It was difficult to make furniture, and there was enough wood, so Zong Shao had all the necessary furniture made. There was a bookshelf, two low cabinets, a chest of drawers, a dining table, and four small stools.
Although there seems to be a lot of furniture, in fact, the only large piece is the bookshelf, which is one person tall and half a meter wide. There is a row of cabinets underneath, which can hold not only books but also miscellaneous things. The top four layers are squares of similar height and width, and you can see at a glance that they can hold a lot of books.
Needless to say, there is a low cabinet at the head of the bed, which is only at the height of Lin Wei's knees. It has two drawers and can hold small things.
The width of the chest of drawers is only half of the one currently used downstairs, but it is much higher, reaching Lin Wei's chest. It has three layers of square cabinets, and the top layer has no doors. It is half-open and can hold some small decorations. But there is nothing in the house now, so if I want to decorate it, I can only add to it slowly later.
The dining table was square, half the size of the one in Lin Wei's house, and not that high, just reaching Lin Wei's thighs. Because the table top is relatively thin, the dining table as a whole is not very heavy, and Lin Wei can lift it by herself. Unlike the one she uses at home now, she has to drag it out every time, which is very strenuous.
The dining tables were of different heights, so the benches naturally had to be made anew. Considering that there were seven or eight benches of different heights at home, he only had four benches made according to the number of people.
Although there were no big items, there were quite a few scattered pieces of furniture. After they were all carried in, the downstairs was blocked so tightly that there was almost no place to stand.
So after coming in, Zong Shao and Zhou Jianhai did not rest, but each of them carried a low cabinet upstairs.
After moving the low cabinet, move the bookshelf, and then move the existing chest of drawers in the living room next to the wooden sofa, and place the new chest of drawers next to the old one.
After that, push the original dining table to the corner near the window on the left side of the door, place the high stools against the wall, and then place the new square table in the middle of the dining room. After this move, the dining room with an extra square table does not seem too crowded, and the living room and dining room even look more spacious.
After Zong Shao and Zhou Jianhai finished their work, Lin Wei poured each of them a glass of boiled water. It was not that she was reluctant to make tea for others, but in this weather, hot tea was really hard to drink.
Taking the teacup, Zhou Jianhai raised his head, drank the tea in it and asked, "Is there nothing for me to do now?"
"No more." Zong Shao said.
Lin Wei asked, "Have you had breakfast? How about staying and eating before leaving?"
Zhou Jianhai glanced outside the door when he heard this: "Are you sure it's lunch?"
Lin Wei's face flushed at what she said. She did get up late today, and she couldn't help but look up and glare at Zong Shao.
Zong Shao coughed lightly and said, "He came here after having breakfast, don't worry about him." He urged Zhou Jianhai to go back quickly.
Originally, Zhou Jianhai thought that if the couple insisted on keeping him for lunch, he could go back and tell his wife to stop cooking for herself. As a result, he was kicked out by Zong Shao after he said just one sentence.
Bad friend!
After hearing Zhou Jianhai's sigh, Deng Xiangyun not only did not try to comfort him, but instead said with a smile: "It's your fault! You're so rude!"
Zhou Jianhai: “…”Okay, this is my wife.
…
While Lin Wei was brushing her teeth and washing her face, Zong Shao went into the kitchen to busy herself.
Zong Shao can cook, but his cooking skills are very average. The food is not bad, but it can’t make people appreciate the beauty of the food. It’s edible if you are not picky.
Lin Wei is actually not very picky. She lived in the school dormitory during junior high and high school, and ate only pickled vegetables and steamed buns for several years.
But the two children were used to eating meals cooked by their grandmother and mother, and they disliked their father's cooking skills. They will not waste food, but will ask indirectly who will cook the next meal. If it is their father, they will whine. If it is their mother, they will say that they should eat less this time and save some food for the next one.
Usually, in order to meet the expectations of his two children, Zong Shao would take the initiative to prepare the next meal as well.
He said that children should not always be pampered, and appropriate frustration education is necessary.
After a few times of this, when Mingming ate the meals his father cooked, he learned that silence is golden.
For breakfast, Zong Shao cooked noodles. Firstly, they cooked quickly when put into the pot, and secondly, people would get hungry quickly after eating a full meal. It was perfect for people who had eaten breakfast too late and it was too early for lunch.
Besides, noodles are what Zong Shaohui cooks, and they are one of the few foods that can be considered as gourmet food. Moreover, he also put a fried egg on it, which smelled delicious.
