Chapter 23 Chapter 23 I have a problem
"No, no."
Qingmei took a long time to utter two words. To be on the safe side, she put her hands behind her back.
She brainstormed a lot of things, and finally said dryly, "I was wrong last time. I shouldn't have touched you. I will never do it again."
Gu Qingzhou said with a half-smile: "Now you know how to bravely admit your mistakes?"
Qingmei said shyly: "Well, I'm brave enough to admit it."
The main thing is that you have to be brave.
In just a few days, he had teased her twice. Gu Qingzhou was a natural, so he would bring up the incident of her touching him every now and then to tease her.
Haha, you really think she is a donkey.
Gu Qingzhou would never let her go easily. Seeing that she was tiptoeing as if she was about to run again, he simply grabbed her pigtail and wrapped it around his index finger.
"You just said I—"
He was halfway through his sentence when he was interrupted by Mu Ran. He deliberately stood a dozen steps away and waited for a moment before calling out, "Old Gu, mix the cement. Stop talking to the ladies."
Qingmei thought to herself, you look like a cement worker.
But someone came over to watch, so Gu Qingzhou quickly let her go. Qingmei clutched her pigtail tightly and stared at him.
Gu Qingzhou laughed: "I'll ask you later, what are you going to do now?"
Qingmei quickly said, "I'll cook for you."
Gu Qingzhou waved his hand with satisfaction, and Qingmei ran away. He thought to himself, Dalang, you wait.
Mu Ran waited until she left before coming over and whispering, "Old Gu, how could you grab a woman's hair? She's certainly very beautiful, but her status is sensitive. She's a widowed woman. If you grab her, be careful someone sees you and tells Commander Wang off for misconduct."
"Is that a lesbian?" Gu Qingzhou seemed to realize it belatedly. He always felt that he had caught a little donkey, the kind that would kick at the slightest provocation.
Mu Ran added, "Forget it. Those who come here are our own people and won't complain. We'll go back tomorrow and come back this weekend. Please be careful here."
Gu Qingzhou wondered: "Why didn't I pay attention to the limits?"
Mu Ran said, "Have you noticed? Even if you noticed, you're still like that?"
He overheard a few of her remarks and said bitterly, "You act like a decent person in the army, turning down blind dates everyone introduces you to, and avoiding conversation with women whenever possible. And now, you've admitted your lust in front of a widowed woman!"
"......" Gu Qingzhou was numb. This was no different from pointing at his nose and scolding him: "You are really a cement guy."
Gu Qingzhou put his arm around Mu Ran's shoulder and decided to treat him like a donkey today.
The other side.
"Why do you look so gloomy?" Zhao Xiaoxing and Qingmei went to the brigade headquarters to borrow a big iron pot to cook a big pot of rice. She was standing by the stove, picking cabbages from a large basin.
I have to cook for more than 20 people, the time is tight and the task is heavy.
Qingmei has arrived at the safe zone and is washing bean sprouts with her sleeves rolled up opposite Zhao Xiaoxing. Her heart, which was surging just now, is now unusually calm.
She said with a dead look on her face, "It's not a big deal, I just feel like I can't survive anymore."
Zhao Xiaoxing continued picking vegetables without stopping, and without looking up, she said, "Oh, it's nothing. I often can't make ends meet either. Every year, the river in our village washes down a few people, just like us, unable to survive. I don't know how many there will be this year."
Qingmei said sullenly, "Even if there are several, I won't be among them."
Zhao Xiaoxing said: "Yes, you still want to be my Zhou Paopi."
Qingmei: "Well, it's better to jump into the river than to be skinned alive."
Zhao Xiaoxing laughed out loud: "I was just kidding. I asked what Zhou Paopi was. He's a bad guy. You're nowhere near him."
Qingmei sighed, added some firewood to the stove, and laughed: "If you don't know, you might think I'm going to target him."
She felt the heat from the pot with her hand and felt that the temperature was not right, so she poured out the water and then brought the batter in.
Zhao Xiaoxing observed for a while, then threw the rotten leaves into the stove. After a moment's thought, she said, "Captain Gu said someone was looking for you. Who was it?"
