He said he wanted to go along and take a look, but how could Qi Feng do such a ridiculous thing?
The young couple has just reunited, why are you going to ruin the view?
So when they reached the gate of their own yard, the two of them separated.
As Shen Qingyun entered the courtyard, he subconsciously took a deep breath.
Then I smelled a mouth-watering aroma.
Even though he was mentally prepared, he didn't expect the food his wife cooked would be so delicious!
The aroma was so good that he didn't have time to think, and he walked towards the kitchen involuntarily.
Seeing him come in, Dabao and Erniu, who were originally sitting at the table, both smiled.
The two of them stood up quickly, one went to fetch a basin of water, and the other went to get a towel.
"Dad, wash your hands!"
"Dad, wipe it!"
When has Shen Qingyun ever been treated like this? I was flattered for a moment.
"good."
As he agreed, he completed the series of actions of washing his hands and drying them under the eager eyes of his children.
Just as he was excitedly preparing to express his thoughts, he saw Dabao picked up the remaining water and quickly poured it outside, and Erniu also took the towel and put it away very quickly.
Then they both looked at Yin Xiaoman who was serving the dishes.
Erniu spoke on their behalf in a crisp voice: "Mom, Dad has washed his hands, we can eat now!"
Yin Xiaoman nodded: "Sit down."
The two children cheered and immediately returned to their seats and sat down.
He didn't look at Shen Qingyun again during the whole process.
Shen Qingyun: "..."
Instead, Yin Xiaoman raised her head and said to him gently, "You can sit down too."
Why do I suddenly feel like a guest in my own home?
Shen Qingyun suppressed his discomfort and sat down in the seat next to Dabao.
Then, he felt that he could suddenly understand the actions of the two little guys.
He felt like he had never eaten so many delicious foods!
Braised meat with bamboo shoots!
Kelp egg drop soup!
There is also the yellow and white rice, which seems to have a bright and lustrous glow in every grain of rice...
Shen Qingyun suddenly couldn't tell what he was feeling.
"Where do you get these vegetables and fine grains?"
He put down his chopsticks.
Shen Qingyun knew his wife had brought food when he was picking up the luggage yesterday. He also saw half a bag of cornmeal and a few sweet potatoes in the kitchen in the morning.
But he never expected that the lunch would be so sumptuous.
Although he had not stayed at home for a long time in these years, how could he not know how frugal his parents and brother and sister-in-law lived?
It's not an exaggeration to say that he is stingy.
He absolutely did not believe that this was prepared for them by their parents.
“My grandparents gave it to me!”
Before Yin Xiaoman could open his mouth, Erniu was the first to shout.
"Grandpa and grandma?"
Shen Qingyun frowned, and for a moment he didn't realize who Erniu was talking about.
"My parents left a lot of things for me, and I brought them all here." Yin Xiaoman explained briefly.
"Hello, grandpa and grandma, please save some rice and oil!"
Hearing that even Dabao, who usually doesn't talk much, added to the discussion, Shen Qingyun felt even more complicated.
The reason why his father-in-law married his daughter-in-law to him was just to give him a stable life.
But in the end, he gave nothing to others, and instead he and his family had to eat the food left by his father-in-law!
This feeling of guilt made Shen Qingyun feel that even the food in the bowl was not as delicious as before.
"I'll ask someone to bring my rations back from the canteen in the afternoon, and buy some rice and noodles. As for the dishes, go to the canteen every day and buy whatever you want. Don't skimp on food at home. If you don't have enough money and tickets, I'll find a way."
He could see that his daughter-in-law had lived a very luxurious life in the past. It is impossible that he has never suffered any hardship since childhood, and he is definitely not a frugal person.
But he didn't care at all.
He has been in the army for so many years and nearly lost his life several times defending his country.
Having made it this far, no matter what, I can’t even afford to support my wife and children.
Although he didn't say it out loud, Shen Qingyun had already started thinking about how to exchange for more fine grains.
