Chapter 95
As evening fell, snow began to fall, and it quickly grew dark.
The kitchen window was slightly ajar, leaving a crack for ventilation, and a cloth curtain hung at the doorway to keep out the wind and snow.
The light bulbs inside had been replaced with brighter ones, illuminating the room brightly. Firewood burned in the hearth, and everyone sat around it, listening to the radio.
An iron mesh was placed over the fire pit, on which sweet potatoes, citrus fruits, and apples were slowly roasting over the charcoal fire, filling the room with the aroma of food.
When it's cold, even when eating fruit, everyone prefers it baked.
There was also a pot of warm ginger and jujube tea on the side, which was used to dispel the cold. After coming back from outside, you could have a warm bowl of it.
"It's snowing again. I wonder when they'll be back." Qiao Hui held her child and looked out the kitchen window at the gloomy sky. Snowflakes drifted through the window, and she couldn't help but feel worried.
It's so cold, they don't seem to have brought any umbrellas. They'll definitely get soaked in the snow on their way back.
Xu Huaisheng peeled a sweet potato for Gu Tuantuan, and the little girl ate it absentmindedly, looking worried. Her chubby face was particularly amusing.
She asked with a smile, "Tuantuan, what's wrong? Don't you like sweet potatoes? But don't eat too many, or you won't be able to eat your meal later."
Gu Tuantuan sighed like a little adult and said softly, "It's snowing, and Mom hasn't come home from get off work yet."
She was more worried about her mother, who was working overtime at the hospital, than her father, who was spending the Lunar New Year with the soldiers. She didn't know when her mother would be able to get home if it snowed and the roads became difficult to travel.
Moreover, bicycles are difficult to ride on snowy days, and although she is young, she understands these things very well.
"Don't worry," Gu Xi comforted her. "Your dad said that Mom will get off work early today and should be back by five o'clock."
During the Chinese New Year, even if doctors are working overtime at the hospital, they are allowed to leave early unless there are any emergencies.
Ji Ya worked overtime until New Year's Eve, and then had a few days off. She didn't need to go to the hospital unless there was something wrong.
Seeing that the girl still looked worried, Gu Xi checked the time and thought that her sister-in-law should be back soon. She stood up and said, "I'll go out and take a look."
"Big sister, please sit down." Xu Yuansheng reached out and pressed her down. "It's cold outside, let me go."
Gu Xi smiled helplessly and didn't insist. She called out to her, "Remember to use an umbrella and wear gloves, don't get cold."
After Xu Yuansheng left, Qiao Hui smiled and said, "Yuansheng is very responsible, she takes good care of you."
Not only does she habitually protect her younger sister Xu Huaisheng, but she also treats Gu Xi, the older sister, like a "younger sister," caring for her two sisters like a mother hen.
However, she could understand. Xu Yuansheng seemed quite strong and independent, with a chivalrous spirit, and he was used to taking care of the weak. In her eyes, Xu Huaisheng was small, and Gu Xi was weak.
Gu Xi touched her nose and said, "Yuan Sheng is indeed a very responsible girl."
Perhaps it was because Xu Yuansheng was young before, and she, as the eldest sister, always protected her. Now that she's grown up, is a financially independent adult, and knows that she's not in good health, she feels a protective instinct towards herself.
Gu Xi had already seen this protective instinct in Shen Mingzheng and Gu Yuanyang, and now with the addition of Xu Yuansheng, she began to wonder if she herself gave off a weak and pitiful feeling.
I don't think so.
She felt that she was quite strong and that with brute force, she could definitely take on three people at once.
As they were talking, Xu Yuansheng returned.
There was another person behind her, Ji Ya, who had just returned from get off work.
Ji Ya was covered in snow; her hat, scarf, and military overcoat were all white. She stood at the doorway and reached out to brush the snow off her clothes.
"Mom, you're back!"
Gu Tuantuan ran over happily, but Xu Huaisheng stopped her, saying, "Tuantuan, your mother is covered in snow, you'll get cold. Wait a little longer."
