Chapter 47

Wild duck eggs

It was really snow lotus, white snow lotus, the petals were stretched and tender, without any wilting or wrinkles at all.

It is March, a time of famine, and there is still no green on the Gobi Desert. The snow has basically melted away, leaving only endless desert. Such a bunch of beautiful snow lotus flowers really makes people feel fresh and happy when they see them.

When you see it, you can imagine the ecstasy of the nomadic hunters thousands of years ago when they saw it on the snow-capped mountains after hiding there for a winter.

There happened to be a big pheasant at home that Wang Hongbing had caught on the Gobi Desert. Because the children liked to pluck its feathers to make shuttlecocks, they plucked all its tail and turned it into a native chicken, which they had not eaten yet.

Chen Lina has been waiting for a long time, just preparing to wait for her man to come back before eating. Well, she wants to stew a big pheasant with snow lotus.

But if the man is angry, she won't ask for it.

He put the snow lotus in an empty bottle and put it in the study.

I don’t even know how to water it. What should I do if it wilts? Chen Lina thought.

The first thing he did when he entered the door was to shave. Nie Bozhao's razor blades had all been used up in the Gobi Desert, and he couldn't buy new ones, so he could only sharpen his own old razor blades.

"Defend the people, defend the people." He shouted outside.

No one responded, so Nie Bozhao called out again, "Comrade Xiao Nie, Comrade Xiao Nie."

The little guy came in from outside the door with a lot of clatter, followed by several others, including Qian Gou'er, Qin Kangkang, and Xiao Jinbao. Several older guys then all rushed into the Nie family's yard.

"Have you listened to your mother recently?" asked Nie Bozhao.

"Listen, of course you should listen. I've been the one chopping the firewood lately." As he said that, Nie Weimin raised his little hands proudly. His stepmother had been here for more than half a year, and the child had become much more cheerful.

"What about Erdan? Why is he still so dirty?"

"He is a goldfish with a memory of only three seconds. I told him three seconds ago not to grab the dirt, but in those three seconds, I didn't remind him and he forgot," said Nie Weimin.

"He is your brother, how can he be a goldfish?"

"My mother said that he is just a goldfish." Nie Weimin did not give in at all and was very righteous.

"What about Sandan? What's with his saliva? Don't you have the handkerchief I gave you? Why don't you wipe it off?" Sandan, who was almost three years old, couldn't stop drooling. Nie Weimin quickly took out his handkerchief and wiped his saliva twice, saying, "Oh, hurry up, I still have to lead the troops to fight."

"Stand still. I haven't finished asking you questions. Didn't I give you cloth coupons? The supply and marketing cooperative should have striped flannel recently. Why are you still wearing white clothes? Look at Erdan. Do you still call that white clothes? That's called gray clothes."

"My mother made new clothes for him and he wants to wear them. What does it have to do with me?" Nie Weimin was unhappy. He suddenly ran into the kitchen and said, "Comrade Xiao Chen, I think there is something wrong with my father."

"What's wrong, Jing'er?"

"I am here with the soldiers, and he asks me all sorts of questions."

"Your dad just came back, so it's normal for him to want to be closer to you. Why are you still unhappy?"

"He has to give me face in front of my soldiers." Nie Weimin said seriously, his face red with anger. "Go and tell him, at least when my soldiers are here, don't treat me like a child. I am an officer now, right?"

He is a military officer.

"Don't you notice that he doesn't talk to me?"

"Why, he just came back a few minutes ago, did you have a fight?"

"Go ask your father." Chen Lina said, and after lighting the coal, she stood up from the stove. There was a big pheasant stewing in the pot. Nie Bozhao's snow lotus could only be looked at but not eaten, so she had to wash it and add a little dried red pepper.

Sandan has been drooling a lot recently. That's because he ate and drank too much during the Chinese New Year, and his bones grew fast and it was cold, which made his spleen and stomach weak.

Yidianhong is an appetite-stimulating and spleen-strengthening medicine, which was given to Chen Lina by an old professor of agriculture and forestry from the farm.

Boil this little bit of red and put it in rice. It can be regarded as a medicinal food. It can cure the spleen and stomach of children. Two of the three children need to nourish their spleen and stomach. Erdan has nourished too much.

But there was no other way, he had grown into a little fat boy, and it was impossible to ask him to lose weight, so we could only let him grow freely.