Qingmei stirred the batter and said, "Hao Fan, who else could it be?"
Others love the whole house and its people, but Zhao Xiaoxing is annoyed by the whole house and its people: "If he comes again tomorrow, call me and I will help you see him. Don't pay any attention to him."
Qingmei thought so too.
He told Gu Qingzhou that he came to deliver something, what else could he deliver?
It must be her mother's relic. I don't know if it will cause trouble.
Qingmei didn't want to think about it anymore and rinsed the bean sprouts again.
Bean sprouts are cheap, a dime a pound, and a pound of them fills a small pot. They grow in sandy soil, are thick and strong, and have sand at the roots, so they need to be washed twice.
She wanted to cook a big pot of rice, and since she didn't have time to buy vegetables today, she bought all the remaining bean sprouts from the supply and marketing cooperative and prepared to eat them with cornmeal rolls filled with bean sprouts and fried cabbage.
She added some chopped green onions to the batter, heated the iron pan, and poured it directly into the pan without adding any oil.
After rolling it flat, the high temperature stimulates the bottom skin to be baked until the bottom is yellow, slightly bubbling and emitting the aroma of chopped green onions. Continue baking the other side for a minute or two, and a thick roll bigger than her face is ready.
She had been financially comfortable recently and didn't want to mistreat the villagers and soldiers. Cornmeal was a good thing, so she gave it away generously, instead of using sweet potato flour to make double-faced pancakes for them.
No oil is needed to make wraps, but you do need to use oil residue when stir-frying bean sprouts and bok choy.
This is the lard residue that I fried with grandma last time. She scooped three or four spoonfuls into the big pot, and the aroma of fried meat came out.
Put the bean sprouts in, stir them a few times until they are raw, and then Qingmei adds the secret weapon - Gujia fresh soy sauce.
Fresh soy sauce sprinkled on the tender bean sprouts has a rich, fragrant and sweet aroma and a unique and mellow taste.
If it were any other day, I would definitely not be willing to use the green plums, but today is the first day of building the house, so I have to get something good.
Mrs. Fang was helping to knead the dough outside. She smelled the aroma and came in and said, "Wow, good stuff! I was wondering why those soldiers were all craving this soy sauce. It really is a good thing. The taste is different from other soy sauces."
Qingmei tore off a piece of the wrap and stuffed it into her mouth: "The dough you made is also good, very chewy."
Zhao Xiaoxing opened her mouth automatically, Qingmei gave her a bite, and then she took a bite herself.
"Pure cornmeal is still the best," Zhao Xiaoxing smacked her lips after finishing her meal and said, "I wonder when we'll be able to eat white flour every day. That would be heavenly."
Qingmei said casually, "It will come true soon. As long as you have a dream, it will come true."
Zhao Xiaoxing pouted, stood up and carried the dish in a bowl.
The three of them walked back and forth twice and put the pancakes and vegetables in Fang Dasao's yard. When the people working saw them, they called to each other to come over and eat.
As soon as they saw the dishes, they knew that Qingmei's cooking was excellent. The pancakes were made with pure cornmeal, and the dishes contained not only animal fat but also lard. Compared to other families using sweet potato flour to make pancakes for the villagers, this was truly a very good one.
Gu Qingzhou didn't let Zhao Wuhe bring him food. He lined up with Mu Ran, Zhou Wenhua, Bao Mi and Xiao Jin to eat the wraps together.
"Bean sprouts or bok choy?" Qingmei looked up at Gu Qingzhou and asked, "Or a mixture of both?"
Gu Qingzhou had eaten enough of the bok choy and thought the bean sprouts were good. They were fried until fresh and tender, and he could smell that the soy sauce was brewed by Ms. Zhao Wuhe.
Qingmei picked up the burrito and handed it to him. Gu Qingzhou took it, and Qingmei quickly pulled her hand back to avoid being accused of taking advantage of him.
Gu Qingzhou reacted quickly and grabbed the burrito, almost avoiding falling.
Qingmei once again made him a bowl of delicious bean sprouts with an expressionless face.
Gu Qingzhou took the bowl and stood still.
Qingmei raised her eyelids and asked, "Captain Gu, do you have any other instructions?"
