Seeing Jiang Chunzao's stunned look, Zhao's wife became more motivated to gossip, and she talked about a lot of gossip about Fang Man, such as how Fang Man was not popular in the military area, and no one liked her at school either; also, how Fang Man was too picky in the past few years and looked down on everyone, but in the end she got married while pregnant, which was really embarrassing.
Mrs. Zhao chatted with Jiang Chunzao for a long time, drank up the tea at Lu's house, and then went home with a reluctant heart. Before leaving, Jiang Chunzao stuffed some snacks and candies at home to Mrs. Zhao. Mrs. Zhao has a ten-year-old son named Qiangqiang. The little guy likes to eat sweet candies the most. During this period, Qiangqiang played with the two kids at home. Jiang Chunzao also liked Qiangqiang very much. Every time Mrs. Zhao came home, she would not forget to give Qiangqiang some delicious food.
Mrs. Zhao also knew that Jiang Chunzao was good to her own Qiangqiang. With this favor in mind, she did not refuse and went home with the basket on her arm, smiling.
Jiang Chunzao sent the people to the door, and after seeing Mrs. Zhao go out, he also went home. He went to the kitchen to find the sweet potatoes he brought from his hometown, washed them, and planned to make sweet potato shreds for the two children in the evening.
It was a clear and sunny autumn day. Jiang Chunzao had been busy for most of the day. By the time Lu Lin returned home from the army, the two children, Shitou and Moli, had already started eating the sweet sugar-coated sweet potatoes.
The two kids at home had sweet sugar-coated sweet potatoes to eat, and Captain Lu also had his own little happiness. His wife knew that he liked to eat fish, so she specially slaughtered a big carp caught from the river, cleaned it, and boiled it into a milky white fish soup.
Captain Lu drank the milky white fish soup, ate the freshly steamed white flour buns made by his young wife, and listened to the chattering of his children. The smile on his face never disappeared. A wife, children, and a warm bed, this is how he is enjoying his wonderful life now.
~
The Lu family lives a warm life, but the atmosphere in Captain Fang's home is very solemn.
Captain Fang's grandmother, Old Lady Fang, was like a landlady. She sat on the kang with her old legs crossed and talked incessantly:
"Jianshe, today I'm going to tell you this, your sister is getting married for the first time, and it's also the first time for our Fang family to marry a daughter of a noble family. You are the eldest brother, the eldest son of our Fang family, and also a battalion commander, so you have to be generous with your sister's dowry!
Apart from other things, your sister must have everything that a daughter of a military family should have, such as a new quilt, a new hot water bottle, a washbasin, a towel, etc. These are all necessary. Also, you should prepare 66 yuan as a dowry for your sister. As the old saying goes, 66 yuan for a dowry means a smooth life. Also, Xiaoman's belly is getting bigger, so you should prepare a bicycle for your sister, a good one, a Phoenix brand, so that your sister can ride to and from get off work..."
Old Mrs. Fang kept nagging, and even wanted Captain Fang to give Fang Man a set of new furniture as a dowry. This made Captain Fang very confused. My god, his mother must have thought that he was a rich landlord. The new quilt covers and new blankets were acceptable, but the 66 yuan for a new bicycle and new furniture was too much.
Captain Fang had a headache, but he still resisted the urge to interrupt Old Lady Fang. After all, they were his own mother and sister. What could he say?
However, Mrs. Fang next to her sneered after hearing what her mother-in-law said. Fang Man was originally complacent, holding her belly and laughing on the kang, but suddenly she saw Mrs. Fang sneering, and she got angry all of a sudden, jumped up and angrily said to Mrs. Fang:
"What are you laughing at!"
"What are you laughing at? I can cry even if I don't laugh. What's the matter? You, Fang Man, control everything and even people's shit and farts!" Ever since returning from her parents' home, Mrs. Fang's temper has become more and more aggressive. There were several times when Fang Man provoked her and made Mrs. Fang cry.
This time Fang Man didn't get any benefit either. She could only hold her belly and complain to her mother:
"Mom! My stomach hurts!"
"Old man, what are you doing? Are you trying to turn the world upside down or something? You are a rebel!"
Old Mrs. Fang hurried over to help the angry young lady sit down, and then she turned around and scolded Mrs. Fang.
"How can you be such a sister-in-law! Xiaoman is your sister-in-law. This is the first time our Fang family has married off a daughter of a noble family. And this is how you, as the eldest sister-in-law, should behave!"
Mrs. Fang said with a "tsk" in surprise:
"Mom, our Fang family only has one daughter-in-law. This is the first time you are marrying off a daughter-in-law. How many more times do you want to marry off a daughter-in-law? Besides, our whole family lives in the mountains. Buy Fang Man a bicycle and let her carry it back and forth every day!"
"you!"
Old Lady Fang made Sister Fang so angry that her head was smoking. She slapped Captain Fang on the head and jumped up and down and cursed:
"Fang Jianshe! You son of a bitch, this is the good wife you married! And you just watch your own mother and sister being bullied, you bastard!"
Captain Fang was grimacing after being slapped by his own mother, and could only say aggrievedly:
"Mom, what are you doing? Your daughter-in-law is pregnant with our Fang family's baby."
What!
Is your daughter-in-law pregnant?
Old Mrs. Fang glared at the old man, but the next second she smiled and said, "Oh, this is really good news. The eldest daughter has been silent for several years since she gave birth to Mingming."
