Chapter 42 Chapter 42 Visitors

Zhou Yuying obviously didn't take it seriously, and continued to tease Shi Wan: "Okay, then you and Sister Zhenzhen will both be Aunt Zhou's daughters, and I'll buy you lots of skirts, how about that?"

"Go bring some sweet soup to Aunt Zhou."

Wang Nian handed the cup to Shi Wan, letting the child fulfill his promise with his own hands.

Shi Wan carefully placed the cup of water in front of Zhou Yuying, let out a loud, exaggerated breath, and immediately ran happily to Wang Nian to ask for praise.

After getting his cup, he immediately turned around and handed it to Wu Zhenzhen, and then waited eagerly.

She believed that it was impossible that Wang Nian had not been hooked up with Wu Zhenzhen.

"Tell me where you can find such a lovely daughter. I want to be a mother too." Zhou Yuying shouted exaggeratedly.

Wang Nian knew she was joking, so he smiled and asked back, "How about I let Shi Xiangming introduce you to someone?"

"Come on!" Zhou Yuying was just joking. When she mentioned marriage, she showed some resistance in her eyes: "Isn't it enough to have experienced it once? You must be confused to think about going again!"

"Are you really not planning on getting married again?"

At present, due to limited external conditions, it will be difficult to remain single until old age, although Wang Nian was also a single in his previous life.

"I can't say for sure, but I don't have any plans to do so right now."

"Then I'll think about it when the time is right." Wang Nian patted Zhou Yuying's knee and indicated, "Zhenzhen washed the grapes for you."

"Thank you, Comrade Zhenzhen." Zhou Yuying took the grapes with a smile.

The children sat aside and began to drink the sugar water. Zhou Yuying picked up the glass, took a sip, and smiled as she said, "Are you busy this week?"

"Tomorrow Comrade Li Yan is getting married, I have to be the chef, and the day after tomorrow..." He pointed to the grapes in the living room and said, "I have to pick up these grapes, and the day after tomorrow I have to help people make pickled cabbage..."

That's why Wang Nian felt that he was not as idle as Shi Xiangming and Qingming.

What I just mentioned are the big things. The things like growing vegetables, feeding chickens, and cooking are not included. Anyway, there are things waiting for you every day when you open your eyes.

"How come you are busier than me!" Zhou Yuying laughed.

"Things always have a certain priority. If it's urgent on your side, they will definitely take care of you first."

Wang Nian really enjoyed dealing with Zhou Yuying; both of them were generous and had similar personalities.

"It's not a big deal. I'm going to the county town for further studies in two days. If anyone wants to buy it, I can help bring it back." Zhou Yuying stated her purpose.

Wang Nian's eyes lit up. There was something he really wanted to bring: "I want to buy some wolfberries and red dates. Do you have any connections?"

“Don’t want a ticket?”

"Our factory supply and marketing cooperative also has dates, but I don't have the tickets."

"You really know how to ask people. If it's malted milk, I definitely can't do anything about it, but these Chinese medicinal herbs do have a way..."

"Then I'll wait for your good news!" Wang Nian winked and chuckled, and then asked about the luggage bag Zhou Yuying brought: "What is it this year?"

"It's still the dried seafood from last year."

The elders in the family ask someone to bring them every year. This year, Zhou Yuying took the initiative to write a letter and said that she wanted some diaozhu. This time, the amount of dried seafood she brought was frightening.

"Can I see what's there?"

Wang Nian stood up and put the luggage bag on the coffee table. Suddenly, the sound of hens laying eggs came from the backyard.

"Let's go pick up eggs."

There was no need for Wang Nian to go in person. The two little girls immediately volunteered to jump off the bench and passed by like a gust of wind.

Full of energy, with a loud voice, it sounds very energetic.

As soon as the door opened, the sweet and sour taste of grapes at the tip of my nose was immediately diluted by the smell of earth, mixed with the scent of orange drifting in from the gaps.

Zhou Yuying was very curious about what was in this lush little courtyard.

I have been to Wang Nian's house many times, but mostly stopped at the corridor and living room, and never took a serious look at the backyard.

"I'm going to see what delicious food there is in the backyard."

Zhou Yuying followed the children into the backyard, while Wang Nian took out all the dried seafood from the luggage bag and placed them on the table one by one.

The most eye-catching thing in the backyard is the tomato field filled with red. A row of racks are full of tomatoes of all sizes, which is tempting and pleasing to the eye.

"Sister Zhenzhen, do you want to eat cucumber?"

Everything in front of her was dazzling, and Zhou Yuying could only follow the two children as they slowly moved deeper.

