Chapter 208 Chapter 208 Chapter 108...
Chapter 108
The weather is getting colder, but the atmosphere at home is getting warmer.
The houses for the families of the resident were newly built in the past few years. They were good in every way except for the lack of a kang (kang). Su and Weisheng, accustomed to sleeping on a kang, discussed it again and chose a day to build one at home.
Both Weisheng and the widow Su knew how to build a kang. In comparison, Shi Dongzhi could only help them.
After they built a kang (a traditional Chinese bed), Weisheng would often sit cross-legged on it to review. Su Shi would not disturb him. While he was reviewing, she would busy herself with household chores. When he finished, she would turn on the radio and listen to the broadcast and chat with him.
The cat at home not only slept like a cat pancake on the kang, but also brought back a calico cat from the neighborhood. Sometimes it attentively gestured to the calico cat to eat its cat food, and sometimes it took the calico cat to sleep on the warm kang at home, which made Weisheng shake his head and laugh.
While some families in the garrison and the family quarters had cats, many also kept rat poison at home. Weisheng was worried his cat might accidentally ingest the poison again, so he sprinkled some rat poison powder around his yard and gate, just as he had done before. He only allowed these two cats to roam in his yard.
By the way, after the calico cat gave birth to kittens, Weisheng immediately had his own tabby cat sterilized. After the calico cat gave birth, he also arranged a sterilization package for the calico cat.
The cat couple only had one kitten, so Weisheng decided to keep it at home and raise it together.
Su Shi always took Wei Sheng's pleasure in these little things. However, the three cats, besides playing and frolicking in the living room, surprisingly loved to nestle in Su Shi's room. At night, they especially loved to sleep around Su Shi. Over time, Su Shi went from being indifferent to these three furry friends to becoming extremely fond of them.
When Su went shopping, she would often buy some small fish and shrimps. It didn't cost much, but it could make the cats at home eat very well.
Although his son and daughter-in-law still don't have a child, Su Shi never pushes them to have one. After he became a poop scooper, Su Shi stopped pushing even more.
The furry children like to scratch the furniture to sharpen their claws, so Weisheng found the cardboard boxes used for moving, cut them into strips of similar width with a knife, and then fixed them neatly on a wooden pallet.
After making a small claw sharpening gadget out of a cardboard box, Weisheng also wrapped two wooden boards with hemp ropes at home and then placed the boards against the wall.
When Su wasn't paying attention, he sprinkled some catnip on these little creatures. After that, they would run over and sharpen their claws on their own without anyone teaching them.
Shi Dongzhi saw Weisheng and Su hanging around the three cats every day, so he brought back a few small bells to please them the next day.
When taking the small bell, Weisheng thought with a smile: Fortunately, I didn’t bring back a few mice as a snack.
←_←
As soon as winter comes, most Chinese people will have a countdown to the Spring Festival in their minds.
Weisheng and Su were no exception.
As the weather got colder, the two of them started thinking about frozen food and New Year's goods.
When we were in Huyang, every winter Weisheng and Su would use buckets of water to freeze a few ice buckets with lids, and then put the food they wanted to freeze in the ice buckets.
Firstly, you can see at a glance what is frozen at home, and secondly, it can prevent cats and mice from stealing food.
The winter in Jinshi is warmer than in Huyang. Although water can be frozen into ice even in the coldest time, it still feels a little lacking.
After asking other relatives who had arrived earlier about winter in Jinshi, the relatives from the south said it was too cold, with water freezing in the winter. The relatives from the north, on the other hand, said the winter was not so bad, not long, and quite warm, though windy.
In the end, Weisheng and Su did not freeze any ice buckets like in previous years, but instead prepared some frozen goods.
The New Year's Eve of 1978 was on February 17th. The day before, the new family members came to their house and gave them a bowl of chopped peppers. Weisheng then told Su and Shi Dongzhi that they would have grilled fish with chopped peppers for the New Year's Eve dinner.
So Shi Dongzhi went out to buy a live fish early in the morning. Without Su's help, he moved a small stool and sat in the yard to take out the live fish.
After cleaning out the fish skillfully, he killed a laying hen that Su had chosen.
By the time Su woke up, Shi Dongzhi had even finished sweeping the yard. And by the time Weisheng woke up, Shi Dongzhi had already finished his first bowl of egg water and was carrying another bowl of egg water that Su had just made to the bedroom.
Weisheng took one look at the egg-water soup that Shi Dongzhi brought in, and instantly lay back down, burying his little head in the pillow while trying to pull the quilt over his head.
