Chapter 84

Zhou Jiani had just woken up from a nap. She rolled over on the kang, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise. It was really comfortable to sleep on the kang for one person.

It is more comfortable than the single bed at home. I rolled over several times before I could sit up.

She listened carefully but heard no movement from the west room. She took out a box of milk and drank it. Then she got up, tidied her hair a little, made the kang, and tiptoed out. She added some detergent to the plates, lunch boxes, chopsticks and other items she had used at noon and washed them again.

In the past, Zhao Mei's sister-in-law was used to being frugal. She would add oil drop by drop when cooking, and the used dishes could be cleaned by just rinsing them with clean water. But today, Zhou Jiani added a little more oil when cooking, and the dishes were still greasy after washing with water.

I didn’t cook fish for lunch, so I simply made scrambled eggs with cucumber and spinach with garlic. It would be more delicious if I added a little more oil.

The main thing was to quickly cut the vegetables and return the sink and knife to Grandma Meng so as not to delay her lunch preparation, so I didn't make it too complicated.

After she cleaned up and disposed of the sewage, Sun Ping came out of the house yawning.

Similar to Zhou Jiani's sigh, she also felt that the sleep was very comfortable and the big kang for two people was really spacious.

Although it was she and Yu Wanxia who slept with Jiani after she went on a business trip before, the kang here was much bigger and more spacious than the one in Zhao Mei's house.

As the sunset rose, Zhou Jiani took her around the yard and gestured, saying, "Let's turn this area over and plant some vegetables. We'll also build a fence around it with sorghum stalks. When we have time, we'll go to town and see if there are any live hens for sale. We'll buy a couple and keep them if they lay eggs. If they don't, we'll raise them until Chinese New Year and slaughter them for food."

Yu Wanxia felt surprised and amused at first, but became more and more excited towards the end.

Although she also did farm work in the brigade, the feeling of cleaning up the small home was really different. She wanted to roll up her sleeves and get to work right away.

Sun Ping, who was standing next to them, was so envious that she enthusiastically helped them plan.

At the intersection east of Xihe Town, the leading truck slowly stopped.

Qiu Zeming straightened the backpack hanging on his shoulder, walked forward and greeted him with a smile: "Brother Xiao!"

The dusty driver opened the door and came out, giving Qiu Zeming a big hug. After letting go, he patted his shoulders, looked him up and down, and grinned, "Good boy, are you used to being here? You look in good shape!"

"It's OK, this place is pretty good," Qiu Zeming said with a smile. "I'm lucky to have met like-minded partners. Now we're helping local villagers conduct experiments with plastic greenhouses. Whether it succeeds or not is not the final word, but I feel very fulfilled."

"That's good." Xiao Chengshun introduced his deputy to him, and gestured to the back, asking everyone to turn off the engine and rest. He and Qiu Zeming walked to the side and said a few words. After a while, Xiao Chengshun took him to introduce them to the people in the car behind. When he came back, Qiu Zeming put the bicycle on the car and asked his deputy to get off and wait here.

Qiu Zeming got in the car, and Xiao Chengshun drove him all the way to the village entrance before stopping. He said, "Let's not go into the village this time. Next time I pass by here, I'll stop by your place to rest."

"Thank you, Brother Xiao. You are always welcome here."

After moving the bicycle down, they also moved down a large cardboard box, which contained precious vegetable seedlings and valuable information.

Xiao Chengshun brought down another woven bag, which looked quite heavy. He said, "Here, this is what you want, kid." He looked him up and down again, raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Satisfying your appetite? That's not your style! Giving you a gift? Your old man will beat you with a belt. Tell me, what are you going to do with such a valuable thing?"

It took me a lot of detours to finally get through to him on the phone. Besides asking him to help carry some things, I also asked him to bring him a Jinshi ham. The solemn entrustment he made on the phone was not like this guy's style at all.

Qiu Zeming slowly sealed the box on the back seat, then picked up the woven bag, holding it with one hand. He lifted his leg and slid over the beam to sit down. He smiled and said, "It's a gift, but not all gifts are bribes. Brother Xiao, I wish you a safe journey and smooth travels. See you later."

