"We'll eat it tomorrow." Fang Qiao patted Tian Tian's head. "Auntie stewed meat for lunch and made quite a few round pancakes. We'll also have roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) for dinner."
"Yay!"
Ever since Niao Niao came to their house, they've been eating meat almost every day!
Long live Niao Niao!
Sweetie happily went to find Niao Niao to play.
Xiao Jing grabbed the rabbit by the ears and temporarily locked it in the chicken coop.
At this moment, Cheng Baidong returned home from get off work.
Fang Qiao looked up at the sky; the sun had just set.
She was a little surprised: "Why are you back so early today?"
"No need to work overtime today."
Cheng Baidong turned his head and saw the rabbit in the chicken coop. He exclaimed, "Oh! The rabbit that Zhuque caught today?"
Fang Qiao said, "Yes, she said she was tired of eating chicken and wanted to try something different."
Cheng Baidong clicked his tongue: "They've really had too many good days. People outside don't even get to eat meat once a month, but this thing is doing just that, eating meat every day and still complaining about it."
"It's a divine bird, what are you comparing it to a human for?"
The couple talked as they went into the house, one after the other.
Cheng Baidong took two envelopes out of his bag and handed them to Fang Qiao: "These are the bonuses we just received, plus the food allowance for Zhuque."
"Birds get a food allowance too?" Fang Qiao's eyes widened in surprise.
"With its appetite, who could afford to feed it without subsidies?" Cheng Baidong retorted sarcastically.
Little Vermilion Bird, with its sharp ears, peeked out from the west room: "You naughty brother, don't talk bad about me!"
"..."
Fang Qiao is a beautiful older sister, so how did he become a bad older brother?
Cheng Baidong twitched his lips: "Your hearing is pretty good."
The little Vermilion Bird puffed out its chest proudly and snorted, "It works better than you!"
After saying that, it flew back into the west room and continued playing cat's cradle with Sweetie.
Fang Qiao continued opening the envelopes.
Both envelopes were of good thickness.
One letter contained Little Zhuque's food allowance, a thick stack of food coupons.
Fang Qiao searched to the bottom but couldn't find the ticket.
"Why are there only food coupons and no meat coupons?"
Cheng Baidong explained, "Factory Director Qin saw it hunting and decided not to give it the meat ration coupons he had originally planned to give it."
"Huh?" Fang Qiao: "How can this be? They won't give out meat coupons to Niaoniao because she can hunt, but those who can catch fish go to the river every few days to catch fish to eat at home, and the factory hasn't waived their meat coupons. Can't we try to negotiate again?"
"No." Cheng Baidong shrugged helplessly.
"Okay." Fang Qiao accepted it reluctantly, but her mood was alright.
After all, Niao Niao's hunting skills are really strong. No meat ration coupons? No meat ration coupons? Anyway, there's no shortage of meat at home.
After placing the grain coupons together with her family's food ration book, Fang Qiao opened Cheng Baidong's bonus envelope.
Upon opening it, there was a stack of large denomination bills.
"So much? That's equivalent to several months' salary."
Cheng Baidong said casually, "The greater the contribution, the greater the bonus."
"Changbai Mountain?" Fang Qiao asked.
Cheng Baidong nodded; she had guessed correctly.
The bonus cycle is usually slow, but the fact that it was paid out so quickly this time is thanks to Zhuque.
The ruins of their ancestors contain many valuable items. Although they haven't yet entered the true core, they've already gained considerable benefits just from the outer perimeter.
Fang Qiao put the prize money away.
Cheng Baidong added, "By the way, I need to go to the southwest again in a few days."
"Is there another problem over there?" Fang Qiao asked.
Cheng Baidong shook his head: "No, it's something else."
He didn't go into the specifics.
Since it involved classified information, Fang Qiao didn't ask any questions. She nodded and asked him, "How long will you be gone this time?"
About a week.
"OK."
A week later, Cheng Baidong went to the southwest as scheduled.
Before leaving, he stayed up all night to get the spirit paper out and made two paper puppets to keep at home to help Fang Qiao take care of the children.
Afraid of frightening the children, he cast an illusion on the paper puppets to make them look like 'humans'.
Having paper puppets has indeed saved a lot of time and effort. Although they can't do delicate tasks like changing diapers for the twins or feeding An'an, they can still entertain the children and rock the stroller. Plus, with the weather getting warmer, in a few days, they can even be used to fan the baby at night.
Don't underestimate this seemingly small matter; without paper puppets, everything would be ruined.
After that, Cheng Baidong went to the southwest several more times. Time flew by in his business trips, and soon it was autumn.
Before National Day, a notice was posted on the factory's bulletin board that the new factory had been completed and the company was going to select an advance team to "pioneering" the new factory.
The statement concluded by explaining that relocating to the new factory was inevitable. The initial team was just the first batch; there would be a second batch before the new year, and a third and fourth batch after the new year. Eventually, most of the factory's employees would have to leave. The statement encouraged employees to sign up, as those who went first would have an advantage, while those who went later would fall behind.
The announcement caused an uproar in the residential compound.
Regardless of its advantages, no one with a family wants to go.
Because if a man marries a woman from nearby, the woman doesn't want to live too far away. If he marries someone from a nearby village, he also doesn't want to leave.
The single men in the factory didn't care, after all, the outskirts of Heshan were the countryside, and the new factory was also the countryside, so it was all the same wherever they went.
However, the proportion of single men in the factory is small, only a few dozen people. The first batch couldn't even fill all the spots, so the factory had to assign people randomly in the end.
Suddenly, everyone in the family compound felt insecure and was busy trying to find connections to stay instead of moving to the new factory.
Even Chen Guizhi told Fang Qiao many times that she didn't want to leave.
Fang Qiao couldn't comfort her.
She had heard from Cheng Baidong that the spiritual energy recovery in the southwest was progressing rapidly and that the relics in Changbai Mountain had yielded great results. Therefore, Heshan Pharmaceutical Factory would be completely transformed into a special department, and apart from the personnel of the underground research institute, the ordinary employees of the original pharmaceutical factory would have to move away.
This naturally includes Chen Guizhi's family.
The only difference is the timing.
Chen Guizhi said, "Even if we really have to leave, we'll have to wait until after the New Year. The new factory has just been built, and there's probably nothing inside yet. How can the housing conditions compare to here? It's so cold in winter; how can our four children stand it? I hope my husband, Lao Qian, will be assigned to the third or fourth batch. When it's warmer, life will be easier."
Fang Qiao wished her good luck: "I hope it will be as you wish."
The first list of those to be moved out was released after National Day, and Fang Qiao wouldn't be able to see it.
Cheng Baidong was given a two-week vacation.
I've been in Beijing for a year and a half, and I haven't seen my family back home for over a year. I really miss them terribly.
Since we finally had a holiday, the whole family unanimously decided to go back to our hometown!
Cheng Baidong made a long-distance call to his hometown in advance and bought train tickets.
He has space, so he can stuff his luggage into it, saving him the trouble of carrying big and small bags. He only symbolically carries two backpacks with some personal items.
So, on the morning of National Day, Cheng Baidong carried Chuan Chuan in one arm and Tian Tian in the other, while Fang Qiao and Xiao Jing carried Yue Yue and An An respectively. Xiao Zhuque was hidden in a backpack. The whole family boarded the train back to their hometown in a grand procession!
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