Chapter 156: Families in Satellite Town (1)
Taotao and Xiao Feibai became family members in the satellite city.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, some family members always bring their children here to spend the New Year with the men.
To express their welcome, the base specially opened the family area - it is said that this area is not open to the public at other times, and is only open to family members during the winter and summer seasons.
This area is also underground, but it is far away from the factory and not as noisy.
There are about a dozen couples' rooms with toilets and floor heating. There are also two rooms specially set aside for children: one is a playroom for younger children, which is furnished with rocking horses, carpets, a few plush balls and other things; the other is a room for older children, which is actually a library, where they can do homework and read books.
Song Zhi said to Tao Tao, "There are only a few rooms in the family quarters, twelve. But there are also many people who have applied to the unit, at least twenty or thirty people. I thought about it and decided not to submit a report..."
Taotao also didn't care.
The main thing is that Song Zhi’s single dormitory has been renovated so that both she and Xiao Feibai feel very comfortable and like it very much. If she applied for a couple's room, she would have to spend more time, energy and money to make the changes... Besides, she had told her seniors that she would stay in the satellite city for about a week and then go back to the research station to check on her greenhouse.
There's no need to go through too much trouble.
So during the day, Taotao took Xiao Feibai to play in the family quarters, and at night they returned to Song Zhi's dormitory to sleep.
There are a total of 27 families, about 40 people, who will be spending the New Year in the satellite city this year. There were three or four elderly people, a dozen children, and the rest were all wives. The older ones were in their forties or fifties, and the youngest was in her early twenties. Some were newly married and had no children yet, and some were pregnant women with big bellies.
The family members from the satellite city have a higher level of education and can talk a lot with Taotao. Moreover, the children they bring up are more polite, and Xiao Feibai also likes to play with these children more.
Of course, most family members come to celebrate the New Year happily, but some do not.
Xu Gong's wife Ding Changxiu came to discuss divorce with him.
There are three reasons: first, she and Mr. Xu have been married for 13 years and have no children; second, because they have no children, the mother-in-law is always nagging, which leads to tension between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; third, she and Mr. Xu have been separated for a long time...
But Xu Gong obviously did not want to divorce.
What he meant was that since his wife and mother didn't get along, they should just leave their hometown and let her stay in the satellite city as a family member.
Ding Changxiu refused again, saying that she could stay in her hometown, where she still had a job as a teacher in a government kindergarten. Why should she come here as a family member? There are no family members staying in the satellite town for a long time.
——The key point is, in this place, there is no village in front and no shop behind, and it is all yellow sand as far as the eye can see! Moreover, 99% of the hundreds of people in the satellite town are men. If you stay here... it's hard to even find a lesbian to chat with.
It's okay to come here for a short period of time to visit relatives, but if you stay here for a long time, you will go crazy!
Who wants to stay here? !
But the closer it gets to the New Year, the busier people in the satellite town become.
Song Zhi was busy all day long. If he wanted to see his wife and children, it was only during meal times. Sometimes he would not come back until one or two in the morning... Sometimes he would just fall asleep when his assistant would come and call him, and he would have to leave immediately; sometimes he didn't even have time to eat, and Taotao had to prepare meals and bring them to him before she could see him at the workshop door with her child.
XCMG is no exception.
He really wanted to mend the rift with his wife, but... he was always tripped up by work. Even though they lived in the same house, it was difficult for them to even see each other!
Ding Changxiu was also angry.
It is said that she came here specifically to divorce him. But after all, they have been married for more than ten years. If there was really no love between them, she wouldn't have to make this special trip.
So it’s true that I want a divorce, and it’s also true that I want to save the relationship.
Even if she stayed here all the time, the man would not have time to pay attention to her. She was angry and often looked sad.
So her family members often advised and comforted her.
On this day, Taotao and her family members sat in the game room, watching the young children play and chatting.
Taotao and several young daughters-in-law were there, Ding Changxiu was there, and three or four old ladies were also there.
These old ladies came with their daughters-in-law and grandchildren. In the past, they came once every year and were very familiar with each other. Taotao and a young daughter-in-law named Fang Ying were new arrivals this year.
