A week later, Shen Lie's bodyguard Xiao Zhao helped go to the photo studio and retrieve the developed photos.

When Xiao Zhao delivered the photos, Ning Tang was the only one at home. Shen Lie had a meeting to attend, and the three children were all in school.

So Ningtang didn't open the photos first, and planned to wait until everyone was there before looking at the photos together.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, Shen Lie and his three children returned home.

When the eldest child saw the envelope containing the photo on the table, he asked Ningtang curiously, "Is it a letter from grandma and grandpa?"

As soon as they returned to Shangang Village, the three children immediately wrote a letter to Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju to let them know that they had arrived on the island and asked the old couple not to forget to come and see them.

So when Da Wa saw the envelope, he thought that Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju had written back to them?

Ning Tang: “No.”

Big Baby asked, "What is that?"

He really couldn't imagine, besides Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju, who else would send them a letter? Could it be his uncle Ningde?

"Why don't you open it and take a look." Ning Tang said.

Big Brother opened the envelope and two black and white photos fell out.

He opened his mouth wide and made a surprised sound, "Wow, these are the photos we took at the photo studio last time."

His exclamation attracted Shen Lie, Erniu and Sanwa over.

Shen Lie looked at the black-and-white family photo. In the photo, Da Wa and the other two were sitting on a bench. He and Ning Tang were standing behind them. The family of five all showed happy smiles, and they looked like a happy family.

He couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

Looking at the photo of him and Ning Tang, they are such a handsome man and beautiful woman, and my heart is so sweet.

Erniu asked, "Dad, where should we put these two photos?"

Whose room should I put it in? No room is suitable because everyone wants to see it.

"I'll ask someone to make two wooden photo frames and mount them. We'll put the family portrait in the living room so we can see it and our guests can see it too." Shen Lie made the arrangements in a logical manner.

Of course, family portraits are meant to be placed in the living room for everyone to see.

"What about the photo of you and mom?" asked the eldest child.

Shen Lie said seriously, "I'll take it to the troops and put it on my desk."

Ning Tang's mouth twitched. "Captain Shen, there is a saying that goes, if you show off your affection, you will die sooner."

Besides, shouldn't the family photo be placed on his desk, and the photo of the two of them be placed at home?

"Pooh, pooh, pooh." Shen Lie said, "No taboos."

Two days later, the customized wooden photo frame was returned. Shen Lie actually put the photo of him and Ning Tang in the frame and took it to the troops.

Shen Lie is the head of the group and has his own office.

After leading the group in exercise every day and asking the deputy battalion commanders to organize ideological meetings, he could go to the office to rest for a while and write documents for the meetings.

Shen Lie placed the photo of him and Ning Tang on his desk, and moved it here and there, but was never satisfied. After half an hour of struggling, he finally decided on a position where he could see it as soon as he looked up after finishing writing a document.

"Commander, Chief of Staff Lin said that there were problems with the materials we handed over this time--" Deputy Battalion Commander Ai of Shen Lie's regiment hurried into the office.

As soon as he put the documents on Shen Lie's desk, he noticed the abrupt photo frame.

It's no wonder that Deputy Battalion Commander Ai noticed it at a glance. After all, Shen Lie's desk was very clean and tidy, without a speck of dust, and there were very few things on it, just a pile of documents and an enamel mug for drinking tea. Suddenly, there was a photo frame, and everyone had to pay attention.

"Hey, commander, when did you take the photo?" Deputy Battalion Commander Ai turned around and looked. He thought it was a family photo of Shen Lie's family, but unexpectedly it was a photo of him and his sister-in-law.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai: ...

No, who would put a photo of themselves and their lover in the office?

This is a place where people come and go...why are you showing off your affection here?

Shen Lie's eyes flashed with a hint of pride, and he crossed his fingers and said in a deep voice, "Xiao Ai, come here and give us your comments. How is the photo?"

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai thought, no matter how good the photos are, you can't put them in the office.

But he didn't dare say that in front of Shen Lie. After all, Shen Lie's iron fist was not to be trifled with.

