Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Egg Noodles

Meng Yufei explained: "I looked at the accounts of the past few years. Their previous habit was to count the number of people who needed to increase their food coupons throughout the year in December, and then make up for the previous arrears at the same time."

Wang Cuilan said: "It's just like our salary, which is also adjusted once a year."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Yes, this will save trouble for the finance department. For example, some people's salaries were raised in March, and some people's salaries were raised in May. It would be a lot of work to calculate them every month. We can just set a unified time, such as June. Then, we can make up the difference for three months for those who were raised in March, and one month for those who were raised in May."

Wang Cuilan nodded repeatedly to show that she understood, and then asked, "Then why didn't you give Captain Qin's family extra money last December?"

Meng Yufei said, "I looked at last year's account book. December was the time when the former finance director and deputy director handed over their duties. The grain ticket accounting for that month was postponed to the next month, which was January of this year."

"Isn't it, the month before last? It's already late March, and two months have passed." Wang Cuilan said.

Meng Yufei said: "I saw on the handover form that the person who signed was Zheng Meiqin."

"Yes, it was Accountant Zheng. She was the only one left in the Finance Department at that time. Accountant Xiao Zhou was only transferred here last month. It is really unfair to Accountant Xiao Zhou to say that." Wang Cuilan sighed.

After thinking for a while, he said angrily, "Why didn't Sun Dahua tell me about this before?"

Sun Dahua is the family member of Captain Qin.

Meng Yufei said, "Director Wang, I don't know where this accountant Zheng is. I remember the accounts she kept after accepting the contract were a bit confusing. I want to ask what happened."

Wang Cuilan said, "Her family is from Qiongzhou. She went back last month to give birth to a child."

Meng Yufei said: "Then let's go to Accountant Zhou's house and ask her what's going on."

"Okay, let's go now." Wang Cuilan said decisively and immediately stood up and was about to leave.

The two of them brought Xia Qinqin to Accountant Zhou's home. Accountant Zhou had been staying at home for the past few days after quitting his job. When he saw Wang Cuilan coming to his house, he didn't look happy, but he still brought her into the house.

Wang Cuilan pointed at Meng Yufei beside her and said, "Xiao Zhou, this is Captain Xia's relative Meng Yufei. She used to work in a bank. Today, she went to the finance department, looked at the account book, and found out the whole story. I wronged you before, and I came here today to apologize to you."

When Wang Cuilan introduced Meng Yufei, Xiao Zhou nodded to her, and Meng Yufei also smiled and nodded slightly.

When I heard Director Wang apologize, I quickly said, "Director Wang, what are you talking about? I was wrong before. I was too impatient. And my work ability is really not good enough. I delayed everyone from receiving the food coupons."

Xiao Zhou led the two of them to sit on the sofa, poured them some water, and gave Xia Qinqin a handful of coconut candy.

Xia Qinqin took the candy and thanked happily: "Thank you, Auntie."

Wang Cuilan sat down and said, "Xiao Zhou, we came to see you for another matter. It's about the incident at Captain Cao's home. I wanted to ask you if you know what the situation is."

Meng Yufei repeated to Xiao Zhou what she had just said to Wang Cuilan.

"So, I want to ask you, did Accountant Zheng tell you about Captain Cao's family before he went home?"

Xiao Zhou shook his head and said, "No, she was almost pregnant when I came. She said she was not feeling well, so she threw all the accounts to me and asked me to look at them first, and then she went home."

She got a little excited when she said this, and said angrily: "I have never worked as an accountant before, so how can I understand this! I haven't even been working for two days, and people who want to collect the tickets have come to my house one after another. Oh, you don't know..."

At this point, she sighed and said, "I just realized how troublesome it is to issue coupons! The coarse grain coupons are issued once a month, the refined rice coupons are issued once every ten days, the refined flour coupons are issued once every three months, the sesame oil coupons are issued once a month, and the meat coupons are issued once every half a month... They are scattered here and there. Oh, by the way, the children are also different. Infants, children, teenagers, adults, the number of each type of coupon is different for each age group. I am so confused that I don't have time to look at the account book!"

She spoke a long paragraph at once and finally found someone to complain to.

