Lin's father watched Wu Jie's hurried departure and smiled slightly, keeping his merits and fame hidden.
Carrying his teacup, he strolled slowly home.
On the way, they ran into Lin's mother, who was bringing them food, and she greeted her, "Go home and eat!"
Lin's mother looked at him suspiciously and said reproachfully, "There's also some for the second son!"
Lin's father pulled Lin's mother towards home, muttering, "He still has the nerve to eat? He's been following his father for so many years, and he can't even compare to Lu Kai, let alone Xiao Gu! Eat? He might as well starve!"
Lin's mother was dragged home by him, both amused and exasperated. Behind Lin's father's back, she had Lin Hong deliver the food to Lin Feng. As for Lin Feng's complaint that dinner had turned into a late-night snack.
Lin's mother said that it was good enough to have something to eat.
Lin's father didn't hide anything from Gu Zhiyuan either.
The next day, he told him to have Wu Jie call Beijing and ask someone to take a look. If his problem wasn't too serious, they could see if they could find a way to resolve the issue of his social class.
Once the ingredient issue is resolved, all other problems will naturally cease to be problems.
Gu Zhiyuan was naturally extremely grateful.
Seeing that Gu Zhiyuan seemed to have something difficult to say, Lin's father knew that there must be a story behind this issue of class background.
It wasn't good to ask too many questions. Seeing that Gu Zhiyuan wasn't in a good mood, and given the unclear situation at the machinery factory, they decided to let him stay home for the next few days to read more books and draw more diagrams, and wait until they had more accurate information about him before making any further questions.
Gu Zhiyuan readily agreed.
He's been out long enough, and although Xu Ningyan was part of the reason, the brigade granted him leave.
But if he doesn't go back and show up soon, the brigade might not be able to keep things under control.
After leaving the Lin family, Gu Zhiyuan tidied up his things briefly and went to the department store to find Xu Ningyan.
When she went back last time, she brought some medicinal herbs that the members of the Tuanjie Brigade had picked up on the mountain, and also a large basket of plums from the old plum trees in the brigade to the county town.
The plums on this plum tree are so sour and astringent when they are green, but when they are half green and half red, they are sweet and sour, with a unique flavor.
When it turns completely red, even a bit purplish, it's truly ripe. That's when it's sweet with a slight hint of sourness, both appetizing and refreshing.
This is the first batch of ripe fruit picked in the brigade. Xu Ningyan was asked to take it to the county town to test the waters and see if they would buy it here and if it could be sold.
When they arrived in the county town, before they even reached the department store, they were bombarded with questions by countless people on the street.
Hearing that the plums were sold to the department store by the lower-level team, many people followed Xu Ningyan directly to the department store, urging them to quickly buy the plums so they could put them out to sell.
A huge basket of plums was sold out before the department store staff could even keep any for themselves.
Now, not only are customers urging him to come back, but even those in the department store who have tried one or two are still thinking about it and are asking Xu Ningyan when he will return to the Tuanjie Brigade to bring back several large baskets of fruit.
Xu Ningyan realized that the whole country was experiencing a shortage of supplies at this time.
Although life in the countryside is a bit tough, the food options are definitely more plentiful than in the city.
So as long as it's available and transported to the city, it's always popular.
Hearing that Gu Zhiyuan wanted to go back, Xu Ningyan guessed that the next batch of plums in the brigade should be ripe by now, so she readily agreed.
Sure enough, although Gu Zhiyuan had always kept to himself and rarely left his home, people in the brigade could still see him from time to time.
He suddenly disappeared for more than ten days, and everyone had to ask him about it.
Especially after Xu Ningyan went to the county town, he only came back once every six or seven days, and even entrusted the dog to Aunt Xie's care.
Rumors started circulating that Xu Ningyan had gotten a job in the city, and that in just a few days, he rarely came back to the brigade. They wondered if he would never come back.
Didn't you see that she even brought her boyfriend, Gu Zhiyuan, to the city?
