"Going to the sea?!" When the three little kids heard this, they immediately cast their shining eyes towards Mrs. Luo.
"Oh, no," said Mrs. Luo. "Last time, your Captain Shen filed a complaint, and my Old Zhao scolded me. How could I dare take you with me? If I wanted to go, I had to wait until Captain Shen came back."
When Ning Tang heard that they weren't going to the beach, he immediately lost interest and said weakly, "Then what are we going to do?"
Mrs. Luo took her hand and walked out. "Just follow me. By the way, take two big bags."
Seeing that Mrs. Luo was so anxious, Ning Tang took out two bags from the house, held them in his hands, and followed her out.
When Da Wa saw Ning Tang was about to leave, he quickly said, "Stepmother, wait for us, I'll go too."
Ning Tang glanced at Luo's wife inquiringly, and Luo's wife waved her hand. "Then follow along." She turned to Ning Tang and explained, "We're just on the island, not at the beach. It's okay for Da Wa and the others to follow, and they can even help carry some of your things."
Ning Tang and the three children followed Mrs. Luo out. Mrs. Luo explained to Ning Tang and the three children as they hurried along, "I called you because I wanted you to come with me to get something."
"Get something?" Ning Tang asked, "What do you want?"
Mrs. Luo said, "Xiao Ning, you just arrived and you don't know this, but we have quite a few jackfruit trees planted in our military family compound. Every year in June and July, when the jackfruits are ripe, the staff of our Women's Committee will organize people to pick the jackfruits and then notify us, the military families, to go and claim them. The jackfruits are growing well this year, so I guess every household will get a good share."
Mrs. Luo pointed to a large tree on the side of the road, more than ten to twenty meters tall, with dark brown bark, and said, "This is the jackfruit tree."
Ning Tang looked in the direction of Mrs. Luo's finger, and a large tree with lush branches and leaves came into view. Traces of picking could be seen on the outstretched branches.
We arrived at the three-story office building located in the center of the military family compound, where the Women's Committee is located.
A woman in her forties, wearing yellow twill, came forward to greet Luo Saozi the moment she saw her. "Why are you here so late? The good things have all been taken away."
Mrs. Luo patted her hands and said, "It's okay. It happens every year anyway. Come, let me introduce you. This is Ning Tang, the lover of Captain Shen of the First Regiment."
Ning Tang quickly said, "Hello, sister-in-law, just call me Xiao Ning."
The woman readily called her Xiao Ning, and then Sister Luo introduced her to Ning Tang, "This is Commander Wang's lover, Ding Ronghua. Everyone calls her Sister Ding."
"Sister-in-law Ding?" Ning Tang feigned surprise. "Sister-in-law Ding is so young. Calling her sister-in-law makes me look older. Sister-in-law Ding, tell me the truth. Do others call you Xiao Ding, and only Sister-in-law Luo tricked me into calling you Sister-in-law Ding?"
"Oh my, what a sweet mouth!" Ding Ronghua was so amused by Ning Tang's clever words that she couldn't stop grinning. She patted Mrs. Luo and said, "Where did you find such a sweet mouth?"
Seeing that Ning Tang had narrowed the distance between her and Ding Ronghua with just a few words, Luo Saozi was secretly happy, but she said on the surface, "A smooth talker? I don't think so. She calls you Xiao Ding and me Luo Saozi. Doesn't that mean I look older than you?"
Ning Tang slapped her thigh and said, "Sister-in-law, you're really wronging me. Remember, when I first arrived on the island, Captain Shen and Section Chief Su told me to call you Sister Luo, and I just followed their lead. If you don't like it, I can just call you Xiao Luo."
Mrs. Luo smiled and gently pushed Ning Tang, "You're the only one who's so smooth-talking."
"Alright, alright, let's stop talking here," Ding Ronghua said. "Go get the jackfruit first, and then we can talk slowly."
As she spoke, Ding Ronghua led Ning Tang and Luo Saozi to the back of a relatively small line, then gave them a few instructions, "Today, in addition to the jackfruits, you can also get two kilograms of longans. The longans are all grown by the villagers. After they are harvested, they will be given to our military family compound. It's not a large amount, but it's a token of our appreciation."
After saying that, Ding Ronghua said goodbye to the two of them. She was the director of the Women's Committee. Distributing the jackfruits today was a big deal and she was indispensable in everything. It was already a blessing for her to take the time to chat with Mrs. Luo and Ning Tang for a while.
