Chapter 47
As the sun sets in the west, the sky is filled with red clouds, which shine on the clean and tidy yard. The various crops planted in the yard are coated with a layer of hazy red light, making the beauty seem unreal enough.
Chen Shengqing walked into the yard and saw Chen Tianyou kneeling in the middle of the yard while Yang Qiujin was picking withered tomatoes in the vegetable field nearby. He was shocked, "What bad thing has Tianyou done again?"
Yang Qiujin put the red tomatoes in her hand into the basket and looked up at him, "Ask him."
Chen Tianyou, who had already taken a shower but still had wet hair, bared his teeth at Chen Shengqing and said, "Dad, I went to the Tianhe River with Big Brother Dadan to dig out wild duck eggs."
"Then why were you punished by your mother to kneel down?" Chen Shengqing thought that the little brat had done something big to be punished like this, but it turned out that he was just stealing wild duck eggs.
"My clothes were all covered in mud." Chen Tianyou confessed honestly, "My pants had two holes in them, and I went to the river without even saying hello to Aunt Liang. Mom said I didn't listen to the adults' advice and died outside without knowing it, so she told me to learn a lesson."
"Oh, you deserve to be punished." Chen Shengqing walked up to Yang Qiujin and helped her carry the vegetable basket. "How long have you been kneeling?"
"Why, do you want to plead for him?" Yang Qiujin avoided his hand and walked to the kitchen with the vegetable basket in her hand. "Do you know that a child of his age can easily fall into the river and drown if he goes to play by the river?"
Chen Shengqing followed her into the kitchen, "It's okay. The children in the family compound go to collect wild duck eggs every summer. If a child falls into the water and can't swim, they will help him."
"Pah!" Yang Qiujin put down the basket in her hand and glared at him: "Is this your character?!"
Chen Shengqing rarely disagreed with her: "Boys, especially children of soldiers, must receive various training from a young age so that they can better serve the motherland in the future. Tianyou can't swim. Starting tomorrow, I will take time to teach him how to swim. This way, even if he falls into the water, he can save himself."
Yang Qiujin simply didn't know what to say about the man. She talked about one thing and he talked about another, and the conversation was completely irrelevant.
"I'm saying that he went out to play with other kids without saying hello to adults, which is dangerous."
"I know."
"Then why are you talking about other things?"
"Qiu Jin, when you were a child, didn't you sneak out to play without the knowledge of your parents?"
Yang Qiujin stopped talking. The Pioneer Brigade was surrounded by streams. Even though she was a girl and could not swim, she had secretly gone to the river to play when she was a child without telling her parents.
Chen Shengqing took off his military cap, put it on a small stool, and walked over to help her pick beans: "Qiu Jin, children think differently from us adults. Curiosity and playfulness are their nature. Even if you don't work and just stay at home to take care of him, he won't be idle and won't stay at home obediently. He will find ways to sneak out. Since we can't stop him from exploring, it's better to teach him the ability to protect himself, so that even if he encounters danger, he can save himself."
Yang Qiujin inexplicably recalled the scene when she first joined the army and the men forced her to keep fit and learn various fighting techniques and military boxing.
This man is really something. He has one set of rules after another when dealing with his family and children.
Yang Qiujin was speechless. She lowered her head and picked up the green bean paste that had been cooked in advance and cooled in water under the stove. She scooped out two bowls of it with a spoon, handed one bowl to Chen Shengqing, and then shouted to the yard, "Tianyou, come and drink the bean paste."
As soon as Chen Tianyou heard her voice, he knew that she was no longer angry. He quickly got up and rushed to the stove room. He saw the green bean paste on the stove that was cooked soft and rotten and smelled sweet. He exclaimed, picked up the bowl and took two gulps, praising: "It's so sweet, Mom. It tastes so good."
His heartless look made Yang Qiujin feel soft-hearted, and she couldn't help wondering if she was too harsh on him.
On second thought, although Chen Shengqing looked stern, he actually doted on the child more than she did. Tianyou had lost two teeth, but she still secretly gave him candy. When she scolded him, he seemed to agree on the surface, but turned around and bought candy for the child.
Yang Qiujin glanced at Ni Chen Shengqing unhappily and started to prepare dinner for tonight.
By July, we couldn’t even eat all the melons, beans, eggplants, etc. growing in the fields.