The yard of about 100 square meters is filled with fruits and vegetables, and the firewood shed against the right wall is probably the only thing that spoils the view.

Climbing vegetables and fruits are planted along the courtyard wall. The pumpkin vine has already climbed out of the wall, and a bright orange pumpkin is hanging on the top of the wall.

A row of bamboo poles are arranged in front of the entire wall. In addition to tomatoes, there are also cucumbers and green beans. The top of the firewood shed has also become a rack for loofahs.

Shi Wan and Wu Zhenzhen were like two elves, skipping happily to the cucumber rack and picking three cucumbers in a short while.

"Auntie Zhou eats cucumbers, they are delicious."

Shi Wan gave one of them to Zhou Yuying, and after sharing the remaining two with Wu Zhenzhen, she immediately took big bites.

The crisp sound and the visible juice splashing out made Zhou Yuying swallow subconsciously.

The two children ran happily to the left again, passing by a vegetable plot that was divided into small plots.

The quantity is not large, but the varieties are good and even the vegetable market doesn’t have them. No matter where they got the seeds from, they are grown so well…

Cuckoo——

The two children stopped in front of the fence. Shi Wan stood on tiptoe to remove the wooden bolt, pushed open the fence and went in.

The side should be where the chicken ring is.

Zhou Yuying rubbed the cucumber skin, took a big bite, and followed suit.

It turned out that there was a yard on the side, where not only chickens were raised, but also a few gray ducks and a big white goose.

The pomelo tree in the middle was bearing an astonishing number of pomeloes, the lowest ones almost hanging down to the top of the chicken coop.

"Sister Zhenzhen, you pick up the left side and I'll pick up the right side."

There were two chicken coops on each side of the tree. Shi Wan stuffed the uneaten cucumber into his mouth and half of his body was in the chicken coop.

After a while, Shi Wan came out with the eggs in her skirt, took the cucumber out of her mouth and looked at the chicken nest on the right: "Sister Zhenzhen, how many are there?"

"Four." Zhenzhen showed the eggs in her hand.

"I win!" After quickly finishing the cucumber in a few bites, Shi Wan spread her skirt to Zhou Yuying: "I have five."

"Oh!" Zhou Yuying was a little surprised and glanced at the chicken coop: "With only twelve chickens, how many eggs can they pick every day?"

If a family of four eats nine eggs a day, they can't finish them at all, so why buy them?

"Today's number is considered small. My brother picked up ten yesterday." Shi Wan puffed out her chest proudly.

"amazing."

"Auntie Zhou, can you help us take the eggs home? I want to play with Sister Zhenzhen in the yard for a while longer."

"Of course." Zhou Yuying smiled.

However, she obviously couldn't lift up her skirt pocket like Shi Wan did. She looked around, picked up a bamboo basket from the ground, and then took the egg.

On the way back to the house, I stopped by the tomato rack, pulled a tomato and ate it while walking back.

"Wang Nian, I'm going to pick some cucumbers and tomatoes when I leave later."

The local cucumbers in Wenxi Township are the yellow-skinned ground cucumbers, while Wang Nian grows thorny cucumbers, which are not as juicy... but sweeter.

Tomatoes are juicy and sweet, and can be eaten as fruit.

"There's a basket by the door. You can pick as many as you want."

Many paper packages had been spread out on the coffee table. Wang Nian was sitting on a small stool, concentrating on sorting out the mixed scallops and shrimps.

"Look at what you can do with the seafood this time?"

Zhou Yuying sat down on the sofa and munched on tomatoes so vigorously that she didn't even notice when the juice dripped onto her collar.

"I see there are a lot of shrimp skins and dried scallops. How about drying them and making some seafood sauce?" Wang Nian suggested after thinking for a moment.

"Tell me what ingredients you need. I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy them while I have time."

"We have it ready at home, and we can make it now."

"now?"

"If we don't get it done today, we'll have to wait until next week."

It is not certain whether there will be other things to do next week, but for Wang Nian, what can be done must be done first and will not be postponed to tomorrow.

"I really admire you." Zhou Yuying clapped her hands and stood up: "Just tell me what I can do for you."

This invisible tacit understanding between the two seemed to require no special explanation.

Zhou Yuying provided the dried seafood, and Wang Nian provided the seasonings, and the finished product was split equally between the two, without anyone caring about who got the better deal or the worse.

"Then I'd like to trouble Director Zhou to go to the backyard and get me some fresh red chilies. We'll make a spicy seafood sauce today."

"Yes, sir!" Zhou Yuying smiled.

