Chapter 72 Why can he do it, but I can't?
Liang Qi's face today was not like the one she had seen in the small courtyard rented by Zhang Zhiqing before, which was painted so rough and dark yellow. The color was lighter, and the incongruity on her face was less, making her look much more pleasing to the eye.
He stood up, smiling slightly at Qin Suisui: "What's wrong, little expert? Haven't seen you for a few days, and you're stuttering?"
Qin Suisui waved her hand in mid-air before finally asking, "What are you doing here?"
"What? You can come, but I can't?"
Qin Suisui remained silent: "I meant, weren't you in Changbai Mountain? When did you come back?"
"So you want me to report to you? Fine. I just arrived on Qiongtan Island yesterday, and I ran into you today, little expert. Don't you think we're quite destined for each other?"
Looking at his face as he drew closer, Qin Suisui felt that inexplicable sense of familiarity surge up again.
She hurriedly took a step back, placing the bamboo basket she was carrying between the two of them, her delicate eyebrows furrowed in anger: "Show some respect, or I'll report you for indecent assault!"
Liang Qi seemed amused and couldn't help but laugh out loud, but she still obediently took a step back and raised her hands in a gesture of surrender: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll step back, please let the little expert go."
Qin Suisui always felt that he was a bit neurotic and seemed a little abnormal.
As if afraid she would get really angry, Liang Qi filled a large pot of sesame oil from the oil jar and handed it to her, then took a two-pound jar of sesame paste from a wooden box next to him and handed it to her: "Here, take what you want."
Qin Suisui hesitated for a moment, then asked with some doubt, "How much?"
Liang Qi smiled and said, "It's free. After all, the little expert treated my injuries and saved my life in Changbai Mountain. This little thing is nothing."
Didn't he save him once too? So they're even.
But Qin Suisui didn't say these words out loud. Entering the black market was risky in the first place, and she was afraid that Liang Qi would try to "reminisce" with her again, so she simply dropped off five yuan and ran away.
She didn't know if it was enough, but it was only five yuan.
Liang Qi watched her fleeing figure, a bitter smile appearing on his face: "Why can he do it, but I can't?"
A lean man darted out from behind the wooden door at the back of the porch: "Boss! What do you mean, 'can't'? So much stuff, why only five yuan? My sesame oil is made from the finest sesame seeds! Your jar probably weighs almost five pounds! And the sesame paste too!"
His face was full of heartache. As he spoke, he reached for the five yuan that Qin Suisui had left on the shelf, but Liang Qi snatched it away first. He was a little surprised as he watched Liang Qi turn and leave. Then he saw Liang Qi wave his hand behind him and say, "The money for the sesame oil and sesame paste will be added to your salary for this month. It will be whatever amount is due."
His face lit up with joy, but then he became confused again. His boss had come all this way just to help him sell some sesame oil and sesame paste? And even at his own expense?
On the other side, Qin Suisui and her sisters-in-law finished buying the seasonings, and had basically bought everything they needed for this trip.
When exiting the black market through another door, I was surprised to find an old man carrying two large buckets on a shoulder pole. The buckets contained freshwater fish such as grass carp, silver carp, and yellow catfish.
You see, Qin Suisui grew up in Jiangcheng, eating freshwater fish. After coming to Qiongtan Island, where most of the fish are saltwater, she hadn't eaten freshwater fish for a long time. Moreover, she was thinking of buying grass carp to make fermented fish. This is too lucky!
She directly selected three large grass carp, two silver carp, and five jin of finger-length small fish, which made the old man selling fish very happy, and he gave her a discount of 50 cents.
The baskets of the group were full of "goodies," and they didn't dare to linger on the road, so they rode their bicycles home as fast as they could.
Passing by Wu's house, Qin Suisui handed over the ramie fabric she had just bought to Wu, asking her to make her a dress, make Zanzan a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and also make a t-shirt for Pei Jiuyan.
Aunt Wu knew her and Zan Zan's sizes, but not Pei Jiu Yan's, so she gave her a soft measuring tape and asked her to measure Pei Jiu Yan's size when she got home that night.
