Lin Wei had two classes scheduled in the afternoon today. Since she didn't have to work, she packed up her things and left the school with her two brothers after the second class in the morning.
It was a rare occasion that she came out early today. When she passed by the seafood supply station, the stalls inside had not yet been closed, so Lin Wei turned in.
As usual, the sea fish had been sold out by this time, and all that was left were shelled seafood. Lin Wei was not picky and bought two crabs, half a pound of prawns, and some stir-fried shellfish.
It’s just that Lin Wei didn’t think about buying seafood when she went out, and she didn’t have a ticket with her, so she asked if it could be delivered later.
As they were all military wives, the people at the supply station were not afraid that Lin Wei would not give them tickets, so they readily agreed. However, they also said, "Hurry up, we are about to close the stall."
The surrounding fishing teams usually cast their nets at night and collect them in the early morning, so the fish and crabs can be delivered to the seafood supply stations as early as five or six o'clock. However, they come more than once a day to deliver the goods. A batch of seafood will arrive at eight or nine o'clock.
The same goes for shellfish, which are picked up by members of the fishery brigade. Basically, a batch will be delivered around seven o'clock, and another batch will be delivered around eight or nine o'clock.
Therefore, the people at the seafood supply station have to get to work early, arriving at five o'clock. After the seafood is delivered, they have to weigh it, calculate the cost, and then sort it by type and set up the stall. They are busy until after ten o'clock. By this time, all the seafood harvested that day should have been sold out, so they would close the stall, clean up the inside and outside, and work until around twelve o'clock when they get off work.
From this we can see that working at a seafood supply station actually has relatively flexible hours, as you’re basically busy in the morning.
But this job is hard. You have to be not afraid of dirt or tiredness, and be as busy as a top. You also have to know how to kill fish and have good knife skills. In addition, the salary is not very high during working hours, so most military wives are not willing to come here to work, except for those who want to relax in the afternoon and evening.
People who are willing to work at the supply station are generally not willing to work overtime, so they would specifically specify that they will close the stall soon and ask Lin Wei to deliver the goods quickly, because they are worried that she will be delayed by something when she goes back and forget about it, which will affect their closing of the stall and leaving get off work.
Upon hearing this, Lin Wei said, "Don't worry, I'll go back and get the tickets and send them to you."
Because she had to come back again later, Lin Wei did not go to the vegetable market after leaving the supply station. Anyway, the supply of vegetables was abundant, so it would be the same if she came back later to buy them.
Just as I entered the family area with the children, I ran into Gao Xiu Lian.
Ever since Gao Xiulian submitted her self-criticism and returned to work at the state-owned hotel, Lin Wei has not seen her outside.
Even when they occasionally saw each other in the yard, neither of them would walk up to say hello to each other, so they hadn't been so close for a long time, so that when Lin Wei looked up, she saw the dark circles under Gao Xiu Lian's eyes.
However, Lin Wei didn't know, nor did she care why Gao Xiu Lian suffered from insomnia, so she took a quick look and turned her eyes away, passing her by as if she hadn't seen anything.
Lin Wei could pretend not to see Gao Xiu Lian, but Gao Xiu Lian couldn't ignore her, especially when she thought that she came back at this time, probably because she had just finished two classes.
Gao Xiu Lian turned her head, looked at Lin Wei's back, and slowly clenched her fists.
…
When passing by Zhou's house, Mingming Ruirui said that she wanted to go play with Xiao Shitou, so Lin Wei let them in and went home with the things.
After arriving home, Lin Wei first preserved the seafood she bought in water, then went to the living room, opened the chest of drawers, and took out two seafood tickets.
When I was closing the cabinet door, I thought that if there was tofu, I could buy some at the same time, and either braise it or make soup with cabbage and vermicelli. So I took the grocery store with me and took two more dollars just in case.
After going out, Lin Wei went to Zhou's house and saw three children playing catch in the backyard. Chen Bamei was also at home. She chatted with them for a few words and then left.
After leaving the family quarters, Lin Wei first went to the supply station to pay back the tickets she owed, then went to the vegetable market and bought a cabbage, two taels of tofu, a handful of vermicelli, and two kilograms of potatoes before returning home.
After returning to her hometown, Lin Wei went to the supply and marketing cooperative again and weighed some seasonal fruits.
Seeing Zhao Li's happy face, Lin Wei asked with a smile: "Why are you so happy today?"
Zhao Li was weighing herself. When she heard Lin Wei's words, she looked around and leaned closer to say in a low voice, "Mr. Zhang's application has been approved."
"What application?" Lin Wei couldn't remember it for a moment.
Zhao Li whispered, "House. Deputy Commander Cao is going to retire, so their house is vacant. Lao Zhang submitted an application a few days ago, and it has been approved."
Lin Wei was stunned, then smiled: "That's a good thing. When are you moving? Do you need help?"
"The time is uncertain, maybe at the end of the month, or maybe next month, it depends on when Deputy Commander Cao takes over." Zhao Li shook her head and said, "You don't need to help, Lao Zhang said he will find someone to move in when the time comes. But once we move in, I want to treat you to a meal to celebrate."
