Chapter 291 Chinese Hospitality (Still Stuck)
Early the next morning, the little wizard, who was about to go back, enjoyed a sumptuous meal in the Christmas-style auditorium and then happily talked about his holiday plans.
Compared with the ignorance in the first grade, everyone is now much more proficient.
Their wardrobes were empty, their things were packed into suitcases, and they were all sent to the carriage by the industrious elves.
Notices were sent to every student, warning them not to use magic during the holidays ("This thing is just a piece of waste paper." Malfoy said with a curled lips).
The first-year wizards followed Hagrid on board the fleet of boats crossing the lake.
Because the lake is empty and covered with thick ice, the boats are actually just gliding on the ice.
The senior wizards who didn't need to take the boat grinned and watched happily as the first-year little Doudin shivered in the biting cold wind, shrinking his head like a little quail.
Ron looked at it with his mouth open for a while, then asked in confusion:
"Why do we have to walk on the lake? It's frozen now!"
Harry guessed: "Perhaps some kind of magic has been cast on the carriage so that the first years can't sit on it?" He pointed to the empty place in front of the carriage.
In fact, there are thestrals there. Only those who have witnessed death can see them. Zhang Xiao can see them, but he can't remember when he has witnessed death.
But Harry couldn't figure out why because he couldn't see. He had obviously witnessed death more than once.
"How can it be so boring?" Malfoy snorted and joined the discussion: "I think it may be something like a lesson, letting them blow the cold wind so that they who have just learned magic and their heads are hot will not go back and wave. What does the wand do?"
Although Malfoy was annoying, both Harry and Ron felt that what he said made sense, especially Harry himself, who especially wanted to use magic during the summer vacation of his first year.
Hermione raised her head from the thick book, stared at these three wise men, frowned in disbelief and asked:
"I thought that after what happened in the past two years, you would pay attention to "Hogwarts: A School History"!"
The little witch made sharp criticism:
"If you really read it, even if you only read the first page, you will find it clearly written on it that when the four founders first came to Hogwarts, they took a boat across the lake to the castle.
Therefore, every new student will use this method to commemorate the four great founders of the college. This is why every small boat must carry four people! "
The three Maharo looked at each other and suddenly chatted loudly about interesting things about the Charlie Artillery Team, but the faces of the three of them were a little too red.
Time passed quickly, and Malfoy and Harry finally got rid of their previous embarrassment.
They had already boarded the Hogwarts Express, chatting and laughing all the way, watching the gradually changing scenery outside the window.
The train passed through Muggle towns. They ate Bibi's multi-flavor beans and looked forward to this Christmas.
A few days ago, Linlangtian Villa.
Ever since their son said he wanted to invite his classmates to his home for Christmas, the couple got busy.
Hot knowledge, except for the so-called Christmas that is hyped up by later generations of merchants, there are also some people who don’t know how to evaluate it. The vast majority of Chinese people are not interested in Christmas at all.
Even after staying abroad for more than ten years, Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu have never celebrated Christmas. They don't even know how foreigners celebrate.
Besides the Christmas tree and giving gifts, what else do you need to prepare for Christmas?
"Mr. Sir, look at this -" Li Qingshu held up a book called "The British Christmas Cookbook", which is said to be the thinnest book in the world (the other book was juxtaposed with a German joke), and pointed to the pattern on it.
He said in surprise: "Look at this, every British family cannot do without Christmas pudding on Christmas night. Christmas pudding contains almonds, apples, candied orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, brandy-soaked raisins and other sweet ingredients. . In addition, interesting gadgets are added: a silver thimble (representing thrift), a wishing bone or a sixpence coin (symbolizing good luck), and a small anchor (symbolizing a safe harbor)."
Zhang Chengdao put down the "Illustrated Christmas Decoration Arrangement" in his hand, leaned his head over, looked at the album in his wife's hand, and touched his chin:
"Hey, why do I think it's similar to the Chinese stuffing dumplings and glutinous rice balls stuffed with copper coins?"
Li Qingshu smiled and nodded: "I think so too."
