Spicy Crab

  New book seeking support, collection, and recommendation! **Bincheng is an important port city in the north, so the summer temperature is not too high compared to other famous cities in China. Especially after a heavy rain, the air is filled with the salty smell and coolness brought by the sea breeze.

  In 1999, Bincheng had developed to a certain scale, especially under the strong promotion of the former star mayor. The whole city was developing in the mode of garden city, thanks to its unique geographical advantages and several years of construction. As a result, it has become a well-known tourist city in northern China.

  Both sides of the Wu Yi Road are lined with banyan trees, and some old villas with Republic of China architectural style on both sides of the road make this road full of Republic of China style, which is also a unique landscape of this city.

  On summer nights, Wu Yi Road is at its most lively. The private seafood restaurants on both sides of the road are all open, and it's also peak tourist season, so the street seems exceptionally lively. Both sides of the road are filled with people eating and having fun, creating a cacophony of sounds.

  In the past, every day after school, Li Yifan would walk home on this road with a warm feeling in his heart, because the lively atmosphere made him feel very comfortable. However, today his mood was in a state of extreme confusion, as he struggled to accept the fact that he had been reborn.

  Li Yifan's home was in a bungalow at the end of Wuyi Road, which was originally an illegal structure built by the previous owner in the early 1980s, but over the years it had become legal through a series of procedures.

  Li Yifan and his parents rented a place here, relying on this shop with an area of about 150 square meters to run a small restaurant for a living.

  His parents came from Longtou Village in the suburbs of Bincheng. As an 80s, Li Yifan was not the only child in his family. He had an older brother and sister, and his arrival was completely unexpected in modern terms.

  At that time, Li Yifan's sister was already married and working in the countryside in Longtou Village, while his brother was serving in the army. It was precisely because of the consideration of the large population at home and the heavy burden, coupled with the poor performance of the original unit, that Li Yifan's parents gritted their teeth and suspended their salary to open a seafood restaurant in Bincheng.

  It turned out to be just in time for the good season, and Bincheng became famous nationwide a few years ago for its efforts to build a tourist city, which also led to the rapid development of Bincheng's tourism industry. It was precisely because of this that their family's small restaurant also made money due to the prosperity of the tourism industry.

  Although it's still not as good as before, compared to the original life, there has been a significant improvement.

  Li Yifan walked into his family's restaurant, which was bustling with people at this time. It was the peak hour because Wu Yi Road was close to the city center and surrounded by many small hotels. Every year during the tourist season, these hotels would be filled with tourists from all over the country, making the small restaurants on Wu Yi Road extremely popular. The street had become a famous food street in Bin City. In the front hall, more than a dozen tables were already occupied by tourists who came for dinner. Several waiters were busy taking orders and serving dishes. Li Yifan's mother, Zhang Shu, was busy washing bowls, vegetables, and doing knife work in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Li Yifan's father, Li Lisheng, was standing at the stove, constantly stirring a large ladle.

  Second Aunt Zhang Ying was standing in front of the counter constantly tapping on the calculator, calculating the bill for the customers who were checking out.

  Li Yifan saw the bustling scene and put his school bag on the counter, then started helping the family's waiters with their busy work.

  Auntie Zhang Ying saw Li Yifan's actions today, similar to the sun rising in the west, and felt a bit surprised, but didn't say much. Instead, Li Yifan's mother, Zhang Shu, seeing her son come to help, smiled kindly and scolded him a few words: "The final exams are coming soon, why aren't you hurrying to review your lessons?"

  But seeing Li Yifan's diligent and busy figure rushing back and forth to help, he didn't continue to nag about anything else.

  At half past ten in the evening, a day's busy work finally came to an end. After finishing the last cleaning work of the restaurant, all the waiters went home one after another. Erniang and mother checked the accounts, then packed up and went home too.

  At this time, Zhang Shu and Li Lishuang finally stopped from a day's busy work, looking at the mother who had already started to fly silver threads on her temples, with a slightly plump figure, sat down to drink a mouthful of hot water, when Li Yifan couldn't help but feel his nose was a bit sour.

  "Son, how did you become so sensible today? You even knew to come home and help out?"

  Her mother put down her water glass and smiled at Li Yifan, asking. She didn't notice the wound on Li Yifan's face because it wasn't that serious anyway.

  "Hmph! I'd rather he didn't come to help, go back and review his lessons instead. If he can do well on this final exam, that's all I can ask for."

  Li Liqiang's father said a word on the side, showing his distrust of Li Yifan's academic performance.

  Li Yifan was the youngest in his family, and because of this, he has been spoiled by his family since childhood. Before the age of 10, he lived with his grandfather in Longwang Village, even attending elementary school there until third grade, before moving to Bincheng to live with his parents.

  At the beginning, he was studying quite well. At that time, his father worked at Zhengyang Restaurant with his cooking skills, and his mother was a factory doctor at the First Textile Factory in the city. Both of them had formal jobs, so they could supervise his studies in a timely manner. However, three years later, Zhengyang Restaurant was unable to pay wages due to poor management, and the First Textile Factory also faced bankruptcy due to poor management.