"When will the chicken soup be ready? Why are there only dry biscuits at home?" That's right, the one who can't stand the hunger will always speak first, and Nie Bozhao finally couldn't stand the hunger anymore.

"It's a period of famine, and there are only rats in the farm warehouse. Do you want to eat them?" Chen Lina asked back.

"Roasted field mouse, OK, Dad, I'll go dig some red mud for you." Erdan started drooling as he spoke, "Mom, where is the field mouse? I'll smear some mud on it for you. I'll wrap it up nicely."

Simply clean out the vole's internal organs, add the seasoning, wrap it in mud, throw it into the oven, bake it for two hours, then take it out and gently tap it open. The red mud will automatically take away the fur and the meat will be so fragrant.

However, adults don't eat this. It's probably because Chen Lina has been lax in her supervision recently. The older children came up with this idea.

"You are not allowed to eat field mice. I feel sick the moment I see them. But what about Weimin? Why hasn't he found what he wanted to find for me yet?"

"Here I come, here I am." After a while, Nie Weimin rushed in like a little cannon, holding a bunch of wild duck eggs in his hands.

"Brother, where did you find these duck eggs? Why didn't you take me with you when you went to look for duck eggs?" Erdan became anxious when he saw that there were several big duck eggs.

Nie Weimin said, "Every time I took you with me, Wild Duck Egg never made it to the base safely. Of course I won't take you with me. Qian Goudan is more careful than you."

"Will they leave the base now?" Nie Bozhao was shocked. He had only been gone for two months, but Nie Weimin seemed to be at least one year older. He had become whiter, fatter, and more sensible.

A handsome boy with thin skin and phoenix eyes, looking like a leader among children.

"Yes, they go to the banks of the Poplar River. The ice has melted there, and there are wild ducks there. They have recently started laying eggs."

"Wouldn't it be bad to let them run away from the base? After all, there are wolves in the desert."

"When I found out, your son had already gone out three times. However, people from our farm were digging karez by the Baiyang River recently. The people were so hungry that they wanted to eat the wolves, so the wolves didn't dare to come."

By March and April, the entire border is really like this: everything running on the ground except tractors and everything flying in the sky except white clouds has been eaten up.

"Mom, what are we going to use to fry wild duck eggs today?" Erdan followed behind and kept muttering, "No, if we want to eat wild duck eggs, I have to call Tiantian over." She is the little princess of the three brothers.

"Go ahead. Also, take two raw ones and give them to Tiantian's mother. As long as they are not broken, I will allow you to have an extra bowl of rice tonight."

Move the pheasant soup to the beehive coal stove, rinse the pot and add oil. The plain oil is no longer enough, so Chen Lina ruthlessly adds half a spoonful of mutton fat. The mutton fat is made from lamb intestines, so it has no smell. However, it solidifies when the dish cools down a bit, which makes it look ugly.

Scrambled some tender wild duck eggs, stewed a pot of soup, and the base's three usual spicy and tomato dishes. By the time they were served on the table, Nie Bozhao's eyes were red with hunger. Well, he looked more like a wolf.

"Director Chen, Director Chen, someone is looking for you again." Qian Gou'er shouted outside, and curiously went to the door of Nie's house, sniffed and said, "It smells so good, I'm having wild duck eggs tonight too."

Going out of the base once would allow him to get some wild duck eggs, but that also meant getting beaten up, and Qian Gou'er was limping all the time.

Chen Lina coughed twice and pushed the bowl away. "You guys eat first. I'll go take a look."

Sun Ainan, Sun Xiangan and Sun Duoyu came together.

This time, Sun Xiangnan didn't dare to be careless anymore. He didn't give a handkerchief, but a bulging brown paper envelope with the opening unsealed. It contained stacks of ten-yuan bills, all tightly tied together.

"Director Chen, this time it's a full five thousand dollars. Can you promise not to investigate the accounts?"

Chen Lina took the money and looked at it. There were five stacks, each stack containing 100 notes, and some small tricks of 10 or 20 notes. Sun Xiangnan probably wouldn't dare to try them, so the money was in her pocket.

However, she still returned the money to Sun Xiangnan. "Where's your mother? She hasn't come yet. And your Sun Dabao hasn't come either."

"My brother is still in labor reform. My mother has agreed, but she is so old and doesn't want to be laughed at for this. Besides, we're giving you the money, and we'll still be on the farm. We'll try to reform him well. We can't force him to the point of no return. Director Chen, a desperate dog will eventually do something desperate," said Sun Xiangnan.

