Chapter 10 Traces Little by little, traces of her presence appeared in the house...
Seeing that He Chengze didn't move, Jiang Xueyi pouted: "Try it quickly, it might be delicious."
He Chengze sighed softly in his heart, picked up the plum ribs with chopsticks and put them into his mouth.
As soon as he took a sip, he was stunned.
The ribs are stewed to perfection, with the meat shreds separated from the bones. With a gentle sip, the meat slides off the bones. The sweet and sour sauce is not offensive at all, but rather neutralizes the greasiness of the meat very well. It also has a fragrance of plums, which becomes more delicious the more you chew it.
He couldn't help but pick up another piece, another piece...
Jiang Xueyi said angrily, "Leave some for me."
He Chengze drank half a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup and sighed: "I take back what I said just now. I didn't expect that stewing plums with pork ribs would taste so different."
Jiang Xueyi was very proud, and raised her chin slightly, like a proud kitten: "Of course." She added, "Try this meatball, it tastes very good too."
She slapped her head: "I almost forgot about this."
He ran into the kitchen and soon brought out a small plate.
He Chengze raised his eyebrows: "What is this."
"Pickled garlic," Jiang Xueyi said, "I thought it would be a bit greasy to just eat fried meatballs, so I bought some pickled garlic from a fellow villager who was selling spicy soup at the market. This pickled garlic is sweet, crispy, and delicious. It can also be eaten with porridge or rice."
He Chengze picked up a piece and tasted it. Just as she said, the pickled garlic was very refreshing.
Just like that, a bite of pork ribs, a bite of meatballs, and then a bite of seaweed egg drop soup.
Before I knew it, I was 90% full and the food was stuck in my throat.
He Chengze burped. He hadn't eaten so much in a long time.
This person tends to get distracted once he's full.
He couldn't help but wonder what he was doing at this time before Jiang Xueyi came.
Oh, I was also eating, but it was in the army cafeteria, eating with a bunch of soldiers, playing and joking, it was lively, but I always felt like something was missing.
He glanced at the dishes and bowls on the table. Yes, there was less smell of fireworks.
After resting for a while, He Chengze naturally got up to clean up the dishes.
Jiang Xueyi rolled her eyes smartly and asked tentatively, "Let me wash with you."
He Chengze frowned and said, "No need." He added, "You're pregnant, cooking a dish is good enough. Washing dishes is so inconvenient."
As he said that, he took the cleaned dishes to the kitchen.
Jiang Xueyi looked at his back and curled the corners of her mouth.
Men, as long as they want to help you, they will find reasons for themselves.
He Chengze came out after washing the dishes and saw Jiang Xueyi touching her belly and smiling at him.
He said uncomfortably, "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm smiling because I'm happy." Jiang Xueyi said.
"Happy?" He Chengze asked, "Did you find any money when you went out today?"
"I can only be happy when I pick up money." Jiang Xueyi glanced at him, and she made an indecent gesture very coquettishly. "I'm happy because I found a good man with a lively eye."
He Chengze's ears turned red and he touched his nose uncomfortably: "What are you talking about?"
Jiang Xueyi blinked her eyes: "Seriously, how many men are willing to help their wives with housework these days?"
The prevailing system in this era is that men work outside and women work inside. Women are not only responsible for washing dishes and cooking, but also taking care of children and doing various housework, while men only need to work, like the Zhao family next door.
"That's because you're pregnant now." He Chengze raised his eyebrows, "Wait until you give birth, and see if I'll still help you."
Jiang Xueyi took his arm and acted coquettishly: "I found out, you have a sharp tongue but a soft heart."
"Hmm." He Chengze did not comment.
Jiang Xueyi smiled cunningly and coquettishly, and said, "I also discovered something."
"Tell me about it."
Jiang Xueyi: "Your ears turn red when I praise you."
She discovered that whenever she praised He Chengze, his ears would turn red, but because he had wheat-colored skin, it was not very obvious. If she hadn't had sharp eyes, she wouldn't have been able to see it.
As she spoke, she moved closer to He Chengze and touched his ear.
I found it even redder.
Jiang Xueyi smiled sweetly and asked, "Is that true?"
"No, you're overthinking it. My ears are red because I'm hot." He Chengze unbuttoned his collar and fanned himself with his hands. "Why is it so hot? I'm going to the balcony to cool down."
Looking at the man's fleeing back, Jiang Xueyi laughed so hard that her body shook.
She probably also understood why He Chengze was so shy about receiving compliments.
In this day and age, it is not popular to give direct compliments like hers. Everyone is humble and reserved, even among relatives.
I remember the original text described that He Chengze's father He Jinzhong was also a soldier with a serious personality and a stern expression. He had been managing He Chengze in a militarized manner since he was a child.
If he does not do well, he will be punished. If he does well, he will not be praised, but asked to keep working hard. There is no best, only better.
Later, when he joined the army, even though He Chengze performed well and made many outstanding achievements, his superiors' commendations to him were very formal and carried a sense of collective honor.
With such a family environment and work experience, it is inevitable that He Chengze feels uncomfortable with other people's compliments.
It’s customary to take a shower and lie down on the bed.
After sleeping in the same bed for a few days, He Chengze no longer had the reserved attitude he had before.