Eating these dishes for more than a month in a row, not to mention Chen Tianyou, even she couldn't stand it. She couldn't not eat these dishes and let them rot. They couldn't be wasted.
Yang Qiujin soaked the tender long beans in a jar of sauerkraut, then took out a handful of sour beans that had been soaked two days ago from the jar, cut them into pieces, and cut some dried chili peppers into segments. She added some oil to a hot pan and stir-fried them. The sour, spicy and appetizing stir-fried pickled beans were ready.
For older cowpeas, boil a pot of water, blanch them until they are cooked, put them in a winnowing basket made of red willow, and take them out to the yard to dry.
If you can't finish eating the eggplant, cucumber, pumpkin, winter melon and the like, cut them into slices or strips, blanch them in water, pick them up, and put them in a dustpan to dry. This way, in winter, when there are few green vegetables to eat in some areas, you can still use them to stew meat or stir-fry them.
After finishing all these, she divided half of the dozen duck eggs that Chen Tianyou had found, and fried them with tomatoes she had grown herself to make a sweet and sour tomato scrambled eggs. She also cut some eggplants and made braised eggplants.
When the food was served, Songyang, the little black ball king from next door, came to their house on time.
He first greeted Uncle Chen and Aunt Yang politely, then placed a dozen washed duck eggs in front of Yang Qiujin and said, "Aunt Yang, my mother doesn't know how to cook. She gave up after learning for a month. She doesn't know how to cook duck eggs, so I'll give them to you to cook."
Chen Shengqing carried the little boy to the table and said, "You eat at my house every day, isn't your mother angry?"
"It's useless for her to be angry. I just don't want to eat the food she cooks." Wang Songyang looked at the food on the table and drooled. "Auntie Yang's food still suits my taste."
Chen Tianyou curled his lips and said, "My mother has been cooking eggplant, cucumber, beans, pumpkin and winter melon every day. Don't you feel sick of eating here every day?"
"I never get tired of it. I like everything Aunt Yang cooks." Wang Songyang, who was only four and a half years old, spoke very fluently and with a sense of cleverness. He thought for a moment and quietly asked Chen Tianyou, "Brother Tianyou, do you want to eat meat?"
In order to sell off the various fruits and vegetables that grew particularly well at home, Yang Qiujin cooked different dishes every day and cooked meat less often, which made Chen Tianyou, who loved meat, very greedy and he kept talking about eating meat every day.
Chen Tianyou's eyes lit up: "Yes, I do."
"You wait." Wang Songyang jumped off the chair that was taller than him and ran out.
"Where is he going?" Yang Qiujin, who had put the duck eggs in the kitchen and was planning to make them into salted duck eggs, came back and saw Wang Songyang running out, and asked in surprise.
Chen Shengqing pulled out a stool for her and asked her to sit next to him. "She said she wanted to get some meat for Tianyou."
Yang Qiujin:?
Where can he get meat when he is just a little kid?
Wang Songyang ran back home, and the Wang family was preparing to have dinner.
Wang Jianjun saw him running back, picking up a portion of greasy braised beef he had just gotten from the cafeteria and about to run away. He reached out to grab him, "Stop right there, where are you taking the food?"
"Brother Tianyou wants to eat meat." Wang Songyang struggled.
Liang Xueqing heard this and immediately said, "Let him take it. He eats at Sister Yang's house every day. I gave Sister Yang money but she refused to take it. She just said that the child can't eat much. I feel embarrassed."
Wang Jianjun listened to her the most. Hearing her words, he loosened his grip, and Wang Songyang immediately ran away with the lunch box.
Wang Jianjun looked at him as he left, and said with a headache, "I don't know whose child this kid is, but he goes to other people's homes to eat every day. If others see him, they will say that I didn't teach my child well."
"Dad, you can't say that." Wang Songyue, who was eating white rice obediently, said, "When Tianyou first came to the army, Aunt Yang was too busy, so Tianyou ate at our house every day, and my mother picked him up from school and took care of his studies. Now Aunt Yang is not so busy, and has time to take care of Tianyou, cook at home, and let my brother come over to eat. Aunt Yang must be happy, thinking that she can repay my mother's favor. I don't think anyone will say anything about us."
Wang Jianjun was touched by her words and sighed, "If your brother were half as smart and sensible as you, it would be great. Your mother wouldn't worry so much."
