Chapter 75

Steamed Dried Vegetables with Oil Residue

This year's spring came especially early.

It’s only March, but the temperature has risen sharply and has remained stable at over ten degrees for half a month. The ice and snow on the Baiyang River have melted, and the ground is filled with wild ducks, instantly turning into a new green.

In the morning, after sending three elementary school students with small backpacks slung over their shoulders to school, Chen Lina had to rush to the farm with little Dandan to supervise the spring planting.

"Director, today is the first time that a tiller is going into the field. The one with the red ribbon was specially brought in when I heard the leader's speech on the radio in Uru. Will you drive it or should I?" As soon as I entered the farm, Wang Guanghai was waiting in the barley field.

"Don't be formalistic. Cut the red silk ribbon. You can bring the trained members to do it together. I was just joking. That thing is very powerful and I can't resist it." Chen Lina said.

"Sun Duoyu also wants to drive a tiller. She has reactionary tendencies. I don't want her to drive because I'm afraid she will damage the machine. Please persuade her," Wang Guanghai said again.

"If she wants to drive, let her drive. She's strong and skilled. Why not let her drive? Besides, Captain Wang, I think you should stop judging people by their appearance. Besides, she was burned by the fire last year while trying to put out a fire on the farm. She won't damage our tiller."

Wang Guanghai then turned around and trotted away.

Entering the warehouse, Anna and the educated youth were distributing grain.

"I bought this wheat seed from Uru, right?" Chen Lina asked the young educated youth who were sorting the wheat seeds.

"All of them," Anna said fiercely.

"Remember the labels, right? The wheat planted along the Baiyang River is the high wheat No. 6, and the wheat planted in the north is the drought-resistant No. 11. The members are uneducated and only recognize it as wheat. You must strictly check and know which type to plant in which place. Don't be confused at all. If you plant high wheat in dry land, there will be no yield and only stalks will grow. The land will be wasted, understand?"

"Okay, dear director, you keep reminding us, and we're almost getting irritated by your constant nagging."

Several educated youths danced, "You really don't want to dress up, I heard that reporters from Beijing and the directors of the various corps who want to visit are coming soon."

Yes, just two days ago, the mining area notified us that because Mulan Farm achieved a breakthrough growth in output last year, the New Youth Daily sent a reporter to do an exclusive interview with Chen Lina, the director of Mulan Farm. Of course, the purpose was also to promote the experience of cultivating seedlings and achieving high yields to the military corps in the border areas and farmers in the inland areas.

The Republic has relied on agriculture since ancient times, and is of course also a major grain-producing country.

The stomachs of 400 million people can only be filled by the hard work of the members in growing food.

Those who can produce food are of course heroes.

When He Min was racking her brains to submit an article to the New Youth Daily, she probably never dreamed that the newspaper would set up a special team to come directly to the farm for interviews.

It's a pity that he is now busy trying to get promoted, make money and please the female employees at the refinery, so he won't be able to grab the limelight.

When Chen Lili and He Lan'er heard that a newspaper from Beijing was coming to interview Chen Lina, they were so scared that they couldn't close their mouths and threw away their brooms.

"Sister, hurry up and make two sets of nice clothes and get your hair permed. If the newspapers really report you, you might get a big reward from the government."

"Maybe you will be the March 8th Red Flag Bearer this year. Hurry up. Mom will take the bus to Umayyi to buy cloth to make clothes for you. We can take pictures then." He Laner also said.

Chen Lina pointed at the outstanding person on the newspaper pasted on the wall, last year's March 8th Red Flag Bearer, and said, "Okay, Mom, don't think about it. March 8th Red Flag Bearers are all over 60 years old. Don't think about it either. Hurry up and go to the fields."

"Sister, I don't know how hard Sun Gong worked, but you see my feet are swollen. Can I not go out today? I really want to sleep all day."

"Go ahead and sleep if you want. You're a pregnant woman and no one is holding you back."

Chen Lili wanted to sleep, but when she thought of Nie Weimin, who was tall and thin, quiet but smart, she decided to go to work.

