“I know about Sister-in-law Meijiao and the regimental commander’s family. Come with me.”
Sun Manling has been living in the family compound for several years; everyone knows her.
"Thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law."
Lu Fangfang found an enamel basin, scooped up more of the contents, and then left with Sun Manling.
Meijiao's sister-in-law lives in the third row. Her husband is the battalion commander of the second regiment. Meijiao's sister-in-law wasn't home either, but her husband accepted the money.
Next, Lu Fangfang went to the regimental commander's house with Sun Manling.
The regimental commander's family lived in the western residential compound. Lu Fangfang knocked on the door, and a woman in her thirties came out.
She declined several times, but eventually accepted the soup.
On the way back, Lu Fangfang asked curiously, "Sister-in-law Manling, what does the regimental commander's wife do? She has such a good temperament."
"Sister-in-law Shuhua works in a cultural troupe, so she must have a good temperament."
"A performing arts troupe?"
Lu Fangfang was somewhat surprised, but she admired him greatly.
The performing arts troupe is a great organization. Just think of the women in the family compound—some work as sales clerks, some are in the performing arts troupe, and some are teachers. It's truly a place teeming with talent.
Lu Fangfang thought about herself.
She had no urban household registration and no diploma, so she really couldn't do anything in this era.
Oh well, there's no point in being envious. She should just focus on her side hustle.
...
The family compound, the regimental commander's home.
As soon as the regimental commander Gao Dajiang got up and went to the outer room, he found the beef offal soup on the table.
"Huh? What's that? It smells so good!"
He walked closer, picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of tripe, and stuffed it into his mouth. "Mmm, so hot, so burning hot..."
"You haven't brushed your teeth yet, put it down right now and stop eating."
Gao Dajiang didn't listen; he savored it and thought it tasted good.
He picked up another piece with his chopsticks, blew on it, and then put it in his mouth.
While chewing, he asked curiously, "Shuhua, where did this beef offal soup come from?"
"It was brought by Comrade Xiao Lu."
Chen Shuhua snatched the chopsticks from Gao Dajiang's hand and pushed him to the washstand.
"Comrade Xiao Lu? Which Comrade Xiao Lu?"
"Battalion Commander Xiao Zhuang's wife."
"Oh, her."
Gao Dajiang immediately understood that before Xiao Zhuang left, she had asked him to take good care of her.
While brushing his teeth, he frowned and asked, "Why would Xiao Zhuang's wife send us beef offal soup? How could you accept it? This is such a bad idea."
Chen Shuhua gave him a reproachful look, "Don't worry, this morning Comrade Lu treated everyone in the compound to soup. It wasn't just you; everyone in the compound got some."
"Invite everyone in the compound to drink soup?"
Gao Dajiang chuckled, "This kid is using my money to do favors."
After washing up, Gao Dajiang sat down at the table and began to eat heartily.
I must say, this beef offal soup tastes really good, especially the broth, which is incredibly delicious.
While eating, he said to his lover, "Shuhua, what do you think of Comrade Xiao Lu?"
"fine."
"Then let her work in your performing arts troupe?"
Chen Shuhua was both amused and exasperated. "Old Gao, when we recruit for our cultural troupe, we only accept young girls with a dance background. Xiao Lu doesn't meet the criteria at all."
"What about singing?"
“Singing requires a foundation. You know how many people want to get into our military region’s cultural troupe. It’s not that easy.”
Gao Dajiang scratched his head, somewhat regretful.
Looking at the beef offal soup in front of him, he said somewhat helplessly, "We can't just drink and eat other people's food for free, can we?"
Chen Shuhua rolled her eyes at her husband. "I heard from the other sisters-in-law that Comrade Xiao Lu is looking for quail eggs. If you don't want to eat other people's food for free, then find some quail eggs for Comrade Xiao Lu."
Quail eggs?
Gao Dajiang was taken aback for a moment, then laughed.
Just a few days ago, he saw quail eggs at the division commander's place. He heard that someone had given them to the division commander to help him recover. What a coincidence!
He chuckled twice and then lowered his head to eat with pleasure. "By the way, Shuhua, if your cultural troupe is recruiting, you should think of our family compound."
"Okay, okay, eat up."
Chen Shuhua gave a perfunctory reply.
...
In the family compound, most households had beef offal soup early in the morning.
With the spices added by my sisters-in-law, this soup tastes especially good, without any other fishy smell.
In addition, the soup contains beef bones that have been simmering for most of the day, making it very oily and sticky.
In this day and age, people are lacking in oil and moisture, so the richer and more greasy the drink, the more satisfying it is.
The thrifty sister-in-law took out the beef liver and tripe and ate them, planning to stew some cabbage and radish in the remaining soup that evening.
After this incident, Comrade Xiao Lu's character and conduct became widely known in the family compound. Of course, what also spread was the story of how she used a cow skeleton to make a jar of butter.
The story spread even wider afterward.
...
After seeing off the last sister-in-law, Lu Fangfang finally had some free time.
The soup in the large iron pot has now been reduced to just a little bit at the bottom.
She took the bowl, scooped up some of the remaining beef liver and tripe, and then plopped down among the children.
Looking around, she smiled and asked, "Are you all full?"
"I'm full, I'm full."
"I'm full too."
The little kids touched their bulging bellies and all nodded.
"Auntie, when will you cook again next time? I want to eat it again, Auntie's cooking is so delicious."
"Next time? If you come again, your aunt will be eaten out of house and home. Let's talk about it another time."
Lu Fangfang shook her head, feeling both amused and exasperated.
She picked up her chopsticks and lowered her head to eat.
The beef offal soup tasted really good today; the liver and tripe didn't have any fishy smell.
Lu Fangfang added some cilantro and drank two large bowls of the broth before she felt full.
There was a little left in the pot, so she scooped out a small bowlful, intending to save it for dinner.
"Hey Fangfang, do you think the iron pot needs to be washed?"
Lu Fangfang glanced at Yang Yufeng, then at the pot, and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."
At this point, there was only a little broth and broken bones left in the large iron pot, and not much else. Since Yang Yufeng wanted it, she didn't refuse.
Yang Yufeng was very happy. She scooped the last bit of food from the bottom of the pot into her small bowl.
She told her son to carefully take it back, then rinsed the large iron pot with clean water before happily leaving.
After spending two days together, Yang Yufeng figured out Lu Fangfang's personality.
As long as you do some work for Lu Fangfang, you can get a good deal.
Touching her large belly, Yang Yufeng felt a little proud. This morning, no one in the family compound had eaten as much as her.
With her three children also involved, she really hit the jackpot today.
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