Chapter 69: Don’t always stare at other people’s bright spots and say sour words when treating them, but forget…
"Hao Fang?!" Zhao Laosi went out to fetch water. Seeing Hao Fang, his eyes were filled with shock. "Why are you back?"
Hao Fang wiped away her tears and said calmly, "Why can't I come back? I came here just to see if you are dead or not."
Zhao Laosi raised his hands in anger, and his second uncle quickly said, "Hey, hey, what are you doing? Are you bullying Fangzi's family because they have no one there?"
Second Uncle puffed out his chest and said with a bluff, "Let me tell you, our Fangzi is different now. She's a worker at a textile factory in Shanghai, a team leader, and she manages four or five people."
Zhao Laosi was stunned and looked Hao Fang up and down. Only then did he realize that her hair had been cut short and she was wearing a blue work suit. She looked much more energetic than before.
He withdrew his hand awkwardly, mumbling something.
While Zhao Laosi was looking at Hao Fang, Hao Fang was also looking at him.
He was darker and thinner than before, with a hunched back, and looked ten years older than his actual age. A person like him would not attract any attention if he were seen on the street.
How could she have been so afraid of him before, feeling that he was like an insurmountable mountain.
Now it looks like it is not a mountain, but an inconspicuous pebble on the ground.
Hao Fang took a deep breath, turned around and said to Jiang Xueyi, "Let's go."
Zhao Laosi wanted to call out to Hao Fang, but after taking a few steps, he fell to the ground. Then he heard his wife's scolding from inside the house: "Zhao Laosi, I asked you to do some work, where have you been?"
Hao Fang took one last look at the house and left without looking back.
She treated Jiang Xueyi to a meal and said with a smile, "I'm leaving. I probably won't come back easily in the future."
"Yeah." Jiang Xueyi smiled, "You and Shugen and the others must take good care of themselves in Shanghai, and write to me often."
Hao Fang nodded heavily and said goodbye to Jiang Xueyi.
Jiang Xueyi looked at her back and curled the corners of her mouth.
She rode her bicycle back home, and He Chengze asked, "Hao Fang is back?"
"Yes, I accompanied her to see Zhao Laosi." Jiang Xueyi said.
He Chengze raised his eyebrows: "Could it be that she is still obsessed with Zhao Laosi? This won't do. You have to persuade her."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "She went back to see if Zhao Laosi was dead or not." After a pause, she continued, "She told me that when she and Shugen were in Shanghai, she often had nightmares at night. She dreamed that Zhao Laosi..."
She raised the corners of her mouth. "But I think she's let it go now." She added, "That's good. I hope the three of them can start a new life in Shanghai and forget everything that happened in Shuibei Commune."
He Chengze still felt a little sorry: "It was Zhao Laosi who beat people, and it was Zhao Laosi who did the wrong thing. But it was Hao Fang and the others who had to leave their hometown."
Jiang Xueyi sighed slowly and did not respond.
He Chengze looked at her expression and hesitated to speak.
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Just say whatever you want to say."
She thought He Chengze was going to talk about Hao Fang, but unexpectedly He Chengze brought up another topic: "Well, for the Sunday dinner, how about inviting Captain Kong's family?" He touched his nose and said a little guiltily, "After all, they live next door to us. Our house will be bustling then. It would be embarrassing not to invite them."
Jiang Xueyi said without hesitation, "Of course I have to invite him. Captain Kong works under you. Like you said, he's our next-door neighbor, so how can I not invite him?"
He Chengze blinked: "I thought you didn't want to see Xue Jun. Given her personality, she would definitely cause trouble on the day of the dinner. I'm afraid you would be unhappy then."
Jiang Xueyi raised the corners of her mouth and smiled nonchalantly: "Let her pick it, I'm not afraid of her. I'll fight back if the enemy comes, and I'll block the water if the earth comes." She added, "If she's impolite, that's her business. We have to be polite."
She glanced at the little bun and whispered, "You can't set a bad example for your children."
He Chengze's eyes lit up: "You and I are thinking the same thing."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Instead of worrying about this, why not think about what to treat everyone to? It's so hot out here, we can't just treat everyone to hot pot like we did at Captain Kong's house."