The brigade leader and the party secretary were also very worried.
They had heard Xu Ningyan say that Gu Zhiyuan had been noticed by a leader of the county machinery factory and was being taken under his wing to learn.
This was not unexpected for them; they had long seen that Gu Zhiyuan was no ordinary person.
But if they're away from the brigade for so long and someone reports them, they'll all be in trouble.
They could only use Xu Ningyan's contribution to the brigade's revenue to pressure the people in the brigade, but as time went by, they became more and more uncertain.
Seeing the two return, the brigade leader and the party secretary finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Hearing that the plums in their brigade were very popular, the brigade leader didn't bother to ask any further questions and directly arranged for people to pick plums.
Even if the other members of the Unity Brigade had other ideas, they had no more thoughts after seeing the money Xu Ningyan brought back.
Back in the courtyard, which had been uninhabited for a long time, a layer of dust had settled on it.
The two tidied up for a while, taking off all the sheets and blankets, and Gu Zhiyuan carried them directly to the river to wash them.
Xu Ningyan tidied up the kitchen and started cooking.
I brought meat with me this time, and with the vegetables from my private plot, thanks to the help of Aunt Xie and the team leader in watering them, the vegetables are growing quite well, except for the weeds being a bit too tall.
Cucumbers with their blossoms and thorns still attached can be washed in the river and eaten raw. They are crisp with a slight astringency, making them incredibly refreshing.
The tomatoes were growing well, and the heavy fruit bent the branches. Because no one had picked them for a long time, the ground was covered with a layer of ripe tomatoes.
This type of tomato is a variety that Xu Ningyan has only seen in books. When it turns red, the flesh inside is sandy and juicy. If you take a bite, the juice can spray out a long way. It is very delicious.
I also picked eggplants and peppers, and pinched off a handful of water spinach.
Wash the cucumber, smash it, add minced garlic, vinegar, and sesame oil, mix it all together, and it's very refreshing.
Wash the tomatoes, cut them into wedges, arrange them on a plate, and sprinkle a layer of white sugar on top.
Sweet and sour tomatoes dipped in white sugar are so delicious you can eat them slice by slice without getting tired of them.
Especially the leftover tomato juice with melted sugar, that's a favorite among children, and they all fight over it.
Eggplant and peppers are stir-fried in a pan over low heat without oil until they change color and soften. Then oil is added, and the color immediately darkens. They become shiny and fragrant.
Water spinach with minced garlic, stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
Xu Ningyan showed off her culinary skills in the kitchen, and the aroma carried by the wind to the riverbank.
Gu Zhiyuan smelled the scent and quickened his pace. He quickly rubbed the sheets and blankets in his hands several times, then pounded them a few times with a mallet before throwing them into the river to rinse them clean.
They scooped it out, wrung it dry, and carried it back to the courtyard to dry.
Completed in one go!
The lackey, drawn by the aroma of the food, appeared out of nowhere.
Both the man and the dog stood guard at the kitchen door, watching Xu Ningyan with longing eyes.
By the time the stir-fried vegetables were ready, the rice cooked in a small pot was also just right.
The meal was still set out under the camphor tree, and Gu Zhiyuan finally got to eat Xu Ningyan's cooking, which he hadn't enjoyed in a long time.
It is said that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
Gu Zhiyuan used to be not picky about food, as long as it filled his stomach.
I only realized that eating can be a pleasure after I ate the food cooked by Xu Ningyan.
These days in the county town, what he misses most is the food Xu Ningyan cooked.
The dishes were simple, home-style fare, not the work of a professional chef, but they unexpectedly suited his taste.
Now that Xu Ningyan's health has gradually recovered, and with no more working on the ground and plenty of oily food, her appetite has decreased.
He put down his chopsticks after eating two bowls of rice.
Gu Zhiyuan, on the other hand, looked thin, but after Xu Ningyan finished eating, he quickly finished off the rest of the food.
Despite eating so much food, my stomach is still flat; I have no idea where all the food went.
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