At sunset, Lu Shiyi led the tired Su Jin to the village entrance. She complained in her heart that her body lacked exercise. At home, Su Jin was the apple of her parents' eyes. Except for going to school, Su Jin rarely went out.
"Su Zhiqing, have you bought everything for the New Year?" Except for a few chatterboxes, all the other women and children in the Fourth Brigade were very enthusiastic.
When Su Jin came from the south, many village women reminded her to prepare more New Year's goods.
"Aunt Su San, everything is ready." Su Jin smiled kindly.
"That's good. Minister Lu can celebrate the New Year in the village. In previous years, Minister Lu celebrated the New Year alone." Aunt Su San's friend Lu Shiyi cared about Su Jin and said something helpfully.
Su Jin smiled and said, "I'll be cooking the New Year's Eve dinner this year."
Lu Shiyi's lips curled up slightly. Su Jin probably didn't think about it this way, but the people in the village all knew his intentions and had to speak well of him in front of Su Jin everywhere.
"That's good. During the Spring Festival, the village also has a gathering. At noon on the first day of the New Year, after each family has offered sacrifices, they must prepare two New Year dishes from home, one meat dish and one vegetable dish." Aunt Su San told Su Jin about the village's New Year customs. "We eat together in the threshing ground."
A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Shiyi's eyes. He had spent the New Year in the county town for several consecutive years, and no one informed him of this.
The two returned home, and Lu Shiyi accompanied Su Jin to prepare food for the New Year. He caught three pheasants from the back mountain, and before going to the market in the early morning, he tied their legs and threw them in the kitchen.
"Have you gone up the mountain to catch pheasants again?" Su Jin looked at the pheasant with colorful tail feathers. He sat on a small stool. "Let's make some stir-fried chicken today and prepare some fried loofah and eggs."
Su Jin wanted to buy a lot of vegetable seeds from the supply and marketing cooperative and thought of making use of another room.
"Lu Shiyi, can you pack the box? I want to grow vegetables in the room." Lu Shiyi's vegetable cellar is stocked with cabbage, potatoes and onions, but no other light meals.
In a few days we will enter the twelfth lunar month, and the Chinese New Year is only a month away. During the Spring Festival, you can still make stir-fried dishes with vegetables.
"Growing vegetables?!" Lu Shiyi looked at Su Jin in surprise, "You grow vegetables like this at home?"
"Of course, everything in the city is rationed. My parents have come up with a lot of ideas so I can eat more vegetables!" Su Jin accepted the original owner's memories and discovered that her parents loved her very much. "Build a shelf like a bookcase and put the vegetables on it in sections. That way I can grow more."
After hearing this, Lu Shiyi wondered which of the wooden boards in the backyard could be used, and went to prepare them after dinner.
"After dinner, let's grow vegetables together." Lu Shiyi didn't feel bored at home because she had arranged a lot of things for him to do.
As night fell, Lu Shiyi entered the house carrying a pot of stir-fried chicken and a plate of fried loofah with eggs. Su Jin followed closely behind, holding empty bowls and chopsticks and a plate of flatbread.
"The stir-fried chicken is stewed with cabbage and vermicelli, so we don't have to make porridge." Su Jin said happily.
"Xiao Jin, can I exchange some rice from the team later?" Lu Shiyi remembered that some of his comrades came from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They had not eaten rice for several months and felt unwell all over.
Su Jin shook her head: "I can eat anything. My father worked in Lu Province and we eat noodles at home."
Lu Shiyi just thought that she was thinking about him and felt a little guilty.
"Xiao Jin, call me Ayi from now on. It's not good to call me by my name all the time. We live in the same courtyard, so we should always live in peace." Lu Shiyi looked at her sincerely, and Su Jin's little face blushed.
Lu Shiyi's aesthetic tastes are in line with Su Jin's. She has always had a good impression of soldiers in her two lives.
"Okay!" Su Jin agreed, "Ayi, let's eat quickly. We can buy some sweet potato noodles for the New Year."
Su Jin likes to eat vermicelli, and Lu Shiyi took it to heart and planned to go to the mill to buy some before the New Year.
The vermicelli is made from the sweet potatoes that the villagers give to our house, and we only charge 5 cents for processing it each time.
"We still have a lot of sweet potatoes at home. Let's make some more sweet potato noodles and store them in the kitchen." Su Jin thought about using the noodles to make hot and sour noodles. "I bought two pieces of duck blood tofu and duck offal at the market. I'll make duck blood vermicelli tomorrow morning."
Lu Shiyi nodded and followed Su Jin's arrangements. He ate in the military camp canteen and never picked and chose his food.
"Duck blood vermicelli? Can it fill you up?" Lu Shiyi asked curiously.
Duck blood and duck offal are worthless. Some villages have been helping the imperial capital to raise stuffed ducks. Therefore, duck offal, duck blood and duck products can often be exchanged.
"Yes, it's good to eat more vermicelli. It can be considered as food. We have a small mill here to help make vermicelli." Su Jin wanted to make various foods. "Eating these can replace porridge and we can also save some food."
Lu Shiyi followed her arrangements and thought that if it wanted to taste good, he would inform the canteen about the duck blood vermicelli.
"This is a specialty from Jingling, and there are also soup dumplings." Su Jin ate the stir-fried chicken and felt that it was not spicy enough. "Ayi, do you have any comrades in Sichuan Province?"
"There are two." Lu Shiyi handed her the chicken leg. "Do you want something?"
"I want Sichuan peppercorns and hot peppers, dried ones are fine too, and it would be even better if I could have more. I also want some pepper seeds." Su Jin had grown hot peppers before, but he couldn't grow Sichuan peppercorns.
Lu Shiyi hummed, "I'll go to the county town tomorrow and call my comrade-in-arms and ask him to mail more."
"No, there's no rush. Just write a letter and pay them the postage and the cost of the purchase." Su Jin didn't know the price of these things.
Phew!
Lu Shiyi laughed and said, "He has quite a few of these at home. Just have him mail them directly. He also works in the local armed forces department and gets a stipend."
The relationship between comrades is deep, and they will help each other even if they are not in the same team.
"Please!" Su Jin looked at Lu Shiyi and said, "Hemp pepper, chili pepper, chili pepper seeds, star anise, that's the kind of ingredients. I'll make some chestnuts and hazelnuts in the next couple of days and mail them to your comrade along with the hazel mushrooms."
"Reciprocity?!" Lu Shiyi said happily, "Let Xiaojin take care of the household affairs."
Su Jin was happy that Lu Shiyi trusted her, but she didn't know that Lu Shiyi had already surrounded her under his wings.
After dinner, Lu Shiyi dragged a lot of wooden boards from the woodshed in the backyard into the living room, took tools and nails, and made the grids according to Su Jin's requirements.
Su Jin took the measuring tape for making clothes and went into the room on the right to measure the size. She decided to make three-layer shelves to place vegetables on.
"Wait until spring and then go to the mountains to dig up some mycelium and grow mushrooms, wood ears and the like." Su Jin clasped his hands together and imagined the future.
Lu Shiyi agreed, while Su Jin was busy processing vegetable seeds. They used seedlings at home, but here they could only sow the seeds directly.
Seeing that the kerosene lamp was getting dim, she quickly walked to the table and lit a candle, lighting up the entire living room.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
