The seafood supply station is not big, with an area of only about 60 to 70 square meters. It is divided into several stalls according to the type of seafood, and there are aisles between the stalls.
It’s just that the aisle was not wide enough, and when Lin Wei arrived, the seafood had just been unloaded from the ship. It was peak season, so the supply station was a bit crowded.
Lin Wei stood at the door and looked for a while, then decided not to go in and join the crowd. She took her two children to the supply and marketing cooperative next door.
The supply and marketing cooperative is much larger than the supply station. It has two floors, each of which is at least 100 square meters. Counters are placed along the walls, and there is a spacious aisle in the middle.
There are few people coming to the supply and marketing cooperative at this time, and it looks a bit deserted inside.
But Lin Wei didn't mind. She looked at each counter one by one, thinking about what she would buy after her household registration was approved.
The first thing you need to buy is definitely oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. You can’t always borrow from others. It won’t sound good if you tell others about it. Then there are cups, bowls, chopsticks and plates. Zong Shao did prepare these, but the quantity was small, just enough for the whole family. But if guests come, it will not be enough, so he has to prepare more.
We also need to buy two bathtubs. Last night, their family took a bath in the enamel basins they brought. The enamel basins are small and can only hold a limited amount of water, making it very inconvenient to take a bath.
In addition, other miscellaneous items such as matches, scissors, thermos bottles, towels, soap, laundry detergent, etc. should also be purchased one after another.
After walking up and down the stairs, Lin Wei brought her two children to the fruit counter.
The supply and marketing cooperatives on the island sell many more kinds of fruits than those in my hometown. At a glance, I can see that there are at least seven or eight kinds of fruits, if not ten.
Lin Wei had seen bananas and lychees, and had not seen but could guess the names of coconuts, mangoes and pineapples. She was not familiar with the remaining ones and only found out after asking the salesperson that the ones that were all red with thorns were called rambutans, the yellow ones were called yellow peels, and the largest ones with warty protrusions on the skin were called jackfruits.
The salesperson knew that she was a new military wife who had just come to the island from the mainland, so she introduced her: "Rambutan tastes similar to lychee. If you are used to eating lychees, you can buy some to try. Pineapple is a bit astringent when eaten directly after being cut, but it tastes sweeter after being soaked in salt water."
As I saw the two brothers staring at the yellow-skinned mango, I specifically reminded them, "Mangoes are prone to allergies. It's best to take a small bite after you buy it to make sure it's ok before eating it. But ripe mangoes are still very sweet. As for the yellow skin, it depends on whether you like sour food. People who like it will like it very much, and people who don't like it can't stand the sour taste."
Lin Wei asked: "What about jackfruit? Will it taste weird?"
The salesperson smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not as smelly as durian. But you haven't eaten it before, so Ken will feel uncomfortable the first time. But it still tastes sweet. Do you want to buy some to try?"
Lin Wei was a little moved and asked, "Don't these require tickets?"
"Why do you need a ticket for fruit? There's plenty on the island," the saleswoman, who is also a military wife, couldn't help but sigh. "What's so good about being with the army here? There's plenty of fruit. When I was in the countryside before I joined the army, I was so happy to have half an apple during the holidays. Now I don't even want to eat that stuff. I just pick up what I can't find back home to eat."
"That's right. I was also thinking about the fruits on the island before I joined the army." Lin Wei nodded in agreement and asked, "Can I buy some of each fruit for the children to taste?"
The salesperson readily agreed: "We are neighbors, what's wrong with that? Do you want to order everything, or just a few?"
"No bananas for now, I've eaten them at home before. I'd like some lychees. Can I have a mango? I'll go back and try to see if I can eat it."
"No problem." The salesperson weighed a medium-sized mango, told Lin Wei the price, and handed the mango to Mingming, saying with a smile, "I saw this kid staring at the mango for a long time."
"He has never seen it before, so he is just looking for something new." Lin Wei smiled and said to Mingming, "Eat it when you get home. You can't move now."
Mingming said "OK" happily, handed the mango to Ruirui and said, "Feel it, the mango skin feels so comfortable." He smelled it again, "It smells very good."
Ruirui touched the mango skin, smelled it, nodded and said, "It's very comfortable and fragrant."
While the two children were holding the mangoes and smelling them, Lin Wei asked the salesperson to weigh some more rambutans and took two coconuts. As for the kumquats, she also took one and said, "That's all. Let the children taste it and we'll tell you if they like it. Forget about the jackfruit, it will save you the trouble of peeling it."
Jackfruits are large and have a lot of flesh inside, so supply and marketing cooperatives usually peel them and package them for sale. However, the flesh cannot be kept for too long after being peeled, as it will easily lose moisture and look wilted.
The supply and marketing cooperative usually peels jackfruits before lunch or dinner. During these two time periods, many people come to the supply and marketing cooperative, so the jackfruit meat can be sold quickly.
Therefore, the salesperson did not persuade Lin Wei to buy it. He just smiled and said, "Come at noon or evening next time. The jackfruit flesh is fresh when it has just been peeled."
Lin Wei thanked the salesperson and said, "Then I'll go back and finish eating these fruits before coming back."
After that, he asked the two brothers to say goodbye to everyone, leave the supply and marketing cooperative and return to the seafood supply station next door.
The supply station had lost a lot of its hustle and bustle. Of course, there were still customers, but the aisle was no longer as crowded. Lin Wei walked in with the children.
