Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Superficial Talk

"Oh my god, this is really a unit-owned house!"

As soon as she stepped through the door, Shi Guizhi was so surprised that her mouth opened wide, and she even touched the wall cautiously.

Shi Xiangming smiled and nodded.

"Sister, you and your husband will live here from now on. You can enjoy the sun in the morning."

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Wang Nian cleaning the room opposite the kitchen.

That room has good sunlight, and it is convenient for my sister and her husband to go in and out. They don’t have to go downstairs when they get up at night, and the toilet is right next to it.

"Look, Lao He, this room is so bright!"

"A small courtyard is also good."

He Jian likes the reclining chair under the eaves the most. If he has nothing to do in the afternoon, he can just lie on the chair and read a book... Just thinking about it makes him feel comfortable.

"I thought my brother-in-law would be on night shift, so it would be more convenient for him to go home after the night shift." Wang Nian walked out carrying the basin.

"You are very thoughtful. Sometimes Lao He is on duty in the student dormitory and comes back at eleven or twelve o'clock in the evening." Shi Guizhi became more and more satisfied as she watched.

Wang Nian smiled and said, "Besides, the kitchen is right across the street, so it will be convenient for my brother-in-law to cook if he gets hungry at night."

There was actually an empty room on the first floor of the house, but after much consideration, Wang Nian decided to arrange for his second sister and her family to stay in the yard.

The good sunshine is one thing, and separating them allows both families to have their own space.

This arrangement happened to suit Shi Guizhi's wishes. She put down her bag and tried to grab the rag: "I'll clean it. You take a rest."

"We've finished cleaning. Second sister, please take a look at what's missing and ask Xiang Ming to get it tomorrow." Wang Nian put the basin on the laundry table and gently pushed Shi Guizhi into the house to take a look.

The room and kitchen are about the same size, and the bed and cabinets are solid wood furniture left by the original owner.

Originally this room was intended to be used as a study, so a large desk was moved in early on. Wang Nian moved it in front of the window, making it convenient for He Jian to read and write.

As soon as he entered the room, He Jian went to the desk first, sat on the chair, touched the table top for a while, and then opened the drawer.

"The previous owner left behind a lot of wooden boards. I'll order a bookshelf some other day." Shi Xiangming walked in and said immediately.

When I was cleaning the house just now, I found that He Jian had a lot of books piled on the top of the closet, wrapped layer by layer. It can be seen that he cherishes those books very much.

As expected, He Jian didn't say anything more polite, but nodded with a smile: "Then I'll take out all the books and dry them out in the next few days."

"Take the quilt out to dry in the sun tomorrow. It's bound to rain in two days." Wang Nian said as he made the bed.

Shi Xiangming continued, "Then I will look for wooden planks after get off work tomorrow and try to order them before it rains."

Shi Guizhi looked left and right, and even though she couldn't get a word in, she always had a smile on her face.

Shi Xiangming's first marriage was a mess, and his life was a chaos. Shi Guizhi still remembers Shi Shuwen running around in open-crotch pants in the middle of winter.

It’s not like now, when life is well organized, the two of us can discuss things together and our home feels more like a home.

"Then you guys continue to clean up, I'll go cook."

"You two grown men clean up, I'll go help Wang Nian cook." Shi Guizhi said happily.

Shi Xiangming said "OK" but soon followed up with another question: "Do you want to invite Old Qiu's family to come over for dinner tonight?"

Wang Nian thought about the food at home, and then said straightforwardly: "Then go and call someone. Qiu Chengjun and Zhang Hongyan are both at home resting today."

Zhang Hongyan has helped Wang Nian a lot these days, and she should have invited her to her house for dinner a long time ago.

"OK."

Finally, the job of cleaning the house was given to He Jian, while Shi Xiangming went to hire someone and bought a bottle of soda that the children liked from the small store at the end of the road.