Fang Ying's child Liu Mingming is over two years old this year, half a year older than Xiao Feibai.
Mingming has a very domineering personality and Xiao Feibai doesn't want to play with him. But because they were the only two of them who were about the same age, they would always get together to play from time to time.
Fang Ying seemed... quite good at being a hands-off boss. Ever since she knew Ding Changxiu was a kindergarten teacher, she often left her son Mingming in the care of Ding Changxiu and ran back to her room to sleep.
Ding Changxiu has a good personality and takes care of Liu Mingming patiently.
Just as Taotao was chatting with a few old ladies, Xiao Feibai came over with tears in his eyes, took Taotao's hand and made a fuss about leaving.
Taotao took a look - the soft ball that Xiao Feibai loved to play with was stepped on by Mingming and was deformed. And he was clearly looking at Xiao Feibai with a provocative look.
Xiao Feibai grabbed Taotao's clothes and tried to pull her out, "Mom! Look at Yaya!"
——When she first arrived in the satellite city, Taotao planted a few Ammopiptanthus trees at the door of the ground warehouse. So Song Zhi would water the plants every now and then. Now, that row of Ammopiptanthus trees have survived. Even in heavy snow, they stubbornly retain a few pitiful green leaves.
Every day when the mother and son went for a walk and played on the ground, Xiao Feibai always went to see the row of Amlewbill trees.
Seeing her son's tearful face, Tao Tao had no choice but to get up and said to the old ladies, "Grandma, I'll take him out for a walk... This guy can't stay still!"
The old ladies quickly told her -
"You need to put on a thick cotton coat when you go outside. The snow hasn't melted yet. It's very cold!"
"Come back early. It's cold outside and hot inside. It's easy to get sick if you keep switching between hot and cold."
"Taotao, do you want me to save a seat for you at lunch later?"
"You should also put on more cotton clothes! And wear gloves!"
Taotao agreed with a smile and left with Xiao Feibai.
I clearly wanted to chase after Xiao Feibai——
He was persuaded by Ding Changxiu.
When leaving the game room, Taotao heard Mingming crying.
She took her son back to the room first, and the mother and son put on thick cotton clothes before going to the ground.
The mother and son built a small snowman beside a path cleared by the staff.
Of course, Taotao was there the whole time.
Xiao Feibai helped a lot but ended up making an ugly little snowman.
Until Song Zhi came to find them and asked them to go back for dinner.
The tip of Xiao Feibai's nose was frozen red, but he was very excited. He pointed at the snowman and shouted, "Daddy! Snowman! Head! Eyes! Nose! Mouth... He's smiling!"
Song Zhi stared at the ugly little snowman for a while and said, "There is a pot of grape vines in Dad's room. It has green leaves... We will tear off a few leaves and make eyes and a mouth for the little snowman!"
Taotao was startled, "No!"
Song Zhi and Xiao Feibai were both stunned.
Xiao Feibai said quickly: "Dad, don't pull the leaves! All plants... trees! Grass! FaFa! They are all my sweethearts! Don't pull the leaves, don't pull the leaves!"
Song Zhi was even more surprised and looked at his son.
——The child is so young, but he has already realized this?
He thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go to the canteen kitchen after dinner to see if there are any carrots and cabbage sprouts left..."
You can use these colorful ingredients to decorate the snowman.
Taotao's expression eased a little and she nodded.
So Song Zhi picked up his son and walked towards the underground city with Tao Tao, asking, "It's so cold outside, isn't it good to stay in the game room and play with toys?"
Xiao Feibai complained aggrievedly, "Mingming is not crooked! Mingming bullies Xiao Feifei! Mingming's mother is sleeping! She is not here! Mingming does five things and her mother doesn't care! Xiao Feifei doesn't want to play with Mingming!"
Song Zhi was stunned.
Tao Tao said, "Just focus on your work. I'll take care of the child!" Then she said to her son, "It's no use asking your father about this matter. I'll take care of this!"
Song Zhi didn't say anything for a long time.
When going to the cafeteria for lunch, Fang Ying and her son Liu Mingming sat at the table next to Song Zhi's family. So, Song Zhi saw with his own eyes...how Liu Mingming bullied his son.
