The three of them chatted on the way to the restaurant, and Song Ying handed Mi Duo a menu.
“Sister Mi, take a look and order whatever you’d like.”
The dishes on the menu were all home-style cooking, nothing with any regional specialties, so it was easy to order. Mi Duo picked Kung Pao Chicken and Twice-Cooked Pork.
“I’ll just have rice for my staple,” she said, handing the menu back to the waitress.
Song Ying asked, “Sister Mi, what about drinks? What would you like?” She turned to the waitress. “What kinds of drinks do you have here?”
The waitress replied, “We have Dayao Jiabin, Xianquan, peach juice, orange juice, iced black tea, cola… Kaiwei, and also freshly squeezed juices—watermelon juice, pear juice, and apple juice.”
Song Ying looked at Mi Duo, who thought for a moment. “I’ll have pear juice then.”
The waitress asked, “A pitcher or a glass?”
Song Ying said, “A pitcher.”
“By the way, don’t you guys want beer or any other drinks?” she asked.
Song Yuan and Narisu both said, “We’re driving, so we’ll just stick with drinks.”
Wang Lei and Song Wenbin exchanged a glance. “Then the two of us will each have a bottle of beer.”
Hearing this, Song Ying told the waitress, “Then make it two pitchers of pear juice, and for the beer, let’s go with pure draft? Bring four bottles to start.”
“I’ll add two more dishes—sizzling milk tofu and dry-pot shrimp.”
The sizzling milk tofu was delicious—pan-fried in butter with sugar sprinkled on top, the tofu soft, sweet, and stretchy.
Four dishes were already on the table: grilled fish, stir-fried dried tofu with hot peppers, shredded pork in Beijing sauce, and braised eggplant.
Song Ying didn’t understand why the older generation was so fond of braised eggplant and stir-fried dried tofu with hot peppers, especially the latter. Her uncle, her cousin, and even her older male cousins all loved it.
Could it be that people around here unlocked a taste for that dish once they reached a certain age?
Anyway, Song Ying didn’t like it right now. She didn’t like cooked tofu. If the dried tofu was cold-mixed or put in rice noodles, she’d love it, but if it was stir-fried, it was a hard no, no!
Same with soft tofu—she’d eat it cold-mixed, even plain with nothing on it, but once it was cooked through, whether stewed or stir-fried, she wouldn’t touch it.
Frozen tofu was even worse—absolutely terrible.
While they waited for the food, everyone chatted, and Mi Duo introduced herself.
“My name is Mi Duo, I’m a designer from Hangzhou, xxx.”
Her uncle Song Wenbin asked, “So, Designer Mi, how much would it cost to hire you for a design?”
Song Ying’s heart sank—she knew these people would ask.
Mi Duo smiled. “That depends on the size of the house and the complexity of the design.”
Song Wenbin asked, “What about a house like Yingzi’s?”
Mi Duo said, “Yingzi’s didn’t cost anything.”
“Didn’t cost anything?”
Mi Duo smiled. “Right, I know her good friend, and we’re friends too, so I didn’t charge for the design. I just had her cover my food, lodging, and travel expenses.”
Song Wenbin said, “That’s pretty nice.”
Mi Duo nodded and glanced at Song Ying, who picked up her phone and sent her a thumbs-up emoji. Good move—saying it was free would keep people from nagging about it.
Song Ying said, “Uncle, Uncle Wenbin, should I have the main structure of my house built by people from the village, or should I hire a professional construction team?”
Song Wenbin said, “For the main structure, just use the mason from our village. Go with your Uncle Zhang—he does a great job.”
Uncle Wang Lei also chimed in, “Right, just find Zhang Shaoquan. He does good work.”
Zhang Shaoquan was a well-known mason in the surrounding villages, and everyone nearby hired him to build their houses.
Song Ying nodded. “Sister Mi, has the design drawing for the house come out yet?”
Mi Duo said, “It’s out, it’s out. I finished it the day before yesterday. Take a look.”
With that, she brought out her computer to show them.
