When he joined the army, both his great-grandmother and Liu Maocai disagreed, but he insisted on going. The elderly usually can't persuade their children otherwise, so they eventually gave in to his wishes. Actually, his grandmother had told him she regretted not agreeing to let him join the army two years earlier. Even if he was going to the battlefield, there would have been at least two or three years of training to allow for a buffer period. His grandmother regretted it, but it was too late; regret couldn't change anything.
After thinking about it for a while, Zhang Hongmei decided to go out and help out, to see if there was anything she could do.
When I arrived at the canteen, I saw a row of fifteen large pots in the courtyard. They were all stewing meat, and about forty people were peeling taro.
When everyone saw the young girl come in, they all felt a little embarrassed, after all, Zhang Hongmei's appearance was too eye-catching. These were all young men of eighteen or nineteen, and they were all a little shy in front of a pretty girl.
The head cook stood up and asked, "Comrade, is there anything you need?"
"No, no, I just came to help."
"Hehe, thank you, no need. We'll put the taro in the pot right away and start kneading the dough to make steamed buns. You're just a little girl, you don't have that much strength."
"Then I'll have to bother you." Since they don't need me here, I'll go ask Wang Xiaoshun.
We found Wang Xiaoshun and Wang Ying. They were with five soldiers loading clothes onto the vehicle.
Zhang Hongmei also joined in the moving, filling the entire truck.
Then they took out more than a dozen large wooden basins from the warehouse, basins that were even bigger than eight round pots. There were also more than twenty wooden buckets.
Zhang Hongmei took one look and realized that these guys had enough meat to fill their bags.
Several people washed all the wooden basins and buckets clean, loaded the basins onto the vehicle, and estimated that they would have to use the buckets to lift them up later to pour the contents into the basins, which would save effort.
"Brother Shun, isn't there any green vegetables to eat?"
"Hehe, who would still eat vegetables? Besides, the cafeteria over there will definitely cook. We're just going to get more vegetables."
"Yes, but do you have any vegetables like cucumbers here?"
"Yes, we do, but we don't have any here."
Zhang Hongmei also knew that with so many people, they could only supply high-yield, simple vegetables; they shouldn't even think about getting any fancy vegetables.
After tidying up the wooden basins, they took out a lot of flour sacks.
"Brother Xiaoshun, is this for packing steamed buns later?"
"Yeah, otherwise how would we pretend?"
Zhang Hongmei thought that made sense. So she helped shake each bag to make sure there were no bugs inside.
All the preparations here are complete, and we're just waiting for the cafeteria food.
Zhang Hongmei followed Wang Xiaoshun to the canteen, where she saw fifteen large pots, each topped with ten steamers. Good heavens, it was a magnificent sight! All forty soldiers in the cooking squad were drenched in sweat. Many were even shirtless.
Zhang Hongmei didn't think anything of it, but the young men were embarrassed. When they saw Zhang Hongmei come in, they all hurriedly put on their clothes.
"Squad Leader Chen, how much time do we have left?"
"The fire can be turned off after half an hour. It needs to simmer for ten minutes, and then the pot needs to be uncovered to let it cool for at least half an hour, otherwise the steamed buns will stick together when packed in the bag. It can be loaded onto the truck at four o'clock sharp."
"Okay, I'll drive over ten minutes early."
With a little over an hour to spare, Zhang Hongmei went back to the bathroom and entered her spatial dimension. She took a shower, did laundry, and even took a nice nap in bed for a while.
Seeing that there were still twenty minutes left after leaving the space, Zhang Xingguo picked up his prepared bag and went to the truck. In order to save resources, Zhang Xingguo would definitely not drive again, but would definitely take the truck.
Half an hour later, it was finally loaded into the car. Zhang Xingguo, Zhang Hongmei, and Wang Ying sat on the passenger seat while Wang Xiaoshun drove.
A truck loaded with clothes followed behind, carrying four people.
Wang Xiaoshun drove very slowly along the way, afraid of spilling the food, which was mostly meat and taro, with no soup at all.
But given the road conditions, Zhang Hongmei felt that it was already a good thing that cars could pass through.
"You're so stubborn! I told you not to come, but you insisted on coming anyway." Zhang Xingguo rolled his eyes at Zhang Hongmei. This girl was just so stubborn; she never listened to anyone.
"I just came to take a look. I had the opportunity to come, and I would have regretted it if I hadn't."
"You're so right. You're getting more and more disobedient. You've been corrupted by your brother Zhang."
"Hehe, you should tell him, but don't talk about me."
“You two are the same.” Zhang Xingguo rolled his eyes at Zhang Hongmei. She was still cuter when she was ten years old.
"Uncle Zhang, when will this end? When will you be able to go back?"
"It's hard to say. The higher-ups mean it's completely resolved, but that's really not easy. Right now, we're in a state of stalemate."
"Then I won't be able to see you before I go abroad."
"Yes, I can't go back, but you can leave, but you have to come back as soon as possible. You know I'm waiting for you at home. Don't leave and never come back."
"I know, I will definitely finish my studies and come back as soon as possible. Just wait for me at home. But you have to listen to me, you must not get hurt, you know I will worry about you."
"Yes, I won't get into trouble. I won't get into trouble for you and Shouyi."
"How many people will Shouyi arrange to go with you?"
“Brother Zhang originally arranged for eight people. I also selected six more from the school, and Wang Xinyi and Wang Ying will accompany me. You see, even if I go abroad, I will have people to take care of and protect me.”
"Wang Xinyi? She's alright, but she's still quite immature for her age. Just let her take care of your life, and don't listen to anything else."
"Hehe, that's a good evaluation."
“I’ve known her for over fifty years. How could I not know what kind of person she is? She’s used to being a pampered young lady. It’s a miracle she’s still alive. Shouyi must have asked her to take care of you because he thinks she knows a lot about unorthodox methods.”
"What unorthodox methods? That sounds so harsh. That's life, something a roughneck like me can't understand."
"Hmph, I'm just a roughneck, and I've still made it this far."
"That's because you haven't experienced a refined life, that's why you say that."
"I can't enjoy that kind of life either; it's just individual hedonism."
"Uncle Zhang, if people don't enjoy life, what's the point? We need to balance work and rest."
"I can't argue with you, but if that's the kind of life you want, I'll still support you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to Shouyi choosing Wang Xinyi in the first place."
"Heh, this is definitely discrimination."
"That's right. I've risked my life countless times, and I can't let the younger generation enjoy it too? I just want you and Shouyi to live that kind of life, but you two are both so ambitious. Everything I've worked so hard to save up, isn't that enough for you two to live on? Why do you have to work so hard? Don't you feel sorry for me at all?"
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