Soak the dried scallops and shrimps in cold water, and remove the pebbles from the shrimp skin.

Whenever Wang Nianyi appeared in front of the stove, Granny Hu from the next door room would always sigh. She envied him for his good life, but at the same time, she felt that he was not good at managing the household.

As soon as Granny Hu sighed, Liu Chaoxian would immediately pick up the work in his hands and sit at the door.

"The garlic you planted this year is really big. Did you save the seeds?"

The new garlic that Wang Nian brought out from the cupboard were each as big as a baby's fist, with purple skin and strong flavor. The garlic oil made from them was more fragrant than that made from white-skinned garlic.

The garlic oil that Wang Nian gave her last month is now a perfect match for her noodles and is more popular than chili oil.

"After the frost falls, we can start growing seedlings for next year. You can pick some and take them back then."

"Next year I will plant more garlic oil, otherwise I can't keep taking advantage of others."

Life! The most talked about thing is of course family matters, after all, gossip is not available every day...

For example, Xiao Jianmin and Luo Manli from Room 104 were as quiet as a stagnant pool of water. We hadn’t heard them quarrel for almost half a year.

Since Wu Zhenzhen went to kindergarten, Wang Nian and Duan Hehua had no chance to interact with her.

All we know is that she has devoted all her energy to having a child. After work, she searches everywhere for prescriptions for pregnancy. The smell of Chinese medicine can often be smelled in her home.

As for Sun Xiumei and her husband...

"I'm having a day off today, why didn't I see Sun Xiumei?" Wang Nian wondered.

"Take Aunt Qi to Changshengpo Commune to buy cloth. She said she wants to make a new cotton shirt."

"For Aunt Qi?"

"If it's not her, then who else could it be? Anyway, they're always making trouble for one thing or another, and there's no end in sight."

Wang Nian: “…”

People say that giving birth to a good daughter is to repay a parent's gratitude, but no one says that giving birth to a troublesome daughter will make the mother suffer.

After a few months of silence, Qi Xiu'e started playing drums and learning opera at home, and she sang in a pinched voice every day.

Later, she accidentally saw the cotton shirt that Wang Nian made for Wu Zhenzhen, and said she wanted to learn sewing, and forced Sun Xiumei to give her the sewing machine so that she could practice.

As for whether it would really become a tailoring... Wang Nian was skeptical.

"Wang Nian, is this the pepper?"

The two chatted with all the neighbors on the first floor in the corridor before Zhou Yuying came out carrying a string of half-dried peppers.

Wang Nian glanced back and said, "Let Shi Wan help."

The fact that no one is perfect is once again vividly demonstrated in Zhou Yuying.

Shi Xiangming lacks common sense in life, but he is willing to learn and ask questions, and he is also patient enough.

Zhou Yuying did not need to study at all. No matter how difficult the external environment was in the past few years, it had no impact on her. She must have never suffered any hardship since she was a child.

The most difficult thing right now is probably... that we can only eat in the cafeteria.

"I can hold the stethoscope, but I can't find Chili." Zhou Yuying still has a clear understanding of herself: "I'll go find Xiaowan."

Wang Nian shook his head and laughed.

Crush the garlic and cut the chili into sections, put them together and chop them into pieces. Then chop the soaked scallops and shrimps.

The most troublesome step in making seafood chili sauce is chopping the ingredients. Wang Nian chatted with the two people while chopping, and the time passed quickly.

So far, Zhou Yuying has just used water to wash off the dust on the surface of the peppers.

It was unclear whether her hands were wet, but Wang Nian saw her take out a small box of lotion from her pocket and begin to wipe her hands carefully.

"Have some?"

Liu Chaoxian was busy shaking his head: "My hands are used for washing clothes and cooking every day, it's a waste of time."

Zhou Yuying did not persuade her, but carefully applied the cream and began to massage the back of her hand.

Tick, tick, tick—

"How long has it been since you last saw Teacher Xu?" Zhou Yuying began while massaging.

"Two or three months?" Wang Nian calculated the time.

Last year, I went to the shrimp oil shop frequently, so I didn’t buy any good shrimps this year, so I came to ask. Occasionally, I would run into Cui Shulin at the gate of the elementary school while he was at work.

"If you meet Xu Jie in the future, be careful." After massaging the back of her hand, Zhou Yuying began to massage the acupuncture points on her hand: "Not long ago, she got into a fight in the hospital and was punished."

"Lesbians are so powerful!" Liu Chaoxian didn't take it seriously. She had seen many fights between women, and she knew that you couldn't reason with unreasonable people.

