Hot pot is actually just placing a ladle on a stove. The stove in the west room is located in the middle of the room against the west wall. The stove tube is long and connects directly to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and the smoke goes directly to the chimney.
Such stoves have their pros and cons. The advantage is that they are convenient. As long as you are careful not to burn yourself around the stove, there is no problem eating hot pot around it.
The downside is that it's not against a wall, and the path isn't perfectly straight, so you need to be careful when walking around, especially if you have children.
This type of stove is actually very common in rural areas. Many families don't have enough firewood and don't build fire walls. So, relying solely on the heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed) is not enough to warm the room. Therefore, they have to find another way: build a small stove separately in the room. It doesn't burn much firewood, but it can warm both the room and the kang.
The hot pot was bubbling away, filling the room with its aroma, and the table was laden with dishes waiting to be cooked, but only four people sat down.
"Hey, where are the other two?"
Qin Yi also turned back to look.
"Huh? Wasn't he just here? Did he go to the bathroom?"
"No,"
Zheng Aiguo looked at Qin Qinghuai.
"Political Commissar, those two have returned to the barracks."
Simply turn back to look for the watch.
"Is it time yet?"
"No, the two of them seemed a little scared and uncomfortable looking at the political commissar."
Qin Yi let out a "howl".
"Scared away? That's pathetic."
Zheng Aiguo smiled.
"With this setup and this food, if I were here for the first time, I would be scared away too."
Qin Yi pursed his lips and didn't say anything. He had to admit that they were all good stuff, and he was willing to part with them.
Since they were already gone, and there was no way they could actually bring the person back, they simply moved their chairs around and started scalding the meat themselves.
"It's not that they're incompetent. You're close to the political commissar, so you don't realize it, but the soldiers below are still very afraid of him. They think the political commissar is very capable. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, he gets straight to the point. Even the regimental commander tells them that the political commissar is an exceptionally wise man."
Qin Yi raised his chin, his eyes full of smugness.
"That's right. My brother Huai has been outstanding since he was a child. I've heard my family praise him since I was little. If it weren't for his health, he would have achieved much more by now."
"Hey, stop talking nonsense and eat quickly."
The admiration in Zheng Aiguo's eyes grew stronger.
Don't listen to his nonsense.
As the political commissar, my primary responsibility is to improve our living standards and ensure that our brothers have enough to eat.
Having been liberated for so many years, to make everyone go hungry while defending our country would chill the hearts of our brothers and the trust and support of our elders and fellow villagers. It would also be a testament to my incompetence as the political commissar.
Don't worry, things will get better.
That's not entirely wrong; the political commissar is responsible for logistical matters. However, that's a rather harsh statement, and Zheng Aiguo isn't someone who's completely oblivious to these things.
"Political Commissar, please don't say that. Our logistical supplies are directly allocated from above. This isn't your responsibility. Our logistics only begin when the grain is in our hands. We can't let the grain just keep growing in our hands."
Qin Qinghuai interrupted him directly.
"Then let's find a way to make the grain in our hands increase more and more."
"political commissar,"
Zheng Aiguo stopped what he was doing.
"Political Commissar, you mean, reclaim wasteland to grow grain?"
"Do you think it's feasible? Do you know how large the usable area is for our troops?"
Zheng Aiguo promptly put down his chopsticks, his interest piqued.
“That’s huge. Just look at the nearby areas. The wasteland here, surrounded by these mountains, stretches from the border. It must be at least several hundred acres.”
A few years ago, the regimental commander led us to clear land and plant corn. But just as the corn was filling out, the ground started to freeze.
Qin Qinghuai remained silent and pondered for a moment, then...
“Have you ever considered that the problem isn’t with farming, but rather that this place isn’t suitable for growing corn?”
"Hmm? Go on,"
Qin Qinghuai was also thinking about this problem.
"It is indeed much colder here than where the troops are stationed. Logically speaking, the difference in the temperature of crops should not be so obvious."
She's pretty much experienced it all these days. This is indeed Northeast China, but if she's not mistaken, the temperature here is probably at the same latitude and longitude as Mohe in historical records.
"It's cold here, but some people still grow corn, right? But it's not much,"
"Yes, yes, sister-in-law, how did you know?"
Jian Dan sighed inwardly, realizing that she wouldn't have discovered this if she hadn't been reading books about Mohe these past few days.
"I also read about it in a book. I can't explain it in detail, but the climate here can't be compared to that of Northeast China as a whole."
Well, let me put it this way: the temperature here is low, there's a lot of snow in winter, but it rains a lot in the first half of summer, and then there's very little rain after August, right?
Zheng Aiguo thought for a moment, then nodded blankly.
Yes, that's about right.
"If that's the case, you might as well change your approach. Instead of planting corn, plant wheat, soybeans, and sweet potatoes. These are all cold-resistant crops,"
Qin Qinghuai seemed lost in thought, while Zheng Aiguo was somewhat excited.
"Sister-in-law, really? These things will definitely work?"
He was a veteran. Putting everything else aside, if he could ensure his brothers had enough to eat, he believed they would all work hard.
"How about I find you some books another day? I'm not a professional. I only learned how to farm after I went to the countryside as an educated youth. My experience is limited. Besides, the place where I went mainly grows corn. Soybeans are rare, and wheat is especially rare because the yield is low. They don't grow it there. I have even less experience."
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