Chapter 10, Chapter 10, 010...
010
"When did you buy the face cream?" Jiang Lai was quite curious, as it seemed Ye Anguo hadn't left her sight the whole time. But what Jiang Lai was even more curious about was why Ye Anguo would think of buying face cream, a women's product.
"I once saw a comrade buy something for a girl he liked." Of course, that's not all; he'd only heard about it from his comrade. He'd heard that when you meet a girl you like, you absolutely can't be stingy; you have to buy her things she likes, like clothes, shoes, face cream, hand cream, and so on.
Ye Anguo only remembered this because he liked Jiang Lai. So, while Jiang Lai and Kang Xiaoxiao were chatting, Ye Anguo secretly bought a box of face cream. Apparently, their regiment's political commissar and his wife had a fight once because the commissar didn't buy face cream for his wife. Therefore, Ye Anguo thought that face cream was something that girls liked.
Jiang Lai nodded to show she understood. She even knew how to praise herself indirectly. It seems Ye Anguo isn't as simple-minded as he appears.
"Why don't you come in and sit for a while? Have a glass of water?" Jiang Lai said after thinking for a moment.
Ye Anguo glanced at the time and, following Jiang Lai's words, said, "Then I'll take my leave." In reality, Ye Anguo was quite happy.
"Then come in," Jiang Lai said, opening the door. Ye Anguo eagerly took the things from Jiang Lai's hands.
"Sit down for a while, I'll get you some water. Would you like plain water or tea?" Jiang Lai asked.
Plain boiled water is fine.
Just as Jiang Lai and Ye Anguo were talking, Liu Aihua suddenly came out of the room: "You're back? Why didn't you look around more?"
“My classmate helped me buy a lot of flawed fabric. There was too much, so I thought I'd send it back first.” Indeed, with such a large bundle of fabric, Jiang Lai lost all interest in shopping.
"Where is the flawed cloth? Let me see." As soon as Jiang Lai mentioned the flawed cloth, Liu Aihua became happy and quickly asked: This flawed cloth is something that ordinary people can't buy without some special knowledge.
"Look, over there? A large batch, but the dyeing wasn't done well." Jiang Lai pointed to a large stool in the house, on which were two bundles of fabric, one large and one small, which didn't look very nice.
"Oh dear, it's true that the dyeing wasn't done well, ruining these fabrics. But it doesn't matter, they can be used as linings or as pajamas to wear at home," Liu Aihua said happily as she looked at the fabric.
"That's what I think too." Jiang Lai didn't mention any other plans, saying she'd talk about them later, as it was hard to say for sure right now.
"Anguo, please sit down." Liu Aihua gestured for Ye Anguo to sit down, then turned to Jiang Lai and said, "How was your lunch today? Didn't we say you were going to see a movie? Why didn't you go?"
"I didn't go. I didn't want to go to the movies, and besides, are there any good movies out there right now?" Jiang Lai quickly said, afraid that Liu Aihua would think Ye Anguo was stingy.
"Are you going out again this afternoon? Anguo only has a few days off, right?" Liu Aihua meant that Jiang Lai should spend these two days with Ye Anguo, making the most of their time together so that they could find out as soon as possible whether the two of them get along.
"There aren't many days left. I can stay at home for two more days. I'm taking the train back to the army the day after tomorrow afternoon," Ye Anguo replied.
“Well… Anguo, if you and Lailai were to get engaged, we should have visited your family to see them. But you know your situation is different from Lailai's, so we're thinking of postponing the meeting with your parents. You two should get along well, and we can set a specific time when you go home next time. How does that sound?”
Liu Aihua said this to discuss with Ye Anguo, but in reality, it was a notification. If Ye Anguo did not agree, then he and Jiang Lai would have no chance.
Jiang Lai was born late in life, and Liu Aihua, Jiang Bolin, and her older brother and sister all doted on her. It was impossible for Liu Aihua to settle the marriage so hastily.
Ye Anguo had no objection to this. To be honest, with Jiang Lai's conditions, she could find a better match. She didn't need to find a man like Ye Anguo with three children. Ye Anguo himself was not inferior, but he was not arrogant or conceited, thinking that Jiang Lai couldn't live without him.
"Of course, but Auntie, can I write to Comrade Jiang Lai after I return to my unit?"
"You can tell Lai Lai about this." Seeing that Ye Anguo agreed to her words without hesitation, Liu Aihua was satisfied with Ye Anguo.
Liu Aihua had no objections, so Jiang Lai had even fewer: "Sure." To be honest, Jiang Lai hadn't written many letters before. Besides, Jiang Lai was also worried that her handwriting was different from the original owner's. What if she hadn't misremembered but was caught because of the difference in their handwriting? It seemed she needed to find some time to practice her handwriting, especially since the original owner worked at the Women's Federation and often had to write and draw.
"Lai Lai, you two chat, I'm going back to work first. I just asked for half an hour off to come back and get some things." Liu Aihua glanced at the wall clock in the living room and instructed Jiang Lai as she walked out, "Have lunch at home. You can start stewing the bones first, and wash and prepare the vegetables so I can cook them when I get back." After saying that, Liu Aihua hurriedly left.