——Fang Ying was seen holding a magazine, reading it while eating, totally ignoring Mingming. Mingming grabbed the food in the lunch box and threw it towards Xiao Feibai.
The children didn't have much strength, so the food was thrown on the table, chairs, and aisle.
Xiao Feibai's attention was attracted by Mingming. He looked at Mingming and was so unhappy that he even lost his appetite.
But Fang Ying didn't even raise her head.
Song Zhi was angry and wanted to stand up and call Fang Ying to ask her to take good care of the child.
Taotao held Song Zhi down, turned around and smiled at Mingming, then lowered her voice and said to her son, "Xiao Feifei, pick up a vegetable from your bowl and pretend to put it on your mother's head."
Xiao Feibai was stunned.
——Mom never allowed him to play while eating, let alone waste food.
Put food on mom's head?
Xiao Feibai looked embarrassed.
"Hurry up!" Tao Tao urged, "...But, this is the only time that mom allows you to do this, but you can't do it in the future."
Xiao Feibai hesitated for a moment, picked up a chicken bone that he had just chewed, and placed it loosely on his mother's head.
Of course Taotao would not really let the child put the greasy chicken bone on her head, so she caught the chicken bone with her hand and put it on her head.
Of course, she didn't really let it go, but blocked it with her hand.
——Then, Taotao turned her head and looked at Mingming again, and gave Liu Mingming a arrogant and provocative smile.
Sure enough, Liu Mingming was not convinced.
He directly picked up the lunch box and poured it on his mother Fang Ying's head...
Then Liu Mingming also showed Taotao the same arrogant and provocative expression.
In an instant, all the rice grains and vegetable leaves in the lunch box piled up on Fang Ying's head like a small mountain. The oil soup even slowly flowed down her hair, dripping onto her neck and collar.
Taotao happily gave Liu Mingming a thumbs up.
Song Zhi was the first to laugh out loud.
Fang Ying: …
She took a deep breath, looked up at her son, anger in her eyes, and raised her hand to slap him!
But Fang Ying's slap failed to hit Liu Mingming, and Tao Tao stopped her halfway, "Fang Ying, the child is still young. If he did something wrong, you should teach him a lesson. There is no need to hit him."
Fang Ying looked at Taotao coldly, and her gaze finally fell on Taotao's wrist - Taotao was wearing a small and exquisite Shanghai brand women's watch on her slender and white wrist.
This was bought when Taotao and Song Zhi got married. After wearing it for so many years, the metal strap is still as white as new, and it even glows with a soft white light, which makes her hands look even more delicate and smooth.
Fang Ying stared at Taotao's watch for a long time without saying a word.
Then he stood up—
Taotao naturally let go.
Fang Ying picked up Liu Mingming and walked towards the dormitory angrily.
Liu Mingming struggled desperately, "I don't want you! I don't want you! I want my daddy! I want my daddy wuwu..."
Taotao and Song Zhi looked at each other.
In the afternoon, Liu Mingming didn't come out to play.
Xiao Feibai therefore stayed in the game room and had a great time playing with other children.
During dinner, Taotao finally saw Fang Ying, her husband Liu Xiaoxuan, and their child Liu Mingming. Liu Mingming looked obviously wilted, with one side of his cheek red and swollen. He did not look very well and had no appetite for food.
Fang Ying was still reading a magazine.
Liu Xiaoxuan was very concerned about his son. Seeing that his son refused to eat, he became anxious and even wanted to feed him...
Fang Ying said in a low voice, "Why do you care about him? If he wants to eat, he can eat. If he doesn't want to eat, then forget it!"
Liu Xiaoxuan said awkwardly, "After all, the child is still young... he needs to grow up."
Fang Ying rolled her eyes at her husband.
Liu Mingming ignored his father and lay on the table with his head tilted to look at Xiao Feibai.
Xiao Feibai sat upright and ate his meal seriously.
The canteen added family meals for family members and children, and each person could choose a chicken leg or a chicken wing.
Of course, employees can also eat chicken, but they can only eat chicken nuggets.