In addition, they had breakfast much later than usual today, so the two children were starving, especially Mingming, who boasted after slurping down a big mouthful of noodles: "I can eat a cow today!"
Lin Wei smiled and said, "We don't have any cattle for you to eat."
He clearly didn't realize that Lin Wei was teasing him. He thought about it seriously and said, "I can eat a lot anyway." He quickly finished a bowl of noodles and asked for more.
They use deep bowls at home. They don’t look big, but they have a large capacity. An adult like Lin Wei can be full with two bowls of noodles, not to mention that Mingming is still a child and usually eats less than her.
Lin Wei was afraid that he would feel full after eating, so she only gave him half a bowl and said, "The noodles are not enough, your father still needs to eat."
Although he clearly felt that half a bowl of noodles was not enough for him to eat, he looked at his father's big body and said "OK" helplessly, and then emphasized: "It's that there is no noodles, not that I can't eat anymore."
"Yes, he's the biggest eater." Lin Wei said, handing him the bowl, and then asked Zong Shao, who was about to put down his chopsticks, "Shall I give you another bowl of noodles?"
Zong Shao, who had only intended to fill his stomach a little, looked at his wife, then at his son, and said, "Add some."
…
Zong Shao originally thought that after consuming three bowls of noodles, he might not be able to eat at noon, but it turned out that he was worrying too much. It’s not that he was particularly hungry today, but that he still had work to do after eating and drinking - cleaning.
In fact, they did a thorough cleaning when they first moved in. After that, they swept the floor almost every day and wiped the bedside cabinets every two or three days. Their house still looks quite clean.
But Lin Wei usually only does surface cleaning, and it is difficult for her to take care of the corners. Moreover, the last thorough cleaning was a month ago. Considering the time, it is time to do a proper cleaning.
It just so happened that today was Sunday, and the house had just received a new piece of furniture, so Lin Wei mobilized everyone, mainly Zong Shao, to get to work.
While the couple was cleaning the windows and sweeping the floor, Mingming Ruirui was not idle either. He found a small rag and cleaned wherever he went. Of course, he only cleaned the places he could reach.
Therefore, after they finished wiping, Lin Wei and Zong Shao had to wipe it again. They couldn't just wipe all around the chest of drawers and leave the top alone.
But the two children's behavior was worthy of praise, so after finishing the work, Lin Wei called the two children together and paid them wages based on their workload.
The two brothers were surprised when they heard this: "We still have wages?"
Because every time Lin Wei got her salary, she would never hide it from the two children when she counted the money at home, so when they knew that salary = money, their eyes lit up.
Lin Wei smiled and nodded: "Of course."
Lin Wei learned this method from a novel. She thought it was a good idea at first sight. It could not only motivate the children to work, but also let them realize how hard it is to make money.
Anyway, she usually gives the children pocket money, and when it adds up, each child can get about one dollar a month. The two children had no plan for spending money and basically spent the money as soon as they got it. Lin Wei never thought there was anything wrong with this before. Children from other families in the cotton mill’s staff compound were all like this. The only difference was how much pocket money they got.
But after having that dream, Lin Wei felt that maybe she could make the children better, but she had never figured out how to do it specifically. It wasn't until today when she saw the children working on their own initiative that she suddenly had an idea and put this matter on the agenda.
Lin Wei raised her hand to suppress the children's cheers and counted the money for the two children: "Mingming wiped six stools and two chests of drawers. Each stool cost one cent. The chest of drawers was only wiped on the outside, which was two cents each, for a total of ten cents. Ruirui wiped the sofa and the coffee table. The long sofa cost four cents, and the short one cost two cents. Did you wipe the drawers of the coffee table?"
Ruirui immediately said, "Wipe it off!"
"That coffee table is also four cents, just like my brother, it's also ten cents."
After the account was settled, Lin Wei took out two one-cent notes from her pocket, handed them to the two children and said, "From now on, your wages will be calculated according to this standard, but you cannot do the same work twice. For example, if you wipe the stool once in the morning and wipe it again in the afternoon, you can only be paid once. Do you understand?"
The two children answered in unison: "Got it!"
"What do you most want to do after getting the money?" Lin Wei asked.
Mingming shouted, "Buy food!"
Rarity said, "I'm going to save it."
Without waiting for Lin Wei to speak, Mingming asked, "Aren't you going to buy food with me?"
He hoped that his younger brother would buy snacks with him so that he could eat all the snacks he bought without having to share them with his younger brother.
Ruirui thought for a moment and said, "This is the first time I've made money." It's memorable.