Thinking back to the navy, army and air force competition, Shen Lie was a big winner. He won first place in the competition for two years. Later, when his rank was higher, he refused to go again, saying that he wanted to give the opportunity to the younger generation.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai glanced at Shen Lie's "iron fist" again and forced a smile on his face, "Hey, Captain, which photo studio did you take this photo from? Your photography skills are so poor."

Shen Lie narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous cold light flashed in his eyes.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai swallowed his saliva carefully, "But you and sister-in-law are both good-looking, handsome and beautiful, especially photogenic, really a perfect match, so this photo was taken very well, suitable to be placed on your desk."

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai was a very naive person, and he searched his brains to come up with a few adjectives. In short, he said that Shen Lie and Ning Tang were a perfect match, a very good match, a match made in heaven.

After spitting all over, he saw the expression on Shen Lie's face change from anger to smile, and nodded with satisfaction, "Well, you have good taste."

Finally passed the test, Deputy Battalion Commander Ai wiped the sweat from his forehead.

To be in the military, one has to be a little more careful, learn how to flatter, and learn how to "put down before promoting" - first say that the photography skills are not good, and then say that the photos are good because Shen Lie and Ning Tang are good-looking.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai thought, is it easy for him?

In June, when the weather gets hot, the vegetables in Mrs. Luo's yard are ripe again.

Ning Tang and Zeng Xinlan picked a day to help Sister Luo harvest vegetables.

Cowpeas longer than arms, plump pumpkins, golden pumpkin flowers, red cherry tomatoes...harvesting vegetables is a tiring job, but looking at these juicy vegetables will make you feel good.

After working for an entire afternoon, I finally harvested the ripe vegetables.

Mrs. Luo washed two handfuls of small tomatoes and tender cucumbers, and invited Ning Tang and Zeng Xinlan to eat together at the small table set up in the shadows reflected by the grape trellis.

Zeng Xinlan now works in the pharmacy of the health center on the island and receives a salary every month. With more money in her hands, she smiles more often.

She took a bite of the cucumber and asked Sister Luo, "Sister Luo, when is Qingqing's college entrance examination?"

Zhao Qing failed the college entrance examination last year, so Mrs. Luo and Political Commissar Zhao discussed letting her repeat her year.

After all, the college entrance examination had just been resumed, so they wanted Zhao Qing to try again. Maybe she could become a college student.

When Zhao Qing was mentioned, Luo's wife was worried and said, "The exam will be held from July 20th to July 22nd, three days."

Zeng Xinlan comforted her, "It's okay, Qingqing is smart. She took the exam again last year. With this experience, she will definitely pass this year."

Mrs. Luo sighed and didn't respond. She asked Ningtang, "Next year, the third child will be able to go to elementary school. Would you consider having another child?"

Ning Tang waved his hands, "Why not have a baby? I don't want to have one. I already have three children, which is enough to worry me. If we have another little one, our family will be in chaos every day."

Zeng Xinlan also advised, "You only have Erniu as a girl in your family. If you have another daughter, you will be happy to have a sister."

She touched her belly and said, "I just hope to have a girl. One boy and one girl, how wonderful."

It has been two years since Ning Tang and Ning Xue joined the army. The two sisters have not received any good news. Some gossipy military wives started spreading rumors about them, saying that they are infertile.

After hearing this, Mrs. Luo couldn't help but feel angry for Ning Tang, so she said a few more words of encouragement.

Ning Tang took a bite of a small tomato, and the sweet and sour juice overflowed in her mouth. "Sister-in-law, you also said it, our family has boys and girls, both men and women, which already makes a good word, and adding one more stroke would be superfluous."

The main point is that she is not interested in anything. No matter who says so, she won't have a baby.

Mrs. Luo knew that her idea was right, so she stopped trying to persuade her.

At noon, the sun was high in the sky. Ningtang avoided the sun and walked home along the corner of the wall.

Not long after she got home, the eldest and the other two came back from playing outside.

Ning Tang glanced at the three kids and immediately laughed, "I managed to get a little whiter in the winter, but now I'm tanned again in the summer."

The eldest child sat cross-legged, ate the cut watermelon, and spit out the seeds. "Why don't you tell your dad? He gets darker than us."

When the summer training began, Shen Lie led his troops in training every day. There was plenty of sunshine at the beach, and he was tanned like charcoal.

