Chapter 103

Celery Paste Noodles

"Brother, do you really want to wash my pants for me?" Erdan said when he saw Nie Weimin busy taking off the quilt and mattress on the kang.

"Yes, I will wash your clothes today. However, I have an especially important task that needs you and Sandan to complete together. I just don't know if you can complete it."

"Well, you said it, we promise to complete the task."

Nie Weimin climbed to the corner of the kang, dug and wiggled, and finally pulled out a board. He handed it to Erdan and said, "Go, find a place outside and bring me a basin of mud. I can use it. Then throw this board far away from me."

After flipping through the boxes, he took out some candies from somewhere, handed them to Erdan and said, "Okay, this is for you two, take it."

Erdan took the candy, hugged a piece of board, took Sandan with him, and the two of them ran away.

"An Embroidered Shoe, The Second Handshake, Hey, this is The Green Corpse, Comrade Xiao Nie, when Section Chief Feng came to search just now, he even pinched the corner of your quilt, how come he didn't find these books? I found out how capable you are, huh?"

Chen Lina had always thought that Xiao Nie was a very careful boy, but she was still stunned when she saw him take out these books from the kang hole.

"These are all the things that reporter Guo left for me. From today on, you should burn them all."

Of course, admitting mistakes requires physical practice. The skinny comrade Nie carried the quilt cover and quilt lining, as well as his, Erdan's, and Sandan's clothes, to the tap in the corner, turned on the water, and began to scrub vigorously.

"I have to tell you that, except for The Girl's Heart, you can put all the other books in your father's study. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't read all the books that are banned from the market. Take this book Green Corpse. I don't deny that some of the things in it are too dark.

But I believe that when you read more books and combine them with the real life you experience, you will definitely learn how to distinguish right from wrong.

Rather than being led by the three views instilled in you by the author, so, I can confiscate this book, but it does not mean that it is a crime for you to read it, understand? But "Girl's Heart"..."

"Okay, okay, I've only seen it once, and I promise I'll never see it again. Can we just let this go?" Nie Weimin became angry and rubbed Erdan's dirty pants on the washboard, making a loud rustling sound.

"Aunt, are you there?" Someone suddenly knocked on the door, the voice was quite loud.

"Comrade Xiao Chen, please open the door. It's Liu Xiaohong. Oh no, it's our classmate Wang Sitian." Nie Weimin was delighted when he heard the voice. He shook the water droplets on his hands, stood up and said, "Aren't our radishes ready to eat? Let's peel some for lunch. She loves them."

"Okay, do you need to tell me?" Chen Lina said, got up and opened the door.

Liu Xiaohong, who was only a few months younger than Nie Weimin, was also a grown-up girl. The clothes she wore now were all left behind by the educated youth when they left. She rolled them up and tucked them in. The grass-green cloth was patched with several strips of rivets. Her braids were long and black, and her skin was as white as a handful of green onions.

"Aunt, this is the sketch my dad asked me to give you. He asked if it's okay to build a drying house like this. Also, he said he borrowed 30,000 yuan from a credit union to build a greenhouse. If the grapes don't sell well this time, our whole family will have to beg for food. So, if you don't go to work, you really have to go." She said a long string of things.

"I will, of course I will. I will go to work after this weekend. But where did you get these shoes? They are very beautiful. Who made them for you?"

"My mother bought it for me. Yesterday, we went to the mining area and found that there were many street vendors. Aunt, weren't street vendors prohibited before? Why are there street vendors everywhere now?"

If we talk about major historic changes in the past two generations, there really aren't that many. However, the free sale of goods in the previous generation was only allowed after 1978, and even then, most people still do things quietly, and overall business is still mainly state-owned.

But in this lifetime, it is only 75 years now, and the entire policy has become much more flexible.

"There will probably be more and more people setting up stalls in the future. Your shoes are probably made by someone who can't wear them all and is selling them."

"Of course."

"Tell me what you want to eat for lunch and I'll make it for you," said Chen Lina.

Liu Xiaohong glanced at Nie Weimin and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"I want to eat noodles with celery pulp. The celery pulp my mother makes is not bitter at all, but sour. Mix it with radish and stir-fry some shredded potatoes. It is the most delicious." said Nie Weimin.

Liu Xiaohong rolled up her sleeves and said, "You and I are on the same page. OK, I'll wash your clothes, and you go peel potatoes for my aunt. Remember to peel them cleanly. The potatoes are sprouting now. If you don't peel them cleanly, we will all be poisoned if we eat them."

Xiao Nie was too lazy to do the laundry, so he rinsed his hands with running water and ran to the backyard. "Okay, I'll pick some radish for you to satisfy your hunger. The radish in my house is the sweetest in the whole mining area."

"Nie Weimin, come back here and do your own thing. Xiaohong will help you wash the clothes. If you don't do it, I will tell your dad about your reading."