"I have a question." Gu Qingzhou said, "You said I looked like I was alive—" What did you mean after that?
Qingmei said with a dead look on her face, "I can tell at first glance that you live a life of happiness and well-being."
Gu Qingzhou's shoulders trembled with joy: "Alright, people's hearts are hidden in their stomachs. I'm not a hooligan, how can I know what a hooligan is thinking."
"......" Qingmei, if you didn't know, you wouldn't have come here to ask!
Later, Mu Ran and others also came over to get the wraps, and nodded politely when they saw Qing Mei.
Qingmei was under the illusion that they really didn't hear it.
Bao Mi was the last one to take the burrito. He said with a smile, "Comrade Qingmei, don't worry. We will keep our mouths shut and protect your privacy. Besides, my boss also admitted that it was his problem and it has nothing to do with you. Relax."
Qingmei gritted her teeth and thought, she had been feeling relaxed, but now she felt uncomfortable.
It is said that the military and the people are one family.
We are all family, so it’s okay to slap each other a few times, right?
Bao Mi's feral sixth sense sensed something was wrong, so he took off running. He couldn't fight back when the common people hit him, so he decided to just get away.
After eating the delicious burritos, we worked for another two hours before it got too late.
Zhao Wuhe came over and told everyone to go home and rest. She shone her flashlight on Qingmei, then on Zhao Qingzhou and said, "Come on, go to bed."
Qingmei said to Zhao Wuhe seriously, "Comrade Zhao Wuhe, please speak more completely next time and don't cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
Zhao Wuhe glanced at Gu Qingzhou, and her intuition told her that this troublesome guy was causing trouble again.
Before she could start her attack, Gu Qingzhou strode away. Bao Mi just let him do that.
Zhao Wuhe saw Zhao Xiaoxing coming over with a rolled-up blanket in the distance, so she took Qingmei's arm and said, "Don't be angry with him. You'll never stop being angry with him."
Qingmei got even angrier after hearing this...
He is the first person to increase his favorability.
At night, my mother and the others slept on Zhao Wuhe's big kang.
In order to express her welcome to them, Ms. Zhao Wuhe burned the kang so hard that she forgot herself. When they entered the house, they were all dumbfounded when they saw the smoking kang.
Qingmei couldn't help but say, "Come to your house for teppanyaki?"
Zhao Wuhe didn't know what teppanyaki was, but she knew she definitely couldn't go up there, and she could do it all night long.
She was about to call Gu Qingzhou when Gu Qingzhou came over from the side room, squatted down in front of the stove under the kang, picked up the half-burned firewood and threw it into the iron bucket.
She was trying to get extra points for her son: "Men are tough after all. They're not afraid of getting burned. With your delicate skin, you'd get blisters if you touched it."
Zhao Xiaoxing didn't know what the expression in her eyes meant. She was naive and said, "That's nothing. He even wears gloves. I don't even need to wear gloves."
Qingmei nodded approvingly and said, "Well said."
Zhao Wuhe closed her eyes, unable to bear to let her son go in with his bare hands.
Forget it, take a step back and the sky will be wider.
Then he opened his eyes, adjusted his mood, took Zhao Xiaoxing's arm and said, "There are a few pieces of floral fabric in that room. It's useless for me to have them. Let's go take a look?"
Zhao Xiaoxing stood up suddenly: "Let's go!"
Now it was Qingmei's turn to close her eyes.
It's not that tense when two people are in the same room. As long as they don't talk to each other, they can be absolutely happy and healthy.
Both of them understood this and kept their mouths shut tacitly.
Zhao Wuhe and Zhao Xiaoxing stuck to the door panel and eavesdropped for a long time, but didn't hear a word.
After waiting for half an hour, the smoke from the hot kang stopped coming out, and Qingmei wanted to go to Mrs. Fang's house to pick up her grandmother who had gone to rest early.
Zhao Wuhe came into the house with a thermos and said, "The old lady is old, let her sleep over there. It's not the first time anyway. Didn't your sister-in-law Fang also say to let her sleep first?"
Qingmei thought about it and agreed. It was not worth it to make grandma suffer like this.
The yard of the Gu family's old house is very large and has self-drainage.
