Regarding bringing food to the dinner party, everyone discussed bringing special dishes from their hometowns. However, although Lin Wei is a good cook, she doesn't really think there are any special dishes from her hometown. Even if there are, the ingredients are very restricted and they can't be made on Yazhou Island.
After much thought, Lin Wei decided that only the mushrooms sent from home could be of some use, so she cooked a pot of chicken soup with the half chicken she bought, barely giving her hometown a connection. She had no idea what to do next, so she discussed with everyone and decided to cook a home-cooked dish. As long as the dishes weren't duplicated, it would be fine.
Although the chickens you buy have been killed, plucked and gutted, the staff at the vegetable market have to kill so many chickens every day and they don't handle each one very cleanly. Therefore, after you buy them, you have to scald them with hot water yourself and pluck out the fine hair on the chicken skin.
In addition, chicken soup takes time to cook, so Lin Wei started working as soon as she returned from the vegetable market that day.
After preparing the hen, cutting it into pieces and blanching it, then putting it into the casserole together with the washed mushrooms, Lin Wei carried the casserole out. Although they prepared their own dishes, they did not have to cook them at home and bring them directly to Zhao Li's house. They just had to bring the prepared ingredients and cook them at Zhao Li's house.
The yard of Zhao Li's new home is smaller than her previous one, but there are only two families living in it, so the house is actually more spacious. Each unit has three bedrooms and two living rooms, as well as a kitchen and bathroom.
However, the previous resident of Zhao Li's house, Deputy Captain Cao, had many children, so after they moved in, they separated a room from the living room, making it a four-bedroom house.
Therefore, their living room and dining room are combined together, and the wooden sofa is placed against the partition wall. There is a coffee table in front of the sofa and a chest of drawers next to it. Next to the chest of drawers is the dining table, which is just two steps away from the window next to the door. There was no room for more chests of drawers near the door, so the chest that Zhao Li moved from home was placed in the corner.
Although the living and dining room is narrow and there is a sense of crampedness when you enter the door, few people care about this nowadays. It may be okay for military wives from the countryside, because a house built by themselves, no matter how good or bad, is always spacious.
But those who came from the city to join the army like Zhao Li basically had to squeeze in, unless they came from a particularly wealthy family.
When Zhao Li was a child, her family lived in a relatively spacious house. Her parents were both employees of a state-owned factory. In the 1950s, the family was allocated two rooms, which were open front to back. Each room was about 20 to 30 square meters, which was not small.
After the house was purchased, her parents divided the two rooms into four. The five children lived with the boys and the girls with the girls. Zhao Li only had one sister, so although the room she got was small, it was adequate. When her sister got married and moved into her husband's family, she had even more space.
But such comfortable days did not last long. As the two older brothers grew up, the problem of insufficient housing gradually became prominent.
When her eldest brother got married, she was just squeezed into her parents' room and put up a small bed. When her second brother got married, on one side was their daughter who had already started working, and on the other side was their son who was still in school. Zhao Li's parents were in a dilemma. Seeing this, Zhao Li packed her bags and moved into the staff dormitory of her unit.
She lived there for three years until she married Lao Zhang.
But the living conditions did not improve much after marriage, and the Zhang family's housing was not spacious either. Before joining the army, Zhao Li had been squeezed in a partitioned room with her three children.
Therefore, when she first joined the army, Zhao Li felt that the two-bedroom apartment they lived in was very large, and since it had a kitchen and bathroom, she chose the townhouse without much thought.
But desires are always endless. As time went by and the children grew up, the two-bedroom apartment, which Zhao Li thought was quite large, became a little cramped.
Fortunately, she was very lucky. When she was worried, Deputy Captain Cao retired and returned to his hometown, and she was able to exchange her two-bedroom apartment for a four-bedroom apartment.
Zhao Li now likes every part of the house. The cramped living and dining room is not a problem at all in her eyes. She is at work all day anyway and only uses the dining room for dinner. The living room is basically only used on Sundays.
As for gatherings and entertaining guests like today, when there are many people, we can use the outside yard. The place is not big, but it can still accommodate two or three tables.
When Lin Wei arrived, Zhao Li was sitting in the yard with her neighbor, picking vegetables and chatting. She saw someone out of the corner of her eye, smiled and asked, "Why are you here so early?"
"The chicken soup should be stewed earlier." Lin Wei raised the casserole in her hand and called out to Zhao Li's neighbor, "Sister Yu."
Sister Yu worked in the vegetable market and knew Lin Wei, so she greeted her with a smile.
Zhao Li took the casserole from Lin Wei, led her to the kitchen and asked, "Do you want to add anything else to the chicken soup?"
"I've put all the ingredients in, just add water."
"Hot or cold water?"
“Hot water.”
Zhao Li responded and directly picked up the kettle on the coal stove, filled the casserole with water and placed it on the coal stove, covered the pot with a lid and let it cook slowly.
Lin Wei's eyes were attracted by the round stove placed under the window. She turned her head and asked, "Is this the gas stove that Deputy Commander Cao left for you?"
"That's it."
These days, ordinary families either use stoves or coal stoves. Gas stoves are still rare. Even in the family quarters of the base, they are not common.
In the beginning, Deputy Captain Cao spent a lot of effort to buy this gas stove, but the gas stove looked small and was actually very heavy. In addition, the gas cylinder was large and heavy, and it was not safe to carry. So after deciding to return to his hometown, Deputy Captain Cao sold the gas stove to Zhao Li and his wife at a discount.