After all, Sun Gong worked hard and ate a lot of sheep's heads, which is why he was able to give birth to such a smart child.

"Sister, find a way to get me a few more sheep heads so I can eat them after I finish my work."

"You've almost eaten all the sheep heads in the mining area. Oh my god, eat less. You have to know that not everyone can learn from Nie Weimin."

The 9-year-old boy pointed at the stars in the sky and talked about stars, planets and satellites. One day, he even gave Chen Lina a brief introduction on what Lagrange points, entropy and cosmic civilization are. Chen Lina, a college student, acted like an idiot in front of him.

After inspecting the farmland and reminding the members how to protect the newly sprouted vegetable seedlings from freezing, Chen Lina still had to go to the plastic factory.

The director of the plastic factory is named Du Qiming. He is a graduate of the Red Expert Program and is only in his early thirties this year. He is a very young leader.

"Director Chen, we really can't produce the 0.015-0.02mm polyethylene film you mentioned. Our researchers are getting tired of it, but it really can't be done. We have never seen the thing you mentioned." Director Du seemed very busy. "I heard that the Hongyan airborne working group is coming to investigate my work. I have to go to Uru to attend a training meeting and listen to the working group's message. Regarding the soil film, let's discuss it tomorrow, okay?"

"Director Du, this is an invitation to the Canton Fair. Are you not allowed to go? Are you just suppressing it?"

In 1973, although China and Japan had not formally established diplomatic relations, through the efforts of the leadership, Guangzhou held the first international trade fair. Chen Lina believes that the truly high-quality mulch film was invented by the Japanese.

If Director Du could go to the Canton Fair and take a look at the ground cover produced by the Japanese, he would probably be able to develop something new.

"How about this, Director Du, you don't have to go to the Wulu Spiritual Communication Conference. Instead, go to the Canton Fair. I have something good to offer you." Chen Lina said with a smile.

"Director Chen, do you have anything good to give me? I like your car the most, how about letting me drive it for a few days?"

Director Du was also joking. Of course, who wouldn't want to joke and tease a beautiful, generous, and confident woman when communicating with her?

"I have some cucumbers produced in the greenhouse in my spare box. When you go to the Canton Fair, I'll give half a basket of cucumbers to your family." Chen Lina said.

"I heard that Director Chen boasted that he had good soil and could produce cucumbers all year round, but I only ate two during the Spring Festival. Do you really have any now?"

"Really." As she said that, Chen Lina opened the trunk. She saw the cucumbers that were picked this morning, with the flowers still hanging on them. She had originally intended to fry them for her three sons to eat at noon, but forget it, she made up her mind and gave them to Director Du.

Because as long as he was willing to go to the Canton Fair, the popularization of polyethylene film in the country could be advanced by at least five to seven years.

Then, doubling of grain production will be much earlier than expected. One person's power is limited, and she cannot change the overall environment or the overall situation, but as long as she can make changes within her power, she will do it.

In order to prevent Director Du from changing his mind midway, Chen Lina accompanied him to buy a train ticket to Guangzhou, and then ran to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some food to make lunch.

"Mom, I want to eat some black bread." Sandaner couldn't move when he saw the black bread in the glass cabinet.

"Dandan, the tuition for Dadan and Erdan is a lot. Mom has no money and can't afford black bread. Let's buy something else." Chen Lina said, taking his little hand and pulling Nie Weijiang away from the cake display window.

"But didn't mom say that my salary last month was fifty yuan?"

"Yes, Mom's salary was 50 yuan last month, but your dad's salary has really dropped to 100 yuan. Moreover, the newspapers are promoting revolution every day, and the newspapers don't dare to ask for your dad's manuscripts anymore.

So, we used to have 300 yuan a month, and in addition to supporting you, mom could save 100 yuan for your future college education. Now we only have 150 yuan a month, which is just enough for our daily expenses."

"Then let's not buy anything. We still have Wo Wo Tou at home. We can just eat Wo Wo Tou." Sandan'er said straightforwardly, "I can only eat half and give the rest to my second brother."