Nie Weimin stood there in shock as if struck by lightning. “You said it was my privacy and you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

"That was when I was in a good mood. You were being cunning and not doing your job. When I was in a bad mood, I couldn't help but say nonsense."

"Comrade Xiao Chen, are all women so unreasonable?" Xiao Nie was about to collapse with anger.

"Really? You're so unreasonable. You do whatever you want based on your mood." Chen Lina shook her long hair and took Liu Xiaohong into the house.

"Aunt, there's a noodle machine. You have such a good thing, why don't you use it? Why do you have to roll the noodles by hand?" Liu Xiaohong asked when she saw a small noodle machine on the stove.

Chen Lina took a look and said with a smile, "Your uncle saw that the state-owned store had it, but he couldn't get a ticket, so he went to the motorcycle factory and made one for me. But after using it for a few days, I found that it was not easy to use and it took a lot of effort. It's not as practical as rolling the noodles myself."

Liu Xiaohong really thought it was a luxury and thought, if only my grandmother had one like this, she wouldn't have to work so hard rolling noodles every day.

Chen Lina said, "When we leave, carry him to your house. Your grandfather has strong hands and he doesn't have anything to do anyway, so let him make some dough for you."

"Thank you, auntie."

"By the way, I heard from Wei Min that you need to register for junior high school, and you are going to change your surname and given name at the same time. Just pick a name that you think is good. Anyway, you are grown up now, and the decision is yours."

"Her name is Wang Sitian, any other name doesn't sound nice. Classmate Sitian, am I right?" Nie Weimin had just finished washing the clothes in a hurry, his hands were all covered in mud, and he was about to paste up the kang he had hollowed out when he said this at the kitchen door.

"Why is it Sitian? Isn't that the same name as Tiantian?" Liu Xiaohong asked back.

Chen Lina also looked at Nie Weimin and said, "Yes, how come she has the same name as Tiantian?"

"It's just, remembering the bitterness and thinking about the sweetness. How could I have thought that it has the same name as Chen Tiantian?"

"It's okay, this name is pretty good. When Tiantian and I go out, people always ask us if we are sisters. From now on, I will call myself Sitian. Thank you Weimin, this name sounds nice."

Nie Weimin turned around to leave, and with a casual glance, he saw Chen Lina staring at him with a half-smile.

The young man almost jumped up and thought to himself, what's wrong with me?

Nie Gong also went home for dinner today. When he saw Liu Xiaohong, he asked a few more questions, such as whether your mother still has the same temper, whether she has been angry about Niu Niu recently, whether the child still doesn't let others hold her, and so on.

Of course Liu Xiaohong denied them one by one.

In fact, after Chen Lina scolded her last time, Chen Lili became much more obedient when she returned home, and Niu Niu was willing to be held by others, and she no longer mind her parents' dirty hands. Of course, when I calmed down and thought about it, Xiaohong was such a good girl. Since I adopted her home, she has never worried about money and is very good at everything. When I think about the fact that I almost returned her, I feel ashamed to death.

Look, occasionally when he goes back to the mining area, he is willing to buy Liu Xiaohong new clothes and a pair of shoes.

But no matter how good she appears to be on the surface, she always favors the one she gave birth to.

On the contrary, it was Mr. and Mrs. Chen Bingcang and He Lan'er who were dreaming about their daughter having a child all the time when their daughter didn't have a child. Now that Chen Lili has a child, they found that Xiaohong was more caring than Chen Lili.

Therefore, from Chen Bingcang to He Laner, and then to Wang Hongbing, they really treated Xiaohong as their own daughter and raised her.

Children's minds are so sensitive. Liu Xiaohong took the initiative to change her own name, which shows that she already regards herself as a member of the Wang family.

"Remember, if Chen Lili dares to lose her temper again, you can move in with me and go to school with Wei Min and Wei Guo. The teaching quality of our mining area middle school is not bad. Your aunt and I are paid well now. It will be no problem for us to support the four of you to go to college."

Chen Lina raised her salary, and now it is 220 yuan a month, and the workers have also become more wealthy.

"Thank you, uncle." said Liu Xiaohong.

"Sitian, Sitian, Wang Sitian, wait for me. I have something good to give you." Nie Weimin said as he pulled Tiantian into his room. He rummaged around in the box for a long time and pulled out a few army green schoolbags. "My dad brought them back from Beijing. He originally wanted me to carry them. I'm giving them to you."

It’s just a schoolbag. Liu Xiaohong pushed it away and said, “I don’t want it.”

"No, why don't you want to take it when I give it to you?"

"I heard from Tiantian that you had a schoolbag for her and she had been waiting for it. The day before yesterday when we went to the mining area, her mother wanted to buy her a schoolbag, but she refused to take it."

"You two can each take one. I'll carry my old schoolbag. Look, hers is right here."

