou Yan smiled and took it. "This hat is a gift from the two of us to Grandma."
This thick stack of small denomination banknotes was all saved up little by little by the little one during her time doing daily sales.
Zhou Yan thought she was saving money to buy toys, but she was willing to spend it all to buy a hat for the old lady.
Zhou Ming came to the restaurant after giving his statement. Zhou Yan had just finished preparing the dishes for the evening's business when he came out and saw Zhou Momo hugging Zhou Ming's leg and acting coquettishly: "Guo Guo Ming Ming, teach me martial arts! I want to learn!"
"Come on, let's learn the horse stance first today." Zhou Ming said cheerfully, and immediately got the little one into the position. "Yes, squat like this."
The little one had only squatted for a short while when her legs started trembling.
But she was quite stubborn, she gritted her teeth and persevered, then plopped down on the ground.
This made all the adults laugh.
Zhou Momo laughed foolishly, trying to get up by pushing herself up, but her legs must have gone numb from squatting. She got up but sat back down, looking up at Zhou Ming who was grinning with his big teeth, and said, "Guo Guo Ming Ming, my legs feel all messed up, like lots of little ants are biting me. I can't stand up?"
"It's normal for your legs to go numb." Zhou Ming said with a smile. "When you can squat for half an hour without your legs going numb, then you're doing a pretty good horse stance."
"My legs are numb? My legs didn't eat any peppercorns, so why are they numb?" The little one looked at her legs with a puzzled expression.
That afternoon, Zhou Momo experienced leg numbness for the first time.
"Brother Ming, what did the people at the police station say?" Zhou Yan asked.
Zhou Ming said, "The victims have all given statements, including the woman who was molested. Because they are suspected of armed robbery and assault, which are extremely serious offenses, they will also be questioned about whether they have committed other crimes, and they are expected to be severely punished. This gang came from out of town, and all four of them were apprehended."
"That's good." Zhou Yan nodded. Under the current circumstances, a heavy sentence would most likely mean a lifetime in prison, or even being sentenced to death.
It's not the thieves who steal things that's scary, it's the thieves who have their eyes on you.
Bringing the whole gang down eliminates any worries about the future.
"Did you deliberately take that stab?" Zhou Yan stepped forward and asked in a low voice.
Zhou Ming looked at him and smiled meaningfully, without answering, but said, "They don't even spare the elderly and women. These guys are too dirty-minded. This is a warning to others, I reckon there won't be any thieves on the buses to and from Suji for a long time."
"You're really something!" Zhou Yan gave him a thumbs up. Brother Ming put himself in the trap and sent this group of ruthless bandits to jail.
"Then sit down for a bit, I'll go cook." He turned and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
"Again!" Zhou Momo got up from the ground and squatted in a horse stance again.
"Momo is so amazing! Aren't your legs numb?" Zhou Ming asked with a smile.
"My legs aren't numb!" Zhou Momo shook her head, completely ignoring her trembling legs.
"Fourth Aunt, what brand of stubborn oil do you use at home?" Zhou Ming asked with a smile.
"It's alright, Sichuan women are strong from a young age." Aunt Zhao said with a smile. "Look how well she's standing."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Momo straightened her back even more, then plopped down on the ground.
"Is it numb now?" Zhou Ming asked.
"No! I'm resting for a bit!" Zhou Momo shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, but she managed to hold them back.
In the kitchen, Zhou Yan couldn't help but peek out twice, and then couldn't help but laugh.
Children from Sichuan and Chongqing may lose, but they will never admit defeat!
Zhou Yan stir-fried a serving of spicy stir-fried pork liver, a serving of braised pork ribs, and a serving of twice-cooked pork. The braised dishes were not spicy. He cut a little of each and made a braised dish platter, with one serving of meat and one serving of vegetables.
"So many dishes? They look delicious, and they smell even better." Zhou Ming sat down, his gaze falling on the braised meat and vegetables. He exclaimed in surprise, "Little Yan, have you even learned Grandma's braising skills?"
