Chapter 65 Chapter 65 I want you to call me wife!
After lunch, Lu Chongfeng went to work.
Liang Xin was just about to go to the vegetable garden to pick some cabbages to make some spicy pickles when Li Mao suddenly rushed into the house.
"It's a big deal! Do you know?"
Liang Xin held the cabbage and asked, "What's the matter?"
"I knew you didn't know yet!"
Li Mao wiped the sweat off his head and said, "This morning, your Commander Lu threw a bomb at the 22nd Regiment, no, at the 11th Division, at the Jiangkou Base!"
Liang Xin: ".......bomb?"
"Not a bomb for war!"
Shi Lanzhi followed Li Mao into the room, "Besides, the word bomb can't describe the power of this. Everyone in the division said it was a nuclear explosion!"
Liang Xin put down the cabbage and frowned, "What's the matter?"
"Captain Lu is planning to destroy all the cadres' iron rice bowls!" Li Mao shouted, "He wants to carry out cadre reform in the 22nd Regiment and demote all the cadres. What's the point of being able to move up and down!"
Liang Xin's brows relaxed slightly, and she pulled out a chair and sat down.
"I have been with the army for so many years, and I have never heard of a cadre who did a good job being demoted, except when the cadre made mistakes themselves!"
Li Mao walked quickly to Liang Xin and said, "Why don't you try to persuade Captain Lu? He just took office and offended all the cadres in the regiment with his first move!"
"Isn't it possible to go up and down?"
Liang Xin picked off the yellow leaves of the cabbage and said, "If someone gets demoted, it means someone else will get promoted. How could this offend all the cadres in the regiment?"
Li Mao was stunned.
"Not to mention the military, even in factories, there has never been a case of cadres being demoted for no reason."
Shi Lanzhi obviously didn't understand. "Being a cadre means having a stable job. Otherwise, why would all the soldiers in the army rack their brains to get promoted? It's because once you get promoted, you'll be a cadre for life. Commander Lu suddenly launched a cadre reform. To put it mildly, this is a pilot project in the 22nd Regiment. To put it in a big way, it will affect the stable jobs of cadres across China. His thinking is dangerous!"
“That’s right!”
Li Mao reacted and looked at Liang Xin. "In addition to being worried about our old Lei being removed, I am also worried about your Captain Lu. If this reform system really starts, all the cadres in the country will scold him!"
Liang Xin put the chopped cabbage into the enamel basin and asked, "Did you tell me the specific details of the reform?"
Li Mao was stunned, "This... I don't know yet."
Shi Lanzhi also shook her head. "This is the news that came out from the meeting this morning. Now all the cadres in the regiment are in a mess. You said that we have won so many honors on the battlefield just now. It is the time when everyone is united. It is also the time when Captain Lu is in his prime. Everyone admires him and respects him. Why did he suddenly make this decision? Alas..."
Liang Xin paused for a moment and did not continue to take the cabbage. She looked at Shi Lanzhi and said, "Sister-in-law, on my first day of blind dating in the military compound, I heard the girls in the art troupe say that many soldiers became completely different people after being promoted. Their previous enthusiasm, hard work and diligence were all gone. It was because they were promoted and got a stable job that could guarantee them a lifetime of work. You have been in the 11th Division for much longer than I have. Doesn't the 11th Division lack such cadres?"
Shi Lanzhi and Li Mao were both stunned.
Many cadres similar to those Liang Xin mentioned appeared in front of my eyes involuntarily.
Liang Xin continued: "If the 22nd Regiment was still the same as before, would it still be famous throughout the army on the battlefield? Would there still be grassroots cadres who received the first-class collective merit and the title of combat hero?"
“That’s definitely not possible.”
Li Mao replied: "Let's not talk about others, just talk about our Lao Lei, he is completely different from before, since Captain Lu came, not only his muscles have become stronger, but also his cultural level has improved. He himself said that he learned a lot of new skills from Captain Lu. He used to go to work on time, but now he gets up earlier than the chickens and goes to bed later than the dogs every day!"
Liang Xin said: "So, Deputy Battalion Commander Lei has his own abilities and was promoted to the rank of battalion commander very quickly."
Li Mao smiled, "That's because we have a fair and good leader. Otherwise, with no background or education, even if we have some skills, how could we have this opportunity..."
Li Mao's words came to an abrupt halt, and he stood there in a daze.