Mrs. Luo said, "Oh, there are longans too! That's great." She asked Ning Tang, "Xiao Ning, do you grow longans there?"
"My home is in Shangang Village in the north. We mainly grow rice, potatoes and other crops. We don't grow longan because the climate is not suitable." Ning Tang said.
Come to think of it, Ning Tang hadn't eaten longan for a long time. Thinking of the sweet taste of longan, she couldn't help licking the corners of her dry mouth.
"Then I'll give you a pound later. Eat more and try it." Mrs. Luo said.
Ning Tang waved his hand, "No need, sister-in-law."
Mrs. Luo said, "Don't be polite with me. If you don't eat it, your three little ones will want to eat it too. We're just Old Zhao and I at home, and my daughter doesn't like fruit. If we take it back and leave it there, no one will eat it."
It was hard to refuse Mrs. Luo's kindness, so Ning Tang had no choice but to accept it.
It was just after work in the afternoon when three long lines formed in front of the three-story building of the Women's Committee. They were all there to collect jackfruits and longans. Although Ning Tang's line was relatively shorter, there were still twenty or thirty people in front of it.
There were longans and jackfruits hanging in front of him, and the three children gathered around Ning Tang obediently without doing anything wrong.
They waited in line for almost half an hour, and there were only five people left until their turn.
Ning Tang's legs were sore from standing so long. "Finally, it's our turn."
"Yes." Mrs. Luo responded.
Ning Tang stood on tiptoe to look at the area where the jackfruits were found. "I wonder if the bag I brought is big enough to hold them all."
"Should that be enough?" Mrs. Luo said, "If not, you can ask Da Wa or Er Niu to help you look after the jackfruits, and you can go home again."
The two were talking when suddenly a harsh and shrill female voice came to their ears, "Make way!"
Then, a figure appeared in front of Ning Tang.
Ning Tang looked at the woman in front of her who was a head shorter than her and raised her eyebrows. Is she cutting in line?
Mrs. Luo yelled, "Wang Di, come here. What are you doing? You're cutting in line."
Wang Di glared at him, "Luo Chunxia, I didn't cut in line with you, why are you yelling? Ah."
Mrs. Luo was in front of me, Ning Tang was behind Mrs. Luo, and this Wang Di came in front of Ning Tang. Strictly speaking, she didn't really cut in line with Mrs. Luo.
"Hey." Mrs. Luo rolled up her sleeves. "You think you're right?"
The people queuing around saw the two people clashing and immediately cast gossipy glances at them. Even the person in charge of distributing jackfruits and longans slowed down his movements, waiting to see the show.
Wang Dilai has always been arrogant and has a bad reputation in the military family compound. If she can be humiliated, everyone will be happy to see it happen.
Seeing that things were about to get out of hand, Ning Tang patted Sister Luo's hand, signaling her to calm down, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I'll talk to her."
Mrs. Luo hummed and quietly reminded Ning Tang, "Wang Dilai has a bad temper and is shameless. If things go wrong, she'll even throw a tantrum. Don't bother with her. At worst, just let her cut in line once and treat it like she stepped on dog shit."
It seems that Mrs. Luo has not suffered enough from Wang Di, so she reminded Ning Tang like this.
Ning Tang raised his eyebrows. He didn't realize that Wang Dilai was such a tough guy.
After all, she was thin and small, probably just over 1.5 meters tall, with high cheekbones, droopy eyes, a downward-turned mouth, and a bitter face. She didn't look like a strong person. I didn't expect the contrast to be so great.
As the saying goes, the soft are afraid of the hard, and the hard are afraid of the tough. Wang Dilai is a tough one, no wonder everyone is afraid of her.
Ning Tang curled his lips, "Wang Di, you're Wang's wife, right? You think I'm unfamiliar, and you're probably new here and easy to bully, so you're trying to cut in on my team, right?"
This is what Wang Dilai thought. Although she is arrogant, she is not stupid.
She didn't dare to bully those prestigious, popular and familiar military wives, but she did bully Ning Tang, a stranger with a pure and beautiful appearance who was too embarrassed to show off at first sight.
This was not the first time Wang Di had done this. She knew everyone in the family compound thoroughly. She had a clear account of which ones were aggressive and difficult to deal with, and which ones were soft and could be easily bullied.
Ning Tang, a newcomer who has no friends and looks like a weak young wife, is the first one to be bullied. If Wang Di doesn't join her team, whose team should she join?
