Chapter 91 What others have, my brother Ajiu must have too!
A flicker of panic flashed across Zhou Zecheng's eyes, but he quickly composed himself and apologized to Qin Suisui: "I'm sorry, Comrade Qin, I didn't know you would suddenly appear, and you almost got hurt."
Qin Suisui nodded and smiled, "Yes, yes, it's my fault. I didn't ring my bicycle bell loud enough. It's all my fault." She then patted Zhou Zecheng on the shoulder, "What fault could a educated youth like Zhou have? Of course, it's all my fault!"
Pei Jiuyan glanced at Zhou Zecheng's shoulder where he had been patted, then at Qin Suisui, who was wearing a forced smile, and a hint of amusement flashed in his eyes.
The three of them walked together toward the military region. The family compound and the office area were in two different directions. After reaching the gate, Qin Suisui parted ways with them.
It was only 10:30 when we got back to the family compound. The well-digging worker greeted us cheerfully, saying with a smile, "Comrade Qin, our well is finished!"
Qin Suisui was shocked: "So fast? Wasn't it supposed to be finished tomorrow?"
The well-digging worker nodded: "Yes, we originally expected to dig 12-15 meters before we found water, but we found water after only 10 meters. And with so many of us, it's no surprise that we were fast."
Qin Suisui happily ran to the backyard and saw that the originally bare well opening had been enclosed by a half-meter-high brick wall as she had requested. It looked freshly built, as the bricks were still damp. Sure enough, water was already seeping out of the bottom of the well. The inside of the well wall was reinforced with a mixture of red clay and straw, and there was a custom-made coconut wood well cover next to it.
After checking again and confirming that there were no problems, Qin Suisui readily paid the well-digging workers the final payment.
Before she left, the well-digging worker specifically instructed her: "The well water that has just been dug must not be drunk. It must be disinfected and allowed to settle for at least three days."
Qin Suisui knew this. After seeing the well-digging master off, Qin Suisui closed the courtyard gate and went straight to the backyard. She first used a bucket to carry up five or six buckets of water and poured them out. Then she added bleaching powder to the well to disinfect it. She had to disinfect it two or three times before the well water could be used.
After finishing her work in the backyard, Qin Suisui was already covered in sweat. She took out a bowl of cooled mung bean soup from her spatial storage, drank it, and then took a shower.
Before Pei Jiuyan left in the morning, he had already prepared some of the seafood she had brought back from the beach. Qin Suisui simply put the grouper, which had been rubbed with salt, scallions, ginger, and garlic, and the crabs that had been tied with ropes into a pot to steam. They could be eaten directly with the sauce.
Although Pei Jiuyan told her not to deliver food, she remembered what Jia Zhenzhen had said before, that many women in the compound would deliver food to their husbands, and that she had gone with her mother to deliver food to her father in order to stop him. As a result, she had only gone once in so many days, yesterday.
Qin Suisui felt a little embarrassed, but since everyone else had it, she couldn't let Pei Jiuyan lose!
So he quickly finished his meal, took out an aluminum lunchbox, put in the half grouper and three crabs that he had deliberately saved, poured in the stewed pork ribs and mushrooms that he had cooked in the space, added some crisp cucumber, a few pieces of fermented fish, and the fermented bean curd he had bought at the black market, filled a large cup with mung bean soup, put on his hat, and rode his bike out.
She arrived a few minutes earlier than yesterday, before encountering the crowds heading to lunch, and went straight to Pei Jiuyan's office.
When Xiao Sheng saw her coming, he quickly stood up to greet her: "Sister-in-law, the commander isn't in his office, you'll have to wait a couple of minutes... He's here!"
Qin Suisui turned around and saw Pei Jiuyan, dressed in a crisp uniform, striding down the long corridor. He held a document in his hand, tilting his head slightly as if listening to someone behind him. His eyes swept across her before quickly settling on her, his sharp, cold gaze instantly softening into a gentle, warm one…
Qin Suisui smiled and waved the net bag in her hand at him. Because there were so many things, it was quite heavy, and her body swayed slightly involuntarily, causing her skirt to ripple gently.
Then the comrade who was reporting to Pei Jiuyan saw Pei, who had been expressionless and cold as ice, suddenly smile with tenderness on his lips! Yes! Tenderness, although the smile was fleeting, he saw it clearly!
Qin Suisui naturally didn't miss that smile either. She thought to herself smugly: Little brat! She said she didn't want me to bring her food! She said no, but her actions said otherwise!
Upon reaching the office door, the comrade tactfully ended his work report.
Pei Jiuyan took the net bag from Qin Suisui's hand, rubbed the red marks on her hands from the rope, and said with a smile, "It's so hot, didn't you say you didn't need to bring me food? I can just eat at the cafeteria."
Qin Suisui chuckled and leaned close to his ear: "Whatever others have, my brother Ajiu must have too!"
The soft, sweet fragrance was fleeting, and Pei Jiuyan felt his heart pounding like a drum. His eyes darkened as he looked at Qin Suisui's smile. Before he could do anything, the net bag in his hand was suddenly yanked away.
