54 Chapter 54
Z City has a sea, and in previous years every household would fry fish during the Spring Festival. Now the sea is frozen, and ordinary survivors only have enough food to barely fill their stomachs. It is difficult to even cook a few simple dishes. Although the Tong family has plenty of food, they do not dare to fry fish in a big way, for fear that the aroma will arouse suspicion.
On the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve, Tong Shu was stopped. Shu Hua wouldn't let her go out no matter what. She brought out a few kilograms of flour from the island, preparing for the whole family to make dumplings together.
The soaked shiitake mushrooms were chopped, and water chestnuts, dried tofu, celery, pork, and other ingredients were finely diced and stir-fried in a pan to be used as dumpling filling. People in Z city like to eat dumplings with mixed fillings, as they symbolize good fortune and happiness.
Wang Jianye kneaded the dough, and Grandma Tong sat at the table rolling out dumpling wrappers. The old lady was skilled at cooking, and the dumpling wrappers were thin, even, and uniform in size, quickly stacked up under her hands.
"I'll go call Aya and the others down, the whole family can make dumplings together," Shuli whispered to Shuhua. Shuhua nodded; that was exactly what she wanted to do today. If her second sister's family continued to stay cooped up in their room all day, not only would Qin Xiaoxiao, who was already in poor health, become ill, but even the two parents would get sick from being confined like this.
Tong Shu sat down next to Grandma Tong, picked up a dumpling wrapper and started wrapping dumplings. She glanced at Shu Li silently as she went upstairs, then quickly looked away, feeling a little uneasy.
Half an hour later, just when everyone thought Shuli would come back alone, Qin Jiaqiang dragged his feet down the stairs, followed by the Shuli and Shuya sisters, who together helped Qin Xiaoxiao, who was wrapped in thick clothes.
During this time, apart from Shu Li and Shu Hua, everyone else who wanted to visit Qin Xiaoxiao was stopped by Shu Ya at the door. This was the first time anyone had seen her since the incident. Qin Xiaoxiao's once round cheeks were noticeably sunken, her complexion was sallow, and her lips were dry and chapped; she didn't look like a girl in her early twenties.
Seeing the family's haggard appearance, everyone felt a pang of sadness. Shu Hua was the first to react. She quickly put on a smile and called out to the people on the stairs, "Sister, brother-in-law! And Xiao Xiao, come on over! Let's make dumplings together tonight and have a lively New Year's Eve!"
Hearing her speak, the others quickly opened their mouths to greet her warmly. Grandma Tong pulled Qin Xiaoxiao to sit beside her, touched her cold hands, squeezed them tenderly, handed her a rolled-out dumpling wrapper, and spoke to her softly.
Shuya sat down on Qin Xiaoxiao's other side. Downstairs, the place was bustling with life. Smelling the lingering aroma from the kitchen, she took a deep breath, almost imperceptibly. She had spent day and night with her distraught daughter, silent, the only sound in the room the quiet of her breathing. While grieving for her daughter, she increasingly felt her own mental state was deteriorating. Just now, when Shuli came to call, she had tried to escape, but her sister had forcefully dragged her out. Now, watching her daughter, still silent but now reaching out to knead dumpling wrappers, she realized she really needed to spend more time with her family.
Qin Jiaqiang had been observing Qin Xiaoxiao's condition, thinking that if she had any stress reaction, he would take her back immediately. However, under Grandma Tong's guidance, Qin Xiaoxiao calmed down considerably, which finally relaxed Qin Jiaqiang's tense heart and made his expression much more gentle.
"I made several new clothes. The children's clothes are all bright red, the uncles and aunts' clothes are navy blue, and the rest aren't bright colors. The men are all about the same size, so they can choose whichever they like. Everyone can wear their new clothes tomorrow," Shuli said while making dumplings.
“I saw that the older sister sewed that black one, so I’ll take that one,” Tong Songming said first.
“Brother-in-law, you acted quickly. I’ll choose the other two from the remaining items,” Wang Jianye said to Qin Jiaqiang, who paused for a moment before nodding.
With Shuli starting the conversation, the family chatted happily.
“This year has been full of disasters and hardships. So many families outside have been torn apart and people have died. Fortunately, our family is safe and sound, and no one is missing…” Wang Jianye had just finished speaking when Shu Li nudged him. He realized what was happening and immediately shut up.
At this moment, Shuya spoke softly, her voice not loud but clearly audible: "Yes, it's not easy to live in this world. Being able to live peacefully is already the greatest blessing."
"...Yes, it's good that you're safe." Qin Jiaqiang quietly added.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, laughing and chatting about the fun things that happened in previous years, and how the Spring Festival Gala, which they found boring to watch but now missed since it's no longer available...
Tong Shu's family is large, so they can make dumplings quickly. Each person can make three dumplings to fill a steamer. Once the water in the steamer boils, the dumplings are steamed one steamer at a time. Soon, the insulated box is filled with a lot of steamed dumplings.
Tong Shu helped take the dumplings off the steamer and sneakily ate one. The fresh aroma of the mushrooms and shrimp stood out among the different flavors and textures of the other side dishes, and Tong Shu ate with great satisfaction.
She carried three insulated containers out of the kitchen and squatted down next to them to fill them with dumplings.
"Three buckets? Who are you delivering them to?" Wang Jie also ran in to sneak a bite, and seeing Tong Shu busy, he asked casually.
"There's nothing wrong with that," Tong Shu replied while packing dumplings. "Zhang Ming lives nearby, so I'll send him one portion. The rest will go to Director Zhu and Wen Shaocheng."