In fact, after Huang Huacai recovered from her illness, she took Sun Zhuannan's martyr certificate and took a train to Beijing, determined to meet the leader to appeal for justice. Of course, her passbook was well-kept, but unfortunately, you have a good plan, I have a ladder, a few girls secretly reported her passbook lost, and then reissued a new one, wouldn't the money come?

In today's society, an old lady like Huang Huacai would be like a fish in water wherever she goes and would definitely not suffer any loss. But as to whether her visits can achieve the effect she wants, that is not known.

In short, the five thousand yuan was returned to the three children intact.

It was late in the evening and Dad had just come back. He was sweeping and mopping the floor inside and outside the house. Someone had fetched coal and drawn water. The little laborer Nie Gongmin didn't have to do anything. He took out two handfuls of peanuts and a few particularly sweet chocolates from Dad's hand bag. The three brothers each ate one. They were happy and excited. They didn't want to sleep and ran in and out.

"Wei Min, what time is it? Why haven't you taken your brothers to bed yet?"

"I am me and they are them. Erdan refuses to sleep and I have no other choice. Come, Sandan, I'll hold you and coax you to sleep, okay?" He said, imitating Chen Lina's way of pulling Sandan up and patting him in a serious manner, "Be good, Dandan, go to sleep. You'll dream of daddy when you fall asleep."

"I find that Wei Min is a bit naughty." Nie Bozhao was very surprised, well, his anger gradually subsided and a smile appeared on his face.

"I never dreamed of my father." Sandaner broke away, pointing at Chen Lina and said, "I only dreamed of my mother. My mother drove a car and took me to the farm."

Driving to the farm with my mother was the happiest thing. My mother would laugh with a group of old experts, and the beautiful female educated youth on the farm would rush to hug him and kiss him. If he wanted to pee, a group of female educated youth would come to help him take off his pants.

Mom always says, "My dear, now is the peak of your life."

When he couldn't go to the farm with his mother, Sandan always dreamed of that happy scene.

"Okay, go to bed quickly." said Nie Bozhao.

"We want mommy, we want mommy to sleep with us." Sandaner started making noise again. After all, he was used to sleeping with Chen Lina's arms around him.

"Not only can't we do that tonight, but you see, spring is here, and Dad is going to make an extra bed for you, so we have to sleep separately."

"Okay!" Nie Weimin was very happy.

"Not good." The two children were not happy.

After brushing her teeth and tucking the three children into bed, Chen Lina still had to take care of the accounts of Mulan Farm.

Nie Bozhao only glanced at the manila envelope on the table and said, "Five thousand yuan, Chen Lina, the child support for three children, are you really going to give it?"

"Really?" Now, the desk belonged to Director Chen, with her documents on one side and Nie Bozhao's on the other.

"How are you going to spend this money?"

"It's money for three children. My opinion is to put it in the bank and save it for them to go to college. What do you think?"

"Don't you want the best cosmetics, a little otter, and a glass of capitalist red wine every day? The money is yours, you can spend it as you please, why do you have to save it?" Nie Bozhao still remembered how righteous she was before she asked for the money.

"I get the same salary as you, only a little lower, 50 yuan a month, which is enough to support myself. Why would I use the children's money?" When he said he wanted to buy a little otter, it was just to stimulate him, but this guy took it seriously.

This one sentence left Nie Bozhao speechless.

Yes, after she had a salary, she cut new clothes for herself. Her slightly curly hair was not a strand out of place. As long as she didn't make any noise, she was quiet, well-behaved, generous, confident, beautiful, and suitable for home.

The head of the farm, the person with real power, is higher in rank than him and is on par with the chief engineer.

"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" Having shaved and showered, Nie Bozhao felt that his attitude was very sincere.

Chen Lina didn't even raise her head and said, "Oh, well, you go to sleep first, and I'll study the vegetable seeds for this year."

"Chen Lina, I think we should continue my original rule of having sex once a month. This is the most ideal state for a couple. So, should we do it tonight?" said Nie Bozhao.

"Without car keys, there is no married life. You proposed to me eight times, but you only did it once, and it was not sincere at all. You even confiscated my car keys. Do you think I would agree?"

"Car keys, don't even think about it." Having said that, Nie Bozhao closed the study door and went to bed first.

Who wouldn’t be angry, Chen Lina thought.

She stayed up very late on purpose before she stood up, opened the door and prepared to leave.