He held the handlebars with one hand and carried a big ham in the other, and rode away.

"Hey, you guy." Xiao Chengshun smiled and shook his head, opened the car door, started the car, and returned to the town to meet up with the main force.

Zhou Jiani was about to go out to borrow a kitchen knife when she saw Qiu Zeming come in. His eyebrows were tinged with a faint smile, and he said in a bright voice, "Comrade Xiao Zhou, the money has arrived!"

He took out a kitchen knife from his bag with one hand and handed the handle to Zhou Jiani.

The kitchen knife has arrived, and Comrade Xiao Qiu also made a pun: money has arrived.

Zhou Jiani laughed heartily: "The money came just in time!"

Hold it in your hand and look at it.

The gun I made for them was specially made in a small size to make it easier for girls to use. Their gun is relatively larger.

Zhou Jiani weighed it and found it to be a good weight. She smiled and said, "Let's try out the new kitchen knife today."

Qiu Zeming said seriously, "The new knife is sharp, be careful not to cut your hands." He added, "I have some good news for Comrade Xiao Zhou. The greenhouse team not only brought us valuable materials, but also some seedlings they've cultivated. I'll go and transplant the seedlings with Uncle Jing Guo and the others first."

Zhou Jiani's inquiring gaze shifted to the woven bag in his other hand. It seemed to be sagging a little. Could this be the seedlings?

Qiu Zeming seemed to have just remembered what he was holding and said with a disdainful tone, "Oh, a friend of mine was passing by the Gold Market in his sports car and insisted on buying me a ham. So I picked it up today. This thing is hard, is it edible?"

Zhou Jiani's breathing stopped, and her eyes lit up visibly.

How come she doesn't have any friends who are determined to bring her ham?

"Leave it here. If you don't know how to cook, wait until I'm done and come over to clean it up. It's quite heavy. I'll put it in the kitchen for you." Without waiting for Zhou Jiani's reaction, Qiu Zeming threw the ham into the kitchen as if to get rid of a burden.

Zhou Jiani came back to her senses and followed him in and asked, "Can I cut some and add it to the kelp soup?"

Qiu Zeming said seriously, "Of course, you can do whatever you want with it." He then said, "Would you like to come out and take a look at the seedlings?"

"Look, look, look."

Zhou Jiani followed him out and looked at the seedlings in the box, as well as a large stack of handwritten materials. She took out a notebook and flipped through it casually. Looking at the details about the growth of the greenhouse seedlings recorded in plain words, she felt as if her chest was filled with something, and even her eyes were a little sour.

He reached out and gently touched the leaves of the seedlings wrapped in clumps of soil in the box, hoping that these little guys could thrive on the land of the Forward Brigade.

"That's great..." Zhou Jiani sniffed with some emotion when she heard Wang Qianjin shouting in front of her, "Brother Qiu, didn't you go to town?"

Did Brother Qiu go to town?

Qiu Zeming said unhappily, "If I go to town, can't I come back?"

Wang Qianjin looked at his watch. Didn't his brother Qiu say that the convoy would arrive in town at 3:30? But it was only 3:30 now, and Brother Qiu was already trying to be attentive to Comrade Xiao Zhou.

"Three-thirty is the latest estimated arrival time..." Qiu Zeming pushed the cart, "I'm going to go farm. Don't be idle, come and help me."

Yu Wanxia came out and poked her head in, "Brother Wang, go borrow some farm tools to help us clear the wasteland. We need to grow some vegetables."

Qiu Zeming looked at Zhou Jiani.

Zhou Jiani nodded and said, "I plan to build a small plastic shed in the yard and grow some vegetables."

Qiu Zeming nodded and said, "Let Qianjin and Haoyang clear the land for you. I'll prepare the fertilizer, cultivate the soil, and plant the crops." He added, "Consider it part of the experiment."

Wang Qianjin said enthusiastically: "Brother Qiu, can we plant some crops in our yard? We can also do experiments."

"Do you want to tire me to death?" Qiu Zeming glared at him and rode away.

Wang Qianjin: ...