Water is pumped from an underground well for circulation, separating it into separate water-using areas such as the kitchen, toilet, and mop pool. The remaining sewage is led through pipes to the drainage ditch outside the village. This is not much different from houses in the city and is very convenient.
I heard that this drainage system existed in the Qing Dynasty. The underground pipes were all rammed with fired porcelain, and they never leaked, broke, or flooded. It was truly magical.
After discussing drainage, Zhao Wuhe then turned to the architecture of his home. Some of the pillars were made of red sandalwood and golden nanmu, inherited from his ancestors.
"If it weren't for my back problem and the need for a heated kang, my family would have slept on beds. Back then, a lot of furniture was cut down to heat the kang. Later, my housekeeper kept it all. Now, if you look back, the cellar is full of things that were almost destroyed in those years. I'm just sentimental and nostalgic."
After Zhao Wuhe finished introducing her family and completed her tasks for today, she turned over on the kang and found Qingmei sleeping next to her.
She looked at her future daughter-in-law in the moonlight, and the more she looked, the more she liked her.
She thought that tomorrow's task was to let Qingmei get to know the soy sauce jar at home, and to infiltrate slowly without rushing.
Seeing Qingmei yawning slightly, Zhao Wuhe said sympathetically, "Go to sleep. You have to get up early to cook tomorrow to help build the house."
"Yeah." Qingmei responded and fell asleep soon after.
*** ***
Early in the morning, before dawn, Qingmei jumped up, full of energy.
Yesterday has passed and a new day has come.
She touched her butt first. In her dream, her butt was on fire all night. Fortunately, half of the firewood was taken away, otherwise she would have really been burned.
After getting up, after reviewing everything, she first put her pigtails on her head and wrapped them with a triangular scarf to prevent someone from grabbing her pigtails again.
After she had packed up, Zhao Wuhe and Zhao Xiaoxing had already gotten up and went to Mrs. Fang's house together.
Mrs. Fang helped to cook. In the morning, people in rural areas in the north usually eat sorghum rice, and they were no exception. They made five pots of sorghum rice, accompanied by shredded mustard greens pickled by Qingmei and a large plate of salted duck eggs mixed with braised tofu.
Although most of them are braised tofu, it is also very fragrant.
After bringing it over, Qingmei found that there seemed to be more people coming to help.
In addition to the villagers who helped yesterday and Gu Qingzhou who took a half-month annual leave, there were at least seven or eight more people.
Brother Wang Yang finished cooking and whispered, "Everyone said your cooking was delicious yesterday. I couldn't even pay for it today, so I came here to try it."
Qingmei was very happy. The more people helped, the faster her house would be built.
Gu Qingzhou's half-month leave was definitely not enough. The blue brick house was simple, and it would take at least a month. And that was assuming all the workers were experienced.
After Qingmei finished her meal, she put on gloves and helped move bricks.
Moving bricks for your own house requires endless energy.
When Hao Fan came over, he saw Qingmei working with a dusty face.
He followed the impatient Qian Ying and planned to give Fan Shuling's belongings to Qingmei.
They saw a news report in the city, and an entire page was devoted to the story about Qingmei and her friends who bravely fought the murderer with courage and wits, and not only were they awarded the second-class collective merit, but they were also recognized as advanced elements of the city's March 8th Movement.
Qian Ying was absolutely unwilling to come, and only came after Hao Fan had to persuade her.
They stood in front of the knocked-down tile-roofed house, and not far away were people working hard.
They all came from rural areas and dressed up specially before coming to Donghe Village. Now the effect is apparent and they look really out of place.
There was a stranger standing at Qingmei's door, so Mrs. Fang called Brother Fang over to ask him something.
Brother Fang went over to ask, and Hao Fan said, holding something, "I'm Qingmei's father, and I want to come visit her."
Brother Fang was straightforward and said whatever was on his mind: "How could you be her father? How come we didn't know?"
Qingmei had a hard time before, and Sister Fang always whispered in his ear that the couple could only raise a small tank and would help out. Qingmei was in trouble at that time, so why didn't he see his father?
Now that I've been commended in the newspaper and have gained recognition in the city and county, does that mean I have a father now?