He Chengze was amused, and he obviously remembered the interesting story of the housewarming party hosted by Captain Kong's family: "How about we make cold noodles as the main course, and some refreshing and delicious stir-fried dishes."
Jiang Xueyi clapped her hands: "This is great. It's so hot, and I guess no one wants to eat those hot stir-fried dishes."
Moreover, with a refrigerator, making cold noodles is extremely convenient.
The couple discussed it again and finalized the menu.
On Sunday, Captain Zhao and his family were the first to arrive, after all, they lived next door.
Liu Lu asked Zhao Xiaorui to take Xiao Yueya to play with Xiao Baozi, and she went to the kitchen to help Jiang Xueyi.
When Jiang Xueyi saw her coming, she first served her a bowl of iced mung bean soup.
Liu Lu took a sip and felt the heat dissipate, feeling cool from head to toe. "This mung bean soup is really cool."
"It was frozen in the refrigerator." Jiang Xueyi said with a smile.
"No wonder." Liu Lu walked over to the refrigerator, touched it, and said enviously, "This is the refrigerator that Political Commissar Zhang won as a prize, right?"
Jiang Xueyi was about to answer when she heard a knock on the door.
I went to open the door and found out that it was Captain Qi and Captain Zhu and the others.
Qian Man and Fang Qin both went into the kitchen to help. As soon as they came in, they saw the refrigerator.
The dark green shell with a metallic luster is really eye-catching.
Jiang Xueyi arranged for them to drink mung bean soup. Qian Man glanced outside the house and saw that the man and children had already started drinking, so she picked up the spoon.
He drank the whole bowl of mung bean soup and praised it, "This frozen one is different from the one poured with cold water. It tastes great."
Fang Qin opened the refrigerator door and said, "It's so cool with the breeze." She turned and asked Jiang Xueyi, "Is this refrigerator very useful?"
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "It's very useful. You can use it to freeze watermelons, make popsicles, and keep food fresh."
When they heard that it could keep food fresh, the eyes of several military wives lit up.
The weather is hot now and the food can't be kept at all.
There was a family living in the Minister's Building whose food went bad in the summer, but they were reluctant to waste it and continued to eat it. As a result, the whole family had to run to the hospital to get an IV drip late at night. Everyone in the entire military compound and dormitory knew about it.
So no matter how much you feel sorry for the food, you have to throw it away if it goes bad. It's really hard to do that.
Several military wives surrounded Jiang Xueyi and started asking questions at once. Outside the house, the men and children were also chatting animatedly.
As the little host, the little bun was very host-like. He took out a bunch of popsicles from the refrigerator and invited his brothers and sisters to eat them.
She said in a baby voice, "This one tastes like mung beans, this one tastes like sugar water, and that one tastes like milk. Don't eat too much, you still have to eat later."
Zhu Changchang picked up a milk-flavored popsicle and licked it. The milk flavor was much stronger than the popsicles sold in the supply and marketing cooperative.
He couldn't help but teasing the little bun: "Why are there only three milk flavored ones? Did you hide them secretly?"
The little bun puffed out his round belly and said, "I didn't hide it. The milk used to make the popsicles was the milk that Dad ordered for me. I haven't had milk in two days, so I can have popsicles made with milk." He held up three short fingers, "Three is already pretty good."
These childish words amused all the adults.
Captain Zhao also teased him: "Your father is reluctant to order milk for you, so come to your uncle and he will order it for you. Then you can drink as much milk as you want and eat as many milk-flavored popsicles as you want."
The little bun shook his head seriously: "Don't eat too much, it will give you diarrhea."
It made everyone laugh again.
Captain Qi looked around and asked He Chengze, "Old He, where is Captain Kong and his wife? Why didn't they come?" He lowered his voice and said, "Didn't you invite him?"
Captain Zhao responded, "If it were me, I wouldn't want to invite him either. His wife is so difficult to get along with."
He Chengze was happy and said, "I invited them, but I don't know why they haven't come yet. Maybe they were delayed by something."
Captain Zhu shook his head in disapproval: "No matter how busy you are, you can't delay for so long. Dinner will be served soon."
At the Kong family, Xue Jun sat down on a stool and said with a cold face, "They invited you, not me. If you want to go, go by yourself. I won't go."