She flipped through a few more pages, and soon reached the end. She stretched out, picked up her notes, took a rough look at them, and said confidently:
"No problem. I thought I would prepare it just like the Chinese New Year. It's quite simple. The main meal is roast turkey, and the main ones are desserts and pies. The drinks are eggnog and mulled wine."
As she spoke, Li Qingshu frowned:
"But aren't these dishes a little short? There are a lot of people here. How about we prepare some more hard dishes? Last time we went to catch seaweed for Xiaoxiao, we ate a lot of good dishes."
Zhang Chengdao thought for a while and nodded heavily:
"I think it will work. Let's make more. One turkey for the main course is really not enough. You can't have one turkey per person, right?"
"Well, that's settled then, Mr. Master, where are you?"
"The process is no problem." Zhang Chengdao took the decoration book and asked for some details from the neighbors in Chinatown: "Look, it's mainly Christmas trees, Christmas crackers, Christmas stockings and some other decorations."
"Is it that simple?" Li Qingshu took the illustrated book and flipped through it casually. It was indeed so.
"I've also seen Christmas crackers. They are probably a kind of firecrackers with some small toys hidden inside. But ordinary crackers will definitely not satisfy these kids, so we have to come up with some creativity.
I remember that the fifth senior sister is good at using palm thunder. The communication fireworks of our Longhu Mountain are also the responsibility of the fifth senior sister. Why don't you ask her for advice and see if you can make something powerful to surprise everyone?"
Li Qingshu nodded and agreed, of course:
"What about you?"
Zhang Chengdao stood up and said confidently:
"I'll solve the Christmas tree!"
"Is there no bigger one?"
How could Zhang Chengdao not have thought that the Christmas tree that he thought he could hold in his hand would become the most difficult problem to solve.
It's not that there are no Christmas trees for sale in the UK. On the contrary, because it's close to Christmas, the sales of Christmas trees are very hot.
Those Christmas trees are decorated very beautifully, but the problem is that they are too small.
This is not the British tradition of a few people celebrating Christmas, but more than a dozen people. How can a Christmas tree that is more than one meter high be enough?
"Sir, this is the tallest we have. There is no higher one."
Although the Asian's request was strange, the salesperson still answered seriously.
"Okay, I'll look for it again."
Zhang Chengdao sighed and turned away.
The salesperson shrugged and looked at the 10-foot-tall Christmas tree next to him. Isn't it tall enough?
Although this kind of thing can be done by someone else, according to the information Zhang Chengdao learned, it is better to buy Christmas trees yourself.
Just like the dumplings made by Chinese people during the Chinese New Year, few people will use quick-frozen dumplings instead.
If many things are made for convenience and trouble-free, they will lose their original meaning and the taste contained in them will be diluted.
For example, the electronic firecrackers and short messages that have become popular later.
Even if he ran so far in vain, Zhang Chengdao still hopes to buy a Christmas tree himself.
This is the Chinese way of hospitality. When friends come, there are good wine, and when jackals come, there are shotguns.
There are many people on the street, and many people have smiles on their faces.
The aftermath of last year's economic crisis has gradually passed, and life seems to be much better than before, but no matter good or bad, we must always move forward. Why think about those bad things during this festival?
Zhang Chengdao looked for a while, then pulled a middle-aged man who was a little older, asked about the location of the nearby Christmas tree, and started again.
Finally found a Christmas tree seller that seemed to be quite large, and before Zhang Chengdao could ask.
The pot-bellied salesman waved his hand in disgust, as if to drive away an annoying fly:
"Get lost!"
Zhang Chengdao's face turned cold. Britain is not as gentlemanly as he showed. In fact, Britain has always been a disaster area of racial discrimination.
But it is rare to encounter racial discrimination when buying Christmas trees. The mentality of "New Year's Day" is not only shared by Chinese people. Even if they have ideas in their hearts, they generally don't show them in such matters.
This is really the first time.
"I didn't hear you clearly just now, what are you saying?"
The fat white man came close to him, poked Zhang Chengdao's chest with his short and thick fingers, and said word by word:
"Yellow monkeys also want to celebrate Christmas? Listen carefully, I won't sell my Christmas to you cheap people--"
The words he had not finished suddenly turned into a short scream.
