Chapter 28: Don't Treat Yourself Badly
Lu Dongping laughed and said, "To be honest, you are a little stupid. Aren't you afraid that what Liu Changqing and the others said is true? I really want to trick you."
Wen Wan snorted, "I've been to school and know how to do the math. How could I be so easily fooled by you? They say what they want, and I have my own ideas. Before coming here, I didn't know you, nor did I know them. We only met after coming here. There's no need to distinguish between close and distant relatives. If there really is a distinction, I knew you before they did!"
Lu Dongping felt so sweet in his heart that his hands began to itch. He wanted to touch her head and rub her, but he held back.
"When you come to eat in the future, bring the kettle with you, and bring some hot water to the educated youth camp. It's cold now, and we always have a fire at home. You can roast some food after dinner, and then go back to sleep. You don't need the firewood they have, so you don't have to go up the mountain to collect firewood."
"Ah? If I don't have to go up the mountain, what should I do?"
Lu Dongping asked her: "What will you do?"
Wen Wan thought about it and realized that she knew a lot, but it was useless here.
The two of them quickly reached the door while talking.
The yard was pitch black, and the light in the kitchen seemed particularly bright.
In fact, it is just a kerosene lamp, and there is a pile of fire in the fire pit, but it is so bright at night in the cold winter.
Zhang Hongying was still complaining in the room: "We already agreed on this, why hasn't he come yet? I have to keep inviting him to dinner."
The rice in the pot has been ready for a while. Normally, there is no need to wait. Just eat it when it is cooked. If it is not cooked, just leave it in the pot.
But today, when Wen Wan said she was coming to live with him, and Lu Dongping had such thoughts, Zhang Hongying became particular about it.
Anyway, she couldn't beat that stubborn Lu Dongping, so she just went along with it.
Lu Dongping asked her to cook fine grains in the evening, so she cooked white flour dumplings.
I picked some green onions and garlic sprouts from my private plot, dipped chopsticks in some lard to smear the bottom of the pot, put the green onions in and stir-fried them until fragrant, then poured a pot of radish and cabbage into the pot and boiled them with water.
When the radish was almost cooked, I scooped out some white flour and mixed it into the pot.
This white flour was brought back by Lu Dongping half a year ago, and he has never been willing to eat it.
Lu Donglin had been hungry for a long time. Under normal circumstances, he would have started to cry out for food, but today he was extremely well-behaved.
He thought that he had to endure it no matter what and not let Wen Wan, who came from the city, laugh at him and act like he had never eaten in his life.
Hearing the coughing outside, the whole family instinctively stood up, finally arriving.
Lu Dongping stood at the door and almost didn't dare to go in. What did it mean for them to stand there and stare at him eagerly? It was scary.
As soon as he stepped into the house, Lu Donglin rushed over with a cry, looking at Wen Wan accusingly: "Sister, why did you come at this time? Don't you want to come to my house for dinner? Do you have to let my brother drag you here?"
What does this have to do with anything?
Lu Dongping stretched out his hand and slapped him: "You are the only one who talks too much nonsense. Aren't you hungry? Serve some rice!"
Wen Wan greeted Lu Mingjiang and Zhang Hongying with a smile: "Uncle, aunt, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. We just agreed today that I wanted to tell the people at the educated youth site, so I waited for them for a while, so I was late. I will come earlier next time." It would be okay to come earlier to light a fire or something.
She was so polite, what else could Zhang Hongying say? "It's okay, it's okay. The meal is just cooked. We mountain people don't care about food, so please don't be disgusted by our simple meals."
As he said that, he started to scoop rice.
Naturally, I would scoop it for Wen Wan first.
Wen Wan didn’t know what other families on the team were like, but Lu Dongping’s family was really real.
The pot was mostly filled with radish and cabbage, but when Zhang Hongying scooped out a spoonful, all she got were white lumps.
When he tried to take the second spoonful, she stopped him and said, "Aunt, that's enough, I've had enough."
"Where's the cat food? This is not enough." He took the spoon and scooped it without saying anything.
Wen Wan hurriedly said: "Then I want cabbage and soup, I want that."
Zhang Hongying gave her another half spoonful, filling up the aluminum lunch box.
Wen Wan felt it was heavy in her hand.
Lu Dongping went to his room and brought out a high stool and placed it in front of her: "We always eat with our hands. We usually don't cook unless it's a festival, so we don't gather around the table. If you feel it's too hot, you can put your lunch box on it and eat while lying down. This is the stool that Lu Donglin and his friends usually use to write."
Wen Wan didn't bother to be polite with him. She said thank you and put the lunch box on the table. She didn't touch the spoon directly, but waited for Lu Chun'e to sit down with the bowl and moved closer to her and whispered, "Chun'e, I can't finish it and haven't touched it yet. Can I give you some?"
Chun'e looked at Lu Dongping who was sitting opposite her and smiled, "This bowl is enough for me. It's okay if you can't finish it. Give it to my eldest brother. He has a big appetite and needs a second bowl."
Wen Wan subconsciously glanced at Lu Dongping, feeling a little embarrassed. But after thinking about it, she felt that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. She had washed the lunch box clean and she had not touched the rice in it.