Hao Fan was a cultured man, and he was embarrassed to say, "We haven't been around much since she got married."
Mrs. Fang stood behind Mr. Fang and watched as Hao Fan carried something. She didn't want to prevent the father and daughter from meeting, so she went to the backyard and called Qingmei, who was working there.
"Someone said it was your father, and he spoke in a very elegant manner." Mrs. Fang wiped Qingmei's dusty face with a towel, wiped her hands, and said, "Come over and take a look."
Seeing Qingmei about to go over there, she called Qingmei back, pulled her under the brick pile, and whispered, "If I ask you to borrow money, you absolutely cannot give it. I think the woman next to him is comparable to Sun Xiufen, neither of them is a good person."
Qingmei smiled and said, "I'll remember what my sister-in-law said."
Mrs. Fang saw Qingmei going there and followed her out of worry.
Actually, she shouldn't have said these things, as they could easily be seen as instigating family tensions. But now it seems that their relationship is not as close as that of an outsider like her.
"Mrs. Fang, where has she been?" Gu Qingzhou was also covered in dust after a morning's work. He wiped the sweat from his chin with his forearm. Mrs. Fang wanted to give him the towel, but then she remembered that Qingmei had used it and wanted to take it back halfway through.
No matter how polite others are to me, I am still the head of a regiment and I heard that I am on equal footing with the county head. It would be bad to let them use a dirty towel.
Who knew that Gu Qingzhou took it, rubbed it on his neck, and then wiped it on his face, without any look of disgust.
Mrs. Fang was a little timid when she spoke to him, and whispered, "The man who came yesterday is here again, saying he is her father."
Gu Qingzhou heard it, looked ahead, then put the towel on his shoulder and said with a smile: "I'll give you a new towel later. I'll go over and take a look."
Without waiting for Mrs. Fang to refuse, Gu Qingzhou stepped forward.
Hao Fan saw Qingmei standing in front of him, looking dirty, and he couldn't tell how he felt.
He handed over her mother's belongings and said, "Are you going to build a house? It's got a big yard. How much does it cost?"
Qingmei was holding something very light. She hadn't wanted to tell Hao Fan about her mother's affairs. He wasn't worthy. Since he didn't dare to bring it up in front of Qian Ying, Qingmei could have cut him some slack: "No money. What else do you have?"
Although Qian Ying lived in the city, she lived with three people in a small one-bedroom apartment. They cooked in the corridor of the tube-shaped building and the toilet was also shared.
Seeing Qingmei building a new house after her success, I felt a pang of jealousy. The only consolation was that this was in the countryside, not as good as the city.
When Qingmei said she didn't spend any money, she immediately became alert and asked, "You didn't spend any money? Did you borrow money to build it? I'm telling you, our family doesn't have the money to build you a house, so don't even think about it. We've already given the 80 yuan Zhou Wu gave us last time to the police, so we haven't received a penny."
"Did I say I want to borrow money from you?" Qingmei glanced at Qian Ying's face with contempt.
This middle-aged woman, who had been living frugally for years, gave all the good things to her daughter. She herself suffered from long-term malnutrition and had a sallow complexion. Even so, she thought that her daughter was still thinking about her little melons and dates, but she didn't know that her daughter was already a wealthy woman.
Qingmei wouldn't tell her, but just sneered and said, "Don't come here if you have nothing to do. Anyway, from the day you hand me over to Zhou Wu, we will have no relationship at all."
Hao Fan frowned and said, "How can you talk like that, kid?"
Many of his colleagues at school, and even the school leaders, saw the newspaper and asked him about his childhood sweetheart.
Some quick-talkers even asked behind her back whether Qingmei was his daughter and why he never saw her all year round. He was happy that she was doing well, but also worried about the estrangement between them.
He wanted to get close to Qingmei so that he could stand up straight in school and avoid being on the sidelines. However, Qingmei refused to listen to his words.
Qian Ying glanced at the dirty Qingmei, and wanted to provoke Qingmei with bad intentions: "There is another thing. Zhong Anhua is getting married. The other party is an officer. He is a platoon leader at a young age, handsome, and has a good personality-"
Qingmei knew this was going to happen, and the only thing she wanted to ask was, "Where does he live? With such good conditions, Zhong Anhua must be joining the army, right?"
