Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Breakfast

"Sister-in-law, take two and try them." Wang Nian picked out two large kiwis and handed them over. "Where does sister-in-law live? I'll ask my kids to bring some over later."

The woman smiled, making her teeth look even whiter: "I live on the first floor, room 4, come and sit down if you are free."

"What a coincidence! I live on the first floor, room six. We live next door to each other!"

"Number 6?" The woman's eyes swept to the end of the corridor, and her eyes lit up in an instant. She couldn't help but raise her voice: "Are you Chief Engineer Shi's lover?"

"Sister-in-law knows my lover?"

"There are few people working in our factory workshop who don't know Chief Engineer Shi."

Not knowing what the connection between this family and Shi Xiangming was, the woman became more and more enthusiastic about Wang Nian and insisted on inviting him to her home for a visit.

Wang Nian couldn't refuse, so he had to postpone the job of picking kiwis for the time being and took his two children to the next door.

The woman's name is Xie Yulan, and her husband is Huang Guohua, deputy director of the General Logistics Life Support Department, who was said to have been promoted just two days ago.

The couple has three children. The eldest daughter and the youngest son are currently living with their parents-in-law in their hometown. They will bring the children and the elderly here once the house is ready.

Her second son Huang Yong and she originally lived in the countryside. When they heard that the factory was going to allocate houses, the mother and son set out to explore the route.

"My life is worth it. I never thought I would be able to live in such a spacious house before I die."

Some people complain that the abandoned house has no toilet, while others think this two-bedroom, one-living room house is good in every way.

There is not much furniture in Xie Yulan's house. In the living room, there is a bunk bed, a dining table and two sofas.

"When my eldest daughter comes, I'll let the brothers and sisters sleep in that bed, and my parents will sleep in the small room."

Wang Nian just sat down and glanced at the bed, and Xie Yulan immediately began to explain.

Although he has a straightforward personality, he has a good eye.

"There's nothing good at home." Wang Nian really brought a basket of kiwis: "Let the children have them as snacks."

"Sister-in-law, you're welcome." Xie Yulan took the basket with a smile, and her eyes fell on Shi Wan's face, who was leaning against Wang Nian: "Is this the child that Chief Engineer Shi just brought back yesterday?"

"This is the eldest, and this is the second."

Shi Shuwen quickly stood up and called out, "Hello, auntie." Shi Wan followed suit.

The brother and sister were dressed neatly, well fed and warmly dressed, their little faces were naturally rosy, and they spoke in childish voices, which made them so adorable.

At least Xie Yulan thinks he is much better than that bastard in her own family.

"City kids are good-looking, nothing like my naughty boy..." Turning around, she found that half of Huang Yong's face was buried in the sieve, as if he had eaten too early.

"You little brat! Can't you learn from Shi Shuwen?" Xie Yulan directly put the colander into the cupboard and turned around to warn: "If you dare to eat secretly, I will punish you when your father gets off work."

Huang Yong wiped his nose after running out of food and became interested in Shi Shuwen again: "There's a basketball game at the stadium. Shall we go watch the game together?"

Even though Huang Yong has only been here for two months, this guy has explored every nook and cranny of Factory 431.

Shi Shuwen turned to look at Wang Nian, his eyes full of hope, as if he was ready to jump up immediately if given permission.

"Go back and put on your coat first." Wang Nian nodded and touched Shi Wan's little face again: "Do you want to go?"

Shi Wan shook her head, buried her head from under Wang Nian's arm into his arms, and began to yawn.

"Walk!"

"Don't take Shuwen to other places to mess around. If I find out, you'll be in trouble tonight."

Xie Yulan was not worried about the safety in the factory, but she was afraid that Huang Yong would take Shi Shuwen to crawl through the bushes again, and if he got hurt, she would have to explain to his parents.

"Don't worry, auntie. We are just going to the stadium to watch the game." Huang Yong patted his chest to assure.

After the two boys ran away happily, Shi Wan was so sleepy that she lay in Wang Nian's arms, wanting to fall asleep.

Xie Yulan was a little shocked when she saw this.

Didn’t you just bring the child home yesterday? And after just one night, your relationship with the new stepmother has become so good?

Wang Nian... is really capable.

"Is that female comrade just now a friend of my sister-in-law?" Wang Nian gently patted Shi Wan's back and casually asked about the "green tea" girl just now.

"Her husband works in the same office with my husband Huang, and they have hardly spoken to each other. But today he insisted on coming to my house to take a look."

