Chapter 155 I'm going to get scolded by my own wife!
Their main dish was claypot rice, and Pei Jiuyan always managed to cook his wife's favorite food exceptionally well. Qin Suisui, crunching away at the crispy rice at the bottom of her bowl, said to Pei Jiuyan, "The chives in the field are out, let's make dumplings tomorrow! There's meat in the kitchen!"
Pei Jiuyan nodded: "Okay, then I'll leave work early tomorrow night and come back to make them."
As he spoke, he ladled a bowl of old duck soup for Qin Suisui: "By the way, wife, do you want to go back to Beijing?"
"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly going back to Beijing? You're not going back, so what's the point of me going back alone?" Qin Suisui lowered her head and drank her soup without looking up.
It was just an ordinary sentence, but somehow it made Pei Jiuyan smile from ear to ear.
Qin Suisui looked at him suspiciously for a long time before he finally spoke slowly: "National Day is coming soon, and we need to go back to Beijing to report on our work."
He paused, then added, "Didn't you say you wanted to see Beijing in autumn? You can come with me on the military plane this time."
Qin Suisui's eyes lit up. She could fly to Beijing! No more suffering from motion sickness, how wonderful!
She nodded quickly: "Can I bring Zan Zan along?" Last time, the two of them went out for more than half a month, leaving the child alone at home, and she always felt a little guilty about it.
Pei Jiuyan smiled and put a piece of duck meat on her plate: "Okay, Yunlai and Donglin will be going together this time. Each person can bring one family member. Zanzan can register either of them."
Qin Suisui immediately looked at Zanzan with delight, and Zanzan also happily turned to look at her. The mother and son exchanged a glance, raised their hands at the same time, and gave each other a high five!
"Yay! We can go to Tiananmen Square to watch the mass parade!"
Going to Tiananmen Square to watch the mass parade is something every Chinese person, regardless of age, would want to do! (P.S.: Between 1960 and 1970, due to reforms to the National Day celebrations, Tiananmen Square did not hold a military parade, but instead a mass parade.)
After the mother and son finished their excitement, Qin Suisui hurriedly asked about the schedule. Her parents-in-law often sent her a lot of things, so she also had to get some local specialties to take back to them to show her filial piety!
It's already September 23rd. Because Beijing is going to hold a large-scale mass parade, they have to go ahead of time to avoid delaying their work. They'll be leaving the day after tomorrow morning!
The next morning, Qin Suisui rode her bicycle to the brigade headquarters to Mai Defu's house.
Madford was filling a kettle with water by the well, preparing to take it out.
Li Haisheng, the brigade leader of the neighboring Hongqiding brigade, invited him to come and serve as an advisor, teaching the people in his brigade about land reclamation, composting, and other matters that needed attention.
In all his years as brigade leader, when had Maidefu ever been treated with such respect by Li Haisheng? Because their brigade's grain production was low, almost always at the bottom every year, he had never been able to hold his head high.
This time, thanks to planting medicinal herbs, he truly felt triumphant! Even Li Haisheng, the team leader who consistently ranked in the top three, had to personally come to ask for his help! Truly, fortunes change every thirty years!
"Uncle!"
A clear shout rang out, startling Medford so much that his hand trembled, and the water in the ladle spilled out.
He turned around with a stern face, ready to unleash a torrent of curses: "Who's being so loud and boisterous so early in the morning?!"
When he turned around, he saw Qin Suisui. His previously stern face immediately disappeared, replaced by a cheap smile: "Oh! It's Suisui! You've come to your uncle's place so early in the morning? Is something the matter?"
After spending a lot of time with Qin Suisui and getting to know her well, he stopped using the formal title "Comrade Qin" and started calling her by her name. Of course, he also wouldn't allow Qin Suisui to call him "Captain" and insisted that she call him "Uncle".
"Uncle, there is something I need your help with."
Madford quickly put down the kettle, then pulled over a chair and placed it in front of Qin Suisui, looking concerned: "Suisui, what's wrong? Just tell me."
He was so serious that Qin Suisui felt a little embarrassed, but she really needed to talk to him about something. After all, his eldest son, Mai Xizhou, was the captain of the fishing team, and if she wanted to buy some valuable seafood, talking to him would definitely be the right thing to do.
Sure enough, upon hearing Qin Suisui's purpose, Captain Mai Defu's expression became somewhat unnatural, and Qin Suisui quickly added:
"Uncle, don't worry, I bought these not for any other reason than that I'm going back to Beijing for the National Day holiday to visit my mother-in-law. I can't go all that way empty-handed, can I? Ayan and I only go back once in a long while, so it's not appropriate to bring just ordinary things. Not only are we not sure we can buy them on the black market, but there's also a certain risk involved. Uncle, only you can help me! You don't want my mother-in-law to have a problem with me, do you?"
She blinked her big, bright eyes and looked at Medford earnestly. Medford, this tough man, couldn't help but soften.
He lived an upright life, yet he had three disappointing sons! He didn't even have a daughter! If he had a daughter as promising and clever as Qin Suisui, he could die in peace!
Realizing he had gone off on a tangent, he coughed lightly, stood up and closed the gate to his courtyard before speaking softly to Qin Suisui: "Since you've asked, I'll definitely do it for you."
"But let me make this clear first, I'm only helping you because I treat you like my own daughter. I'm keeping you safe and sound, so you can't kick me into a ditch! This is something only you and I know, no one else can know about it!"
Qin Suisui couldn't help but laugh out loud. This Captain Mai Defu actually has the potential to be a comedian!
She nodded quickly: "Uncle, don't worry, I'm not stupid. If word gets out, I'll be in deep trouble too."