Before Zhao Li joined the army, whenever any of her relatives or friends built a new house, she would always treat them to a meal as a way of warming up the family. But when she first came to join the army, she was unfamiliar with the place and didn't know who to invite, so the matter was delayed.
Now that she is moving to a new house and has more acquaintances, she wants to hold a small party to make it lively after she moves in and decorates the house.
"Okay, let me know when the time is set," Lin Wei nodded and asked, "Is there anything you want?"
After finishing her business, Zhao Li continued to weigh herself, looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Wei said, "You're treating me to a meal, so I have to bring something. If there's something you want and it's not too expensive, I'll just buy it."
“The price is more expensive?”
"Then I'll give you a red envelope."
Zhao Li laughed: "Okay, no need to buy anything, no need to give red envelopes, it's not a new house, I don't care about those things, I just want to have some fun."
"Then we can't just eat for free," Lin Wei thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll bring two dishes with me to relieve your stress, so that after this meal, you won't have to eat vegetarian food for most of the next half month."
Vegetarian dishes are easy to deal with. Yazhou Island is hot all year round, so there is no shortage of vegetables. What is in short supply is meat. You have to eat it sparingly even when you eat at home, let alone when you invite guests to dinner.
Zhao Li said angrily, "It's not that exaggerated. I know what's going on."
"Anyway, I have to bring something, gifts, red envelopes, food," Lin Wei counted on her fingers, "You can choose one."
"Okay, okay, bring the food, bring the food, bring the food," Zhao Li said repeatedly, and couldn't help but complain, "I don't know whether I'm inviting you to have a drink or asking you to help me treat others to a drink."
Lin Wei smiled and said, "It's all the same."
Seeing her rogue appearance, Zhao Li laughed: "You!"
After paying the money, Lin Wei carried the bags home. When she passed Zhou's house, she turned in and took out half of the fruit. Chen Bamei refused to take it at first, but Lin Wei said that it was for the children and she was just taking it for the fun, so she took it embarrassedly and said that she would wash it and give it to the children after they finished playing.
Lin Wei agreed with a smile. Because the children were so engrossed in their games, she didn't call them and went back with her things.
As soon as she crossed the path between the Zong and Zhao families, Lin Wei turned her head and saw Yang Yi walking back and forth in the yard. She called out "Sister Yang", walked quickly around the kitchen, entered the yard through the gate and asked, "When did you come? How long have you been waiting?"
"Not long." Yang Yi looked at the things in her hands and asked, "Did you just go shopping for groceries?"
Lin Wei hummed, took out the key to open the door, and invited Yang Yi to come in and sit down: "I got up late this morning and didn't have time to dry the cold tea. Can we drink hot tea?"
"It's okay, it's all the same." She wasn't here for tea either.
"Then I'll make hot tea." Lin Wei took out a box of tea leaves, put some into a clean enamel cup, poured hot water into it, and handed the cup to Yang Yi.
Yang Yi took the enamel cup and thanked her, then asked, "Did Sister Liu come to see you yesterday?"
"Well, you want to ask Captain Qi's reaction?"
Yang Yi nodded. Actually, Liu Dan had given her a hint yesterday. She could guess that the result would be good. However, because it was just a test, she couldn't go directly to the next door to ask, so she didn't know the specific situation.
Moreover, Qi Tao had not asked her about this matter from last night until she left this morning. She couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. Plus, there was no one at home she could talk to, so she came to find Lin Wei.
Seeing that she looked nervous, Lin Wei repeated what Liu Dan said yesterday.
Yang Yi was relieved after hearing this, but she was also a little worried: "It's OK if he didn't know before, but now that he knows, why didn't he ask me yesterday?"
Lin Wei is not Qi Tao, so of course she couldn't answer this question. She thought for a moment and asked, "Was there anything unusual about Captain Qi yesterday?"
Yang Yi thought back to what happened last night and shook her head: "He and my mother-in-law did have a little argument last night, but it was because of my brother-in-law's work." She then told him about Qi Ze's situation.
Although Lin Wei's previous confusion was resolved after hearing this, she could not see the connection between the two things. She hesitated for a moment and asked, "Anything else?"
"What?"
"Anyway, it's somewhere different from usual."
"No..." Yang Yi didn't finish her words before she remembered something, "Oh, right, before he left this morning, he said that their deputy battalion had something to do today, so he was asked to help with the shift and would not be back at night."
Lin Wei asked: "Is there really something wrong?"
"How would I know? I'm not that familiar with his wife, so I'm embarrassed to ask." Yang Yi felt something was not right and asked, "Are you saying that he doesn't actually camp at night?"
Lin Wei was not sure and said, "It's just a guess."
"If that's true, why do you think he lied to us and said he had to take turns?"
"Maybe they want to see it for themselves, but this is just our guess. Maybe something really happened to their deputy battalion. But no matter what, I think you can wait patiently for a while."
After talking to Lin Wei, Yang Yi felt more at ease and said, "I will wait patiently."
She has been waiting for so long, one or two days won't make a difference.
…
Yang Yi was able to keep her temper, but Mrs. Qi and her son started to get annoyed.