Gu Xi helped brush the snow off her sister-in-law, asking, "Sister-in-law, why didn't you use an umbrella?"
"I was riding my bicycle just now, and I didn't use an umbrella because I thought the snow wasn't heavy," Ji Ya smiled gently. "Who knew that the snow would get so heavy after I got back here."
She had gone home to park her bicycle before coming over, and because she was wearing a hat, she didn't use an umbrella.
After brushing off most of the snow, Ji Ya came in, still feeling the chill, and sat down by the fire to warm herself.
Xu Huaisheng poured her a cup of ginger and jujube tea.
Gu Tuantuan snuggled up to her mother; she missed her mother terribly after not seeing her for a day.
After drinking a cup of ginger and jujube tea, Ji Ya finally felt better. Xu Huaisheng poured her another cup and told her to hold it in her hands to warm them.
When she saw Qiao Hui inside the room, she couldn't help but be stunned.
However, considering that Chief of Staff Gao should be spending the New Year with the soldiers, Gu Xi could understand why she called her over.
Gu Xi said, "Chief of Staff Gao and Qiao Hui also came to eat today, so it's more lively with so many people."
Ji Ya nodded. "I see."
It's certainly lively with lots of people. Although she's not one to enjoy crowds, the liveliness at her sister-in-law's place is very warm and inviting, and it's something she really longs for.
Qiao Hui smiled and said, "Dr. Ji, you've really worked hard, having to work on New Year's Eve."
"It's nothing, just serving the people." Ji Ya returned a smile, then looked at the child in her arms, her eyes lighting up with laughter, "It's been a few months, and the child has grown so much?"
As a military doctor, she was very busy, so busy that she had little time to visit and connect with the families in the family compound. This was the second time she had seen Qiao Hui since her child was born; the first time was at the hospital.
Qiao Hui and Ji Ya started chatting. Since they were both mothers, they inevitably talked about raising children. Coincidentally, both of their children were daughters, so they had even more to talk about.
Qiao Hui was raising a daughter for the first time and wanted to learn some experience from her.
Gu Xi, Xu Yuansheng, Xu Huaisheng, and Gu Tuantuan had absolutely no interest in this topic. The four girls sat together, listening to the radio and chatting about other things, occasionally glancing towards the door, waiting for the men to return so they could have their New Year's Eve dinner together.
All the ingredients are ready, and we're just waiting for them to come back.
Gu Xi glanced at her watch and couldn't help but ask, "Sister-in-law, what time will my brother and the others be back?"
Only Ji Ya knows this; the others have no experience with it.
Ji Ya said, "I usually come back around six or seven o'clock."
“It won’t be long.” Xu Huaisheng’s spirits lifted. “It’s almost 5:30 now. My brother-in-law and the others will be home in another half hour.”
"Should we make some preparations first?" Xu Yuansheng asked.
Gu Xi nodded, "Let's get ready. First, light the charcoal stove and put it in the main room. Then, put some food that can withstand long cooking times in the pot so they can start eating as soon as they come back."
Xu Yuansheng naturally listened to her and got up to do his work.
Seeing this, Ji Ya also went over to help.
Xu Yuansheng used iron tongs to put the burning charcoal from the hearth into a rusty iron basin, carried it to the main room, and then put the charcoal into a small clay stove and placed it on the table.
Gu Xi poured the milky white bone broth into a pot, placed it on a small clay stove, and then added some ingredients that could withstand long cooking times to stew.
Ji Ya originally wanted to go over and help, but found that there were already a lot of clean and chopped vegetables on the table, mostly raw. There were thinly sliced beef, mutton, fish, and pork belly, as well as meatballs and vegetarian meatballs that had been fried that day, and crisp bean sprouts, sliced white radishes, frozen tofu, fried tofu, dried tofu, bean curd sheets and dried bean curd sticks, wood ear fungus, winter melon, pumpkin, and soaked dried vegetables that Xu Yuansheng and her sister had sprouted together...
The ingredients were surprisingly plentiful.
"Sister-in-law, let's have hot pot today." Gu Xi said in a light voice, "There's stewed mutton, some braised meat and fried fish in the pot over there. You can eat whatever you want."
