I have already told Zhou Cuiling and given her money and asked her to come over from time to time. When she finishes eating rice and flour, she will go directly to the grain station to buy negotiated grain. This is the convenience of working at the grain station.

The brother and sister are not participating in the production team's labor now. According to the convention, the team will not advance food rations to those who do not come to work and earn work points. They can use the relationship with team leader Bao to advance food from the production team, but Shen Yu has national food coupons, and Meng Zhehan also gave Jinniu a lot of food coupons and non-staple food coupons last time, so there is no need for an advance. It is better not to trouble others if possible, and it is more convenient to buy food.

Zhou Cuiling was also asked to buy eggs and fresh meat as Taurus needed to ensure nutrition for his recovery.

Meng Tao then talked about the old Meng family in Liuzhuang, Liang Commune, and reminded Jinniu that if they came to make trouble again, he must protect himself, ask the team for help to solve the problem, and call the police when necessary. He must not be soft-hearted. Those people did not treat him as their own child, so why should he care about the so-called family affection?

Taurus agreed to all of them. He couldn't let the girl worry about him outside.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Jinniu saw Shen Yu and Meng Tao off in the car.

An hour and a half later they arrived at the county town and went to the small warehouse of the winery first. They put the deer antler wine, deer penis wine, several large jars of strong liquor, and more than 300 jars of other medicinal liquor into the warehouse, and then set off again towards Mengzhou City.

It took two hours to reach Mengzhou. It was past six o'clock, which was the time for dinner. The two of them still parked the car in the family compound of a certain unit, and then walked back to Zuo Xingzi Lane.

Shen Yu was holding a bamboo basket in his hand, which was filled with juicy cucumbers, Chinese cabbages, leeks, tomatoes and peppers. Jinniu picked them specially from the vegetable garden and asked them to take them back to the provincial capital to eat. He also asked Director Shen to try some as he thought there might be no fresh vegetables in the city.

If Taurus knew that Meng Tao had a portable vegetable garden that produced vegetables ten times better than what he grew, he would probably be stunned.

The two of them took the vegetables that Brother Jinniu had specially picked with them as a token of his love. They put half of them in a space and took them to the provincial capital, and gave the other half as gifts to their neighbors Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang in Xingzi Lane. They were the first harvest of vegetables, fresh and fragrant.

When Meng Tao opened the door and went into the No. 9 Courtyard, she couldn't help but exclaimed, "Wow!" She hadn't been here for a month, but the flowers and trees in the yard had grown wildly: the camellia had blossomed to its fullest, the roses were gorgeous, the trimmed roses had begun to climb up the wall again, the flowers were bright and dense like stars, the wisteria trellis had clusters of buds hanging down, and the flower pots lined up on the ground were also lush and colorful, mixed with weeds. It looked a bit messy, but still so pleasing to the eye, and beautiful beyond words.

Meng Tao saw several pots of orchids blooming beautifully, but the slender leaves were weighed down by the mud splashed by the rain. She hurriedly and carefully picked them up, then went to the porch to get a rag, squatted beside the flower pots, wiped and wiped, removed the weeds and loosened the soil.

Shen Yu rolled up his sleeves to sweep up the fallen leaves and cleaned the house inside and outside. He planned to water the flowers and plants after he was done. It was amazing that they were still growing so well after not watering them for a month.

The couple's voices attracted Aunt Wang from next door. The courtyard door was not locked but ajar. Aunt Wang pushed the door open with her youngest son. When she saw the scenery in the courtyard, she couldn't help but exclaimed: "Look at how beautiful the flowers are. They didn't bloom so well when Mr. Jia was here. I didn't expect you two to be so good at growing flowers."

Meng Tao stood up and greeted Aunt Wang, saying, "We don't know how to grow flowers. The reason these flowers bloomed so well is all thanks to the careful care that Mr. Jia took in the past. He cleaned up the dead branches and leaves before the New Year, and they are growing again."

"Yes, yes, I remember that too. Trees need to have their branches pruned. The more you prune them, the better they grow."

Aunt Wang smiled and asked, "You and Comrade Shen haven't been home for almost a month. What are you busy with?"

"Nothing. He had to go to work, so I went to live in the provincial capital with him for a while."

"Really?" Aunt Wang looked at Shen Yu who was mopping the floor in the room and lowered her voice: "You went to his parents' house. Did you register?"

Meng Tao nodded: "Yes, we have already got the marriage certificate."

"That's good!" Aunt Wang was happy for her: "I've always wanted to tell you: he's from the provincial capital, has a job and is handsome, so we must not be careless. We can't just set up a table and have a drink and be done with it like we do in the countryside. We must register and get the marriage certificate, and he won't be able to run away even if he wants to!"

Meng Tao could only smile, not knowing how to answer.

Fortunately, Aunt Wang brought up another topic and said that Director Yao from the Street Office had come to see Meng Tao three or four times, asking Meng Tao if she owed last year's water and electricity bills.

Meng Tao was sure that she did not owe any water and electricity bills. She vaguely knew why Director Yao came, but it was inconvenient to tell Aunt Wang directly, so she just let it slip.

Aunt Wang pointed to the right again: "There's a new neighbor over there. Their surname is Yang. A couple with two teenage children have moved in for more than half a month. I haven't dealt with their family before. My cousin said that the couple were just transferred from the county. One works in a factory and the other teaches in an elementary school. They should be good people, better than that bastard Zhong family!"