Well, he knelt on the kang and took out another pink one from the box. In fact, this was what Nie Gong bought for Liu Xiaohong when he was on a business trip. He gave his to Liu Xiaohong and gave Liu Xiaohong's to Tiantian.

"Do you like the pink one?" Nie Weimin circled the other one and said, "How about giving the green one to Tiantian?"

"I like the green one, give the pink one to Tiantian." Liu Xiaohong said, and took the green one.

At noon, as long as the worker is at home, the whole family will take a nap as usual.

Erdan was the only one who never took a nap. He was always busy washing dishes in the kitchen with Liu Xiaohong, and chatting quietly.

"Remember to wake me up in the afternoon. I can't be idle anymore. I have to go to the mine in the afternoon." Chen Lina said to the worker before closing her eyes.

"Why do you want to go to the mines?"

"Although the higher-ups are doing their best to rectify the situation and resume classes and jobs, in fact, these have little to do with us. What matters to us is the middle-level leaders. I have to admit that pornographic books like "Girl's Heart" should be banned from circulation.

But once they are found to be distributing it, they will be publicly criticized or shot. This is like stealing a cabbage and then using a cannon to attack it. This is not right."

"I thought you caused a scene on the playground today. Wang Fan didn't need to be sentenced to prison. You only had to spend a few days in detention. Your goal was achieved. It seems that you wanted to reform the policies of the mining area."

"I am not the only one who can bring about this reform. This may seem like a public movement, but in fact, the people behind the scenes are definitely hiding some unspeakable secret. Don't worry, I will completely eradicate this kind of thing from the mining area. I don't care about arresting and killing people for a pornographic book or a videotape, but I will never allow this kind of absurdity to happen in other places, but it will never happen in the mining area."

"My son, you didn't see that, did you?" Nie Gong suddenly sat up, and he was determined as if officials were allowed to set fires but ordinary people were not allowed to light lamps. "If he really saw that, I would beat him to death."

"No." Chen Lina said decisively.

The precise robot worker only sleeps for 30 minutes at noon every day, falling asleep in one second and waking up automatically after the end of the sleep period. This is to ensure that he has enough energy when working in the afternoon. Generally speaking, he will not waste this half hour.

But today, the worker couldn't sleep.

"You said, the Book of Songs begins with "Guan Sui". Is it really because of this that little hooligans should find a partner?" So he wanted to tease his lover.

But I have to say, even if he had been able to date Xiao Chen and walk around the woods, he would have been very excited.

Xiao Chen closed his eyes and smiled. "That was what my pen pal An Heshan told me. He said that in our old days, when children studied, they first learned the Three Hundred Thousand, which are the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Names and Thousand Character Classic. Then, they should learn the Book of Songs. Whenever the teachers were going to talk about Guan Sui, they would say that there are beautiful women and golden things in books. At any time, beautiful women are better than golden houses. When studying, one should yearn for and respect beautiful women. Lao Nie, Lao Nie, not everyone is like you, with only Marxism-Leninism in their hearts but no love. Our ancients had a much better grasp of human nature than you. Therefore, sensible children can learn from this lesson how to respect women and love their wives and children."

"Well, if anything happens, tell me. Hong Jinbu has been transferred from the Tarim Prison to the Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau. He is in the Security Bureau. If there is any trouble at the Mining District Public Security Office, I will say hello from the Autonomous Region."

"Okay." Chen Lina said, and it was time to fall asleep.

Unexpectedly, Lao Nie suddenly said, "You know, I read "Jin Ping Mei" when I was a child."

"Ah?" Miss Chen opened her eyes instantly.

When Nie Gong saw Chen Lina looking at him as if she was watching a pornographic film, he immediately said, "Everyone should read that book because it reflects the political and economic conditions at the time."

"I heard it was a strange and erotic book. I read it for a long time but didn't find any explicit descriptions. But there was a dish in it that left a deep impression on me. Wang'er's wife Song Huilian used only a bowl of soy sauce, fennel and a large piece of firewood to roast a pig's head. I drooled every time I read it."

"Okay, if you really want to eat it, come to the farm some other day and I'll roast one for you." Chen Lina suddenly remembered that the rotten pig head of the pig that was killed years ago was still hanging on the farm.

Hmm, roasting a bacon head with a piece of firewood makes me drool just thinking about it.

"I've seen the uncut version." Chen Lina swallowed her saliva and said something that shocked the worker so much that he sat up.

"Oh, the battle between Ximen Daguanren and Pan Jinlian was so vivid and lively. Lao Nie, Lao Nie, "Jin Ping Mei" is really our national quintessence. You have to believe that the meaning is more fragrant than the physical fight. That feeling is much more beautiful than the short film you showed me. It's a pity that you haven't seen it."

"Don't say that again, or I'll report you to the mining district, you female hooligan..."

In broad daylight, the female hooligan really acted like a hooligan, scaring the worker to death. Of course, he was probably also very happy.