A week later, Shen Lie's guard Xiao Zhao went to the photo studio to retrieve the developed photos.
When Xiao Zhao delivered the photos, only Ning Tang was at home. Chen Lie had a meeting to attend, and the three children were all at school.
So Ning Tang didn't open the photos first, and planned to wait until everyone was here before looking at the photos together.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, Chen Lie and his three children returned home.
Da Wa saw the envelope containing the photo on the table and asked Ning Tang curiously, "Is this a letter from grandma and grandpa?"
As soon as they returned to Shangang Village, the three children immediately wrote a letter to Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju to let them know that they had arrived on the island and asked the old couple not to forget to come and see them.
So when Dawa saw the envelope, he thought it was Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju writing back to them?
Ning Tang: "No."
Da Wa asked, "What is that?"
He really couldn't imagine who else would send them a letter except Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju. Could it be his uncle Ning De?
"Why don't you open it and take a look?" Ning Tang said.
Big Brother opened the envelope and two black and white photos fell out.
He opened his mouth wide and made a sound of surprise. "Wow, these are the photos we took when we went to the photo studio last time."
His exclamation attracted Chen Lie, Erniu and Sanwa.
Chen Lie looked at the black and white family photo. In the photo, Da Wa and the other three were sitting on a bench, and he and Ning Tang were standing behind them. The family of five showed happy smiles, and looked like a happy family.
He couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.
Looking at the photo of him and Ning Tang, they are so handsome and beautiful, and my heart is so sweet.
Erniu asked, "Dad, where should we put these two photos?"
Whose room should I put it in? It’s not suitable in any room because everyone wants to see it.
"I'll have someone make two wooden frames and put the family portrait in the living room so we can see it and our guests can see it too." Shen Lie made the arrangements very logically.
Of course, family portraits are meant to be placed in the living room for everyone to see.
"Where's the photo of you and mom?" asked Big Brother.
Chen Lie said seriously, "I'll take it to the army and put it on my desk."
Ning Tang's mouth twitched. "Captain Shen, there's a saying that goes, 'If you show off your affection, you'll die soon.'"
Besides, shouldn't the family photo be placed on his desk, and the photo of the two of them be placed at home?
"Pooh, pooh, pooh." Chen Lie said, "No taboos."
Two days later, the custom-made wooden photo frame arrived. Chen Lie actually framed the photo of him and Ning Tang and took it to the army.
Shen Lie is the head of the group and has his own separate office.
After leading the regiment in exercises every day and asking the deputy battalion commanders to organize ideological meetings, he could go to the office to rest for a while and write documents for the meetings.
Chen Lie placed the photo of him and Ning Tang on his desk, moving it here and there, but he was never satisfied. After fiddling with it for half an hour, he finally decided on a spot where he could see it as soon as he looked up after finishing his documents.
"Commander, Chief of Staff Lin said that there are problems with the materials we submitted this time--" Deputy Battalion Commander Ai of the Chenlie Regiment hurried into the office.
As soon as he put the documents on Chen Lie's desk, he noticed the awkward photo frame.
It's no wonder that Deputy Battalion Commander Ai noticed it at a glance. After all, Chen Lie's desk was very clean and tidy, without a speck of dust, and there were very few things on it, just a pile of documents and an enamel mug for drinking tea. Suddenly, there was a photo frame, which would have attracted the attention of anyone.
"Hey, Captain, when did you take the photo?" Deputy Battalion Commander Ai came around to take a look. He thought it was a family photo of Shen Lie's family, but he didn't expect it to be a photo of him and his sister-in-law.
Deputy Battalion Commander Ai: ...
No, who would put a photo of themselves and their lover in the office?
This is a place where people come and go...why are you showing off your affection here?
A hint of pride flashed across Chen Lie's eyes. He crossed his fingers and said in a deep voice, "Xiao Ai, come here and give us your evaluation. How's the filming?"
Deputy Battalion Commander Ai thought, no matter how good the photos are, you can't put them in the office.
But he didn't dare say that in front of Shen Lie. After all, Shen Lie's iron fist was not to be trifled with.
Thinking back to the military competition between the navy, army and air force, Chen Lie won first place for two consecutive years. Later, when his rank was raised, he refused to go again, saying that he wanted to give the opportunity to the young people.