She just didn't expect that Mrs. Luo would stand up for her. This was beyond Wang Di's expectations, but she was not afraid.
After all, Mrs. Luo has a good temper. To put it bluntly, she won't argue with her. In the end, she will definitely let her cut in line.
The line for getting jackfruit and longan is so long. Wang Di arrived late. If she had queued normally, she probably wouldn’t have gotten it before dark. Why not cut in line and get it earlier?
Wang Dilai rolled her eyes. "It's none of your business. I just cut in on your team. What's the matter?"
Is this certain? Ning Tang doesn't dare to lose face and argue with her. Even if Ning Tang gets angry and fights with her, she is not afraid if Wang Di comes.
Although Wang Dilai looks thin and small, she is used to doing hard work and has plenty of strength in her hands, so she can handle Fu Ningtang with no problem.
Seeing Wang Dilai's stubborn attitude, Ning Tang laughed instead of getting angry and said, "No, what's the matter? Go ahead and cut in line."
Upon hearing this, Wang Dilai showed a smile of victory on her face.
There was a flash of regret in the eyes of the onlookers. Alas, this new military wife was so soft-tempered that she gave in so easily. It was really boring.
Even Mrs. Luo breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want Ning Tang and Wang Di to have a conflict.
After all, Ning Tang had just arrived and it was time for him to build good relationships with the people in the military family compound. If he quarreled or fought with Wang Di, no matter whether he won or lost, it would leave a bad impression on others.
But if he gave in now, Ning Tang would appear weak and vulnerable, even if Mrs. Luo came to his aid.
Mrs. Luo gritted her teeth secretly, and felt even more disgusted with Wang Dilai. Why did Wang Dilai come to cut in on Ning Tang's team when there were so many other teams she could join?
Ning Tang glanced around, taking in everyone's expressions.
She looked at Wang Dilai's smug face, curled the corners of her mouth, and said with pretended regret, "Sister-in-law Wang, although I really want to let you, but——"
She paused, then continued, "But if I let you go, I'd have to wait one more person before getting the jackfruit and longan. Similarly, everyone behind me would have to wait one more person before getting theirs. So, your cutting in line affects not only me, but everyone behind me as well. Don't you agree?"
"So, ah—" Ning Tang stretched out his voice, and when Wang Di was caught off guard, he grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the line, "So, I have to ask Sister Wang to 'bear with it' and stop cutting in line." He emphasized the word 'bear with it'.
By the time Wang Di reacted, she had already left the team.
She widened her eyes in disbelief and pointed at Ning Tang, "How dare you!"
Ning Tang lowered his head and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, his eyes full of mockery.
Wang Dilai had always been domineering in the military family compound, and had never been treated like this. Her mind went blank, and she was ready to ignore everything. She thought to herself, I must teach Ning Tang, that little bitch, a lesson today.
Ning Tang saw what she was thinking immediately, took a step back, and raised his voice, "Hey, Sister Wang, why are you so stubborn and refuses to listen to advice? I've already told you that I'm a good-tempered person. I told you it's okay, but I can't represent everyone in the queue behind me. You should first ask the people behind me if they agree to let you cut in line."
Wang Dilai rolled up her sleeves and yelled, "I don't care if the people behind you agree or not!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed that there was something wrong with the way everyone was looking at her.
It turned out that everyone was "enlightened" by Ning Tang's words.
That’s right. If Wang Dilai successfully cuts in line with Ningtang, not only will Ningtang have to wait one more person, but all the people in line behind them will have to wait one more person!
Queuing is already annoying, and now everyone feels unhappy when they know they have to wait a little longer, even if it's just for one person.
This is human nature. When it does not affect their own interests, they all want to watch the fun without any worries, and wash radishes without any worries about the mud. Not only do they want to watch the fun, they also want to fan the flames.
But once their own interests are affected, no one will agree.
So, everyone cast unfriendly looks at Wang Dilai, as if they were going to work together to drag her out if she dared to cut in line.
Wang Dilai was not a fool, her voice gradually weakened, "I, I..." She hesitated for a long time and could not say a complete sentence.
Ning Tang curled his lips and continued, "I know, Sister Wang, you're not unreasonable. You were just anxious for a moment, right?"
Wang Di didn't know why Ning Tang suddenly showed kindness, but she still accepted the excuse Ning Tang gave her, "Yes, I was just anxious at the moment."