When he mentioned food, Yin Xiaoman raised her head and looked him in the eye for the first time this afternoon.
"Mrs. Cui came to our house this morning. She said she would take me out for a walk in the afternoon. I wanted to see if I could buy something to eat."
When Shen Qingyun heard his wife say that Sister Cui had arrived, he did not show any surprise.
When he met her at the door in the morning, he had already expected her to come.
After all, there were not many family members in the camp, and Xiaoman was the only one who came with the army like her.
My sister-in-law has been curious about her for a long time.
"Go ahead. That's the instructor's wife. She's a nice person. If you have nothing to do, you can chat with her often. Our two families are close, so we live next door."
"However," Shen Qingyun thought about it and shook his head: "If you want to buy food, you have to go to the canteen. We are still dozens of miles away from the county town, and there is no supply and marketing cooperative nearby. At most, my sister-in-law will take you around the camp. There are no places to buy food around."
"So, do you want to buy vegetables too?"
Yin Xiaoman began to worry. If this was the case, without the subsidy from the small warehouse, seventeen yuan a month might not be enough.
"Green vegetables……"
Shen Qingyun seemed to suddenly remember something and pointed outside.
"There is a vacant lot behind our house. I saw my sister-in-law's family grow vegetables there. I will turn the land over when I come back this afternoon, and then ask my sister-in-law for some vegetable seeds. You can also grow some yourself."
Hearing him say this, Yin Xiaoman also stopped eating, looked up at him, and shook his head: "I can't."
Shen Qingyun's eyes were dazed for a moment.
"I really don't know how. I've never grown it before." Yin Xiaoman said sincerely.
She has lived with her grandmother by the sea since she was a child and has never had a piece of land of her own. Where can she learn to grow vegetables?
After a long while, Shen Qingyun finally said, "...I can."
After a pause, he added, "I planted it."
What kind of a blessed environment did your wife grow up in? !
In the village, even among children of four or five years old, few would dare to say that they don’t know how to grow vegetables, right?
He tried hard to recall and thought for a long time. It seemed that he and his brother had been working in the fields with their parents since they could remember.
I can't do heavy work, but I still have to pull weeds and sow vegetable seeds.
He sighed and suddenly felt a little funny. He felt like he had picked up a treasure without knowing it.
A baby who was raised and cared for by his parents.
"I've planted the vegetables these days. The temperature here is high, so they can sprout in winter. We'll be able to eat vegetables in less than a month.
Before that, you bought what you could from the canteen, and if you couldn’t, you picked it at your sister-in-law’s house. It's okay, I'll give you a heads up in advance. Given the relationship between our two families, this isn't a big deal. ”
His voice was gentle and full of patience, and there was even a hint of indescribable doting in his eyes.
Just as Shen Qingyun said, in the afternoon Cui Yan only took Yin Xiaoman for a walk around the camp.
In her words, this pioneer camp is the only camp with some life within a few miles, and other places are deserted.
If there is no one here, where will the supply and marketing cooperatives be to provide convenience to the people?
Yin Xiaoman felt very disappointed after walking around like this.
On the way back, she couldn't help herself and finally asked, "Sister-in-law, where is the cafeteria? Why don't you take me there to have a look? Qingyun told me to go to the cafeteria to buy food in the future."
Hearing her say that she was going to the cafeteria to buy vegetables, Cui Yan staggered and turned around to look at her seriously again.
But wherever his eyes went, Yin Xiaoman's face was calm.
She immediately realized that this girl knew nothing!
We have just survived a year of disaster. Even though we are a military unit, a front-line unit at that, and receive subsidies from the state, the food is actually not that good.
It would be great if the soldiers could eat one or two meals of pure fine grains a month.
As for the dishes, there are occasionally some fish and shrimp, but very little.
The most common food they ate was salted fish and seaweed sent by nearby fishermen. Even after spending half a day processing, the finished product was still fishy, salty and astringent.
If it wasn't for the rice, no one would be able to eat it.
As for vegetables, the camp has its own fields and is basically self-sufficient, so there is no need to buy them outside.
