Chapter 182 (1822nd update)
Zhou Weifang may have had his thoughts, but he didn't hold back when entertaining his brother-in-law, preparing four dishes and a soup.
Luo Hong had something to discuss with him and arrived early. As they talked, he slowly went into the kitchen to help out. When all the dishes were on the table, he saw his sister arrive just then and slammed his hand on the table: "Wait, so I'm treating myself, huh?"
"What are you filming for?" Zhou Weifang pulled him to sit down, saying, "I'm not being formal with you."
Luo Hong sneered: "I'll meet you. What kind of people are you two?"
Luo Yan had just finished washing her hands and was wiping them dry when she said, "Don't drag me into this, I'm almost home."
That won't do. Zhou Weifang also asked her to sit down: "We're together."
Luo Yan fiddled with it for a bit without saying anything, then smelled the food and said, "Not bad, you're getting better and better."
To make things clear, Luo Hong pointed to one of the plates: "This is what I made."
Luo Yan knew her brother very well and said, "I can tell."
"What's the use of figuring it out?" Luo Hong said. "Just give them a few good compliments."
Luo Yan, adhering to the belief that whoever cooks deserves the most credit, chattered on and on, then pitifully said, "I'm really hungry, can we eat first and then talk?"
Zhou Weifang knew where she had gone today and asked, "Didn't you eat well at noon?"
Don't even mention it, Luo Yan: "Every dish in the township government canteen has ginger in it, they say it's grown by the head chef himself, but I forced myself to eat less than two bites. In the afternoon, I was doing pipeline registration, and I walked all the way there."
Before construction begins, everything underneath and on the ground must be clearly written down, because even the slightest change could result in a large expenditure of the budget.
Zhou Weifang quickly piled more food on her plate, saying, "Eat more."
Luo Yan ate attentively, but was also distracted by their conversation.
Luo Hong was probably telling his sister: "There are only two places in the city that can repair motorcycles. I've already talked to the master and I'll be learning from him for half a year."
Luo Yan knew a thing or two: "If you teach your apprentice, you'll starve yourself. How can someone teach properly?"
Luo Hong: "If you don't teach me properly, then I won't pay you."
Listen to that roguish way he talks. Luo Yan: "Behave yourself."
Luo Hong gave a perfunctory "uh-huh" and said, "You should eat more."
Actually, he had been quite unaccustomed to his sister's marriage. After all, the two siblings had been bickering and arguing for many years. Now, he couldn't help but feel a lot more affection for her, pulling her aside to ask her all sorts of questions.
Although they met yesterday, Luo Yan was still quite willing to talk to her brother.
The brother and sister huddled together whispering to each other while Zhou Weifang washed the dishes in the kitchen.
After washing the fruit, he cut some more and brought it out, casually adding a few words here and there. As the clock ticked away, he became restless.
Luo Hong was completely unaware of this, and even began to reminisce about the past.
He had barely started when Zhou Weifang interrupted, "Brother, you're my brother now, can we not talk about these things?"
Luo Hong said regretfully, "I was originally planning to tell you about some of your good deeds."
Zhou Weifang quickly changed his tune: "Then please tell me."
Luo Hong said in a pretentious tone, "How come I can't remember it all of a sudden?"
Zhou Weifang, having reached his limit, turned his head to ask for her opinion: "Can I beat him up?"
Luo Yan blinked as she ate fruit: "I don't know, I can't see anything right now."
Zhou Weifang immediately pounced like lightning, and the two men, whose combined age was nearly sixty, began to wrestle.
Luo Yan was afraid of being bumped, so she moved to the side of the sofa and said after a while, "This is an apartment building, the neighbors will probably complain."
Public morality prevailed in the end. Luo Hong touched the back of his head and gasped, "You even pulled my hair? Are you even human?"
How dare you criticize others? Zhou Weifang stretched out his arm: "You scratched me."
To be honest, Luo Yan didn't care about anyone, and even muttered to herself, "It's like a monkey show."
Both men were looking at her. Zhou Weifang didn't say anything, but Luo Hong was quite blunt. He flicked her forehead and said, feeling refreshed, "It's getting late, I'm going back."
The couple saw the older brother to the door and only closed the door after they heard him start his motorcycle.
Zhou Weifang locked the door from the inside, then turned around and said in a coquettish tone, "He really scratched me, look at my hand."
"He's such a grown man," Luo Yan could only coax him, "Okay, I'll blow on it for you."
The wind made Zhou Weifang's mind wander, and he glanced down at himself.
Luo Yan followed his gaze, too embarrassed to linger. She patted his almost invisible "injury" and said, "Believe it or not, I'll scratch you later too."