But Ruirui didn't understand what commemorative significance meant, so he didn't say the second half of the sentence. But he clearly understood it. He looked at the salary in his hand with a heavy gaze, and said with pain: "Then I won't buy food either." He also wanted to save his salary.
So this summer, Mingming and Ruirui had their first savings in their lives, although it was only ten cents.
…
In late July, Lin Wei received the first reply letter from home, along with a large bag of mushrooms and other wild delicacies.
After unpacking the big package, Lin Wei found small packages wrapped in oil paper inside. She opened them one by one and discovered that in addition to the button mushrooms and ferns that she had carried on her back before, there were also a lot of chestnuts and pine nuts, and the amount was not light.
Chestnuts and pine nuts are both good things. The former tastes sweet when stewed in soup, while the latter can be fried and eaten as snacks. They taste similar to melon seeds, but are rarer than melon seeds.
Looking at the coffee table full of mountain products, Lin Wei did not rush to put them into the chest of drawers. Instead, she took out a stack of oil paper from the chest of drawers, intending to wrap some of them and send them to Deng Xiangyun, Liu Dan and the others.
It’s just that although the mountain products her mother sent over looked like a lot, when they were distributed to each person, there wasn’t much left.
But Lin Wei changed her mind and thought, as the saying goes, a small gift may be worth more than a token of sentiment, so no matter how much it was, it was a token of her love, and they shouldn't mind, so she took action without hesitation.
After wrapping the mountain products, Lin Wei tied the oil paper packages with hemp ropes and did not rush to visit other families. Except for Yang Yi, everyone else had work and were not at home at this time.
So when Zong Shao walked in at night, he saw the oil paper bag on the coffee table. He thought it was food bought by Lin Wei, but after asking, he found out that it was a letter from the Lin family.
Zong Shao unbuttoned his shirt and walked to the sink, washing his hands while asking, "How are mom and dad doing lately?"
"Everything is fine. I just miss Mingming and Ruirui." Lin Wei said as she walked out with the dishes.
After hearing Lin Wei's words, Mingming deliberately said, "I miss grandma too. Mom, remember to tell her when you write to her."
Lin Wei said: "I know. I told them in my last letter."
Mingming was not very satisfied with his mother's answer, so he said, "Then remember to say it when you write this time."
Since her mother-in-law passed away, Mingming and Ruirui have been taken care of by her mother. Therefore, the two children have a deep affection for their grandmother. On the day of departure, they hugged the old lady and cried loudly, which made the old lady's eyes red. If it weren't for the fact that her daughter's family had finally reunited, she really wanted to leave the two children behind.
After settling down on the island, Lin Wei wrote a letter home to report her safety. At that time, she clearly reminded her several times not to forget to tell her grandmother that she missed her very much.
Ruirui was a more reserved person and didn't feel comfortable reminding his brother several times, but he did mention the matter several times when Lin Wei wrote to him.
Thinking of that scene, Lin Wei said helplessly, "Can I read the letter to you after I finish writing it?"
The two children agreed immediately: "Okay."
Lin Wei continued to say to Zong Shao: "By the way, Mom also told me good news this time. My second sister-in-law is pregnant."
Zong Shao laughed when he heard it: "Really? Then Second Brother must be very happy, right?"
"Of course not. He's been showing off recently and can't wait to name the child right now."
Lin Wei’s second brother is Lin Jianjun, who is three years older than her and will be turning 26 and 27 this year. He fell in love with his wife shortly after he was arranged by Lin's father to work in the commune's state-owned factory. They got engaged after dating for about half a year. They have been married for five years now and their relationship has always been good, but they have no children.
In the first two years of Lin Jianjun's marriage, Lin's mother had a good attitude, thinking that they were still young and there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. But after three or four years, seeing Lin Wei, who got married late, getting pregnant and having children, and the two children growing up day by day, and the big family finally having a happy family, Lin's mother became a little restless and would ask them every now and then if they had any news.
Although Lin's mother's attitude was not tough and she never said anything like "so what if you can't give birth to a son", Lin Jianjun and his wife were under a lot of pressure.
As far as Lin Wei knew, they went to the city for a check-up after the New Year and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with both of them. The doctor also prescribed some pregnancy preparation medicine and told them to take it and follow the doctor's orders. Only then did the two feel at ease.
Maybe the medicine prescribed by the doctor was effective, or maybe the two of them had a better attitude and relaxed mentally, but in less than half a year, they really got pregnant.
Imagining his second brother-in-law's boastful look, Zong Shao smiled and shook his head, asking, "When did you find out? How many months has it been?"