The cafeteria is indeed open to family members, allowing those who come to visit temporarily to eat or buy groceries.
But the price is ridiculously expensive.
Because the army’s food can only be guaranteed for soldiers, their families can only eat high-priced food.
A multi-grain steamed bun is one cent more expensive than outside!
Salted fish and vegetables were even reduced to almost five cents per portion.
At that price, if you buy it at the supply and marketing cooperative, it’s more than enough to make a stir-fried tofu and bean sprouts.
Therefore, no family members go to the canteen to buy meals or vegetables. Wouldn’t it be better to save the money and buy a few more kilograms of miscellaneous grains?
Even if there is no food, life can still be sustained.
The thought of spending money on a place like this makes my heart hurt.
Xiao Shen obviously did not tell his wife about all this. He must be reluctant to let his wife live with him and not even be able to afford vegetables.
Thinking about the gift Yin Xiaoman gave him in return this morning, it was obvious that he came from a well-off family and had never suffered from hardship.
Looking at her cute face again, how could Cui Yan not understand that she was so charming and lovely that she couldn't help but feel pity for her?
Xiao Shen is truly satisfied with his new wife and loves her very much.
Thinking of this, Cui Yan considered for a moment, and whispered to Yin Xiaoman: "Don't go to the cafeteria to buy food, it's expensive and not tasty. Sister-in-law will take you somewhere."
Yin Xiaoman didn't know what was going on, but suddenly she felt that Sister Cui seemed to treat her a little closer than before.
She didn't have time to think, and nodded quickly: "Okay, thank you sister-in-law."
Cui Yan led Yin Xiaoman along a small path outside the camp. After walking for about ten to twenty minutes, they saw a beach in the distance.
She had just pointed this place out to Yin Xiaoman.
Just say that this is the seaside and it’s too cold now. When the weather gets warmer, let the Qiangzi brothers bring Dabao and Erniu over to play.
But he didn't bring her here.
"There is a village ahead of here, it's quite small, with only a few families. Sometimes they would secretly go fishing in the sea, and if they were lucky, they could get some money back.
Xiaoman, don’t tell anyone else about this!
I really had no choice but to come here, thinking that the adults didn't care, but I had to give some meat to the two little guys at home. Well, actually, there isn’t much meat on the fish. ”
As Cui Yan spoke, she moved closer to Yin Xiaoman, and her voice became lower and lower.
Even though they had already reached the beach and the surroundings were empty and no one was visible in the distance, she still subconsciously looked around vigilantly as she spoke.
Yin Xiaoman nodded vigorously and said to Cui Yan from the bottom of her heart: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I know, thank you for trusting me."
She didn't say much, but looking into her eyes, Cui Yan finally put down the worry in her heart.
She had indeed discovered this place by accident.
Cui Yan brought her here because she believed in Shen Qingyun's character and because she discovered that he valued Yin Xiaoman very much.
After all, these days, being reported for private transactions is a big deal.
It is called a fishing village, but in fact it is just a few houses built with wooden boards far apart from each other by the sea.
The house was built crookedly, and it was obvious that they had not taken great care when constructing it. It looked like it might collapse at any time.
It’s no exaggeration to call it a shed.
"These people used to live on fishing boats, but later the boats were turned over to the public, and then they built houses on land and settled down."
Seeing Yin Xiaoman staring at the houses, Cui Yan explained in a low voice.
Yin Xiaoman nodded.
In fact, she is most familiar with this kind of life.
At least she knows more than Cui Yan who came from the capital.
Back then, she and her grandmother also lived on a fishing boat.
By that time, their parents had passed away. They were too old and young to go out to sea again, so they could only make a living by fishing and picking up seafood.
By the time she left, the ship had already fallen into disrepair and was in a state of disrepair, not much better than the current situation.
I don’t know how grandma survived after I left.
Thinking of this, Yin Xiaoman suddenly felt a sour feeling in his heart.
As they were talking, the two of them had already arrived at the house at the westernmost end of the fishing village.
