Chapter 36

Fried Hairtail

"Xiao Chen, there are hairtails for sale. Come on, grab the hairtails." Sister Wang yelled from next door, and Chen Lina came out of the house immediately. "Are there really hairtails?"

On the beach next door, we had eaten enough beef and mutton, so when we heard that there was other meat, all the family members' eyes lit up, but it was just a few cutlass fish.

"It's right at the gate of the base. They say it's an extra benefit given to us by the mining area. Hurry up and take out your fish tickets. It's strange that they didn't give it out last year. Let's go and grab it quickly." Sister Wang said.

"Mama, mama, let's go catch some fish." Chen Lina said as she quickly flipped through the various tickets in the sewing machine. There were five people in her family, but there were only tickets for three of them. Little Sandan was an unplanned child, so she didn't have a ticket.

She carried Sandan on her back, carried the small bucket, and pulled Erdan along, and then she came out.

"Comrade Xiao Nie, hurry up, why are you dawdling so long? Why aren't you leaving yet?"

"The fish doesn't taste good." Little Nie Weimin slowly tidied up his cotton jacket and pants.

"You said earlier that milk doesn't taste good, so I asked you, is the milk I brew good?"

"That's cheese and yogurt, not milk. I've eaten the fish stuff before, ugh, it's disgusting."

All the family members of the base went out, some carrying buckets or basins, and ran as fast as they could.

The children ran faster than each other.

Probably only Nie Weimin was there, who was really indifferent and was walking slowly behind.

"Then can you please go out first? I have to lock the door."

"Well, what if I can't grab it? Just walk slowly, Comrade Chen, won't you fall down?" Okay, he walked lazily, and saw some fallen dead branches in the yard, so he had to walk slowly and put them on the pile of firewood.

Outside, Mama Ham was knocked down by someone, and Chen Lina quickly helped her up.

The old lady fell down, patted her butt, and ran forward again.

It was icy and snowy, and everyone had a lot of fun falling along the way. It was really a pity that when one child was picked up, another one was knocked down. By the time the four Nie family members, mother and children, arrived in front of the truck, not many people came to pick up their children.

"One ticket gets one fish, but you can't pick and choose. Hey, sister, I told you not to pick and choose. We're handing them out, so you can't pick the big ones."

Sister Wang then let go and waited for the people from the supply and marketing cooperative to give it to her.

As for hairtail, there are definitely big and small ones, and the people in the supply and marketing cooperative don’t favor any one over the other. They only have three fish, two big and one small.

On the way back from getting the fish, Gou'er was still crying because he had hit his head, and the knees of his green military uniform were scratched.

Mama Ham did manage to grab the fish, but she also sprained her waist and had to be helped back by Chen Lina.

Nie Weimin continued to walk slowly. "It's like that. It's better to arrive early than late. Didn't we get the rotten fish and shrimp?"

After returning home, he was still slow and seemed to have no interest in doing anything.

"Wei Min, bring me the reel." Chen Lina called out twice, but there was no sign of Nie Wei Min. Instead, Sandan came running and brought the reel that Chen Lina wanted.

Outside the window, Nie Weimin was playing with Erdan and Goudan.

Goudan was a soldier because he was wearing a military uniform, but Nie Weimin and Erdan were Japanese soldiers because they were wearing inappropriate clothes. Goudan was very proud of using firewood as a bayonet, and he took Nie Weimin and Erdan and walked around the yard.

The children learn what the adults do. After a while, Goudan became more and more proud. "Little devils, kneel down before me."

Erdan didn't mind the dirt and actually knelt down.

Chen Lina was suddenly furious. If she wasn't afraid of scaring the children away, she would have gone out to support her sons right now.

"It's just for fun, Goudan. No one is like you. We are just playing. How can you really think of us as devils?" said Nie Weimin.

"If you don't want to play, I'm leaving." Goudan made a gesture to leave.

Well, it’s always better for more children to play together. Besides, Goudan has a military uniform, and everyone likes his military uniform. Erdan quickly said, “No, Goudan, don’t go.”

Nie Weimin said, "Let's go, let's ask him to leave. Anyway, I don't want to be a Japanese soldier anymore."

The little guy was wearing his handsome little cotton jacket and walking around the yard angrily.

Well, it turns out that he has not been a bad guy since he was young, and he still has a sense of justice in his heart. The boy is teachable, Chen Lina thought to herself, not bad, not bad, this child can still walk on the right path.

"Erdan, come in and try on clothes." She bit the thread and shouted.

Erdan rushed in and asked, "Mom, are you really making clothes for me?"

Nie Weimin was still slow and lazily basking in the sun. After all, he was not very interested in the new white clothes. It would be great if he could have a green military uniform someday.

Who knew that when Erdan jumped out of the house, Goudan's eyes immediately lit up and drooled, "Erdan, what, what is this..."