Shi Dongzhi's face was full of smiles, his eyes full of doting. He placed the bowl on the kang table, then sat down next to Weisheng and said gently, "I put a piece of toffee in it. Try it. It should taste better than before."
The candy was sent from Shanghai by a comrade's family for his wedding. He ate one and was immediately impressed by its rich, milky aroma, sweetness, and fragrance. So, he took all the pieces home.
The original egg water was rice soup, eggs and sugar, and now a piece of White Rabbit milk candy is added... What does it taste like!
After hearing this, Weisheng buried himself deeper, but Shi Dongzhi was worried that the egg water would become more fishy after cooling down for a while, so he dug him out of the quilt.
He lifted the man up with both hands and held him in his arms, one hand around Weisheng's back, and the other hand holding the bowl, motioning Weisheng to drink the egg water from his hand.
Weisheng sat on Shi Dongzhi's lap. At first, he hid his head in Shi Dongzhi's arms. Later, he thought that he would have to drink this thing sooner or later, and it would be even harder to drink if he let it get cold. With a bitter look on his face, he held the bowl with both hands, closed his eyes and drank the bowl of egg water in one breath.
Originally, Weisheng was the only one in the family who drank the egg water. After joining the army, Dongzhi also enjoyed this treatment every now and then. Later, Weisheng told Su that since it was nutritious, the whole family should drink it together.
Since the family was not in a difficult situation, and Su had never thought about herself, now that Weisheng said this, the whole family started drinking egg water.
It’s just that egg water…even though he’s gotten used to drinking it over the years, Weisheng still doesn’t like it.
He let go of his hand and let Shi Dongzhi put the bowl on the kang table beside him. Weisheng leaned his head in Shi Dongzhi's arms again, closed his eyes and continued to doze off.
Shi Dongzhi looked at Weisheng with burning eyes. His throat moved at first, and then he seemed to think of something. He reached out to take Weisheng's quilt and wrapped him up in it.
The 'armchair' was comfortable and the quilt was warm. Weisheng, who had originally just wanted to take a nap because it was so comfortable, actually managed to coax himself to sleep.
The door of their bedroom was not closed. Su glanced inside when she passed by and saw that her son and daughter-in-law were in an intimate posture, so she quietly closed the door.
We can't let those three bastards run in and cause trouble.
Thinking of this, Su felt that she couldn't treat the three fish badly during the New Year, so she took out three dried fish baked in a bread oven from the biscuit box.
The furry kids had sharp ears. As soon as the sound of Su opening the iron box was heard, the three furry kids ran over with "hmmmm".
After feeding each one a small dried fish, Su went to make breakfast.
According to custom, this morning, we would make a stew with the leftovers from the previous day, and then at noon, we would prepare a very sumptuous reunion dinner. After the meal, we would make dumplings in the evening.
Su ate the risotto himself, and then mixed the leftovers that he had specially set aside. Then, he made a batter as Weisheng had done last year. He first left a layer of batter on an iron plate, spread the leftovers on the iron plate, and finally covered it with another layer of batter, sprinkled a few sesame seeds, and then sent it to the bread oven to heat and bake.
According to Weisheng, they are all risotto, just in different forms.
Weisheng took a nap for about an hour, and Shi Dongzhi held her in his arms for an hour.
At first, she stared at Weisheng's face in a daze, and later she hugged Weisheng and stared at the window in a daze.
First, my mother walked around the yard, then a few sparrows landed on the windowsill, standing there looking around. Then, my three furry children jumped around on the window with their tails raised.
Anyway, in the end, Shi Dongzhi didn't know whether they had caught any sparrows to supplement their meals.
…
After a comfortable nap, he felt much more refreshed. Shi Dongzhi put Weisheng down and went out. Weisheng first stretched out on the kang, then changed out of his home clothes with a look of disgust and took off his quilt.
She wore her home clothes next to her body, and her winter solstice clothes outside. Although she slept comfortably, she couldn't ignore the issue of hygiene.
Anyway, Weisheng is the kind of person who won’t sit on his bed without taking off his coat.
My house clothes and quilt covers are dirty. Fortunately, I can wash clothes on New Year's Eve, otherwise I would have to wait until the third day of the New Year.
According to the New Year customs in their hometown, bathing, washing clothes, sweeping the floor and draining the toilet are all fine on New Year's Eve. But starting from the first day of the New Year, not only can bathing and washing clothes not be allowed, but even sweeping the floor cannot be done outwards. Instead, sweep the floor into the corner of the house and then use a peg to collect the dirt.
