Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Don’t you think so?
"If Zhao Xiaoxing hadn't stopped me, would I have really beaten him up?"
Grandma sat at the table on the kang, her elbows propped up on it, lecturing, "Even if you can't stand it any longer, you have to wait until the baby is born. There are plenty of older people in our village who dislike her, not to mention you young people. They'd beat her up in the dark and she wouldn't even know who she was."
Zhao Wuhe said from the side, "Who wouldn't say that? You were a bit impulsive this time. You need to think carefully before you act next time. You can't just rush over and hit someone in front of the classmates. And you even threaten to punch them. How is that right?"
Grandma said, "She's really not a good person, and we can't learn from her. If they don't do their duty, we should do our duty."
Zhao Wuhe said: "Beating her in the dark was also to make her behave herself."
Grandma pounded her food on the kang and said, "That's about it."
Gu Qingzhou stood below and nodded and said, "Okay, I'll remember it all. I'll tell her later."
Zhao Wuhe stopped Gu Qingzhou and said, "Then please be more tactful. She's embarrassed to be suspended from night school for a week."
Gu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Just follow me to the army."
Coming out of the kang room, Qingmei was cutting yellow duck pears with a bang. She wanted to make autumn pear paste before going to the army.
The young wife danced with the kitchen knife with great vigor. After she had chopped a bunch of pears and put them into the basin, she looked up and said, "Are you criticizing me?"
Zhao Xiaoxing saw how irritating Chen Qiaoxiang was and said, "What's there to criticize you for?"
Gu Qingzhou said smoothly, "I'm not criticizing you. Let me tell you, after she gives birth, our grandmother and mother will help you deal with her."
Qingmei's face was originally gloomy, but she relaxed after hearing this and said, "Really? You didn't mention the fist-throwing incident?"
"You said you were right to feed her with your fists. Next time, wait until she gives birth and then try again."
Qingmei had been slumping her shoulders, wanting to save face and not be criticized by her elders. But knowing they were on her side, she perked up.
"You didn't lie to me, did you?"
Gu Qingzhou said, "Really? Ms. Zhao Wuhe even asked me to buy you ten pounds of beef jerky. She was so distressed that someone was tempted by your beef jerky, and she asked me to buy you ten pounds of it so you can chew on it."
Qingmei tilted her body, and Gu Qingzhou walked over to let her lean on him. He lowered his head to help her press her shoulders and said, "Let me do it?"
Qingmei said, "It's almost done. Check if the can is dry. If it is, just bring it in."
Gu Qingzhou turned around and went to the windowsill to get it. After taking it, he raised his little finger and handed it to Qingmei with lowered brows.
Qingmei looked at his injured right hand, feeling both distressed and amused. She thought he had discovered his second gender.
While she was working on the side, Gu Qingzhou took out a pregnancy handbook from the Women's Federation and started reading it.
Zhao Wuhe came out of the house and saw the book in his hand. She was so happy: "I will be able to hold my granddaughter so soon."
Qingmei cut the pear into pieces and said, "Why do you still favor girls over boys?"
Zhao Wuhe said, "I blame you. You are worth two sons, but I can't just stick with my daughter."
This sounded pleasant to the ear. Qingmei looked at Gu Qingzhou and asked him to explain to Zhao Wuhe himself.
Gu Qingzhou said: "We have discussed this matter, let it be as fate dictates——"
Zhao Wuhe fully fulfilled her mother-in-law's obligation to urge the baby, and said to Gu Qingzhou: "Huang Wenbi already has a child, you can't be inferior to him."
Qingmei cut the pears quietly, and told Zhao Wuhe to just urge her son and not her.
Gu Qingzhou said: "There is no need to rush this matter. I think there is a reason for this." He looked up at the sky.
Zhao Wuhe pondered for a moment and said, "Why is it so complicated? Will it affect my ability to hold my big, fat granddaughter?"
Gu Qingzhou said: "It doesn't affect me. I will learn more about this in advance. It will be beneficial to your granddaughter."
"As long as it's good news." Zhao Wuhe knew that Qingmei had a secret. The thunder had struck so hard the previous times that she was surprised that it stopped now.