As soon as Shi Xiangming stepped over the threshold, Shi Wan came running towards him.

"Dad, will my second aunt and uncle live in our house from now on?"

Whenever they went out, Shi Wan would either cling to her parents' arms or hold hands. The little girl would jump and shake Shi Xiangming's arms, as happy as a happy puppy.

"There will be more people in the family in the future, so we should help your mother share more housework." Shi Xiangming said to his daughter with a smile.

Shi Wan nodded obediently.

"dad!"

Shi Xiangming sighed helplessly, stopped, turned around and waited for Shi Feiying to run closer, with two waddling puppies following behind her.

"You went to buy soda without even calling me." Shi Feiying felt particularly aggrieved.

"Dad came out quietly and I found him." Shi Wan was very proud and hugged Shi Xiangming's arm tightly and shook it: "It must be my elder brother who told you."

Shi Feiying chuckled twice and obediently took Shi Xiangming's left hand.

"Dad, I want to eat bubble gum..."

The two children could no longer be lifted with one hand like they were when they were little. Shi Xiangming's arms were like two weights hanging on them, swinging back and forth left and right.

"Your mom only gave me two dollars. If I buy watermelon candy, I can't buy soda. Think about what you want to buy first."

The two siblings were caught in a difficult choice...

Shi Xiangming's ears were clear for a moment, and just in time the three of them arrived at the door of Zhang Hongyan's house.

"Technician Qiu."

Qiu Chengjun's family lives in a three-room north-facing house, with two rooms upstairs and one downstairs.

Shi Xiangming just knocked on the window lightly, and the other party immediately opened the window and greeted with a smile: "I just heard you two were discussing buying soda!"

Qiu Chengjun has a very small face, half of which is covered by a pair of black-framed glasses. There is a sharp wound on his chin extending from the corner of his mouth to his jaw, which was an injury he suffered at work a few years ago.

"Come to my house for dinner tonight, and invite your wife and children to join you."

"Hongyan, Chief Engineer Shi asked us to have dinner at his house."

Qiu Chengjun stood up and yelled towards the upstairs, asking everyone to open the door and invite the two children in.

"Sasha is at home too, come in and play."

Shi Wan turned her head and asked Shi Xiangming very seriously: "Dad, I can't buy candy today, right?"

"If you want to buy some candy, go home and ask your mother for money." Shi Xiangming smiled.

The weight on both arms disappeared at the same time. Shi Wan quickly let go of her hands and shouted, "Shasha, come to my house and play skipping rope."

Shi Feiying was even more direct. She first called out, "Hello, Uncle Qiu." Then she simply ran home, not forgetting to take the two dogs with her.

"This kid..." Shi Xiangming shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, his expression froze and he looked across the street.

Opposite is the living area of ​​the plastic factory, with many people coming in and out.

After concentrating on looking for a long time, he didn't find anyone looking at him. For a moment, Shi Xiangming even doubted whether the feeling of being stared at just now was an illusion.

Zhang Hongyan followed Qiu Shasha downstairs and picked up the apron beside the table and put it on: "What good news is there today?"

"My second sister and brother-in-law..." Shi Xiangming mentioned it casually.

"Then I'll go and help."

"Okay! I won't be polite." Shi Xiangming smiled, turned around and walked out of the house, then glanced across the street.

After the two little girls entered their homes, Shi Xiangming and Qiu Chengjun walked to the store while chatting.

At this moment.

A middle-aged man walked out of the gate of the first courtyard house at the entrance of the alley.

His eyes first followed Shi Xiangming and the other person as they walked away, and then they fixed their eyes on the closed door diagonally opposite.

***

15 Kwong Wah Street.

"Pick more loofahs so you can take some home later."

Wang Nian planted five loofah seedlings against the wall in the backyard. He used the seeds from the spice rack and watered them with purified water. The end result was... he couldn't pick them all.

