Chapter 56 Mid-Autumn Festival in the Army.

When she went to the county town again, He Susu took the five books she had finished reading with her, preparing to return them to the library and borrow some more books.

She fell in love with the days when she had nothing to do in the morning and sat in the living room reading leisurely. It not only helped her kill time but also helped her gain knowledge.

It has been a long time since she graduated from high school. She studied hard to get good grades in the exams just to avoid being looked down upon by her classmates. But now she really wants to read books.

Arriving at the county town, she and Su Yu got off the bus and walked straight to the grocery store. As soon as they walked into the store and looked around, they unexpectedly found live shrimps for sale, the price was 89 cents per pound.

Someone couldn't help but say: "The price is a bit high, pork is only 82 cents per pound."

The staff was unhappy when they heard this: "Our live shrimps were caught from the next county in the middle of the night and delivered to the store early in the morning. They are very fresh. The manpower and resources are there, so it is reasonable to sell them at this price."

He Susu and Su Yu also thought it made sense. Only in the neighboring county of Linhai could grocery stores sell live shrimps. Normally, they couldn't buy them. Fortunately, they came early today. Didn't they see that many people who came in bought live shrimps?

He Susu simply walked over and said, "Weigh two kilograms of live shrimp for me."

Su Yu followed him: "I want a pound of live shrimp."

Without saying a word, the staff scooped up the shrimps from the large bucket with a net bag and weighed them.

He Susu took the net bag of shrimps and said with some regret: "It's a pity that by the time we take them back at noon, these shrimps will probably be dead."

Su Yu didn't care: "Even if they die, they'll be fresh. We can buy them and cook them for lunch. But you bought two kilograms. I don't think you can finish them in one meal."

She is working now, and it is very important for her to come to the county town to purchase goods every ten days. The family needs to buy a lot of things, and she is worried that her younger sister cannot buy meat and vegetables for two families by herself. So Su Yu always puts her rest time on the tenth day of each month.

He Susu also felt that two kilograms of shrimp was a bit too much, but it was a rare opportunity: "Then let's have another meal of shrimp tonight. Shrimp will be the meat dish at home today."

They each picked out some other meat dishes and lined up to pay.

After leaving the grocery store, they went to the slaughterhouse to buy meat. Knowing that her aunt was going to the library again, Su Yu said as soon as she came out, "Okay, little sister, you go to the library. I'll go to the department store first. It's almost Mid-Autumn Festival, so I have to buy more things."

He Susu smiled and agreed, carrying a bamboo basket on her back and heading to the library. She had five books in her bag and a net bag of shrimps in her hand, which were jumping up and down due to lack of water, but then slowly calmed down.

When she arrived at the library entrance, she put the shrimps in the net bag into a bamboo basket before walking in.

First, I went to the counter to store my things temporarily. He Susu asked again, "Hello, comrade. How can I return a book?"

As she spoke she took out five books from the package.

The staff member glanced at her and said calmly, "You can return the books here. Give me your library card."

He Susu took the library card from her pocket and gave it to him.

I saw the staff member take out a big notebook and start flipping through it from the beginning of a month. He turned the pages one by one and waited for the corresponding library numbers. He took a pen and crossed out the information of the five books. He then put the five books aside and piled them on top of seven or eight other books.

"alright."

"Thank you, comrade."

He Susu took the library card and went straight to the second floor. She was quite interested in the development of domestic industry recently, so she went back to the classroom and picked out five books on the same topic. She flipped through them and confirmed that they were books she could read, then went back to the first floor to check out the books.

She put the backpack on her back and slung her bag over her shoulder, then walked out of the library and headed straight for the department store.

Although the mooncakes redeemed from the shopping system can be taken back directly, out of caution He Susu still wanted to come and see if there were any mooncakes for sale here. If there were, it would be an extra layer of insurance.