"Ms. Chen, are you going to force me to tie you up with a belt?"

"Okay, come and tie me up, and I'll sue you for rape tomorrow."

"There is no such thing as marital rape in our country's laws. It is natural for a man to have sex with his wife. Moreover, we should devote our limited physical strength to the cause of building the frontier, but we must also fulfill our obligations to each other in life."

"It is an injustice of the law that marital rape is not considered rape. You are a top student at an industrial university and you should understand that the law is a tool to protect the people.

It should not be a guidebook for harming women. It would be fine if you don’t know the law, but you are worse than an unscrupulous lawyer if you use legal loopholes as a weapon.”

"You are right. Should I really force myself on you?"

It is imperative to go tonight, and Nie Bozhao has calculated based on Chen Lina's menstrual pattern that she only has her period once a month, so she will not have her period on this day.

"If you dare to force me, I will leave tomorrow. Whoever wants to raise your son can do so." Chen Lina quickly untied the belt on his pants, pushed the door open and threw him out.

"Miss Chen, I love you. Do you see that snow lotus? I picked it for you on the snowy mountain. Look how beautiful it is." Nie Bozhao said, enduring the toothache.

The princess's illness is too severe, the medicine is not enough and has no effect.

Then Nie Bozhao said, "After getting off the car at the base, I saw that you hadn't come back yet and my sons were still waiting outside the door. I walked eight miles to the farm to find you, just to let you see this bunch of snow lotus first." That should be enough, right?

He just wanted to get the job done and sleep with her. This man is very different from his previous life and needs more training.

But Chen Lina was tired today, and she still had to coax the car keys from him, so she just surrendered for the time being and planned to torture him next time.

However, Chen Lina was still curious about one thing: "Did you just pick the snow lotus this morning? How come it is still so bright and fresh even now without soaking it in water? It seems that it will never spoil."

"Cut it off and seal the end with wax. This will prevent nutrients and water from leaking out of the flower stem, and it will stay blooming for at least 48 hours." Just so she could take a look.

Nie Bozhao felt that if this continued, he would have to kill this woman.

But luckily, it’s only once a month, so he can handle it!

Chen Lina sat at the head of the bed and took a sniff. It was particularly fragrant.

"This is the female flower of the snow lotus. Eating the fresh flower can nourish the complexion and warm the uterus. It is a gynecological product that is kept secret in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. You should taste it again. It is very sweet." Nie Bozhao then said, taking advantage of the victory.

Of course, when she tasted the flower, Nie Bozhao turned over and pressed her down.

…

Even though there were two doors between us and the sound of flying sand and rocks outside, the sound of the small steel bed in the study could still be heard in the large bedroom.

Erdan slept like a pig, grinding his teeth and farting. Even if the sky fell, he couldn't be woken up.

But Sandan woke up and said, "Brother, there is a sound, I am afraid there is a thief."

When Chen Lina was alone, she was always afraid of thieves at night. She kept talking about it and the children became scared.

The sound of the steel bed became more and more urgent, creaking, just like when the Nie Weimin brothers quietly ran in to jump on the trampoline.

But the trampoline lasted for a really long time. Nie Weimin held his breath, and when he took a breath, the steady sound was still there.

He was so angry that he almost went crazy, but he had to coax Sandaner, "Be good, it's not a thief, it's just that the wind blew the antenna of mom's radio."

"I want Mommy."

"Mom is working and will be here soon. Go to sleep." The noise is so annoying. He doesn't know how long it has been going on. Nie Weimin thinks that his parents must be jumping on the trampoline non-stop.

The adults are very mean and don't allow them to play on the trampoline, but they will play on it secretly by themselves and play until midnight.

"Brother, why aren't you afraid?" Sandan asked curiously.

"Because my brother is no longer a three-year-old child." Nie Weimin said very experiencedly, "Come here, I will hold you while you sleep."

After finishing the job, Nie Bozhao was still feeling satisfied and curious, "The apricot tree fork died quite early in his previous life, how old was he then?"

"He died young at the age of 60. Just when he was about to ring the bell for listing on Nasdaq, his wealth could have doubled. What a pity." Thinking of her last life, Chen Lina's face was full of fascination and regret.

The man in my previous life was a real man.

"His death was a natural and worthy one, and he died a death worthy of Marx. Go to sleep quickly."

Having to serve a princess who only likes to hear sweet words every day, the apricot tree fork in my previous life must have choked me to death.