Xiao Feibai ate a circle of the chicken leg and found that only the outer edge had a salty taste, while the inside was tasteless, so he pouted.
Song Zhi took the chicken leg, poked it with chopsticks to tear the meat into pieces, dipped it in the gravy and put it in his son's bowl.
Xiao Feibai ate with relish.
Liu Mingming couldn't help licking his lips and said to Liu Xiaoxuan: "Dad, Dad, help me with the chicken thigh meat!"
Liu Xiaoxuan followed his son's gaze and glanced at the interaction between Song Zhi and his son, then followed suit and started to disassemble the chicken leg.
Fang Ying frowned and said, "Just spoil him!"
Liu Mingming lowered his head.
Liu Xiaoxuan lowered his voice, "The child is still young..."
Fang Ying was so annoyed that she stood up, took the magazine and left, saying, "It makes me upset! If you want to control me, just keep interfering!"
Liu Mingming looked at his mother's back as she left, his lips pursed as he wanted to cry.
Liu Xiaoxuan sighed, quickly cut the chicken thighs into pieces, and piled them all into his son's bowl. Then he closed the lid on Fang Ying's untouched meal, stood up, and said to his son, "Mingming, you just sit here and eat obediently. Daddy will take this lunch box to Mom and will be back soon, okay?"
Liu Mingming pouted and said "hmm", then imitated Xiao Feibai and ate his rice seriously.
Liu Xiaoxuan originally wanted to ask Song Zhi to help look after his son, but he happened to see Ding Changxiu coming over. Thinking that Ding Changxiu would be more suitable, he entrusted his son to her, and then hurried to the dormitory with his lunch box.
Ding Changxiu watched over Liu Mingming while he ate.
Song Zhi said to Tao Tao, "The company has issued movie tickets. Let's go to the city tomorrow!"
Taotao thought it was really strange, "You still have time to watch a movie? Isn't that a waste of time?"
Song Zhi smiled and said, "This is a special benefit for employees who have family members visiting. After all, the family members have come from far away, and we all work overtime... We are afraid that there will be problems in the relationship between husband and wife, so we give them two days off to go to the county town to play. There are cars to pick us up and drop us off, and the guesthouse is also arranged uniformly. We also arranged a dinner at a state-owned restaurant..."
Taotao was happy, "So we can stay here for a day!"
It would be great not to have to rush back and forth!
Xiao Feibai asked doubtfully: "Mom, watch a movie? Watch a movie?" He hadn't seen a movie yet!
Taotao explained to her son what a movie is.
Song Zhi smiled.
After dinner, the family of three went back to the dormitory to put on thick cotton clothes, then went to the ground to watch the sunset and take a walk, and then returned to the underground city...
Ding Changxiu was still accompanying Liu Mingming.
Fang Ying and Liu Xiaoxuan were nowhere to be seen.
When Tao Tao and Song Zhi went to bed at night, Tao Tao couldn't help but say, "How can Fang Ying take care of the child so easily? This is too much. Her child didn't study well, and she is definitely the main responsibility... She is too cold-blooded!"
Song Zhi and Liu Xiaoxuan were in different departments and were not familiar with each other, so it was not easy for them to comment. He just hugged Tao Tao and whispered, "Why do you care about her? Why don't you take care of me..."
After a while, Taotao was so angry that she bit him.
Song Zhi laughed silently.
The next morning, all the family members changed into bright and clean clothes, happily gathered at the gate of the satellite city, and then got on a... bus specially rented from the satellite city to the county guesthouse, with all the seats covered with soft cushions.
Xiao Feibai was still young, so Song Zhi's family of three were assigned a double seat.
It was the first time for Xiao Feibai to ride in a car with such soft cushions, and he crawled around on the seat curiously.
Fortunately, Taotao and Song Zhi were not fat, so they sat as close to the sides as possible, leaving plenty of space for Xiao Feibai to crawl around.
Liu Mingming's family also sat in a double seat, but they were several rows apart from Xiao Feibai. He was also curious and wanted to step on the cushion...but he was scolded by his mother Fang Ying.
The shuttle bus started.