Wang Cuilan was also stunned when she heard this. She opened her mouth in surprise and said, "My goodness, it is really complicated when you calculate it this way." After thinking for a while, she said, "Then there is no record of what was sent before?" If there is a record, just send it according to the above.

Xiao Zhou said, "The record only shows the number of people and their ages in each family. They have to issue tickets according to the regulations, but I don't know what the regulations are. I can't just issue whatever they say. I wanted to ask accountant Zheng, but it turned out that she left the island and went to Qiongzhou to give birth..."

"Well, there's nothing I can do. I had to go through the documents. Before I even finished reading them, the family members came to me one after another, saying that I was too slow in issuing the tickets. But what can I do?"

Meng Yufei said, "Indeed, there are problems with the previous account records. Although the total number is correct, some places that should be concise are recorded in a complicated way, and some places that should be detailed are recorded in a simple way."

Accountant Zhou nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right. You said I'm not a professional accountant, so how could I understand it? I was already upset, and Captain Cao came over that day and said those nasty things. I got angry and started arguing with her..."

Wang Cuilan said, "Xiao Zhou, I understand the situation now. The main fault is not yours. Why don't you go back to the Finance Department? I will go directly to talk to Director Fu."

Xiao Zhou shook her head and refused, "No, no! I'm not going!" She pointed at Meng Yufei and said, "Aren't there experts here? Let's hand over the finance department to Mrs. Xia. I don't want to do this anymore. I'll get dizzy every time I see the account book in my life."

Seeing that Wang Cuilan was about to speak, Xiao Zhou said, "Director Wang, if you really feel that you have wronged me before, why not let me go back to being a teacher? I think I am still suitable to be a teacher."

Wang Cuilan saw her firm attitude and nodded, "Okay, since you said so, I will talk to the school later and you should go back to take the vacant teaching position."

Xiao Zhou said happily: "Thank you so much."

After leaving Accountant Zhou's house, Wang Cuilan and Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin to Captain Qin's house.

Wang Cuilan asked directly after entering the room: "Sun Dahua, did the people in the Finance Department tell you before that your family's food coupons were replenished in December last year?"

Sun Dahua's character froze, but she still nodded and said, "Yes, I did talk about this."

Wang Cuilan said, "You know they're going to hand over their work in December, right?" Seeing her nod, she continued, "Did you talk to Accountant Zheng about your family's situation?"

Sun Dahua's eyes were evasive as she said, "I have said it before, but she kept saying that she was very busy and had no time to take care of my matter, and asked me to wait a little longer. I have been waiting for half a year, and she got a stomachache after I said a few more words. I don't know if it was true or not..."

Wang Cuilan frowned and said, "Then when you went to see Xiao Zhou later, did you tell her in detail what happened?"

Sun Dahua said embarrassedly: "I thought they were all in charge of finance and should know, so I didn't tell them. Who knew she would have such a bad temper? I didn't say anything and she got angry."

Wang Cuilan took a deep breath and thought that what she said was a little bit false. She was probably afraid that Xiao Zhou would delay giving it to her again, so she made some noise first in the hope that Xiao Zhou would give it to her if he was easy to talk to.

Who knew that Xiao Zhou had a bad temper and he suddenly refused to do the job. Then Sun Dahua was even more speechless.

Well, now everything is finally clear.

Wang Cuilan pointed at Meng Yufei beside her and introduced her to her, then said: "Xiao Meng has already figured out the situation. Your family will get the missing six months' food coupons back in full when the time comes. Don't worry, I'll guarantee you."

Hearing Wang Cuilan's promise to make up for it, Sun Dahua smiled. She knew the character of this women's director. Although she looked very serious, she was a man of her words and would definitely do what she promised.

Wang Cuilan turned around and said sternly, "But you have to apologize to Xiao Zhou first."

Sun Dahua said, "No problem. I just said it casually that day, but who knew that Accountant Xiao Zhou took it to heart? People of culture are just too sensitive to face. Don't worry, I will go and apologize to her today."

Wang Cuilan said, "Okay, then I'll take you to Accountant Xiao Zhou's house and watch you apologize in person."

