"Good boy, it's good that you're back, it's good that you're back! You've gotten tanned, lost a lot of weight, and your beard and hair are so long that grandpa doesn't dare to recognize you!
Come in quickly, you must not have eaten yet? Grandpa will make you some noodles! We have some noodles at home, so we can eat them soon.
Ye Zhiqiu grinned and nodded, "Okay, just cook anything. I'm really a little hungry."
I put my things back into the room. My room was very clean, except for the bed which was made up. I wondered if there were guests staying overnight.
I didn't expect that I didn't close the valve in my room, and the heating in the room was still on and warm!
Ye Zhiqiu went to the kitchen with a towel and saw Wang Fugui cooking noodles. He was opening a can and pouring all the meat into the pot!
He tried to stop it but couldn't. He smiled and said, "Grandpa, when I came back, I heard from the tricycle driver that meat is hard to buy now. If you put so much in it, what will my family eat?"
Wang Fugui smiled and replied, "Don't worry, grandson. You must have suffered a lot. Grandpa needs to nourish you!"
Ye Zhiqiu smiled and did not refuse. After he mixed the water, he washed his face carefully and then washed his head with soap.
The water after washing his hair was so black that Ye Zhiqiu didn't even know how long it had been since he had washed his hair! The key point was that the water shortage was so severe that everyone was short of drinking water, so they couldn't afford to waste water.
When the weather is hot, I can run twenty miles to take a bath and wash clothes there. But when the weather gets cold, there is no way to do that!
Wang Fugui picked up the noodles and put them in a big bowl with meat. He said to Ye Zhiqiu, "Go get a haircut from the barber later, clean yourself up, and then get a bath ticket and take a bath.
Coal is in short supply now, and you need a bath ticket to take a bath. You can't just pay for a bath like before."
Ye Zhiqiu nodded and said, "I need to dress up, otherwise I won't be able to see Xiaomei in this state. By the way, Grandpa, has Xiaomei come to visit you recently? Do I have any rivals in love?"
Wang Fugui and Ye Zhiqiu, who was carrying a basin, walked back to the living room. He said cheerfully, "Silly boy, didn't you notice that someone is sleeping in your room?
Sometimes when Xiaomei is on vacation, she comes over here and sleeps in your room overnight! You are so lucky, you silly boy, to have met such a devoted girl. "
"Hey, that's it! I heard you guys say she's lost weight. I wonder what she looks like now. I was digging sand over there, and I missed you guys every day. I was afraid I'd forget what you looked like. This time I'm finally home."
"Everyone misses you so much. Are you coming back to visit family or to transfer to another job? I tried to find someone to bring you back a year ago, but I couldn't even find your whereabouts. Your file had already been transferred from the 211th Regiment."
Ye Zhiqiu started eating the noodles, swallowed them in big mouthfuls, and let out a deep breath of satisfaction.
"Eating noodles is so delicious! Grandpa, don't ask me about this. We need to abide by the confidentiality code! Anyway, I'm back from a job transfer this time, so I can rest for seven days before going to the Labor Bureau to register my information."
Wang Fugui nodded and did not ask any more questions. Looking at Ye Zhiqiu wolfing down his food, it was not difficult to see how hard his life had been these days.
Ye Zhiqiu was truly frustrated. There were so many things in the space, but he couldn't even steal a bite to eat! No matter where he went, there were always people around, and the work he was assigned didn't allow him to leave the base. Otherwise, he wouldn't have starved to the point of becoming so thin!
Ye Zhiqiu finished off a large bowl of noodles and canned braised pork. He felt a little full, and after a burp, he smiled and said to Wang Fugui, "Sorry to bother you, Grandpa. I haven't eaten this full in a long time!"
"Being able to eat is a blessing. If your affairs over there weren't confidential, I'd really like to hear about your experiences over the past two years."
"Hehe, when I left, my old boss specifically told me to keep my mouth shut and not say anything, otherwise he would arrest me and make me dig sand again!
I don't want to dig sand anymore, so please hold back your curiosity and don't make me go back there."
After smoking a cigarette with Wang Fugui, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't stay any longer and had to go to the bathhouse to take a bath.
Wang Fugui hurried to get the bill, and fearing that Ye Zhiqiu had no money on him, he gave him twenty yuan to keep.
Ye Zhiqiu was still wealthy, even though his monthly allowance was small. It was only six yuan a month in the first year, and seven yuan a month in the second year.
But when he was at the Malan base, he couldn't spend his allowance because there were no daily necessities to buy.
Furthermore, during the ten or so months at the base, he received an additional five yuan per month. This meant that after two years, Ye Zhiqiu had more than two hundred yuan in his space. Adding to his previous savings, he had a total of one thousand two hundred and thirty yuan stored.
After packing a set of clothes and taking soap and a towel, Ye Zhiqiu said goodbye to Wang Fugui and prepared to go out.
"Grandson, take the key to the courtyard gate with you. Grandpa has to go out for a while. You finally came back. I'll try to find something to eat so I can make you dumplings tonight!"
"Hey, Grandpa, I just finished a can of food. Why are you still making dumplings? Don't bother..."
"Don't worry about it. By the way, go get your hair cut first and then take a bath, so that you don't get any hair on your body."
“…Okay, I have the key, so I’ll leave you alone.”
Ye Zhiqiu went to the barber shop first. The barber shaved his head, clean-shaved his beard, and carefully massaged his face. Then he held a mirror in front of Ye Zhiqiu and asked him to look at himself to see if he was satisfied.
Ye Zhiqiu looked at himself in the mirror. His face was dark and he was very thin. He no longer had the delicate look he once had, but his eyes were quite bright!
"Master, you have great skills!"
"Haha, we're all serving the people. As long as you're satisfied, please pay fifty cents."
"Okay, here it is."
It turns out that after paying for the bath ticket, you still need to pay one cent, but this money does not include the cost of scrubbing the bath. If you want to scrub the bath, you need to pay two cents.
He gave her two cents and walked inside with the key. He successfully took a bath in the big pool. There were not many people around, so Ye Zhiqiu soaked in it for a long time and then went to find a master to rub mud on him.
"Hey, comrade, you're such a great back rub!"
Ye Zhiqiu smiled. He knew what the bath attendant meant. He knew how dirty he was.
"Haha, it's all for the sake of building our motherland. Where I'm working hard, there's a severe water shortage. I don't know how long it's been since I last had a shower!"
"Well, building our country in a water-scarce area is not easy! Don't worry, I, Lao Niu, will help you rub it clean and make you look brand new! You know what, this mud is really exciting to rub..."
Ye Zhiqiu didn’t know whether he felt refreshed or not, but after rubbing and washing himself, he felt relaxed all over!
He looked at his watch and it was already half past five. Ye Zhiqiu started walking back home.
It takes more than ten minutes to walk back here. The weather is really cold. I almost shivered when I came out of the warm bathhouse.
This is the real armor removal. The mud on the body is now armor!
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