"Why are we so poor? We should cherish food, but we can't go hungry. Okay, look at how good this oil residue is. It must be from a cake factory. It's fried with seasoning. It doesn't even need to be seasoned. Just buy it."

As she spoke, Chen Lina only had half a pound of oil residue left and prepared to go home.

When she was about to leave the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw a few pairs of sandals on the counter, which must be the leftovers from last year's sale.

Plastic sandals are really useful in summer.

But Chen Lina didn't buy any for her children last year. Why? Because at that time, in order to increase the farm's output, she secretly subsidized the farm with all the money to buy vegetable seeds for the farm.

She didn't get the money back until the mining district allocated seed funds to the farm a while ago.

The sandals that originally cost five yuan a pair were now only two yuan and fifty cents. After thinking it over, Chen Lina gritted her teeth and bought a pair for each of the four children. That was exactly ten yuan. Wow, that was another large sum of money, and she went out without a second thought.

I hurried home and it was already half past twelve when I got home.

Nie Weimin was sitting in front of the big iron gate, reading a book with his legs crossed, looking leisurely.

Erdan pried the iron gate apart with both hands. If he were given a microphone, he would wipe away his tears and start singing "Tears Behind Iron Window" directly.

"Mom, we have guests coming to our house." Erdan said as he jumped into the car.

"Oh, where did these guests come from? Are they from your Sun family or the Nie family?"

The only guests that Chen Lina could imagine coming to her house were Nie Bozhao's family and Sun Gong's family. As for her own family, she thought there would be no guests because her parents had all moved to the border.

It would be fine if the Sun family were driven away, but as for the Nie family, she just hoped that they would always be safe, healthy and happy, live a rich life, and never bother her again.

"You'll know when you meet him." Nie Weimin finally raised his head from his book, put his math book on the back seat and stretched his back. "He's really your relative. He came to see you. He also said he would stay at our house for many days."

"Is he your father's classmate?" Seeing the two sons trying to keep the secret and laughing in an interesting way, Chen Lina suddenly became alert.

One Hu Su is enough. If there is another female classmate, she will be extremely jealous.

Of course, even male classmates are not allowed. Chen Lina has seen many indecent men in her life, huh.

"Well, isn't it? Your soldier is here, Comrade Xiao Chen. I declare that from now on, I will keep an eye on him until he leaves."

Yes, there was a soldier standing in front of the gate of Lao Nie's house. He was wearing a khaki military uniform and a green military cap. He stood as straight as a pine tree. He had a red star on his head and two red epaulettes on his collar. He was not a fake, but a real soldier.

"Cousin, why are you here?" Chen Lina stopped the car, surprised and frightened, and a little confused.

Yes, this is Nie Guozhu, Chen Lina's cousin. Looking at the quilt on his shoulders, the basin hanging on his back, and the toothbrush set in his hand, Chen Lina understood that this man was coming to live here permanently.

No wonder Nie Weimin was so vigilant.

"Lina, I just looked around and saw that you are living a pretty good life. Your neighbor even has horses. Life in the border area is not bad at all." Nie Guozhu was very excited and at a loss.

"Cousin, we don't allow outsiders to stay overnight at our base. My parents have a separate cave in the farm. Whether you are carrying out a mission or simply visiting relatives, I will cook you a meal and then send you over, okay?"

"Is this dried eggplant?" Nie Guozhu followed behind Chen Lina and watched her wash and dry the eggplant and beans first, and then steam the dried vegetables in the pot. Just thinking about how delicious it would be after the dried vegetables were steamed until soft and then mixed with marinated meat, his mouth was already watering.

The rice was at the bottom and the dried vegetables were at the top. Soon, the pot started to bubble.

Chen Lina didn't talk to him, so Nie Guozhu came out. Well, the three kids were staring at him like a spy.

"Did Lina grow this vegetable?"

"That's my mother." Erdan said, and in order to show his masculinity, he started punching.

Nie Guozhu kept shaking his head. It seemed that this kid was very naughty.

"Did Lina build this grape trellis?" The grape trellis made of bamboo has just grown leaves, but you can see that in the autumn, there will be many grapes hanging on it. This is what a green countryside should look like.