Deputy Battalion Commander Ai glanced at the fierce Iron Fist again and forced a smile. "Oh, Commander, which photo studio did you take this photo? Your photography skills are so poor."
Chen Lie narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous cold light flashed in his eyes.
Deputy Battalion Commander Ai swallowed carefully, "But you and my sister-in-law are both good-looking, handsome and beautiful, very photogenic, and really a perfect match. So, this photo was taken very well and is suitable for your desk."
Deputy Battalion Commander Ai was not very knowledgeable and he racked his brains to come up with a few adjectives. In short, he said that Chen Lie and Ning Tang were a perfect match, a perfect match, a match made in heaven.
After his saliva dried, he saw the expression on Chen Lie's face change from anger to smile, and nodded with satisfaction, "Well, you have good taste."
Finally passed the test, Deputy Battalion Commander Ai wiped the sweat from his forehead.
To survive in the army, one has to be more careful, learn to flatter, and learn how to "praise first and then criticize" - first say that the photography skills are not good, and then say that the photos are good because Shen Lie and Ning Tang are good-looking.
Deputy Battalion Commander Ai thought to himself, is it easy for him?
In June, when the weather gets hot, the vegetables in Mrs. Luo's yard are ripe again.
Ning Tang and Zeng Xinlan took a day to help Mrs. Luo harvest vegetables.
Cowpeas longer than arms, round pumpkins and golden pumpkin flowers, red cherry tomatoes... Harvesting vegetables is a tiring job, but looking at these juicy vegetables will make you feel good.
After working hard for an entire afternoon, I finally harvested the ripe vegetables.
Mrs. Luo washed two handfuls of cherry tomatoes and some juicy cucumbers, and invited Ning Tang and Zeng Xinlan to eat together at the small table set up in the shadow cast by the grape trellis.
Zeng Xinlan now works in the pharmacy of the health center on the island and receives a salary every month. With more money in her hands, she smiles more often.
She took a bite of the cucumber and asked Sister Luo, "Sister Luo, when is Qingqing's college entrance examination?"
Zhao Qing failed the college entrance examination last year, so Mrs. Luo and Political Commissar Zhao discussed letting her repeat the year.
After all, the college entrance examination had just been resumed, so they wanted Zhao Qing to try again. Maybe she could become a college student.
When Zhao Qing was mentioned, Mrs. Luo's face turned grim. "The exam will be held from July 20th to July 22nd, three days."
Zeng Xinlan comforted her, "It's okay, Qingqing is smart. She took the exam again last year. With that experience, she will definitely pass this year."
Mrs. Luo sighed and didn't respond. She asked Ning Tang, "Next year, our third child will be able to go to elementary school. Would you consider having another child?"
Ning Tang waved his hand. "Why not? I already have three children, Da Wa and the others. It's already enough to worry me. If we have another little one, our family will be in chaos every day."
Zeng Xinlan also advised, "Your family only has Erniu as a girl. If you have another daughter, she will be a sister and a younger sister. How happy it will be."
She touched her belly and said, "I just hope to have a girl. A boy and a girl, how wonderful."
Ning Tang and Ning Xue have been with the army for two years now, and the two sisters haven't received any good news. Some gossipy military wives started spreading rumors about them, saying that they are infertile.
After hearing this, Mrs. Luo couldn't help but feel angry for Ning Tang, so she tried to persuade him a little more.
Ning Tang took a bite of a cherry tomato, and the sweet and sour juice overflowed in her mouth. "Sister-in-law, you also said it, our family has boys and girls, both men and women, which already makes a good family. Adding one more stroke would be superfluous."
The main point is that she is indifferent to everything and will not give birth no matter what anyone says.
Mrs. Luo knew that her idea was right, so she stopped trying to persuade her.
At noon, the sun was high in the sky. Ning Tang avoided the sun and walked home along the corner of the wall.
Not long after she got home, Da Wa and the other two came back from playing outside.
Ning Tang glanced at the three children and immediately laughed. "I finally managed to get a little whiter in the winter, but now I'm getting tanned again in the summer."
The eldest child sat cross-legged, eating the cut watermelon and spitting out the seeds. "Why don't you tell your father? He is more tanned than us."