If we can get rid of that guy, we will get rid of a big worry.
Qingmei and Zhao Xiaoxing were making autumn pear paste while Xiaoyan came back from buying cotton. She wanted to make a winter quilt for her grandmother. I heard this winter would be colder than usual, so these things had to be prepared in advance.
Gu Qingzhou learned common sense during the day and demonstrated it to his young wife in person at night.
They slept in the guest room. Qingmei looked through the window and found that the moon tonight was bigger than before.
Qingmei's eyes felt sore and she bit his shoulder hard.
Gu Qingzhou said that he just went with the flow, but in the end his male instinct was at work and he couldn't stand hearing others say that he was not as good as other men in this matter.
Especially Huang Wenbi, who had had an affair with his young wife in the past. Although nothing happened, he was narrow-minded and felt disgusted.
The first time I tasted something so delicious, it not only didn’t satisfy my craving, but made me crave even more.
This is the second time that Gu Qingzhou has been acting like a ruthless person.
It's like a wolf lying down, sometimes gentle, sometimes ferocious.
... ...
In the dead of night, the door of the Gu family's old house opened.
Zhao Wuhe had no choice but to act on her own since her son was living in the blue brick courtyard like a live-in son-in-law and refused to come back.
After much thought, she concluded that the child in Chen Qiaoxiang's belly was related to the thunder.
Seeing that Gu Qingzhou was still learning about pregnant women, Zhao Wuhe collected some nutritional supplements at home, picked out a few inconspicuous ones, wrapped them in cloth and sent them to the Huang family's door.
It was dark at the moment, and Zhao Wuhe even bowed to the cloth bag: "Please bless my future granddaughter, good luck and good fortune."
After saying that, she walked home in the dark again and almost sprained her ankle.
In the early morning, sounds gradually appeared in Donghe Village.
The collective pigs, starving all night in the pigsty, grunted as they waited for feed. In the blue brick yard, a hundred young chickens circled the henhouse, ready to scramble for the first bite of feed.
Zhao Wuhe got up, packed up, and went to Qingmei's house for dinner as usual.
Seeing Zhao Xiaoxing feeding chickens in the backyard, he asked, "Where's Xiaomei?"
Zhao Xiaoxing said, "She said she wanted to do morning exercises with your son, so they went running."
Strange.
Zhao Wuhe asked, "I saw the bicycle still in the front yard."
Zhao Xiaoxing said happily, "Whose good person uses a bicycle for running?"
Zhao Wuhe whispered, "She's my good daughter-in-law."
Most likely he is not running, but doing something else.
About half an hour later, Qingmei and Gu Qingzhou walked back.
Before leaving, the two of them stole two chickens from the chicken coop that were about to be slaughtered. Under the pretext of going for a run, they tied their wings and threw them at Huang Wenbi's door.
"Why is there a cloth bag next to it?" Qingmei asked Gu Qingzhou in a low voice on the way back: "Could it be that there really is an uncle who brought her food?"
Gu Qingzhou felt that the cloth bag looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where it was. "Let's observe it again."
Qingmei said, "This is the only way."
I had a big Northeastern rice dumpling this morning.
This is simple to make and has a rich flavor.
On a small stove, stir-fry the green plums with eggs and soybean paste to make egg sauce, and sprinkle some chopped green onions on it.
Zhao Xiaoxing steamed the rice in advance, mashed the boiled potatoes and eggs, and added some green peppers, cilantro, and peanuts. She spread the rice with egg sauce, wrapped it with green vegetables, and ate it.
There is a kind of rice wrap vegetable in Donghe Village. The green leaves are as big as a small arm, slightly narrower than Chinese cabbage leaves, and not easy to break. The villagers use this to make big rice wraps.
Some families still have perilla leaves at their doorsteps and like to put them in their lunch boxes, while others, for those with a stronger taste, add green onions and garlic.
Qingmei held the big lunch bag and ate it in small bites. She slept too late last night and felt weak.
Gu Qingzhou saw her lower her head to bite her lunch bag, and accidentally revealed a mark on the back of her neck under her collar where he had kissed her many times. When she raised her head, it was hidden under her collar again.