To sum up this long paragraph, it's just... unfamiliar and inexplicable.

"I thought she was Huang Yong's mother!" Wang Nian laughed.

"Liu Lu just likes to pretend to be a good person." Xie Yulan curled her lips in disdain, and then directly revealed a secret: "Use the same tricks on me as you use on her man, I won't fall for it!"

Liu Lu's lover Xia Tao is also remarried, and her daughter lives with her father.

"If you believe her, you will definitely suffer a great loss!"

Liu Lu seemed to be very sincere to her stepdaughter, but in fact, she did a lot of bad things to her in secret, which made the girl a naughty boy at the age of twelve. Eventually, she was caught by the security department for stealing hair oil from a store.

Later, when his ex-wife heard the news, she came from afar to take their daughter away and forbade her to contact Xia Tao again.

"What would she have said if her son had stolen something just now?"

Xie Yulan had seen a lot of despicable behavior like Liu Lu in the countryside. The evil mothers-in-law in the village often used this trick to ruin the reputation of their daughters-in-law.

"Just keep your distance normally." Wang Nian secretly felt lucky that Liu Lu didn't live in the same building, otherwise they would have to deal with each other later.

Little did she know...it was too early for her to celebrate.

Liu Lu at least pretended to be nice, because there was another person named Zhong Manli living on the second floor who wanted to move in and change houses, and she would cause trouble in the future.

"Let's not talk about those annoying things. School is about to start. Should Shuwen be in the first grade or the preschool class?"

"First go to preschool for one year, then go to primary school next year."

The couple has discussed the matter of studying and decided to let the child go to preschool to lay the foundation before going to the first grade to let him adapt to the boring study life.

As for Shi Wan, Wang Nian plans to take her to the kindergarten in the next few days.

"Then we can go together. My husband Huang also said that the second child should go to kindergarten first, and the first child should stay back a grade and start the second grade again..."

The couple brought their children here from afar just for their education. If they stayed in the village, they would have to earn work points every day, so they would have no time to study seriously.

Although Xie Yulan was not well educated, she liked to listen to the educated youth talk about things in the city.

The educated youth all firmly believed that one day they would be able to return to the city and that intellectuals would have a brighter future.

She hadn't considered anything too far ahead, but the thought of all her children becoming city dwellers was enough to make her willing to tighten her belt and let all three of them go to school.

The two of them then mainly chatted about the children.

Although Wang Nian has only been a mother for two days, Shi Xiangming is very busy and she has to take care of all the household matters herself, so there are still many things she needs to understand.

We chatted until before dinner and then went home.

***

September 15th, the weather was cloudy.

It gets cold earlier in the mountains than outside. As early as mid-September, the chill in the autumn wind can already bring a hint of ice.

Early in the morning, Wang Nian got up, poured out the hot water on the beehive coal stove, and then picked up the kettle to get water.

There was a thin layer of frost on the sink, and today was a cloudy day, so the cold water was clearly biting when I touched it.

Using the last bit of heat from the beehive stove to warm up the water, Wang Nian hurried back to the house to call Shi Shuwen.

"You have to report to school today, don't be late."

When the person on the upper berth heard the word "read", he immediately poked his head out from under the quilt, then without hesitation sat up, put on his clothes, and went downstairs.

The boss doesn't need to worry, but Shi Wan has to call twice more.

Just after bending down and gently patting Shi Wan's little face, Shi Xiangming, who had tidied himself up, walked into the house and took over the task of dressing the child.

It's only been half a month, and the family of four seems to have gotten used to this kind of life.

As soon as Shi Xiangming arrived, Wang Nian could go out and prepare breakfast.

"What do you want to eat in the morning? I noticed that the light in your hallway has been on for a long time."

Liu Chaoxian, who was squatting at the stairs brushing his teeth, was still a little dazed, and his body swayed as he spoke.

Look at this newly married couple, how well they are living.

Shi Xiangming gets off work around seven or eight in the evening. He uses a flashlight to connect a light bulb to the house so that he can cook in the evening.

Unlike her husband, the canvas he bought is still piled under the stairs, and he doesn’t know when the awning can be installed.

"Steamed buns." Wang Nian replied.

Hearing Wang Nian's voice, Xie Yulan followed and walked out of the room while combing her hair. Before she even stood still, she sighed: "I was wondering why you are so energetic every day, steaming buns so early in the morning!"

Only after living side by side with them did I understand why the two kids became close to their stepmother so quickly.