The loofahs grew so luxuriantly that their leaves climbed onto the adjacent racks, causing several bamboo poles to be entangled by vines and turned into a loofah wall.

The ground below was filled with loofahs as long as a baby's arm, and the sides were full of yellow loofah flowers.

When Zhang Hongyan saw so many loofahs, she didn't hesitate.

"If you have a vegetable garden at home, why would you need to buy vegetables from the market? It's absolutely enough!"

"Not just loofah, you can pick whatever vegetables you want to eat."

After a while, Wang Nian had moved behind the tomato rack next to him and with a few clicks of a pair of scissors, he cut off the tomato seedlings that were about to climb over.

Ordinary tomatoes are considered to be growing well if they grow to shoulder height at most, but the tomatoes planted by Wang Nian are taller than the loofah racks.

The tomatoes at the top were bigger than a fist. If it weren't for the ropes tied to the rack, the branches would have been broken.

"Since you've spoken, I'll shamelessly pick more!"

Although Zhang Hongyan is from the north, her parents are both city workers. They followed her husband to Anhuai right after they got married and have never worked in the fields.

Not to mention growing vegetables, even the pots of flowers that the old professor gave me before he left didn't last more than half a year despite the careful care I took.

Without having to go through the hard work of planting, you can harvest the fruits right away. The sense of satisfaction is indescribable.

"Go ahead and pick them, sister." Shi Guizhi threw the weeds aside and moved the bench to continue pulling out the weeds in the eggplant field: "Look at these eggplants. If you don't eat them now, they will have seeds and you won't be able to chew them even if you fry them."

"Give some of the eggplant to our neighbors, and use the rest to make eggplant sauce."

Shi Guizhi and Zhang Hongyan had never heard of what mahjong was, so they picked vegetables while listening to Wang Nian explaining the preparation method.

After buying soda, Shi Xiangming went home, turned around and locked the door before going to the backyard to help with Qiu Chengjun.

As soon as the door opened, the earthy smell mixed with a spicy flavor rushed into my nose.

There are several kinds of peppers in the pepper field in front of me. The spicy taste comes from two of the round peppers, which are a mixture of orange and red, and are very similar to the watermelon candies that children love to eat.

Qiu Chengjun had never seen this kind of pepper before, so he approached it and wanted to touch it. Fortunately, Shi Xiangming saw it and immediately reached out to grab it.

"But don't touch it. This chili is either ghost spicy or devil spicy. Your hand will hurt for days if you touch it."

“So amazing.”

"If it's not broken, it's fine. Look..." Shi Xiangming pointed to the two peppers on the top of one of the plants that were obviously cut. "Our naughty boy was curious and secretly cut it to try it out. He cried all night before he got better."

Shi Feiying is a naughty boy. The more he is told not to touch something, the more he wants to try it. After suffering a great loss, he has to avoid it even when passing by.

"Then you have to be careful." Qiu Chengjun quickly retracted his hand.

"My wife said that although this kind of pepper is spicy, adding some pepper seeds to the oil pepper can enhance the flavor. Two plants are enough to eat for a year."

In terms of common sense, Shi Xiangming is probably not even as good as his eldest son. He believes whatever Wang Nian says. As for where he found the seeds... he has never thought about this question.

"Xiao Wang...are you a graduate of Agricultural University?" Qiu Chengjun looked deeper into the yard. Everything he saw was full of vitality, as if all the vegetables were competing to grow, and none of them was inferior.

"As the saying goes, every profession has its top talents! We who work in technology should also learn this spirit." Shi Xiangming smiled.

"Old Qiu, come in and help." Zhang Hongyan's voice, obviously with a smile, floated out from the depths.

Qiu Chengjun agreed and walked carefully away from the vegetable field.

"Wang Nian is going to grill fish later. I need to go and learn how to do it. You come and help me pick the vegetables." Zhang Hongyan was bending over to pick radishes. When she saw Qiu Chengjun coming over, she immediately stood up and turned to the tomato rack: "After you pick them, go back and get some of the black fungus and ginseng that my mom sent to Wang Nian."