He was the first one to show interest in the farming experiment, wasn't he?

Zhou Jiani went back and started working.

Yu Wanxia and Sun Ping helped her, while Wang Qianjin and Bai Haoyang took turns using hoes and shovels to clear the wasteland in the yard.

Zhou Jiani first made the pumpkin pancakes, and then started to make kelp, winter melon and ham soup. This dish was mainly to thank the neighbors and probably would not be served on their own table.

As soon as the dish came out, Zhou Jiani arranged for Yu Wanxia and Sun Ping to deliver it. They definitely didn't have that many bowls, so they poured the food into their neighbors' bowls and then came back to serve it to the next family.

Added a few extra pumpkin pie pieces for Grandma Meng's house.

She didn't send it to Zhang Laosi's house, but invited Zhang Laosi to come over for dinner in the evening.

Of the three fish, two were braised and one was used to make a sour bean and fish stew. The clay pot used was borrowed from Zhang Baosheng's house. The round table that was needed was brought from Liu Tong's house by Bai Haoyang and others. They were asked to bring the other small stools themselves when they came.

Next came the pork ribs and mushroom soup, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, kidney beans stewed with ham, scrambled eggs with loofah, and tomatoes mixed with sugar.

Wang Qianjin and Bai Haoyang came in one after another to take a look.

It smelled so good that the two of them couldn't even hold their hoes.

When Bai Haoyang came over again with his shovel, he saw Zhou Jiani cutting sweet potatoes and said, "What are you cutting that for? Putting it in the porridge?"

I finally have a good meal, why are you cutting sweet potatoes?

Zhou Jiani kept working with her hands and said with a smile, "Cut it up and set it aside. I'll make the candied sweet potato dish when everyone arrives."

Qiu Zeming, Zhang Baosheng and the others came over carrying stools, and walked a little slowly according to Zhang Kaishan's pace, but when they got nearby, they could smell the fragrance.

Zhao Mei smiled and said, "Jia Ni made a fish dish last time. Her cooking skills were amazing. It was so delicious."

Zhang Huihui ran in first: "Sister Jiani, Sister Wanxia, Sister Sun Ping——"

Although I usually only see the educated youth sisters after school, the little girl called them especially sweetly today, and it felt like I hadn't seen them for a long time.

Yu Wanxia hugged her and took her to wash her hands.

Sun Ping smiled and said, "You have to call Sister Jiani first. Your sister Jiani specially made delicious food for you."

Just now, Jiani fed me a piece of pumpkin pie, which was really delicious!

Just mix pumpkin puree with some flour, add some sugar and sesame seeds, and it tastes amazing.

Zhang Baosheng sniffed hard, glanced at the round table, and exclaimed, "Wow!"

Fortunately, he brought a bottle of wine. Although Xiao Zhou and the others didn't drink it, it was better than the two pounds of noodles they had in the morning.

Zhang Laosi brought another half pound of fried peanuts and half a pound of broad beans.

Zhao Mei's family brought two pounds of white flour and two pounds of bean flour.

Li Jingdang gave Zhou Jiani two food coupons, and she couldn't refuse, so she accepted them with a smile.

When Liu Tong saw this scene, he touched his nose and felt a little embarrassed. He thought about asking his wife to make a pair of socks for Xiao Zhou.

Bai Haoyang and Wang Qianjin kept giving themselves psychological hints: They dug the ground, they helped pull weeds, they helped patch up rat holes...

Zhou Jiani quickly prepared the last candied sweet potato and brought it up, looking at Yu Wanxia. Did that mean that as the host, she shouldn't say anything?

But Yu Wanxia was staring at the food on the table and secretly swallowing her saliva, and didn't receive any of Comrade Xiao Zhou's signals at all.

Zhou Jiani had no choice but to shoulder the responsibility alone. She smiled and said, "Those who came here are not outsiders. Besides the elders who took such great care of us, there's my brother and his wife, and the lovely Huihui. As for Comrade Qiu, Comrade Bai, and Comrade Wang, I won't say anything. Today is a celebration between our two families, so don't be polite, let's eat and drink!"