No one can resist Wang Nian's tricks.

Today I make fruit soup, tomorrow it’s chestnut cake, and even breakfast can be made in countless ways.

The day before yesterday I had pancakes with pumpkin porridge, yesterday I had scallion pancakes with egg drop soup, and this morning I even had steamed buns.

For the two families next door, it is really torment to see others eating well every day.

"Didn't I just ask Carpenter Wang to make a new steamer? It's a good time to try it out." Wang Nian smiled.

Two layers of bamboo steamers were already placed in the pot. Since Wang Nian got up early, no one knew what the fillings were for the buns.

"Sell me a few after they're steamed. Otherwise, I really won't be able to explain to my family."

Don’t worry if you don’t know, just buy a few first to be sure.

Of course, asking for it with your own hands wouldn't work, so Liu Chaoxian had already agreed with Wang Nian to pay for it, and they would pay whatever the cafeteria sold for.

The meat buns in the cafeteria cost eight cents each. After washing up, Liu Chaoxian went home and took out seven cents of yarn and stuffed it on the windowsill of Wang Nian's house.

"I'll call my bastard after you've steamed it."

There were eight buns, just enough for each of the four people in the family to get two. Liu Chaoxian just lit a fire and cooked some porridge for a meal.

"I'll bring it to you later." Wang Nian did not refuse the seventy cents. He opened the lid of the steamer to check the condition of the dough, then turned around to light a fire.

No one's money comes from the wind. Although Shi Xiangming has a high salary, Wang Nian would not dare to spend so much money on food if it were not for the sake of nourishing the child's health.

"After sending the kids to school today, how about we go to the mountains this afternoon and learn from others to open up a plot of land and grow some vegetables?"

Xie Yulan's family has three children to raise, so they have to be thrifty. The thought of meat buns is enough for her, but she certainly won't just spend money to buy them like Liu Chaoxian.

Wang Nian had heard Huang Qiuhong mention the matter of cultivating a vegetable field a long time ago.

But I heard that you have to apply to the Housing Affairs Department first, and there are regulations on how large an area can be reclaimed, so you can't just plant as much as you want.

Shi Xiangming wrote the report two days ago, and Wang Nian happened to go to get the approval slip today.

He nodded upon hearing this: "If the land is divided, I will have to go to Changshenggou again."

You are not allowed to use hoes when farming. There are no hoes in the factory store, so you can only buy them at the farm implement station in Changshenggou. Before that, you have to find someone to exchange tickets for you.

As the steam rose, the aroma from the steamer gradually wafted out.

The two children stared at the stove eagerly, and Wang Nian took the time to braid Shi Wan's messy hair into two small braids.

Shi Xiangming just stood quietly at the door and watched.

I have imagined many times what ordinary people's married life is like, and this scene this morning seemed to show me a concrete picture.

He collected his thoughts and looked down at the stove.

A single pot hole can only do one thing: the cooked porridge will have cooled down while you are waiting to steam the buns, and you can only pour it back into the pot to heat it up later.

"Take a rest tomorrow." Shi Xiangming suddenly spoke up, and after meeting Wang Nian's puzzled gaze as he wished, he pointed at the beehive stove and said, "How about changing the beehive stove into a wood stove? I'll find some iron sheets to make a beehive stove."

It is easy to find iron sheets in the factory. They are cut using machine tools and then welded together to make a stove that can be carried.

Many people in Anhuai City use that kind of stove, and when it gets cold in winter, they can bring it indoors to keep warm.

Of course Wang Nian agreed, and immediately thought of the stove that could be used for cooking and heating in winter.

However, when he thought about the large amount of iron sheets and honeycomb coal that would be required, Wang Nian did not ask for it.

"Shuwen, take out a plate and give Liye's family some buns."

Fifteen minutes later, Wang Nian got up and opened the steamer. Sure enough, he poured the porridge back into the pot and heated it up with the residual heat.

"Auntie, I'll take it."

When Wang Nian heard his mother say that Zhang Liye, who came to buy buns, was already waiting at the door, he jumped out immediately after the words fell.

He said he would serve the food himself, but in fact he couldn't wait to stuff the food into his mouth before he even picked up the plate.

It was so hot that I was grimacing and couldn't bear to let go.

"It smells so good... so hot."

In the Liu family's house, the four people had already served the porridge and were waiting for Zhang Liye to bring the buns to the table.