Then he told her which dishes were prepared by Gu Yuanyang and which were brought over by Chief of Staff Gao's family.
Since it was a New Year's Eve dinner prepared by three families together, the dishes were not only plentiful but also plentiful, and there was probably not enough food for everyone.
Ji Ya said, "It's very plentiful."
She couldn't help but exclaim that it was the first time she had eaten such a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, and that so many people were celebrating the New Year together. It made her start to look forward to it and realize that she really enjoyed the lively atmosphere.
It gets dark very quickly, and with the snow, it was already pitch black outside by six o'clock.
When they heard a noise at the door, Xu Huaisheng and Gu Tuantuan couldn't help but run out and call out to the three men who came in.
"Dad, Uncle, Uncle Gao, you're back!"
"Brother-in-law, you're back!"
Gu Xi and Ji Ya went out of the kitchen and came to Shen Mingzheng and Gu Yuanyang respectively. Seeing that they were covered in snowflakes, they reached out to help them brush them off, but the two avoided them.
"It's cold outside, come inside," Shen Mingzheng said to Gu Xi.
Gu Yuanyang's words were similar.
Chief of Staff Gao brushed the snowflakes off his clothes, turned around and looked around. He saw the curtain of the kitchen was lifted, and a burst of hot air came out, revealing Qiao Hui holding a child inside. He finally felt relieved.
Although his wife didn't come out to greet him like other wives, she was holding the baby, so it didn't matter that she didn't come out, lest their daughter get cold.
"The meal is ready, we're just waiting for you to come back," Gu Xi said, inviting them in. "Come in first, have a cup of ginger and jujube tea to warm yourselves up."
The three men obediently went into the kitchen.
The kitchen was very warm, and after drinking a bowl of hot ginger and jujube tea, the chill from the journey seemed to disappear.
Noticing that Shen Mingzheng was still holding something, Gu Xi asked curiously, "What is this?"
He gave her the things, saying, "They were issued by the army; everyone gets one."
Gu Xi looked at them and saw that they were enamel mugs, towels, washbasins, etc. Then she looked at Gu Yuanyang and Gao Wenbin and saw that they were also holding the same things. They were probably distributed at the end of the year.
Once they've calmed down, we'll go to the main room together for New Year's Eve dinner.
The main room wasn't as warm as the kitchen, but there were many people there today. A small clay stove on the table was simmering vegetables, the milky white soup bubbling away. A pot of stewed mutton was heating on an iron coal stove near the door, and the aroma of the food filled the room. The cloth curtain at the door blocked out the raging cold wind and snow, so even if some wind blew in, it wasn't too cold.
The eight-immortal table was very large, and a group of people sat together, enjoying their New Year's Eve dinner in a lively atmosphere.
Shen Mingzheng cooked some beef and mutton for Gu Xi. The meat was sliced very thinly and cooked quickly in the pot. Dipped in the sauce that Gu Xi had specially prepared, the meat was exceptionally tender and chewy.
Gao Wenbin took a bite of the mutton slice dipped in sauce and exclaimed, "This meat is sliced so thinly, whose knife skills are so good?"
Instantly, Xu Yuansheng, Qiao Hui, and the others all looked at Gu Xi.
Gu Xi said with a smile, "I cut all the meat." She was strong, and even frozen meat could be sliced thinly as long as the knife was sharp enough.
Gao Wenbin couldn't help but admire her. Although he knew she was quite strong, he still felt it was rather incongruous every time he saw her overly delicate and beautiful face and her thin body.
If anyone were to fight her, they probably wouldn't stand a chance against her punch.
This woman is quite the strongwoman.
"Actually, it can also be used for grilling meat." Gu Xi continued, "Replace the pot with an iron plate or iron mesh, put the meat on it to grill, dip it in sauce and wrap it with vegetables to eat. If you want to eat grilled meat later, you can try it. There is a clean iron plate in the kitchen."
"Okay, let's have barbecue."
Xu Yuansheng, Ji Ya, and Qiao Hui all responded enthusiastically, as they had never eaten like this before.
