Chapter 326: Settling Down
Before Captain Li arrived, word had spread throughout the island that a young captain, not even thirty years old, was coming.
The fact that Li Zhan became the regiment leader at such a young age has become a hot topic of discussion among everyone in the garrison.
In addition, I heard later that Captain Li had to bring his family here temporarily. After further investigation, I found out that his wife was an arranged marriage from her hometown in the countryside, and she had already given birth to six children!
In this era, every family has many children, but she is not even 30 years old and has already given birth to six. Her fighting power is quite impressive!
As a result, the topic became increasingly popular. Even the fishermen had heard about it and were eagerly waiting to see what the new leader and his family looked like.
Although Liu Huifang and her two children are able to have children, each of them has only two or three children in their family. Liu Huifang is older and her family has only five children, so she wanted to come and see Xia Juanjuan's joke.
As a result, instead of seeing the joke, I felt ashamed of myself.
Zhou Qingqing's family was born in the city, and later they went to the countryside to become educated youth. After that, she was introduced to a man who was born in a peasant family, but she also became the company commander's husband. Later, Company Commander Zheng was sent to Haikai Island and was promoted half a level to deputy battalion commander.
After Zhou Qingqing got married, she continued to live in the village. As she didn't want to stay there anymore, she applied to join the army.
Because she was quite pretty, she felt aloof and proud standing out from the crowd of ordinary-looking military dependents on the island. Now, seeing that Xia Juanjuan was much better than her in both appearance and figure, she felt very unbalanced.
"Hey! Don't call me sister-in-law! Even if my man is one or two years older than yours, I'm not necessarily older than you! If you think about it, I probably have to call you sister!"
Zhou Qingqing felt very uncomfortable when she heard Xia Juanjuan call her sister-in-law.
It’s okay to lose in other aspects, but I can’t lose at this age!
Xia Juanjuan has given birth to six children, the oldest of whom is nine years old, so she must be at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, right? I guess it just looks young!
When Xia Juanjuan heard her say this, she knew that this person was not easy to get along with, but she did not get angry. She smiled and asked, "Then may I ask, how old are you?"
Zhou Qingqing said, "I just had my 25th birthday. How old are you?"
Xia Juanjuan couldn't help laughing in her heart. She's not young anymore, and she still wants to be a younger sister?
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Then I have to call you sister-in-law. I am twenty-four this year."
When these words were spoken, Liu Huifang, Lin Qiaomei and Zhou Qingqing were all stunned.
This... twenty-four, that doesn't mean fifteen...
This kind of thing happened a long time ago in the countryside, but this...
"No...how could you be so young? You already have children..." Zhou Qingqing shouted in shock.
Liu Huifang and Lin Qiaomei quickly grabbed her and stopped her from speaking any more.
Don’t underestimate Xia Juanjuan because she is young. Her husband holds the highest position among them.
If you offend her casually, won't your man be made to suffer in the future?
Xia Juanjuan did not explain and said, "We have just arrived on the island and haven't packed our luggage yet. How about the three sisters-in-law come in and sit down? I'll get some water and boil some tea for you..."
When the three heard this, they all looked embarrassed and laughed, "Oh! We also forgot the time when we were talking. You guys should pack your luggage quickly. We won't sit inside. When you are settled tomorrow, we will come over to take you to the island to get familiar with it!"
Having said that, he walked away with a smile.
Xia Juanjuan did not keep them. She told Xiaowen and Xiaowu to look after their younger brother, and then went back into the house to clean up.
She took out the spiritual spring water from the space and filled the water tank, and then took out a lot of firewood and piled it in the kitchen.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xia Juanjuan got some flour and started kneading the dough to make noodles.
Then I started to struggle, not knowing whether I should do Li Zhan's part.
There is a cafeteria in the base, so maybe he ate there.
In the past, he was away from home all year round, so she didn't have to worry about this issue. But now, Xia Juanjuan suddenly has to consider whether he will come home for dinner. She is really not used to it.
However, even though I'm not used to it, I still feel sweet when I think about it.
The fact that the two of them will be able to stay together in the future can be felt from these small details.
After thinking about it, Xia Juanjuan decided not to do his part for the time being. If you do too much, it will be a waste.
If he comes back temporarily, I will make it for him separately.
After the noodles are rolled out, it’s time to fry the toppings.
Xiaowen was called in to help with the fire. Xia Juanjuan took out a piece of bacon, soaked some dried beans that had been cooked and dried in the summer in hot water, chopped them up and fried a dish, and also fried five or six eggs as the topping.
Next is the next step. After it is cooked, serve it in a bowl, pour the toppings on it, and then you can eat it.
There were no small bowls in the north at that time. They were all large bowls or enamel bowls, which were not small either. Six little kids, each holding an enamel bowl, squatted in the yard and slurped noodles.
When Li Zhan came in, he saw this scene.
The six little guys looked up when they saw him come in and shouted:
"Fourth Uncle!"