"What you mean is..." President Shi also came to his senses from the confusion, "People with real abilities don't have to worry about the reform system proposed by Captain Lu. Only people without abilities, or people with incompetent abilities, will worry so much that they can't sleep?"
"That's what I guessed."
Liang Xin picked up another cabbage and said, "If the cadres of the 22nd Regiment could be promoted based on their real abilities, without considering their connections or backgrounds, without resorting to trickery, drawing lines and standing in line, or being forced to please their superiors, and only relying on their personal abilities, wouldn't the combat capability of the 22nd Regiment be improved?"
"Really, is this really possible?"
Li Mao was a little bit unbelievable, "If this is really possible, it would be a great thing!"
"right!"
Shi Lanzhi suddenly became excited. "I was influenced by those panicked family members. I didn't think about it carefully and ran to find you. After all, college students have good brains! If Captain Lu really wants to change this system, at the very least, it will improve the combat effectiveness of the 22nd Regiment. At the most, it will benefit the country and the people!"
"Only with Captain Lu's background can he have the courage to do this!"
Li Mao said excitedly: "Liang Xin, your Captain Lu is really different from the children of ordinary cadres!"
Liang Xin saw that the two had turned around and said, "You two sisters-in-law know better than me what the cadres of the 11th Division are like. Sister-in-law Shi is the chairperson of the Family Committee. You have to stay calm and don't let the other family members mess around."
“You are right to criticize!”
President Shi smiled and said, "The smartest thing I did was to ask you to be the vice president. Having you as the vice president to assist me as the president has prevented me from bringing shame to the division. I'm going back first. I have to stabilize this chaotic situation in time!"
President Shi just turned around and walked to the long hall, then turned back and said to Liang Xin: "I think your door at home must have been knocked down these days. You should go out less and it's best to go back to school as soon as possible."
Liang Xin: "Don't worry, I know what's going on."
President Shi was not wrong. As soon as she left, a family member came to the door with a basket.
The basket contained two cans of oranges and a plate of pork ribs.
"Director Liang, I heard that you like to eat spareribs very much. I bought these spareribs specially at Nanhe Commune and brought them to you for you to try."
The family member smiled and said, "I learned a lot of words in the cultural cram school you proposed before. I wanted to thank you for a long time, but you have been studying in another city and I have been back to my hometown. I just found a chance to thank you now."
Liang Xin smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, there are so many family members in the cultural cram school. If they knew that you sent a thank-you gift, wouldn't those who didn't send a gift, whether they sent one or not, hate you?"
The smiles on the family members' faces froze.
Liang Xin stood up and covered the basket with cloth. "Sister-in-law, please don't open this door. It's a rare occasion for you to come and visit. Can you sit for a while?"
The family members who knew about the gift-giving understood Liang Xin's hidden meaning. They smiled awkwardly and said, "I won't sit down. Today is Sunday. The school is on summer vacation. The four children at home are all waiting for food. I will go back first. You are busy."
"I've already left, but I still want to act pitiful and give you a hint."
Li Mao is helping to pick cabbage leaves. "You can't tell at ordinary times, but once something happens, you'll find that they are all cunning people."
Liang Xin carried the jar and put it on the table. "You are better at pickling cabbage than I am. If you have nothing to do, help me pickle it. I will make meat floss for you."
The bakery was closed on Monday, and Li Mao had nothing to do, so he helped pick up the cabbage and went to the sink to wash it.
Liang Xin picked up the lean meat that had been boneless and tendon-free and soaked in a basin of clean water, rubbed it with water, and poured it into the big pot. Just as she was about to light the fire, another family member knocked on the door.
During the first round of cooking the meat, three groups of family members came, each carrying heavier items than the last.
There are sugar, milk powder and malted milk.
Some people carried incense oil to hide the watch tickets, radio tickets, and some even came directly with watches.
The most valuable gift came from a family member of a cadre from the barracks department, who gave Liang Xin a refrigerator ticket.
Liang Xin politely smiled and advised them to go home. When she turned around, she saw Li Mao with an expression of "I've learned something" on his face.
"You are so good at speaking. What do you call it? It's watertight."
Li Mao was cutting cabbage. "If it were me, I would have started arguing with them if I couldn't get rid of them. Fortunately, you said I was making pickled cabbage for my own home. Otherwise, the look in their eyes would make them want to take over my job.
Liang Xin smiled and took the chopsticks to stir the meat floss dough up and down continuously to ensure that it was heated evenly.
