The power of the electric hotpot was turned up, and soon the bone broth bubbled again. The beef and mutton slices rolled about in the soup—it was steaming.
Li Du waved his hand. "Let's eat."
Without any hesitation, Godzilla took the ladle and scooped the meat into his big bowl. He had eaten hotpot with Li Du to a few times back in Flagstaff, and was familiar with the seasonings and how to go about it.
Big Quinn was more polite, nodding at Mrs. Li respectfully. "Madam, you first please."
Li Du translated, and Mrs. Li waved her hand. "You guys eat first, you guys eat first. So sorry to have caused all of you to be so tired today—"
Godzilla gulped loudly as he polished off the whole bowl of meat. His long arms stretched out to reach for the ladle as he added more scoops of meat into his bowl.
Mrs. Li had only been halfway through her sentence. "The first bowl—finished already?"
Godzilla answered her with his actions. He poured some sesame peanut sauce into his bowl, and after stirring it up, poured the meat directly into his open mouth.
He gulped. In a few seconds, another bowl of meat was devoured . . .
After chowing down three bowls of meat, there was only half the portion of simmered meat left in the huge hotpot. Only at this juncture did Godzilla pause and asked in puzzlement, "Why isn't everybody eating?"
Li Du laughed and said, "Eat all you want. There's definitely enough meat to go around!"
Godzilla stopped speaking after that. Since he'd started working for Li Du, he'd never been short of food and drink. Therefore, he had been very open in this regard. With no need for words, yet another bowl of meat was wolfed down.
At this time, the people sitting at the next table had noticed the speed at which he was eating. The people who were about to raise their cups to drink from were stunned and all turned their heads to look Godzilla as though they were watching a performance.
Mr. Li was mentally prepared; he had already witnessed Godzilla's prowess at the table the day before.
Big Quinn also had a large appetite, but he ate in a more refined manner. Godzilla usually chowed food down regardless of whether there was a storm brewing, as though he were a starving tiger.
Mrs. Li went to get another portion of sliced beef and mutton. By this time, all the meat in the hotpot had already been eaten up.
With no more meat to eat, Godzilla took a drink instead. He raised the bottle of beer and finished it in one gulp!
Many people on Mr. Li's table had begun to covet him. Someone said, "Old Sun, what did you say in the morning? That someone like him would be able to do many chores, right?"
"F*ck, who can afford to feed such a man? He could probably eat a whole tiger!"
"Able to eat and able to work is the same as able to work and able to eat."
That said, Godzilla's ability to eat was rather extraordinary. There were no chores to be done in Li Du's house for the next few days, and so he would go with Li Du to walk around. And of course, he did eat a lot.
Normally, when Mr.and Mrs. Li were home alone, they could barely finish ten kilograms of meat in a month.
Now that Li Du had come back with three other people, they would eat more than ten kilograms of meat a day. In order to cater to their taste buds, Mrs. Li usually bought beef and mutton.
The huge eaters were Godzilla and Big Quinn, especially Godzilla. He had a one-track mind and favored beef. Each meal would have him eating up to four kilograms worth of beef.
After a few days later, Mrs. Li got well-acquainted with the owner of the butchery. Later on, when she went to buy meat, the owner asked whether she was planning to start a spiced beef business . . .
The reason for Li Du's return was to spend the Spring Festival with his parents. To pass the time, he would bring Hans and the rest to the country and the market to walk around.
Other than walking around, there was really nothing else for him to do.
Those classmates and friends he was close to were all working in the city and not on break yet. There were several classmates and friends in the county but he was not as familiar with them and so they could not hang out together.
Hence, for the next few days, he rented a car and took Hans and the others around.
Li Du was worried about Hans being bored. He kept asking Hans where he wanted to go and where he wanted to explore. They had all the time and money to go wherever they wanted.
It was a new environment to Hans and so he had interest in everything and didn't find it boring. So when Li Du asked where he wanted to go, he told Li Du that he would leave it to him to arrange.
It was mid-January. Li Du had asked him where he wanted to go again, and contrary to past practice, Hans said, "Wo yao qu jin jing shi, qu jin jing shi fan da xue!"
Hans had said this sentence in Mandarin, catching Li Du by surprise. "When did you learn Mandarin? It's not bad, but I don't understand. Where did you say you want to go?"
"Jin jing shi fan da xue," Hans repeated.
Li Du finally understood. "Jin Jing Normal University, right? Why there? There aren't any scenic spots near the school."
Hans laughed but didn't explain, only urging him to go there.
Seeing Hans's coy expression, Li Du immediately guessed what was going on. "Have you been hooking up with some girl?"