Qiu Chengjun knew that his wife would only be generous when she met someone who was truly worth associating with. He had been neighbors with Liu Min's family for five or six years, but he had never seen them send ginseng to them.

"Wild ginseng is a good thing." Wang Nian poked his head out from behind the shelf, smiling in his crooked eyes: "I think it can be exchanged for the vegetables in my garden."

"It's a good thing in Anhuai, but it's nothing to us!" said Zhang Hongyan.

"When you say that, it reminds me that when I was working in the factory, I couldn't eat fresh seafood at all. It was good enough to taste some dried seafood!"

"Speaking of seafood..." Zhang Hongyan looked up at the sky and said, "There is a fishing village next to Baoshan Bridge, and many people go there to buy crabs and fish just caught by the fishing boats."

"Is it far?" Wang Nian asked quickly.

"Not far. It only takes about an hour by bus."

"When are you going to buy seafood? Call me along! My three children have never eaten fresh seafood!"

"You have to go early if you want to go. If you go after the typhoon, seafood will be very expensive."

Typhoons hit Anhuai City at irregular intervals from August to November every year. During typhoon days, vegetable prices soar, and seafood is out of stock even if you want to buy it.

Wang Nian had never experienced a typhoon in his previous life or the past ten years of this life. He was stunned for a moment and suddenly turned around to look at the roof of his house.

"Then it's okay for me to grow vegetables on the rooftop!"

"It's all my fault." Shi Xiangming, as a comforter, actually forgot about the typhoon. Wang Nian didn't even think about it when she was growing vegetables on the rooftop: "I'll move everything down tomorrow."

"It's okay." Zhang Hongyan waved her hand: "I've never seen old professors plant so many fruit tree seedlings on the roof before..."

Snap——

Before he could finish his words, the sound of a flowerpot breaking on the ground was heard, which seemed very appropriate.

Several people hurried to the living room.

“…”

The two pepper plants that had frightened Qiu Chengjun just now had long disappeared, with only a pile of flowerpot fragments and soil left on them.

Wang Nian looked up.

Before Shi Feiying could retract her head, her terrified eyes met Wang Nian's. She waved her hands in fear and said, "It wasn't me who pushed him. It was Xiaobai who bumped into him."

Wang Nian's heart skipped a beat, but he tried not to show any panic, and just ordered sternly: "Put your head back."

"You should buy some bricks and build the wall higher!" Zhang Hongyan swallowed her saliva and patted her chest with lingering fear: "Fortunately, only the flower pot fell today."

Wang Nian rushed into the house and saw Shi Feiying safe and sound in the living room. He finally felt relieved.

Buying seafood is no big deal. I have to eliminate the hidden danger on the rooftop first before I can feel at ease.

After the little episode, the aroma gradually spread from the kitchen.

Of course...Shi Feiying, who broke the flowerpot, also did not escape a few slaps on her butt.

***

16 Kwong Wah Street.

Zhang Hongyan was already awake when the first ray of sunlight hit the windowsill, but she didn't have to get up early today to compete with the neighborhood ladies for food, so she simply turned over and planned to continue sleeping.

Knock knock knock——

As soon as I closed my eyes, there was a loud knock on the door. I knew it was Qiu Shasha.

"What's wrong!"

The noise startled Qiu Chengjun, and he asked nervously.

"I'm so hungry!" Qiu Shasha leaned against the door, rubbing her rumbling stomach at around five o'clock, and slapped the door again in grievance: "For breakfast, we'll have the chicken stewed with mushrooms and noodles that Shi Wan brought yesterday."

Zhang Hongyan suddenly woke up and sat up, slapping Qiu Chengjun a few times: "Listen to what your daughter said?"

"She's so hungry." Qiu Chengjun turned over impatiently, and after a while he sat up in shock: "She said she was hungry?"