Zhou Weifang couldn't wait for her to scratch him. He glanced at the lights on in the building across the street, first drew the curtains, then lifted the hem of his shirt: "Isn't this all because of you scratching me?"
Luo Yan argued vehemently, "You can't blame me, it's you... I've already said it..."
The light was too bright; she couldn't bring herself to say what she wanted to say in bed, and her tongue was trembling.
Zhou Weifang dared to say anything: "I was just asking you about Shu..."
Luo Yan stared at him with wide eyes: "Zhou Weifang!"
She habitually addressed people by their full names, and although there was no murderous intent in her eyes, Zhou Weifang's heart still trembled: "I was wrong, I won't say such things again."
Seeing that she still had a stern face, he cautiously moved closer and said, "Yanyan, I was really wrong, please don't ignore me."
Luo Yan nudged him: "You're only allowed to talk about this in the room."
She thought this was the most embarrassing thing, but Zhou Weifang had all sorts of words to say. He kept pestering her with questions all night long, and she couldn't refuse to answer.
Luo Yan found it incredibly tedious, and only when she got up the next day did she have the strength to pinch his arm, leaving a faint red mark.
Anyway, having more debts means you don't have to worry. Looking at his "injuries," Zhou Weifang gave a cryptic smile.
Luo Yan also remembered something and couldn't stay in the room with him any longer, so she ran off to wash up.
Zhou Weifang finished dressing and asked her as he passed by, "What do you want to eat for breakfast?"
With her mouth full of toothpaste, Luo Yan mumbled, "Noodles."
Zhou Weifang fried the eggs, added water, and brought it to a boil. Luo Yan came over and patted him, saying, "Go ahead, I'll cook them."
There was some ready-made noodles in the refrigerator, which she brought from her parents' home.
She cooks noodles as soon as the water boils, then washes some vegetables, throws them in, and it's ready to serve.
Zhou Weifang finished washing up and was ready to eat. She gently blew on the food and asked, "Are you going to Rongquan again today?"
"I go there in the morning, go back to the office for lunch, and have a meeting in the afternoon."
Their bureau is constantly holding meetings, big and small, most of which don't get anything worthwhile. Zhou Weifang said, "With my personality, I wouldn't last three days in your unit."
Although Luo Yan didn't like it either, she didn't have much of a resistance to things within the rules. After all, she had been surrounded by a lot of rules and regulations since she was a child, and she even thought that this was how the world worked.
She said, "You can't be at work. I want to buy a pair of sneakers, imported ones, they'll cost seventy or eighty."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Weifang asked, "So, I'm the most suitable man for you?"
Last night he begged and pleaded to be called "husband," but today he's acting like a man again.
Luo Yan suspected he was up to something again that night, so she simply ignored him and pushed the bowl away, saying, "You can wash it slowly, I'm going to work."
Zhou Weifang said, "Then I'll pick you up after get off work to go buy shoes."
Luo Yan said she understood and hurried downstairs, riding for more than ten miles to Rongquan Township Government.
When she arrived at the destination, she saw that the once clean helmet was now covered in a layer of dust.
The two junior staff members who assisted her with the registration were in the office on the first floor. Even though she couldn't see them through the window, she could hear the sound of motorcycles. They came out with their notebooks.
Luo Yan checked with them: "We need to count the utility poles in the morning so I can mark them on the map and then go to the power supply station to ask if they can be moved."
This is the situation in Beijing, or rather, throughout the country. In previous years, the military controlled everything, and many things were handled by the military. But now, departments are gradually becoming more specialized, and the handover process has not been clear-cut. In addition, Beijing has a high level of combat readiness, so many seemingly trivial matters have become major problems. If thorough research is not done in the early stages, no one will have a good outcome once construction begins.
The junior staff members are all from the surrounding area, so they can usually explain things clearly.
However, when it comes to getting things done at work, no one dares to make a guarantee. You need the signatures of various departments, and only things that are in writing are guaranteed. Many people complain about this.
Luo Yan felt that although the process was cumbersome, it was necessary, but she thought that some parts could be simplified.
But she wasn't the one making decisions; she was just running errands all morning.
She returned to the bureau for lunch at noon, where she ran into Director Zhang in the cafeteria and took the opportunity to report on her work progress.
Zhang said, "It's a good thing you have a motorcycle, otherwise it would take half a day just to go back and forth."
She knew this was the public taking advantage of a private individual, and said, "I applied for an extra two yuan transportation subsidy for you. It's not much, but it's still something."
Although Luo Yan felt that she deserved it, she also knew that the money in this bureau was finite, and that it was all thanks to the leaders' favors.
She said, "Thank you, Director Zhang."