"My mother said that this is a navy uniform. The navy, like the People's Liberation Army, is also a soldier of the Republic. From today on, I am also a member of the People's Liberation Army." Erdan said, and saluted in a standard posture.

The calendar hanging on the wall at home is a picture of three armies saluting.

Nie Weimin scratched his head. He didn't dare to ask about the clothes when he entered the room. He first picked up the small coal bucket and coal clip, picked up a small bucket of coal and put it in the corner, and took the initiative to add coal to the fire wall. After adding coal, he washed his hands. After washing, he stood behind Chen Lina with a smile.

"Comrade Xiao Nie, haven't you always been engaging in passive resistance?"

"No, I've always been very active. Look, Erdan didn't even come to play with firewood today. I was the one who took care of him."

"Yes, you also helped me pick up coal. Obviously, you also know that the fireplace at home needs to be lit and coal needs to be added every hour. Why didn't you add coal earlier and wait until I finished making clothes for Erdan?"

Nie Weimin tilted his neck, blinked his two big, thin eyes, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

"Okay, one set for each of you. Change yours too. But these are white clothes, so be careful not to get them dirty," said Chen Lina.

The large lapel with blue and white stripes was made by taking apart an old shirt of Nie Bozhao's that had been worn out, and sewing the collar onto white cloth. It is indeed resistant to fading in the cold, and the color is very bright.

The white clothes should be paired with a belt to look like a real marine uniform, but Chen Lina couldn't think of a belt, so she just made a few pleats on the waist to use as a belt around the shirt.

"The red flag flutters in the wind, our songs are loud and clear, the People's Navy marches forward, and we are confident in defending our country's oceans..."

Chen Lina hummed a song as she walked out of the bedroom. After a while, she saw Nie Weimin rushing out like a small cannonball. "Now we are all members of the People's Liberation Army. Let's go find Liu Xiaogang and treat him as a Japanese soldier, okay?"

Well, Chen Lina sighed helplessly at these children, wondering when this meaningless fight would end.

The thirty yuan in living expenses was gone when Huang Huacai fell seriously ill.

Of course, the workers on the farm could not get hairtail, sugar, and eggs.

Her only source of income was from the base, from Nie Bozhao. But now, that was gone due to her serious illness.

You know, there is more than one Huang Huacai. All the people from her Sun family and Huang family are in the farm. Her team leader is gone, but she is still the leader of Sunjiazhai who has the final say.

He lay on the kang for half a month, with four married daughters taking turns to serve him. All the An families from all over Zhang County came to visit him to express their condolences, and of course, he received a lot of milk and eggs.

Although the old lady is sixty years old, she is still able to work as a tractor operator and strives to work for the country for another ten thousand years.

Sun Duoyu sat on the edge of the kang, looking at the local specialties brought by the villagers. She lay on the kang, looking through the accounts one by one, to see who gave two eggs and who gave half a pound of milk.

If a lady draws an egg, it means someone gave her an egg, or two eggs, so of course she draws two. If she draws a rabbit, it means someone gave her a big rabbit, which is a favor.

"What is prestige? When I was sick, there were many guests. This is prestige. What is warmth and care? When they were about to celebrate the New Year and didn't even have meat for a feast, they killed a rabbit and brought it to me. This is warmth and care."

Sun Duoyu was a silly girl, so she would just nod if her mother said yes. But she had no right to eat the eggs, because in two days, it would be the Chinese New Year, and her sisters would bring their own eggs as a gift, and all of them would go into Sun Dabao's stomach.

Outside the sand nest, the beams were filled with big white steamed buns. The people of Sunjia Village were the masters of the Mulan Farm. People in other villages could not even eat enough steamed buns, but they had plenty of white flour and steamed buns. The leftovers were thrown on the roof to feed the birds.

The third son-in-law, Liu Jiefang, came in a hurry and walked down the sand nest in a few steps. He heard the old lady howling inside, and the sparrows that were eating white steamed buns in the sand nest were so scared that they flew away.

"What? What do you mean my Dabao was taken away by the police?" The old lady cried out and immediately got up from the kang.

"That's our Dabao doing some speculation. There are many people doing this in the city. My second brother-in-law also does some. The workers at the oil base are paid well and the money is easy to make. After our Xiaoai went there, he made a lot of money. Who knew that he was stolen last night when he was delivering goods to the base?"

"Where is Xiao Ai? Why doesn't she take the blame for Da Bao? Even if she is a cousin, Da Bao is still their grandson's baby. What is she doing?"

"Her husband has also been arrested, but she has not been touched yet. She is probably hiding in the base pretending to be dead," said Liu Han.

"Bah, she is a relative of Su Xiu's spy, and she still has the nerve to pretend to be dead. Just wait for her." The old lady was almost going crazy.

"My eldest brother-in-law was there at the time. If he hadn't been there, Dabao would have definitely resisted. But now, Dabao didn't hide because he trusted my eldest brother-in-law, and my eldest brother-in-law put him in jail directly."