His Adam's apple moved, and he lowered his head to concentrate on eating. Later, he would have the little girl tie a single braid to block it.
The breakfast at Qingzhuanyuan is simple, but the breakfast at Huang Wenbi's home is much richer.
Chen Qiaoxiang was called the Huang family's meritorious servant by Aunt Huang, who had everything provided for her.
In the morning, Chen Qiaoxiang was standing in the yard waiting for dinner when she saw something outside the low gate.
"Who sent these? Brown sugar, walnuts, osmanthus rice cakes, calcium milk biscuits... and commercial grain coupons?"
Chen Qiaoxiang excitedly picked up the cloth bag when she suddenly heard a noise on the ground. She turned around and saw two little hens flapping their wings nearby. "Ah! I was so scared! How could there be chickens?"
Chen Qiaoxiang shouted into the house, "Huang Wenbi, your second uncle has sent me something again."
Huang Wenbi and Aunt Huang looked at each other, wondering how this could be possible.
Seeing Chen Qiaoxiang struggling to carry things in, including two chickens, the two were terrified.
Aunt Huang didn't dare let Chen Qiaoxiang eat these, fearing that someone might do something bad. It was hard to say that there was no such person as Uncle Huang, so she had to coax Chen Qiaoxiang into giving birth to the child.
Who knew that Chen Qiaoxiang insisted that it was given to her by her second uncle, and it would be bad for her if she didn't eat it.
Huang Wenbi squatted down and checked everything over and over again, then said to his mother, "Let's stew it. She's really greedy."
Early in the morning, the rich, delicious smell of chicken soup wafted from the Huang family's home. The neighbor next door had come to smell it many times, pretending to go to the toilet.
Chen Qiaoxiang saw it all clearly in the yard, holding her stomach with a smug look on her face.
Who could have known that she would survive from such a desperate situation?
People say that a mother is honored by her sons, and it is true.
*** ***
Bao Mi drove over to pick up Gu Qingzhou to take him back to the army, and was very happy to see Qingmei also get in the car.
Zhao Wuhe, Zhao Xiaoxing and Xiaoyan are in charge of household affairs, so Qingmei doesn't need to worry too much.
She brought a few changes of clothes, two pairs of shoes, and some personal belongings. Gu Qingzhou told her that the army had everything and she didn't need to bring any messy things.
Qingmei thought about it and agreed. She thought that she could only live there for a month or two at most, so there was no need to move around.
"The application was for temporary accommodation, and many family members visiting relatives also stayed there."
Gu Qingzhou sat in the back with Qingmei and whispered, "It's a tube-shaped building. Can you get used to it? If not, we can just stay in the guesthouse."
This was mainly approved by Commander Wang. Knowing that Gu Qingzhou was injured and his newlywed wife needed to take care of him, he specially gave him a large room on the third floor with a rare balcony of more than ten square meters.
The furniture inside was also replaced with new furniture that had not been used much, especially the bed...
Gu Qingzhou wanted Qingmei to come and see where he worked and grew up, and he also wanted to spend more time alone with Qingmei. Taking care of the injured little finger was secondary.
Qingmei said, "I've lived in dilapidated houses before, so this tube-shaped building is fine. I only lived there for a short while."
Bao Mi said regretfully in the front: "Yes, if we can live here for a long time, we can get a three-bedroom apartment according to the rank of the chief. We can't find five apartments in the family area."
Gu Qingzhou said nonchalantly, "There's still a long way to go."
Qingmei pursed her lips and smiled.
She was thinking about what she would buy when she got there, and she also had to get to know the family quarters well. She had heard that the military was heavily guarded, and there were many places she couldn't go wrong.
It would be better to let Gu Qingzhou get some meal tickets. If it is difficult to cook in the tube building, she doesn't want to cook in the corridor with others in the smoke and fire.
She had been to the kitchen and it was so clean that she could eat without worry.
Bao Mi drove very steadily. There was thick fog on the road in the middle, so he drove slowly.
When he arrived at the army unit, there was no need to say hello. The person at the guard post recognized Bao Mi in the driver's seat and directly lifted the barrier to let him in.
