"How can I possibly find an old man... ahem..."

A gust of wind blew, and the smoke from the oil lamp blew towards Ruan Qiqi's face, choking her and making her cough repeatedly.

She covered her mouth and nose and asked, "How do you light the tung oil? There's no kerosene at home?"

"There's still half a pound left. If you're not home, I'll light some tung oil. I'm not afraid of choking."

Ruan Xiaoxue was smiling. Her second sister was afraid of choking, so she always lit kerosene at home. But since her father passed away, the family's conditions have been getting worse day by day, and it is a bit difficult to buy kerosene, so they have to use it sparingly.

The fruit of the tung tree is used to make oil, which can be used to light lamps and as paint.

"From now on, we will use kerosene. We have enough money."

Ruan Qiqi used scissors to raise the wick, making the flame much brighter.

The oil lamp that Ruan Xiaoxue used was homemade from an ink bottle. This was considered an exquisite one, but there was an even simpler one. You could use a broken bowl, twist a cotton wick and place it on the edge of the bowl, pour half a bowl of oil, and you could light the lamp.

Homemade Ink Bottle Oil Lamp

There is also a glass lamp in the house. It is a high-end product bought at the supply and marketing cooperative when Ruan Dad was alive. There are only two such lamps in the whole village, and the other one is in the accountant's house of the brigade.

Glass kerosene lamp from childhood

Ruan Xiaoxue and her original body were afraid that it would be damaged, so they usually used homemade ink bottle lamps. They wiped the glass lamp clean and put it in a box as a keepsake.

"Okay, ten dollars can buy a lot of kerosene."

Ruan Xiaoxue was extremely happy, with a particularly bright smile on her face. Ever since her father Ruan passed away, the smile on her face had become increasingly dim, and after her original self jumped into the river in her previous life, the girl had never smiled again.

"You cook at home, I'll go to the captain's house."

Ruan Qiqi took a bag of tangerine cakes, which weighed about half a pound, which was considered a heavy gift in Ruanjia Bay.

"Second sister, wait a minute."

Ruan Xiaoxue took a torch, lit it, and asked her to carry it on the road to provide lighting.

Many people in the village were reluctant to buy kerosene or tung oil, so they cut pine torches from the mountains and lit them. Although there was a lot of smoke, it was free. Anyway, there was nothing to do at night, so they could just eat and go to bed and have babies, so it didn't matter whether they smoked or not.

torch

Ruan Qiqi took the pine torch, the flames jumped and made crackling sounds, and could illuminate the road one or two meters ahead.

There were quite a few people eating outside, bragging while they ate.

When they saw Ruan Qiqi approaching from afar, they all stopped.

"Qiqi, was He Jianjun really expelled from the army?" someone asked loudly.

"Well, he got the leader's granddaughter pregnant by playing a hooligan. This was all thanks to He Jianjun's mother. If she hadn't come to me to show off, I wouldn't have known about it. I went to the army this time to report it. The army leaders were fair and just. After finding out that it was true, they expelled the bastard from the army. The army's documents should arrive in the next two days."

The purpose of Ruan Qiqi's saying this was to provoke He Jianjun's parents.

And she didn't lie. He's mother did come to show off to the original body. This woman was extremely stupid. She thought that Liu Hongling was pregnant and her marriage to her son was a done deal. She ran to the original body triumphantly to show off and asked the original body to have some self-awareness and stop pestering her son.

"He Jianjun is so daring that he even dared to bully the leader's granddaughter. It's not unfair that he was fired."

"This leader's granddaughter is also a pushover. She will take advantage of a man if he teases her. She is not a serious person."

"Hush, Shi Ermei is here!"

The villagers' discussions stopped abruptly because He Jianjun's mother came angrily.

The He family members were at work during the day, and only when they got home from work at night did they find out that Ruan Qiqi had returned and was spreading rumors about her son in the village, saying that her son had been expelled from the army and was going to jail.

Bah, bullshit!

Her son had just been promoted to platoon leader at such a young age. He also dated the commander's granddaughter. He had a bright future. How could he be fired?

It must be that little bitch Ruan Qiqi who was talking nonsense and deliberately throwing dirty water on her son!

"Ruan Qiqi, take a good look at yourself. How can you be worthy of my Jianjun? Stop pestering me. My Jianjun doesn't like you. Find a man to marry while you are still young. If you delay any longer, you will become an old maid. Even a man who has lost three relatives will not like you!"

Before He's mother arrived, the scolding came first, and it was particularly vicious.