Taotao no longer let Xiao Feibai stand on the seat, but let him sit down.
The seat cushion was soft, and the windows were closed... The car was warm and a little stuffy. Taotao's family all took off their cotton-padded clothes. Xiao Feibai slept comfortably in the seat, his head resting on Taotao's legs, covered with Taotao's cotton-padded clothes. Taotao slept close to Song Zhi, with her upper body lying in Song Zhi's arms...
The family of three slept together all the way.
So much so that when the bus took everyone to the guesthouse in the county town, the family of three still had rosy faces and looked energetic because they had made up for nearly three hours of sleep.
Chief Ma from the unit’s logistics department was in charge of this activity. He first assigned rooms to everyone.
——Song Zhi, Liu Xiaoxuan and Xu Gong’s rooms were right next to each other. Xu Gong and his wife lived in the middle room, and Song Zhi’s family and Liu Xiaoxuan’s family lived next to Xu Gong and his wife respectively.
After the rooms were assigned, Section Chief Ma told everyone: Everyone is welcome to have lunch as they please, but remember the movie starts at 2 p.m., so everyone can go to the theater after lunch. The movie ends at 4 p.m., and then the unit will book a table at the state-owned restaurant for everyone to have dinner together. There were no activities on the second day. We had to pay for our own breakfast outside. Lunch was arranged by the unit and we ate in the canteen of the guesthouse. After lunch, everyone took the bus back.
Everyone understood:
——From now until 2pm, you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative to shop.
——After dinner in the evening, you can go to the night (black) market.
——I will make up for the leak tomorrow morning. If there is anything I haven’t bought the day before, I will take this opportunity to buy it all.
Taotao's family took the key and went to the room to put their luggage.
As a result, I heard Mr. Xu and his wife arguing in the next room.
"I just can't live like this anymore! Old Xu, let's get divorced!"
"I don't agree... Changxiu, we have been married for thirteen years, plus the time we have been dating... We have been together for fifteen years. My feelings for you have not changed! I also believe that you are..."
"I can't stand it! You have no idea how your mother treats me!"
"Don't pay attention to her. You can spend your whole life with me, but you can't spend your whole life with her... Changxiu, how about I report to my superiors and transfer you to Lanxi City? Okay?"
"If you transfer me to Lanxi City, will the relationship between your mother-in-law and I no longer exist? Your mother only has you as her son! What's the point of transferring me here? Won't she come with you anyway?"
"So what do you think we should do?"
"divorce!"
"Changxiu, I don't agree, I absolutely don't agree to divorce... I understand, my mother is targeting you because we don't have children, right? Then, then today... no, tomorrow, tomorrow morning we will go to the county hospital for a check-up! Changxiu, the fact that we don't have children may not be your problem, it may also be my problem! If you can prove that I can't have children, my mother can't do anything to you, don't you think so?"
Ding Changxiu cried, "What if it's my problem?"
Xu Gong said gently: "It's not your problem! Changxiu, you have to believe me... It can't be your problem."
Ding Changxiu was stunned. "You mean..."
——Even if there is something wrong with her body and she is not suitable for having a baby, he is prepared to take all the responsibility on himself?
Xu Gong said: "Compared to the child, I think you are more important to me. Changxiu, if you really mind... I can also report to my superiors and ask them to let us adopt a child..."
Ding Changxiu was stunned for a long while, then sobbed, "Your mother is good in every way, and she loves me so much! She gets anxious whenever I cough, and makes me brown sugar ginger water and fills my hot water bottle...but she just hates me for not being able to have children..."
"The child is really not important," Xu Gong said to his wife, "... Changxiu, you are the most important!"
Hearing this from the corner of the wall, Taotao smiled at Song Zhi and whispered, "The sound insulation in this house is so poor!"
Song Zhi understood her implication and said meaningfully, "Don't worry, I won't let anyone else hear your voice."
Taotao's pretty face flushed and she glared at him fiercely.
A family of three is getting ready to go out.
As soon as the door opened——
Then I saw Fang Ying, Liu Xiaoxuan and Liu Mingming knocking on Mr. Xu's door.
Ding Changxiu came over to open the door.
