Chapter 162
The second dish was salad with cucumber.
This is considered an appetizer because it is simple and quick to make, just to give everyone something to fill their stomachs.
The next dish is the main dish, braised pork elbow.
There is one pork elbow on each table, and each table has eight people, so there are about a hundred tables in total.
A pig has only four elbows, so there are at least twenty-five pigs.
Although buying twenty-five pigs was not a problem for Xu Wen, how to buy them was a problem.
Although Pengcheng is a special economic zone, it mainly develops industry and not breeding. Other places are still collective economies.
You need a ticket to buy meat, and to buy pigs...it is impossible for the meat processing plant to sell so many pigs to an individual.
Fortunately, Lu Yuanzheng’s unit is not an ordinary unit, it just has a lot of people and many canteens.
Each company had its own pig house.
Lu Yuanzheng bought all the pigs from all over the archipelago.
With so many pigs, it is not difficult to prepare the main dishes.
Apart from a chicken soup and the fish at the banquet, most of the other meat dishes were pork.
In Wei Zhuang Commune, if you see fish being served at a banquet, it means the meal is over.
Xu Wen guessed that it was probably because the people of Wei Zhuang Commune liked to seek good luck, just for the sake of the saying "year after year of surplus".
Usually, when the banquet just starts, the guests are quite hungry and can finish almost all the food.
But no matter how hungry you are or how little oil or water you need, your stomach is so small that you often can’t eat anymore at the end.
The bowls and plates in the north are particularly large, and by the last few dishes, almost no one was eating.
Therefore, there is always some left over from every piece of fish served.
Oh, at a banquet, it’s not called leftovers, it’s called surplus.
There is no official explanation for this, it's just Xu Wen's own guess.
The third and fourth dishes are vegetarian dishes again.
Vegetarian dishes are easier to prepare, such as fried eggs with garlic sprouts, stir-fried meat with beans, and three kinds of seafood.
In addition to pork elbows, other dishes include braised pork, sweet and sour pork ribs, lion's head, meatball soup, and chicken stewed with potatoes.
These are not the eight great bowls, these are called the ten great bowls.
As for people, if they want to be auspicious, they will always say that it is perfect.
The leaders of the kitchen team and the sisters-in-law who could cook all came to the table and served the dishes one after another.
Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Wen didn't have to cook, but they were not idle either.
The two of them held their children and stopped at each table for a while to talk.
Lu Yuanzheng was in charge of toasting and expressing gratitude, while Xu Wen was in charge of showing off the baby and receiving red envelopes.
Red envelopes are not accepted randomly. There is a cap of one yuan. No matter who it is, no one will accept more than one yuan.
New recruits who don’t have allowances will not be accepted.
Xu Wen and Lu Yuanzheng are not short of money now, they just want to share their joy and don't want to take advantage of everyone.
It was fine for the unmarried ones, but the married ones felt that this was taking advantage of Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Wen, so they gave gifts separately.
One dollar for the man and one dollar for the woman, each takes their own.
With so many tables, Xu Wen certainly couldn’t toast to all of them.
Xiao Xiachu will not stop eating, drinking, defecating or urinating just because everyone is celebrating her full moon.
I'll still cry after about two hours.
Seeing that there were enough people preparing meals, Zhu Meizhen washed her hands and held little Xia Chu. Except for feeding, Xu Wenzhao didn't need to take care of anything else.
Mrs. Li stuffed the red envelope into Xu Wen's hand and said, "How fast! You both have children."
Xu Wen smiled and said, "That's right!"
When I first met Mrs. Li, she and Lu Yuanzheng were still a fake couple.
Mrs. Li had attended their wedding on the beach and now was watching the birth of their child.
It's inevitable to feel some emotion.
"Speaking of which, I have to thank you. If it weren't for you, I don't know where I would be now!" Mrs. Li smiled at Xu Wen gratefully.
When she was about to give up on staying on the island, it was Xu Wenti's suggestion that led her to set up this small shop. Now she is the only permanent resident on the island.
No, the only other one is her son.