Qiu Shasha is an only child. No matter how difficult life was, Zhang Hongyan never let her child down. But this is what makes raising her so annoying.

Normally, she would not ask for food on her own initiative, and would even be picky when the food was right in front of her. Qiu Chengjun always said that the girl would die of hunger on the way to the countryside when she went to work in the countryside.

Zhang Hongyan got out of bed and opened the door, and saw her daughter leaning against the wall pitifully, still shouting that she was hungry.

"Mom, you smell so good!"

The chicken stewed with mushrooms that Qiu Shasha had been thinking about was delivered by Shi Wancai in the dark last night. Zhang Hongyan put it in the cupboard specifically to eat it tonight.

The girl even said she could smell a fragrance, and Zhang Hongyan didn't even know whether to scold or laugh.

But just as I snorted speechlessly, I instantly smelled the fragrance coming up the stairs. It was indeed the smell of chicken stewed with mushrooms.

"Old Qiu, get up." Zhang Hongyan turned around and called Qiu Chengjun to get up as well: "After dinner, I'm going to take Wang Nian to Baoshan Village to buy crabs."

Qiu Chengjun put on his clothes and muttered, "Who would prepare such a hard dish as chicken stewed with mushrooms so early in the morning?"

I went downstairs and saw...it was my home.

Heat up the stewed chicken with mushrooms, pick up the cooked noodles and put them in the pot, then sprinkle with green onions picked from Wang Nian's vegetable garden.

“It smells so good!”

The dried shiitake mushrooms have completely absorbed the deliciousness of the chicken soup, and the chicken soup seems to explode in your mouth when you take a bite.

The chicken was cooked to perfection. The bones came off easily when you ate it gently. The chicken also had the aroma of mushrooms.

"Mom!" Qiu Shasha, with her messy hair, stuffed a few mouthfuls of noodles into her mouth and said incoherently, "I'm so jealous of Shi Wan."

"Why are you jealous of others?" Zhang Hongyan was puzzled.

"We can eat so many delicious foods every day. Auntie Wang Nian even made cakes for Shi Wan to take to school."

Zhang Hongyan: “…”

"Be careful or you'll get beaten." Qiu Chengjun kindly reminded the young lady, although in his heart... he had the same thought.

"Dad, you forgot to eat the fish too fast and it got stuck in your throat!" Qiu Shasha turned around and exposed her father's embarrassing incident: "If he hadn't swallowed it later, we would have had to go to the hospital."

Qiu Chengjun: “…”

It’s really embarrassing to say, but the first time I ate at the restaurant next door, a fish bone got stuck in my throat. I was too embarrassed to say it at the time, and only when I got home did I find a way to swallow it down.

"Eat your noodles!" Zhang Hongyan reached out and patted Qiu Shasha on the back of her head: "You are such a good girl, but you just have a big mouth."

"Auntie Wang Nian."

Qiu Shasha poured the last mouthful of soup in the bowl into her mouth, suddenly jumped up and ran to the door.

Wang Nian passed the basket over.

"I picked some spinach this morning."

"And my favorite bamboo shoots." Qiu Shasha shouted happily, and quickly poured all the dishes onto the stove and handed them back to Wang Nian: "I'll go call Shi Wan to school."

"Qiu Chengjun, wash the dishes."

The daughter's impatience was completely inherited from his wife. Just as Qiu Shasha walked out of the door with her head held high and hair messy, Zhang Hongyan wiped her mouth and stood up to leave.

In the blink of an eye, Qiu Chengjun was the only one left at home.

"We have to walk faster. It's rush hour now and we won't be able to squeeze onto the bus."

Here, Zhang Hongyan took Wang Nian to the station.

Perhaps because the noise downstairs was too loud, the window on the second floor was suddenly opened, and Liu Min leaned out and called out to the two of them.

"Where are you going?"