Seeing Ding Changxiu's eyes were extremely red and swollen, Liu Xiaoxuan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing..."
Ding Changxiu quickly said, "I'm fine! What's wrong?"
Liu Xiaoxuan suddenly realized that Ding Changxiu seemed to have come this time to quarrel with Xu Gong and discuss divorce?
He hesitated for a moment and couldn't open his mouth.
——The couple has enough worries, let alone helping to take care of their own children! Besides, he could only see his son once a year, and he wanted to spend more time with his son.
While Liu Xiaoxuan was still hesitating, Fang Ying spoke bluntly:
"Sister Ding, this is what's going on! Xiaoxuan and I want to go out for a walk, but it's not appropriate to bring Mingming with us! Since you have nothing to do, please help me look after Mingming!"
Ding Changxiu hesitated for a moment and agreed, "Okay!"
Fang Ying took Liu Xiaoxuan away.
Liu Mingming looked at his parents' background and felt so aggrieved that he wanted to cry.
When Fang Ying and her husband passed by Tao Tao's family, Liu Xiaoxuan greeted Song Zhi, "Are you guys going out too?"
Song Zhi hummed and said, "It's not easy to get into the city, so I plan to take the kids for a good stroll."
Hearing this, Liu Xiaoxuan looked back at his son guiltily and said, "Mingming, Dad will buy you candied haws when he comes back!"
Fang Ying took Liu Xiaoxuan's hand and left without looking back.
Liu Mingming wanted to cry even more.
Taotao and her family also left the guesthouse.
However, everyone's ideas are actually similar, so the destinations are also surprisingly unified.
——Go to the supply and marketing cooperative first.
Song Zhi has already saved up quite a few tickets. At that moment, Taotao used Song Zhi's ticket to buy soap, toothpaste, shampoo and other things, and also bought him two men's handkerchiefs for replacement as requested by Song Zhi.
In fact, Taotao had nothing to do in the dormitory yesterday and the day before yesterday, so she had already washed several of his old handkerchiefs clean, twisted the edges again, and embroidered small flowers on the four corners.
The old veil has long since become the new veil.
But he just wanted a few new handkerchiefs, no big deal!
After buying a new handkerchief for Song Zhi, Taotao exchanged tickets on the spot with several of Song Zhi's colleagues and their families. They wanted industrial and cloth coupons, but Taotao wanted to buy a pair of leather shoes with cotton lining for each of the three members of her family...
After several family members worked together for a while, they finally succeeded in exchanging the items.
So each of Taotao's family of three got a pair of thick fur shoes, and they also weighed two kilograms of various pastries and two kilograms of candied fruits.
Taotao stuffed a piece of candied apricot into her son's mouth and told him not to swallow it whole. You have to hold it in your mouth for a while, until the apricots are no longer so sweet and become soft, and then chew them thoroughly before swallowing them.
Little Feibai nodded repeatedly, smiling with the sweet and sour apricot in his mouth. His little mouth was stuffed full, like a cute chipmunk.
Taotao picked up another piece and wanted to give it to Song Zhi.
However, holding two kilograms of candied dried fruits in my hand, I felt that they were heavy and substantial, but in fact, there were only a few pieces...
Song Zhi couldn't bear to eat it, so he shook his head and said he didn't want to eat it. In fact, he wanted to save it for the mother and son to eat more.
As a result, Taotao forced it into his mouth.
Song Zhi was helpless and looked at his wife with a frown.
Taotao picked up a candied bayberry and put it in her mouth. After thinking for a while, she picked up another raisin and put it into her mouth... with an expression of enjoyment.
Song Zhi laughed in silence, "Is it so delicious?"
"Of course it's delicious!" Taotao said.
Song Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll go and exchange some cake tickets with them later, and then we'll come back to buy them."
Taotao nodded desperately.
Liu Xiaoxuan stood aside waiting for Fang Ying to buy something. When he saw the interaction between Song Zhi and Taotao, he was very envious. Especially when he saw Taotao shopping with her family members, Song Zhi was strolling and chatting with his son. The child was so innocent and cute... If he had known earlier, he would just be waiting here. He should have insisted on bringing Mingming with him.