Li Mao picked up the carrot and continued to cut it. "The message at the meeting was not clearly conveyed. So many people came. I don't think you will have a peaceful summer vacation."
"After coming once, it's unlikely that they will come again." Liang Xin said, "After all, the leaders of the division all live in the same compound."
The meat floss took four hours to cook, during which Liang Xin hardly left the stove.
The process of making meat floss is not easy. You need to constantly skim off the foam with a colander. Otherwise, the floating oil will not be skimmed off cleanly and the meat floss will easily become moldy and deteriorate. If it is not cooked tender enough, the meat floss will be rough.
Li Mao carried the jar of cabbage into the house and said, "Okay, we can eat it in three or four days."
"I'll bring the meat floss to you when it's ready."
Liang Xin saw that the sun was about to set and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"Why do you have to work so hard? You taught me so many skills, but I can't even earn them by pickling cabbage for a lifetime."
Li Mao took off her apron and shook it, looking at the sky. "Usually, when the bell rings, Captain Lu comes back. Why is there no movement today? Could it be that those cadres put a sack around him while he was walking?"
Liang Xin: ".......This is a military camp."
Li Mao laughed out loud, "I'm planning on making dumplings tonight. If you're busy, don't cook. I'll make some more and send them over to you."
Liang Xin didn't hesitate to pour the cooled meat floss dough into the pot and stir-fry until the marinade of the meat floss dough was completely dry. He took out a small piece with his hand, squeezed it, and found that the dough could loosen naturally. After making sure it was fried dry, he took it all out and took a look outside.
No movement.
While waiting, Liang Xin poured the fried and dried meat floss dough onto the chopping board and rubbed it with her hands. The golden and crispy meat floss became curled as it was rubbed.
I grabbed a handful of meat floss and put it into the glass bottle of canned oranges and sealed it. Then I heard footsteps outside.
Lu Chongfeng, who had shocked the entire division, is back.
"The division asked me to attend a meeting again, and I came back late!"
After Lu Chongfeng finished speaking, he smelled the crispy aroma, "What's burning? It smells so good!"
"Made from pork floss."
Liang Xin sealed a can of meat floss, picked up a small handful and handed it to Lu Chongfeng.
Lu Chongfeng wanted to go to the sink to wash his hands, but he turned and went into the kitchen. He ate all the meat floss in Liang Xin's hand. The fluffy and delicate taste made him raise his eyebrows involuntarily, "It tastes better than the ones sold outside!"
"You always say whatever I cook tastes better than outside."
But Liang Xin was still happy to hear that, "The sister-in-law next door made dumplings tonight and said she would give us two plates. I gave her meat floss and planned to make double skin milk for the children."
Lu Chongfeng turned on the faucet, "It doesn't matter how many people there are in the bakery. If others give you something recently, don't accept it."
"Several groups of people have already arrived this afternoon."
Liang Xin continued to rub the meat floss, "Even the refrigerator ticket was taken out."
"They just do these opportunistic things!"
Lu Chongfeng shook off the water on his hands and wiped his hands with a towel on the drying line. "The rules haven't been announced yet, but the military district has already called several times to give hints. I didn't expect that even your side would be so quick!"
Liang Xin raised her lips and said, "You didn't even ask me if I received it?"
"Do I need to ask about your awareness? I will adopt public opinion polls and anonymous voting to reform. Once the system is announced, you will have peace here."
Lu Chongfeng walked into the kitchen, reached out and pinched another handful of meat floss and put it in his mouth, "This is so delicious!"
"I'll give what I made today to a few sisters-in-law first. Before I leave, I'll make you another pot and seal it. It can be kept for two or three months."
"Thank you, wife."
Liang Xin: “….”
I was caught off guard and my heart skipped a beat.
"What's your expression?"
Lu Chongfeng pinched Liang Xin's cheek, "Comrade Liang Xin?"
Liang Xin was about to nod, but Lu Chongfeng raised his chin and said, "I won't call you that, I want to call you wife!"
"...You rub it."
After Liang Xin told Lu Chongfeng how to rub it, she took out a small double-handled pot, poured in milk and sugar, mixed well, and put it on the honeycomb coal stove to cook.
Lu Chongfeng suddenly said: "Let me tell you something."
Liang Xin looked back at him.
Lu Chongfeng chewed some meat floss and said, "Wei Yuanyang got promoted."