"Oh—so she went to see Major Wen again." Since Qin Xiaoxiao was willing to go out, Wang Jie's mood improved considerably, and he was now in the mood to tease Tong Shu.
Tong Shu rolled her eyes at him, ignored him, and picked up the filled bucket to leave.
Shu Hua stopped her again, and after asking her questions, she took back a bucket from Tong Shu's hand: "I specially cooked some seasonings and prepared to pack them up and distribute them to the neighbors upstairs and downstairs. You don't need to deliver them to Zhang Ming's side. Your aunt and I will go. You can deliver them to Director Zhu and Major Wen."
Tong Shu thought for a moment, nodded, dressed neatly, and went downstairs.
The supply ship was also preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner. Since there were many of them and they knew that supplies were scarce, they didn't waste flour like the Tong family did. However, they did bring over a lot of vegetables from the greenhouse. When Tong Shu arrived, Zhu Cheng was squatting by the basin processing sweet potato leaves. He quickly got up to greet her when he saw her.
"No need, no need, Director Zhu, you're busy." Tong Shu leaned closer and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, placed the thermos at his feet. "Director, my family made some dumplings. We're so grateful for your help this year. These are for you to have a little something extra today."
"Oh, thank you so much! I haven't had dumplings in ages." Zhu Cheng originally wanted to refuse, but when he heard it was dumplings, he got a little hungry and blushed as he thanked Tong Shu.
"Are we still looking for Major Wen?" Zhu Cheng asked, noticing the other thermos Tong Shu was carrying. "I haven't seen him all day, but Lieutenant Liu is in his office. I think he'll be back tonight, it's New Year's Eve, so you can leave it in his office."
Feeling a little embarrassed that he had guessed her identity, Tong Shu nodded hastily in thanks and then walked familiarly toward Wen Shaocheng's office.
As soon as I entered, I saw Liu Wanqi sitting behind his desk dealing with a thick pile of documents.
"Little girl, what brings you here?" Liu Wanqi greeted her happily.
"My family made some dumplings and sent some over. You and the Major can have some together tonight." Tong Shu handed him the thermos.
"Haha, looks like I've benefited from the Major's influence." Liu Wanqi happily accepted the dumplings.
Tong Shu blushed, then immediately remembered something else and asked Liu Wanqi, "Brother Liu, is there any news about that group in W City?"
“...This.” Liu Wanqi scratched his head, somewhat frustrated. “Those guys are as slippery as eels. We chased after them several times but missed them each time. The last time we went, they weren’t even at that stronghold anymore.”
Tong Shu's face immediately darkened.
Liu Wanqi quickly said, "But don't worry, there are a lot of people in this group, and they don't have a fixed source of supplies. They have to go out and rob supplies every few days. We didn't come away empty-handed last time. Someone who managed to escape from them told us the approximate location of their hideout. The major went out this time to investigate their new stronghold."
"He's all alone?!" Tong Shu exclaimed in surprise.
“No, he brought a few people from our team with him,” Liu Wanqi said.
Tong Shu was relieved. With someone to help him, and given his skills and weapons, he should be fine. Now, Tong Shu was itching to go again and couldn't resist asking Liu Wanqi, "Brother Liu, after the New Year, when you go to find those people, can you take me with you?"
Liu Wanqi was surprised, then quickly waved his hand to refuse: "No, no, what are you going to do? Those people have guns. If you, a girl, go with them, we'll have to divide our attention to protect you."
Tong Shu persisted, "...I trained with the major, and he even praised me for being very talented." Tong Shu made up a lie, omitting the beginning and end of the story.
"That's probably just our major teasing you." Liu Wanqi thought to himself. Considering that the girl's relationship with the major seemed complicated, Liu Wanqi didn't want to be the bad guy, so he quickly passed the buck to Wen Shaocheng, who wasn't present: "Well then, you wait for the major to come back and go ask him yourself. If he agrees, we'll take you with us next time we go out!"
Even Liu Wanqi couldn't be fooled, so it was even harder to talk to Wen Shaocheng. Tong Shu was sullen but helpless, and could only nod dejectedly.
"Then I'll head back, Brother Liu."
"Okay, the ground is slippery, so walk slowly. I'll take the bucket back to you after you finish your dumplings."
Tong Shu responded and went home listlessly.
In the Tong family home, the long-unused LCD TV was turned on again, connected to a tablet that was playing past Spring Festival Gala programs.
"You're back! Go get some dumplings from the insulated box yourself. The vinegar is on the table!" Wang Jie sat down next to Qin Xiaoxiao with a bag of potato chips. It was her favorite flavor. Wang Jie insisted that Qin Xiaoxiao eat some, but she slowly refused.
"No way, you can even find resources like this?" Tong Shu sat down on the other side of Qin Xiaoxiao, took some potato chips from Wang Jie's hand and ate them, while casually stuffing some into Qin Xiaoxiao's mouth.
Qin Xiaoxiao frowned and tried to dodge twice but failed, so she had no choice but to open her mouth and take it.
“Xiaoxiao saved these before. She loves watching TV, and she has all sorts of things on her tablets,” Wang Jie said, glancing at Qin Xiaoxiao.
Shuya, who had been observing the situation, was overjoyed to see her daughter eating potato chips. Now she had the energy to do other things: "Xiaoxiao, watch TV with your brother and sister. Your dad and I are going to take a shower." Even though she knew her daughter wouldn't respond, Shuya still gave her the instructions.
“Go ahead, Auntie, we’ll take care of Xiaoxiao,” Wang Jie said.
Shuya nodded in relief, then pulled Qin Jiaqiang upstairs to get the new pajamas Shuli had prepared, and headed back to the island. They wanted to take a good shower, change into new clothes, and welcome the new year.
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