Nine buns. Wang Nian really wouldn’t let Liu Chaoxian suffer any loss. Each bun was as big as a fist. Two were enough for an adult.

Upon seeing this, Granny Hu immediately took two and put them in a small bowl.

"I won't eat it. I'll save it for Liye to eat at night."

Liu Chaoxian: “…”

Having long been accustomed to her mother-in-law's self-righteous devotion, the final result is that Zhang Guiqiang will share the food with his mother-in-law, while Liu Chaoxian is worried that her husband will not be full, so she shares her own food.

The result...she was the only one who was not full.

"Grandma, you can eat it yourself. Two for each person, and the extra one will be given to my mom. She works the hardest."

Granny Hu: “…”

Today, without waiting for Liu Chaoxian to express his opinion, Zhang Liye stood up to speak for his mother and divided the buns first.

"Auntie Wang Nian said that everyone is working very hard, so there shouldn't be a saying that some people eat more and some eat less, and everyone needs to eat enough."

Zhang Liye heard these words from when Wang Nian was educating Shi Shuwen, and he felt they were very true.

Mom has to work, cook and do laundry, so she is definitely the hardest working person in the family.

Of course...he studies very hard, so he needs to eat well.

Liu Chaoxian ignored her mother-in-law's look and took a bite of the bun happily.

The buns filled with pork and cabbage are so juicy and oily that even the cabbage is so sweet and fresh.

"Mom, learn how to make steamed buns from Aunt Wang Nian, so that we can eat steamed buns every day!"

How delicious are the buns! Zhang Liye summed it up using all the vocabulary he learned in the first grade of primary school: he couldn't stop biting until his tongue was on it.

"It's strange..." Zhang Guiqiang swallowed the bun in his mouth and looked at his wife in confusion: "Isn't Comrade Xiao Wang a country girl? How can she make so many delicious dishes?"

Take the chestnut cake from the day before yesterday for example. Zhang Guiqiang, who has lived in the city for many years, had never even heard of it, but Wang Nian actually knew how to make it.

"How should I know?"

"I think you just look down on rural people." Granny Hu, who had been holding back a lot of anger, pointed at Zhang Guiqiang with her chopsticks and said, "When Liu San's grandfather in our village was young, he was a royal doctor. It's unfortunate that the Red Flag Brigade has a chef!"

Zhang Guiqiang suddenly realized what was going on and immediately reflected on his own ideological problems.

Who says that all rural people are farmers? It is not surprising that there are not a few capable people among them.

Wang Nian, who was separated by a wall, didn't know yet that Liu Chaoxian would automatically help him find a good excuse for any unusual behavior he occasionally did in the future.

With superb cooking skills taught by a master chef, it’s not surprising to be able to make some unprecedented food!

After dinner, Wang Nian and Xie Yulan led the children down the mountain.

The factory was so large that a primary school and a kindergarten were built in the middle, next to the auditorium.

431 Factory Primary School.

They were not the only ones who came to register, the entire school registered today.

The school gate was crowded with parents and children. Wang Nian searched for a long time on the notice board at the school gate and finally found the location of the kindergarten.

The kindergarten is located in a separate row of bungalows next to the playground and can be seen as you enter the school gate.

"Why are there so many people?"

The front of the bungalow was full of people, and it seemed that they were automatically divided into three groups, with a distance of more than one meter between each group.

Xie Yulan, who also didn't know the situation at the school, left Huang Yong behind and rushed into the crowd to find out the news.

Although Wang Nian was far away, he could still make out some clues from her clothes and appearance.

The largest group of people were probably the villagers from the nearby brigade. They had their trousers half-rolled up, carried backpacks on their backs, and put their hands in their sleeves.

The few people looking helplessly at the door must be the teachers.

The person standing farthest away was wearing work clothes and was obviously a factory worker.

"Let's go find the teacher first." Wang Nian looked down at Shi Shuwen and stretched out his hand to signal: "Do you want me to lead you or do you want to go by yourself?"

The awkward child thought for a while, grabbed the strap of his schoolbag tightly with one hand, and stretched out his hand tremblingly.

Originally, he didn’t want to let Wang Nian hold the child, but when he saw that the children around him were being held by adults, he reluctantly reached out his hand.

Wang Nian's hands were a little rough, and the rubbing of the old flute made Shi Shuwen's palms itchy, but they were very warm.

He tilted his head to glance at Wang Nian, who seemed to be concentrating on walking, and smiled secretly with the corners of his lips raised as if no one noticed.

Wang Nian laughed inwardly.