In Ning Tang's words, if Shen Lie was sitting in the room without turning on the lights, people would think he was just a piece of clothing sitting there.

You can see how dark it is.

Ning Tang: "Fortunately we didn't choose this time to take the photo. Otherwise, given how dark your dad is, the camera would definitely not be able to capture him, and then our family of five would become a family of four."

The three little kids were so amused that they giggled.

Erniu stretched out her little arm and looked at it. She was a little tanned, but she consoled herself, "It's not that dark."

Ning Tang: "Yes, standing next to your dad, you look even whiter."

"What bad things are you saying about me again?" Shen Lie walked into the room.

"No, I'm just complimenting you." Ning Tang said to him casually, then hurried the three children to take a shower.

The eldest, second and third kids just came back from playing outside, and their clothes were all dirty.

The little jacket that the eldest boy was wearing was black and yellow in patches. If you didn’t know, you would have thought he had just rolled around in the mud.

Shen Lie took the dirty clothes that the three children had taken off to the yard to wash. He rubbed out a puddle of black dirty water and said with a sigh, "It will take several washes to get it clean."

I took another look and saw that the clothes in the basin were piled high. It would take at least half an hour to wash them.

When summer comes, especially on the island, the weather gets hot and there are more clothes to change and wash.

Three little ones should wear one set of basic clothing a day, and two sets is not too much.

Ning Tang helped him hang the washed clothes on the hemp rope, "Now you know what it means to wash clothes until your hands cramp, right?"

Shen Lie turned his arms and said, "It seems that buying a washing machine should be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

For dinner, we had winter melon and sea cucumber soup, cold lotus root, and stir-fried loofah, all of which can clear away heat and reduce internal heat.

The lotus roots are blanched and mixed with the prepared sauce. The red chili skins are dotted on the lotus roots, which looks very beautiful.

The eldest child picked up a piece of lotus root and bit it until it was crunchy. He even pulled out some threads to show Ning Tang, "Mom, look, these are lotus root threads."

"See it? See it?" Ning Tang said.

Only then did the eldest boy eat the lotus root slices with satisfaction.

Shen Lie discussed with Ning Tang, "I'll ask someone to get some overseas Chinese coupons in the next few days so we can buy the washing machine."

"Okay." Ning Tang responded, "Just tell me how much it costs."

Shen Lie gave all his wages and subsidies to Ning Tang, and Ning Tang gave him pocket money every month.

The money he spent on buying Ningtang a Plum watch last time was paid from his newly-earned subsidies for going to sea and the small treasury he had saved.

Ning Tang said, "By the way, if you have ceiling fans and radios, buy one as well." She thought for a moment and said, "Buy three ceiling fans, one for our rooms, one for the rooms of the eldest and third children, and one for the room of the second girl."

A ceiling fan is a fan installed on the ceiling. Although its wind power is not as strong as a desktop electric fan, its price is relatively cheap, and it does not cost much to install three fans.

When the weather gets hot, the family of five has to make pancakes in bed.

The three little kids would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night because they were overheated.

The ceiling fan is definitely worth the money.

As for the radio, I bought it to listen to the radio.

Relying solely on newspapers and books to understand the outside world is too simple. It is also good to buy a radio and listen to it when you are free to enrich your life.

Ning Tang told Shen Lie this and Shen Lie agreed immediately.

He was very proactive and at the end of July, someone came to his house to install electrical appliances.

Three small ceiling fans, one for each room.

After it was installed, the eldest boy stood on tiptoe and pulled the switch. The small ceiling fan started to turn with a hum. The fresh breeze blew towards him, blowing away the heat in the room.

Sanwa lay on the cool mat with his eyes closed, extremely happy.

Among the three children, he was the most afraid of heat. At night, he often took off his shirt and went to sleep wearing only a pair of shorts.

Now that we have a ceiling fan and a cool mat, summer is finally not so unbearable.

I bought a Toshiba brand washing machine with two tubs and a drum. I spent more than three hundred yuan on it and placed it in the living room. The dark green body of the machine looks very fashionable.

Although Ning Tang and Shen Lie had been talking about buying a washing machine, it was the first time for the eldest, second, and third children to see the real thing. They had never expected a washing machine to be such a huge thing, and they gathered around it in amazement.