"Wow! Little sister brought food again today! What's good to eat today? Quickly show your brother, is there any of that fermented fish from yesterday?" Song Yunlai's annoying voice suddenly rang out, but he tried for a long time but still couldn't pull the net bag away from Pei Jiuyan's hand.
"Hey, Ayan, don't be so stingy, I just want to take a look..."
Pei Jiuyan glanced at him, then looked at the pile of lunchboxes in his hands: "Isn't all of this enough for you?"
Chi Donglin followed closely behind, holding the lunchbox, and said with a laugh, "You know him, he's always craving what others have. A leopard can't change its spots."
After saying that, she smiled and greeted Qin Suisui, "Little sister is here? Are you hot?"
Seeing that Chi Donglin and Pei Jiuyan were still getting along the same as before, Qin Suisui felt a little relieved. Perhaps she had really been worrying too much.
She smiled and said, "Brother Donglin, Brother Yunlai, I brought a lot of food today, please have some with me."
Song Yunlai nodded in agreement: "That's right, that's right! My sister said so, Ah Yan, hurry up and open it, I want to eat that fermented fish from yesterday, it's so good with rice!"
After they were ready to eat, Qin Suisui put on her hat and prepared to go back.
Pei Jiuyan quickly stood up and handed her a thick stack of documents on his desk: "These are the documents that the Canton Fair needs to translate. The price is the same as before, but the timeframe is more flexible. It can be translated within half a month. There may be more later, and I'll give them to you then."
Qin Suisui took the materials and looked them over. This time, there were expected to be sixty or seventy documents, and with a two-week timeframe, there was indeed plenty of time. Thinking about the new small sum of money that would come her way after the translations were finished, Qin Suisui was so happy she couldn't wait to go back and start working!
Pei Jiuyan held her hand, as if reluctant to part with her: "Are you going to the Hongqiding Brigade for treatment this afternoon?"
Qin Suisui nodded, as if she knew what he was worried about, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon after I leave, and I won't meet with him alone."
"By the way, I prepared so much seafood this morning. Should I invite Brother Yunlai and Brother Donglin to dinner tonight?"
Pei Jiuyan nodded: "We'll get off work early and handle it when we get back, so you don't need to worry about it."
Qin Suisui nodded, and before leaving, added, "Don't call him Hao Ke!"
Pei Jiuyan chuckled, but he absolutely loved her spirit.
He raised his hand and ruffled her hair, his voice gentler than ever before: "Okay, I won't call her that."
After Qin Suisui left, Song Yunlai and Chi Donglin simultaneously twisted their mouths and squinted their eyes, mimicking Pei Jiuyan's earlier manner of speaking: "Oh, oh, oh, fine, we won't call her!" Their voices were utterly sarcastic, and their expressions were strikingly similar.
Pei Jiuyan glanced at them indifferently and slowly shoveled all the dishes on the table in front of him.
Seeing this, the two men stopped fooling around and pounced on the food like wolves.
Meanwhile, Qin Suisui returned home and immediately locked the door and entered her spatial dimension. The basket of medicinal herbs she had brought back that morning needed processing, and the spatial dimension provided the necessary tools.
While looking for tools at the pharmacy, Qin Suisui suddenly discovered that there were still quite a few peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon in the Chinese medicine cabinet. Remembering the spice packets she had seen on the black market, Qin Suisui simply prepared a few packets herself. Then she went directly to the slaughterhouse, found two beef shanks and a few beef ribs, and also found a few pieces of pork belly, and threw them all into a large pot to braise.
He then began processing the medicinal herbs himself.
Just as the meat was cooked and taken out of the pot, the sound of the door opening suddenly came from outside the courtyard. Qin Suisui quickly left her space and ran out to see that Pei Jiuyan had returned.
She glanced at her watch; it was only a little past three. Why was he back so early? And he seemed a bit anxious.
Qin Suisui went out to greet him. Sure enough, as soon as he saw her, Pei Jiuyan pulled her directly into the bedroom and whispered, "We can't come home for dinner tonight. There's some unusual activity at sea in the south. We have to be dispatched urgently, and our return date is uncertain. Take good care of yourself at home and wait for me to come back." After saying that, he planted a deep kiss on her forehead, picked up the bag from the closet, and went out.
Qin Suisui knew that the bag was something he usually packed and kept there in advance, just in case of an emergency like today. Inside were his own clothes and daily necessities, as well as pills and tablets that Qin Suisui would occasionally slip in.
Pei Jiuyan usually goes out frequently, and Qin Suisui is used to it. But for some reason, she felt a sudden sense of panic today.
She hurriedly grabbed a lunchbox of braised beef that she had just cut from her spatial storage and chased after him. Just then, she saw Pei Jiuyan, who had already reached the door, turn back, pull her into his arms, and whisper in her ear, "The medicine you smeared on Zhou Zecheng this morning was very effective, but we didn't find anything and have already let him go. There's something strange about him, so you'd better stay away from him for a while. Wait for me to come back."
Qin Suisui nodded, handed him the box of braised beef, and earnestly told him, "Be careful, I'll be waiting for you at home."
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