Jiang Lai glanced at the wall clock; it was ten o'clock. She then went into the kitchen to see the dishes Liu Aihua had prepared. Several large bones, cleaned of meat, were placed on the stove, along with a small piece of pork, mostly fat and lean, smaller than the palm of her hand, two white radishes, spinach, dried bean curd sticks, a few water bamboo shoots, and some chili peppers, scallions, and garlic.
"This can make five or six dishes." It's a bit vegetarian, but of course, it's nothing to Jiang Lai. However, in the 1970s, it was definitely a very sumptuous meal.
Jiang Lai didn't plan to wait for Liu Aihua to come back to cook. The original owner could cook, but Jiang Lai herself was quite good at it. Although she was a homebody and her skills weren't at the level of a master chef, the amount of time she spent cooking meant that her level was above average. Many people thought that Jiang Lai's cooking skills were already very good.
"Do you need any help?" Ye Anguo asked as he walked in.
"You've come at the right time. I can't do anything about this bone. Can you chop it up for me?" Jiang Lai said without any politeness.
Ye Anguo looked at the Jiang family's cleaver and said, "I don't think it'll work. The bone is too big. If this cleaver is used to chop it, the cleaver will probably be ruined."
Jiang Lai thought for a moment and found a wood-chopping knife: "Will this work? Let me sharpen it for you?"
Ye Anguo took the machete and saw that it was thick enough, but it was very dull. He figured he would have to use a lot of force to chop bones with it: "No need to sharpen it. Sharpening it won't help. I'll try and see if it works."
Ye Anguo took the chopping board to the yard, and before he could start chopping, Jiang Lai actually brought out an axe: "Wait, you should use this axe instead, it's sharp."
The axe was quite large, with a long handle. Jiang Lai had no idea how the Jiang family in the city could have such a big axe, but she understood when she saw the woodpile in the yard.
Ye Anguo's heart raced when he saw Jiang Lai carrying that sharp axe. Judging from the way Jiang Lai carried the axe, she was obviously someone who had never farmed. Ye Anguo was even afraid that Jiang Lai would smash her foot with the axe, feeling that it was too dangerous.
"I'll do it, I'll do it." Ye Anguo quickly took the axe from him: "Stand back a bit, I'm going to chop bones."
Jiang Lai watched as Ye Anguo swung his axe, and the massive bone, thicker than her wrist, snapped in two. Jiang Lai shuddered involuntarily; Ye Anguo was incredibly strong. But with someone like him around, heavy work should be a breeze for the Ye family.
"Is there anything else to do?" Ye Anguo asked.
"That's all. Come in and sit down. It takes a long time to make this bone broth. Wait for me a moment while I take the broth to simmer." Jiang Lai finished speaking and went to the kitchen without paying him any more attention.
Even after Jiang Lai left, Ye Anguo didn't stop chopping firewood. Seeing that the firewood at the Jiang family's house hadn't been chopped, he picked up the axe again and went to chop more. Jiang Lai had just washed the bones and hadn't even started the fire when she heard a clanging sound coming from the yard. She peeked out and saw that it was Ye Anguo chopping firewood.
There wasn't much unchopped firewood in the Jiang family's yard, and Ye Anguo was strong, so he chopped it all up in no time and piled it up neatly. He did it very quickly, and by the time Jiang Lai had started the fire and was simmering the bone broth, Ye Anguo was already carrying Jiang Lai's water buckets to fetch water.
Jiang Lai wanted to see what kind of person Ye Anguo was, so she didn't say anything. Then she saw Ye Anguo fetch water from a stream not far from the Jiang family and use it to water the vegetables that Liu Aihua had planted.
Then Jiang Lai discovered that Ye Anguo was a hard-working person. He didn't talk much, but he was capable of doing things, not just putting on a show of diligence for Jiang Lai's sake.
How should I put it? It's not that he wasn't deliberately trying to impress Jiang Lai, but Xiang is a genuinely observant person, and you can tell he's someone who often does housework.
For example, besides heavy work like carrying water and chopping firewood, Ye Anguo would sweep the ground when he saw it was dirty. After that, when he had nothing else to do, he would pull up the weeds in the vegetable garden, loosen the soil, and clean the chicken coop and yard. After that, Ye Anguo would go to the kitchen to help Jiang Lai pick vegetables.
Even in the kitchen, he couldn't stop. Jiang Lai had previously said that Ye Anguo was observant because she had seen some of the little things he did, such as what he did when he saw Jiang Lai preparing lunch.
When the fire in the stove went down, he would add firewood; when the water in the pot went up, he would add water. Without asking Jiang Lai what he needed to do, he would wash the spinach, peel the water chestnuts, pick the scallions, peel the garlic cloves, and even ask Jiang Lai whether he wanted the dried bean curd to be boiled or fried before soaking it in water.
Finally, they would take out the plates and bowls that Jiang Lai would use later and wash them clean. And as if they had OCD, they would clean the stove thoroughly and put everything in a neat and tidy manner, even though they had only washed and chopped the vegetables and were not yet ready to start cooking.
In short, Jiang Lai could tell that Ye Anguo was a genuinely caring person, not just pretending, and therefore, Jiang Lai's impression of Ye Anguo improved by five points.
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