At that time, the sisters-in-law had nothing to do on the island and were receiving subsidies from the army.
Obviously, Mrs. Li had nothing to do and Lao Lu's pension had been paid, but Lu Yuanzheng still applied for a subsidy for her to accompany the army.
She was too embarrassed to take the money. Besides, her child was old enough to go to school and there was no school on the island, so she had to leave for her child.
At that time, she had made up her mind to leave, but she actually didn't know where to go after leaving the island.
Maybe I will go to Lao Lu’s hometown.
But after going there, how to live is also a problem.
Mrs. Li’s household registration was not transferred to Lao Lu’s family. She only had her son’s household registration. She didn’t know whether the production team would allow her to earn work points, nor did she know whether one person’s work points could support her and her son.
At that time, although I didn't show it on my face, I was very insecure inside.
It was Xu Wen who pointed her in the right direction.
Xu Wen shook his head, "You have earned all this through your own hard work. Mrs. Li, don't worry, life will get better and better. Maybe after a while, we can implement the individual contracting system. When you contract the canteen at Rainbow Island, your income will be higher than it is now. Then we will all call you Boss Li!"
Sister Li laughed out loud, "Then you can borrow your good words!"
She just thought Xu Wen was joking, but she didn't know that the "maybe" Xu Wen meant was just a specific time.
Except for Sister Li, the other sisters-in-law did the same and praised Xiao Xiachu first.
"This girl takes after her mother. She will definitely be a beauty when she grows up."
"I think he takes after his father. Even at such a young age, he already has a heroic look in his features."
"Looks like Xu Wen, right? Look at his pale face!"
“…”
Both the dad faction and the mom faction have their own opinions and can find evidence.
Dongsheng overheard and protested, "No, my sister looks like me!"
The sisters-in-law were all amused and agreed with him: "Dongsheng is right! A sister should be like her brother!"
After praising the child, it is customary to praise Xu Wen.
"Sister-in-law, you've finally finished your confinement. Otherwise, it would feel like the whole island has been in confinement with you." Doudou's mother joked with Xu Wen.
Xu Wen hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands, "Sister-in-law, you are praising me too much! How can I be so shameless?"
Song Baoying agreed, "It's not exaggerated. It's strange that you don't show up often when you have nothing to do. We don't see you much, but now that you are really in confinement, it feels like something is missing."
Wang Lingling nodded, "Yes! I feel the same way. Ask your sister-in-law, during this period of confinement, you teachers are still teaching, and we who run businesses at home are still busy with our work. But, I feel like something is missing, and life feels a little boring, as if something is missing."
Sister Li smiled and explained their doubts: "It's because we lack Xu Wentian's liveliness! With our sister-in-law Wenwen here, there is always something new on Rainbow Island. There are delicious, fun and beautiful things. During her confinement, everyone is doing the same routine things as in her hometown, day after day, it's not boring!"
The other sisters-in-law suddenly realized and felt that this was indeed the case.
Xu asked: "..."
Why doesn't she know it herself?
"Sister-in-law, you are out of confinement now, what are you going to do next? Can you take me with you?"
Xu Wen felt that the sister-in-law who was asking the question looked familiar to her. She had just come to the island this year, but she couldn't remember her name.
Xu Wen, who was clearly arranged, asked: "..."
Although he had some plans in mind, Xu Wen still said rigidly: "The next step is to study how to take care of a breastfeeding baby!"
This sentence made all the sisters-in-law laugh.
After a few pleasantries, we moved on to the next table.
Talk more with people you know, and less with people you don’t know.
Lu Yuanzheng followed Xu Wen, accompanying him quietly without interrupting.
The look in his eyes when he looked at Xu Wen was always as gentle as water, revealing endless tenderness.
Occasionally when I am distracted, I wonder, if there were no Xu Wen, Rainbow Island would probably be as boring as the other islands or reefs in the archipelago, just like the Buddhist temple, right?
In the past two years, except for the officers and soldiers on Rainbow Island who were not very willing to rotate and a very high rate of sisters-in-law accompanying the troops, the officers and soldiers on other islands and reefs looked forward to rotating ashore after the New Year every year, and their family members at home were not very willing to follow.