After entering the department store, He Susu walked over to the seasonal specials counter and saw the salesperson impatiently responding to the inquiring customer: "I told you that the mooncakes were sold out half an hour ago. If they are gone, they are gone. Don't ask anymore."

"When will it be available again? I don't know. Prepare your mooncake tickets first. If it's available again, it will be written on the blackboard at the door."

You need mooncake tickets to buy mooncakes, but these mooncake tickets are usually welfare benefits given to technical workers in some key state-owned factories and are very rare.

Although the army didn't give out any holiday gifts, people at Cheng Shi's rank could still get three mooncake tickets, each weighing one kilogram. I just gave them to her the other day and they're still in her pocket.

He Susu seemed to be lost in thought as she walked around the department store, carrying a pound of White Rabbit candy and a pound of mung bean cakes she had just bought. Of all the cakes, mung bean cakes were her favorite.

After leaving the department store, she found a suitable person to trade with and walked to a nearby alley, where she sold all three mooncake coupons and received more than two yuan in return.

This was the first time He Susu had made such a deal. It would be a waste to keep the three mooncake coupons on hand anyway, so she might as well exchange them for some money.

After putting the money into her clothes pocket, He Susu went to the supply and marketing cooperative, and after getting together with her third sister-in-law, they waited for the bus to go home.

After entering the kitchen at home, He Susu began to organize the things she had bought.

The two pounds of live shrimp in the net bag were already dead and motionless, so He Susu simply found a basin to put them in and ate them for lunch and dinner. Chinese yam, cucumber, white radish, etc. were placed in the vegetable basket. Even if she didn't eat the tofu today, she had to fry it first and put it aside. Half a chicken and pork ribs were placed in a water-bath to prevent them from spoiling.

Afterwards, she took out the items she had redeemed earlier from the shopping system, poured five kilograms of rice into the rice bucket, put a bag of five kilograms of flour in the cabinet, and put the sweet potatoes in another cabinet.

She and Cheng Shi usually eat mostly white rice, and occasionally steam sweet potatoes in the morning to improve the taste. As for flour, Cheng Shi will occasionally make pancakes when he has time, or He Susu will steam white flour buns for breakfast, which are consumed very quickly.

Then she took out two handfuls of egg-flavored noodles and put them in the cupboard. She and Cheng Shi both loved noodles. Since they had tried the tomato and meat sauce noodle soup, they had also cooked sauerkraut and pork noodle soup, vegetable poached egg noodle soup, mushroom and meat sauce noodle soup, etc.

He Susu took out all the mooncakes and put them in the kitchen cabinet, then started preparing the dishes.

On the way back, she heard from several military wives how to eat the shrimp. They can be boiled in water and then dipped in a sauce, or they can be stir-fried with onions, ginger and garlic.

Let's just eat boiled food at noon. Wash the shrimps and put them aside, cut the onions, ginger and garlic, and then wash the cabbage.

When Cheng Shi came back at noon, he was quite surprised to see shrimps. He did as Susu said and boiled the shrimps until they changed color, then picked them up and stir-fried some Chinese cabbage. After taking a shower, the couple started to eat lunch.

He Susu was looking forward to eating shrimp. She picked up a shrimp, peeled it, and after removing the head, tail and shell, it was about half the size of a finger. She dipped it in the sauce made of scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and oil and put it in her mouth. It tasted very good, and the meat was firm and sweet when bitten.

She couldn't help but praise: "This shrimp is quite delicious."

Cheng Shi was also peeling shrimps. He hadn't eaten any yet. Now that he had gotten the hang of it, he planned to peel all the shrimps so that Susu would find it easier to eat.

He smiled and said, "Shrimp tastes pretty good. We fried it in the army cafeteria once before. Those comrades who usually eat like they are at war rarely have the patience to peel the shells before eating. But even though the next county is by the sea, we don't have much seafood supply here."

"It was just a coincidence today." He Susu said with a smile, "Let's try the stir-fried shrimp with green onions, ginger and garlic tonight. It will definitely be more delicious."

