Chapter 24 The scapegoat is even more troublesome than her...

Qin Xiangxiang woke up around 4 a.m. The street public phone company sent someone to summon her, saying they had her number. This kind of phone summons service costs three cents. When Qin Xiangxiang heard that it was Qin Wutong calling, she immediately rode her bicycle to answer the phone.

"Think about it, we're killing a chicken tonight, and your grandparents, uncles, and aunts are all coming over for dinner. It'll be a family reunion, and they haven't seen Xiao Li in a long time. They're all concerned about you and Xiao Li."

Qin Xiangxiang pursed her lips. Was he really concerned? But Qin Wutong was so kind to her that she couldn't bring herself to refuse.

Since they were killing a chicken that night, she wanted to eat the chicken wings and feet. Qin Xiangxiang loved chicken wings and feet the most. When she was little, her parents would always save the chicken wings and feet for her to eat. She thought the chicken legs were too dry and didn't like to eat them.

But this time, there will probably be a lot of kids too—so what if there are kids? She'll pick out the chicken wings, chicken tips, and chicken feet separately, anyway, she's a total drama queen.

After hanging up the phone, Qin Xiangxiang returned home and told Li Jianzhi, "My dad called and said someone will be bringing a chicken over later. They'll be killing it tonight. My grandparents, uncles, and aunts are coming over for dinner and want to see you. You can ask the residents downstairs or in the other buildings to borrow a stool from them."

The average living space per person in Shanghai is small, and most families live in cramped conditions. Many families are crammed into a single room of just over ten square meters, and they simply don't have the means to entertain guests or relatives.

Qin Xiangxiang's family was a little better off than ordinary families, but they didn't have the means to entertain relatives indoors. Fortunately, half of the second-floor corridor belonged to the Xu family and the other half to the Qin family. If guests came, they would set up a table in the corridor. Since they didn't have enough chairs at home, they had to borrow some from others.

Under such difficult circumstances, most people do not like to entertain relatives. However, according to Chinese custom, relatives always get together at the end of the year, especially friends and relatives living in the same city.

For relatives who don't live in Shanghai, things are easier; they only get together once every three or four years. In the 1960s and 70s, everyone had few holidays. According to regulations, only couples living separately could apply for a month of dedicated family visit leave from their work unit each year.

Unmarried men and women can apply for a month-long leave each year to visit their parents back home. Married couples, however, can only take leave once every three years to visit their parents. Therefore, many educated youth who were sent to the countryside and had work units at their assigned locations only took a month-long leave every three years to visit their parents back home.

Li Jianzhi hadn't been home to visit his wife for four or five years, which was quite common in those days, as many people were like that. Due to inconvenient transportation, limited holidays, and children living far away from home, it was common to only see them once every few years.

Therefore, family gatherings are a very important event.

"A family gathering?" Li Jianzhi nodded. That's how it is for soldiers. During their one-month vacation each year, most of their time is spent at various gatherings: old classmates' gatherings, comrades-in-arms' gatherings, and gatherings with relatives and friends. They eat and drink every day. Some comrades even gain 20 or 30 pounds or even 30 or 40 pounds when they come back from their one-month vacation.

Once back in the military, he started eating "healthy meals" to lose weight on his own again.

Compared to the Navy, Army soldiers gain weight faster because they undergo more physical training and have larger appetites. When they are on leave and not training, their weight increases rapidly.

In 2025, an era of overnutrition for everyone, it's difficult not to gain weight. Many military officers are also trying to lose weight by eating healthy meals.

Li Jianzhi had a comrade-in-arms from Henan Province. He had a round face and would gain 30 to 40 pounds every time he went home to visit his family. It was said that he would eat a lot when he got home, including all kinds of noodles. After returning to the unit, he would start physical training and eat congee and side dishes, steamed pumpkin and corn every day.

Li Jianzhi grew up in Shanghai. His parents' generation paid more attention to body management. His mother, for example, was used to small, delicate plates and liked extravagant displays, but she only took a small bite, so her weight didn't fluctuate as much as it used to.

"Isn't it too hard on you to cook for so many people?" Li Jianzhi began to feel sorry for his wife. His wife's cooking skills were so good, she must have practiced a lot. He felt so sorry for her.

Qin Xiangxiang: "???"

"My dad cooked." Qin Xiangxiang, such a lazy and spoiled little devil, would never cook a big meal; she only cared about satisfying her own stomach.

Because it was Qin Wutong who cooked the dishes, Qin Xiangxiang didn't like them. At these gatherings, she would only pick out a few pieces of meat to try, and she didn't have much of an appetite.