Wang Songyang brought the beef to the Chen family's dining table, and Chen Tianyou's eyes lit up. "Wow, beef, I like it."
"If you like it, eat more." Wang Songyang pushed the lunch box of beef in front of him, picked up the spoon Yang Qiujin gave him, scooped a large spoonful of stir-fried cowpea, a spoonful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a spoonful of tomato soup, mixed them with the white rice, and hurriedly put it into his mouth.
The distinct white rice was soaked in the sweet and sour tomato soup and paired with the bright yellow, sour and spicy pickled cowpeas. When you take a bite, the rice tastes sour and sweet, with a slightly spicy aftertaste. It was so delicious that Wang Songyang squinted his eyes and exclaimed that it was delicious.
Chen Tianyou, on the other hand, was eating meat vigorously.
"Don't just eat meat." Yang Qiujin scooped a spoonful of tomato scrambled eggs for Chen Tianyou, then turned around and scooped another spoonful for Chen Shengqing, "Do you think these two boys were born in the wrong family? Why do I feel that Wang Songyang is my son? No matter what I cook, he is not picky at all. On the contrary, Tianyou, this brat, is never satisfied."
Chen Shengqing put the extra duck eggs she had scooped back into her bowl and said, "If you like Songyang, you can talk to the neighbors and adopt him as your godson."
Yang Qiujin shook her head: "Forget it, forget it. Having just one son is enough of a headache for me. If I have another one, it will kill me."
After dinner, Yang Qiujin was worried about the breeding eggs, so she asked Chen Shengqing to take care of the children at home, and she went to Deputy Head Li's house to ask Zhao Erfeng to help her to buy breeding eggs from other families.
Zhao Erfeng didn't get along well with many of the military wives in the family compound, but she was one of the first military wives who came to the border defense department to follow the troops in the 1950s. With her help, even if the other military wives didn't get along with her much, they would give her some face, selling a few eggs to one family and getting some from another. After running all over the family compound, the two of them only managed to buy more than 200 breeding eggs.
Yang Qiujin had no choice but to go to the grocery store to buy various eggs to hatch. However, the eggs sold at the grocery store were not necessarily fertilized eggs, and the chance of hatching was only half. If she really bought eggs to hatch, she had to be prepared to lose money.
Zhao Erfeng gave her some advice, "If you want to buy breeding eggs, you can secretly go to the nomadic settlements in the town to buy them. They have a black market and the price may be one or two cents more expensive. If you don't want to spend more money, you can ask Goudan and his friends to go to the Tianhe River to help you find wild duck eggs."
Yang Qiujin shook her head: "I'd better go to the black market to buy it. I'd rather spend more money than let the children go to the river. It's too dangerous."
Zhao Erfeng opened her mouth and wanted to say that her children went to the river to pick duck eggs every year and nothing happened. After all, Chen Tianyou was Yang Qiujin's only child. If something really happened while he went out to pick duck eggs with Dadan and the others, she would not be able to take responsibility. After thinking about it, she swallowed her words.
When the two of them passed by the military service center, the salesperson inside was about to close the store. Zhao Erfeng suddenly had an idea and nudged Yang Qiujin's arm with his hand, "Big sister, did you buy any balloons this month?"
"Balloon?" Yang Qiujin was confused. "What are you buying it for?"
Zhao Erfeng exclaimed, "You've been in the army for so long, and you've never used balloons when you did that with Captain Chen?"
She looked Yang Qiujin up and down, and sighed, "That shouldn't be the case. Captain Chen looks healthy and young. If you two hadn't used the balloon, you should have had something in your stomach after all this time."
Yang Qiujin finally understood what she was talking about and blushed. "Sister-in-law, I've been busy on the farm, and he's always on a mission. We don't have much to do, so it's normal that we can't get pregnant. I don't plan to have children now, and you just reminded me. I'll go buy two boxes of birth control products."
She hurried to the military service center and said to the salesperson inside: "Comrade, give me two boxes of birth control products."
The salesperson turned around and recognized who she was, and joked, "Captain Chen's lover, you have been in our army for several months, and this is the first time I see you use a full condom."
She spoke so bluntly that Yang Qiujin became even more embarrassed and asked, "How much is a box?"