"Let me tell you, it's very convenient to cook on a gas stove. When you need to use it, just unscrew the gas valve, turn on the switch, and then use a match to light the fire, and the fire will start." Zhao Li said as she demonstrated it to Lin Wei.
Zhao Li's explanation was simple. The moment Lin Wei saw the flames gushing out, she was so scared that she took a step back.
Zhao Li laughed: "You usually look very brave, why are you so scared now?"
Lin Wei didn't feel embarrassed at all and said, "It's my first time."
"In fact, I was also afraid when I used it for the first time, but I got used to it slowly. You see, turning it this way is for low heat, and this side is for high heat. Cooking vegetables on high heat is much more convenient than on a coal stove. For ordinary vegetables, just two or three minutes is enough."
Although Lin Wei had never seen a gas stove, she had some understanding of it through the original book and knew that it was indeed more convenient than a coal stove or an earthen stove.
So in the 1980s and 1990s, it could be said that every household in the city used a gas stove. It was not until the safer natural gas stoves became popular that it gradually withdrew from the cities and took root in the countryside.
After introducing it, Zhao Li asked, "Do you want to buy one?"
"Where can I buy it?"
"Isn't there a supply department in the county? It's just that it's hard to get tickets."
"That's it. Anyway, I have a coal stove and an earthen stove at home, so I'll use them first." As for the gas stove, don't think about it for the time being. You can't get tickets for it.
…
After the chicken soup was cooked, Lin Wei went back to her home. Zhao Li could help watch over her anyway, so there was no need for her to stay there all the time.
When he got home, Zong Shao had already prepared the ingredients and went back to his room to put on his military jacket. He thought this should meet Zhao Li's requirements for formal attire.
However, he was not wearing the navy's summer white officer uniform, but the navy blue uniform worn in spring, autumn and winter.
At the end of October on Yazhou Island, what makes people feel the change of seasons most is not the temperature that has finally dropped, but the autumn uniforms that naval officers and soldiers have gradually changed into.
Like the summer military uniforms, the autumn military uniforms are also new equipment this year.
The sailor uniforms have changed a lot. Previously, the uniforms were the same as those of the army and air force, with only differences in color. The new military uniform was changed to a 55-style pullover, a V-neck shawl, and the hat was changed to a sailor cap.
Compared with the sailor uniform, the style of the officer uniform has changed less. In summer, only the military trousers have changed from blue-gray to navy blue, and the top has changed from blue-gray to pure white. The biggest change is the hat, which has changed from a liberation cap to a wide-brimmed hat, and the hood is also white. The military uniforms for spring, autumn and winter are all navy blue, and the hoods are the same, while the cap walls are still black, with white floss dotted in the middle.
Comparing several military uniforms, Lin Wei felt that the white uniform he wore in summer looked better. Old shígG Dujia
Although white can easily make one look darker, for men, a few dark spots don’t matter. What’s more, white makes one look taller and more energetic.
In addition, Zong Shao had been wearing white clothes for several months, and Lin Wei was used to it. So on the first morning when he changed into his autumn military uniform, she was almost startled when she opened her eyes. She thought the person standing in front of the closet changing clothes was a stranger.
Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief only after Zong Shao turned his head. Then, the more she looked at him, the more she felt uncomfortable with him, as if something was odd about him. But if you really ask her to explain it in detail, she doesn't know where to start.
In short, it's weird.
It was fine in the morning, the time was short and Zong Shao didn't feel anything.
But when he returned home in the evening and saw his wife staring at him while he was having dinner, he shook his head and felt regretful. No matter how calm he was, he couldn't stand it anymore and changed into his summer military uniform again the next morning.
This time, Lin Wei was not startled when she opened her eyes. She found him pleasing to the eye. Suddenly, she asked, "Why don't you wear the new military uniform?"
Zong Shao couldn't help but ask: "Are you sure?"
Lin Wei nodded: "You have to change it eventually. Wear it more often, maybe I will get used to it."
Zong Shao: “…” Such a reluctant tone.
Although Lin Wei's tone was somewhat reluctant, what she said made sense. In less than three days, she got used to Zong Shao wearing the navy blue military uniform.
She also felt that although navy blue was not as beautiful as white, it was not that ugly either.
In addition, Zong Shao is tall enough and has a good figure, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and his legs are especially long. Even if the color is more mature, it only makes him look mature instead of old-fashioned.
What's more, Zong Shao had a good-looking appearance, with slanted eyebrows, slightly deep eye sockets, and eyes like phoenixes, but with double eyelids. When he was serious, his eyes looked sharp. He has a high nose bridge with a hump, and his lips are neither thick nor thin, with a distinct lip shape.
If he had fair skin, he might have the creamy texture that people in later generations often talk about, but he had been exposed to wind and sun, so even if his skin was not dark, it had nothing to do with the word white.
So when people see his appearance, their first reaction is only positive words like handsome, even though his face shape is not the most popular square face nowadays.
In this respect, he still has an advantage over Lin Wei. From the perspective of decades later, Lin Wei is also very beautiful, but from the perspective of this era, she is too thin and her face is not round enough. So when people in the family area discuss who is good-looking, few people will mention her, and even if they do, it is difficult to get a vote of approval.
Unlike Zong Shao, his handsome appearance is recognized by all.
When Lin Wei first joined the army, some people talked behind her back and looked suspicious at Zong Shao, but Lin Wei ignored those voices.
Looking at the man in military uniform in front of her, Lin Wei thought, what's the point of them talking behind his back.
The person in front of me.
It's hers.
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