Old Mrs. Fang had been looking forward to having a grandson for a long time, and finally she was looking forward to Mrs. Fang getting pregnant. She immediately became a different person, squinting her old eyes and asking Mrs. Fang about her well-being. Fang Man was so angry that she pulled her mother a few times, wanting to talk to her mother about the dowry.
As a result, Mrs. Fang gave Fang Man a lot of criticism, and in the end Fang Man could only go home with a grudge.
~
I don't know how the Fang family discussed it, but in the end Fang Man's dowry was the same as most families in the military region married off their daughters, which was a new set of clothes, a new pair of shoes, two new quilts, and a new warm kettle, a new washbasin, towels, etc. Battalion Commander Fang also prepared all of these for his sister, plus a dowry of twenty yuan.
In fact, Fang Man's dowry was considered pretty good for the military. That was how girls got married these days. And this was in the military. The family had to rely on the army allowance to afford a decent dowry. If it were in the mountains, let alone new clothes and quilts, the most a girl in the mountains would get was a new cotton jacket and she would be married off.
The sisters-in-law in the military district all said that Mrs. Fang and her husband were kind and that the dowry they prepared was very good. Even so, Fang Man was resentful in her heart as she looked at the two new quilts on the kang.
What is this? This shabby thing is called a dowry!
Fang Man resented her family in her heart, and looked at her silly husband beside her, feeling disgusted. In fact, she had always been thinking about Lu Lin. If she hadn't lost her composure after drinking and had sex with her husband, and hadn't had to get married because she got pregnant, she would have looked down on this silly and poor husband!
In fact, Fang Man had thought about it before. She wanted to find an opportunity to hook up with Lu Lin and say that the baby in her belly was Lu Lin's. However, she tried to find opportunities to go to the army several times, but she couldn't see Lu Lin every time. She secretly asked people and found out that the family of her beloved brother Lu had come. In addition to being in the army, Lu Lin went home early every day to be with his wife and children.
Where can she go to catch people?
Fang Man got married with great reluctance. When she returned home, she wanted to walk around the door of Lu's house with her bulging belly. However, Fang's wife watched her closely that day. She didn't even go out of the house, let alone the front door!
Thinking of this, Fang Man became angry again.
We will not discuss this matter for now, and now let's talk about the Lu family. Because Jiang Chunzao had creatively made a dish of candied sweet potato for the two kids, and sent some to Mrs. Zhao's house, after the little foodie Qiangqiang ate it, all the little foodies in the military district ran to the Lu family one by one.
The little foodies ran to Lu's house without saying a word, just staring at Jiang Chunzao. Jiang Chunzao didn't understand at first, but after listening to what Mrs. Zhao said, she realized that these little foodies came for the sugar-coated sweet potatoes she made.
Jiang Chunzao, who was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, told Lu Lin about it, and Lu Lin also laughed. The next day, the couple took out the sweet potatoes they brought from their hometown, washed them, sprinkled them with sugar to make candied sweet potatoes, and waited for the foodies to come.
When the little foodies came to the house again, they ate Lu's candied sweet potatoes. They were so delicious that they kept asking for more candied sweet potatoes when they got home.
The sisters-in-law in the military area have lived in the mountains for many years and have no idea how to make the pulled sweet potatoes. In desperation, the sisters-in-law could only carry baskets and come to Jiang Chunzao to learn from him.
Jiang Chunzao immediately told his sisters-in-law how to make the sweet potato shreds. After hearing it, the sisters-in-law all said they would go home and try it.
Speaking of which, the sisters-in-law are all very clever and skillful. After going home and following the method taught by Jiang Chunzao, they tried it out for a while and made delicious sugar-coated sweet potatoes.
This made the little foodies at home very happy.
While the sisters-in-law were rewarding the snacks at home, Lu Lin and his wife were not idle either. The military district in the front had allocated them a piece of land, which was as much as one and a half acres. Although the land was not big, their family of four could not eat much food. Besides, they had Lu Lin's allowance, so as long as the food they grew was enough to eat, it would be enough.
These past few days, Lu Lin and his family have been working in the fields from dawn to dusk, hoping to catch up with the end of autumn and plant the last crop of wheat this year.
Jiang Chunzao stayed in the yard every night, hoping that God would open his eyes and it would not rain in the next few days. Fortunately, the weather was good, and after they finally planted the wheat, the autumn rain began to fall.
After finishing the work in the fields, Jiang Chunzao had some free time. In addition to taking care of the vegetables in the garden and the chickens at home, Lu Lin also transplanted a number of fruit trees from the mountain, including pear trees, peach trees and apple trees, all of which were wild on the mountain. Although they were wild, the sisters-in-law said that the fruits tasted good and were delicious.
That morning, it was drizzling outside again. Jiang Chunzao had just taken out the three pounds of meat that Lu Lin had bought from outside when he felt uncomfortable in his stomach. He immediately ran to the yard to vomit.
Lu Lin came out of the house and was extremely nervous when he saw his wife like this. He quickly asked a doctor from the military district to check on his wife. The military doctor took Jiang Chunzao's pulse and said with a smile:
"Congratulations, Captain Lu, there will be another baby in your family."
Lu Lin had just been promoted in the military, from company commander to battalion commander, and Jiang Chunzao was thinking about giving Battalion Commander Lu a good celebration, but then, this gift of appreciation came to his door.
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