"Boss Nie is still your brother-in-law. Ever since he got that bitch, he has long forgotten about my transfer to a man." The old lady thought for a moment and immediately said, "No, I have to go to the base again. I have to chase that bitch away and vent my anger."

The old lady has no other abilities except bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

"Mom, don't be impulsive. You almost lost your life in the last freeze." Liu Jiefang said.

"I was not prepared that time, but I don't believe I can't get rid of that bitch this time." The old lady said as she lifted the quilt from the kang. "The leader said it well, don't fight a battle you are not sure of. I have been lying on the kang for a month, and I have already found out the details of that bitch. I don't believe I can't get rid of her in one move."

Of course, this time she learned her lesson, just like the Japanese soldiers in the tunnel warfare, sneaking into the village without firing a shot, and so she sneaked into the base quietly.

Moreover, she was not alone, she also brought her silly granddaughter with her. The two of them parked the tractor outside the gate of the base and said they were here to visit relatives, so of course the security team let her in.

As for Nie Weimin's whereabouts, Huang Huacai can be said to be particularly familiar with it.

Because the child was used to being played with other children, he didn't dare to go far. At most, he would play for a while under the wall behind his yard.

So, without any effort, the old lady blocked the two brothers Nie Weimin in the small woods.

"Big Egg, let me ask you, did that stinky old man beat you or abuse you?" the old lady asked.

"Who is Chou Laojiu?" Erdan was still a little curious.

"That stepmother of yours is a stinking ninth grader. Look at what you brothers are wearing, what do you call that? And then look at what you are eating, what do you call that? That's the sugar-coated bullet of capitalism." The old lady said, and she was still trying to take the candy out of Nie Weimin's mouth.

Qian Goudan was the most cunning one. When he saw the old lady, he wanted to run away, but Sun Duoyu pulled him back. A child is still a child no matter how fierce he is. Sun Duoyu was like a winter melon when he was young, and he was like a melon at home. He was very fierce in front of the children. He grabbed Erdan and Qian Goudan fiercely and stared at them.

"She is a stinky old ninth, but a stinky old ninth is also a good person. She makes clothes for us and feeds us cheese. You are a bad grandmother." Nie Weimin was a particularly stubborn child, and of course, things were either black or white.

However, Huang Huacai still has her own way of dealing with children. "I just want to ask you, do you want to eat egg instant noodles? Do you want to eat stir-fried vegetables? Your second aunt's house in Wumayi has them. But now I want you to go with me to the Wumayi mining area, find the mine manager, and report that stinky old ninth, saying that she abused you."

"She didn't abuse me. Besides, I don't want to eat instant noodles. We have better things at home," said Nie Weimin.

When Huang Huacai saw that there was no way to coax the child into submission, she made up her mind and simply picked up the child and prepared to leave.

"Xiao Chen, Mom, Mom!" Nie Weimin stretched his neck and started shouting.

Huang Huacai tried to cover Nie Weimin's mouth, but he bit her instead. Sun Duoyu came to help her, and the two kids ran away.

With a loud bang, Nie Weimin's marine uniform was torn by Huang Huacai.

You have to know that Nie Weimin was so eager to get such a set of military uniform. His child had just put on the brand new clothes.

The little guy suddenly became like a wolf cub. His eyes turned red, and he bit Xiao Ya with his two big front teeth and pushed his head against Huang Huacai's chest.

Chen Lina is frying cutlassfish.

In the era of rationing, everyone cooked and ate what the unit was allocated.

Hairtail is the most common fish. It has neat bones and lots of meat. It can be fried or braised and tastes good no matter how it is cooked.

However, considering that the three children would have to eat their fill, she did not dare to add too much oil. She washed and marinated the fish, coated it with raw starch and fried it with only a little oil. After frying, she drained the oil and the fish was tasty even without any soup.

Seeing that it was getting late, because Nie Bozhao said that he had to go to the No. 2 oil well tonight, she estimated that he would not be able to come back in time. She washed her hands and was about to go out to call the three children to eat, when she saw Erdan rushing over like a small cannonball. "Mom, mom, my grandma is in the woods behind, beating my brother."

When Chen Lina heard someone beating a child, she ran to the woods behind without even closing the door.

As soon as Daylily arrived, the family members who wanted to see the fun also came along.

However, what they saw was a different scene.

Chen Lina shouted in her heart, "What a domineering man!" She was worthy of being the gangster boss in Hongyan provincial capital in the future and being invincible in the provincial capital.

Nie Weimin's marine uniform was torn, and he was just using his head to butt against his aunt Sun Duoyu.

Sun Duoyu didn't dare to hit him, and even wanted to catch him.

Nie Weimin was like a little bear cub, repeatedly using his head to butt, bite, and tear apart Sun Duoyu.

As for Huang Huacai, the old lady was lying on the ground, with her face spread out, howling, "Murder, murder, my eldest grandson has become a reactionary, and even dared to hit my grandmother."