It feels very smooth, which is very different from the last time when Qingmei drove a tractor to deliver potatoes, and had to get on and off the vehicle to register and check, and then drove for a long time.
The temporary dormitory was outside the family quarters, and across a wall was the market where the people went to the market. There was a small door that could be passed through, and two soldiers stood guard on either side of the door.
The temporary dormitory is a six-story red brick tube-shaped building. There are two more similar tube-shaped buildings allocated for long-term military dependents.
There are bungalows and low buildings in front of the tube building.
Commander Wang and his family lived in a low-rise building with a separate kitchen, toilet, balcony, living room, and a yard on the first floor. Unlike the tube-shaped building, which only had one room, they had to partition it themselves.
Housing in the family quarters was allocated according to years of service and rank. Most of the people living in the tube-shaped buildings were junior officers.
The bungalows were separated from the tube-shaped buildings and low-rise buildings, forming another small area where non-military staff from various military departments lived.
Qingmei stood in the corridor holding the small cloth bag, still a little dumbfounded.
There are about ten households living in one corridor, and the poles extending outside the windows are densely packed with clothes hanging out to dry.
It was just after get off work, and there were many people cooking on their own, speaking in various dialects, which made it quite lively.
Gu Qingzhou whispered in Qingmei's ear: "We won't be able to stay at the guesthouse for two months."
Qingmei swallowed and said, "If other military wives can do it, so can I."
As she spoke, her sister-in-law, who was carrying two thermoses of hot water from the water room, said in a loud voice, "Please make way. Please pass. The one who cooks, please move your butt back inside."
Gu Qingzhou blocked Qingmei: "Be careful."
Qingmei licked her lips and said, "I will be careful in the future and not say too much."
At the end of the corridor was the room allocated to them. When they opened the door, Qingmei had not yet gone in when a short and thin sister-in-law who lived next door peeked inside.
"Wow, your house is nice, with a big balcony. Ours doesn't have a balcony, and the windows are blocked by the trees out front, so it's pitch black inside. Who assigned it to you?"
Qingmei said cunningly: "Just take the key and that's it, who knows."
Gu Qingzhou smiled and went in first with his things.
Qingmei followed him in and closed the door behind him.
My sister-in-law didn't see anything at the door, so she curled her lips and said, "It's still closed in the middle of the day."
Gu Qingzhou was just about to go downstairs to get something when he opened the door and heard this and asked, "Is it illegal for a couple to stay home with the door closed?"
Seeing that he was not wearing a military uniform and looked young, his sister-in-law guessed that he was not of high rank. She forced a smile and said, "Of course it's not illegal. You two can do whatever you want."
Gu Qingzhou frowned. Qingmei pushed him gently and said, "Go down and bring up the bag of clothes. Then we'll go buy some things."
Gu Qingzhou said: "Okay."
Qingmei waited for him to go down, turned around and went in to find a rag, went to the bathroom to get some water and wipe the furniture.
There are five or six families cooking with small stoves in the corridor, and my sister-in-law next door is one of them.
There was a bottle of rapeseed oil in a soda bottle at my feet. I carefully dripped a few drops into the pot and without waiting for the pot to heat up, poured the cabbage in the pot into it and started stir-frying.
As soon as Qingmei entered the room, Gu Qingzhou came up to put her things away. He took the rag from her hand and rushed to wipe the only wardrobe, bed, table and chairs in the room.
Qingmei stood in the room thinking about hanging a curtain beside the bed so that she could see the bed as soon as she opened the door. It would be so unsightly if Gu Qingzhou went out for morning exercises and she was still sleeping in bed.
In addition, you need to buy a mirror and a foot basin, as well as two thermoses and a bucket.
She has to take a shower every day, otherwise she will feel uncomfortable. The shower room is right next to the toilet, but she doesn't want to go there.
Alas, she had only been here for half an hour and she began to miss her own blue brick courtyard.
But the only good thing is that there is electricity here, so you can light a lamp and listen to the radio, and read a book if you can't sleep at night.
The radio at home was left to grandma, and Qingmei also had a radio ticket, which was a gift from a military officer.
