"You...I..."
Yang Yufeng pinched her fingers, looking at the seeping blood, speechless.
She was just peeking over the wall to see what smelled so good, right? She was just a little too curious, but did she really have to break a window in the wall?
“Lu Fangfang, you...you really can’t compare to Comrade Zhu Haiming. She’s not like you, so stingy. You really can’t compare to her.”
Yang Yufeng was furious. She shouted and belittled Lu Fangfang from behind the wall.
"Comrade Zhu Haiming not only lent us food, but also her bicycle. Unlike you, you're such a miser! I'm never going to your house again."
Next door, Lu Fangfang burst out laughing.
Oh my, she couldn't be happier than this; it's like having two happy events at once.
Following Yang Yufeng's words, she said cheerfully, "Then you should spend more time with Comrade Zhu Haiming and go see her more often, but don't come here to make trouble for me."
"Pah, you don't need to tell me. Even if you asked me to go to your house, I wouldn't go!"
Yang Yufeng sucked the blood from her finger and then stormed back into the house.
Unable to gain any advantage from Lu Fangfang, she decided to spend more time with Zhu Haiming in the future.
Comrade Zhu Haiming is much more generous.
...
In the west courtyard of the family compound, Zhu Haiming, who was counting money in the inner room, suddenly felt a chill.
She scratched her head, looked around the room, and seemed puzzled.
"Thump, thump, thump."
Before Zhu Haiming could put away the money in her hand, the door was pushed open and Li Dajun strode in.
He glanced at the large bill in his lover's hand, raised his eyelids, and felt a little thirsty.
"snort."
Zhu Haiming glanced at Li Dajun, then hurriedly put the money into the small leather suitcase, and finally locked it.
"We're married now, why are you being so wary of me?"
Li Dajun was very dissatisfied. He picked up the water glass on the table, took a big gulp, and then walked to his lover's side.
"I see Comrade Lu has collected a lot of bluestone slabs. He probably wants to build a kang (heated brick bed). Should we build one for our family too?"
He glanced at the small leather suitcase in the corner and continued, "If it's to be built, you don't need to worry about it. Just give me a few ten-yuan bills, and I'll find someone to build it."
"A heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed)?"
Zhu Haiming looked disgusted.
She already disliked this kind of thing for no reason, and when she heard that Lu Fangfang wanted to build it, she became even more unwilling to do so.
"The house is perfectly fine, why build that thing? It makes the house all dirty, are you out of your mind? I don't want that, it's so old-fashioned."
Li Dajun was somewhat helpless. He patiently explained, "It's cold here in winter, unlike in Shanghai. Let's build one. It'll be more comfortable to sleep in then."
"Cold? If it's cold, just light more stoves. It's not like we don't have money to burn charcoal. Why bother building those dirty things?"
Zhu Haiming curled her lip, her face full of sarcasm.
No matter how cold winter is, can it be colder than the damp cold of Shanghai? She didn't want to burn that old-fashioned stuff.
"By the way, I'll give you money. Install a fireplace in the inner room for me. It'll look nice and keep you warm, much better than that dirty kang bed."
"A fireplace? No, Zhu Haiming, there's no fireplace here. Do you think we're still in Shanghai?"
Li Dajun felt both angry and amused.
He had only been married for two or three days when he realized that he and Zhu Haiming were from two completely different worlds. Sometimes they could even argue over something very simple.
He really couldn't afford to serve this young lady anymore.
Zhu Haiming: "..."
"You've really ruined me! If you hadn't tricked me with Zhuang Mingcheng's photo, I wouldn't be suffering here. I have nothing, not even food..."
As he listened to her complaints, Li Dajun's expression grew increasingly grim.
He ripped open his collar and lunged at Zhu Haiming.
"Huh? You... Ouch."
Zhu Haiming frowned and let Li Dajun do as he pleased, but she was still furious inside.
Looking at Li Dajun's arm, she bit it hard.
"Ouch, it bit me again. Are you a dog?"
Li Dajun winced in pain, but he didn't stop what he was doing.
Only at this moment did he feel that marrying a capitalist's daughter wasn't a bad deal.
...
In the east courtyard of the family compound, Lu Fangfang sat in front of the coal stove, still frying small fish.
She couldn't help but laugh when she thought of what Yang Yufeng had said earlier. This person thought she was very popular. She would welcome anyone who didn't come to her.
She shook her head, picked up a small fish from the oil, blew on it, and took a bite.
"Crack..."
Lu Fangfang felt that it was almost done frying and was already quite crispy.
She used chopsticks to scoop all the small fish from the oil pan into a small bowl, and then fried another batch.
She broke off a piece of multigrain steamed bun, sat down in front of the coal stove, and started eating it with some small bits of fish.
She marinated these small fish with dried chili peppers before frying them.
It tastes a bit spicy now, which is very appetizing.
After Lu Fangfang had eaten and drunk her fill, the small fish in the pan were already fried. She took them out, poured in some butter, and started frying the third batch.
She was busy until eight or nine o'clock before she finished frying all the small fish, filling a small half-basin.
She put it in the cupboard, washed her face, and then went to sleep.
Lu Fangfang lay on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
She slept soundly, but the people in the family compound suffered.
Half of the residents in the compound smelled the familiar aroma of fried fish again, and many of them couldn't sleep, especially Yang Yufeng next door, who tossed and turned in bed, swallowing her saliva.
She wanted to fry the small fish herself, but was afraid of using too much oil.
Her eyes darted around, and she thought of Zhu Haiming. This woman was from a wealthy family, even richer than Lu Fangfang, and certainly didn't lack oil.
No, she has to go talk to Zhu Haiming tomorrow.
...
The next day, Lu Fangfang got up very early.
There was still some oil left in the pan from frying the fish, so she cut a few slices of steamed bun and put them in the pan to fry until golden brown on both sides.
Just like eating fish, she enjoyed the crispy and fragrant fried bread slices.
Lifting her jacket, Lu Fangfang looked down at herself and realized that she had finally gained some weight.
Patting her belly, she sighed, "Gaining weight is so hard."
With a sigh, Lu Fangfang put down her coat, got up, and took two aluminum lunch boxes from the cupboard.
She placed the small fish into the lunchbox and slammed the lid shut.
Today she plans to deliver molds to Uncle Guo, and also some fried small fish she made herself, for Uncle Guo and Lao Xu to try.
As she packed the lunchbox into her cloth bag, Lu Fangfang recalled the scene of Lao Xu eating steamed buns.
This person sheds tears even while eating a steamed bun; it's truly remarkable. She shook her head and took out two more steamed buns from the food basket.
She packed the items into a cloth bag, slung it over her shoulder, took the wooden mold, and walked out of the house.
At dawn, wisps of smoke rose from the family compound, while the sounds of soldiers training echoed from the neighboring regiment.
Lu Fangfang walked along the path, carrying a cloth bag.
In the distance were white snow-capped mountains, and on both sides were green grasslands, and her mood inexplicably improved.
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