pjbooks Chapter 97 Stubbornness
Chapter 97 Stubbornness
Chapter 97 Stubbornness
Without saying a word, Grandpa Li pulled Aunt Zhang and squeezed towards window number 05.
After a long and difficult struggle, I finally managed to squeeze to the front and saw Wang Sheng taking a pot of freshly stir-fried sweet and sour pork ribs out of the pot and plating them.
The ribs were fried until golden and crispy, coated in a bright red and glistening sweet and sour sauce. The sweet and sour aroma mixed with the fragrance of meat suddenly filled my nostrils.
Grandpa Li's throat bobbed involuntarily. Pointing to the plate of ribs, he said to Lin Xiaowen, who was helping to pack the food, "Girl! This! This sweet and sour pork ribs, two servings for the two of us old folks! And two bowls of rice!"
Lin Xiaowen looked up, saw the two elderly people, and smiled warmly: "Grandpa, Grandma, I'm sorry, our window number 05 is by appointment only. Today's sweet and sour pork ribs are already fully booked for reservations, so we're not selling them on-site."
"Pre-booking?"
Grandpa Li was stunned. He didn't understand. "What reservation? You need a reservation for a meal? I'm paying!"
He reached into his pocket for cash.
Aunt Zhang quickly pressed his hand down and smiled apologetically at Lin Xiaowen: "Young lady, we don't know the rules—what's this appointment thing about?"
"Just use your phone to scan that QR code," Lin Xiaowen pointed to the eye-catching mini-program QR code next to the window, "go in, choose the dishes you want and the pick-up time, pay, and then just come and pick it up. Today's dishes—are indeed all booked."
Upon hearing this, Grandpa Li's face flushed slightly.
He felt a little embarrassed, especially in front of so many young people.
Paying for a meal is a matter of course, so why is there this talk of "paying for everything"?
He raised his voice: "What kind of logic is this! The cafeteria is just a place to eat, why all this fancy stuff! I'm not eating here!"
After saying that, he angrily flung his hand away, turned around and left, his steps heavy and hurried.
Aunt Zhang quickly nodded apologetically to Lin Xiaowen, who handed her a flyer with a QR code. Aunt Zhang took it and hurried after her, saying, "Old man, slow down! Don't be angry, let's go eat somewhere else—"
"Same as what?!" Old Li shouted without turning his head, his voice flaring with anger. "Those ribs look delicious to me! Humph, what's with the reservation system? They're just looking down on us old men! I'm not eating! I'm going home! I'm going home to eat steamed buns!"
Grandpa Li held his anger in until he got home.
Sitting on the sofa in his living room, he watched Aunt Zhang cook noodles and crack eggs in the kitchen, and a sense of resentment and curiosity gnawed at him like cat claws.
"Old woman, the food at that window smells so good!"
Grandpa Li couldn't help but speak up.
"So what if it smells good? They have their rules." Aunt Zhang brought out the noodles. "Eat up, we still need to go to the supermarket to buy groceries this afternoon."
"Rules are made by people!" Grandpa Li ate a couple of mouthfuls of noodles, finding them bland and tasteless. "I refuse to believe it! I'll go again tomorrow! I'm determined to eat their food!"
Aunt Zhang was both amused and exasperated: "What are you going to do? You don't even know how to make an appointment using your phone. You'll just be getting angry for nothing!"
"If I don't know how, I'll learn!" Grandpa Li put down his chopsticks, a stubborn glint in his eyes. "Doesn't my son have an old cell phone? I'll ask him! I'll have him teach me!"
In the afternoon, Li Ming came home from get off work and immediately sensed something was off. His father sat on the sofa with a stern face, his teacup empty but not being refilled, while his mother was giving him meaningful glances.
"Dad, Mom, I'm home. What's wrong?" Li Ming asked as he changed his shoes.
Grandpa Li snorted and cut to the chase: "Where's your old, unused smartphone? Find it for me!"
Li Ming was taken aback: "Dad, why do you need a smartphone? Didn't you always say that those flip phones for seniors had loud text and were quite useful?"
"Never mind that! Just give it to me!" Grandpa Li said firmly.
Li Ming was completely baffled, but he still went to the study drawer and found his old phone that he had replaced two years ago. He charged it for a while, turned it on, and handed it over: "Here you go, Dad. But there's no SIM card in it, and are you used to this touchscreen?"