Before going in, he was clearly playing with the mango as a toy, but when he saw the lobsters and crabs on the stall, he lost interest in the mango in his hand, which he couldn't eat for the time being. He stood on tiptoe and stuffed the mango into Lin Wei's cloth bag for fruits. After that, he turned around and said "hush" to his brother.
The two brothers have some tacit understanding. Ruirui just made a zipping gesture without Mingming saying anything.
Lin Wei noticed the brothers' little movements and the corners of her lips curled up slightly, but she didn't say much. She just smiled and asked the staff how these seafood were sold and why the fish looked so listless.
The elder sister sitting behind the fish stall laughed when she heard Lin Wei's words: "Sister, you just came from the inland to join the army, right?"
It's hard to move once you get a job these days. There are only so many people in the family quarters. It's not surprising that the other party saw that Lin Wei was a stranger who had just arrived to join the army, but directly saying that she came from the inland... Lin Wei was puzzled at the time: "How did you know that?"
The elder sister explained: "All sea fish are like this. They can't survive on land. The ones that are still breathing are just a short time old. You will know if you stay on the island for a while."
Lin Wei suddenly realized that she had exposed the truth as soon as she opened her mouth.
Although it was a joke, Lin Wei felt relieved after finding out the reason. She picked a white pomfret of moderate size and inexpensive price and asked her elder sister to help weigh it.
While the elder sister was weighing the fish, Lin Wei took a look at the seafood at the nearby stalls. There were many kinds, but she didn't recognize most of them. The only ones she was familiar with were crabs and lobsters.
There are also lobsters and crabs in Shicheng. Although they are much smaller than shrimps and crabs, they are from the same ancestor after all, and their appearance is not much different. Anyway, Lin Wei can recognize them.
To be honest, Lin Wei really wanted to buy two crabs to try, as well as those mussels and oysters. She heard they were very delicious.
But she only had two seafood tickets, which were only enough to buy one and a half kilograms of seafood. Everyone could try the fish. If you buy a pound of crabs and oysters, only half a pound of them will be shells after you peel them. It's not worth it.
Let’s wait for a while, until the household registration is approved and we have enough money.
After buying the fish, Lin Wei went to the vegetable market again. She planned to steam the sea fish, so she bought two scallions, a small piece of ginger, and some cucumbers and potatoes. Seeing that the amount was enough for today's meal, she took her two children and went home.
There were more people on the road when we went back, and there were people in several courtyards. Although Lin Wei was new, they felt closer to each other because they were all military wives, not to mention that Lin Wei brought the brothers Mingming and Ruirui with her.
Twins are rare in themselves, let alone twins like Mingming and Ruirui who not only look alike but are also handsome. Everyone would want to hold them in their hands.
Therefore, as Lin Wei walked along the way, many military wives greeted her. Of course, there were also many military wives who couldn't help pinching the brothers' faces while chatting. Later on, they started covering their faces whenever they saw them.
Wang Fangli greeted Lin Wei and was puzzled when she saw Mingming's appearance: "What's wrong with him?"
"He's afraid that someone will pinch his face." Lin Wei felt amused and told him what had just happened.
Wang Fangli understands those military wives very well: "To be honest, when I saw them, I also wanted to reach out and pinch their faces."
Hearing this, not only Mingming, Ruirui also opened her eyes wide and covered her face, making Wang Fangli laugh so hard that she fell forward and backward: "Don't worry, Auntie won't pinch your cheeks."
As he spoke, he grabbed the brothers' heads, and then, in their shocked eyes, he talked to Lin Wei about business: "By the way, Director Chen came to see you just now."
Lin Wei asked: "Which Director Chen?"
Wang Fangli said, "Director Chen Wenfang, the wife of Song Demin, the division commander of Lao Jiao. She was the director of the Women's Federation before. After the military hospital was built, she was transferred to the hospital as the logistics director. Didn't Zong Shao mention these to you?"
Although Zong Shao had briefly mentioned the situation in the family quarters to Lin Wei before going to the island, he mainly talked about his comrades who had a good relationship with him and the surrounding neighbors.
Zong Shaozhen never told the commander's wife's name or what she did.
But this is not important. Lin Wei is puzzled: "Why did Director Chen call me for help?"
"She didn't tell me, but she did tell you to go to her house after you come back. She has something important to tell you." Wang Fangli deliberately lowered her voice when she said this. "Did you offend her in some way?"
Lin Wei felt that Wang Fangli's question was inexplicable: "I don't even know her, how could I offend her?"
Wang Fangli thought to herself, you didn’t know Gao Xiu Lian yesterday, so you must have offended her badly, didn’t you? But she didn't say this out loud, she just said: "Anyway, I see Director Chen's expression is quite serious, why don't you first ask yourself if you have offended anyone you don't know today?"
Lin Wei recalled the people she had met. Apart from the wives of the soldiers she met after entering the family quarters, there were also staff members from the supply and marketing cooperative, the seafood supply station, and the military dependents resettlement office. No one met Director Chen's profile, so she said, "I didn't see Director Chen today. Do you know where Director Chen lives? I'll go look for her later."
Wang Fangli showed her the way and reminded her, "That's the commander's wife. Be polite when you see her and don't quarrel with her."
Although she knew that Wang Fangli meant well, Lin Wei still felt a little amused and wanted to say that she was really not a firecracker and would explode at noon.
But he didn't come up with an explanation in the end. He just sighed and said, "I know."
I feel tired.
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