Cheng Shi smiled and agreed. He peeled the shrimps very quickly, and in a few seconds he finished peeling all the shrimps on the plate. He stood up to wash his hands and then came back to sit down and eat.

He Susu enjoyed the shrimps peeled by Cheng Shi. She just picked them up with chopsticks and dipped them in the sauce to eat. It was so delicious without having to peel the shells.

She talked about mooncakes: "Oh, by the way, I went to the department store this morning and saw that they had mooncakes available, so I used all three mooncake tickets to buy mooncakes. Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion festival, why don't we just send some mooncakes to our parents on both sides?"

Cheng Shi nodded: "Sure, I wouldn't have thought of this if you hadn't mentioned it. We don't have any special products here, how about sending them 50 yuan each?"

His parents are not short of money, but they are also happy that their son is filial to them, and he also has to show his gratitude to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

He Susu nodded: "Okay, you have tried the milk lumps my friend sent last time and they are quite delicious. If we have some extra, we can send some to both parents to try."

She loves to eat milk lumps, and she had previously exchanged some from the shopping system under the pretext of being a friend and brought them home.

Cheng Shi usually doesn't like to eat candy, but after trying this milk curd, she said it was delicious. She likes to eat one when she's at home. Last time, she simply exchanged three pounds of it at once and kept it at home so she can eat it anytime.

Cheng Shi nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way."

He Susu agreed: "Then let me pack it up and take it to the mailroom to mail it out tomorrow."

Cheng Shi calculated: "I should be able to rest on Mid-Autumn Festival, and I will be at home with you then."

In order to save up for a long vacation during the Chinese New Year, he skipped many of the vacations he could have taken. After marriage, he became busy and had little time to accompany Susu, let alone take her to the county town for fun. Cheng Shi felt guilty, but fortunately Susu was tolerant enough.

As this Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday, he might as well take a break.

Hearing this, He Susu said happily, "That's great. I bought a lot of meat and vegetables today. Let's make a delicious meal together for Mid-Autumn Festival. We can even make dumplings."

Making dumplings during major festivals seems to have a different meaning, and eating dumplings has almost the same meaning as reunion.

Cheng Shi smiled and agreed.

The next day, He Susu took the two packed packages to the mail room to mail them.

She put a pound of each of the three mooncakes she redeemed from the shopping system into two packages. She was afraid that if she wrote back and mentioned it, it would not match the mooncake ticket, which would easily lead to mistakes. She also put a pound of milk lumps and fifty yuan in each package.

When sending a package, you must write a letter and send it back at the same time. When He Susu wrote a letter to her parents last night, she also reminded Cheng Shi to write a letter to her parents-in-law to share that life in the army is good and let them rest assured.

So the couple sat on either side of the desk in the room and wrote letters respectively, talking to each other from time to time, and silently praising each other in the letters to reassure their parents.

In a blink of an eye, it was Mid-Autumn Festival. The military primary school was on holiday that day, and Su Yu didn't have to go to work, so she didn't send her second baby over.

She had wanted to invite her younger sister-in-law and her husband to come over for dinner, but He Lianzhou said that this was the couple's first reunion festival after their marriage, so she let her younger sister and Cheng Shi enjoy it on their own, and she gave up the idea.

He Susu wanted to bring some gifts, but Su Yu smiled and refused: "Little sister, you don't have to be so polite. Our two families are so close that there is no need to send gifts. Erbao usually eats a lot of cakes and candies at your place, so just assume that you have given it to him. You see, I didn't prepare anything, so I would be embarrassed to accept it if you gave it to me."

He Susu could tell that her third sister-in-law was not just being polite, so she simply agreed to her wishes.

The children don’t have to go to school, so it’s noticeably more lively here in the staff quarters. They started playing and making noise outside in the morning.

He Susu was woken up while she was still sleeping. She turned over and rolled into Cheng Shi's arms, found a comfortable position and continued to sleep.

