At the weekend, Xie Wan and Qin Muye made an appointment to meet in the dormitory.
When I arrived at the bottom of the tube building, I saw more than a dozen bags of cement and quartz sand piled in the yard, as well as a large pile of sand.
Several children were playing in the sand.
Zhang Xiaolan called to her children from upstairs: "Xiaogang, don't make Uncle Qin's sand everywhere."
A child who was less than ten years old raised his head and shouted upstairs: "Mom, don't shout, Uncle Qin asked me to help watch him."
Zhang Xiaolan saw Xie Wan and waved, "Xiao Xie, you're here? Have you had breakfast?"
After she shouted, people upstairs and downstairs poked their heads out, and several sisters-in-law wanted to invite Xie Wan to their homes for breakfast.
Xie Wan smiled and declined them one by one.
After going upstairs and reaching the door, Xie Wan saw Qin Muye and several comrades discussing how to do something.
When Qin Muye saw Xie Wan, his mouth turned into a crescent-shaped smile. "Xiao Wan, why are you here so early? Didn't I tell you to come later?"
Qin Muye knew that Xie Wan wanted to sleep in on the weekend, so he asked her to come over before noon, but it was only a little after eight in the morning.
Xie Wan was a little embarrassed, "I'll help too."
The comrades who came to help all saluted Xie Wan.
Two of them were people Xie Wan knew.
Ding Wang and Wu Jun had met Xie Wan when they were catching spies in Niuwei Village.
As soon as Qin Muye introduced her, several soldiers saluted Xie Wan in unison: "Hello, sister-in-law!"
Xie Wan blushed with embarrassment.
She knew that these people all had a good relationship with Qin Muye.
She said: "You are all older than me, so you should just call me by my name or call me Xiao Wan."
Qin Muye asked everyone to work, and said to Xie Wan, "I have already painted the outer wall in the evening two days ago.
Today I'm laying tiles and finishing the floor in the bathroom.
We have a lot of people, so we’ll try to finish it in one day.”
Xie Wan told Qin Muye everything he knew about how to lay terrazzo.
Qin Muye went to ask someone again and borrowed some grinding tools, preparing to lay the terrazzo floor himself.
Xie Wan couldn't help with the physical work.
She said, "I'll go buy some groceries and prepare lunch for everyone."
Qin Muye took out a handful of money and bills from his pocket and gave them to Xie Wan.
Xie Wan said no, and seeing that Qin Muye insisted, she didn't argue with him.
Xie Wan rode his bicycle out of the family compound and headed straight for the nearby vegetable market that was specially opened for the military families.
Among the tickets Qin Muye gave, there were tickets for two kilograms of meat.
Xie Wanquan bought half-fat and half-lean pork belly with skin.
Seeing grass carp for sale, 50 cents a pound, no fish ticket required, Xie Wan pointed to the largest "grass carp" in the basin and said, "Weigh this one for me."
It weighed a full 18 kilograms. The salesperson strung it on the fish's gills with a straw rope and handed it to Xie Wanshi. The fish was half a person taller than her.
Another customer saw this and asked Xie Wan, "Girl, can you finish such a big grass stick?"
Xie Wan smiled and said, "There are many people at home."
Carrying the fish, Xie Wan went to the grocery store to buy seasonings, and went to the grain store to buy a pound of oil.
Nowadays, oil is sold in bulk, but luckily she has empty bottles in her space.
Xie Wan didn't buy rice because she thought steaming rice was too troublesome.
She also has corn cobs in her space, which can be used as a staple food.
Back outside the family quarters, Xie Wan avoided people and grabbed dozens of corn cobs and various fresh vegetables from the space.
She put it in a sack, put it on the back of a bicycle, and pushed it into the family area.
After taking just a few steps, he ran into Captain Wang’s lover.
"Xiao Wan, why did you buy so many things?"
Captain Wang’s lover is Zheng Li, who has a good relationship with Shi Yun and often visits the Xie family.
Although Xie Wan dislikes Shi Yun, he will not implicate other military wives in the compound who are on good terms with Shi Yun.
What's more, Captain Wang is Qin Muye's superior and he helped her the last time she sold corn.
"Aunt Zheng, I bought the vegetables."
Xie Wan greeted politely.
Zheng Li was a passionate person. She came over and flipped through the bulging sack, muttering:
"Why did you buy so much? Oh, these cucumbers are so juicy, and these vine vegetables are so tender in this season.
Xiao Wan, where did you buy it? "
Xie Wan pointed outside and said, "I just met a farmer outside the market, selling them on a cart, so I bought some more."
The last time Zheng Li saw these juicy vegetables at Xie’s house, she ran outside the staff quarters to buy some.
When Xie Wan heard that the old farmer was here again, his legs started to smoke and he ran while shouting, "Xiao Wan, I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to buy some too."
Xie Wan looked at Zheng Li's back, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
Why……
Bring some for her next time.
Xie Wan returned to the tube-shaped building. This cart of meat and vegetables immediately attracted the attention of the military wives.
"Xiao Xie, are you going to start cooking?"
"Xiao Xie, if you need honeycomb coal, just take mine."
"I'll lend you my pot..."
…
Xie Wan had originally planned to put down the dishes and then go out again to first take the Xie family's extra pot to use, and then borrow some bowls and honeycomb coal.
Unexpectedly, these sisters-in-law were so enthusiastic that most of the things needed for cooking could be borrowed from the tube-shaped buildings.
Zhang Xiaolan’s husband, Captain Jiang, has a good relationship with Qin Muye. After Xie Wan left, he also helped Qin Muye with his work.
Xie Wan simply said to Zhang Xiaolan: "Sister-in-law, your family can eat with us at noon today. Can I borrow your stove?"
Zhang Xiaolan said: "You can use it, but don't use it for meals, I will make it myself."
Xie Wan insisted, and Zhang Xiaolan finally said, "Okay, I'll do it with you."
When everyone saw the vegetables and corn that Xie Wan brought out, they were full of praise.
A few more people had to run outside the market to buy it.
Xie Wan hurriedly stopped him: "Everyone, don't go. When I left, the old farmer's cart of vegetables was almost sold out. He must have left now."
Xie Wan had originally taken a lot from the space, so he gave each family a few ears of corn and two cucumbers or green vegetables.
It was like a festival in the tube building. All the sisters-in-law had smiles on their faces and kept praising Xiao Xie for being generous.
However, from that day on, the existence of the "mysterious old farmer" became known.
Every weekend, the wives of soldiers in the family quarters would look everywhere for the "mysterious old farmer" who sold vegetables.
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