"There are three birth control condoms in a box. Each condom is five cents, and a box is 15 cents." The salesperson told her the price and handed her a birth control condom wrapped in yellow paper. "This is the latest model produced by Qingdao Latex Factory. What size do you want?"
"Give me a larger size. I want two boxes." Yang Qiujin vaguely remembered the man's size. He hit her there so hard that she couldn't bear it and couldn't get out of bed the next day. She wanted to buy other sizes. It would definitely be uncomfortable for a man to wear them.
After paying and receiving the goods, Yang Qiujin quickly glanced at the precautions written on the back of the two boxes of birth control condoms, such as blowing them up before use to check if there is any leakage. Afterwards, they can be washed and dried, and then coated with talcum powder or baby powder for repeated use...
She blushed as she hid the birth control condom in the package and walked home with Zhao Erfeng shyly.
"I never knew Captain Chen's family was such a shy person." The salesperson watched her leave, full of envy. "Captain Chen is handsome and has a big size. I wonder how happy Captain Chen's family must be tonight."
Another salesperson replied sourly, "That's not necessarily true. The one I have is quite big, but once I put it into battle, it takes no time to fall off. It looks good but is not practical."
"Didn't you see she bought two boxes of birth control condoms in one go? If Captain Chen wasn't that powerful, why would she buy so many condoms? Every time I want to do something, I buy one. My man can't do it after doing it once."
"Who knows about the door being closed? Maybe she was just joking."
Yang Qiujin and Zhao Erfeng were chatting about family matters when they reached the gate of the Li family's house. Before they parted, Yang Qiujin said, "Sister Zhao, my farm will be hiring workers tomorrow. The salary is not high at the moment. Do you want to go? If you want to go, I will ride a horse and take you there early tomorrow morning."
"No, thank you, big sister." Zhao Erfeng said regretfully, "I took Gou Dandan to work on the farm two months ago. Gou Dandan got sunstroke and went home vomiting and having diarrhea. He was weak for more than half a month. Lao Li had a big fight with me and told me not to work on the farm anymore and to stay at home to take care of the kids. From now on, I will take care of the kids at home and make some paper boxes to earn some money when I have time."
"Is that so..." Zhao Erfeng was very efficient at her work and was an honest person. Yang Qiujin felt sorry for her. If she was willing to work hard, she might be able to become a small leader.
"Big sister, no need to say more." Zhao Erfeng knew what she wanted to say and sighed: "I envy you. You have few children, are educated, have your own work ideals, and are getting better step by step. I have many children, and I can't go anywhere because I am dragged by my children. Women, once they have too many children, they lose their freedom, so I remind you to buy a family planning condom. If you want to have children, you still have to think carefully about having children."
Yang Qiu was deeply touched by Zhao Erfeng's frankness. Many women around her did not know how to use contraception after marriage and gave birth to children every year.
When there are many children, they cry and make noises all day long. The woman has to work and take care of the children at the same time. If the man is considerate, life can still go on. If not, the woman will be exhausted and haggard by the children and various chores, and become a real haggard woman. She feels terrible just thinking about such a life.
Originally, she planned to hide the condom and wait for Chen Shengqing to figure it out before taking it out, but after being persuaded by Zhao Erfeng, she just put it directly on the kang bed.
Chen Shengqing took Chen Tianyou to Tianhe River to learn swimming, leaving her alone at home.
Yang Qiujin went to the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water, washed herself from head to toe, and smelled fragrant. She then collected the clothes that had dried in the yard, took the clothes back to the bedroom, and sewed and mended the torn places on the clothes and pants of Chen Shengqing and his son.
After they finished, the father and son had not returned yet. She had nothing to do, so she simply found a piece of cloth from the cupboard and made a black backless vest for Chen Shengqing, and also made a similar small vest for Chen Tianyou, so that when the weather was hot, they could both wear the vests to keep cool.
It took less than an hour to finish the two pieces of clothing. The sky had grown completely dark, and there was movement outside.
Chen Shengqing brought Chen Tianyou back. After Chen Tianyou finished swimming lessons, he kept chattering excitedly.
"Are you back?" Yang Qiujin walked out of the house, turned on the lights in the living room, and asked Chen Tianyou, who was shirtless and wet, "Is swimming fun?"
"It's fun." Chen Tianyou excitedly used his hands to gesture swimming movements, "I feel like a fish swimming in the water."