Captain Kong coaxed, "Why treat me and you? We're family, so of course it's us who should be treated." He added, "Listen, from next door, everyone must be arriving soon. We live next door, and it would be embarrassing if we were late."
Xue Jun had a cold face and stopped talking.
Captain Kong put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Tell me, why don't you want to go?"
Xue Jun pursed his lips and said, "Isn't it just that I discovered a spy while buying vegetables? What's the big deal? It's just that I didn't go to buy vegetables, otherwise, I would have been the one who discovered it."
Captain Kong coaxed, "Yes, yes, yes." He then said, "What's so great about it?"
Seeing Captain Kong leaning towards her, Xue Jun felt a little relieved and said, "Actually, there's another reason why I don't want to go."
Captain Kong: "You say."
Xue Jun curled his lips and muttered something under his breath.
Captain Kong didn't hear clearly: "What did you say? Say it again."
Xue Jun bit his lower lip and raised his voice, "I said, last time our family treated us to a meal, I said I would definitely be able to pass the exam to join the Women's Federation. Now that I didn't pass, they must be laughing at me to death."
She gritted her teeth and said, "Especially that Jiang Xueyi, isn't she very proud?" She added, "What's so great about that?"
Captain Kong coaxed, "You didn't get into the Women's Federation because the leaders of that unit are ignorant and can't recognize a gem like you. It's not a good unit, so just don't go."
"When the time comes, just say it's you who doesn't want to go to the Women's Federation and probably didn't pass the exam, not that you didn't pass, isn't that all? However, we still have to go to the He family's dinner. After all, Deputy Brigade Commander He is my immediate superior. It would be embarrassing if I didn't go." Captain Kong suddenly had an idea and said, "Don't you want to see what his home is like? Every time I go downstairs, I can see diapers hanging on his balcony. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, I don't know how dirty and messy the house is. A family with children is bound to be messy. Sister Jiang is still trying to laugh at you, but you're lucky you don't laugh at her."
Xue Jun's eyes lit up: "You're right!"
Here, Captain Qi glanced at the wall clock. It was almost twelve o'clock. He couldn't help but say, "Where are Lao Kong and his wife? Why haven't they come yet?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.
Captain Qi's eyes lit up and he ran to open the door.
Captain Kong and Xue Jun entered the room one after another. Xue Jun had a cold expression, and Captain Kong had a strange look on his face, which seemed awkward.
Captain Qi raised his eyebrows and said, "Lao Kong, your family lives next door. Why are you here so late? It's not right."
Captain Zhao started to jeer, "That's right. For those of us who live nearby, it's not right to be late." He added, "Besides, someone's treating us to a meal, so we should at least walk here as fast as we can, if not run."
Captain Kong chuckled and said, "Well...something delayed me. I'll have a drink as punishment later."
Captain Kong sat down and chatted with Captain Zhao and the others. Suddenly, he felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
I looked around but didn't see any women.
Xue Jun was the only one sitting with them all by herself. She couldn't get a word in when they were talking and could only listen with a cold face. It was quite awkward.
It would be even more inappropriate for her to go over to the child's place.
Captain Kong couldn't help but ask, "By the way, where are Sister Fang, Sister Qian and the others?"
Captain Qi: "They are all helping out in the kitchen." He said with a smile, "We can't be idle either. We will help Lao He set up the tables and chairs later."
While Captain Qi and the others were talking, Captain Kong lowered his voice and said to Xue Jun, "Why don't you go to the kitchen and help out? It's awkward sitting here alone."
Xue Jun said coldly: "No."
She curled her lips and said, "It's a hot day, the kitchen is so hot, and there are so many people, it's so crowded, I can't even turn around, how can I help?"
Besides, she is not a good cook. If other military wives find out, they will definitely laugh at her.
Captain Kong frowned and said, "But everyone went, and you didn't go..." Isn't that a bit out of place?
He didn't really want Xue Jun to help. With Xue Jun's cooking skills, it would be good if he didn't make things worse.
He mainly hoped that Xue Jun could get closer to the military wives and become familiar with them. He had lived here for almost two years, and Xue Jun didn't have any contact with any military wives. Privately, he couldn't imagine how bad the rumors would be.
After trying to persuade Xue Jun a few more times, Captain Kong still couldn't persuade her. He simply gave up trying. He knew Xue Jun's personality. Once she made up her mind, no one could change it even with ten oxen.