Even on the central island where the regiment headquarters is located, the rate of troops accompanying the troops is not as high as that on Rainbow Island.
Shi Lei is praised every time there is a meeting.
His superiors praised him for his good ideological work, which made the officers, soldiers and their families united in one mind.
Shi Lei was also asked to go to other islands and reefs to give lectures and share his experience.
Knowing that Xu Wen didn't like to be in the spotlight, Shi Lei wanted to shamelessly accept the award.
As a result, when he heard that he still had to give the lecture, he sold out Lu Yuanzheng without hesitation, saying that it was all because of Lu Yuanzheng's good cooperation and that many of the ideas were conceived by Lu Yuanzheng.
Lu Yuanzheng: "..."
In the end, Lu Yuanzheng still found time to visit other islands twice.
If he doesn't go, Xu Wen will go.
Xu Wen doesn't like to be in the spotlight.
In fact, he didn't like it either, but what could he do when his wife was so outstanding? !
After toasting to the sisters-in-law, it was time to greet the female students invited by Xu Wen.
Tomorrow they will all leave the island.
They learned a lot of theory, and they were also the last batch of students tutored by Xu Wen.
For Xu Wen, this was a deal.
She helped them review, and they gave the warriors a chance to mate.
However, this method has many limitations and a low success rate.
Just like what they had considered at the beginning of the expedition, the girls with high education also first chose officers with high education.
But in fact, the majority of single fighters are illiterate.
Even if they are attracted to each other now, it is easy to regret it when the girls get into good schools and meet better people.
What's more, how can the hardship of a long-distance relationship defeat the desire to be together day and night?
In this case, Xu Wen was too lazy to arrange for anyone to go to the island.
But humans are not plants, and perhaps everyone had their own purposes when they got to know each other. They lived together for more than half a year, and a few of them stayed on the island for nearly a year.
Each of them blessed Xu Wen with tears in their eyes.
Xu Wen secretly pulled Lu Yuanzheng, "Those who know me think they are my students who came to bless me with my baby. Those who don't know would think we are getting married. All the people on this table are your ex-girlfriends."
Lu Yuanzheng: "..."
He glanced at Xu Wen unhappily and whispered, "Why do mothers talk so much nonsense? Can this be a joke?"
Xu Wen stuck out his tongue and stopped teasing him.
Among these students, there are three who left the deepest impression on Xu Wen.
The first one is Sun Pingping. This girl looks elegant and is very opinionated.
Her family didn't want her to go to school and wanted her to get married early, so they chose a husband for her.
She accidentally saw Xu Wen's article in the newspaper and came to the island without telling her family.
Not only are the islands remote, but transportation is also inconvenient, and her family has never been able to find her.
During the winter vacation, everyone went home to celebrate the New Year, and it was not convenient for Sun Pingping to stay on the island.
But this girl is also very capable, and she followed her target home.
Her target was the baby-faced driver who had taken them on the island tour.
The two met with their parents and agreed to wait for the island wedding planned by Xu Wen.
Before Sun Pingping came to the island, she had to go through various political review documents and physical examinations, so it was impossible for her to leave quietly.
In fact, she got the signatures from her family members by tricking them into signing because they were illiterate.
She told her family that this was an application for withdrawal from school, and of course her family signed it happily.
As a result, Sun Pingping left home, leaving only a letter.
At first, her family thought she was just taking a gamble and would be back in a few months so as not to delay her wedding at the end of the year.
Who would have thought that Sun Pingping had not been heard from for several months.
The family members then became anxious and looked for someone everywhere.
Of course, the Sun family can also find the newspaper that Sun Pingping published when she went to the island.
The problem is that Rainbow Island is currently a military base, and ordinary people have no way to get to the island.
For example, Xu Wen asked them that when they went ashore before, they would take a military ship out and then take a military ship back.
Later, the Sun family was forced into a corner and had no choice but to go to the armed forces to make trouble.
Who made them spend all the betrothal money? Now the wedding is almost here and the bride hasn't been found yet. How can the man not make trouble for his grandson's family?