"We've been selling these for almost half a month now. Try it and see if I've mastered the technique." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
The last time Zhou Ming came back was for Zhou Hao's wedding. At that wedding banquet, Zhou Yan prepared the braised dishes under the guidance of the old lady, and didn't make any vegetarian braised dishes.
"It looks very professional, so it must be good. I haven't had Grandma's braised vegetarian dishes in a long time. I even dreamed about them last week. I'm really craving them." Zhou Ming picked up his chopsticks and first put a piece of dried bean curd sticks into his mouth.
Soft but not mushy, after he took a bite, his mouth was filled with a rich, meaty aroma, and the more he chewed, the more fragrant it became.
"It's delicious! It's exactly the same as Grandma's!" Zhou Ming exclaimed, adding another piece of dried tofu to his mouth. He nodded as he chewed, "The dried tofu is delicious too! I've never had such tender dried tofu in Emei. It's so fragrant from the braising."
Zhou Ming tasted every single braised vegetable dish, praising them endlessly.
He then hastily ate half a bowl of rice.
"Zhou Yan, your braised food skills are amazing! You've mastered all of Grandma's techniques." Zhou Ming said, looking at Zhou Yan with great approval.
Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Don't just eat braised dishes, try some stir-fried dishes. Since you're injured, I put less chili in. Have a bowl of cross-legged beef and eat more braised pork ribs."
"It's nothing. There's no need to avoid certain foods for a minor cut in autumn and winter." Zhou Ming said nonchalantly, picking up a piece of pork liver with his chopsticks and putting it in his mouth. His eyes lit up immediately.
This spicy stir-fried pork liver is so tender! Numbing, spicy, fresh and fragrant, it tastes absolutely amazing!
After swallowing it, he couldn't resist shoveling a big mouthful of rice into his mouth.
He picked up another piece of twice-cooked pork, along with a piece of garlic sprout stalk. The tender, fatty meat and the chewy lean meat were not greasy at all. Paired with the green garlic sprouts, it became more and more fragrant with each chew.
Take a piece of braised pork ribs, and the bone will fall off immediately with a bite.
The meat was tender but not dry, melting in his mouth, and the cartilage made a crunching sound when chewed—it was so delicious!
The cross-legged beef was served in a separate bowl, and he took a spoonful of the soup first.
The clear beef broth, with its surprisingly rich and savory flavor, immediately caught his eye.
Soup pots weren't uncommon in Zhou Village, almost every household knew how to make them, each with their own method.
Two years ago, when Zhou Village resumed cattle slaughtering, his father started slaughtering cattle, and his mother went back to her old business of selling soup pots. However, because the soup was really not tasty, business was dismal.
Last week, he received a letter from his father saying that his mother no longer sells soup pot. Every morning, she prepares the beef offal perfectly and sells it directly to Zhou Yan, which saves her time and effort. In fact, she earns more than she used to when she sold soup pot.
After all, selling half meant losing the other half, making it difficult to even break even, and yet they were selling all day long.
They didn't make any money, but at least they were exhausted.
Zhou Yan's beef broth is so delicious! There's not a hint of gamey taste, it's incredibly flavorful and fragrant.
He picked up his chopsticks, took a slice of tender pink beef, dipped it in the sauce, coated it with granulated chili powder, and then put it in his mouth.
The tender sirloin coated in seasoned chili powder is the perfect finishing touch, resulting in an exceptional texture and flavor!
The tripe is crisp and refreshing, the intestines are tender and soft, and the chewy beef tendon, coated in chili powder, each offers a unique flavor and an excellent texture.
This is a soup pot, so what did her mother make?
Zhou Ming was stunned.
Oh, this is cross-legged beef, and his mother made the soup pot.
That makes sense.
This bowl of cross-legged beef is unmatched in Suji.
No wonder customers line up for it even for just sixty cents a bowl, if he had the money, he'd come here often.
Zhou Ming ate three bowls of rice, not Zhou Momo's small bowl, but the earthen bowl that held the cross-legged beef, three bowls full.
"Guo Guo Ming Ming eats so well!" Zhou Momo was a little stunned. She handed over her small bowl and said, "Mommy, I want another bowl of rice! I want to eat three bowls!"