Ning Tang, "But even if you're impatient, you can't break the rules. So, Sister Wang, listen to my advice and line up at the back of the line."
When Wang Dilai heard that she was asked to line up at the end of the queue, she immediately wanted to object.
But Ningtang looked at her and then gestured to her with his eyes to look at the crowd behind.
Wang Dilai suppressed her anger and looked in the direction Ning Tang was looking.
At the back of the line were Commander Wu's daughter-in-law, Captain Zhou's lover... They all cast unfriendly glances at Wang Dilai.
Wang Dilai immediately became intimidated. She forced a smile, each word coming out through gritted teeth. "Okay, I'll go to the back of the line."
Hearing this, Ning Tang smiled with satisfaction, "That's right."
She seemed to mutter something, but her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "Oh, I don't know why Sister Wang had to make such a scene. She should have just lined up earlier. Now it's her turn. I don't know what she was thinking. She doesn't seem very smart."
"Puchi." I don't know who laughed first, and then everyone laughed one after another.
The shrill laughter made Wang Dilai's face turn blue and red. She wished there was a one-centimeter crack in the ground so that she could crawl into it.
Sanwa looked left and right. He was still young and didn't quite understand what was going on, but that didn't stop him from realizing that Ning Tang had 'won.' He exclaimed softly, "Wow, stepmother is amazing."
Da Wa and Er Niu nodded, "It's quite impressive."
They didn't expect their stepmother had this side. They both thought Ning Tang could do nothing but eat and sleep. They didn't expect that appearance is not the best way to judge a person!
The storm was resolved and the team arrived at Ningtang.
"Hello, comrade, I'm here to get the jackfruit and longan." Ning Tang said.
The person in charge of distributing the jackfruits was a young female staff member. When she saw Ning Tang, she said politely, "Okay, I'll give it to you right away."
After saying that, the female staff member cut up most of the jackfruit with a knife, wrapped it in newspaper, and put two kilograms of longan in a bag. She gave both to Ning Tang, "Here."
Ning Tang held a jackfruit in one hand and a longan in the other and said thank you.
Mrs. Luo had received her reward before her and was standing by waiting for her.
Seeing her come out, the two of them walked out together.
Ning Tang weighed the jackfruit and longan in his hands, then looked at what others had in their hands, wondering, "Why do I feel like I have more than others?"
Mrs. Luo chuckled, "It must be Xiaoling, who was in charge of distributing the jackfruits, who intentionally gave you some extra."
"Why?" Ning Tang blinked, "I don't think I know her."
"I guess it's because you gave Wang Dilai such a big head, and she's really grateful to you," said Mrs. Luo. "Wang Dilai has been domineering in our military families' compound for years. She doesn't dare to mess with the powerful ones, but she bullies the weak ones a lot. Xiaoling, the secretary, was almost brought to tears by her last time."
Ning Tang was amused. "So that's how it is."
Mrs. Luo sighed, "After what happened with Wang Di, no one will dare to mess with you easily anymore."
Of course, after this battle, Ning Tang left a deep impression on the military families in the Military Family Courtyard.
Everyone thought that Ning Tang, who had just arrived, would be bullied by the unruly Wang Di, but the result was far beyond their expectations.
When dealing with a shrew like Wang Dilai, Ning Tang did not pull himself down to her level. Instead, he reasoned with her and cleverly provoked her to oppose everyone else. In the midst of chatting and laughing, he made Wang Dilai suffer a loss. She could only go back to the back of the line in shame and was humiliated in front of everyone.
And what about Ning Tang?
In front of everyone, he only leaves the impression of being reasonable, eloquent, and not easy to bully.
It is estimated that Wang Di has not dared to provoke Ning Tang easily since she came here, and has to take a detour when she sees her.
Mrs. Luo said slowly, "Actually, Wang Di came to trouble you not just because you're a stranger."
After she finished speaking, she saw that Ning Tang didn't show any surprise on his face, so she knew that Ning Tang was so smart and he must have guessed it a long time ago.
Mrs. Luo continued, "A few months after Da Wa's mother passed away, Wang Di came to try to be a matchmaker for Captain Shen. She proposed her own cousin, an eighteen-year-old girl who was said to be quite pretty. But for some reason, Captain Shen didn't agree and rejected her."
"Later, you married Captain Shen. Wang Dilai probably thought that Captain Shen rejected her cousin because of you, so she took her anger out on you. In my opinion, Captain Shen probably got tired of Wang Dilai and thought that Wang Dilai was not a good person, and her cousin probably had bad character too, so she rejected her." Mrs. Luo said.