Cheng Shi rarely had a chance to rest, and with his lovely wife in his arms, he couldn't bear to get up early, so he simply indulged himself, put his arms around He Susu's slender waist, held her in his arms and continued to sleep.

By the time the couple woke up, it was almost ten o'clock.

Cheng Shi got up a little earlier, washed up, and went into the kitchen to steam sweet potatoes and stir-fry some pickled cabbage. He Susu came over after washing up, and the couple sat at the dining table to eat breakfast.

He Susu asked him jokingly: "How is it, how does it feel to sleep in?"

Cheng Shi nodded seriously: "It's quite comfortable."

It’s comfortable to indulge yourself in a sleep in occasionally, and it’s even more comfortable to sleep in while holding your wife in your arms.

After breakfast, Cheng Shi went to get flour and prepared to knead the dough. The couple planned to have dumplings for lunch and stir-fry meat and vegetables for dinner.

He Susu didn't know how to knead dough. She thought she didn't have enough strength and was afraid that she couldn't get the right balance. She decided to leave this difficult job to Cheng Shi. She went into the kitchen to chop pork. This was not a hard job and was quite mechanical, which suited her well.

After the two pounds of hind leg meat, which was three parts fat and seven parts lean, was chopped into minced meat, He Susu put it into a basin, picked the leaves of two large cabbages, washed them, cut them into cabbage pieces with a kitchen knife, mixed them with the chopped meat, and stirred them evenly with chopsticks.

Today I plan to make cabbage and pork dumplings. The fillings are almost ready, except for the seasoning. He Susu is unsure how much soy sauce and salt to add, so she simply leaves it for Cheng Shi to do.

She walked out of the kitchen and saw Cheng Shi standing in front of the dining table, with his sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong and lean arms, kneading the dough to remove the air.

Seeing this, He Susu went back to the kitchen and fetched a kitchen knife for him: "I have prepared the cabbage and pork stuffing, and I am waiting for you to season it."

"Okay, I'm almost done here." Cheng Shi took the kitchen knife and cut the dough, which had been rolled into long strips, into small pieces.

He Susu saw the familiar part and said, "Leave the rolling of the dough to me, and you go and season the fillings, and you can make dumplings when you come out."

Cheng Shi naturally agreed and turned to go to the kitchen to busy himself.

He Susu had rolled out dough before, so she was very skilled at it. By the time Cheng Shi had mixed the fillings, she had already rolled out a lot of dumpling wrappers.

Cheng Shi had never made dumplings before, so she put down what she was doing and taught him how to make dumplings.

The dumplings made by He Susu have plump fillings and the folds are very beautiful.

Cheng Shi is a good student. The dumplings he made look good and plump, and the folds he made were also nice. He smiled and said, "It seems that making dumplings is not difficult as long as you follow the right teacher."

"Just praise yourself." He Susu shook her head with amusement, but she was very happy in her heart.

So Cheng Shi continued to make dumplings while she rolled out the dough. After all the dough was rolled out, she also started to make dumplings.

The couple was busy making a table full of dumplings. They could eat them for lunch and still have some left to steam for breakfast.

After asking Susu for her opinion, Cheng Shi took the dumplings to the kitchen to cook them. He boiled a small pot of water and fried another small pot of lard, and steamed the rest of the dumplings and put them away after they cooled.

He Susu cleaned up the mess on the dining table, wiped off the remaining flour, and put the rolling pin and basin into the kitchen to be washed later with the dishes.

Soon, a bowl of dumplings was cooked for each person, and a plate of golden and crispy fried dumplings was served, and then we could start eating.

He Susu picked up a fried dumpling first. The dumpling skin was fried crispy and fragrant, and the cabbage and pork filling inside was still juicy. It was salty and delicious, and especially tasty.

She couldn't help but sigh: "These dumplings really taste best when fried. Usually when we make dumplings at home, we either steam them or boil them. This is the first time I eat fried dumplings."

