Chapter 188 If you don't mind, I'd like to come.
There weren't many people at the supply and marketing cooperative, so Jiang Wanqiu quickly bought her groceries.
A piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, a few bright green scallions, and two bright red tomatoes.
She was thinking to herself that she would make some dumplings for Zhao Wenchang and cook some tomato and egg soup, a balanced meal of meat and vegetables, which would surely make him feel comfortable.
Back in the family compound, Jiang Wanqiu had just put down her shopping basket and was about to go into the kitchen when there was a loud knocking on the door.
She called out, "Who is it?"
A somewhat reserved female voice came from outside the door: "Sister-in-law, it's me, Liu Lanhua."
Jiang Wanqiu opened the door and saw Liu Lanhua standing at the door, holding a neatly folded pair of pants, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Sister-in-law, those pants of yours from last time... I washed them clean for you." Liu Lanhua said, handing over the pants.
Jiang Wanqiu took a look and saw that the pants were not only clean, but also had a faint scent of soap. Even the worn parts of the pant legs were covered with thin strips of cloth, making them look neater.
"Oh my, Sister Lan Hua, you're so meticulous!" Jiang Wanqiu's goodwill towards this woman increased even more. Her hands were so skillful. "Come in and sit down."
She ushered Liu Lanhua into the house and poured her a cup of hot water.
Liu Lanhua sat somewhat awkwardly on a small stool, but her eyes couldn't help but take in the home. The house wasn't large, but it was tidy and organized, with bright windows and clean furniture, exuding a warm and inviting atmosphere.
She took a sip of water, as if she had found a topic to talk about, and sincerely praised, "Sister-in-law, you and Commander Zhao are both very lucky. Commander Zhao is so young and promising, and now he has been promoted. His future is limitless."
Jiang Wanqiu smiled and didn't respond to that, but instead praised her: "Sister Lanhua, your skills are truly enviable. I will never be able to learn such delicate needlework in my entire life."
Liu Lanhua blushed at the praise, waved her hand, and then sighed, a look of worry on her face: "Sigh, this is all I know how to do. Unlike you, sister-in-law, who is educated and can be a teacher at a school. I'm worried about my two girls' schooling. Schools for children of government employees are so nice, but I don't know if they'll accept people like us."
"No problem, I'll ask Principal Wang for you later. All the children here who are eligible should be admitted to school."
Liu Lanhua's eyes lit up, then dimmed again. She whispered, "But...but I was brought in by Battalion Commander Zhou through connections just to make a living. I'm not some cadre's family member..."
"Oh, sister-in-law, you can't think like that..."
Just as the two of them were talking back and forth, a faint smell of burning suddenly drifted into their noses.
At first it was very mild, but after a few seconds the flavor became stronger and stronger, and it was mixed with the smell of charcoal.
Jiang Wanqiu and Liu Lanhua exchanged a glance.
"Where's that smell coming from?" Liu Lanhua sniffed.
Jiang Wanqiu immediately got up, strode into the kitchen, lifted the lid of her pot and looked inside. There was only clean pork belly in the pot, and the stove was cold.
It's not my own home.
Just then, a flurry of clattering sounds came from next door, like pots and pans being overturned.
The burnt smell was coming from that direction.
"It's Battalion Commander Zhou's house!" Jiang Wanqiu immediately realized.
She and Liu Lanhua quickly walked out of the house and arrived at the door of Zhou Jianjun's dormitory next door. The strong smell of burning almost hit them in the face.
Jiang Wanqiu stepped forward and knocked on the door, calling out loudly, "Battalion Commander Zhou? Battalion Commander Zhou, are you home? Is something burning in your house?"
The door was hurriedly pulled open by the person inside, and Zhou Jianjun appeared in the doorway, looking disheveled.
There was a patch of black ash on his forehead, and his clean white shirt was also stained, with a large black patch on his chest.
As soon as the door opened, a thick cloud of smoke billowed out of the room, choking everyone and causing them to cough.
When Zhou Jianjun saw Jiang Wanqiu and Liu Lanhua standing at the door, his face instantly turned bright red, as if he had been caught doing something embarrassing and was so embarrassed that he didn't know where to put his hands.
"I...I'm fine, sister-in-law," he said, his voice full of embarrassment. "I just...wanted to cook noodles myself, but I turned the heat up too high, and the pot...the pot burned."
Jiang Wanqiu peeked inside and saw that the stove was a complete mess. The iron pot was as black as the bottom of a pot and was still sizzling with black smoke.
She simply couldn't believe that this man, who was a big shot in the scientific research field and dealt with precision instruments all day long, was so clumsy in his daily life.
Looking at the chaotic kitchen and Zhou Jianjun's helpless and disheveled appearance, Liu Lanhua remembered how much this Battalion Commander Zhou had helped her family in the past. Her heart softened, and she blurted out the words without thinking:
"Battalion Commander Zhou, if you don't mind, I can come over and cook for you from now on. I'm cooking anyway, so it's just a matter of adding an extra pair of chopsticks. Consider it repaying your favor."
Zhou Jianjun was taken aback, then waved his hands frantically: "No way! No way! How can I, a grown man, let a woman cook for me every day? It's too much trouble for you, and besides, what would people say if word got out!"
He's a newly divorced battalion-level officer, and he's having a single woman with a child come to his house to cook for him every day. If someone with ulterior motives saw this, they'd be drowning in gossip.