“It’s my father-in-law who’s cooking!” Li Jian knew in his heart that this was indeed the case. This was a tradition for men in Shanghai. Before his parents divorced, his father was the one who cooked.

Qin Xiangxiang stood aside, waiting for the man to start rambling. Although many men cook in their families, there are always people who laugh and say that women should be in the kitchen.

In Qin Xiangxiang's opinion, both men and women can go into the kitchen. Whoever has the time and strength can cook. Every family has its own situation, so there are no hard and fast rules.

She's not satisfied with the food other people cook, so she'll cook for herself. She's a picky eater and only eats what she likes.

Asking her to go through the trouble of cooking a whole table of dishes for someone else is out of the question; this little drama queen won't play along.

Li Jianzhi said, "Then I'll help out from the side." As he spoke, Captain Li's heart was itching to go into the kitchen.

Qin Xiangxiang: "..."

It seems she should try to eat something to fill her stomach tonight.

The chicken that Qin Wutong had asked someone to send home arrived "fresh" very quickly. To Li Jianzhi's surprise, it was actually a live chicken.

"This chicken is alive."

Speaking of which, it seems like he hasn't seen a live chicken in a long time. People of his generation rarely saw live chickens on a regular basis; most fresh food supermarkets only sold chickens that had been slaughtered in the morning.

He lived on a warship, where most of the food was frozen, and he could only see fresh seafood and fish. Live chickens could not be raised on a warship.

Moreover, this chicken felt different from the chickens he had ever seen before. It was more like the chickens he had seen when he was a child. Li Jianzhi couldn't help but recall his childhood. It was in the 1990s. His parents both had work units. Eating pork and snacks was not a big deal for them on ordinary days. But killing chickens and ducks was only on special occasions, and only children had the honor of eating chicken legs.

"I've killed a lot of fish, but I've never actually killed a chicken myself... No, wait, I have." Li Jianzhi recalled that in Northeast China, Li Jianzhi seemed to have killed chickens before, but he himself had never killed one.

"Wife, should we boil water first before killing a chicken?" Li Jianzhi pondered, resting his chin on his hand. The convenient lifestyle of his era had spoiled people. Because of the division of labor, there were people who specialized in killing chickens and people who specialized in killing fish. The ingredients that ordinary people saw were already sorted and processed.

For nearly twenty years, he had been in the army, eating in the mess hall. He rarely had the chance to kill chickens; he usually saw roasted chicken, grilled chicken, or poached chicken.

Li Jianzhi dredged up his old memories. He had seen chickens being killed before. In the past, when killing a chicken, you would first slit its neck with a kitchen knife to release a bowl of chicken blood, and then pour boiling water over the chicken so that it would be easier to pluck its feathers.

Chicken feathers shouldn't be thrown away either. Back in the 1990s, people would often go from street to street collecting chicken feathers, duck feathers, and even toothpaste tubes. These feathers could be exchanged for candy.

"Hmm, boil water before killing the chicken." Qin Xiangxiang stared at the man in front of her with a strange look. Her dead husband was so strange, why did he always look so "ignorant"?

This kind of "lack of knowledge" doesn't seem like a country bumpkin going to the city, but rather like a city dweller going to the countryside.

This is unbelievable!

Li Jianzhi was eager to try: "I'll kill the chicken later! Or how about we kill the chicken together now!"

"I don't want to, you can kill it yourself." This little drama queen is really exasperated with him. Is killing a chicken something to be excited about?

This guy is even more dramatic than her.

Li Jianzhi: "Then I'll give it a try."

Comrade Li really wanted to kill the chicken, but he was afraid of repeating the mistake of killing the fish. But it didn't matter, because now he had a great scapegoat at home—his son.

"Son, let Dad teach you how to kill a chicken! The chicken leg is for you to eat tonight!"

Li Qingfeng immediately exclaimed, "Dad, I'm here! Kill the chicken! Kill the chicken! I want to eat chicken legs!"

Upon hearing that they were going to eat chicken, the chubby boy forgot all about the spanking he had been given and the forced reading and multiplication tables. He was completely focused on eating chicken that night, and he wanted a big chicken leg.

It's so good that Dad's back! There's so much delicious food! We only get to eat chicken on holidays like Chinese New Year!

Qin Xiangxiang quickly said, "I want to eat chicken wings and chicken feet."

“Okay, son, you eat the chicken leg, your mother eats the chicken wings and feet, and your father eats the chicken breast. Come on, your father will take you to kill a chicken, and we will kill a chicken together.”