Wang Nian had only met Xu Jie once, while eating beef noodles, and he never met him again in the few places they frequented in the residential area.

"There was no reason for the sudden attack. Fighting was just the hospital's external statement." Zhou Yuying bluntly said, "The person is now resting at Teacher Xu's home."

Wang Nian believed that Zhou Yuying would not bring up this matter for no reason, so he specifically asked: "Why did you hit someone for no reason?"

"They are the family members of employees who came to see a doctor. They don't know Xu Jie at all, but they just walked past her..." Zhou Yuying curled her lips.

Wang Nian stopped and frowned slightly.

Sudden loss of emotional control often occurs in mental illness and is not something that the person can control at all.

He pointed his index finger at his head, but didn't want to make it clear: "Is this the problem?"

"Smart!" Zhou Yuying raised her eyebrows.

"What nonsense are you talking about! Just say what you want to say..." Liu Chaoxian didn't understand at all.

Wang Nian turned around and continued chopping shrimps, while Zhou Yuying whispered the exact words to Liu Chaoxian.

Finally, he threw up his hands helplessly: "Teacher Xu did not admit that Xu Jie had mental problems, so he took him to his home to take care of him, but I think... they should know something about the inside story."

The two of them lived in the same family building, and they could detect any disturbance quickly.

Xu Jie's several instances of laughing and running around actually directly confirmed Zhou Yuying's guess.

Unfortunately, because Xu Jie behaved like a normal person most of the time, Teacher Xu refused to admit that his sister had a mental illness.

Because of his diagnosis of Xu Jie, Mr. Xu probably secretly hated Zhou Yuying.

"Zhou Yuying learned all her psychology by herself, so the diagnosis cannot be used as a basis. The hospital only suspended Xu Jie for three months as punishment.

"When I was evaluating Xu Jie psychologically, I discovered a problem."

Zhou Yuying suddenly stood up, made a gesture to Liu Chaoxian, and the three heads came together.

"She has special emotional ups and downs with children, especially little girls. Children must not be left alone with her."

As for the reason, the diagnosis was suspended before Zhou Yuying could even find out. One can only guess that the child was one of the factors that stimulated her.

"Don't let Xiao Wan Zhen Zhen go out to play in the future. It's creepy." Liu Chaoxian rubbed his arms.

Wang Nian nodded solemnly and quickly looked towards the backyard.

“…”

"It smells nice, do you think it's delicious?"

The various ingredients gradually turned into a yellow-brown sauce during the stir-frying process. The taste was fishy and spicy, and it was not pleasant at all.

Liu Chaoxian, who grew up in the mainland, questioned Wang Nian's cooking skills for the first time.

Zhou Yuying sniffed with great enjoyment: "This is the smell. It will be fragrant if you stir-fry it a little more. Don't worry."

The heat needs to be well controlled when frying the sauce. Once the minced garlic is burnt, the seafood chili sauce will become bitter and inedible.

After the water in the pot gradually dried up, Wang Nian directly removed the firewood and used the residual heat to deepen the color of the sauce.

"You do the work, I'll go catch a chicken."

Wang Nian handed the shovel to Liu Chaoxian. As for Zhou Yuying...it was better not to take any risks.

"What kind of chicken are you stewing? I'm not a guest."

Wang Nian just left with a waved hand: "Xiang Ming wants to invite a colleague to dinner tonight, you are included."

"Who did Chief Engineer Shi hire?" Zhou Yuying asked curiously.

"I heard that they were educated youth who were transferred to the factory last month. They are a brother and a sister."

Liu Chaoxian heard some information from Zhang Guiqiang. His sister was an office data clerk and his brother was a second-level technician.

Living area of ​​Factory 431.

Shi Xiangming pointed to the bamboo forest in front of him and said to the man and woman behind him: "My home is behind the bamboo forest."

The gay man has dark skin, a tall figure, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looks very handsome.

The lesbian's shiny black braids hung down in front of her chest. She looked somewhat like a gay man, but more gentle and delicate.

"It would be a shame for us to go to Chief Engineer Shi's house empty-handed, right?"

The female comrade nudged the male comrade with her elbow, and when Shi Xiangming's eyes swept over her, she immediately lowered her head shyly, and kept smoothing her braid with both hands.

The man laughed heartily, his bright eyes full of sincerity: "I'll make it up after I get my salary."

"Don't be so polite. Did I invite you to my house for a meal just to receive gifts?" Shi Xiangming smiled and pushed his bicycle into the bamboo forest. His voice continued in a clear and light voice: "Buy some meat after receiving your first month's salary. Don't always eat salted vegetables."