Sun Dahua: “…”

Meng Yufei said to Wang Cuilan, "Director Wang, I will need a few more days to sort out which tickets to issue to each company. It will probably take a few more days before we can start issuing invoices to everyone."

Wang Cuilan said, "Okay, I'm confident you can handle the matter."

After saying that, Wang Cuilan took Sun Dahua to Xiao Zhou's house to apologize, and did not let Meng Yufei go with them. This was a private conflict between family members and was within the management scope of the Women's Committee.

Meng Yufei looked at the time and found that it was almost six o'clock. It was a bit far from the townhouse to the cafeteria. Her home was between two o'clock and she was a bit tired after a day of work and didn't want to walk.

There seem to be some noodles and eggs at home. I bought them from the supply and marketing cooperative on my first day here. The weather here is hot and the air is humid. If I don’t eat them now, they will go bad.

"Qinqin, can we have some noodles tonight?"

"Okay~"

After arriving home, Meng Yufei washed her hands first, then lit the coal stove and put half a pot of water in it to boil.

Xia Qinqin took her colored pencils and drawing paper out of her mother's bag, ran to the small room, and put them one by one in the drawer. She took out the fruit picture she had drawn in the afternoon and showed it to her father later.

When Xia Junshan entered the courtyard, the water in the pot had just begun to boil.

The burning coal stove will produce carbon dioxide, so it needs to be placed in a ventilated place. Meng Yufei moved it directly outside the house, so Xia Junshan saw the burning coal stove as soon as he entered the yard, and wondered if his wife was going to cook again today?

Meng Yufei came out of the house holding some noodles. "You're back. Can we have some noodles tonight?"

"OK!"

Xia Junshan walked over and said, "You've already worked a day today, so why bother going downstairs if you can just get food from the cafeteria?"

Isn't the logistics department just above the cafeteria? I can go there to get my meals after work and bring them back. How convenient.

Meng Yufei briefly told him what happened in the afternoon. Xia Junshan smiled and said, "I knew my wife was not an ordinary person. She solved this matter in one day."

Meng Yufei put the noodles into the pot and said, "I still have to sort out the accounts again. It will take at least a week before the tickets can be distributed to everyone."

Xia Junshan said: "Don't worry, take your time, it doesn't matter if it takes one or two days."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "I have sorted out the clues. It will just take some time in the next few days."

As the two were talking, Xia Qinqin, who was sorting paintings in the house, heard her father's voice and hurried out with the paintings in her hand.

"Dad, look at the fruit picture I drew today. Is it pretty?"

She held the drawing paper in both hands and looked up at her father with a smile.

Xia Junshan took the "masterpiece" from his daughter, looked at the childlike fruits carefully, nodded and praised: "It's really beautiful, each of these fruits is so beautiful, look at this strawberry, it looks so much like a strawberry. And this coconut, it's big and round. Um, this, this pineapple, the yellow color is really good, full of color."

Meng Yufei listened to his carefully thought-out compliments and chuckled.

Xia Qinqin turned to look at her mother and asked, "Mom, what are you laughing at?"

Xia Junshan rolled his eyes and smiled slyly: "Your mother is laughing at your father's lack of education. She can't praise this painting to the point. Come! Let mom give her comments." Then he put the painting in front of Meng Yufei.

“…”

Meng Yufei glared at him unhappily, took the painting in front of her, looked at it, and commented seriously: "Qinqin's fruit painting is lifelike, vivid, lively and interesting. I'll keep looking at it in the future."

After that, he handed the painting to his daughter and said, "Put it away and send it to grandpa and grandma next time."

Xia Qinqin was satisfied now and happily took the painting back to her room.

Xia Junshan met his wife's eyes, smiled and said, "My wife is really well-educated. Look, she speaks eloquently and praises our Qinqin happily."

Meng Yufei said with a smile, "Who is better at boasting than you? The noodles are almost ready, go to the kitchen and get three eggs."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Xia Junshan stretched out his long legs, walked to the kitchen in three or two steps, and accurately found the place where the eggs were stored.

After beating the eggs in the pot, turn off the heat and simmer for five or six minutes. This way the poached eggs will not fall apart. This is the secret of boiling eggs that Meng Yufei heard from her father.