"You are still a beginner. You are not allowed to swim in the river without an adult." Chen Shengqing put his wet clothes on a stool and warned him sternly, "If you dare to go to the river by yourself, not only will your mother beat you when you come back, but I will too. No one can protect you."
Chen Tianyou suddenly became depressed and put down his hands with a sigh: "Okay."
Yang Qiujin liked to watch Chen Shengqing scolding her son. When she scolded Chen Tianyou, he ignored her words. However, when Chen Shengqing scolded Chen Tianyou, the boy seemed to be quite afraid of her and obeyed her every word.
"Are you still going to take a shower?" Yang Qiujin asked.
"No need to wash. The water in Tianshan River is very clear." Chen Shengqing walked into the house, took out all the dirty clothes, and squatted in the corner of the yard to brush and rub them.
Seeing this, Yang Qiujin walked over to help wash the clothes. While washing, she asked, "Shengqing, your comrades-in-arms all have two or three children, but we only have one. Do you have any thoughts?"
Chen Shengqing paused, looked up at her with a strange look in his eyes, "You want to have a baby?"
"No." Yang Qiujin shook her head like a wave drum. "I'm very busy with work now, and Tianyou can't take care of me most of the time, so how can I have time to have a child and take care of it? I'm just asking casually, don't you men all want to have many children and be blessed with many children?"
"Having many children also depends on the character of the child." The man lowered his eyes and continued to wash clothes. "If every child is as noisy as Tianyou, it's better not to have any. Just one child is enough."
This was exactly what Yang Qiujin wanted. She wiped the water off her hands, stood up and said, "I'll go in first. I'll sew a vest for you. When you finish washing your clothes, come in and try it on."
Chen Shengqing felt that she was acting strange tonight. After washing the clothes and hanging them in the yard, he walked into the house and saw two boxes of birth control condoms placed on the kang bed. He finally understood why she asked that question in the yard.
He pretended not to see the condom and calmly walked up to the woman who was applying pearl cream to her face in front of the mirror and asked, "Where's the vest?"
Yang Qiujin turned around and pointed to the spot on the kang bed. "Look, it's there."
Chen Shengqing followed her gaze and saw that the clothes were right next to the birth control condom. Now he couldn't pretend not to see it.
He tilted his head to look at Yang Qiujin. Tonight, she wore a light blue button-down top and a flared skirt of the same color. The top was not sure if it was too small, and it was bulging in front of her chest, and the buttons looked like they would burst at any time. Although she had short hair that reached her shoulders, she was still beautiful, and she looked particularly attractive sitting there.
Chen Shengqing's throat moved slightly, and his voice unconsciously lowered a few centimeters: "What do you mean by taking the birth control condom?"
Yang Qiujin was originally quite shy and nervous, but when she heard this, she immediately laughed angrily, "What do you think?"
Chen Shengqing teased her deliberately, "Did you buy it for Tianyou to blow up the balloon?"
Many couples in the family compound have many children and feel burdened. They don’t want to have any more children, so they buy birth control condoms and put them in the house to use when they want to have sex.
Many children have the habit of rummaging through drawers and boxes. Chen Shengqing has often seen children in the community taking birth control condoms as balloons and blowing them up for fun. Their parents would be extremely embarrassed if others saw them.
Yang Qiujin rolled her eyes at him, "Just play dumb with me. I'm telling you straight, I'm taking the initiative today because I'm afraid you'll get sick if you hold it in for too long. If you don't want to, I won't force you. Let's sleep in separate beds in the future, and no one will bother anyone."
She was also considerate.
Chen Shengqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If he continued to play dumb at this moment, he would be asking for trouble.
He said nothing more, and slowly took off his shirt, revealing his well-defined muscles. He put on the vest made by Yang Qiujin first, and said to her, "It fits well."
Then he took off his vest, picked up a birth control box, tore off the outer cover, took out a box from inside, looked at Yang Qiujin and said, "Tianyou should be asleep, we..."
Yang Qiujin endured her shyness and walked up to him gracefully. She put her hand on his hot arm, moved closer to him, and whispered, "Be gentle for a while. Walls have ears. You don't want someone to eavesdrop on you halfway through."
The woman's delicate fragrance was right between his nose wings, and Chen Shengqing's blood began to boil. He hummed, stretched out his hands to hold her slender waist, and pressed her onto the kang bed...
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