Director Zhang was quite blunt, and then, setting aside official business, he started by asking, "Your dad's about to retire, isn't he?"
Luo Yan could tell that she wanted to find out about her father's time in the army, but she didn't know much. She only said, "My dad can't remember many things after he was injured. The army doctor said that many people who come from the battlefield are like that."
Because they had witnessed their comrades sacrifice themselves and experienced the hail of bullets, perhaps forgetting is a kind of relief.
Director Zhang sighed, "It's not easy for the older comrades," and was too embarrassed to ask any further questions.
Even though those attending the wedding could see what kind of situation Luo Yan's father was in, it would be extremely impolite to bring it up in person.
Luo Yan has learned one thing: when there's nothing to say, she'll ask other people's children how their studies are going.
Sure enough, once the topic came up, Director Zhang couldn't stop talking: "Both his father and I are quite educated. I wouldn't say the student surpasses the teacher, but this kid only got a 60 on my math test. You could say he's not unintelligent, he just doesn't want to study properly."
Luo Yan secretly thought to herself that this probably meant she wasn't smart.
But then she thought back to herself, and realized that she had once said things like Zhou Weifang could definitely go to university if he studied hard. She felt that being blindly devoted to someone you love was understandable, and chimed in, "Kids are immature and love to play. They'll grow out of it."
Director Zhang also enjoyed hearing these things, and casually asked, "Are you over 24 yet?"
Luo Yan: "It's full."
Just then, Director Zhang said, "Then you qualify for the late childbirth policy, and you can take 112 days of maternity leave in the future."
Luo Yan knew a bit about the original rules and said, "Then it's three more weeks."
Indeed, Director Zhang is very experienced: "You must take your maternity leave properly. Look at my hand, it's a problem caused by not taking proper care of yourself during your postpartum period."
These days, everyone gets pregnant not long after getting married. She was thinking of her subordinate and said, "If you find out, just tell me and I'll find someone to switch with you. You can't just run around like that."
Luo Yan felt it was a bit private to tell others that she had no plans for the time being, so she just nodded, but couldn't help but wonder what her child with Zhou Weifang would look like.
She wasn't satisfied with just thinking about it herself, so she also had to ask Zhou Weifang.
Zhou Weifang came to pick her up from get off work, and upon hearing the question, he replied without hesitation, "I hope to be like you."
Like me? Luo Yan joked, "Then our family would have to buy tons and tons of tissues and still not have enough to wipe away our tears."
Whether it's paper or not doesn't matter. Zhou Weifang: "Crying too much is also bad for your health. It's better to be like me, solid and resilient."
But he denied it, saying, "If they climbed onto the roof and started tearing off the tiles, I couldn't handle it."
Luo Yan tried to scare him: "Genetics is unpredictable; maybe both of them are inherited."
Zhou Weifang thought for a moment and said, "Then let my uncle take it. Have you noticed that Luo Hong is a jinx to both of us?"
Now that you mention it, it's true. Luo Yan smiled slyly: "I think it has to be him."
Zhou Weifang adored her current little expression and wanted nothing more than to hug her and kiss her hard, but since they were on a main road, he could only say, "Yanyan, I want to kiss you."
"What kissing? Let's go, I need to buy shoes." Luo Yan pushed him, "Let's go."
Before buying shoes, they ate. The two sat down in a stir-fry restaurant, and Luo Yan swallowed hard at the smell of chili peppers wafting from the kitchen.
Zhou Weifang ordered all her favorite foods, opened a bottle of soda, and said, "I asked someone to buy strawberries from Baoding. They'll arrive the day after tomorrow. Try them and see if they're good. If they are, I'll buy them in bulk."
Strawberries? Luo Yan had never eaten fresh ones before, and said with mixed feelings, "Anyway, canned ones don't taste good."
Zhou Weifang had never tried it before either, and said, "I've already ordered it, why don't you try one? What if it tastes different?"
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, and Luo Yan also harbored this thought, even if it seemed possible. But right now, she was more looking forward to dinner, her eyes sparkling.
Zhou Weifang asked with concern, "Didn't you eat enough for lunch?"
Luo Yan held up one finger: "She ate two big chicken drumsticks."
"Alright," Zhou Weifang said with a half-smile, "then eat more for dinner, we still have a lot to do."
It's so late at night, what else can I be busy with?
Luo Yan glanced at him sideways, but she knew in her heart that she was actually happy.
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The author says: Speaking of strawberries, many years ago I met an online friend from Northeast China, and I learned that strawberries grown outdoors in the north are a summer fruit. In the south, they're harvested in December.
PS: Baoding Chicken Heart Strawberry is the earliest native strawberry variety in China. This is based on the information I have found so far. Please correct me if I am wrong.
good evening!
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