When summer training began, Chen Lie led his troops in drills every day. There was plenty of sunshine at the beach, and he was tanned like charcoal.
In Ning Tang's words, if Chen Lie sat in the room without turning on the lights, people would think he was just a piece of clothing sitting there.
You can see how dark it is.
Ning Tang: "It's a good thing we didn't choose this time to take pictures. Otherwise, with your dad's dark skin, the camera wouldn't be able to capture him, and then our family of five would become just four."
The three little kids were so amused that they started giggling.
Erniu stretched out her little arm and looked at it. It was a little tanned, but she consoled herself by saying, "It's not that dark."
Ning Tang: "Yes, standing next to your dad, you look even paler."
"What bad things are you saying about me again?" Shen Lie walked into the room.
"No, I'm praising you." Ning Tang fooled him casually, and then sent the three children to take a shower.
The eldest, second and third daughters just came back from playing outside, and their clothes were dirty.
The little jacket on the eldest boy was black and yellow in patches. If you didn't know, you would have thought he had just rolled in the mud.
Chen Lie took the three little ones' dirty clothes to the yard to wash. He rubbed out a puddle of black dirty water and said with a sigh, "This will take several washes to get clean."
Taking another look, I saw the clothes piled high in the basin. It would take at least half an hour to wash them.
When summer comes, especially on the island, the weather gets hotter and there are more clothes to change into.
Three little kids need one set of basic clothing a day, and two sets is not too much.
Ning Tang helped him hang the washed clothes on the hemp rope. "Now you know what it means to wash clothes until your hands cramp, right?"
Chen Lie turned his arm and said, "Looks like buying a washing machine needs to be put on the agenda right away."
Dinner was winter melon and sea cucumber soup, cold lotus root salad, and stir-fried loofah, all of which are good for clearing away heat and reducing fire.
Blanch the lotus root, mix it with the prepared sauce, and decorate the lotus root with red chili skin, which looks very beautiful.
The eldest child picked up a piece of lotus root and chewed it until it was crunchy. He even pulled some of it into strips to show Ning Tang, "Mom, look, these are lotus root strips."
"See it? See it?" Ning Tang said.
Only then did the eldest boy eat the lotus root slices with satisfaction.
Chen Lie discussed with Ning Tang, "I'll ask someone to get some Overseas Chinese coupons these days so we can buy the washing machine."
"Okay." Ning Tang agreed. "Just tell me how much it costs."
Chen Lie gave all his salary and subsidies to Ning Tang without a penny less, and Ning Tang then gave him pocket money every month.
The money he spent on buying Ning Tang a Plum watch last time was from the subsidy he had just received for going overseas and the small amount of money he had saved up.
Ning Tang said, "Oh, by the way, if you have a ceiling fan and a radio, buy one too." She thought for a moment and said, "Let's buy three ceiling fans, one for my and my room, one for the eldest and third children's rooms, and one for Erniu's room."
A ceiling fan is a fan installed on the ceiling. Although its wind power is not as strong as that of a desktop fan, it is relatively cheap and it doesn't cost much to install three of them.
When the weather gets hot, the family of five has to make pancakes in bed.
The three little kids would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night because they were too hot.
The ceiling fan is definitely worth the money.
As for the radio, I bought it to listen to the radio.
Relying solely on newspapers and books to understand the outside world is too limited a way. It would be nice to buy a radio and listen to it when you are free to enrich your life.
Ning Tang told Chen Lie about this and he agreed immediately.
He is very proactive and at the end of July, someone came to his house to install electrical appliances.
Three small ceiling fans, one for each room.
After it was installed, the eldest boy stood on tiptoe and pulled the switch. The small ceiling fan started to hum, and a refreshing breeze blew towards his face, blowing away the heat in the room.
Sanwa was lying on the mat with his eyes closed, looking extremely happy.
Among the three children, he was the most afraid of heat. He often took off his shirt at night and slept in only shorts.
Now that I have a ceiling fan and a cool mat, summer is finally not so unbearable.
I bought a Toshiba brand washing machine with a double tub and a front drum. It cost me more than 300 yuan and I put it in the living room. The dark green body of the washing machine looks very fashionable.
