As soon as Li Qingju and Li Qingtong, brother and sister, went out, the old lady rolled up her sleeves and started cleaning.
Qiu Yuling didn't want her grandmother to work alone, so she followed behind and mopped here and there.
As soon as they finished their work, the brother and sister came back with lunch boxes.
"Mom, try the braised fish. It's delicious. Before I got pregnant, I could finish half of it by myself."
"Grandma, be careful with the fish bones. You eat this piece while I pick out all the bones."
Qiu Yuling picked the fish pieces from which the bones had been removed and put them into her grandmother's bowl, along with a bowl of crystal clear braised pork. It must be said that the food in the army was quite good.
Li Qingtong broke off a steamed bun, put in some mushroom and rabbit sauce left over from the journey, and also put a piece of braised pork in the bun, so that he could save meat.
Qiu Yuling also only had a small taste. Although the portion was not small, it was not possible for so many people to eat as much as they wanted. Fortunately, her grandma insisted on making another pot of dumpling soup.
She sipped the dumpling soup in small sips, and slowly she felt her stomach relax and less bloated.
"Bronze, eat more. Look, there's still half a basin left. It's too hot to keep food out."
Grandma and Yuling both put down their chopsticks, but Fourth Uncle, seeing that everyone had finished eating, took no action and started to eat up the rest.
"Mom, you and Yuling can rest in this room, and Qingtong can just use the small bed outside."
Li Qingju pointed to the small room next to the kitchen to her mother and niece, which she had cleaned up in advance.
"Isn't my son-in-law coming back at noon?"
"It's hard to say. Sometimes he comes back, but most of the time he doesn't."
"So how do you eat?"
"When I was able to cook, I would cook for one person. If he came back, he would get a dish from the cafeteria and we would share it between us."
"Oh, that's good. I was wondering what to do if I come back so unexpectedly and the stove is cold or there's not enough food."
Grandma Yuling didn't want to sleep. When she saw the old girl, she had endless things to talk about. She wanted to ask this and that.
Seeing that Qiu Yuling was sleepy, the mother and daughter quietly closed the door and went to Li Qingju's room.
Qiu Yuling slept very soundly. She seemed to have been resting on the train for the past two days, but she was extremely tired. She had been taking care of the old lady all the way and was extremely exhausted.
He stretched himself and saw that the room was quiet, so he opened the outer door and planned to go out and take a look.
There have been troops stationed here since 1949, and all necessary construction has already taken shape.
With the addition of hundreds of thousands of construction troops, this place has long been transformed from a barren land to a prosperous place.
As Qiu Yuling walked around, she passed by a group of dugouts that were arranged in a row in an orderly manner. It was obvious that the people of Xinjiang had suffered a lot.
Next to the dugout was a patch of wild chives, each with tiny purple stamens. Qiu Yuling pretended to squat and play, gathering a handful to propagate. This was also quite interesting; not only was it a wild vegetable, it also had medicinal properties, nourishing the kidneys and yang, soothing the stomach and refreshing the mind, and dispersing blood stasis...
There are also Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Agastache rugosa, mint, basil (Thunbergia basil), etc. She has a childlike mind and plays with them while pulling them. She would not find it strange even if someone saw her.
Unexpectedly, he walked to a place where he could hear Li Qingju and Li Qingtong talking.
He made a shelter with his hands and took a look. He saw a figure in front of him, so he quickly walked forward a few steps with a piece of grass in his mouth.
Grandma was the first to notice her, "Yuling, come here."
When Qiu Yuling arrived, she discovered a large field of watermelons, and adjacent melons. Was this all planted by Fourth Aunt?
"My friend, what do you think of these?" As she asked, someone came up from behind with a melon in his hand and asked.
"Okay, I want all of these." Li Qingju stuffed the pre-negotiated coupons into the melon farmers' hands, and Li Qingtong tried to carry the shoulder pole.
"How did Lingling find her way here?" Old Mrs. Li supported herself on her knees without anyone's help and stood up straight from the ridge where she was resting.
"I got up and found no one in the house, so I went out to wander around. I don't know how I ended up here. I heard my fourth uncle's voice from a distance and followed it here."
"Then let's go back and eat melons."
The sun was at its highest point at this moment, and the group was slowly retreating. Qiu Yuling's shadow was like a small squash, guarding beside her. She was not idle along the way, picking this and pulling that. Li Qingmei was not there, and no one said anything to her.
After entering the door, Qiu Yuling first took out a bucket, scooped water from the tank, and put the watermelon in and put it on the ice. It was noon here and the fruits were all scorching hot from the sun. The bucket was too small, so she used the vegetable basin to freeze the melon as well.
"Our Yuling takes after my elder sister. She works efficiently and methodically." Li Qingju is pregnant now, and her maternal love overflows when she sees the child. What's more, her niece is really pretty and capable, making it hard for people not to like her.
After drinking a bowl of water and relaxing, Li Qingju took the tickets she had prepared in advance and took the three of them, young and old, to visit the supply and marketing cooperative here.
It would take Li Qingtong five days to go back and forth, so he really couldn't stay any longer. So even though the sun was scorching outside, he had to start making preparations.
The supply and marketing cooperative here was much larger than the one in the town where Qiu Yuling had been with her mother, and the glass counters also wrapped around three sides of the room.
This is also considered a military service center. Although the salesperson is a bit arrogant, he is much more approachable than those outside. At least he doesn't look down on people.
Li Qingju took all the sugar coupons and weighed two kilograms of White Rabbit milk candy and one kilogram of fruit candy at one time. Their place was close to the Bayi Sugar Factory, so buying sugar was more affordable than elsewhere.
However, only about 800 kilograms can be produced a day, and it is allocated according to the national plan, so it is not easy to get one even if you have a ticket.
She didn't buy brown sugar. There was a lot of brown sugar in the package sent by Qiu Yuling and others from their hometown, which was enough for her. Besides, she had no tickets left.
Turning to another counter, I saw a pair of off-white canvas sneakers with parallel bars.
"Comrade, do you have this style in size 33?" Li Qingju asked, pointing.
"Yes, wait a moment."
The PLA salesgirl not only brought them a pair of shoes they specified, but also brought them a plastic bag and asked them to put it on their feet to try on the shoes.
Li Qingju's eyes were still quite accurate, and the size was just right, but she asked the salesperson to exchange her for a pair one size larger. A perfect fit wouldn't be good enough, as it would be too small without her wearing it.
During this period, Qiu Yuling also refused, but to no avail. She pointed at her grandmother and tried to persuade her aunt, but her grandmother also said to take it, as a little gift from her fourth aunt.
Qiu Yuling really thinks that her handmade cloth shoes are more comfortable to wear, why don’t they believe it? Alas!
Li Qingtong, a grown man, couldn't even move his feet when he saw the Liberation shoes. All he needed was a glance and his fourth sister generously bought them for him.
Two pairs of shoes, one yuan and twenty cents for Qiu Yuling, one yuan and forty cents for Li Qingtong, and two special tickets for rubber shoes.
Later I bought peach cakes, tooth powder and a toothbrush.
When she got to the fabric counter, she was unable to move her feet because of a piece of floral fabric. Li Qingju thought that making a floral shirt for Qiu Yuling and pairing it with a blue suspender skirt would definitely be beautiful.
"Grandma, please take care of my Fourth Aunt. If she continues to be such a spendthrift, your uncle will have to let you take her back."
Qiu Yuling really didn't need it, but her fourth aunt had no place to vent her maternal love, so she put all her energy on her, so she could only place her hopes on grandma.
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