"My mother bought it." Sandan clasped his fists and crossed his legs, blocking the tall Nie Guozhu, with an attitude that said "If anyone dares to steal grapes, I will never forgive him."

"But there are no grapes on it."

"Even leaves are not allowed."

Well, Nie Guozhu felt that these three kids were really rude and too gangster-like, and he was shaking his head in anger.

Chen Lina turned around and called out, "Wei Min, have you peeled the green onions? Where's the garlic?"

"Here, here, I'll give you some green onions and garlic. Wash them clean." Well, the green onions planted with soil film are only March, and they are fragrant. Crunch, crunch, everything.

When the rice is cooked and the dried vegetables are steamed soft, put the oil residue back into the wok, sizzle the green onions and garlic, and pour them directly on the eggplant and dried beans. Sprinkle them with soy sauce and vinegar and mix them. Erdan holds the bowl, ready to compete in a 100-meter race.

It was just rice and steamed dried vegetables. The three children hadn't eaten them for a long time. As for Nie Guozhu, he was a soldier after all, so he ate even more voraciously than Erdan. He buried his head in silence, and all you could hear was the clatter of bowls and chopsticks. Sandan finally picked up a piece of oil residue and fed it to his mother. He looked down and saw that all the vegetables were gone, with only some chopped green onions still floating on the plate.

Chen Lina picked up the chopped green onions and scraped them all into Sandan's bowl. "Weimin, brush your teeth and go to sleep with Erdan. Get up and go to school."

"What about him? He has to sleep with us too."

"No, he is a relative and I have to take him to the farm."

"Lina, Chief Engineer Wang from your base knows that we have to stay at your house this time. As for the farm, Chief Engineer Wang said that the conditions are very harsh and people live underground, like a tomb. So we won't live there." Nie Guozhu said.

Erdan immediately slammed the table and said, "The cave is so beautiful. How can it look like a grave? This uncle is not good."

Nie Weimin said, "You don't have to go to the farm. You probably don't have a high level of education. Come to school with us this afternoon."

"Little friend, I have never been to school, but I still know some elementary school knowledge. I don't need to go to school anymore. I have other work to do, so I have to go to your base building to work in the afternoon, and come back in the evening and stay at your house."

Nie Weimin immediately became angry and asked, "Then let me ask you, is there water on Mercury?"

"Mercury, Mercury, of course there is water."

"Oh, you don't understand. There is no water on Mercury. It is the planet closest to the sun and has the highest temperature in the entire solar system. The water has long been stripped away by the sun."

"Lina, your elementary school students are still learning this now?"

"The Soviet Union has sent several satellites into space. Of course we have to learn from them. You are not even as good as an elementary school student." Nie Weimin said loudly, with an urge to surpass Nie Guozhu.

"Then Comrade Nie Weimin, let me ask you, what does knowing whether there is water on Mercury have to do with our revolutionary life? Our 400 million compatriots need big steamed buns to avoid going hungry. This has nothing to do with whether there is water on Mercury." Hey, after not seeing him for three years, Nie Guozhu's eloquence has improved a lot.

"This kid knows a lot, but I don't know much either. Don't argue with him. But, cousin, were you really transferred to the mining area for work? Also, I don't have time to entertain you. I have to go back to the farm to work in the afternoon. The situation in this family is complicated. The work of laborers is a state secret. Unless you have special approval from the red phone, I can't keep you in my house."

Nie Guozhu didn't say anything else. He wiped his mouth, said goodbye, and went back to the base's office building.

After sending the two older children to school, Nie Weimin was very worried. "Comrade Chen, your cousin is here with bad intentions."

"He stole my food and I only got to eat two bites of the food." Nie Weiguo was heartbroken.

"Okay, I can probably guess what he's here for. I just want to tell you that the situation is much more optimistic than your father and I expected. Now hurry up and go to school. Also, Nie Weimin, I have to tell you that although filling the stomachs of 400 million compatriots is important now, it will be more important to know whether there is water on Mercury in the future. Go quickly."