Staring at Lu Dongping eagerly.
Lu Dongping couldn't even eat because of her staring at him.
"Eat well. If you can't finish the leftovers, I'll eat them. I don't mind what you've eaten."
Wen Wan thought that he didn't dislike her, but she would feel embarrassed!
Forget it, just eat as much as you can. If you can’t make it, just put it in the lunch box and heat it up tomorrow.
After being here for so long, it was finally time for a change of pace. The cabbage and radish soup, lard, and chopped green onions was incredibly fragrant, and with the addition of white noodles, she felt like she had never eaten noodles this delicious in her life.
I used to eat fine food at home, eating white rice, noodles, dumplings, and buns every few days.
I have never had this feeling before. I feel so happy because of a bowl of rice that I want to cry.
The Lu family ate quickly, especially the white flour dumplings that they hadn't had for a long time. They almost wolfed them down, holding the bowl and huffing and puffing, finishing it in a short while, and then put the food into the pot.
Wen Wan lay on the stool, slowly scooping food into her mouth with a spoon. By the time Lu Dongping finished his second bowl of rice, she was almost done.
Sure enough, she knew her stomach very well. No matter how delicious the food was, she could only eat a little, and there was almost half left in the lunch box.
She took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth. Just as she was about to close the lid, Lu Dongping reached over and took the lunch box from her: "Have you finished eating?"
Wenwan nodded.
Lu Dongping poured the rice from her lunch box into his own bowl.
Wen Wan:……!!
I feel so embarrassed, my ears suddenly felt hot.
She looked around secretly, feeling a little guilty.
Lu Mingjiang had already put down the bowl and didn't look over here.
Zhang Hongying was still eating and didn't look over here.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
When she turned around, she saw Lu Donglin winking at her, and her face suddenly felt hot.
Lu Dongping pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair: "Lu Donglin, what's wrong with you? Are you having an eye cramp?"
Lu Donglin laughed wickedly: "I have a cramp, brother, please blow it for me later!"
Why not blow it? Just pour some urine on it and wash it. Boy's urine can detoxify and cure all kinds of diseases!
When the words were on the tip of his tongue, Lu Dongping looked at Wen Wan and swallowed them back.
He couldn't say such uncivilized words in front of the young educated youth.
Lu Dongping ate Wen Wan's leftovers and was the last one to finish.
Most of the rice in the big iron pot on the stove must be eaten cleanly.
Wen Wan stood up with the empty lunch box and planned to scoop some water to wash it.
Lu Chun'e was faster than her and took the spoon and lunch box from her hands: "Sister Wen Wan, let me do it, I'll wash the dishes, why can't we let you wash the dishes!"
Wen Wan: ...
She just wanted to wash her own lunch box and didn't want to rush to wash the pots and bowls.
Lu Chun'e washed the dishes and poured the water used to wash the pot into a wooden barrel beside her to feed the pigs tomorrow.
Wen Wan sat on the bench with her back straight, just like a primary school student listening attentively in class.
She glanced at Lu Dongping, and her gaze finally fell on Lu Mingjiang.
"Uncle, Lu Dongping told me about sharing a meal. I don't really understand it. Well, I've eaten, so shouldn't we talk about the daily rations? Should I bring the rations or just give them money and food coupons?"
Lu Mingjiang looked at her with a complicated look, thinking that she was a little too proactive, as if she was afraid that their family would not talk about the food ration issue. It felt strange, a little different from those educated youth before.
"It depends on your convenience. If you think it's convenient to take food, then take food. If it's convenient to take money, then give money."
Of course it would be more convenient to give money, but she couldn't say that. She couldn't let anyone know that she had money.
Her mother said that wealth should not be flaunted. The more you have, the more low-key you should be. Arrogance comes from scarcity and poverty, and then you become complacent after having a little bit. That usually does not end well.
She looked a little conflicted. "I bought a hundred kilograms of corn from Accountant Liu last time. I ate it for over half a month, and there's still quite a bit left. Bring it all here and weigh it. We'll take what we have! Then we'll see how long it lasts, and I'll give you money and coupons for the rest."
Lu Mingjiang nodded. "Alright, then we'll start with the food allowance. Since we're sharing, let's be clear to avoid any awkward conflicts later. The staple food at home is corn, and we occasionally eat rice and noodles, but that's rare. Our vegetables are pickled vegetables and vegetables from our private plots, whatever we have. You don't eat much, just two meals a day, so the food allowance is only one and a half pounds of grain a day. If you give us money and coupons, our public grain rate for corn is 9.4 cents a pound, and for rice, 1.34 cents a pound. We don't eat rice and noodles that often, so you can just give us 1 cent a day and two ounces of food coupons."
Wen Wan was quickly calculating the accounts in her mind.
She still has at least 80 or 90 kilograms of corn, which is enough for about two months.
If you pay, it's ten cents a day, which is only three dollars a month. This is not a problem at all.
When she came, she brought dozens of kilograms of national food coupons, which could be used for a long time.
The final result is that living together is indeed a very cost-effective thing. If you can spend a little money to make yourself feel comfortable, then spend it as much as possible, and don't be hard on yourself.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
