Chapter 110 Was Pei Jiuyan jealous five years ago?
It was noon soon, and the temperature was already quite high, but the bamboo forest was still much cooler than outside.
Pei Jiuyan took out two clean snakeskin bags from his basket and laid them on the ground. He then took out a lunchbox. The aroma of the pickled bamboo shoot and cured pork rice that he had cooked that morning instantly filled the bamboo forest. Paired with pickled cucumbers and fermented fish, it was a very appetizing dish.
Whether it was the pickled bamboo shoots that were particularly appetizing or Qin Suisui that was really tired, she, who had never had much of an appetite, ate all the food in her lunchbox.
After a satisfying meal, I sat on a snakeskin bag, slowly sipping sweet rice wine with ice, feeling completely fulfilled.
Pei Jiuyan was tying up the bamboo shoots they had dug up. Seeing her enjoying herself so much, like a cat with its eyes half-closed, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"If you like, let's dig up a lot more today and pickle them."
Qin Suisui thought he meant digging a little more, maybe two or three more jin, but when they went back to the brigade to weigh the bamboo shoots that afternoon, they had actually dug up seventy-three jin. Even the brigade leader was stunned, after all, a strong adult laborer in the brigade could only dig up a maximum of sixty jin of bamboo shoots a day, Pei Jiuyan's stamina was amazing!
Seventy-three jin was clearly excessive, but Pei Jiuyan slowly said, "Include Chi Donglin and Song Yunlai's portions too." Anyway, those two kids loved to come to his house for free meals whenever they had nothing to do.
That private forest was allocated to each person in the brigade and the military region according to their headcount. If those two people were included, it wouldn't be considered an over-quota.
Before leaving, the captain specifically reminded Qin Suisui: "Comrade Qin, I reckon there will be a super typhoon in a couple of days. Should we prepare our medicinal herb garden in advance?"
Qin Suisui nodded: "Yes."
While she was in the bamboo forest, she had been thinking about ways to deal with the typhoon. The herbs in the herb garden had only been planted a few months ago and were far from the harvest season. Last time, the mountains blocked most of the damage, so the losses were relatively small, but no one could guarantee that they would be so lucky this time.
After thinking it over and asking Pei Jiuyan, she came up with two solutions: one was to dig drainage ditches in advance. Although the medicinal herb garden was located on a hillside, it would not usually accumulate water. However, if the rain was too heavy during a typhoon and the drainage was insufficient, the medicinal herb garden would be flooded.
The second method is the Li ethnic group's traditional windproofing technique of "rattan netting." The Guangmingding brigade happens to have some old rattan netting that they've used before, and since their medicinal herb garden isn't very large, it's more than enough. They just need to install the netting in advance.
Medford also thought the two plans were feasible, as they did not require a lot of manpower and resources and could provide wind protection and resistance to the greatest extent.
After Qin Suisui visited the medicinal herb garden, the family rode their bicycles home. As they passed the base, Su Yunyi suddenly appeared and pulled Qin Suisui inside.
Qin Suisui thought she had something to say, but she didn't expect her to take out three sets of clothes, two large and one small: "Suisui, these are clothes I made for you and Zanzan. I haven't made them in a long time, so I'm a bit rusty. Take them back and try them on to see if they fit. If they don't fit, remember to bring them back for me to alter."
Qin Suisui looked at a set of men's clothing folded separately and raised an eyebrow: "What about this one?"
Su Yunyi blushed slightly: "This is for Comrade Song Yunlai. He saved me, and I've never known how to thank him. This is all I know how to do. Please help me pass it on to him. I hope he won't find it offensive."
"Oh, oh, oh~" Qin Suisui immediately understood. Su Yunyi was a little interested in Song Yunlai. But thinking about it carefully, the two of them were indeed a good match. One was a fair-skinned and beautiful educated youth, and the other was a dashing male military officer. Moreover, in the original book, the reason why Su Yunyi was "deeply in love" with Zhou Zecheng was because of Zhou Zecheng's "heroic image".
But now this "heroic figure" has become Song Yunlai, and Song Yunlai even saved her personally, so it's no wonder that Su Yunyi has feelings for him.
As far as she knew, Song Yunlai was always a womanizer, never getting attached to anyone. She wondered if he would stay for Su Yunyi, "this flower."
Unexpectedly, not long after they returned to their family compound, Song Yunlai and Chi Donglin arrived, one carrying a bucket of crayfish and the other a basin of snails and eels.
Qin Suisui turned to look at Pei Jiuyan in surprise. Pei Jiuyan said calmly, "I notified them this morning and asked them to come and help peel the bamboo shoots."
That's true. They dug up more than 70 catties of bamboo shoots today. If it's just her and Pei Jiuyan peeling them, I don't know how long it will take.
However, Pei Jiuyan clearly did not say that to the two of them.
Chi Donglin was in high spirits, having recovered greatly from his injuries and about to get a divorce. He would even pick up and greet the dog he saw, making the usually lively Xiaobaiqiu hide in the corner, trembling with fear.
Seeing that he had returned to his usual carefree and cheerful self, Qin Suisui was happy for him.