When Meng was young, her mother often worked overtime in the hospital. Apart from eating in the cafeteria, the most common dishes she ate were noodles and poached eggs cooked by Meng's father. Over time, poached eggs became Meng's father's most famous dish.

Three bowls of noodles were served on the table. The largest bowl was Xia Junshan's. The bowl with only half of it was Meng Yufei's, as she didn't like to eat too much at night. The smallest bowl was of course Xia Qinqin's.

There was a poached egg on each person's bowl. Meng Yufei also dropped a few drops of sesame oil on it, and the fragrance spread immediately.

The family of three started eating.

Xia Junshan always ate fast, a habit he inherited from his military training. He ate half a bowl of noodles in two chopsticks. Xia Qinqin stared at him with wide eyes, and followed her father's example, picking up Duoduo's noodles and swallowing them in one big mouthful.

Meng Yufei looked at the father and daughter and said quickly, "Eat slowly!"

Xia Junshan and Xia Qinqin obediently slowed down.

After dinner, Xia Junshan stacked the three bowls together and took them to the kitchen to wash. It was an easy evening as he only had to wash three bowls.

After wiping the table, Meng Yufei took out the rags she had put away earlier and said to Xia Junshan in the kitchen, "I'm going to go to Mrs. Zhang's house next door. You and Qinqin stay at home."

"Oh, okay." Xia Junshan responded in the kitchen.

Xia Qinqin trotted behind Meng Yufei, tugged at the corner of her clothes and said, "Mom, Mom, I want to go too!"

Meng Yufei looked at the little tail helplessly and said, "Okay."

When we arrived at Mrs. Zhang's house, she had just finished her meal. The person who opened the door was a pretty girl of about 13 or 14 years old with two ponytails. When she saw Meng Yufei, she asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm from the family of Captain Xia next door, and I came to see your mother."

The little girl smiled immediately and said hurriedly, "You must be Aunt Meng, come in." Then she turned around and shouted to the house, "Mom, Aunt Meng from next door is here."

She led Meng Yufei inside, "Aunt Meng, let's go in and sit down. The candy you sent over two days ago was delicious. Thank you so much."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "As long as you like it."

I thought: Mrs. Zhang, who is not good at speaking, gave birth to a daughter who is eloquent.

"You are Fangfang's second sister, what's your name?"

"My name is Ma Weimei, you can call me Xiaomei."

Mrs. Zhang was washing dishes in the kitchen. When she heard her second daughter's voice, she wiped her hands and came out. Seeing Meng Yufei, she said, "Hey, sister, you're here. Please sit on the sofa for a while. I'll come out after I wash the dishes."

"Sister-in-law, you go ahead and do your work. Don't worry about me."

Ma Weimei poured a cup of tea for Meng Yufei, grabbed a handful of sugar for Xia Qinqin, and said to her sister, "Fangfang, take sister Qinqin to play in the house. These past two days, she has been talking about the new sister at home. I have a new hairpin on my desk. Let you play with it for a while. Don't let me break it."

Fangfang happily took Xia Qinqin to play, and Xia Qinqin also shared the candy with Fangfang with a smile.

Meng Yufei took Ma Weimei's teacup with a smile and asked, "Xiaomei, isn't Captain Ma at home?"

Ma Weimei said: "My dad took my eldest brother and third brother to the beach to exercise."

Meng Yufei was a little surprised: "You're going to exercise right after dinner?"

Ma Weimei shrugged and said, "Originally, I only went jogging in the morning. My eldest brother is going to join the army next month, so my dad gave him some special training in advance to avoid embarrassing him. As for my third brother, he just went there to join in the fun."

Captain Ma and Mrs. Zhang have four children. The eldest, Ma Weidong, is seventeen years old, the second, Ma Weimei, is fourteen years old, the third, Ma Weiliang, is twelve years old, and the youngest, Ma Weifang, is six years old.

As they were talking, Mrs. Zhang had already washed the dishes and came out. Meng Yufei asked, "Sister-in-law, is your eldest son going to join the army next month?"

Mrs. Zhang nodded and said, "Yes, Wei Dong is not good at studying. He didn't get into high school after graduating from junior high school. Fortunately, he is tall and strong. Let's send him to the army."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Your family has two generations of military service, what an honor."