Meng Tao asked: "Where are the Zhong family members?"

Zhong Xiaomei and her brother planned and participated in highway robbery, so they will definitely not be able to escape a few years of labor reform. Don’t they have parents and an elderly person at home?

Aunt Wang curled her lips, "The Zhong couple are not good people either. We have found out that they helped their son to conceal his crimes and hid a lot of stolen goods. I heard that some of the goods were 'national cultural relics'. Do you think they can escape responsibility? Anyway, everyone in their family was arrested in the end, leaving only the old woman. Let her daughter take the house away and sell it. This is the best way. It is a clean ending. There will be no robber hiding in this alley. It is scary. It will be embarrassing for us as neighbors if outsiders talk about it. Don't you think so?"

"They deserved it!"

"yes!"

After talking for a few more words, the sky darkened and Shen Yu turned on the light in the house. Aunt Wang's youngest son took his mother back home to remind her that it was time to cook.

Aunt Wang became anxious when she saw it was getting dark. She had come to say hello, but before she knew it, she had been talking for so long. The meal hadn't been cooked yet, and if the workers outside came home without food, they would be scolded.

He hurriedly said to Meng Tao, "You just arrived, and it's hard to light a fire with cold ashes and a cold stove. Let's go to my house to eat tonight. I just soaked some rice and cooked it. I'll mix some flour and fry a few pancakes later. It will be enough for us to eat."

Meng Tao thanked him but declined: "There are only two of us. We don't need to light the stove. We can just use the stove to burn some charcoal and make two bowls of noodles. It's simple and economical."

"Burning charcoal is such a waste. You didn't buy any vegetables, so why don't you go over and eat? We're neighbors, so don't be polite."

Meng Tao said as she walked to the faucet to wash her hands, then she brought the bamboo basket of vegetables over and handed it to Aunt Wang: "These are grown in our own garden, they are not good, please don't despise them."

Aunt Wang took the basket and looked at it. Her eyes lit up and she said happily, "Isn't this good stuff? What fresh cucumbers and beautiful cabbages! You can't buy such good things at the grocery store. They don't let you pick and choose. They just give you whatever they can, no matter if they are torn, broken or wilted! You have to buy them!"

How can it be like this? Tsk, it's so good, I want to eat it just by looking at it! My little San loves to eat cold cucumbers, your uncle Wang loves this tender cabbage, my daughter-in-law loves to eat green peppers, and my eldest brother was still talking about fried eggs with leeks last night... I didn't expect to have it today, haha! You can't take so much, leave some for you to eat tomorrow?"

Meng Tao pushed her away and said, "I've already left it. These are all yours. Go back and cook. Look, my little brother is already hungry."

"Haha, this little kid can't stand being hungry - OK, then we'd like to thank you!"

"You're welcome."

After Aunt Wang left, Meng Tao locked the gate and went to the kitchen to cook. She could have gone directly into the space to operate, but the neighbors were only separated by a wall and could not see any smoke from their side, which would have seemed strange.

She took out the stove, took out the charcoal with a dustpan and tongs, and was about to chop some wood to start the fire when Shen Yu came over after mopping the floor and took over her job.

Meng Tao moved a chair to the side and sat there, looking at him with her chin in her hand.

As Shen Yu chopped wood, he frequently turned his head to look at his wife. He saw that her expression was a little dull, and she was staring at him intently, but she was not as crazy as usual. He asked curiously, "What's wrong? Did Aunt Wang say something bad about me?"

"Were you eavesdropping on us?"

"I don't have the time. I'm just smart and I guessed."

Meng Tao chuckled: "Congratulations, you guessed it right."

"What did Aunt Wang say about me?"

"She said you were from the provincial capital, had a job and were good-looking. She advised me to stick with you, lest you be snatched away by other women. After all, I was just a country girl, and there were many beautiful and wealthy girls in the city."

Shen Yu was speechless, and stroked his wife's hair: "Are you stupid?"

"You know what, there are many such cases."

"That's someone else, it has nothing to do with us."

"What if?"

"There is no chance of one thing happening between us. There is only ten thousand years. Have you ever heard of eternity? Even then, we will still be a couple that will never be separated by lightning, and we will be each other's only love!"

Meng Tao rolled her eyes at him, admiring this man who was usually cold and aloof, but could say a lot of sweet words when talking about love, which sounded really nice.

Shen Yu wanted to go into the house to find a palm-leaf fan to fan the fire, but he was unwilling to leave his little wife's sight. When his little wife looked at him with an obsessed look on her face, God knows how happy he felt in his heart.

After thinking about it, he bent down, picked her up, and went into the house to get the palm-leaf fan, so as not to disturb his young wife from being infatuated with him.

Meng Tao put her arms around his neck and pecked him twice on the cheek and lips.

Shen Yu stopped, a fire in his heart was instantly ignited. He raised his foot to close the door, lowered his head and entangled his little wife, panting slightly: "Wife, it's dark, let's turn off the lights and rest!"

"I haven't eaten yet."

"I don't want to eat anymore!"

"You won't have the strength if you don't eat."

"I have!"

"You won't be able to hold out for long. You'll become exhausted, soft...weak."

“…”

Looking at someone's dark face, Meng Tao laughed with evil intentions.

(End of this chapter)