  Considering the future life and three children at home, Li Lisheng and Zhang Shuyi finally bit their teeth and opened this small restaurant. Because of running the restaurant, they no longer paid attention to Li Yifan's studies. From then on, Li Yifan's academic performance began to plummet due to his poor self-control.

  From being an excellent student in class to becoming a poor student, especially after entering junior high school and entering the rebellious period, it is even more difficult to manage. Later, of course, he didn't pass the exam, his father Li Lisheng spent a lot of money and found many connections before Li Yifan was admitted to No. 1 Middle School.

  Now the first middle school is about to have a final exam, and next year it will be divided into classes. This matter is a big deal for many families with high school students. Although Li's restaurant is busy every day, in the eyes of Li Lisheng and Zhang Shu, this matter is a big deal, because it will be an important watershed in their son's future life.

  Li Yifan's usual academic performance, although not at the bottom of the class, was also in the middle to lower ranks, which made Li Lisheng full of worries about this final exam.

  "Hey! How can you talk like that? My son is sensible and knows it's a good thing to come and help, isn't it? What are you yelling about?"

  His mother glared at Li Lisheng with a scolding look, then looked at Li Yifan and asked.

  "Son, how's your recent review going? Are you confident about this final exam?"

  The mother's words were full of expectation, her rosy face, and the sharpness between her eyebrows. The father, who was standing beside her, although his tone was reproachful, but at this moment, he was looking at his own with eyes that were equally full of anticipation. Li Yifan's heart suddenly softened for no reason. Nowadays, No. 1 Middle School has quietly entered the era of "fighting for fathers" due to the influx of various official second-generation and rich second-generation students, which has seriously affected the original simple and honest academic style of No. 1 Middle School. The school has quietly started a trend of comparison, and incidents such as early love and fighting have emerged one after another, which has caused the school's vigilance.

  In order to maintain the reputation of Class 1, the school made a move in the final exam of the first year of high school. After this final exam, the school will reorganize the classes. Classes 1 to 4 will be listed as science-focused classes, and classes 5 and 6 will be humanities-focused classes. The remaining eight classes will become a playground for the trash, in short, everyone will play separately, each playing their own way, without affecting anyone else.

  As soon as the situation was announced, it immediately caused a huge stir in society, especially among parents of first-year high school students. Everyone knows what it means for their children to stay in the key class?

  So in many people's eyes, this final exam is actually a watershed moment in many people's lives, its importance is no less than the future college entrance examination.

  In his previous life, Li Yifan was defeated miserably in this exam. In the end, he had to rely on his parents to lose face and ask for help everywhere, spending over 10,000 yuan just to keep him in Class Three.

  To know that this summer, the family's economy will suffer a heavy blow, which is a great loss for Li Yifan's family. At that time, his parents took out this money with gritted teeth.

  After thinking about it for many years, his mother fell ill due to the series of misfortunes that occurred this year and passed away at a young age. His father became an old man with white hair and a hunched back after more than a decade, and Li Yifan felt a sour nose.

  "Don't worry, mom, I've reviewed almost everything and should do well on the exam. Staying in the key class shouldn't be a problem."

  To reassure his parents, Li Yifan smiled and said to them.

  "I knew my son was a good kid."

  As soon as Zhang Shu heard her son say that, it was like taking a tranquilizer. Usually she and Li Lisheng were too busy to take care of the children, and now that their child's studies had fallen to this point, she felt quite guilty. She gave Li Lisheng a covert glare.

  Li Liqiang also said with a smile on his face: "That is, that is..."

  "Wait, son, Mom left you something good. Before the stove was extinguished in the evening, I specially asked your father to stir-fry it." Zhang Shu went into the back kitchen, took out a large plate, and on top of it was a large steamer basket, apparently afraid of losing heat. She brought it to the table, opened it with a clang, and inside were red, shiny, and fragrant spicy crabs.

  Li Yifan usually loves to eat this dish, but unfortunately, although his family runs a restaurant, this dish is not something he can easily get due to its hefty price.

  This looks like an ordinary spicy crab dish, but it carries the deep affection between parents and children.

  "The son has his final exams coming up, can't lack nutrition, eat more."

  Zhang Shu handed Li Yifan a bowl and chopsticks. Li Yifan took one look at the spicy crab dish, which was generous in portion, and knew that his parents had intentionally added more ingredients to make him feel better. Without saying much, he went to get two more sets of bowls and chopsticks.

  "Dad and mom, let's eat together..."

  At half the size, he was at his most voracious appetite, and in terms of human relationships, he wouldn't be too mature either. In the past, when Li Yifan saw such delicious food, he would remember to invite his parents, but today he actually took the initiative to invite his parents, which really made Li Lisheng and Zhang Shu feel a little unexpected.

  "Uh-huh, you eat too, have some more..."

  Watching Li Yifan continuously picking crab for himself, Zhang Shu suddenly felt that her son seemed to have grown up all of a sudden. Li Lisheng was even more straightforward and happily took out a small wine cup and drank a cup.

  Although it's not yet September when crabs are at their plumpest and most delicious, this meal of crab was the most flavorful one Li Yifan had ever had.