Song Yunlai, still with his carefree attitude, shook the large bucket full of lobsters in his hand: "Little sister, Ayan said you have no appetite and can't eat anything every day. What's wrong? You can't not eat! Ayan said this stuff might whet your appetite. Your brother Donglin and I specially went to the ditch to get these things. You have to eat more tonight!"
Chi Donglin nodded hurriedly, "Yes, little sister, you worked so hard to detoxify me the other day, you've gotten so thin. Look at you, you've become a skinny bamboo pole. You need to eat more, otherwise I won't feel at ease."
Qin Suisui felt embarrassed and glanced at Pei Jiuyan out of the corner of her eye, only to see him wink at her secretly. She couldn't help but burst out laughing.
However, with all sorts of things going on lately, the three brothers haven't had a proper meal together to relax in a long time, and today is a rare treat as it's the weekend.
Qin Suisui nodded and smiled: "Thank you, Brother Yunlai and Brother Donglin! I was just thinking about eating this! I just happened to brew some sweet rice wine a while ago, and I still have some braised beef at home. You can have some together today. Sweet rice wine has no alcohol content, so it won't make you drunk, and it won't interfere with your work!"
"Sweet rice wine? Is it made from glutinous rice, the kind that's sweet and fragrant?"
Qin Suisui nodded: "Brother Yunlai, have you had some?"
Song Yunlai waved his hand: "No, I've been wanting a taste of this for years! When I was little, Ayan went to Jiangcheng and brought back two jin of sweet rice wine. He sat in the courtyard drinking it all by himself. Donglin and I were curious and wanted to join in for a drink, but he pushed us away, saying it was all his and no one was allowed to touch it." (ps: In 1970, you could bring sweet rice wine on a train, but you couldn't bring more than two jin.)
"Donglin and I smelled that aroma and were really tempted, so we jokingly tried to negotiate with him. But that bastard beat us up right away."
"Then that day, Ayan drank sweet rice wine alone in the yard all night, finishing two jin (1 kg) of it. He was covered in snow. Not only did he drink it all by himself, but he also wouldn't let me go home with Donglin. I had to stay there with him in the snow. We were like idiots. We didn't even get to drink any sweet rice wine, and we even caught a cold afterward."
Two catties of sweet rice wine? Or is it winter?
Qin Suisui turned to look at Pei Jiuyan, who was busy in the house. How come she didn't know he had been to Jiangcheng?
wrong!
Qin Suisui suddenly remembered something and asked Song Yunlai, "Was Pei Jiuyan wearing a gray sweater and a black woolen coat that day?"
This question startled Song Yunlai for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's right! It's this outfit!"
Chi Donglin chimed in, "Yeah! We both caught a cold wearing our thick cotton-padded coats, but this brat, dressed in his fancy clothes, didn't catch a cold at all! We were both punished by our parents for running laps to exercise because of this! But how did you know, little sister? Didn't Ayan say he hadn't come to see you?"
"I don't know what that brat was so arrogant about back then. He would run to Jiangcheng for no reason, but he would never go to see his sister. Otherwise, his sister would not have failed to recognize him when she came to Qiongtan Island and would have called him 'Black Charcoal Head'."
"Yeah, yeah! He wasn't actually this dark back then, he was quite fair-skinned. All the girls in the neighborhood liked him, but he insisted on chasing after us, trying to get us to do some kind of skin-whitening treatment. Thinking about it now, it's hilarious..."
Song Yunlai and Chi Donglin were still whispering and complaining about Pei Jiuyan, but Qin Suisui couldn't help but laugh.
So she had already met Pei Jiuyan in person!
It was probably five years ago, in winter. Jiangcheng was very cold, and it even snowed.
After class, she and her classmates lined up to buy hot sweet rice wine at a state-run restaurant. Unexpectedly, they saw a tall, long-legged boy with an outstanding temperament standing behind them in line.
Girls in their adolescence will naturally discuss handsome boys when they meet them. At that time, they are relatively superficial and only focus on appearance. They discuss everything, such as bright eyes, straight nose, fair skin, long legs, nice clothes, etc.
It wasn't until the boy's expression worsened that they realized he might have overheard them, and they quickly shut up, embarrassed.
Coincidentally, the person in front of them was a young overseas Chinese man, who was also wearing a wool coat. He was tall and had long legs, wore glasses, and was very refined. However, he was wearing navy blue. He had obviously heard them and thought they were talking about him, so he turned around and smiled at them.
After apologizing, the embarrassed Qin Suisui and her companion ran away.
So, the person they were talking about back then was Pei Jiuyan? And Pei Jiuyan thought they were talking about the man in front of him, which is why he turned sour? Ironically, he didn't even recognize him back then. It's not Qin Suisui's fault; Pei Jiuyan from that year looked completely different from his 15-year-old photo!
Qin Suisui looked at Pei Jiuyan, who came out of the kitchen, with a smile on her lips and a meaningful look in her eyes.
Pei Jiuyan was a little confused.
Qin Suisui, separated from Chi Donglin and Song Yunlai, silently mouthed to him, "We'll talk tonight."
She'd like to ask Pei Jiuyan properly tonight if he was jealous five years ago!
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