As soon as she arrived at her doorstep, Aunt Tang, who had heard the commotion, came out. Seeing Qin Suisui's beaming face, she knew that she had bought the goods.
Qin Suisui handed her the fermented bean paste and chili sauce she had brought for her, and then showed her the three grass carp in the basket: "Sister-in-law, I bought the fish. Can you teach me how to make fermented fish later?"
Sister-in-law Tang exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! This fish is so beautiful! It will definitely taste delicious when made into fermented fish! Okay, I'll go back and get the money for you, and I'll pick some chili peppers from the vegetable garden while I'm at it!"
Making fermented fish requires rice wine and chili powder, but Sister Tang's "secret recipe" requires adding some fresh chili peppers, which Qin Suisui couldn't grow, so she could only pick them from her yard.
Qin Suisui didn't refuse, as the two families often ate different dishes. After putting the things away, she took out another jar of pickles she had bought from the glass factory, took out a bottle of rice wine from her spatial storage, and prepared all the necessary seasonings. After everything was tidied up, Aunt Tang arrived.
The two of them got busy under the mango tree in the yard, washing and chopping the fish, making sauces... They worked all afternoon, and the sun was already setting in the west, before they finally managed to pickle the three large grass carp into the jar.
Qin Suisui glanced at her watch; it was already past five o'clock, and she would be picking up Zanzan in a little while.
She quickly tidied up and pointed to the silver carp in the bucket in the corner: "Sister-in-law, I'm going to the military service center to buy some tofu now. We'll have tofu stewed with fish at my house tonight. You and Brother Guo can come over for dinner. I'll cook it myself. Eating more fish is good for you and the baby!"
Sister-in-law Tang initially wanted to refuse, but upon hearing the last sentence, she nodded and said, "Okay, your brother Guo is out at sea these past two days and isn't home. I'll just bring over the dozen or so blue crabs I found while beachcombing for you to eat. I can't eat right now." She patted her stomach, her face full of tenderness.
Qin Suisui nodded. Crabs are considered "cold" in traditional Chinese medicine, so pregnant women shouldn't eat too many of them. In that case, they would have to ask the others to help them solve the problem.
Qin Suisui hurriedly rode her bicycle to the military service center and bought the last two pieces of tofu. She then rode directly to the daycare center with the tofu and picked up Zanzan.
The little guy said he wanted to go beachcombing last night, and Qin Suisui hadn't been there in a while, so it was a good time to finish eating early and go beachcombing.
When Qin Suisui and Zanzan returned home, Aunt Tang had already helped them prepare the fish.
Tofu stewed with fish is a common dish in Jiangcheng, and almost every family knows how to make it. The method is very simple, and Qin Suisui also knows a little about it. After learning to cook from Sister Tang recently, her cooking skills have improved a lot. In addition, with the help of the stream, even if her cooking skills are slightly lacking, the stream can make up for the deficiencies.
The small fish were gutted, coated with flour and egg, and made into crispy fried dried fish. Chef Qin Suisui and Sister-in-law Tang provided guidance. The fried dried fish were golden and crispy, with a lingering fragrance in the mouth, and it was a great success.
Every now and then, Zan Zan would come to the kitchen to steal two pieces of food, but Qin Sui Sui pretended not to see it.
It was almost dinnertime, and the fish in the pot was nearly cooked, but Pei Jiuyan still hadn't returned. Qin Suisui felt a little uneasy, so she told Aunt Tang to keep an eye on the fire, and then rode her bicycle straight to the soldiers' dormitory.
Chi Donglin wasn't there, but Song Yunlai was. His expression became somewhat unnatural upon seeing Qin Suisui.
Qin Suisui knew something was wrong at a glance and hurriedly asked, "Brother Yunlai, where's Ayan? Has something happened to him?"