Cheng Shi tried a fried dumpling and thought it tasted really good: "It just takes a lot of oil, but it tastes delicious, so it's worth it to cook it this way once in a while."

These days, there is a certain amount of stamps for buying oil each month, and the only way to get more oil is to buy pork and stir-fry it with lard, so there are relatively few fried dishes. He just got in the mood and fried a small pot of dumplings, but he didn't expect the taste to be so good.

He Susu agreed with this: "Yes, even if you save some oil on a normal basis, it would be memorable to taste it once in a while."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but pick up another fried dumpling to eat. After eating five fried dumplings, He Susu started to eat the boiled dumplings in the bowl.

The boiled dumplings have a soft skin and are full of soup when you bite them. The cabbage and pork filling inside are also delicious, but the taste is lighter than that of the fried dumplings. Maybe it has all been scattered in the soup.

Cheng Shi thinks fried dumplings are delicious, and boiled dumplings are also very good. He basically eats a dumpling in one mouthful, chews it a few times, and swallows it directly, which is very refreshing.

He suggested: "I can make dumplings again when I have some time off. I am used to eating rice and noodles, so dumplings are delicious once in a while."

Like when he was in the cafeteria, when dumplings were rarely made, he rarely ate dumplings.

He Susu naturally agreed, because dumplings made by hand tasted better. She was prone to laziness, but it didn't take much effort to make dumplings with Cheng Shi, and it was fun for the couple to work together on a meal.

After dinner, Cheng Shi washed the pots and pans, and then the couple went back to their room to sleep.

In the afternoon, Cheng Shi was not afraid of the sun. He carried a hoe and started to trim the edges of the vegetable field. He bent down and pulled out the weeds that had grown.

He Susu moved a chair and sat at the door. She thought he was very handsome watching him working. The vegetable garden was growing green. She estimated that they would be able to pick the vegetables in a few days and would not have to go to Mrs. Shao to buy them.

After Cheng Shi finished taking care of the vegetable garden, he had nothing to do, so he suggested: "How about we go to the political commissar's house and have a chat?"

Originally, we were supposed to visit my third uncle’s house during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but my third uncle didn’t have a day off today, so they went to the He’s house while taking a walk last night.

He Susu nodded in agreement. Political Commissar Zhang and Cheng Shi had a good relationship and usually took care of her. Sister Shao was also very warm, but she had never been around Sister Shao by herself, so it was a good opportunity for her to go over and see her now.

So the couple went to Shao's house, where Political Commissar Zhang was also, and they were warmly received. Cheng Shi chatted with Political Commissar Zhang, while Shao's wife took He Susu to chat about family matters.

Mrs. Shao: "Susu, my child was sick recently and I was busy so I didn't come to see you. Now that you know the way, come and sit often when you have time."

He Susu: "Sister-in-law, it's okay. I just missed you after not seeing you for a long time, so I took advantage of Cheng Shi's break today to come and see you with him. I'm usually busy writing articles and rarely go out."

Mrs. Shao smiled and nodded: "You are just being polite, writing is very busy, and it is most important that you finish your work. I have heard Wu Huiling and the others talk about it, and they usually don't dare to disturb you."

The sisters-in-law in the family quarters also gossiped privately. They all knew that the family of the newly moved in leader Cheng was quiet and rarely went out on weekdays. It was said that they were busy writing articles to make money. Their food was also good, and you could smell the smell of meat at every meal. However, since the couple could make money and had no children, it was normal for them to eat better.

Mrs. Shao had naturally heard these words as well.

He Susu curled her lips and said, "Sister-in-law, if you come to my house, I will definitely have time to entertain you. No matter how busy I am, I will put down the work at hand."

Mrs. Shao smiled and said, "You said that. I've remembered it all. I'll come visit you when I have time."

He Susu agreed: "I'm welcome anytime."

After sitting for about an hour, Cheng Shi and He Susu stood up, said goodbye, and walked back home.