He stroked Jiang Xueyi's belly with his hand and pulled down her clothes again: "It's easy to catch a cold if you expose your belly."
It is said that pregnant women's bodies are the most sensitive. Jiang Xueyi was just getting aroused by his touch when she heard these words that dampened her spirits.
The corners of her mouth twitched: "It's so hot, you won't catch a cold even if you catch fire."
"Pooh, pooh, what are you talking about?" He Chengze said.
Jiang Xueyi leaned closer to his arms. Their bodies were similar, so why was his so much colder? She muttered, "It's really hot."
He Chengze's body stiffened, and he picked up a palm-leaf fan to fan her: "After a while, I'll find someone to exchange a ticket for an electric fan."
Jiang Xueyi's eyes lit up: "I want the kind that shakes its head, so that the whole room can be blown with wind."
"Okay." He Chengze agreed.
Jiang Xueyi yawned: "It's still so hot."
It was so hot that she couldn't sleep.
Pregnant women are more afraid of heat than ordinary people. He Chengze increased the intensity of the fanning and talked about something that interested her to divert her attention: "Deputy Captain Qi has been promoted to a regular employee and invited us to his house for dinner."
"That's a good thing." Jiang Xueyi muttered, "When are we going?"
"tomorrow."
A cool breeze blew, Jiang Xueyi closed her eyes and gradually fell asleep.
He Chengze carefully put the palm-leaf fan away and tucked the quilt for her.
There was a pause. Since when did they start to act like a real newlywed couple, lying in the same bed, covered with the same quilt, and talking about insignificant trivial things?
He Chengze woke up in the morning and wanted to turn over but failed. He looked down and saw a well-proportioned white leg hanging around his waist.
He tried to get up again, but the leg hung even tighter.
I could only pat her forearm gently: "Wake up, it's time to get up."
Jiang Xueyi drowsily pulled the quilt over and turned over: "You get up first, I'll take a nap for a while."
He Chengze wanted to pinch her nose and call her a lazy pig.
But I also feel that the two of them are not that close.
He placed his hand above her nose for a moment, then finally withdrew it.
He got up quietly, opened the cabinet, and planned to change into his military uniform, but saw a box of soap in the corner.
Looking at the packaging, it is Lighthouse brand soap with a unique fragrance.
He put the soap back, went to the bathroom to wash up, and then went to the kitchen to cook porridge.
When the aroma of porridge filled the air, Jiang Xueyi also got up.
She slipped on her slippers and took out a can of pickled garlic from the chest of drawers. She picked out a few cloves with chopsticks and put them on a plate.
Blanch the spinach, mix with a little lard, and sprinkle with white sesame seeds to make a delicious side dish.
Boil two more eggs and breakfast is ready.
He Chengze drank a bowl of porridge with pickled garlic and said, "I just saw a box of soap in the closet."
"Oh, I put it there. Didn't you ask me to buy some soap? I bought it and it smelled really good. I put it in the closet unopened. The closet at home must be old and has a bit of a rotten wood smell. The scent of the soap can just suppress that smell, and the clothes can also get some fragrance."
Thinking about it, He Chengze, a grown man, probably doesn't like the smell on his clothes.
Jiang Xueyi quickly said: "If you don't like it, I'll take it later..."
"It's okay." He Chengze interrupted her, "Just leave it there."
He glanced at the balcony, where a row of red clay flower pots gleamed in the sunlight.
Little by little, there were more traces of her presence in the house.
Jiang Xueyi: "By the way, the day after tomorrow we're going to visit Deputy Qi... should we call him Captain Qi now? We're visiting his house. Do you want to buy some things to bring over?"
"No need, Lao Qi is not that kind of person."
The corners of Jiang Xueyi's mouth twitched.
What do you mean he is not that kind of person? I can't come to visit someone empty-handed.
Besides, there are more than just Captain Qi’s family.
Even if He Chengze has a good relationship with him, Captain Qi's wife and children would probably have an opinion if he came empty-handed.
Too much oil will never spoil the dish, and too much courtesy will never be a complaint.
He Chengze also thought of this. He put his hand to his mouth and coughed awkwardly: "I'm mistaken. So, what do you want to bring?"
Jiang Xueyi looked at him with amusement. After all, he was a man and was not particular about trivial matters. He was still a step behind in the interpersonal relationships among family members.
"Just leave it to me."
He Chengze nodded and went to the military camp.
As soon as he left, Jiang Xueyi got busy.
She planned to make a mung bean cake, the recipe of which she had learned online before.
Add water to mung beans and boil them. When a crack appears in the middle of the beans, they are cooked.
Then drain the water and peel off the mung bean skin to reveal the tender yellow mung beans inside.
You could have soaked the mung beans in water in advance to remove the skins, but time was tight, so boiling them in water would be the same.
Then put it in a steamer and steam it for half an hour. Use a spoon to mash the steamed mung beans into a paste, add white sugar and some sesame oil, and stir-fry in a pot.
The formed mung bean cake is like a piece of yellow dough. Use a spatula to flatten it. After it cools down, use a kitchen knife to cut it into small rectangular pieces.
The refreshing and delicious mung bean cake is ready.
The steps looked simple. When Jiang Xueyi finished her work, He Chengze also returned from the military camp.
Jiang Xueyi glanced at him and asked, "Shall we go now?"
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