Although they lived next door, it was Captain Kong's first time to visit the He family, and he couldn't help but look around.
At first glance, the layout of the He family's house was similar to theirs, also with two bedrooms and a living room, except that one of the rooms was separated to serve as a bathroom and kitchen.
The scene he imagined of the balcony full of diapers never appeared. There were several flower pots on the balcony, planted with bright red tomatoes, tender green vegetables, and bok choy, which was pleasing to the eye.
Looking inside the house, it was clean and spotless.
Even the little bun's toys were placed in a small box and arranged neatly.
The coffee table and stools were polished to a shine, there were a few hand-sewn cushions on the bench, and a knitted tablecloth on the coffee table. Just looking at it gave you a strong sense of warmth.
It was nothing like what he had imagined, with a toy car here and a rag doll there, and the walls and tables all dirty.
Captain Kong looked embarrassed and glanced at Xue Jun. Seeing that she was also looking at the He family, comparing them with her own family one by one, her expression became worse and worse.
He secretly thought that this was not good, fearing that Xue Jun would turn his face away and leave.
Fortunately, dinner was served and everyone sat down around the round table.
There was no separate table system this time, everyone sat at one table and it was lively and cheerful.
Jiang Xueyi, Liu Lu and others brought the dishes out from the kitchen. Captain Zhao took a look and was surprised to find that the staple food was cold noodles.
Yellow buckwheat noodles and a few ice cubes bobbing in the light brown soup. On the side, there are several plates filled with meat slices, green cucumber shreds, red carrot shreds, tomato slices, crisp and delicious kimchi, and eggs cut in half. Just looking at them makes one's appetite whet.
He slapped his thigh and said, "This is good! This is good!"
In such hot weather, I don’t like to eat hot porridge or steaming stir-fried dishes. I prefer to eat something cool like this.
Looking at the other dishes, there are cold cucumber salad, bitter melon scrambled eggs, lemon shredded chicken, pork belly fried with lotus root, and sea white fried with bean sprouts. They are all heat-clearing and summer-heat-relieving dishes suitable for summer eating.
When everyone saw it, their appetite was aroused.
Zhu, the group leader, half-jokingly said, "It's good that we're not having hot pot in the middle of summer."
When these words were spoken, everyone wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.
Xue Jun's face changed and he clutched the hem of his skirt tightly.
Qian Man rolled her eyes and kicked Zhu under the table. Zhu realized that he had said the wrong thing and said with a wry smile, "Well, eating hot pot in the summer has a unique flavor, hahaha."
Qian Man quickly changed the subject: "Eat quickly, or the cold noodles won't be cold anymore."
"Okay." As soon as everyone saw the cold noodles, their appetite was aroused.
Zhu Changchang almost drooled at the sight of the cold noodles, and kept tugging at Qian Man's clothes: "Mom, I want to eat noodles, I want to eat noodles."
Qian Man: "Okay, I'll serve it to you right away."
Do it yourself and you will have enough food and clothing.
First, pour a bowl of cold noodle soup, then add shredded cucumber, shredded carrot, kimchi, egg, meat slices, and tomatoes. You can leave them out if you don’t like them. Then mix the cold noodles well. When you take a bite, the noodles are thin, tough and chewy, and the soup is cool and delicious. It is refreshing and delicious.
Not to mention adults, even children eat it with gusto.
However, their cold noodle soup does not contain ice. I just had a popsicle, and I am afraid I will get diarrhea if I eat too much ice when I go back.
However, the two naughty kids, Qi Xiaohao and Zhu Changchang, secretly took ice cubes from the bowl, wanting to eat something cooler and cooler.
When Fang Qin discovered it, one of them slapped her hand.
Captain Qi put piece after piece of the cold cucumber into his mouth. He didn't know how the cold cucumber was made, but it was cool and delicious, with a hint of sweetness and sourness. Paired with beer, he didn't want to eat any other dishes.
He looked at He Chengze with envy. Even a dish of cold cucumber salad was so delicious. What kind of wonderful life was this kid living at home?
He Chengze was completely unaware and raised his glass: "Come on, let's clink glasses."
Captain Qi nodded: "Okay."
In the living room, the electric fan was creaking, bringing gusts of cool breeze.