I'll ask Gu Qingzhou to redeem the radio ticket later so that she won't be bored here because she doesn't know anyone.
But there was no light bulb in the room, only a lamp holder hanging on the ceiling, so I had to buy a light bulb.
Gu Qingzhou took her to the cafeteria for dinner first, and then went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy what they needed.
The two of them each took a lot. Qingmei hesitated for a long time and finally bought a small stove, which would be more convenient for heating things later.
The people from the supply and marketing cooperative helped carry the small stove and also brought over coal briquettes.
They went up to the third floor and met a young woman. She must have been a family member who had just come to visit, and she was holding a lunch box and wanted to wash the dishes.
Seeing Qingmei coming, the other party nodded, smiled politely and said, "Comrade, let me help you get it. You're about to drop it here."
Qingmei looked back and saw that the canvas stuck under her armpits was about to fall off. She quickly let go of her hand and said, "Thank you. I live in 301. My name is Qingmei. What's yours?"
"My name is Xiaojuan, and I live in 303." When she smiled, she had two dimples on her face, and her eyes were small but bright. Her braids were neatly done, and she was dressed simply.
Xiaojuan helped Qingmei carry the canvas into the house. Unfortunately, the sister-in-law who lived between them, 302, opened the door. The sister-in-law who had just seen Qingmei carrying large and small bags of things into the house saw Qingmei.
She stood at the door and said to Qingmei, "You are a young wife who doesn't know how to manage life. How much money must you spend on all these things? Is it easy for a man to earn money? It's all hard-earned money. You can't spend it like this."
Qingmei found it funny that this person was being too nosy. So she deliberately asked her, "So when do you think it's appropriate to spend money? I want to learn from you."
Xiaojuan stood by and frowned.
Mrs. Liang had said the same thing to her before, also when her husband was around. She said a lot of words about young daughters-in-law who don't know how to live and spend money recklessly, which led to a quarrel between her and her husband that night.
She didn't want Qingmei to be like her, coming over happily only to quarrel as soon as they met.
But Qingmei didn't look at her expression and started talking first, leaving her unable to say anything else.
Xiaojuan turned her head to look at the handsome gay man who was putting things in the room, hoping that he couldn't hear what they were saying.
Mrs. Liang raised her voice and said, "First of all, we should spend on our husbands. He should be dressed in comfortable fabrics from head to toe. It doesn't matter if we save a little. They need to save face when they go out to do things. As women, we just need to take care of our inner selves."
Qingmei listened carefully, then said with a smile, "That's different from my family. Back home, I'm dressed in all the nice things. Plus, they have military uniforms all year round, so there's no need to make extra clothes. It's a waste of money, and I wouldn't even spend a penny on it."
"Even if you don't care about what I wear, you should care about what I eat and drink."
Mrs. Liang felt more and more that Qingmei didn't know how to live. She glanced into room 301, but saw no one coming out. She raised her voice and said:
"It's not easy for them to be soldiers. They're often on missions, so they can't eat well. At home, they eat more eggs and meat. When they're not at home, we can just make do with a bite and don't waste our meal tickets in the canteen. Look at me, I've been eating bok choy for five days. If I eat something good, I'll feel guilty."
After Mrs. Liang said this, the wives in the corridor stopped and looked over.
Whose husband is on a business trip? Is it a crime not to eat bok choy?
I don't know who Liang's wife is targeting with these words. Is she trying to get praise from men by dragging women down? This is simply the public enemy of women.
Qingmei seemed unaware of Mrs. Liang's knocking, and said with a smile, "You really know how to manage life. My family has good food and drink, and it all depends on me. My husband doesn't want me to suffer. You should have said that earlier. I want to learn how to eat some bok choy from you. Oh, I'm really worried that my throat will sore and I won't be able to swallow it."
She walked over to Mrs. Liang's stove and saw that there was no smell of oil in the small cabbage. She said, "Tsk tsk!"
"Look, he just gave me a month's worth of meal tickets. There are more meat dishes than vegetables. He also asked me to get a copy of the menu for the guesthouse restaurant. If the cafeteria doesn't suit my taste, I can eat there myself when he's not home."