Although Ning Tang and Shen Lie had been talking about buying a washing machine, it was the first time for the eldest, second and third children to see one in real life. They didn't expect it to be such a huge machine and they gathered around it in amazement.
The eldest boy touched the washing machine, and the cold body made him shrink his hand. He asked Ning Tang, "Mom, what is this 'washing machine' used for?"
Ning Tang said, "As the name suggests, this is a washing machine. We have a large family and a lot of clothes to wash. With this, we don't have to wash clothes by hand. This big machine will do it for us."
Erniu's mouth was wide enough to fit an egg. She even had a machine that could wash clothes. She repeated, "Try it now and see how it washes clothes."
Chen Lie tried to use the washing machine. He opened the lid, threw the dirty training clothes into the drum, sprinkled a spoonful of white soap powder on it, and pressed the switch.
The washing machine shook once and then made a rumbling sound.
"Wow!" The eldest, second and third kids all exclaimed in surprise.
Chen Lie was also startled by the noise of the washing machine and muttered, "Is this thing going to ruin our clothes?"
"No." Ning Tang was amused by him.
The washing machine was not as useless as Chen Lie had thought. Half an hour later, it returned a set of clean clothes to Chen Lie without a single thread missing.
Chen Lie unfolded the clothes and said, "Hey, you know what, this machine washes them even cleaner than we wash them by hand."
"Of course. Who do you think runs faster, a person or a car?" Ning Tang said, "The same goes for washing machines and hand washing."
Chen Lie said, "That's great. With this washing machine, we won't have to wash clothes by hand anymore. It saves a lot of effort."
Now he only regrets why he didn't buy it earlier.
Ning Tang played with the small radio, studied it for a while, and then pressed the switch.
Suddenly, a magnetic male voice came from the radio, "Next, let's play the song 'The Rain Never Stops, My Heart Is Still Unsettled' sung by the Taiwanese singer Li Jun."
After the male voice finished broadcasting, a clear female voice suddenly came from the radio, "Light rain, light rain, the rain keeps falling, my heart is beating restlessly..."
Ning Tang knew the structure of the radio, so he was prepared for it to be able to receive sounds from the radio station and play songs.
The same goes for Chen Lie. He has come into contact with these information-based equipment many times in the army.
The three little kids were startled.
In their eyes, this "black box" can actually sing, and sometimes it is a male voice and sometimes it is a female voice. Could it be that there are two little people locked up inside?
Sanwa was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, pointing at the radio and shouting, "There's someone locked up in there, there's someone locked up in there."
Since Da Wa had seen a play, he thought there was a miniature stage inside the radio with two little people "singing" on it, otherwise how could there be singing.
Thinking of this, he moved closer to the radio speaker and opened his eyes wide to see if there were really two little people inside.
Ning Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "No, there's no one imprisoned in there."
Erniu didn't believe it, "Then why is there singing inside? There are five of us in the family, and no one is singing. Where does the singing come from?"
Could there be a ghost?
The little girl was startled.
Chen Lie explained to them, "It really has nothing to do with anyone. This song is sung by sisters from another place. This radio can pick up their voices and play them for us to listen to."
After explaining for a long time, the three little kids finally believed it and were no longer afraid of this talking machine.
Fear was suppressed and curiosity arose.
The eldest and third child would press this button and touch the black speaker from time to time.
Erniu actually started humming along with the song on the radio, "The rain keeps falling..."
Her childish voice was very clear and melodious, forming a duet with the voice of the female singer named Li Jun.
Ning Tang couldn't help but clapping his hands, but unexpectedly, he scared Erniu and she stopped singing immediately.
Ning Tang asked her, "Why don't you sing anymore?"
Erniu pursed her lips shyly and said, "I, I can't sing as well as that sister."
"That's not true," Chen Lie said. "That sister is a professional female singer. It's normal for her to sing well, but you sing just as well. If you don't believe me, ask your mother."
Erniu's eyes lit up and she looked at Ning Tang inquiringly.
Ning Tang nodded and said affirmatively, "I think Erniu sings very well, too." Then he asked Da Wa and San Wa, "Isn't it true?"
Did the eldest child scratch his head and said with a chuckle, "It sounds better than mine anyway."
Sanwa clenched his fist and said, "It sounds better than mine."
Ning Tang looked at Erniu, "Look."