So after finishing the hot pot, the women deliberately saved some room in their stomachs, and then switched to a hot plate to grill meat.
The barbecue was indeed a unique and delicious dish, and everyone praised it highly, finding the New Year's Eve dinner to be both novel and tasty.
Gao Wenbin was whispering to his wife that Commander Shen's wife really knew how to eat, and that they had come to the right place, when Qiao Hui stuffed a bite of roasted meat into his mouth, telling him to shut up.
Gu Xi didn't eat much; she ate two pieces of grilled meat and then left.
She helped Qiao Hui hold the baby so she could eat in peace. Then she and Gu Tuantuan, who had already finished eating, sat in front of the fire pit to warm themselves. The two aunt and niece listened to the radio and chatted about all sorts of childlike things, which made people laugh.
Gu Xi felt that some of the children's ideas were indeed very vivid and interesting, and could be recorded and compiled into children's storybooks.
Soon, others came over to warm themselves by the fire, chatting and laughing.
Ji Ya said, "On New Year's Eve, the military usually has movies, and there are also performances in the auditorium. Do you want to go see them?" She checked the time, "But the movies end at 7:30, so it'll probably be over by now. You can go to the auditorium to watch the performance instead."
Gu Xi turned to her two younger sisters and asked, "Do you want to go see it?"
Xu Yuansheng hesitated.
Xu Huaisheng said excitedly, "Big sister, I want to go see it, will you come with me?" There used to be some performances in the village, and she loved watching them since she was a child. The performances in the army must be very good, right?
Gu Xi shook her head, "It's too cold, I won't go."
She wasn't interested in performances from that era; they weren't appealing enough to her. Besides, the weather outside was so cold that she felt chilled to the bone after going out. She didn't want to suffer like that.
Qiao Hui took her daughter back from Gu Xi's arms and shook her head, saying, "I'm not going either, it's too cold outside." The child is still too young to be taken out.
Hearing what they all said, Xu Yuansheng said, "Then I won't go either."
Since no one wanted to go out in this weather, Xu Huaisheng had no choice but to give up.
Gu Xi comforted her, "Don't worry, there will be many more performances in the army in the future. When the weather is warmer, I'll go with you to see them."
Hearing her say that, Xu Huaisheng quickly cheered up again.
Qiao Hui, who was listening to their conversation, looked somewhat surprised. Judging from Gu Xi's words, did that mean that Xu Yuansheng and her sister would stay in the army and not go home?
She always felt that Gu Xi treated Xu Yuansheng and Xu Huaisheng, the two sisters, like her own younger sisters, and was very close to them.
But they have different surnames, and the three sisters look nothing alike; you can't tell they are related by blood.
Although Qiao Hui was puzzled, she did not ask anything rashly.
In fact, she had heard Sister Zhu say privately that many people in the family compound were gossiping that Gu Xi's two younger sisters from her hometown had been staying in the army for quite a while, and even planned to stay for the New Year. No one knew when they would leave.
What kind of older sister would come and stay at the home of her older sister and brother-in-law who have only been married for six months and don't have children yet?
Just then, Gu Xi asked Ji Ya, "Sister-in-law, after the New Year, I'm thinking of sending Huaisheng to a junior high school in the army. Is there anything I need to prepare?"
Ji Ya was not surprised to hear this and said, "The junior high school admission in the army is not strict. Many children from nearby villages come to study. If Huaisheng wants to enroll, he can register three days before the start of the school year."
Qiao Hui was surprised, "Huaisheng will be studying here after she gives birth?"
Gu Xi paused for a moment, then nodded and said frankly, "Yuansheng and Huaisheng will live here from now on."
Qiao Hui became increasingly confused.
Xu Yuansheng glanced at her, knowing that her sister hadn't told Qiao Hui and Ji Ya about her situation, and they didn't know what she was doing at the military base. She had only accepted them easily because of her older sister, and hadn't asked them why they were there or why they had stayed at the base.
She felt there was nothing wrong with sharing her own experiences, so she took the initiative to tell them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