After listening to this, Ning Tang said jokingly, "I didn't expect Captain Shen to be so popular."
Mrs. Luo said, "Wang Dilai's parents and her cousins have more than a dozen daughters, and Wang Dilai seems to be only in the middle. In their place, the bride price is high, and it's hard for girls to get married. Captain Shen is the captain, with a high salary and subsidies, so it's no wonder she has her eyes on Captain Shen."
As they were talking, they arrived home. Before parting, Mrs. Luo stuffed a pound of longan that she had promised to Ning Tang into her hand.
After saying goodbye to Mrs. Luo, Ning Tang went into the house and placed the jackfruit and longan on the table.
The eldest child urged, "Stepmother, please peel the jackfruit for us to eat."
Ning Tang glanced at him and said, "If you're in a hurry, do it yourself."
Da Wa laughed awkwardly and said, "I'm not in a hurry. Stepmother, take your time."
Hearing this, Ning Tang was surprised. "Shen Dawa, have you changed your personality today?"
Da Wa was complaining in his heart, seeing Wang Di coming like that, who would dare to mess with you, but on the surface he said, "No way, I, Shen Da Wa, have always been very sensible, okay? If you don't believe me, I will help you peel it together."
Erniu raised her hand and said, "Erniu wants to help peel it too."
Ning Tang stuffed a handful of longan into her hand and said, "Go play somewhere else. Your brother is trying to please me. You should give him a chance to show off."
Da Wa was dumbfounded. He didn't want this opportunity to show off at all, but since he had agreed, he had no choice but to follow Ning Tang obediently and help her peel the jackfruit.
On the way there, Mrs. Luo had already told her how to peel the jackfruit.
Ning Tang put some oil on his hands, then grabbed the jackfruit and pulled it hard, and a piece of jackfruit was pulled off.
Then separate the flesh and seeds of the jackfruit, soak the yellow flesh in a bowl of salt water, and put the grayish-white seeds in another small basket.
She peeled a few pieces of jackfruit and asked Da Wa, "Have you learned it yet?"
Big Baby nodded, "Got it?"
Ning Tang put some oil on Da Wa's hands, and then Da Wa began to fight with the jackfruit.
Ning Tang continued to be busy peeling the jackfruit. He took the time to glance at Da Wa. Although he didn't peel much, he still looked quite good, so he ignored him.
After a while, the jackfruit was peeled.
Ning Tang tasted a piece. The jackfruit tasted sweeter after being soaked in salt water. She couldn't help but eat another piece.
The eldest, second and third kids were already so greedy that they each pinched a piece of jackfruit and put it in their mouth.
Big Baby exclaimed, "How sweet."
"It's just like soaked in honey." Erniu said.
Compared to the sweet jackfruit, Sanwa prefers the sweet longan. He said to Ning Tang, "I don't want to eat jackfruit, I want to eat longan."
Ning Tang grabbed a handful for him and asked, "Can you spit out the core?"
Sanwa put his hands on his hips and said, "Stepmother, you underestimate me."
Ning Tang was amused. "I dare not." But he still reminded her, "Comrade Shen Sanwa, remember to spit out the seeds."
Sanwa pouted, took a longan, peeled the shell, put the flesh into his mouth, and then deliberately spat out the longan seed in front of Ningtang.
Ning Tang deliberately praised, "Oh, our third child is really amazing. He can actually spit out longan seeds."
Sanwa proudly puffed out his chest and deliberately gathered all the longan seeds he spit out together to show that he "really spit out the seeds seriously"!
Ning Tang made him laugh so hard.
Seeing the children eat half a jackfruit and more than a pound of longan, Ning Tang quickly stopped them and said, "Don't eat so much now. We still need to eat later. Eat the jackfruit after dinner. I'll put the longan away and eat it tomorrow."
After saying that, Ning Tang put Longyan into the chest of drawers. The three children could only look at Longyan reluctantly.
After eating the jackfruit, the three children probably couldn’t eat much, so Ning Tang just made some.
After dinner, Da Wa, Er Niu, and San Wa were about to wash the dishes. Da Wa put away the dishes and saw some peeled jackfruit seeds on the table. He asked Ning Tang, "Stepmother, did I throw away the jackfruit seeds too?"
"Don't." Ning Tang stopped him, "You can't throw away the jackfruit seeds. I still need to eat them."
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