"oh."
Lu Chongfeng was very satisfied with Liang Xin's reaction, and changed the subject, "What is double skin milk?"
"When it's done, you'll know after you try it."
Liang Xin didn't ask any more questions. She poured the milk with fully dissolved sugar into several small bowls, let it cool, and then went to cut the mangoes.
Lu Chongfeng, who had been observing, said, "It's covered with milk."
Liang Xin took a thin bamboo stick, lifted a corner of the milk skin along the edge of the bowl, tilted the bowl, and poured the milk under the milk skin into the enamel basin, and repeated this process.
Crack a few eggs and use only the egg whites. Tie the chopsticks with a rubber band and beat in one direction.
Lu Chongfeng stood up and said, "I'll do the beating, you go and rub the meat floss."
Liang Xin replaced him to do it.
After the egg whites are beaten into a foamy paste, pour it into the milk in the enamel basin, filter out impurities and bubbles with gauze, pick up the milk skin in each small bowl, and slowly pour in new milk, so that the original condensed first layer of milk skin will be mixed on top. Then place the small bowls on the bamboo strips of the large pot and stew them in water.
Lu Chongfeng, who was boiling water, smelled the aroma of milk and thought, "This must be delicious."
Liang Xin asked with a smile: "Why?"
“It’s so troublesome to do!”
Ten minutes later, Liang Xin opened the lid of the pot and brought out a bowl of successfully coagulated double-skin milk. She put half of the cooked red beans and half of the mango on it, picked up the white porcelain spoon and handed it to Lu Chongfeng, "Try it."
Lu Chongfeng scooped up a spoonful, and the creamy double-skin milk trembled slightly, like snow-white tofu pudding, but exuding a faint milky aroma. When he put it into his mouth, the delicate and smooth taste was like silk sliding across the tip of his tongue, and the milky flavor was extremely rich. "It's even more delicious than I imagined!"
A spoonful of mango double skin milk was brought to Liang Xin's mouth. After Liang Xin ate it, the sweetness of mango and the aroma of milk lingered in her mouth. She nodded unconsciously, "Very successful, the children should like it."
Lu Chongfeng: "One hundred percent!"
Liang Xin gave Wang Xiaoya a can of meat floss and a bowl of double skin milk, and then sent them to Xia Xia's home.
Everyone who has tasted the pork floss and double skin milk has an expression of "astonishment".
Commander Yang thought Wei Yuanyang was a relative of the Lu family, so he took the initiative to say more: "I didn't expect that he could be promoted so quickly after joining the kitchen team. After being promoted, he was directly transferred to the canteen for cadres of the agency. It is very important and will often entertain cadres from above in the future. This is the recognition of his ability by the Minister of Logistics."
Liang Xin was silent for a while, "The ability to drink?"
"no."
Division Commander Yang said: "This comrade is better at reading people's expressions than other cadres at the dinner table. He speaks beautifully and thinks quickly. After the New Year, a group of cadres came to the headquarters. He found out that the leaders were from Shanxi. He ran around the state-owned restaurants in Jiangkou City and found a Shanxi cook. He borrowed a bottle of authentic Shanxi vinegar. The leaders were very happy to be entertained. I heard that this group of cadres came all the way to the 11th Division and only smiled at the 11th Division's dinner table."
Liang Xin didn't say anything.
"If the top leaders among this group of cadres are well served, the cadres below will naturally smile." Commander Yang said, "Not many people know this truth, and those who do know this truth don't know how to please them, so he stands out."
After Liang Xin found out, she didn't mention it when she got home.
Thinking about the expression on Lu Chongfeng's face when he talked about this matter earlier, he probably not only didn't want to mention Wei Yuanyang any more, but also didn't agree with this way of scheming.
"Liang Xin."
Just as I was thinking about it, when I reached the fork in the road, Wei Yuanyang's voice came from the narrow road on the right.
At the end of the road under my feet, familiar footsteps were heard at the same time.
Liang Xin looked forward and saw that it was indeed Lu Chongfeng.
He ignored Wei Yuanyang and walked towards Lu Chongfeng.
"Why did you come out?"
"I'm afraid you'll be stopped by some cadre's family member on the way." Lu Chongfeng glanced at Wei Yuanyang who was standing under the tree, stood on Liang Xin's right, and walked towards home. "Captain Lei's family member brought dumplings over."