The eldest boy touched the washing machine. The cold body of the machine made him shrink his hand and asked Ning Tang, "Mom, what is this 'washing machine' called? What is it used for?"

Ning Tang said: "As the name suggests, this is a machine for washing clothes. We have a large family and a lot of clothes to wash. With it, we don't have to wash clothes by hand. This big machine will do it for us."

Erniu's mouth was wide enough to hold an egg, and there was actually a machine that could help people wash clothes. She said in a low voice, "Try it and see how it washes clothes."

Shen Lie tried using the washing machine. He opened the lid, threw the dirty training clothes into the drum, sprinkled a spoonful of white soap powder on it, and pressed the switch.

The washing machine shook once and then made a rumbling sound.

"Wow!" The eldest, second and third kids exclaimed in unison.

Shen Lie was also startled by the movement of the washing machine and muttered, "Is this thing going to ruin my clothes?"

"No." Ning Tang was amused by him.

The washing machine was not as "useless" as Shen Lie thought. Half an hour later, it gave Shen Lie a set of clothes that were clean and without any threads missing.

Shen Lie spread out the clothes and said, "Hey, you know what, this machine washes clothes cleaner than we wash them by hand."

"Of course. Do you think people run faster or cars drive faster?" Ning Tang said, "The same goes for washing machines and hand washing."

Shen Lie said, "That's great. With this washing machine, we don't have to wash clothes by hand anymore. It saves a lot of time."

Now he only regrets why he didn't buy it earlier.

Ning Tang played with the small radio, studied it for a while, and then pressed the switch.

Suddenly, a magnetic male voice came from the radio, "Next, let's play the song 'The Rain Never Stops, My Heart Never Settles' sung by the female singer Li Jun from Taiwan."

After the male voice finished broadcasting, a clear female voice suddenly came from the radio, "Little rain? Little rain? The rain keeps falling, my heart is beating unsteadily..."

Ningtang knew the structure of the radio, so he was prepared that it could receive radio sounds and play songs.

The same goes for Shen Lie. He has come into contact with these information equipment a lot in the army.

The three little kids were startled.

In their eyes, this "black box" can actually sing, sometimes with a male voice and sometimes with a female voice. Could it be that there are two little people locked inside?

Sanwa was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, pointing at the radio and saying repeatedly, "There are people locked up in there, there are people locked up in there."

The eldest child had seen a play before, so he thought that there was a miniature stage inside the radio with two little people "singing" on it, otherwise how could there be singing.

Thinking of this, he moved closer to the speaker of the radio and opened his eyes wide to see if there were really two little men inside.

Ning Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "No, there's no one inside."

Erniu didn't believe it, "Then why is there singing in there? There are five people in our family and no one is singing. Where does the singing come from?"

Is there a ghost?

The little girl was startled.

Shen Lie explained to them, "It really has nothing to do with anyone. This song is sung by a sister from another place. This radio can receive their voices and then play them for us to listen to."

After explaining for a long time, the three little kids finally believed it and were no longer afraid of this sound-making machine.

Fear was suppressed and curiosity arose.

The eldest and third child would press a button and touch the black speaker from time to time.

Erniu actually started to hum along with the song on the radio, "The rain keeps falling..."

Her childish voice was very clear and melodious, forming a duet with the voice of the female singer named Li Jun.

Ning Tang couldn't help but clapping his hands, but he ended up scaring Erniu, who immediately stopped singing.

Ning Tang asked her, "Why don't you sing anymore?"

Erniu pursed her lips shyly and said, "I, I can't sing as well as that sister."

"That's not right." Shen Lie said, "That sister is a professional female singer. It's normal for her to sing well, but you sing just as well. If you don't believe me, ask your mother."

Erniu's eyes lit up and she looked at Ningtang with an inquiring look.

Ning Tang nodded and said affirmatively, "I also think Erniu sings very well." Then he asked Da Wa and San Wa, "Isn't it true?"

The eldest child scratched his head and said with a grin, "It sounds better than mine anyway."

Sanwa clenched his fist and said, "It's better than my singing."

Ning Tang looked at Erniu, "Look."