"Let's boil some water first."

...

Qin Xiangxiang shook her head and chose to leave. Thinking of the scene of killing fish she had seen earlier, her lips twitched. She returned to her bedroom, glanced at the military jacket the man had draped over the back of his chair, and sat down at the piano.

She felt a little annoyed... but also couldn't help being curious.

This is a good time to practice the piano, but she's distracted and her mind isn't on it.

The little drama queen was very curious about how the father and son killed the chicken, and whether it was really safe to eat that night.

Qin Xiangxiang couldn't resist sitting for a while, so she quietly ran to the kitchen door to spy on the father and son killing a chicken.

With a gas stove, water boils quickly. Li Jianzhi stared at the chicken in the straw bag, hesitating about how to handle it. He pinched the chicken's wing, placed a porcelain white bowl on the kitchen counter, and held a kitchen knife in his hand, gesturing at the chicken's neck.

Qin Xiangxiang whispered a reminder to him: "You need to pluck the feathers off the chicken's neck first."

When Li Jianzhi turned his head and saw her, his usually expressionless face almost broke down. Why was his wife so cute? She was even hiding behind the door, peeking at him killing a chicken.

"Thanks for reminding me, wife."

Qin Xiangxiang: "You're welcome."

Since he had already discovered her, the little drama queen had no choice but to step forward. She wasn't here out of curiosity about how the two of them killed the chicken; she was only concerned about the "chicken" meat. Don't think she didn't know that this guy cut open the gallbladder when killing a fish. What if this man didn't bleed the chicken when killing it? How fishy would the chicken meat be tonight?

This is a perfectly good chicken, it shouldn't be ruined by this damned man!

She's here to be a junior supervisor.

“Your mother is the leader, and the leader is directing from the side. We are the soldiers, and we do the work.”

"Son, come and pluck the chicken feathers." The chubby boy stared at the chicken curiously, then went up and plucked a tuft of feathers.

"Pull more."

"Son, why don't you get the cleaver? I'll use your hands to kill the chicken and cut its neck." Li Jianzhi's expression didn't reveal that he was finding a scapegoat in advance.

If the chicken isn't killed properly, it's the son's fault.

Li Juanwang was confident that his current state was simply due to a lack of experience. He believed that after killing a few more times and studying the process, he would be able to kill chickens and fish perfectly.

The little drama queen asked with a blank face, "Did you sharpen your knife?"

Where to grind it?

"Use this whetstone."

Li Jianzhi sharpened the knife, and everything was ready except for killing the chicken. Qin Xiangxiang instructed him to put the bowl in the sink, "Be careful not to splatter blood everywhere."

"Be quick, ruthless, and accurate!"

Li Jianzhi swiftly brought down the knife, and a spurt of blood gushed out, all of it into the bowl. Qin Xiangxiang screamed, reminding him to grab the chicken feet, thankfully preventing it from splattering everywhere.

Li Jianzhi noticed that the chicken in his hand was becoming increasingly lifeless, so he threw it into the enamel basin, and his job was done.

Killing a chicken isn't difficult.

"Son, killing a chicken isn't difficult, is it?"

"Mmm!!!"

"When you're a little older, you can kill him."

"Mmm! Mmm!!"

"So you need to practice more, otherwise you won't even be able to catch a chicken."

Qin Xiangxiang, acting all delicate and pretentious, ran to the kitchen doorway and stood there, unable to stand the chicken smell inside. "Hurry up and pour hot water on it, and clean the kitchen thoroughly. There are chicken feathers everywhere."

Li Jianzhi asked curiously, "How long does it need to be heated? Ten minutes?"

Qin Xiangxiang stared in disbelief: "..."

"Honey, I was just teasing you." Li Jianzhi walked over and stole a kiss on her cheek. His wife had a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes that, when wide open, resembled those of a beautiful British Shorthair cat, with large, round, and adorable pupils.

Captain Li suddenly realized that all the relationships he had had over the past few years had been for nothing. Even with mobile phone communication and video chat in the future, nothing could compare to interacting with a living, breathing person.

Being able to truly hear her voice, touch her skin, and clearly see the subtle changes in her facial expressions... There's no need to deliberately seek out any elegant topics; even everyday little things—cooking fish, killing chickens, buying groceries, eating wontons—are all enjoyable when you're with her.

Qin Xiangxiang covered her cheeks. She was really going crazy. How could there be such a bizarre man!

He's such a drama queen!

How could he kiss her in public?!

He smelled strongly of chicken and still kissed her!