Grandpa Li took the black glass panel, which was slightly larger than his palm, and clumsily poked the screen with his large fingers, but there was no response. "This—how do I do this?"
Seeing his father's cautious yet inquisitive expression, Li Ming felt a pang of tenderness mixed with amusement: "Dad, what do you need the phone for?"
Grandpa Li then recounted his lunch experience at the cafeteria in detail, concluding by emphasizing, "The food looked amazing! It smelled so good! And there were so many people in line! I refuse to believe I wouldn't get a table! Quickly teach me how to use this—scan the QR code to make a reservation!"
Li Ming was both amused and exasperated after hearing this. He hadn't expected his father, at his age, to be so stubborn about food, even offering to learn how to use a smartphone. "Dad, is it really worth it for a meal? If you want something good to eat, I'll take you out to a restaurant this weekend, you can choose whichever you like."
"How can that be the same?" Old Li glared. "I want to eat at that cafeteria! Are you going to teach me or not? If not, I'll ask someone else!"
"Teach me! I'll teach you!" Li Ming quickly surrendered, a warm feeling welling up inside him. His father was stubborn and had always resisted new things; it had taken a lot of effort to buy him a basic mobile phone. Now, he was actually asking for help with "the cafeteria food"—perhaps this was a good opportunity for him to get acquainted with mobile internet? Smartphones are indeed convenient; reading news, video calls, even mobile payments—learning to use them can make life much more colorful.
"Come on, Dad, look. First, you need internet. I'll connect you to the home Wi-Fi—" Li Ming leaned closer and began to teach him step by step. How to swipe to unlock, how to open WeChat, how to scan a QR code, how to recognize the mini-program code, how to access the simple reservation interface, how to browse the menu pictures and descriptions, how to select the quantity,
How do I get redirected to payment during the food pickup time?
The process did not go smoothly.
Grandpa Li's fingers weren't very nimble; he often made mistakes, either pressing too hard or swiping in the wrong direction. The text on the screen was also a bit small for him, requiring him to squint to see it. But he learned extremely diligently, asking a second time if he couldn't remember something the first time, muttering to himself, "First tap this green one—then scan that square—choose the time—pay—"
Aunt Zhang watched from the side, wanting to offer some advice but also finding the old man's earnestness somewhat endearing. In the end, she simply shook her head and went to prepare dinner.
After nearly an hour, with his son's help, Mr. Li finally managed to reserve Kung Pao Chicken and Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce for lunch the next day and completed the payment. Seeing the "Reservation Successful" message and the pickup code displayed on his phone, Mr. Li breathed a sigh of relief, a childlike smile of pride spreading across his face.
"I've learned it! Haha! Watch me tomorrow!" He carefully put his phone into his pocket.
Looking at his father's smile, Li Ming's slight impatience caused by the tediousness of teaching vanished, replaced by a mixture of relief and bittersweetness. His parents were getting old, but their enthusiasm and curiosity for life were no less than that of young people. He was usually busy with work and had limited time to spend with them; perhaps, through this small gesture, a new door could be opened.
The next day at noon, Grandpa Li specially changed into a clean set of clothes, tucked his old cell phone in his pocket, and proudly led Aunt Zhang to window number 05 of the Jinling University cafeteria once again.
The area in front of the window was still crowded with people.
This time, Grandpa Li didn't squeeze into the crowd. He straightened his back and waited until it was his turn to pick up his food before calmly walking over, taking out his phone, tapping the screen, finding the pickup code, and handing it to the window with a slightly awkward but rather proud air: "Girl, here's your food! Grandpa Li! Two portions! Kung Pao Chicken and Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce!"
Chen Mo is in charge of checking today.
He took the phone, glanced at it, then looked at the reservation record, and nodded with a smile, "Okay, Mr. Li, please wait a moment." Soon, two tightly packed lunch boxes were handed out, along with two servings of rice and soup. "Your meal is ready, be careful, it's hot."
Grandpa Li took the heavy lunchbox, and the familiar, enticing aroma wafted out through the gaps in the packaging. He took a deep breath, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
"Come on, old woman, let's go home! Eat it while it's hot!"
He didn't eat in the cafeteria but chose to take the food home. In his words, "Good things should be taken home and savored slowly. The cafeteria is a mess, and you can't appreciate the flavor." Actually, he was still thinking about his son who would be home that evening.