At this point in time, there weren't many people in the supply and marketing cooperative, almost all of them were family members of people from satellite cities.
Everyone in the family knows exactly who bought what.
At that moment, some people laughed at Taotao, saying that she was a young person and a new bride who didn't know how to manage the household at all. She finally came out for a trip but was only concerned with buying snacks!
However, the three pairs of fur shoes Taotao bought are good things! In such a cold day, wearing such thick and warm fur shoes will make you feel warm all over. Even buying fur shoes for Xiao Feibai... is a bit hasty. After all, adults' feet have already been shaped, and a pair of fur shoes can be worn for at least three years. But Xiao Feibai is growing up year by year. It is a waste of money to spend so much money to buy a pair of fur shoes this year, but he won’t be able to wear them next year.
Taotao didn't say anything, just listened to the elders scolding her with a smile.
It's not for anything else. Whether she is in Satellite City or Lingxi, she will feel lonely after staying there for a long time. Now there are these elders nagging her, and what they say are all harmless things. It really doesn't matter.
The family members started talking about Taotao and then started talking about Fang Ying.
Fang Ying bought the most things in the whole place, and they were all hers: a tweed coat, a silk scarf, a pair of fur shoes, and a Chunlei women's watch.
A family member first praised Fang Ying enviously, "You look so beautiful in this outfit!"
Fang Ying was smiling, obviously in a good mood.
The family member asked again, "…what did you buy for your Liu Xiaoxuan and Mingming?"
Fang Ying's face fell instantly.
Taotao pretended not to see it and left the supply and marketing cooperative with her husband and son.
A family of three went to a state-owned restaurant for dinner.
Song Zhi ordered three dishes and one soup: braised pork with sauerkraut, steamed egg, stir-fried cabbage and mushroom chicken soup.
As soon as the dishes were served, Fang Ying and Liu Xiaoxuan also rushed to the state-owned restaurant. They were directed by the waiter to sit at the table next to Taotao's family.
Liu Xiaoxuan saw that Song Zhidian's staple food was rice, so he asked, "Is sister-in-law from the south?"
Song Zhi smiled and said, "She and the children love to eat rice, which is rare here."
Fang Ying finally spoke up, "The rice here is of a bad variety, and the water quality is not good, so the rice cooked here is not tasty at all."
After a pause, he glanced at the dishes on Taotao's table and said, "The braised pork here is not authentic... Authentic braised pork should be fried with sugar for color! Look, it's black and looks like it's been mushy! Also, when steaming eggs, the ratio of water to egg liquid must be strictly 1:2... You can tell at a glance that you put too much water in this bowl of steamed eggs!"
Song Zhi glanced at Fang Ying, and Liu Xiaoxuan looked embarrassed.
Tao Tao didn't say anything. She scooped a few spoonfuls of steamed egg into her son's bowl and told him, "Eat it while it's hot!"
Xiao Feibai nodded repeatedly, sat down obediently and ate his meal with a spoon.
Liu Xiaoxuan stared at Xiao Feibai for a while and asked Song Zhi, "The chair your child is sitting on..."
——Xiao Feibai is one year and eight months old, still very small. If he sits directly on the chair where adults sit, his eyes will be level with the table, and he will not be able to eat by himself unless he stands on the chair or an adult feeds him.
But here, Song Zhi added a heightening cushion that he made himself to the chair in the state-owned restaurant.
So the height of the table is just right for Xiao Feibai. The little guy sat quietly and ate his meal. Taotao took care of the child while he was eating. She just broke up the braised pork or fried cabbage and piled it in the child's bowl, or scooped a few spoonfuls of steamed egg into the child's bowl. It didn't affect her and Song Zhi's meal at all.
Liu Xiaoxuan stared at the elevated cushion on which Xiao Feibai was sitting.
——Fang Ying doesn’t want to take her children out because she finds them annoying. But judging by the way Song Zhi and his wife raise their children, raising children... doesn't seem to be that troublesome.
The most important thing is that he and his wife eat good food here, but leave their child to be taken care of by their colleagues, and they don’t know whether the child eats well.