With everyone's encouragement, Erniu was finally not as timid as before, and she started to hum softly again. However, she was still very timid, and she refused to open her mouth as long as someone was looking at her.

While the Shen family was happily studying their newly purchased electrical appliances, Ning Xue was standing at the gate of her own yard, looking at the large truck parked at the gate of the Shen family, and felt depressed.

She saw with her own eyes the installers moving electrical appliances one by one into the Shen family's home.

Three ceiling fans, a washing machine, and a radio, everything is brand new and you can tell at a glance that they were newly bought.

She couldn't help but ask Su Junyan, "Did you see those electrical appliances?"

Su Junyan curled his lips and said, "Did you see it?"

These foreign things must be worth a lot of money.

He had seen that radio when he went to a Chinese store. It was very small and cost nearly a hundred dollars. He thought at the time, it's a shame to spend nearly a hundred dollars on such a small thing that can only be used to listen to the news and is not like a bicycle that can be used for transportation. Only a fool would buy it.

He never expected that two 'big fools' lived next door to him.

"Could it be that my uncle and aunt sent Ning Tang another device?" Ning Xue's face dropped when she thought of this possibility.

Ningwei Party and Zhou Yin did not send her even a single hair.

Zhou Yin did write a few letters, urging Ning Xue to collect her salary and send money back.

Su Junyan thought about the possibility and shook his head, "Probably not."

Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju were very frugal, and even when they sent an appliance to Ning Tang, they only sent one, just like last time.

Therefore, this appliance can only be bought by Shen Lie.

The more confused Ning Xue was, the more curious she became. In the past few days, she went out and asked around, and finally figured out what this device was.

The Shen family bought quite a few electrical appliances. It was such a high-profile event that no one could hide it.

When someone came to ask, Ning Tang told him everything.

For those with whom she has a good relationship, such as Mrs. Luo, Zeng Xinlan and Ding Ronghua, she will also show them around.

One person tells ten people, ten people tell a hundred people.

Ning Xue asked a few people and found out the whole story.

Su Junyan sat on the sofa and read the newspaper. He asked her, "How is it? Did you find out anything? For no reason, why did their family buy so many electrical appliances? Did Shen Lie get rich?"

Ning Xue felt sore from the root to the tip of her tongue. "I asked, and she said that Shen Lie felt sorry for Ning Tang's sore hands from washing clothes, so he bought a washing machine for the family. He was also worried that the hot weather would make Ning Tang and the three children sleep poorly, so he bought three ceiling fans and a radio, saying that he bought it for listening to the radio."

Su Junyan was speechless. He thought they were so boring. They had money but nowhere to spend it.

"Really, your hands are itching from saving money?" Su Junyan pouted, "What's the point of buying that washing machine? You even wash clothes for others. Haha, it's just a few pieces of clothes. How much time will it take to wash them?"

Ning Xue thought, you don’t wash clothes, so of course you don’t know how much time is wasted on washing clothes?

Especially in the summer, the weather on the island is hot and it is easy to sweat. The twins love cleanliness and changing two sets of clothes a day is not too much.

Besides, washing clothes is not only time-consuming, but also wastes your hands.

Ever since arriving on the island, Ning Xue has been doing all the housework, big and small.

She does everything from washing clothes, washing dishes to sweeping the floor.

In order to save money, she didn't like to buy hand care products. In just two years, her hands became much rougher than when she was in Shangang Village.

So when Ning Xue heard that Shen Lie felt sorry for Ning Tang and bought her a washing machine, she felt extremely jealous.

The most important thing is that she must have what Ningtang has.

She glanced at Su Junyan and said indirectly, "What do you think about us buying a washing machine?"

Su Junyan rejected it without thinking, "If you don't buy it, what's the point of buying it? It's a waste of money."

Ning Xue was unwilling to give up and continued to persuade him, "Washing machines are not particularly expensive. I heard that one costs three or four hundred yuan. We don't need to buy a particularly good one, just an ordinary one. Two hundred yuan is enough. We are both full-time workers and can both receive salaries. We have one less child than theirs. Why can their family buy one but we can't?"

Su Junyan said, "Ning Tang and Shen Lie are extravagant, are you also extravagant? You use machines to do things that people can do. I think you have a little bit of the style of Xiao Buljoya."