Liu Lanhua was also stunned; she hadn't expected Zhou Jianjun to react so strongly. Realizing her words had been somewhat abrupt, she blushed and stammered, "I...I didn't mean that. I'm not good with words, Battalion Commander Zhou, please don't misunderstand..."
Seeing that the atmosphere was about to become tense, Jiang Wanqiu smiled and stepped forward, gently patting Liu Lanhua's arm. Then, looking at Zhou Jianjun, she tried to smooth things over in a lighthearted tone:
"Oh, Battalion Commander Zhou, Sister Lan Hua is just trying to be kind. Our military region is like a big family; it's only natural for neighbors to help each other out." She paused, then changed the subject, half-jokingly saying, "Besides, it's not good for you to eat in the canteen every day. You need to take care of your health so you can better contribute to the organization, right? I've heard that Sister Lan Hua's cooking skills are among the best in the family compound; you're in for a treat!"
Jiang Wanqiu's words seemed to offer a way out for the two awkward people.
Zhou Jianjun smiled sheepishly and said that Comrade Jiang Wanqiu had a higher level of ideological awareness, and that he himself had been narrow-minded. Liu Lanhua also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Talk is no use, Battalion Commander Zhou. Let’s get this pot out of here first, otherwise the whole room will be filled with smoke and it will be choking us.” Jiang Wanqiu said, taking the first step forward and deftly opening the window to ventilate the room.
As the cold wind blew in, the thick smoke in the room finally dissipated a bit.
Liu Lanhua reacted quickly, went inside and found a rag, using it as a pad to reach for the iron pot that was still sizzling and emitting black smoke.
Zhou Jianjun, a grown man, couldn't let two women do it, so he quickly stepped forward to stop them: "No, no, no, sister-in-law, Comrade Liu, I can do it myself, I can do it myself!"
He hurriedly carried the pot to the tap in the yard, and as soon as the cold water hit it, a hissing sound rang out, and white smoke mixed with black smoke billowed out even more fiercely.
Seeing his clumsy appearance, Jiang Wanqiu and Liu Lanhua exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat helpless.
Without saying much, one of them picked up a broom to sweep up the mess on the floor, while the other picked up a rag to wipe the blackened stove. Before long, the smoky kitchen was finally restored to some of its original state.
After dealing with the broken pot, Zhou Jianjun walked in and looked at the newly renovated kitchen, his embarrassment deepening.
He looked at the two of them and explained apologetically, "Sister-in-law, I'm so sorry to have troubled you... My stomach problem has gotten worse lately, and the food in the cafeteria is too oily; it always makes me feel unwell. Today I was thinking of cooking some light noodles myself, but who knew..."
"You're not cooking, you're demolishing the house!" Jiang Wanqiu said, half seriously and half jokingly. "Luckily it's daytime. If it were night, who knows how much noise you would make. If it really caught fire, the consequences would be unimaginable!"
"Comrade Jiang Wanqiu's lesson is correct." Zhou Jianjun nodded repeatedly.
“So,” Jiang Wanqiu changed the subject, looking at Liu Lanhua, “I think Sister Lanhua’s suggestion was quite good. You’re cooking whether you’re eating alone or bringing Commander Zhou’s share, it’s better than him ‘adventuring’ here by himself, right?”
Zhou Jianjun thought about it and felt that it was indeed a solution.
He wasn't one to take advantage of others. After thinking for a moment, he turned around and went back into the inner room. He came out a short while later, holding a few banknotes and a stack of grain coupons, and handed them directly to Liu Lanhua.
"Comrade Liu, since that's the case, then I can't let you help me for nothing. Here's my food allowance for this month. Please take it, and I'll be troubling you from now on."
Liu Lanhua was startled and hurriedly waved her hands, saying, "No, no! Battalion Commander Zhou, I just wanted to lend a hand because I see you're all alone and it's not easy for you. How could I accept your money and food coupons!"
She blushed with anxiety and kept backing away.
Jiang Wanqiu took the money and handed it to Zhou Lanhua:
"Sister Lanhua, listen to me. Battalion Commander Zhou is right. It's only natural for neighbors to help each other, but as the saying goes, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. You cook for him, and he pays you. That's only fair."
Looking at Liu Lanhua's somewhat dazed eyes, she continued, "Think about it. If you don't accept it, this becomes an ambiguous favor. Outsiders will see it and say you're cooking for Battalion Commander Zhou without asking for anything in return, and who knows what they'll say behind your back. But if you accept the money and the receipts, it's a legitimate way of hiring someone to help, aboveboard and honest, and no one can say a word against it. Don't you think that makes sense?"
These words enlightened Liu Lanhua. Looking at Zhou Jianjun's sincere face, her worries vanished instantly.
Yes, once the money is received, the matter becomes simple.
She hesitated for a moment before extending her hand: "Comrade Jiang is so quick-witted. Look at us rough people, we could never come up with this idea even if we died."
"Yes, that's right!" Jiang Wanqiu smiled and made the decision. "The matter is settled then." She looked at the sky outside the window. "It's getting late, the pot is burning, Battalion Commander Zhou, you still haven't decided on lunch, have you?"
She extended a warm invitation: "Perfect timing! I just bought some pork belly today and am about to make dumplings. If you don't mind, you two can come over to my house for a hot meal. It'll be more lively with more people!"
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