The neighboring houses of the Zhou family were connected by a wall. To the east was the Qin family, and to the west was the house of the woman with curly hair. Her husband, surnamed Wang, was a chief of staff.
"My name is Yan Jiayi. We're about the same age, so please don't call me 'sister,' it makes me sound old. Just call me by my name."
The woman with curly hair spoke with a soft, gentle accent, her enthusiasm tinged with a hint of pride.
Feng Mingshu readily called out "Jiayi," then glanced at the wilted vegetables in her basket and casually remarked, "The vegetables at the service center aren't very fresh. I wonder if the land in the yard is suitable for growing vegetables."
Hearing this, Yan Jiayi's expression changed slightly: "You know how to grow vegetables? Aren't you from the city?"
Feng Mingshu smiled and made up an excuse: "My hometown is in the village, and I learned to grow vegetables when I was a child." She knew how to grow vegetables, but she didn't learn it in the village; it was at the cadre school farm in her previous life.
Yan Jiayi responded with an "Oh," her enthusiasm noticeably waning, maintaining only the polite formalities between neighbors as the two walked home together.
Before she even reached her doorstep, she saw Sister Qin holding a large bunch of chives and calling out to her from afar, "Little Feng, the chives in my yard are growing very tenderly, so I brought you a bunch. Don't mind them."
Feng Mingshu quickly walked a few steps, took the bunch of chives, and said with a smile, "I wanted to stir-fry some chives and eggs, but the service center hadn't bought any yet. I'm so glad I got some right here at home. Thank you, sister-in-law."
"No need to thank me, it's not worth much."
When Sister-in-law Qin saw that she had accepted it, she was very happy. Then she glanced at Yan Jiayi behind her and greeted her with a smile, "Wang family, do you want to eat some chives? I'll cut you a bunch too."
Yan Jiayi disliked such rustic terms of address the most. She curled the corners of her mouth and said, "Sister-in-law, don't bother, I've already bought the groceries." She held up the shopping basket in her hand.
After greeting Feng Mingshu, Yan Jiayi gracefully entered her own courtyard.
Sister-in-law Qin just pursed her lips and then turned to ask Feng Mingshu if the house was tidied up and if there was anything she could help with.
"Everything's all packed up. Sister-in-law, come in and have a cup of tea," Feng Mingshu said with a smile as she opened the courtyard gate.
"Okay, I'll try your tea."
Qin's sister-in-law didn't stand on ceremony. She stepped into the yard and followed her into the kitchen. Seeing that Feng Mingshu knew how to use the earthen stove and bellows, she didn't help him boil water, but instead looked around with her eyes.
"I think your decor is almost the same as my home. Hey, you haven't seen Chief of Staff Wang's house to the west, especially after his wife came. He has several sets of beautiful cups, and he even has to draw two layers of curtains. What a waste of fabric..."
Listening to Qin's rambling, Feng Mingshu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was glad that he had put the more valuable things upstairs.
"Mom, we're hungry!"
A few little children ran in, crying that they were hungry. Aunt Qin immediately scolded them, "The sun hasn't even set yet and you're already crying that you're hungry! Are your stomachs bottomless pits?!"
Feng Mingshu smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, take them to wash their hands, I'll go get some pastries."
"What's the point of bringing pastries? Those brats can eat as many as they want!"
Aunt Qin raised her hand to slap the children and shoo them away, but the children dodged quickly. When they saw Feng Mingshu bring down a bag of pastries from upstairs, they refused to leave no matter what, even when they were being hit.
Having no other choice, Sister Qin eventually made them wash their hands and gave each of them a piece of red bean cake.
The pastries were a bit dry, and the children ate them too quickly, choking and straining their necks.
Feng Mingshu lined up six bowls, poured tea into them, and said with a smile, "Have some tea, eat slowly, don't rush." He then invited Sister Qin, "Sister Qin, have a piece of pastry too, it tastes better with tea."
"Oh dear, I've become the one begging for food at your house," Aunt Qin said, somewhat embarrassed.
Feng Mingshu smiled and said, "Old Zhou and I just moved here, and we were going to bring gifts to greet our neighbors. If you bring your child, it will save me the trouble of making a trip."
"Xiao Feng, you're being too polite. We don't bring gifts when we visit people on our island. Take Chief of Staff Wang's house at the west end, for example. His wife doesn't even greet us old neighbors when she comes over."
Sister-in-law Qin seemed to have a lot of opinions about Yan Jiayi, and Feng Mingshu just listened with a smile without saying much.
After eating the pastries and chatting enough, Aunt Qin finished her tea in one gulp, wiped her mouth, and then led a group of children away in a flurry.
Feng Mingshu escorted them to the gate of the courtyard, where they happened to run into Zhou Jinshan and two other officers returning together.
It was quite a coincidence that one of them was Battalion Commander Qin from the east courtyard, and the other was Chief of Staff Wang from the west courtyard.
After the two sides introduced themselves and exchanged greetings, they went their separate ways.
As soon as Battalion Commander Qin entered the house, he said, "The neighbors just came over. Why are you going to bother them?"
Before Aunt Qin could answer, the children excitedly shouted, "Dad, Aunt Feng gave us pastries and tea!"
Battalion Commander Qin frowned, leaned down and said to the children, "From now on, call us 'Dad,' not 'Father.' Say 'us,' not 'us.' Got it?"
The children, still in awe of their father, nodded immediately and then ran off.
Battalion Commander Qin turned to his wife and scolded her, "You too, change your accent, and stop trying to take advantage of other people's homes."
Qin's sister-in-law was displeased upon hearing this, and put her hands on her hips, saying, "Am I going to take advantage of people? I'm just going to say hello, and I even cut a bunch of chives for them."
"You think your bunch of chives is worth as much as a person's pastries? Don't you have any self-awareness?"
Aunt Qin was taken aback and said irritably, "Do you really think I can't count? It's all because of these brats at home. When they saw Xiao Feng take out the pastries, they refused to leave no matter what. What could I do? Spank the kids in their house?"
The family's meals were not very oily, and the children's stomachs were like bottomless pits.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