Qian Ying had never realized Qingmei was so sharp before. She glanced at Hao Fan. Hao Fan wanted to build a relationship with Qingmei, so naturally he didn't dare to speak carelessly.
Qian Ying was about to speak when he saw a tall and strong young man coming up from behind Qingmei.
She had never seen such a handsome gay man. His muscles were beautifully tense from working. He looked down at them without saying a word.
Qingmei, who was acting unfamiliar with them, did not resist his approach. The two of them were only half a step apart, which was far beyond the normal distance that should be maintained between men and women.
Qingmei just stared at her and Hao Fan, seeming to be very relieved that the other party was behind her.
What is the relationship between these two people?
Qian Ying was still thinking when she heard Gu Qingzhou say with a half-smile, "'Young'? Are you as young as me?"
Qingmei said without turning her head: "No."
Gu Qingzhou then said, "'Handsome'? As handsome as me?"
Qingmei said flatteringly, "No."
Gu Qingzhou finally asked, "'Good personality'? Better than my personality?"
Qingmei paused.
As the saying goes, telling lies will be struck by lightning. She is superstitious about this...
Gu Qingzhou stood behind her and secretly nudged her with his index finger: "Hmm?"
Qingmei took the blame and committed the crime: "No one is as good as you."
Gu Qingzhou was satisfied, and turned his head to Qian Ying and said, "Your son-in-law is indeed well-qualified."
Qian Ying said angrily: "He is an officer, and you are nothing but a peasant. Don't be so shameless as to compare yourself with my son-in-law."
Gu Qingzhou laughed heartily: "No, I was praising him. After all, there are too few men who can compare with me, right, Comrade Qingmei."
Comrade Qingmei really didn't want to talk, but she had no choice but to temporarily form a united front, so she nodded heavily: "Yes, he is praising your son-in-law."
Hao Fan quickly tried to smooth things over and pulled Qian Ying aside, saying, "How would they know whether he was an officer or not?" He didn't say anything more, as the man might not even be able to read or write.
Qian Ying sneered and said, "My daughter will be joining the army soon. Once he completes his secret mission, he can transfer my daughter and his food supplies to the army. The gap between you two will be huge in the future."
Gu Qingzhou said sharply: "Now the food crisis falls on your family. Should we eat your food and live in your house?"
Qian Ying said proudly: "So what? This is so glorious."
Qingmei looked up and met Gu Qingzhou's eyes. They both knew that there was something wrong with what he said.
What task requires transferring food supplies to the target's home?
Moreover, not just a platoon leader can accompany the army. Before the military reform, he had to be at least a deputy battalion commander to be able to accompany the army.
Qingmei readily said, "I understand. From now on, I will keep a good distance from Zhong Anhua and your family. I hope you can do the same."
Qian Ying came here with this intention, to annoy Qingmei and prevent her from being too proud recently.
In addition, he was afraid that Qingmei would become jealous and destroy Zhong Anhua's marriage.
Hao Fan was afraid that they would quarrel again, so he pulled Qian Ying and said, "Let's go, let's stop talking."
Before leaving, Qian Ying handed Qingmei a handful of fruit candies that were about to expire. "Eat them! These are wedding candies made by an acquaintance from the sugar factory. They didn't cost any money. Our son-in-law has connections."
After they left, Qingmei spread out her sticky palms, looking very disgusted.
Gu Qingzhou was still behind. Not only did he watch the excitement, he also sighed: "He's a platoon leader, but he's so stylish."
What he meant was that as a regiment commander, he could still touch Qingmei in front of her.
Qingmei turned around and slapped the expired fruit candy on his chest.
Wow, expired candy is hard, and this one is even harder.
Qingmei said expressionlessly, "Stop talking nonsense and get to work."
Gu Qingzhou grabbed the candy and laughed angrily: "Just now you praised me for being young, handsome and having a good personality."
Qingmei said frankly: "I'm sorry, I have a problem."
Gu Qingzhou raised his eyebrows: "What's wrong?"
Qingmei said numbly, "You're lying with your eyes open."
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