Song Ying took a look but couldn’t quite understand it, so she passed it around to the other four. Wang Lei remarked, “This doesn’t look too difficult.”
“Yingzi, are you building your restaurant like this too?”
Song Ying replied, “For the restaurant, the exterior will be pretty similar. It looks nice built this way.”
Mi Duo said, “I designed a different blueprint for the restaurant. Take a look at this one.”
Song Ying looked at it—the exterior differed only slightly from her house design, not by much.
The exterior design wasn’t difficult; the main challenge was the interior.
“Alright, then I’ll go back and ask Uncle Zhang with my grandpa.”
The dishes they ordered came up quickly, and everyone started eating.
Four bottles of beer were brought out. Wang Lei and Song Wenbin each drank one, finishing two bottles, leaving two untouched. Not just the beer—plenty of food was left over too.
Song Ying waved her hand and had it all packed up to take home.
On the way back, Song Yuan drove Song Ying’s car. When they reached the cement road at the village entrance, Song Yuan stopped the car. “Come on, Yingzi, you drive.”
Song Ying said, “Alright.” She had bought the car herself, so she needed to learn to drive it.
Song Ying sat in the driver’s seat and drove very slowly, but she made it home safely.
Since it was midday, her grandpa was home.
After briefly introducing everyone, Song Ying brought up the house construction. “Grandpa, let’s go ask Uncle Zhang in a bit.”
Song Guozheng said, “Alright, your Uncle Zhang should be capable.”
Chen Shuqin brewed tea for everyone. “Have you all had lunch?”
Wang Lei and the others replied, “Yes, Auntie. We ate at the restaurant before coming out.”
“Oh right, I forgot the leftovers.” Song Ying went to the car, grabbed the leftover food, and handed it to Chen Shuqin.
Chen Shuqin said, “I’ll give it to your grandpa for dinner.”
Song Guozheng said, “Just heat it up for me now.” He wanted to eat it right away.
After chatting for a while, Song Wenbin, Song Yuan, Wang Lei, and Narisu went home.
Song Guozheng called Zhang Shaoquan to discuss the house construction. “Shaoquan, why don’t you come over and take a look? Our Yingzi specially hired a designer and came up with a blueprint.”
“Alright, Uncle Song, I’ll be right over,” Zhang Shaoquan said on the other end of the line.
After hanging up, Zhang Shaoquan told his wife and rode his electric scooter over to Song Ying’s house.
After some brief pleasantries, Song Guozheng said, “Shaoquan, ask your niece—she knows the details.”
Song Ying first pulled up a video of the finished house from Xiaohongshu. “Uncle Zhang, I want to build a house like this.”
Zhang Shaoquan took the phone and watched for a while. “The exterior doesn’t look like our typical village houses, but the main structure shouldn’t be much different. The main difference is in the finishing work. This one is very nice.”
“Right, big brother, take a look—this is the design drawing.” Mi Duo brought out the blueprint.
After Zhang Shaoquan finished reviewing it, he said, “It can be built, it can be built. This is simple. The house in the video is a bit taller than our regular houses, and the windows are bigger. It’s doable.”
Chen Shuqin laughed. “As long as it can be built, that’s fine. Hiring someone from our own village is always better than hiring outsiders.”
Song Ying said, “Uncle Zhang, there are two houses—one I’ll use to open the restaurant, and the other will be for us to live in.”
“Alright, no problem.” Zhang Shaoquan nodded.
Song Ying asked, “Uncle Zhang, when can this house be finished? I’d like to move in before December.”
Zhang Shaoquan said, “The main structure will be done quickly—at most 45 days. It’s mid-April now, and if we start tomorrow, the main building will be finished by the end of May. After that, it’s just the interior work, and six months is more than enough.”
“Here’s the plan, Yingzi: I’ll build your residence first, and once that’s done, I’ll build the restaurant. Don’t worry—even though the restaurant comes second, we’ll still finish its interior before winter sets in.”
“As for the soft furnishings later on, you can handle those in the winter without any problem.”