Octopus Soup No. 303
Even though Wei Yang had to go to the division headquarters for a meeting early the next morning, the two of them still didn't fall asleep until almost 2 a.m.
Song Lubai instructed him to go to the supply and marketing cooperative in the city to buy several boxes of Friendship Cream, and took out a 100-yuan note and stuffed it into his pocket in advance.
Song Lubai has money at home, but lacks food, clothing and other necessities. If she can buy them with money, she won't hesitate to spend the money.
Wei Yang stretched his arm under her neck, pulled her close, and said, "How about we buy a radio? We happen to have a ticket at home. There are a lot of programs on the radio, and Shaohua and the others can listen to them and broaden their horizons."
Song Lubai said, "Buy it. I want to listen to 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.' I've listened to a few parts before, but I haven't finished it. Why isn't the school open yet? I think it's almost finished. Are we just going to leave it empty? These kids can't be without a place to study forever, can they?"
The college entrance examination was reinstated ten years later. How could one possibly pass the exam without studying hard?
Wei Yang said, "This issue is still a bit sensitive. The previous teachers have all gone to work in the production and construction corps. Even if school starts, we can't gather enough teachers right now."
Song Lubai pointed to the next room and said, "Chen Yu is a college student. If the school reopens, she can be a teacher. If you think it's sensitive, then let her teach for half a day and have the teacher lead the students to do manual labor for the other half. Otherwise, these kids will play at home every day. When the college entrance examination is reinstated, none of us will be able to get into college. Your leaders will lose face."
Wei Yang felt that his wife firmly believed that the college entrance examination would be reinstated one day, and he didn't know where her confidence came from.
"I'll try to mention it. It's really not right for the school to keep closed. If I'm not back by 8 pm tomorrow, I probably won't be back until the day after tomorrow. Lock the door tonight, and if you're scared, you can sleep on the floor next door."
Song Lubai snuggled closer to him, "I can't sleep when you're not here."
Her words made Wei Yang's face light up, and his heart felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey. He hugged her tightly, patted her back gently, and whispered, "Sleep."
The vegetables in the fields are dwindling, and many seedlings have begun to turn yellow and wither. The supply and marketing cooperative can't even distribute a pound of vegetables to the people every three days.
Song Lubai's family didn't have much food; they only steamed cornbread and cooked sweet potato porridge for breakfast.
You can eat the pancakes with just a little sauce; there's no need to cook anything else.
Wei Yang left after finishing his meal, and Song Lubai went to the supply and marketing cooperative after finishing her work on the stove.
Now that Wei Zhao is back, Chen Dongyang no longer needs to follow her.
After arriving here, Chen Yu ate his meals indoors, which Wei Zhao found unacceptable and wanted to drag him out to fetch water to water the vegetable garden.
The cabbage and spinach seedlings in the vegetable garden have sprouted, but the soil is too dry, so we need to water them thoroughly.
Chen Yu didn't want to go out, and Wei Zhao couldn't drag her out even if he tried.
Wei Zhao was furious. "What do you want to do? Hide in the house all day? Never see the light of day again?"
Chen Yu sat on the bed with his back to her, head down, and said, "I didn't ask you to take care of me in the first place. You were the one who insisted that I come with you. I don't want to go out. Don't force me."
Wei Zhao figured she probably wouldn't try to kill herself, so he stood there with his hands on his hips for a while before going out.
She carried a bucket and led Chen Shaohua and a few others to fetch water.
Chen Yu stood by the back window and watched.
Inside the supply and marketing cooperative.
Li Cheng went to the warehouse to get something, while Song Lubai helped sell things behind the counter.
"Comrade, hello, do you have any soap?"
Song Lubai looked up at the man in front of her and felt that he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember his name.
"Yes, give me the ticket."
Zhao Lujun handed over the ticket, and Song Lubai looked at it and said, "One person can only buy a quarter of the soap a month, which is half of half."
Zhao Lujun stared at her, then looked at her with a surprised expression, "Comrade Song, it's you."
Seeing that Song Lubai did not recognize him, Zhao Lujun quickly said, "I am Zhao Lujun. I signed up and came here with Shen Lingyu."
Song Lubai stared at him for a moment before finally recalling Zhao Lujun from her memory.
The person in front of me had hair as long as a hat, completely covering their forehead. Their face was tanned dark, and they looked very thin and dark-skinned.
Song Lubai took out the change receipt and reminded him, "Comrade Zhao, take this back and give it to someone else. You can't buy anything this month."
After Zhao Lujun paid the money and the ticket, and put away the soap, he said, "I'm in a company down below, very close to the regimental headquarters. Shen Lingyu is in the vegetable planting team now, and there are other fellow villagers, all from the same street in Yangcheng. Let's get together tomorrow."
After Song Lubai agreed, Zhao Lujun left.
After Li Cheng returned, Song Lubai went to the back to find Director Liu and told him about her idea of setting up a food workshop.
Director Liu said with his hands behind his back, "Your idea is a commercial matter. Even if you want to do it, you need the group's approval."
If it goes well, their supply and marketing cooperative can act as a hub to sell the goods, which sounds pretty good, but the key question is whether there will be enough vegetables to eat this winter.
Song Lubai said, "Next time you go to buy supplies, please buy more earthenware jars or wooden buckets. I'll see if there are any leftovers from this batch of vegetables. If there are, we can give it a try. Director, please mention this to the group leaders in advance."
Regardless, Director Liu is now her direct superior, and she can directly raise the issue with Wei Yang, but that would be against the rules and would be very unethical.
Director Liu did feel respected. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll talk to the leader about it at the next meeting."
On her way home at noon, she passed by Miao Feng's house and saw Tang Xuewen sitting shirtless on the doorstep smoking. She looked away expressionlessly.
Tang Xuewen has been holding in a lot of anger these past few days.
He's about to lose his wife, and the culprit is the regimental commander and his wife.
Tang Xuewen spat in the direction Song Lubai had walked.
Hearing the noise, Song Lubai turned around and looked at him.
Ultimately, Tang Xuewen was still wary of Wei Yang's status as regimental commander, so he got up and went back to his room with a long face.
The closer she got to home, the stronger the fishy smell became. When she arrived at the gate of her own yard, she saw a crowd of people gathered inside. Song Lubai was finally certain that the fishy smell was coming from her house.
When Chen Dongyang saw her return, he jogged up to her and looked up at her, saying, "Auntie, my mom made fish soup. It's yellow croaker."
Song Lubai has rarely eaten fish since she was a child. She has heard of yellow croaker, but has never eaten it.
When Wei Zhao saw her return, he smiled and said to the neighbors, "Go home and cook, my family is about to eat too."
Everyone left reluctantly, taking a deep breath of the fish soup aroma in the air.
Upon seeing Song Lubai return, Wei Zhao triumphantly lifted the pot lid, showing Song Lubai the milky white fish soup simmering inside.
Daylily buds were floating in the fish soup, almost cooked to a pulp.
"The dried yellow croaker was packed for me by my fourth sister before I left. I also brought back some kelp, but I forgot to soak it last night, otherwise I would have cooked it in."
Wei Zhao said confidently, "I'm not as good at cooking as you, but this soup is absolutely delicious."
She added salt one at a time, and also poured in a little vinegar. She tasted it and found it very delicious.
Wei Zhao knew that Song Lubai had been taking care of her three children these days, and she was making this meal today to express her gratitude.
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