"Your He Jianjun has become a gangster. He is definitely not worthy of me. Even if I want to find a son-in-law, I have to choose one with a clean background. So I went to the army to cancel the marriage this time. According to the documents signed by my father and your family, your family must pay three times the betrothal gift for breaking off the marriage. He Jianjun paid me 900 yuan!"

Ruan Qiqi spoke hurtful words slowly and leisurely, teasing He's mother like a cat playing with a mouse, stimulating her little by little.

"Pay it to your mother, who signed the document with your family? Bullshit! Give me back the 900 yuan!"

He's mother jumped up in anger. The nine hundred yuan hurt more than her heart. She cursed her son in her heart for being stupid. How could he acknowledge the document? He should just deny it to the death.

Ruan Qiqi got into a horse stance, raised her foot, and kicked He's mother hard in the stomach, causing her to fall on her back.

"Don't keep pestering me. Your son is a gangster now. Your whole family is a bad bunch. Stay away from me!"

Ruan Qiqi spat at He's mother with a look of disgust.

The other villagers also took a few steps back. They were about 80% sure that Ruan Qiqi was telling the truth.

Since He Jianjun was expelled from the army and had to go to jail, they no longer had to be polite to the He family.

He's mother held her stomach and staggered to her feet. Her face was twisted with anger and she was cursing obscenities. She picked up a stone from the ground and prepared to hit Ruan Qiqi.

"Ah... my hand!"

He's mother's screams resounded through the sky. Just now, Ruan Qiqi used the torch in her hand to burn her hands, which sizzled and smoked, and burned off a layer of skin.

"Why don't you go home and recite quotations from the past to raise your consciousness? You only think about harming others every day. No wonder you raised a gangster son. You and your family should be sent to a farm for reform and to temper your thoughts!"

Ruan Qiqi snorted contemptuously and accused righteously.

The skin on the back of He's mother's hands was burned and it hurt so much that her mind became confused. She wanted to curse back, but her brain was stuck and she couldn't think of how to curse.

In just a short while, Ruan Qiqi walked away.

The other villagers also dispersed, leaving only He's mother alone.

The more He's mother thought about it, the more panicked she became. She was afraid that what Ruan Qiqi said was true. Her son must not be expelled. The whole family was counting on her son to succeed!

No, she has to go to the commune post office tomorrow to make a phone call and find out what is going on.

He's mother ran home in a panic and went to discuss the matter with her husband.

Ruan Qiqi had already arrived at the captain's house. The whole family was eating dinner around the fire pit. There were three bowls of dishes on the small table, a small dish of chili sauce, a plate of spicy fried dried fish, and a plate of fried green vegetable moss.

Fire pit

The chili sauce dried by the captain's wife is famous far and wide. It is clean and hygienic and tastes good. With the same ingredients, the one dried by the captain's wife tastes particularly better.

Ruan Qiqi sniffed and she smelled the aroma of chili sauce. She could eat three steamed buns in one go with this chili sauce spread on them.

Her mouth couldn't help but water, she was greedy.

"Qiqi is here!"

The captain's wife stood up, brought her a chair, and spoke indifferently.

"No, I bought this pack of tangerine cakes in Tanzhou City. I'm going to make tea for my grandmother (the old lady, referring to the team leader's mother)."

Ruan Qiqi stuffed the tangerine cake into her hands, and a smile visibly broke out on the captain's wife's face, changing faster than the weather in June.

"You are such a polite kid, come and sit down, I'll make you some tea!"

The captain's wife greeted him warmly. She didn't even eat her meal and went to make a cup of green tea. She used freshly picked and roasted tea, and the aroma of tea filled the air.

Ruan Qiqi put down her tea and dragged the team leader who was eating out of the house.

"Can't you talk about it in the room? What's the point of arguing?"

The captain spoke in an unhappy tone, holding half a bowl of sweet potato rice in his hand.

"I'm talking about state secrets. Are you sure you want to tell them in the house?"

Ruan Qiqi snorted lightly, her tone very serious.

The captain was so frightened that he didn't even eat. He looked around and dragged Ruan Qiqi to the woodshed. After making sure it was safe, he asked, "What secret is this? Is it the Japanese or the American this time?"

He thought there was going to be another war and he had mixed feelings because his son was still in the army.

"Please write me a letter of introduction for marriage. I have found a partner. He is the deputy battalion commander. After we get married, I will go to Tanzhou City to work. This is the job my partner found for me." Ruan Qiqi said.