Cui Yan went forward and knocked on the door, shouting loudly: "Uncle Li, is Uncle Li here? I'm Cui Yan, I'm here to see you and your aunt!"
Yin Xiaoman was extremely surprised.
Didn’t we agree to do this secretly?
Seeing her like this, Cui Yan couldn't help but laugh and winked at her: "We just came here to see an acquaintance, why can't we be open and honest?"
Yin Xiaoman suddenly understood and nodded.
Soon the door opened from the inside, and the honest man whom Cui Yan called Uncle Li walked out.
Apparently, he had never expected Cui Yan to come today. Seeing her rubbing her hands in embarrassment, he said, "Comrade Cui, there's nothing here today!"
Hearing him say this, Cui Yan waved her hand indifferently: "Uncle Li, I didn't come here to exchange things today. This is my sister. You should help her more when she comes next time."
Hearing her say this, Uncle Li was startled and turned around quickly.
It was obvious that when he came out just now, he was only concerned with talking to Cui Yan and did not notice Yin Xiaoman who had been standing quietly on the side.
"Uncle Li." Yin Xiaoman smiled at him and said, "I'm going to cause you trouble in the future."
"Don't say that. Don't dare say that."
Uncle Li thought for a moment and then quickly said, "Come in and wait a moment."
After saying that, he opened the door and ran into the inner room without even moving to another room.
This was obviously not the first time this had happened. Cui Yan pulled Yin Xiaoman towards the door in a familiar manner.
But the two of them did not go in. They just stood in the dark main room, waiting for Uncle Li to bring out the things.
Soon, Uncle Li came out with a dirty and broken fish basket and looked at them with an embarrassed look on his face: "I only caught some small fish today, I don't think you will like them."
As he said this, he handed over the basket.
Cui Yan leaned forward to take a look, and immediately tilted her head back, obviously choking on by the strong salty and fishy smell.
"Is there nothing else? How can I eat such a small fish? I can't find any meat after digging for a long time." She looked disappointed.
"Nothing more. Oh, and some clams, if you guys want any more."
Uncle Li pointed to a wooden basin with broken edges in the corner and smiled bitterly.
Cui Yan curled her lips and said, "That's even more inedible, it's all sand."
Seeing that she really had no intention of buying any, Yin Xiaoman spoke up: "I want all of these fish and clams, right? How much?"
Hearing her say this, the two of them turned to look at her in surprise.
Cui Yan even pulled her arm and whispered into her ear without any concealment: Why do you want to take this thing back? The shells are all thorny, and not only children, but even adults can get stuck if they don’t eat properly. Don't waste this money! ”
Uncle Li next to him obviously didn't want to lose this new customer. He was afraid that Yin Xiaoman would be dissatisfied after buying it and would never come back for more. So he nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, you are not used to this, so it is not tasty. Wait, I will save it for you next time I catch a big fish."
Yin Xiaoman smiled at the two of them, but still said with persistence: "It's okay, I'll take it back and try to make it. Maybe it will work. How much is it in total?"
Seeing that she was determined to buy it, Cui Yan didn't want to stop her anymore. Instead, she turned to look at Uncle Li and said, "This is my sister's first time buying it. You can give her a discount."
Li Shuhan smiled and nodded repeatedly: "Of course, of course. How about... one cent? Let's put it all together, and I'll lend you the basket again."
Before Yin Xiaoman could say anything, Cui Yan quit.
"One cent?! Uncle Li, we've known each other for a long time. You can't be so dishonest. If my sister didn't want this pile of small fish and rotten shells, you can't even exchange them for a black noodle soup! And it's one cent, why don't you want one yuan?!"
Uncle Li's old face turned red all of a sudden.
He smiled even more awkwardly: "Comrade Cui, isn't there still a basket?"
"Baozi, you are just lending it to us, you don't have to pay it back? Two cents, no more!"
"Five cents, five cents. After all, I caught this early in the morning. It's so cold, Comrade Cui, just consider it as hard work fee..."