"We're going to Baoshan Bridge." Zhang Hongyan looked up and was about to ask Liu Min if she wanted to go with her, but immediately changed the subject because Hu Wenli followed her out and asked, "Are you guys going out too?"

Hu Wenli has a long face and triangular eyes that look down at people, and she looks exactly like the image of a prostitute who came out of a novel.

She leaned against the window frame, holding the melon seeds in one hand and taking the shells from her mouth and throwing them out of the window with the other hand.

"We also want to go to Baoshan Bridge to buy fish."

"Then..." Zhang Hongyan looked to the left, and Wang Nian smiled and said, "Then let's go together." Then he forced a smile and urged, "Then hurry up."

Several people gathered downstairs and walked towards the station together.

Hu Wenli tilted her head to look at Wang Nian, her eyes passed over the backpack, and the corners of her mouth curled up in a mocking smile: "Backpacks are not popular in Anhuai. We all carry cloth bags when we go out."

Zhang Hongyan's face darkened and she was about to refute.

Unexpectedly, Liu Min opened her mouth in surprise and followed suit: "The backpack must have been brought from the third-tier factory... I haven't seen it for sale anywhere."

Wang Nian smiled and continued, "I don't have any rags at home. How about you take me to find a cloth store that sells rags someday?"

"We don't use rags because we can't bear to part with them. Everyone has to be frugal if they live on lavish food and fish."

It was Liu Min who was the first to express her dissatisfaction, and the second half of her sentence was not about Bao.

Wang Nian understood immediately. Liu Min was angry that the two families had a visit without inviting her family...

Hu Wenli's answer was unexpected: "There is a rag shop at No. 2 Guanghua Street. You can buy a bag for 50 cents. Don't buy if you have more money!"

After saying that... he looked ahead with that arrogant expression that looked down on everything.

Wang Nian said "thank you" and then replied to Liu Min slowly: "Dad has a hard time. If you don't live a good life, your brain won't be able to keep up. If your brain can't keep up, how can you be worthy of the salary offered by the design institute?"

"An intellectual must have a good brain, unlike a workshop worker who only needs to use his hands. Why would he want to eat so well?"

It would be fine if she didn't speak, but once Hu Wenli opened her mouth, she would definitely say something offensive.

Among the four husbands, only Fang Caifu is a workshop worker, and the other three are in technical positions.

This sentence simply blurted out all the sarcastic words that Wang Nian had said, and at the end he asked Liu Min righteously, "Isn't that right?"

Liu Min was so angry that her face turned livid, but she couldn't get angry in front of him, so she lowered her head and walked quickly for a few steps, then suddenly stopped.

"I remembered that I have something to do at home, so I won't go with you today."

"Why did something happen suddenly?"

Only the honest Zhang Hongyan asked curiously, but unfortunately Liu Min didn't want to pay any attention to her and turned around and walked back.

Wang Nian couldn't help but look at Hu Wenli again.

With a smile on his face and full of sarcasm, it was obvious that he was trying to anger Liu Min on purpose.

"Don't you have a very good relationship?" Wang Nian asked directly.

She found that Hu Wenli was not like the kind of person who liked to gossip as described by Zhang Hongyan, but she was indeed a sharp-tongued person.

"Looks like we have a good relationship?" Hu Wenli asked back, then sneered: "Every time she says something bad about someone, she puts the blame on me. Even so... can I still have a good relationship with her? I'm not a fool!"

"Why do you go to see her every day if your relationship is not good?" Zhang Hongyan still trusted Liu Min more.

"The families next door to us don't want to associate with me. Why don't I find her to kill time and find you?" Hu Wenli rolled her eyes.

Wang Nian raised his index finger and wiped the tip of his nose, then said faintly, "Then you have to change your habit of looking at people with squinting eyes first..."

Just from that one glance on the second floor, the image of him being unreasonable and disruptive has already been deeply ingrained in my mind.