Mrs. Liang noticed something was wrong. Why was the young wife showing off her good life?
There were many people washing and drying clothes in the corridor, and they all heard her conversation with Qingmei. Everyone was laughing as Qingmei spoke.
This young wife seems to be quite capable.
Mrs. Liang looked Qingmei up and down. She saw that she was pretty and dressed fashionably, and she thought she had probably just gotten married. She thought that at this moment, men were still fresh in their hearts, but that might not be the case in two or three years.
She then said, "As military wives, we should prioritize them. Taking good care of them is a contribution to our country and our family."
Gu Qingzhou put down his things and came out, standing at the door and looking at Qingmei with a raised eyebrow. He had a teasing look on his face, but Mrs. Liang thought he was questioning Qingmei.
She said cheerfully, "I wouldn't spend a cent of the money my husband earned with his blood and sweat. How could I buy such frivolous things? If I need anything, I can just borrow it from someone. You put on makeup all day long and dress up extravagantly. Who are you trying to impress when your husband is not at home?"
Xiaojuan couldn't help but say, "Sister Liang, are you really making indirect accusations when you say that?"
Other young wives came over and defended Qingmei, but also themselves, saying, "If we don't wipe things when we're young, where will we wipe them when we're old?"
Mrs. Liang pretended to be pitiful and said in a virtuous tone, "So you don't know how to live, I'll teach you. As an older person, what I say to you is also for your own good."
Qingmei couldn't help it and laughed for a long time while holding her stomach.
Weird, so weird.
It turns out that there are people who bind their own cerebellums and even want to help other women bind their cerebellums.
If I have to say, it is that the five elements are missing bound feet.
"Sister Liang," Qingmei walked over, took her old, dry hand, and said, "I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you're having a really bad life. We women should be kinder to ourselves. Look at her face, it's shriveled like an orange that's been left out for three months, it's all shrunken, she's in her forties but looks like she's sixty."
Mrs. Liang wanted to pull her hand back, but was twitched. She struggled and said, "I'm only thirty this year, how come I'm over forty?"
"Look, this is what happens when you treat yourself badly."
Qingmei looked at Mrs. Liang with pitiful eyes and said, "Any woman here would outshine you if they stood next to you. Others are like red flowers with green leaves, but you are not even as good as the green leaves. You are just a blade of grass, understand? Grass!"
Gu Qingzhou pursed his lips and held back his laughter.
The other military wives had been complaining about Mrs. Liang for a long time, and they burst into laughter when they heard this, saying that she was being scolded well.
Sister Liang's face was red and white. She pointed at Qingmei and said to Gu Qingzhou, "Did she just curse? Did you hear it? Is this how you manage your wife?"
Gu Qingzhou smiled and said, "You may not know, but my wife is the head of our family."
Mrs. Liang was shocked: "How could you spoil her so much?"
Qingmei said to Liang's wife in surprise: "Oh my God, don't tell me that your family is run by men. Hey, how can you let men run the family?"
Then she asked Xiaojuan, "Who's the head of your family?"
Xiaojuan said cleverly, "Me."
Qingmei looked back and saw the women who had been bullied by Mrs. Liang and didn't know how to live a normal life, all saying, "Of course I'm the boss."
"Yeah, it's men who are supposed to be in charge of the household. Women hold up half the sky, but if you can't even be in charge of the household, how can you be a military wife?"
"That's right. I have the final say on what our family eats and drinks, and my wife doesn't say a word."
"I don't want to be the head of the family, but you're begging me to be the head of the family."
Qingmei turned around and looked at Mrs. Liang with a smile. The other party stood there in a daze, as if she didn't understand why this happened. Is this still the world she knows?
Is she the only one who is crazy, or are they all crazy?
Qingmei walked over, took Mrs. Liang's hand and said sympathetically, "Even if you can't be the head of the family, you shouldn't eat bok choy all day. I'm ashamed to go out and say you're a military wife with a pale face and skinny body. I know you can't make the decisions in your family, tsk tsk. With so many of us, who wouldn't pick up a few bites of food for you? Don't you agree, Cao'er?"
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