Wei Yuanyang clenched his fists as he looked at Liang Xin walking away.
His eyes under the moonlight and tree shadows were filled with unwillingness.
Yu Honghong saw Wei Yuanyang's entire expression and a look of surprise flashed across her face.
After a while, the surprise slowly turned into complexity, and she followed Wei Yuanyang's gaze to look at Liang Xin's back.
When Liang Xin returned to school, she went to Fang Xin's shop to register and look for the bakery.
"It's not easy to find one in such a short time." Sister Fang Xin said, "Recently the Housing Authority is busy returning the properties that were confiscated 20 years ago. It's a mess, but don't worry, I will definitely help you keep an eye out for the best storefronts near the cinema."
Liang Xin nodded and said, "In addition to the storefront, please help me keep an eye out for residential buildings near the storefront for use as staff dormitories."
Sister Fang Xin picked up the pen and registered again, "Okay, private houses are easy to find. I'll help you find a good storefront first, and then look at private houses."
From 1979 to 1980, China entered its golden age.
The Department of Political Economy at Jiangjing University began selecting political counselors for freshmen, adding a hint of gunpowder to the atmosphere of Class 1.
Liang Xin's identity as a hero and a party member remains the strongest contender.
In recent days, several class leaders and classmates have come to ask for her opinion.
The student counselor is involved in the subsequent student union president election.
During the class meeting that day, Liang Xin stood on the podium for the first time. The competitive atmosphere among the classmates instantly quieted down, and they all stared at Liang Xin in a daze.
"I'm not available to be a counselor, so I don't plan to participate in the selection this time."
Liang Xin made her position clear right away. "Because I have no intention of running for the election, I can say that a bystander sees things more clearly. Through the selection and the upcoming election for the president of the Student Union, I have already smelled the gunpowder of the Cultural Revolution. We have been classmates for two years and you are all my predecessors. I just want to remind you that water can carry a boat but can also overturn it. Don't let the end of the day not add an honor to your resume but instead add a stain."
Class 1 was in complete silence.
The smell of gunpowder in the air solidified.
A week later, the school selected several part-time students to serve as freshman counselors.
The students in Class 1 quickly calmed down.
They were all the backbone of the unit. After this incident, the students in Class 1 did not act as impulsively as before in the following election for the Student Union President.
The first student union president election was as lively as Jiang Jing's election of people's representatives, and even more lively.
As the election heats up, candidates visit classes every day with their support teams to canvass for votes.
Gradually, in addition to classrooms, candidates could be seen trying to win over people wherever they could, including in cafeterias, dormitories, playgrounds, libraries and auditoriums.
The smell of competition permeates the entire campus.
Finally, large-character posters of defamatory attacks appeared on campus bulletin boards.
The students in Class 1 who had been so obsessed with selecting counselors that they could not get out, felt a chill down their spines the moment they saw the big-character poster, as their political awareness recovered after their minds cooled.
That afternoon, police cars took away all the candidates for student union president.
Liang Xin returned to her previous laziness, attending classes on time, leaving at the appointed time, and occasionally following Sister Fang Xin to visit the bakery's facade.
Liang Xin has always been very popular. After the election, the class leaders and classmates not only treated Liang Xin with the same friendliness as before, but also with hidden respect and gratitude.
"Second sister-in-law!"
Liang Xin had finished her meal in the cafeteria. She heard Lu Yueji calling her. She turned around and saw Lu Yueji walking in with a man wearing a leather jacket.
"Second sister-in-law, let me introduce you. This is Brother Jiankang. He is also from our compound."
Lu Yueji pointed at the person next to her and said, "Do you remember the bread you made for us in the bakery when we went to perform at the 11th Division three years ago? His wife was there at the time. She has been thinking about your bread ever since she ate it. In fact, we all can't forget it. We have never eaten such delicious bread again. It's so soft, fragrant, sweet and..."
"Let me tell you."
The male comrade interrupted Lu Yueji and said, "I am Li Jiankang from the First Airline Catering Food Factory. The bread our factory provides for civil aviation has been criticized by important leaders for its crumbing and quality issues. In addition to the people in the art troupe who praise your bread, my father also praised the bread provided by the 11th Division. We are all from the same compound, and once we leave the compound, we are all family. For the sake of Chongfeng, can you teach our chef to make delicious bread that does not crumb?"
Liang Xin's first reaction after hearing this was to lower her long eyelashes to cover her shining pupils.
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