Yin Xiaoman's heart moved.
Seeing Cui Yan wanted to say more, she reached out and pulled her arm, and took the initiative to take over the conversation: "Uncle Li, I want all these things for five cents. But can you tell me where you got them from?"
When she asked this, Uncle Li's eyebrows twitched and a hint of vigilance appeared in his eyes.
Seeing him like this, Cui Yanxian became unhappy.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid that we will take your territory? Is this sea yours? Don't forget that everything here is state-owned! My sister just came from the city for the first time. She has never seen anything like this. It's new to her. But you think too much!
Forget it, forget it. It turns out that you are not a real person. There is no need to deal with you anymore.
Sister, let’s go. I’ll take you somewhere else! ”
Seeing Cui Yan taking Yin Xiaoman away and his business about to be ruined, Uncle Li suddenly became anxious.
He quickly stopped her: "Hey, Comrade Cui, why are you so impatient? I haven't said anything yet, have I?"
At this point he sighed, "Don't be angry, I didn't mean anything else. How could I not know that all this is state-owned? Not to mention now, even in the past, no one was stopped from going to the sea. Everyone depends on the water for their livelihood, there is no rule of monopoly.
It’s just that the current situation…”
He shook his head: "I'm not afraid that...someone might find out something and tell others about it."
Seeing that he was speaking honestly, Cui Yan didn't know what to say anymore.
He just brought Yin Xiaoman forward and said to Uncle Li, "Uncle Li, I won't hide it from you. My sister is the wife of Captain Shen. She just came with the army. You are familiar with Captain Shen, but are you worried about his wife?"
When he heard that she was Shen Qingyun's wife, Uncle Li's eyes suddenly lit up and his old face smiled as if it was blooming.
She nodded repeatedly and refused to take any money. Not only did she tell them the location of the beach catching in detail, but she also insisted that they take their things away.
In the end, Cui Yan forcibly threw the five cents that Yin Xiaoman handed over next to the wooden basin, and the two turned around and left, finally escaping.
After coming out, Yin Xiaoman remained silent.
The sudden turn of events just now really made her unable to recover for a moment.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Cui Yan thought she was unhappy because she had revealed her identity, so she hurried to explain.
"Don't be angry, Xiaoman. Now that you're here, it's only a matter of time before you reveal your identity. Uncle Li is the village chief of this village, and the food in our camp is usually sent by his village, so we can't keep it a secret for a few days.
You know who I am even without seeing me. ”
Hearing her say this, Yin Xiaoman shook her head: "Sister-in-law, this is not what I am thinking about. I don't understand these things very well, just consider it. Qingyun said that I should just listen to you.
I was just thinking, since Uncle Li told us the place where we can go to the beach, can we go there by ourselves in the future? Then you don’t have to spend money to buy these things next time. ”
When Cui Yan heard Shen Qingyun tell his wife to listen to him if she had any problems, she felt happy and felt that this was a great trust in her.
Then when I heard Yin Xiaoman say that we could go fishing on the beach for free in the future, I thought this girl was so cute and fun.
She thought so and then laughed out loud, and put her arm around Yin Xiaoman's shoulders lovingly: "Xiaoman, why are you so interesting! Sister-in-law really loves you so much!"
Yin Xiaoman was originally talking about something serious, but was interrupted by her and was immediately confused. He couldn't help but turn his head away in surprise.
Seeing her confused look, Cui Yan laughed continuously.
After a while, he poked the fish basket in her hand with a finger and said, "You picked this up at the sea? I don't want it even if it's free! It's a waste of oil and firewood. Who else would be willing to spend money to buy these except you? You're not crazy!"
Yin Xiaoman: “…”
So after all this talk, in their minds I'm the one with a broken brain?
Okay, let’s think about making something delicious tonight.
Of course, people with normal brains usually wouldn’t want to eat it.
Her mind was racing: stir-fried clams, braised fish in soy sauce, fish soup...
A series of recipes flashed before my eyes.
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