It was getting late, so Cheng Shi went home to rest for a while and then went into the kitchen to busy himself. He Susu followed him in to help.

Normally, when two people eat together, we would cook one meat and one vegetable, which is just enough for them to finish and still feel full. But today, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, we are making a rare luxury of cooking four dishes.

Braised spareribs with winter vegetables, twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts, stir-fried chicken with green onions, and stir-fried spring vegetables. Cheng Shi was in charge of cooking, and He Susu helped prepare the dishes. The couple worked quickly and in an orderly manner.

Braised pork ribs with preserved vegetables was cooked once in He Susu's tutorial last time. He praised it for being delicious after tasting it. It was the first time he knew that pork ribs could be cooked so deliciously. After that, he would cook this dish from time to time at home. On a good day like Mid-Autumn Festival, it is inevitable to cook this dish.

At around six o'clock, four dishes were served on the table. Cheng Shi went to boil a bowl of white rice, while He Susu went to make two cups of chrysanthemum water so that they could drink it while eating.

Sitting opposite each other at the dinner table, Cheng Shi smiled and said, "Susu, this is our first Mid-Autumn Festival. I hope we can have this day every year in the future."

He Susu raised the cup of chrysanthemum water and clinked it with his, saying affirmatively, "Yes, we will work hard together."

The two of them ate their meal, chatting from time to time.

The ribs braised with winter vegetables are salty and tasty. The ribs are soft and fall off the bones easily. If there is a little fat on the edge of the lean meat, it will be even more delicious. The twice-cooked pork has a slightly spicy taste, and the pork belly is oozing with oil. It doesn't feel greasy even when eaten with garlic sprouts. The chicken fried with green onions has a different taste. The chicken is not only salty and fragrant, but also tender and smooth inside. The spring vegetables at this time of year taste a little bitter and crisp, and the juice from the stir-fried vegetables is also delicious.

The couple enjoyed the meal very much and there was some leftover from the four dishes. They simply put it away and could just heat it up and eat it at noon the next day.

When they go out for a walk in the evening, they can see the bright moon like a jade plate when they look up. Walking hand in hand under the moonlight seems to have a different charm.

After returning home, He Susu took out three kinds of mooncakes and introduced them to Cheng Shi to tell him what the fillings were.

Cheng Shi was surprised: "There are so many different flavors of mooncakes this year. In previous years, there was only the five-nut mooncake, which looked like a big round plate."

He Susu explained: "I was surprised too. I thought it was rare to have three flavors. The lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk filling sounded very rare. The tangerine peel and red bean filling also sounded good, so I simply bought some of each. I also sent three flavors to my parents on both sides. Fortunately, these two kinds of mooncakes are small, otherwise three mooncake tickets would not be enough."

Anyway, Cheng Shi would not go to the department store to ask what fillings were sold in the mooncakes, so he just let her explain.

She then took a kitchen knife and cut the three kinds of mooncakes, and they started eating.

The five-nut mooncake tastes the same as always, with a lot of ingredients added, it tastes rich and chewy.

The mooncakes with lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk filling lived up to her expectations. The lotus seed paste skin had a light sweetness, while the salted egg yolk inside tasted salty, fragrant and crunchy. The combination perfectly complemented the sweetness of the lotus seed paste and was very delicious.

The mooncakes with tangerine peel and red bean filling were as expected, very sweet, but the aroma of the tangerine peel mixed in was quite refreshing.

He Susu ate the most mooncakes with lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk filling, and also ate a little of the other two kinds of mooncakes. Cheng Shi also liked to eat mooncakes with lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk filling, but he had a big appetite and ate up all the remaining mooncakes.

He Susu smiled and said, "There are moon cakes in the kitchen."

Cheng Shi: "You can save it and eat it as a snack."

When night came, the couple naturally had a good time of intimacy. Cheng Shi was particularly enthusiastic, and He Susu was in high spirits and naturally cooperated.