Song Yunlai sighed, pulled her to a secluded corner, and whispered, "It's nothing serious, don't worry. It's just that the spy case you caught before, we've made some progress. Ayan just went to cooperate with the questioning, he'll probably be back in a bit, you should hurry back, and don't ask him any questions when you see him."
Qin Suisui nodded and returned home with a worried expression.
As expected, not long after she returned home, Pei Jiuyan came home, though he looked somewhat dejected. Remembering Song Yunlai's instructions, Qin Suisui didn't ask any further questions.
After dinner, Qin Suisui took Zan Zan to the beach.
Pei Jiuyan took them to the beach and then went to the soldiers' dormitory to find Chi Donglin and the others, saying that he had something to do and would come to pick them up later.
Qin Suisui didn't dare to ask too many questions. She always felt that Pei Jiuyan had been acting strangely ever since he was temporarily called away by the military region in Guangzhou that day.
Today is a neap tide, and there are many people on the beach, so the harvest is naturally not as plentiful as with a gale.
However, with the spatial pool water at her disposal, Qin Suisui could attract many shallow-sea creatures to "walk into her trap," regardless of the tides. Zan Zan loved shucking oysters, so Qin Suisui took him to the reef that Pei Jiuyan had taken them to before, while she collected seafood in the shallow pools below the reef.
I don’t know if it’s related to the tides, but every time she releases the spatial pool water, the seafood it attracts is a little different. This time there are more sea urchins. Qin Suisui picked up more than twenty sea urchins in a row, threw more than ten into her space, and put the rest into a small bucket to make fried rice for Zanzan tomorrow.
This time, they unexpectedly attracted quite a few sea cucumbers. Qin Suisui had never eaten them before and didn't know how to cook them, so she decided to go back and ask Sister Tang.
Besides sea urchins and sea cucumbers, the most abundant items were prawns, abalone, and mud crabs, along with about ten small yellow croakers. Qin Suisui picked them all up and put them into the small bucket.
She had something on her mind, so after collecting about half a bucket, she prepared to go ashore.
Just then, Pei Jiuyan returned. His expression remained unchanged. Seeing Qin Suisui's catch in the bucket, he gently patted her head and said, "My wife is amazing!"
Qin Suisui tilted her head, trying to discern anything different from his expression, but unfortunately, she couldn't tell whether there was really nothing wrong or he was just hiding it too well.
When they reached the front door, Mai Dong suddenly appeared. He was dressed in casual clothes, but Pei Jiuyan still recognized him and immediately saluted him.
Mai Dong returned the greeting, then nodded to Pei Jiuyan and asked Qin Suisui, "Would it be convenient for us to talk alone?"
Qin Suisui knew that he was going to talk about Xie Ting, so she handed the things in her hand to Pei Jiuyan and asked Pei Jiuyan to bring Zanzan into the house. She then took Maidong to the small table under the mango tree in the yard.
Mai Dong, being a soldier, spoke very frankly: "I've already taken her to have an abortion. She's still recovering in the hospital. She should be back in a few days."
Qin Suisui didn't speak, but then she heard him say again: "After she comes back, could you arrange for her and Hu Zi to work in your medicinal herb garden? You know, she knows some pharmacology and can be your helper."
"Consider it as me owing you three favors: finding them, saving Ada, and this time it's another one."
A promise from a benefactor is as precious as gold, so how could Qin Suisui refuse? Besides, she had indeed had this idea before. Regardless of Mai Dong's promise, she planned to help Xie Ting and her son, as they were truly pitiful.
That evening, after Pei Jiuyan finished showering, Qin Suisui took out the soft measuring tape given to her by Sister Wu and prepared to measure his size.
Pei Jiuyan was a little taken aback by this sudden embrace. Thinking she was startled, he patted her head and chuckled, "You knew all along?"
Qin Suisui's heart stirred, and she looked at him with her bright eyes without saying a word.
Pei Jiuyan's heart melted completely. He lowered his head and kissed the top of her head: "I'm really fine. I just might have to go out and cooperate with an investigation for a few days. Be careful these days. It's hot, so don't wander around. I'll be back soon."
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