Hans was furious. "What do you mean by hooking up? I got to know a Chinese teacher. I asked her to be my teacher, so I'm just going to meet her."
"How did you get to know her?"
Hans hemmed and hawed. "This is personal, I'm not telling you."
"This is my territory. You must listen to me. Otherwise, I will not take you."
After hearing this, Hans had no choice and so he muttered, "We met on that Wechat app you downloaded for me. She's a university student majoring in English, and I'm learning Mandarin from her."
Li Du stroked his chin and asked suspiciously, "Are you thinking of dating her? I told you not to mess around. This is China, the girls in my country are different from those in the US."
Hans rolled his eyes. "I never mess around, don't talk nonsense. I'm just learning Mandarin from her."
"Learning Mandarin—so is there a need for you two to meet?"
"Better to get to know each other, right? Are you taking me there or not? I tell ya, my Mandarin is now very good and I'm capable of grabbing a ride there myself!" Hans threatened.
Li Du reluctantly said, "Yes, yes, yes. You are. I can take you there, but you have to tell me the details."
Without holding anything back, Hans told Li Du all about how he'd ended up getting himself a Chinese teacher.
Almost a week ago, he'd gotten to know a pretty university student on the Internet. She was a top student majoring in English, and so had no difficulty in teaching him.
After chatting with her for two days, Hans thought she was very interesting and said he would like to learn Mandarin from her. The girl then joked that he would need to pay tuition fees.
Hans had asked her how much money she was charging, and her response was that given her high teaching standard, it would cost him 10,000 RMB. Without hesitation, Hans immediately transferred the 10,000 dollars via the chatting app . . . Ten thousand RMB was less than 2,000 US dollars. To a spendthrift like Hans, was this even money?
Hans, who had been blessed with dashing good looks, had always maintained his good physique. Being humorous and chatty, and now that he'd demonstrated his extraordinary financial prowess, the girl was naturally very friendly to him.
The two grew in familiarity and agreed to meet up. The girl was more careful and had asked him to meet near the university. Hans didn't mind, and so he'd asked Li Du to take him there.
Li Du thought about it. "I see what's going on here. Are you sure you are only trying to make a friend and learn Mandarin at the same time?"
Hans snickered. "Well, if something romantic were to happen—"
"Then you better be prepared to marry her," Li Du interrupted.
The power of the electric hotpot was turned up, and soon the bone broth bubbled again. The beef and mutton slices rolled about in the soup—it was steaming.
Li Du waved his hand. "Let's eat."
Without any hesitation, Godzilla took the ladle and scooped the meat into his big bowl. He had eaten hotpot with Li Du to a few times back in Flagstaff, and was familiar with the seasonings and how to go about it.
Big Quinn was more polite, nodding at Mrs. Li respectfully. "Madam, you first please."
Li Du translated, and Mrs. Li waved her hand. "You guys eat first, you guys eat first. So sorry to have caused all of you to be so tired today—"
Godzilla gulped loudly as he polished off the whole bowl of meat. His long arms stretched out to reach for the ladle as he added more scoops of meat into his bowl.
Mrs. Li had only been halfway through her sentence. "The first bowl—finished already?"
Godzilla answered her with his actions. He poured some sesame peanut sauce into his bowl, and after stirring it up, poured the meat directly into his open mouth.
He gulped. In a few seconds, another bowl of meat was devoured . . .
After chowing down three bowls of meat, there was only half the portion of simmered meat left in the huge hotpot. Only at this juncture did Godzilla pause and asked in puzzlement, "Why isn't everybody eating?"
Li Du laughed and said, "Eat all you want. There's definitely enough meat to go around!"
Godzilla stopped speaking after that. Since he'd started working for Li Du, he'd never been short of food and drink. Therefore, he had been very open in this regard. With no need for words, yet another bowl of meat was wolfed down.
At this time, the people sitting at the next table had noticed the speed at which he was eating. The people who were about to raise their cups to drink from were stunned and all turned their heads to look Godzilla as though they were watching a performance.
Mr. Li was mentally prepared; he had already witnessed Godzilla's prowess at the table the day before.
Big Quinn also had a large appetite, but he ate in a more refined manner. Godzilla usually chowed food down regardless of whether there was a storm brewing, as though he were a starving tiger.
Mrs. Li went to get another portion of sliced beef and mutton. By this time, all the meat in the hotpot had already been eaten up.
With no more meat to eat, Godzilla took a drink instead. He raised the bottle of beer and finished it in one gulp!
Many people on Mr. Li's table had begun to covet him. Someone said, "Old Sun, what did you say in the morning? That someone like him would be able to do many chores, right?"