What can the Sun family do? They can only look for a concubine all over the world, but when they can't find one, they can only go to the local armed forces to make trouble.
He said that the soldier hid his daughter.
Although the armed forces knew that their troops would not do such a thing, they still had to deal with the civilians who came to the unit to make trouble no matter what they said.
Finally, the Armed Forces contacted the islands and found out what had happened.
Sun Pingping is already 18 years old and has her own decision-making ability. She can choose to stay on Rainbow Island and study with Xu Wen to prepare for the college entrance examination.
But the Sun family was making a lot of trouble, insisting that the army had hidden their daughter, and they came to the armed forces to make trouble all day long. It would have been fine if they just cried and made a fuss, at most the worst they could do was just close the door and leave them alone.
He often threatens to hang himself.
He supported the old lady with bound feet at home and trembled as he took a hemp rope to hang himself.
This caused the people in the armed forces a great headache. What could they do?
The people cannot beat or scold him, they can only respect him.
After receiving the news, the people on Rainbow Island would definitely look for Sun Pingping first to persuade her to leave the island.
Sun Pingping refused to go back no matter what.
She didn't cry or make a fuss. Her cute face only had a firmness that didn't match her age.
She found Xu Wen, explained the whole story, and asked, "Teacher Xu, do you also think I should go back?"
Xu Wen was silent for a while.
Logically, she should support Sun Pingping to go back.
After all, no matter what, Sun Pingping deceived her family by coming to the island, and did not agree with her original request that students must obtain their family's consent.
Sun Pingping is committing fraud.
But arranged marriages by parents are a bad habit in themselves, and Sun Pingping herself is very hardworking and studious, with excellent grades.
In Xu Wen's eyes, she is a promising student who can be admitted to a top university.
Besides, in 1979, there were very few girls like Sun Pingping who dared to resist arranged marriages and pursue independence. Most girls did not have such courage.
Basically, I was locked up at home by my parents and cried for a few days, and then I got married with a lifetime of regrets.
As for Xu Wen personally, she hopes Sun Pingping will not compromise with her family.
Xu Wen sighed and didn't reply directly to Sun Pingping, "It's not that I don't want you to stay. Your affairs are getting a bit complicated right now, and my husband and his family are under a lot of pressure. I need to discuss it with him."
After all, the charge of "kidnapping girls" is not easy for them to handle. If they fail to handle it well, it will bring discredit to the army.
Unexpectedly, Xu Wen opened his mouth, and Lu Yuanzheng responded with great pleasure.
Xu asked: “???”
"You agreed so readily?"
"What else?"
"Aren't you afraid of being blamed and having your reputation damaged?"
"Right and wrong are in the hearts of the people. It wasn't Sun Pingping who went to the island alone. Can the Sun family still say that white is black?"
Xu Wen raised his eyebrows and looked at Lu Yuanzheng with disbelief.
That being said, the Sun family is, after all, an ordinary family.
Being tough is not a wise move.
Lu Yuanzheng smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "Okay! To be honest, my soldiers have come to me for help, I can't just ignore it."
Baby-faced boy and Sun Pingping are a couple and have brought her to meet their parents. Of course he would not sit idly by and watch Sun Pingping being taken home.
Knowing that Lu Yuanzheng could not intervene in this matter, Xu Wen took Baby Face and Sun Pingping off the island to Haicheng to meet the Sun family.
The people who came from the Sun family were Sun Pingping’s father and brother.
There is no need to waste words when dealing with such people. Xu Wen just gives them a warning right from the start.
Several serious charges were put on the father and son of the Sun family, such as leaking military secrets, spreading rumors and slandering military personnel, etc.
I was almost scared, so I conducted the negotiation in a simple and rough manner.
Anyway, the Sun family marries their daughter for the bride price, and this bride price is too much.
In addition, Xu Wen gave them another sum of money to compensate the man for his losses.
But this money cannot be given for free. Sun Pingping needs to wait until she graduates from university and then work for Xu Wen for two years to pay off the debt.
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