Mrs. Zhang said, "It's not about glory or honor. As long as the child can contribute to the country and not eat for free, that's enough."

She saw the scraps of cloth in Meng Yufei's hand and said, "Oh, by the way, I just found a piece of cloth this afternoon. It's the leftover from making shoes for Erya last time. I'll show it to you."

Ma Weimei stamped her feet and said, "Mom, I'm already this old, why are you still calling me Erya?"

"Okay, okay, I'll call you Xiaomei next time. I'll talk to your Aunt Meng, you can go back to your room and do your homework."

Mrs. Zhang took out a piece of crimson pure cotton fabric from the house and showed it to Meng Yufei. "Look, this material is good, breathable and durable, and the color is suitable for a little girl."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "It is indeed very suitable. I have brought the scraps of cloth with me. I will trouble you from now on."

Mrs. Zhang waved her hands and said, "What's the problem? It's just making a pair of shoes. I just don't know the size of Jianhong's feet. I'll go to her house tomorrow to ask."

Meng Yufei said, "Sister-in-law, you'd better find some time to ask Jianhong in private."

Mrs. Zhang asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

Meng Yufei said, "I went to Jianhong's house yesterday. The reason I wanted to make shoes for her was because I saw that there were several patches on the uppers of her shoes, especially on the big toe. There were several patches of varying depths. It was obvious that she had been patched several times. I guess her feet grew too fast and got torn."

Mrs. Zhang frowned and said, "No matter how fast it is, it won't take several repairs! Besides, the shoes are too small and they are very uncomfortable to wear."

Meng Yufei added: "I looked at the other two children in Captain Han's family, and there is no patch. If you go directly to her house to ask, won't it embarrass others?"

Mrs. Zhang figured it out as soon as she thought about it. "Are you saying that Jianhong's stepmother did it on purpose? Oh, I usually see that the clothes of the two girls are all made of the same material, and I didn't pay attention to the shoes on their feet. I didn't expect there would be such tricks!"

Meng Yufei said, "So you should ask Jianhong in private tomorrow. If you go directly to her house and ask her, her stepmother will think that Jianhong said something bad about her to us and we did it on purpose. It will be bad if she uses this excuse to trick Jianhong."

Mrs. Zhang became angrier and angrier as she thought about it. She was kindhearted to begin with, and Jianhong had just saved her little girl, so she naturally felt even more distressed. "No wonder people say that children without mothers are like weeds. Isn't this deliberately making things difficult for her? How miserable!"

Meng Yufei said: "Jianhong saved Fangfang and Qinqin after all. It would be wrong for us to just let her stepmother bully her."

Mrs. Zhang asked, "What do you mean, sister?"

Meng Yufei asked: "Sister-in-law, do you know where the military families in our family compound like to gather to talk and chat?"

Mrs. Zhang said without thinking, "That must be Captain Cao's house. There are a lot of people at her house every day. Everyone likes to go there."

Meng Yufei asked again: "Sister-in-law, you want to make shoes, right? Can you bring the shoes to her house to make them?"

Mrs. Zhang: "Why not? Many people who go to her house bring their own work. Some sew clothes, some weave bamboo baskets, and some even pickle vegetables. Everyone chats and laughs together and it's very lively."

In this era, there were no televisions or mobile phones, and people's entertainment methods were very monotonous. For unemployed families, they could do nothing but housework at home every day. Getting together and talking was the most rare moment of relaxation.

Even Zhang Dasao, who usually doesn't like to talk to others, has been to Captain Cao's house several times.

Meng Yufei said, "Then you can take the shoes to Captain Cao's house to have them made, and tell them that they are specially made for Jianhong. If they ask you the reason, just tell them the truth."

Mrs. Zhang was not stupid. She knew why Meng Yufei said that. "You mean you want to tell everyone what Wei Shufang did."

Meng Yufei said, "She can do it, so why can't we say it? Even if we say it, we should tell the truth. Wei Shufang is known as a good stepmother in the family compound every day. If Jianhong has any conflicts with her in the future, who do you think will be blamed?"

Mrs. Zhang gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, let's do as you say, just for the sake of Jianhong. Besides, it's not us who did the evil thing!"