"F*ck, who can afford to feed such a man? He could probably eat a whole tiger!"
"Able to eat and able to work is the same as able to work and able to eat."
That said, Godzilla's ability to eat was rather extraordinary. There were no chores to be done in Li Du's house for the next few days, and so he would go with Li Du to walk around. And of course, he did eat a lot.
Normally, when Mr.and Mrs. Li were home alone, they could barely finish ten kilograms of meat in a month.
Now that Li Du had come back with three other people, they would eat more than ten kilograms of meat a day. In order to cater to their taste buds, Mrs. Li usually bought beef and mutton.
The huge eaters were Godzilla and Big Quinn, especially Godzilla. He had a one-track mind and favored beef. Each meal would have him eating up to four kilograms worth of beef.
After a few days later, Mrs. Li got well-acquainted with the owner of the butchery. Later on, when she went to buy meat, the owner asked whether she was planning to start a spiced beef business . . .
The reason for Li Du's return was to spend the Spring Festival with his parents. To pass the time, he would bring Hans and the rest to the country and the market to walk around.
Other than walking around, there was really nothing else for him to do.
Those classmates and friends he was close to were all working in the city and not on break yet. There were several classmates and friends in the county but he was not as familiar with them and so they could not hang out together.
Hence, for the next few days, he rented a car and took Hans and the others around.
Li Du was worried about Hans being bored. He kept asking Hans where he wanted to go and where he wanted to explore. They had all the time and money to go wherever they wanted.
It was a new environment to Hans and so he had interest in everything and didn't find it boring. So when Li Du asked where he wanted to go, he told Li Du that he would leave it to him to arrange.
It was mid-January. Li Du had asked him where he wanted to go again, and contrary to past practice, Hans said, "Wo yao qu jin jing shi, qu jin jing shi fan da xue!"
Hans had said this sentence in Mandarin, catching Li Du by surprise. "When did you learn Mandarin? It's not bad, but I don't understand. Where did you say you want to go?"
"Jin jing shi fan da xue," Hans repeated.
Li Du finally understood. "Jin Jing Normal University, right? Why there? There aren't any scenic spots near the school."
Hans laughed but didn't explain, only urging him to go there.
Seeing Hans's coy expression, Li Du immediately guessed what was going on. "Have you been hooking up with some girl?"
Hans was furious. "What do you mean by hooking up? I got to know a Chinese teacher. I asked her to be my teacher, so I'm just going to meet her."
"How did you get to know her?"
Hans hemmed and hawed. "This is personal, I'm not telling you."
"This is my territory. You must listen to me. Otherwise, I will not take you."
After hearing this, Hans had no choice and so he muttered, "We met on that Wechat app you downloaded for me. She's a university student majoring in English, and I'm learning Mandarin from her."
Li Du stroked his chin and asked suspiciously, "Are you thinking of dating her? I told you not to mess around. This is China, the girls in my country are different from those in the US."
Hans rolled his eyes. "I never mess around, don't talk nonsense. I'm just learning Mandarin from her."
"Learning Mandarin—so is there a need for you two to meet?"
"Better to get to know each other, right? Are you taking me there or not? I tell ya, my Mandarin is now very good and I'm capable of grabbing a ride there myself!" Hans threatened.
Li Du reluctantly said, "Yes, yes, yes. You are. I can take you there, but you have to tell me the details."
Without holding anything back, Hans told Li Du all about how he'd ended up getting himself a Chinese teacher.
Almost a week ago, he'd gotten to know a pretty university student on the Internet. She was a top student majoring in English, and so had no difficulty in teaching him.
After chatting with her for two days, Hans thought she was very interesting and said he would like to learn Mandarin from her. The girl then joked that he would need to pay tuition fees.
Hans had asked her how much money she was charging, and her response was that given her high teaching standard, it would cost him 10,000 RMB. Without hesitation, Hans immediately transferred the 10,000 dollars via the chatting app . . . Ten thousand RMB was less than 2,000 US dollars. To a spendthrift like Hans, was this even money?
Hans, who had been blessed with dashing good looks, had always maintained his good physique. Being humorous and chatty, and now that he'd demonstrated his extraordinary financial prowess, the girl was naturally very friendly to him.
The two grew in familiarity and agreed to meet up. The girl was more careful and had asked him to meet near the university. Hans didn't mind, and so he'd asked Li Du to take him there.
Li Du thought about it. "I see what's going on here. Are you sure you are only trying to make a friend and learn Mandarin at the same time?"
Hans snickered. "Well, if something romantic were to happen—"
"Then you better be prepared to marry her," Li Du interrupted.