"dad!"
Li Zhan couldn't help but grin and said, "What delicious food did your mother make? Let me see it?"
Xia Juanjuan came out with noodles in her hand. When she saw him enter the yard, she quickly asked with a smile, "Hey, why are you back at this time?"
Li Zhan took off his hat and walked into the house, smiling, "The commander said that today is my first day on the island, so he gave me a day and a half off this afternoon and tomorrow to help you with your luggage. Do you have any noodles? I haven't eaten yet, and seeing the kids eating, I'm really hungry."
Xia Juanjuan smiled guiltily and said, "No, I thought you were eating in the cafeteria over there, so I didn't make your share..."
Li Zhan: “…”
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "If you're hungry, eat my bowl first, and I'll go make another one."
Li Zhan stopped her and said, "Don't bother. I'm not that hungry. Just give me two chopsticks of yours to fill my stomach first. We can talk about it in the evening."
As he said that, he went to the kitchen to get the dishes and chopsticks, and picked up two chopsticks from Xia Juanjuan's bowl and put them into his own bowl.
Xia Juanjuan couldn't help but said angrily: "You are such a person."
This level... shouldn't be considered an indirect kiss. Well... probably not.
However, it is unlikely that Li Zhan knows any words for indirect kissing.
After everyone had finished their meal, Li Zhan looked around the house. He saw that curtains were hung on the windows, new bedding was placed on the beds, and there were two coal stoves placed upright in the room. One of them was already lit and a kettle was boiling water.
Li Zhan smiled and said, "Wife, you are really capable."
Xia Juanjuan rolled her eyes and said, "Don't think you don't have to work just because you talk sweetly. Apart from this bed, there doesn't seem to be any decent furniture in the house. I'll take out some wood from the space in a few days, and you can make some tables and chairs when you have time. Oh, and make two more beds. In the next two days, the two camp beds can be put together, and Xiaowen, Xiaowu and Beibei can squeeze in for a few days. We can't live in such a simple way every day."
Li Zhan smiled and said, "Okay! At first I didn't think you could come to the island to join the army, and I didn't report it to the army. Later I reported it, but we didn't have enough time to prepare it here, so we just had time to get two beds and a few tables and chairs. Staff Officer Zhao even asked me to come back and apologize to you on his behalf. In a couple of days, we should be able to get some new furniture approved, and then things will be better."
Xia Juanjuan listened and smiled, "It's hard for the troops to think about this."
In the afternoon, Xia Juanjuan took out some wooden boards and other things from the space and asked Li Zhan to nail a few simple small stools and chairs first, to at least ensure that everyone in the family had a stool to sit on. Otherwise, would they still have to sit on the steps outside to eat every day?
Li Zhan had never done carpentry work before, so he was forced to do it. He nailed the small stool crookedly and managed to barely complete the task.
Xia Juanjuan looked at the finished product and began to doubt whether her previous idea of taking out the wood and letting Li Zhan make furniture was too naive.
With this standard, they lack beds, wardrobes, tables, chairs, etc. Even if they are done, wouldn't they be shoddy projects and always in danger of breaking down?
Xia Juanjuan was silent for a while, then asked, "Are you sure the army will send us furniture? If not, is there anywhere on this island where we can buy furniture?"
Li Zhan: "Wife, what are you thinking? The only small store on this island is always out of stock, and you still want to buy furniture?"
Xia Juanjuan: “…”
Li Zhan patted his chest and said with a smile: "Don't worry! Leave it to me."
Xia Juanjuan looked at him and couldn't bear to hit him. It's on his mind, that's why I'm worried.
This kind of handwork is a sheer waste of wood...
The afternoon passed quickly. Xia Juanjuan thought that neither of them had eaten much at noon and were hungry, so she started cooking early.
Later in the afternoon, Liu Huifang came over again and brought two big radishes and some scallops.
Xia Juanjuan did not refuse and took some dried beans and a jar of sauerkraut that she had made at home in the summer and autumn and asked her to take it back.
Although she brought two other women here in the morning with somewhat impure motives, she came this time simply out of hospitality, and Xia Juanjuan was still very happy to interact with her.
Liu Huifang refused for a long time, feeling embarrassed, and finally did not ask for the sauerkraut, but asked for some dried beans to go back.
For dinner, I cooked millet and sweet potato porridge, steamed mixed flour buns, and stir-fried the dried bamboo shoots and bacon I brought with me, and fried an egg. There was also the scallops and radishes that Liu Huifang brought to make soup.
There is no shortage of fish, shrimp, shellfish and other things on the island here, but there is a severe shortage of vegetables and meat.
Although Lizhan already knew about the space, Xiaowen, Xiaowu and the others had also fought, so they couldn't be too brazen for the time being.
Therefore, Xia Juanjuan thought that she should open a small vegetable garden in the yard.
However, now that winter is approaching, the only thing I can grow is spinach and radish and cabbage, which are cold-resistant. But it's better than nothing.
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