When Qiao Baozhu got home, Shen Xiao had already prepared dinner. Hearing a sound outside the yard, he quickly turned on the door light, pushed the door open and walked out.
"Oh, Baozhu, even the door light in your house is so bright. Tsk, tsk, tsk, you are so lucky. Life in the family compound is better than that of the educated youth."
Liang Xingchu, who was driving a horse-drawn carriage, was also shocked by the 40-watt white light bulb.
If he was not mistaken, the gate light of this military officer's house used a high-pressure mercury bulb. The biggest advantage of this light bulb is that it is white and bright. Just one light bulb can illuminate half of the yard like daytime.
Even from such a distance at the gate, he could still see clearly the shapes of the stones on the ground.
When Liang Xingchu saw the light bulb on the front door of Qiao Baozhu's house, his heart, which had been hanging in the air all the way, finally settled down. Since he can afford such an expensive light bulb, I will definitely not cheat him out of his money later.
"Aunt Meilan and I went out to do something and came back a little late."
Seeing Shen Xiao coming out, Qiao Baozhu smiled and explained why she came back so late.
"Well, have you eaten yet?"
Seeing the two of them looking exhausted, Shen Xiao guessed that they must not have eaten yet: "The meal is ready and has been kept warm in the pot. You can take Aunt Meilan to eat some."
After saying that, Shen Xiao looked at the two strange men sitting in the carriage again. Without asking about their identities, he directly invited them into the house to drink some hot water to warm themselves up.
Qiao Baozhu asked the two men to carry a sack each into the house. On the way back, she told Shen Xiao that the two sacks were filled with pork.
"The pork is quite fresh and the price is very cheap. I bought two pieces, which weighed a little over 200 kilograms, and I only spent 100 yuan."
While Qiao Baozhu was talking to Shen Xiao, Liu Meilan was watching them from the side.
What Liu Meilan was most worried about along the way was that Qiao Baozhu had rashly spent such a large sum of money on pork. Shen Xiao would be furious when he found out. If the couple had a quarrel, how would she, as the elder, handle it?
Unexpectedly, Shen Xiao’s reaction was very calm after hearing what Qiao Baozhu said. Not only was he not angry, he didn't even look surprised.
When he entered the house, he saw Liang Xingchu and his son standing anxiously next to the sacks. Shen Xiao moved a stool for them.
"You must be freezing after driving all this way. Sit down and rest for a while. Drink some water to warm yourself up."
Qiao Baozhu took off her cotton gloves, revealing her red, frozen fingers. I wanted to pick up the thermos to pour some hot water for the guests, but I found that my fingers were so frozen that I couldn't bend them and had no feeling.
Seeing this, Shen Xiao quickly asked her to put on her cotton shoes and get on the kang to warm up. He spread out the hot blanket on the kang and covered Qiao Baozhu with it.
After doing all this, he poured warm water for Liu Meilan and others. The other three people were just like Qiao Baozhu, their cotton jackets had long been blown through by the northwest wind.
After drinking two cups of warm water and sitting around the stove for a while, my body finally warmed up.
It was the first time Liang Xingchu came to the officer's house. He squatted by the stove in the kitchen, warming himself by the fire and looking around furtively.
Liu Meilan had been to Qiao Baozhu's house and had seen the complete set of furniture in the house a long time ago. What she envied even more was that Qiao Baozhu's home had electricity and light bulbs installed, so although it was pitch dark outside, it was as bright as day inside the house.
"I don't know when our farm will be able to get electricity. When the electricity is connected, I will buy a light bulb exactly like the one in your house. Then my house will be as bright as yours at night."
Qiao Baozhu felt warm, and had more strength and energy. She smiled and told Liu Meilan the good news.
"After the power lines were laid in the family compound, the office, dormitory and canteen of the farm headquarters were all connected to electricity. After the farm headquarters was completed, the sub-farms were also gradually arranged. It is estimated that the village will be able to have electricity before the Chinese New Year."
“Can our Xiaohegou Village also have electricity?”
Liang Xingchu, who was warming himself by the fire in the kitchen, rushed in excitedly. He stared at Qiao Baozhu excitedly and nervously, wanting to get a positive answer from her.
Shen Xiao, who was squatting on the ground and cutting pork with a kitchen knife, raised his head and gave Liang Xingchu an accurate answer.
"Electricity in the family compound is just the beginning. This winter, Qingyanshan Farm will build an electric irrigation station to prepare for irrigation next year. Electric lines will also be built between the various sub-farms and between the communes and villages."
"In a few days, your commune will receive a notice to mobilize villagers to help with the work."
Liang Xingchu turned back excitedly and shouted towards the kitchen: "Son, did you hear that? Our village is going to have electricity."
"That's great. Our village will have electricity soon. My mother won't have to light kerosene lamps anymore, and my wife won't have to cook in the dark anymore."
Liang Xingchu was so excited that he didn't notice Shen Xiao cutting the pork with a knife.
"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, you can also cut pork."
When Liang Xingchu saw Shen Xiao finish cutting a piece of pork, he suddenly felt embarrassed and hurried over to grab the kitchen knife from Shen Xiao.
Shen Xiao was not someone who could easily snatch the kitchen knife with his bare hands. With a slight twist of his wrist, he suppressed Liang Xingchu so that he dared not move.
"Don't touch me."
Shen Xiao had a cold expression and murderous eyes, as if he could kill someone with just a flick of his hand.
Liang Xingchu was so frightened that he dared not breathe. He was very sure that the military officer in front of him could take his life.
Seeing that his fellow villager was too frightened to speak, Shen Xiao smiled and helped Liang Xingchu stand up. Pointing at the pork he had cut on the ground, he smiled and asked, "Fellow villager, look at this piece of pork. How did I cut it? Did I make any mistakes?"
Liang Xingchu broke out in a cold sweat. He looked at the pork cut up on the ground, swallowed his saliva, and replied in a trembling voice: "That's right, that's right, you cut it better than the butcher."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liang Xingchu felt as if he heard the general's dissatisfied sneer.
He was instantly sweating all over and wanted to slap himself in the face.
What do you mean by better than what the butcher cuts? It seems like a satire on the soldier's cruelty.
Shen Xiao looked at Liang Xingchu who kept wiping his sweat, and asked in confusion: "My fellow villager, are you hot? Do you want some water?"
Liang Xingchu didn't dare to ask for water. He wiped his sweat and muttered timidly, "It's not hot, not hot, not thirsty, not thirsty."
"Sir... No, comrade, I'd better cut up that piece of pork."
Shen Xiao handed the kitchen knife to Liang Xingchu, and saw him cut the pork into different parts in no time.
It’s just that Liang Xingchu was too nervous, and Shen Xiao’s presence was very strong. He was a little clumsy in the process of cutting, and the pork he cut was not as neat as Shen Xiao's.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't divide the meat properly..."
Liang Xingchu looked at the pork he had cut and felt like dying. His hands were so useless that he pierced the pork into pieces. What if they don’t want it anymore? What should I do?
Qiao Baozhu took a look at the pork on the ground and didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She saw two cuts of pork that looked almost identical.
He looked at Shen Xiao with admiration, he didn't expect that he, a battalion commander, could even do the work of a butcher.
"Here's a hundred dollars, keep it."
Qiao Baozhu handed the money to Liang Xingchu and said jokingly, "If you can't sell all the meat left at home, you can sell it to me at a lower price."
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