Especially Qi Ze, after quitting his job, he originally wanted his mother to call his eldest brother and use his connections to find him a new job in the commune.
But his wife listened to the instigation of others and went home and said that if she always stayed in the commune, she would not have any future. Since she wanted to ask her eldest brother for help, she should be transferred all at once. It would be best if she could go to the city, and at worst, she could go to a state-owned factory in the county.
As soon as he heard this, he felt that this was unreliable. Although the two brothers had a big age gap and had not been together for long, he still knew what kind of person his eldest brother was. He was thankful that he could find a new job for him in the commune. He couldn't even think about it in the county or city.
It's just that he didn't dare to think about it, but his mother did.
Although Qi Ze's agricultural household registration was changed to urban household registration after entering the commune state-owned factory, he received a salary and ate commercial grain, but it was still not comparable to the county and city.
Moreover, although Qi Ze resigned from the unit on his own initiative and no one knew what he had done, the rural people didn't care about that. Seeing that he no longer worked in the state-owned factory, they thought he was fired because he made a mistake.
When Mrs. Qi explained, the other party continued to mock her and asked, "If your son doesn't even look down on a formal job in a state-owned factory, what other job can he look down on?"
Hearing this, Old Mrs. Qi was so angry that she wished she could immediately ask her eldest son to find a better job for her younger son in the commune.
At that time, she had no idea. The only good jobs she could think of were in the state-owned units in the commune. It was not until her daughter-in-law enlightened her that she realized, yes, what good units could there be in the commune? The largest hardware factory had only fifty or sixty leaders and employees.
It is better to go to the city. The big factories have at least thousands of employees. If all else fails, go to the county. Although the big units don’t have that many employees, they are still better than the commune.
Moreover, if the younger son gets a job in a state-owned factory in the city or county, he will truly become a city dweller and it will be a source of pride for him to talk about it.
After making up her mind, Old Mrs. Qi packed up her things and took her youngest son to visit relatives on Yazhou Island.
Of course, visiting relatives was just a name, and the main purpose was still to work. She was afraid that she couldn't explain it clearly on the phone, so she wanted to say it in person so that she could play the family card.
Old Mrs. Qi felt that since she and her youngest son had come a long way to visit her eldest son and had only made such a small request, the eldest son should not refuse.
In the end, he actually refused!
After being on the island for half a month, Qi Ze still hasn't found a job. Even though someone is taking care of his food and drink, he can't help but feel a little annoyed.
Old Lady Qi saw this and consoled him, "Don't worry, Xiaoze. When your brother comes back, I'll talk to him about this matter again. I'm sure he'll agree to it."
It would have been fine if Old Lady Qi hadn't said anything. As soon as she started talking, Qi Ze couldn't hold back his anger anymore and said unhappily, "Come on! You haven't heard what he meant yet. If I don't tell him the truth, or if what I tell him doesn't satisfy him, there's no point in arranging a job for me."
Qi Ze paced back and forth, still complaining: "At the beginning, I said that it would be fine if you could arrange another job for me in the commune. My eldest brother is familiar with people, and it would only take a phone call, so we don't have to travel so far. But you insisted that the city and the county were better, saying that you were his biological mother, and he would definitely not say no, and even asked me to come along, saying that he could play the emotional card, but look at me now, let alone the city and the county, there is no hope for a job in the commune!"
"I am hoping for your best, right?" Old Lady Qi felt aggrieved. "And I didn't expect your eldest brother to be so cruel. He doesn't care about his own brother. And your sister-in-law always says how good she is to you, but she doesn't care about your important work. Please persuade your eldest brother more."
When Qi Ze heard this, a trace of anxiety flashed across his eyes. Last week, after Old Lady Qi scolded Yang Yi, he secretly went to her to apologize, comfort her and took the opportunity to talk about his work, trying to get her to say a few good words for him.
He knew that although his sister-in-law was not very smart, she really treated him as her younger brother. In addition, his mother always scolded her. At this time, he stood on her side. She would definitely be touched and would work hard to make this happen.
Her words have always carried weight in his brother's heart, and coupled with her whispering, when Yang Yi agreed without hesitation, Qi Ze relaxed and waited for the result.
But now a week has almost passed, his brother still hasn't changed his mind, and his sister-in-law has been indifferent to him these days.
What went wrong?
Qi Ze thought about it, looked up at Old Lady Qi who was getting angrier and angrier, and said, "Didn't you tell me that she cared about me before because my brother was not at home and she had to show off so that my brother would be grateful to her. Now she has been with the army for several years and my brother only has her in his heart. She has nothing to fear. Why should she continue to please us like before?"
When Mrs. Qi heard this, she gnashed her teeth in hatred: "I knew that the eldest daughter-in-law was a fool on the outside but a traitor on the inside! When she first married into our family, she was so diligent and eager to do all the work. She wanted to treat me like her own mother. But after the child was born, she became lazy. Now that she has followed the army, she doesn't even care about me, her mother-in-law, anymore."
At this point, Old Lady Qi stood up abruptly: "No, I can't let this go on any longer. Today I must make her realize her identity!"
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