Medford was relieved and led her into the main room, letting her sit there for a while before going to his room. He soon returned with a large box. Qin Suisui could tell that the box was made of teak and, although it looked a bit old, it was definitely a good piece of furniture.
The box was also locked. Medford carefully inserted the key into the lock, turned it a few times, and the key clicked open.
He carefully took out packages wrapped in kraft paper and cloth from inside. As Qin Suisui looked at them, her eyes gradually widened.
What he pulled out was definitely not ordinary seafood.
Qin Suisui spotted the dried plum blossom ginseng at a glance. This kind of plum blossom ginseng needs to be harvested by diving. Only 10 catties of fresh ginseng can be dried to produce 1 catty of dried product. Looking at this big bag in front of her, how many fresh ginseng must have been dried to produce this!
Seeing Qin Suisui's eyes gleaming with desire to buy them all, Maidefu coughed softly and lowered his voice to speak to her:
"These dried plum blossom ginseng are usually used by wealthy families to make nourishing soups. I specially kept these for my daughter-in-law to eat during her postpartum period. I can only sell you a little of these!"
Qin Suisui then turned her gaze to the dried red fish beside her. This dried red fish was made from wild redfin snapper. Even though it was not fully cooked, it had an enticing aroma. This was definitely good stuff!
Seeing her gaze, Madford immediately became wary and shoved the dried red fish in front of him: "These dried red fish are impossible to find now. I was saving them for my youngest son's wedding! I can only sell you a little!"
Qin Suisui pursed her lips and glanced at the dried mackerel next to her. This was the belly part of the mackerel, coated with pomelo oil and then sun-dried. The meat was thick and rich in oil. When eating, it was sliced and put into rice to steam together. The oil melted into the rice. Locals jokingly said, "One piece of dried mackerel is enough for three meals."
Perhaps feeling that the previous rejections were too heartless, Maidefu looked at Qin Suisui's longing eyes and reluctantly said, "This thing is a little easier to get than the previous two, and my family has more stock. I can sell you a little more, but you can't be greedy!"
Qin Suisui chuckled, then glanced at the large bag of dried small silver fish next to her. These were probably dried glass silver fish. These silver fish are small and transparent, and they don't need to be salted during drying to retain their fresh and sweet flavor. In short, they are very delicious!
There was also a large bag of whole dried squid, which made Qin Suisui's eyes redden. She loved eating squid, and she never knew that squid could be dried and preserved like this! This kind of dried squid looked firm and chewy. She wanted to dry squid too after returning from Beijing!
Besides these, there were also quite a few dried shrimp. These were common, so Qin Suisui wasn't surprised. But when she opened the last bag, she was stunned: "Uncle, what is this? It looks like a brick!"
Madford smiled and said, "You don't understand! This is dried crab. After steaming the crab, you extract the roe and mix it with crab meat, pound it into cakes, and then sun-dry it for two or three days. That's how you make these 'crab roe bricks.' You can steam them directly or add a little to soup, and the soup will taste incredibly delicious!"
Qin Suisui's mouth watered just listening to him talk; this was her type! This was totally her type!
"Uncle! I want this! I want this! Buy me lots of this and the dried squid!"
Her greedy look completely lacked the seasoned experience she had when working in the herb garden; instead, she displayed a childlike innocence, which immediately amused the old man, Madford, who was craving his daughter, making him burst into laughter: "Alright! I'll sell it to you! I'll sell it all to you! These things are easy to get!"
So, in a moment of carelessness, he gave away all the dried squid and crab bricks, and also gave away half of the remaining dried sea cucumber, dried red fish, dried mackerel, and dried silver fish.
Of course, Qin Suisui didn't treat him unfairly; she bought everything at the highest market price.
Clutching a wad of bills and staring at the half-empty box, Maidefu finally realized what he'd done. But now that the money was gone, he couldn't take it back from Qin Suisui. Sigh! He was going to get a scolding from his wife!
Qin Suisui carried a large bag of things, pushed her bicycle, and walked out happily. When she reached the door, she turned back and reminded him, "Uncle, please remember to tell Auntie for me that when I come back from Beijing, I will come to learn how to make crab bricks and dried squid from her!"
Madford waved his hand impatiently: "Go! Go! Go now!" He felt a pang of heartache if he looked at this little girl even once!
Qin Suisui happily took the things home. She had bought quite a lot from Mai Defu, and she would take half of it to her mother-in-law in Beijing, while keeping the other half for herself.
There was also some ordinary dried fish and shrimp that we had asked Medford to collect earlier. After distributing it to Xu Shouquan and the other three, there was still some left over. The main reason was that these things are very light after drying. A pound might sound like a small amount, but it actually makes up a large bag.
She packed some of the ordinary dried fish and shrimp into her storage space, and then put the rest, along with all the good stuff she had bought that day, into her spatial storage!
She felt that since she got the space, she had developed a habit of hoarding things. Moreover, the space has a preservation function, so she doesn't have to worry about it spoiling no matter how long it's stored. She feels at ease putting things in there.
On her way back, she made a detour to the base to tell Su Yunyi and the others that because they were busy with the land reclamation and planting work of the two teams, there wasn't much other work to be done at the medicinal herb garden for the time being.
The most important thing is to take care of the seeds of Cycas revoluta and Torreya grandis. Su Yunyi and the others are already very familiar with this, so she doesn't need to worry about it.
When Su Yunyi and the others heard that she was going to Beijing to see Tiananmen Square and the mass parade, they were incredibly envious. Qin Suisui immediately offered to take several photos and send them to them, which successfully calmed them down.
After delivering the pills she had been working on to the hospital, Qin Suisui went home to pack her luggage and pick fruit from her spatial storage for her mother-in-law!
Unbeknownst to her, in Beijing, someone was also making "preparations" for her arrival...
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