With everyone's encouragement, Erniu was finally not as timid as before, and she started to hum softly again. However, she was still very timid, and she refused to open her mouth as long as someone was looking at her.
While the Shen family was happily studying their newly purchased electrical appliances, Ning Xue was standing at the gate of her own yard, looking at the large truck parked at the gate of the Shen family's house, feeling depressed.
She watched with her own eyes as the installers moved the appliances one by one into the Shen family's house.
Three ceiling fans, a washing machine, and a radio, everything is brand new and you can tell at a glance that they were newly bought.
She couldn't help but ask Su Junyan, "Did you see those electrical appliances?"
Su Junyan curled his lips and said, "See?"
These foreign things must be worth a lot of money.
He had seen that radio when he went to the Overseas Chinese Store. It was a small one and cost nearly a hundred yuan. He thought at the time that it was a foolish thing to spend nearly a hundred yuan on such a small thing that could only be used to listen to the news and was not a means of transportation like a bicycle.
He never expected that two 'big fools' lived next door to him.
"Could it be that my uncle and aunt sent electrical appliances to Ning Tang again?" Ning Xue's face dropped when she thought of this possibility.
Ningwei for the party and Zhou Yin, didn't even send her a single penny.
Zhou Yin did write a few letters, urging Ning Xue to collect her salary and send the money back.
Su Junyan thought about the possibility and shook his head, "Probably not."
Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju were frugal, and even when they sent an electrical appliance to Ning Tang, they only sent one, just like last time.
Therefore, this appliance can only be bought by Chen Lie.
The more confused Ning Xue was, the more curious she became. Over the past few days, she went out and asked around before finally figuring out what this appliance was all about.
The Shen family bought several electrical appliances. It was such a big deal that no one could hide it.
When someone came to ask, Ning Tang told them everything.
For those with whom she has a good relationship, such as Mrs. Luo, Zeng Xinlan and Ding Ronghua, she will also show them around.
One person tells ten people, ten people tell a hundred people.
Ning Xue asked a few people and found out the whole story.
Su Junyan sat on the sofa reading the newspaper and asked her, "How is it? Did you find out anything? Why did they buy so many electrical appliances for no reason? Did Chen Lie get rich?"
Ning Xue's tongue felt sore from the root to the tip. "I asked, and they said Chen Lie felt sorry for Ning Tang's sore hands from washing clothes, so he bought a washing machine for the family. He was also worried that the hot weather would make Ning Tang and the three children sleep poorly, so he bought three ceiling fans and a radio, saying he bought it for listening to the radio."
Su Junyan was speechless. He thought they were so boring. They had money but nowhere to spend it.
"Really? Are you itching to save money?" Su Junyan curled his lips and said, "What's the point of buying that damn washing machine? You even have to wash clothes for others. Haha, it's just a few pieces of clothes. How much time can you waste washing them?"
Ning Xue thought, you don't wash clothes, so of course you don't know that washing clothes is a waste of time.
Especially in the summer, the weather on the island is hot and it is easy to sweat. The twins love cleanliness and they don’t think changing two sets of clothes a day is too much.
Moreover, washing clothes is not only time-consuming, but also wears out your hands.
Ever since arriving on the island, Ning Xue has been doing all the housework, big and small.
She does everything from washing clothes, washing dishes, and sweeping the floor.
In order to save money, she didn't like to buy hand skin care products. In just two years, her hands became much rougher than when she was in Shangang Village.
So when Ning Xue heard that Chen Lie felt sorry for Ning Tang and bought her a washing machine, she felt extremely envious.
The most important thing is that she must have what Ning Tang has.
She glanced at Su Junyan and asked indirectly, "What do you think about buying a washing machine for our family?"
Su Junyan rejected it without a second thought, "No, what's the point of buying it? It's a waste of money."
Ning Xue refused to give up and continued to persuade, "Washing machines aren't particularly expensive. I heard one only costs three or four hundred yuan. We don't need to buy a particularly good one, just an ordinary one for two hundred yuan will be fine. We are both working and earning a salary, and we have one less child than theirs. Why can they buy one but we can't?"
Su Junyan said, "Ning Tang and Shen Lie are extravagant, are you also extravagant? You use machines to do things that people can do. I think you are a bit petty and bourgeois."
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