It feels like the kids are doing all kinds of sneaky things in the classroom thinking the teacher can't see them, but in fact they are all in sight.

"We have to hurry up and sign up, otherwise there might be a quarrel."

After Xie Yulan came back from the investigation, she quickly grabbed Huang Yong and walked quickly towards the teacher's office at the edge. Seeing this, Wang Nian did not delay and picked up the two children and trotted after them.

The registration process is actually very simple. You just need to show your 431 factory employee ID, fill in your level, name and other information, and then get a book receipt and leave.

Just after I finished the formalities and walked out of the office, those who were waiting in the playground at the gate suddenly became excited and broke out into a heated argument with the teachers at the gate.

"What happened?" Wang Nian asked.

"Those people are villagers from the brigade next to the factory. Before the factory was built..."

When 431 was building the factory, the most important workshop required a large piece of flat land, so we discussed with the neighboring brigade and exchanged 30 acres of land.

The factory helped them to reclaim additional land and provided them with two years of food compensation, and also guaranteed that the children of the team members could attend schools for children of local residents in the future.

In the past two years, there were few children coming to study in the brigade, so naturally not many people had any objections to this matter.

But this year, for some reason, the number suddenly increased several times, and the number is twice that of the children of employees.

The factory sent someone to do a detailed check and found out that all the kids who registered this year were relatives of the Red Star Brigade members, and even the neighbors of my sister-in-law's in-laws had come.

Just because everyone heard that graduates from the children's school could get a job in the factory after graduation, the news spread quickly and more and more people came.

The school didn't dare to accept the student, so they immediately reported the matter to the Factory Affairs Office. The teachers didn't dare let anyone in until a decision was made.

Perhaps Wang Nian and his companions' coming and going caused a commotion, and someone took the lead and tried to break into the office.

"It's none of our business."

On the side of the factory workers' families, Xie Yulan certainly didn't want the children from the brigade to take up the quota.

The noise in front of the office intensified and the school security staff rushed out of the office.

Wang Nian retracted his gaze.

After all, it was all for the children. Before getting married, Wang Nian was a native of Changshengpo, so naturally he didn't have any other unnecessary thoughts.

"Put me down. I can walk by myself."

As soon as he walked out of the school gate, Shi Shuwen struggled to get down, his little face flushed with shame.

Shi Wan was afraid that Wang Nian would let her go as well, so she hugged her neck tightly and buried her head.

"Isn't the kindergarten full of Red Star Brigade kids?"

After just a few steps, Xie Yulan's worries soon came true, and the number of people was even greater than that at the elementary school.

"Let's wait until the results come out from the factory!"

Wang Nian didn't go in. He looked at the scene in the yard through the fence and immediately changed his mind.

In front of the cement slide, a dirty little kid smeared snot and saliva everywhere, and then grabbed mud to apply it.

The other kids on the rocking horses were no worse off. One of them, who was wearing open-crotch pants, peed himself while rocking.

Looking at the urine all over the rocking horse, Wang Nian was really worried about leaving Shi Wan here.

Plus, the child is already weak, and it would be troublesome if he got sick in such a dirty environment.

After today's chaos is over, Wang Nian wants Shi Xiangming to come and take a look in person before making a decision.

***

In front of a dirt floor surrounded by a special bamboo fence, Xie Yulan put her hands on her hips and couldn't help complaining to the housekeeping staff next to her.

"The division of vegetable plots is just like the division of houses. The difference is too big!"

This piece of land belongs to the vegetable garden of the family buildings No. 30 to 45. Each family has one plot, which is about 20 square meters in size.

But these twenty square meters are only the majority, and some of them are at least twice as large.

And the piece of land that Wang Nian was allocated...50 square meters is considered small.

The factory affairs officer glanced at Xie Yulan and pointed at a random piece of land: "That piece of land is planted by Deputy Factory Director Zhu's mother, that piece is planted by the head of the General Affairs Department, and that piece..."

Xie Yulan: "..."

What else could she say? Once these people's positions were revealed, no one dared to say anything more.

As for Wang Nian's largest plot of land, the staff member said confidently: "Chief Engineer Shi has won such a great honor for our factory. Let alone more land, we should not have any objection even if he gives us one more plot."

Xie Yulan: "..."

The former dares not to have any opinions, while the latter cannot have any opinions at all.

Who told me to have that ability?

Beneficiary Wang Nian said: I have never heard Shi Xiangmingxian mention the award at all.