Chapter 469 Zhou Xiaomei

Gu Cheng nodded: "I'll go and find out tomorrow."

By the time they finished tidying up the room, it was already late.

The army must have a canteen, but it’s so late, you probably won’t be able to get any food in the canteen.

Liu Yinyin found a pack of instant noodles from the box, along with some oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, etc. and placed them in the kitchen.

"Let's cook noodles tonight."

Gu Cheng opened his mouth and was about to say something when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

"You must be the new Brigade Commander Gu..."

Liu Yinyin turned around and saw Gu Cheng leading a middle-aged woman in her thirties in.

Liu Yinyin moved a chair to her: "Sister-in-law, please sit down."

Zhou Xiaomei sighed and said, "I live next door, and I thought it would be hard to cook for you guys since you just arrived. You won't get any food in the cafeteria at this hour, so I brought you a bowl of dumplings."

Liu Yinyin declined politely, "Sister-in-law, this is embarrassing. You can take it back and feed it to the children. I'll just cook some noodles."

"We're neighbors from now on, why should we be polite?" Zhou Xiaomei put the bowl directly on the table. "It's just a bowl of dumplings, just don't complain. I have a child at home, so I'll go home first..."

Zhou Xiaomei put down the bowl and left in a hurry.

Liu Yinyin glanced at Gu Cheng and asked, "Do you know her lover?"

Gu Cheng shook his head: "I don't know him, but I heard he is the head of the troop."

Liu Yinyin said "Oh" and said happily: "Neighbors seem to get along well with each other."

Gu Cheng smiled and said, "Giving a bowl of dumplings means we are getting along well?"

"You don't understand." Liu Yinyin took out the bowl and chopsticks to share the dumplings. "Whether or not to send dumplings is secondary. The most important thing is whether or not you have the heart to do it."

The new neighbors guessed that they had no food to eat, and they were very thoughtful.

The gift was dumplings. No one eats dumplings often these days, and they were made of white flour. I guess they were specially made.

That's why Liu Yinyin said that Zhou Xiaomei had good intentions.

Gu Cheng is a grown man and he wouldn't think about these things: "Let's eat first."

If it weren’t for the new neighbor’s kindness, the dumplings would still be warm.

Liu Yinyin took a bite and it tasted good. It was still a celery and meat dumpling, but there was more celery and less meat.

In those days when supplies were scarce, this was how we made dumplings.

Liu Yinyin muttered, "Wait till I finish cleaning up the house, then I'll take two things to the neighbor's house and say hello."

When you are out, it is important to maintain good relationships with your neighbors.

A relationship lasts only when there is give and take.

The next morning, he ate instant noodles again, and after breakfast, Gu Cheng went to the army.

Liu Yinyin asked Gu Yanyan to look after the triplets while she cleaned up the kitchen first.

The cabinets, rice jars and flour jars were put in place yesterday.

Liu Yinyin sorted out the food, dried vegetables, bowls and chopsticks, and the main room...

While I was busy, Zhou Xiaomei came again, holding a girl who looked about four or five years old.

Zhou Xiaomei led the girls to greet them and said with a smile, "This is my little girl, Fan Xiaoxiao. I saw you were busy yesterday, so I didn't dare to disturb you."

Liu Yinyin took out a handful of White Rabbit candies from her pocket and gave them to Fan Xiaoxiao: "Sister-in-law, thank you for the dumplings yesterday. I have already washed the bowl, remember to take it away later."

"Okay." When Zhou Xiaomei saw the triplets, she was a little surprised and asked, "...are these all your sons?"

Liu Yinyin: "Yes, triplets."

"Wow!" Zhou Xiaomei said in surprise, "This is the first time I've seen someone give birth to triplets. Your family is so lucky."

That’s right. She gave birth to four sons in two pregnancies. You couldn’t find their family even with a lantern in the surrounding area.

"Sister-in-law, please sit down for a while. I'll sort out my things."

Liu Yinyin just opened two boxes, which were filled with teapots, teacups, fruit plates and other things.

There are also some scattered snacks that need to be put in the cabinet.

Zhou Xiaomei hurriedly said: "I'll help you..."

"No need, sister-in-law. Just sit down. There's not much."

Zhou Xiaomei looked at the triplets and found them quite rare: "Then I'll help you look after the children."

Liu Yinyin smiled and said nothing.

Zhou Xiaomei said to herself, "I also have two sons, one is fourteen years old and the other is ten years old. They both go to school in town and can only come back once a week."

Liu Yinyin was slightly stunned: "...Sister-in-law, isn't there a school in the family compound?"

Zhou Xiaomei groaned, "There are not many people in these ravines, so how can there be a school?"

The family compound here is quite large, but it is just a few bungalows, and the location is remote, so not many people come to follow the army.

There are not many people living there, so naturally there are no schools.

Fortunately, Liu Yinyin's children are still young and have not yet started school. She asked again, "Is there a nursery?"

Zhou Xiaomei waved her hands and said, "No, I take care of my children myself and send them to school in town when they grow up."

Liu Yinyin said thoughtfully: "Sister-in-law, is this place far from the town? I heard before that the army has a bus that goes directly to Qing City..."

She had just arrived and didn't know anything, so she asked Zhou Xiaomei a lot of questions.

I learned a lot about the situation of the troops from Zhou Xiaomei.

The troops have buses going to Qing City, but you have to go to the town first to take the bus.

The military area is not far from the town. It only takes an hour to walk there, or even faster to ride a bicycle.

What also worries Liu Yinyin is that there is no supply and marketing cooperative in the family compound, so if she wants to buy something, she has to go to the town first.

Zhou Xiaomei said: "There is a vegetable garden next to the family compound. All the family members who come to accompany the army can get a private plot of land and grow vegetables in the yard."

People were very budget-conscious at that time, so Zhou Xiaomei's family planted vegetables in the yard.

Sweet potatoes and corn are planted in the private plot.

It’s not much, but it can allow the children at home to eat more.

Zhou Xiaomei added: "If you want to eat vegetables, just go to my yard and pick them..."

After a pause, Zhou Xiaomei added, "I'll pick a basket for you later."

Liu Yinyin's family has everything except vegetables.

"Sister-in-law, I'll trade you some food."

Zhou Xiaomei said angrily: "The vegetables grown in my own yard are not worth much money."

Liu Yinyin: "You can't take it for free."

Zhou Xiaomei thought for a moment and asked, "When I entered the yard just now, I saw... do you have chickens at home?"

Liu Yinyin nodded: "Yes, I have a few. I raised them in the previous military area and brought them here together."

Zhou Xiaomei smiled and said, "It's good to raise chickens. We don't eat pork for a few times a month, but we can't go without eggs."

Zhou Xiaomei's family also raises chickens, but they only raise two. Chickens are very expensive to feed, especially in winter.

Liu Yinyin glanced at her and said, "Sister-in-law, how about I trade eggs for vegetables?"

Zhou Xiaomei was moved and said, "How can this be so embarrassing."

Liu Yinyin smiled and said, "It's okay. My chickens are good at laying eggs, so the eggs are enough to eat."

She has a system, and if she doesn't have enough eggs, she can just smuggle some out of the system.