Everyone ate the refreshing and delicious food and chatted happily.
Liu Lu said, "Xueyi, tell us how you discovered the spy."
They also read the newspaper, but the newspaper only mentioned it briefly without going into details, which made them anxious and wanted to know the details of what happened.
Qian Man also said: "Yes, tell me quickly."
The men also looked over, their eyes full of curiosity.
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said concisely, "Nothing much. I just wanted to buy some lotus roots to take home that day, and I happened to run into the female vendor selling lotus roots. I mentioned how hot the weather was, and she replied that the temperature was already 98 degrees."
"Ninety-eight degrees?" Captain Zhao was stunned after hearing this.
Jiang Xueyi hummed, "She used the foreign Fahrenheit scale, which is different from our domestic Celsius scale. So I knew something was wrong the moment I heard it. After a few more questions, she was even more irrelevant, and I realized she was a spy."
Fang Qin gave a thumbs-up. "If it were me, when I heard her say 98 degrees, I would just think she made a slip of the tongue and said the wrong thing."
Everyone was praising Jiang Xueyi, and Xue Jun felt increasingly uncomfortable the more he listened. He suddenly spoke up, sourly saying, "There really is a powerful person hidden in our courtyard. He can even catch a spy while buying vegetables. He's much better than us who just hang around the stove."
She looked at Captain Zhao and the others, and said with a smile: "Even you soldiers are not as good as Sister Jiang, a military wife."
Captain Zhao's face changed. How could he say that?
He didn't want to argue with Xue Jun, a woman, so he just glared at Captain Kong.
Captain Kong's heart skipped a beat. He tugged at Xue Jun and said in a low voice, "Speak less."
He regretted it now. He should not have brought Xue Jun with him.
Really, I regret it so much.
Liu Lu was picking up some food for Zhao Xiaorui when she heard this and said, "Xueyi is very careful. If it were us, we might not have noticed it."
"Careful?" Xue Jun curled his lips and took a sip of tea. "I guess it's just luck, right? People are just doing their business selling lotus roots, but she has such sharp eyes, looking at the holes in the lotus roots and the knots. Why don't you tell me why you know so much about these things?"
She leaned closer to Jiang Xueyi, lowering her voice deliberately so that those around her could hear, "That female spy used a foreign algorithm to calculate the temperature? Sister Jiang, how did you know it was wrong the moment you heard it? Could it be... that you've come across this before?"
As soon as Xue Jun finished speaking, the living room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
He Chengze put the bowl heavily on the table, making a crisp sound.
Captain Kong secretly said that this was not good.
Jiang Xueyi was helping the little bun eat some bitter melon and smiled calmly, "Sister Xue, you make it sound like I have ulterior motives. It's just that the little bun had a fever a while ago, so I took him to the hospital. The hospital occasionally uses Fahrenheit when taking temperatures, and I've heard it so often that I took note. Fahrenheit is recorded in many books; it's just common sense."
Xue Jun's face changed. Does this mean that she has no common sense?
Jiang Xueyi curled her lips and said, "Sister Xue, I'm not saying that even though you have a high school diploma, you should focus more on learning. There's a saying that learning is endless. Otherwise, you won't even know common sense and will become a laughing stock."
What annoyed her most was that Xue Jun looked down on others everywhere just because he only had a high school diploma.
Humph, what’s so great about being a high school student? She even graduated from a double first-class university in her previous life.
Liu Lu calmly interjected, "You're right, Sister Xue, you just don't read enough books. Otherwise, how could you fail such a simple exam like the Women's Federation?"
She didn't want to expose other people's weaknesses in the first place, but this Xue Jun was so aggressive and even suspected that Jiang Xueyi was a spy.
In Liu Lu's opinion, this Xue Jun is more like a spy.
He stays at home every day and never goes out. Who knows what he is plotting.
Xue Jun's face flushed red: "Okay, I'm sorry for talking too much."
She stood up, turned around and left. When she reached the door, she said, "Jiang Xueyi, don't be so complacent. Let me tell you something. These days, knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing!"
Jiang Xueyi called out from behind her, "Thank you for reminding me. I also want to remind you: don't always stare at other people's light and say sour words, but forget that you can also make your own way."
Xue Jun paused at the door, then slammed it and left.
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