A smile appeared on Zhang Chengdao's face. Well, maybe the Christmas tree will fall on him.
Alas, I didn't want to use violence.
"Sir, this is the largest fir we can find so far. What do you think?"
The white man with swollen nose and eyes rubbed his hands and nodded and asked.
"Not bad--" Zhang Chengdao patted the thick trunk, looked up at the fir that was almost 10 meters high, and said with satisfaction: "Okay, then this one."
Fingers together to form a sword, Zhang Chengdao slightly concentrated, and a faint golden light suddenly lit up on his fingertips. Suddenly, he swung his arm and cut across the trunk.
Under the confused eyes of the white man, he pasted a yellow talisman on the trunk, then lifted the huge trunk easily as if carrying a pole, and turned around and said:
"Do you have decoration business?"
The white man opened his mouth, and his horrified eyes swept back and forth between the huge spruce and Zhang Chengdao. Damn, is he Superman?
He swallowed hard, and found that Zhang Chengdao's face was getting more and more impatient, and shivered hurriedly:
"Of course, sir, I promise, it will only take one day - no, 2 hours, to decorate it!"
The hands behind his back quietly pressed the text message delete button on the mobile phone - "Take someone to the store, I want to teach a yellow monkey a lesson!"
The Dursleys, who live at 4 Privet Drive, always proudly say that they are a very regular family.
Please, please, they have never been involved in mysterious and weird things, because they don't believe in those evil ways at all.
Vernon Desza loosened his least favorite tie, hummed a little tune, looked through the rearview mirror at the packed back seat, and thought of his cute little Dada.
The school nurse continued to remind him that his lovely baby son was already much heavier than an average person, and his size and weight were close to that of a young whale.
Humph, Dudley is so cute, he is just in the growth stage and needs nutrition.
Besides, why lose weight? Vernon is very satisfied with his body shape, which is the body shape that a man should have.
I don't want my son to become a sissy nerd.
London's traffic is as convenient as ever. When the car merges into the traffic, the speed slows down.
After scolding the car passing by for ten minutes, Vernon wiped the foam from his mouth and calmed down for a short time.
Soon, he couldn't help laughing again, because he saw a truck on the opposite side dragging a 30-foot-long fir.
"Such a tall fir, does anyone want to make it a Christmas tree?"
Vernon laughed for a while, and then he was angered by a car that wanted to cut in line. After rolling down the window and punching the thin sissy on the opposite side, he insulted each other again for a few minutes and won the final victory.
The long convoy finally started to move.
When Vernon drove out of the bustling city and headed towards his warm home in Surrey, the congestion was immediately relieved.
Speaking of home, Vernon frowned and his fingers tapped the steering wheel faster.
Since he adopted Penny's nephew, his life seemed to have become a mess, and that regular, quiet life seemed to be gone forever.
Although he hated the child named Harry, it was Penny's attention, and I don't know what the old madman who taught people to do magic said to Penny, she actually agreed to take in the boy.
To be honest, this kid brought them a lot of trouble, but did they regret it?
Vernon felt that he didn't, even though this kid turned his sister into a balloon, messed up important orders, and frightened his baby son many times.
"But I love Penny." Vernon muttered in a low voice.
His eyes became gentle, and he remembered the scene of pursuing Penny when he was young, and laughed happily.
Because he loves Petunia, his wife, Vernon feels that he will never regret any of Petunia's decisions. He didn't regret it before, he doesn't regret it now, and he won't regret it in the future. Who made me love her?
His foot on the accelerator gradually exerted force, and Vernon suddenly wanted to go home quickly to be with his wife and children and spend a normal Christmas.
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1. Monthly ticket 2. Recommended ticket
It's still very stuck. PS, it's not to whitewash Vernon. Vernon's character is actually very complicated. His bad treatment of Harry and his love for his family are two different things, and they can't be confused. The two can't offset each other. In short, I don't like the diode thinking of one black all black and one white all white. I want to show the complexity of the character.