Lin Wei calculated the time in her mind and said, "It was found out a few days after we set out. It was said to be almost two months. Judging from what my mother said in the letter, my sister-in-law should have felt it a long time ago, but she was afraid of being disappointed, so she didn't tell my second brother. It wasn't until my second brother found out that he went for a checkup."
Zong Shao said, "It's good news."
…
After dinner, Lin Wei went out with her oil-paper bag and little tail.
The little tail was Mingming. He couldn't sit still, so when he saw Lin Wei was about to go out, he followed her. Ruirui was a little tired after playing all day, so he sat on the stool after eating and didn't want to move, watching his mother and brother go out.
Because of the short distance, Lin Wei went to Zhou's house first.
But she clearly saw that the lights were on in Zhou's house, but after calling out three or four times she didn't see Deng Xiangyun come out, so she had to leave and go to someone else's house first.
Lin Wei had not been with the army for long, so she didn't know many military wives in the family quarters, and the ones she had a good relationship with could be counted on one hand. In addition to Liu Dan, Shen Qing, Zhao Li and Deng Xiangyun, who I met as soon as I arrived, there is also Yang Yi, who I met through Liu Dan when I went to the sea before.
Because Liu Dan and Yang Yi were neighbors and lived closest to Lin Wei's home, the first place she went to was their home. After leaving her house, Lin Wei went to Zhao Li's house which was a little further away.
The last place we went to was Shen Qing's home, which was right next to the Military Dependents Resettlement Office.
When she arrived, Shen Qing had just finished dinner at home. She washed her hands and came out of the kitchen after hearing the noise. Seeing Lin Wei, she smiled and asked, "Why are you here?"
"My family sent me a package of mountain products, and I packed some of them and sent them to you." Lin Wei took out the oil paper package and said, "It's just dried mushrooms and ferns. It's not a rare thing. Don't despise it."
Shen Qing said angrily: "Look at what you said. You gave me something with good intentions, how could I reject it? Besides, mountain products are not easy to come by, and my husband Li likes them very much." He then invited the two of them to come into the house and sit down.
But Lin Wei saw that it was getting late and she had to go back to take a shower, so she didn't stay long. She handed the mountain products to Shen Qing, chatted with him for a few words, and then left.
When passing by Zhou's house on the way home, Lin Wei walked into the yard and shouted again.
This time, Deng Xiangyun came out very quickly. When she saw Lin Wei, she asked, "Did you come to see me just now?"
Lin Wei hummed, and after explaining the reason, she said, "I called out a few times just now and didn't see you come out, so I took Mingming to Sister Liu's house first..."
Lin Wei paused, and using the light from the living room to carefully examine Deng Xiangyun's expression, she asked, "Did something happen?"
Deng Xiangyun pursed her lips and said after a while: "Ah Hai has a cousin coming over."
Hearing the meaning behind Deng Xiangyun's words, Lin Wei was a little surprised: "His cousin came alone?"
Although my cousin is also a relative, there is still a layer of distance between us. It would be fine if she was accompanied by an elder, but it would be a bit strange if the little girl came alone.
Deng Xiangyun nodded and said, "She came here alone. She arrived in Yangcheng today. I don't know what boat she took to the island. She found a way to call Ah Hai, and he found out about it."
Lin Wei was silent, thinking that this girl was really brave. She came without informing in advance and without a scheduled itinerary. She was not worried that she would end up wandering on the streets in Guangzhou because she couldn't get through on the phone. Her family was brave enough to let her go out without even knowing where she came from, and they were not afraid that the child would get lost along the way.
Besides, no matter how close they are to a relative, it is bound to appear rude if they just come over without saying hello in advance. It's fine if the little girl doesn't understand this, but don't the elders understand it either?
Lin Wei asked: "What are you going to do now?"
Deng Xiangyun said, "We can only bring her here. There will be supplies delivered in two days. Ah Hai contacted his comrades at Yangcheng Base and asked them to book a room for her in the guesthouse for the next two days. She will come with the supply ship when the time comes."
There is no direct ferry from Yangcheng to Ya County. If military families want to visit their relatives, they either take a supply ship or take a boat to Coconut City and then take a bus to the island.
But Zhou Jianhai's cousin was a young girl who was unfamiliar with the place, and he was afraid that she would get lost if she changed trains, so he asked his comrades to help arrange it.
There is nothing wrong with asking for favors. What Deng Xiangyun is worried about now is that it is easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away.
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Second update
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