The gay man responded loudly "yes"

Seeing that my sister was still a little awkward, I grabbed her arm and quickly chased after her.

At this time, in front of No. 106, smoke was curling up and various aromas were lingering in the air.

Several people gathered at the end of the corridor with their heads lowered, and seemed to be discussing something intensely.

Zhou Yuying was the first to see the newcomer. She raised her hand and greeted him out of habit: "Comrade Shi, are you back?"

The braided girl's eyes sparkled as she whispered to her brother, "Sister-in-law is so pretty, just like a city girl."

The gay man nodded in agreement.

But the next second, Shi Xiangming politely nodded to Zhou Yuying: "Dr. Zhou is here too?"

It's impossible for the couple to be so polite. Just by hearing their addresses, you can tell that they are not very familiar with each other.

Soon, a very pretty young girl came out of the room with an apron tied around her waist. She just smiled at Shi Xiangming, and everything became clear in an instant.

"This is Comrade Lin Weidong, and that is Comrade Lin Jing, Weidong's sister."

While Wang Nian was chatting with the brother and sister with a smile, Lin Jing was also secretly looking at Wang Nian. After looking for a while, she lowered her head shyly, and then stole a few more glances.

I thought Wang Nian was pretty just now, and when I got closer I found that she was pretty in a very soothing way.

She is not as beautiful as Zhou Yuying, but she attracts people's attention in a subtle and calm way.

When she lowered her head, she suddenly noticed a little girl with bright eyes and white teeth leaning against Wang Nian's legs, also peeking at her carefully.

Lin Jing was startled for a moment, thinking that she was caught peeking. Her cheeks quickly turned red and she shyly hid behind Lin Weidong.

"Come in and sit for a while." Wang Nian warmly invited the two of them in.

Lin Weidong scratched his head, as if he had thought it over in his mind, and then he spoke a little embarrassedly: "Sister-in-law, you are too polite. My sister and I are here to eat ready-made food today."

In terms of age, Wang Nian is two years younger than Lin Jing. She still feels a little uncomfortable with Lin Weidong, who is almost 30 years old, calling her sister-in-law.

"Even if I want to help Wang Nian, he may not agree." Zhou Yuying joked with a smile.

Just now, thinking it was his sister-in-law, Lin Weidong didn't dare to look at Zhou Yuying's appearance carefully. But now she was right next to him, and he could see her clearly just by turning his head slightly.

Zhou Yuying is very beautiful!

Lin Weidong looked at him openly. When Zhou Yuying looked over, she not only did not look away, but smiled and said hello: "Hello."

He quickly looked away after greeting me, and there was no unpleasant feeling in his gaze.

Zhou Yuying couldn't help but look at Lin Weidong a few more times, but found that he seemed to have been attracted by the stone pot at the door.

“It smells so good!”

The tension diluted his attention to the surrounding environment, and only after he relaxed did Lin Weidong notice the fragrance in the air.

The chicken soup in the stone pot is boiling and the aroma is overflowing.

"Shuwen, pour a glass of water for Uncle Weidong and Aunt Linjing."

"I know!"

A resounding reply came from the little boy in the room. The words "pour water" were like a switch. Shi Wan, who was leaning against Wang Nian, suddenly became happy, let go of her hand and ran into the house.

Wang Nian smiled helplessly and added, "You can't give your sister sugar water. She already drank it this afternoon."

"I know." A louder answer, one could even hear some schadenfreude in it.

"Let's go inside first. Your sister-in-law can't cook with all these people around her."

After parking the car, Shi Xiangming stood at the door of the utility room and helplessly reminded people that such a small space was occupied by several people of all sizes.

Several people walked into the room one after another. Zhou Yuying suddenly pulled Wang Nian's arm and whispered, "I'll go in and help you keep an eye on it."

“Stop letting kids eat candy.”

Wang Nian seemed not to understand what Zhou Yuying meant, and responded with a completely different meaning.

Zhou Yuying just blinked, turned around and followed him into the house.

In the room, Shi Xiangming was completing Wang Nian's instructions and confiscated the peanut candy that Shi Shuwen had secretly put into his pocket.

"Brother secretly hid the candy, so I'll spank him." Shi Wan smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into crescents, and she deliberately got in front of her brother and made faces.

"Have you finished your homework?" Not only was the candy confiscated, Shi Xiangming also asked about the homework. Without waiting for an answer, he immediately asked Shi Shuwen to tighten his grip: "After dinner, Dad will check on your study progress."

If I had known... he would have stayed away from the living room.