Liu Xiaoxuan felt very guilty.
Seeing that Liu Xiaoxuan had been staring at the heightened cushion his son was sitting on, Song Zhi explained, "I put a heightened cushion under him. It's made of wood strips and cloth strips. I'll show it to you after he finishes eating. You can make one for your son, too. It's quite simple and can be folded. You can just put it in your bag after folding it."
Liu Xiaoxuan nodded and continued to ask: "The child's bowl and spoon..."
One look at the style of the bowl and spoon shows that they are clearly not from a state-owned restaurant.
"We brought the bowls and spoons ourselves," Song Zhi said, "We were afraid that when we were eating out, we would use porcelain bowls, and it would be bad if the children accidentally broke them. Anyway, his bowl and spoon are small and don't take up much space."
Fang Ying became irritated for no reason and rolled her eyes at Liu Xiaoxuan, "Why are you so nagging? Are you going to order food or not? Forget about not letting me eat!"
Liu Xiaoxuan quickly said, "Diandiandian! What do you want to eat?"
"Don't you know what I want to eat?"
"Is the braised pork good?"
"You! I just said that the braised pork here is not authentic!"
"Oh, how about some hand-pulled lamb?"
“It’s so fishy!”
"Braised pig's trotters?"
“Too greasy!”
"Fish stew?"
"Use your brain! How can the fish stew here be delicious?"
By the end of the conversation, Fang Ying was about to lose her temper.
Taotao and Song Zhi took care of Xiao Feibai's meal and ate very quickly themselves. After a short while, the family of three finished all the food, packed up and left.
Until this moment, Fang Ying and Liu Xiaoxuan were still arguing and hadn't decided what to eat...
The waiter standing by had a face as gloomy as the bottom of a pot.
The guesthouse, supply and marketing cooperative, state-owned hotel and cinema are not far from each other, all near the railway station.
When Taotao and her family arrived at the entrance of the cinema, they were not surprised to see Song Zhi's colleagues and family members.
Everyone was holding movie tickets in their hands and gathered at the entrance of the cinema to chat.
Xu Gong, Ding Changxiu and Liu Mingming were also there.
When seeing Taotao, Ding Changxiu asked her if she had seen Mingming's mother.
Xiao Feibai rushed to say, "Mother Mingming bought new clothes! New shoes! A watch! A special meal...Mother Mingming said that braised pork is not good! Pork is not good! Fish is not good...Fei Fei likes braised pork! Very good!"
Ding Changxiu didn't quite understand what was being said.
But Liu Mingming understood.
Liu Mingming was very sad - he followed Ding Changxiu and had steamed buns, warm water and an egg in the canteen of the guesthouse for lunch. But his parents think the braised pork, pig’s feet and fish are not tasty?
Liu Mingming burst into tears with a "wow".
Ding Changxiu was so panicked that he hurried to coax him.
Taotao sent Song Zhi to buy roasted melon seeds.
Then Song Zhi went to the vendor and weighed two pounds of roasted melon seeds, and bought four strings of candied haws.
The first string of candied haws was given to Taotao first, then one string was given to Ding Changxiu, one string was given to Xiao Feibai, and the last string was given to Liu Mingming.
Ding Changxiu took it with a smile, thanked Song Zhi, and taught Liu Mingming to thank Song Zhi as well.
Liu Mingming looked at the candied haws with surprise, and licked the red crispy syrup on the surface like Xiao Feibai, then he smiled sweetly with tears in his eyes.
After a while, the cinema staff began to check tickets and let people in.
The movie played today is "The Story of Xiangyangyuan".
Taotao likes watching movies very much, but several movies she has seen before were almost all about war. This movie was a little different from the previous ones. Taotao thought it was quite novel, so she watched it with great interest while eating melon seeds.
But Xiao Feibai was still young after all, and he just went into the cinema for the first time out of curiosity. As he watched... he couldn't understand anything. In addition, he had the habit of taking a nap after lunch, so he fell asleep in his father's arms.
Song Zhi unbuttoned his cotton coat and hugged his son, then fastened the buttons on the top and bottom... His cotton coat became a "hammock" that just hung his son. Yes
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