The first and second days are like this, and then on the third day, you take a shower, wash clothes, sweep the floor and take out the trash. Then the fourth and fifth days are the same as the first and second days, and the sixth day is the same as the third day.
After washing up, Weisheng ate stewed vegetable pancakes with Shi Dongzhi. Then Weisheng wanted to wash clothes and quilt covers, but Shi Dongzhi didn't let her do it. Instead, she sat in front of the washtub and washed them herself.
Not only did he wash Weisheng's, he also washed Su's and his own.
After finishing the laundry, seeing that it was already around nine or ten o'clock, Shi Dongzhi went back to the base to check on the young soldiers. Several officers whose families were accompanying them were also there, and they all returned to the family quarters.
As the weather turned cold in Jinshi, Su moved all the vegetables that had been planted in the yard into wooden troughs and kept them on the windowsill.
Weisheng saw that the garlic sprouts that Su had grown from garlic cloves were growing well, and he said to Su with a smile, "Mom, let's make another dish of scrambled eggs with garlic sprouts for lunch."
After hearing this, Su asked Weisheng whether to stir-fry the cabbage with black fungus with meat or eggs.
Weisheng looked at the garlic sprouts, then at the wood ear mushrooms soaking in water, and raised his chin cutely, "Meat!"
Su looked at Weisheng with a smile on her face, thinking that her daughter-in-law was particularly popular. In her heart, she felt that no other daughter or daughter-in-law could be as proud and complacent as Weisheng.
There are only three people in my family, so we made six dishes for lunch.
Grilled fish with chopped peppers, stewed chicken with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with garlic sprouts, stir-fried meat with wood ear mushrooms and cabbage, boiled shrimp, and steamed pork with braised pork. The staple food was rice with kidney beans and chestnuts.
When Su was stewing the chicken, he deliberately blanched a large piece of chicken breast and left it out separately, so now the three furry children can also eat chicken breast and shrimp.
Weisheng made wine in the summer and brought it out now.
However, she and Su drank wine, while Shi Dongzhi only drank a small glass of Erguotou.
During the winter solstice, I could drink a whole bottle of Erguotou like cold water. So a small cup was just a light drink.
He had to go to the base later. There was a party rehearsed by the soldiers there in the evening. He was drunk and looked very unbecoming.
Our battalion commander is very concerned about his image.
~
They'd been accompanying the troops for several years, but this was the first time Weisheng and Su had stayed at the base as military dependents. Feeling especially justified, and with the proximity so convenient, Su had even suggested to Weisheng that they go to the party after dinner.
Weisheng had no objection, but still asked Shi Dongzhi, "At the party, family members won't be asked to perform, right?" If family members also wanted to perform, then she wouldn't go.
Shi Dongzhi thought about it, then shook his head based on his experience celebrating the New Year in Huyang's place, "Usually not."
"That's good."
Weisheng was quite happy to hear that he would not be asked to perform. But when he arrived, the atmosphere became heated and someone suddenly started clamoring for the sisters-in-law to perform as well.
This battalion, that company, just play around, but they're actually comparing themselves to each other. One says my sister-in-law is good, the other says our sister-in-law is better.
In the end, Weisheng, the young daughter-in-law, was also pushed out.
Weisheng first glared at Shi Dongzhi, then walked onto the stage with ease.
Speaking of which, Weisheng has been on the podium many times, but his experience of being on stage is very few. However, Weisheng feels that there is not much difference between the two.
There is no microphone, no speakers or accompaniment, all we compete on is our real singing skills.
Fortunately, Weisheng was not afraid. He cleared his throat and sang a section of "The Lock of Hair".
"This is the unpredictability of life. I don't want to be reunited today. Looking back at the prosperity is like a dream, and the remaining life is left to the turbulent waves..."
Weisheng sang quite well, mainly because she had studied several opera scenes seriously with a very unserious attitude back then.
Both her singing style and body movements are very good even among non-professionals.
At this moment, he sang with ease and confidence. Not only the soldiers and their families who attended the party, but even Shi Dongzhi was amazed.
Opera performers focus on expressing emotions through eye contact, so after singing the last line, Weisheng even "looked" at Shi Dongzhi.
Shi Dongzhi blushed instantly: "..."
Although no one really understands the opera and can't tell whether Weisheng sings well or not, just her calmness and confidence when standing on the stage makes people feel that she must sing very well.
Even though I don’t understand, I still applaud!
However, after Weisheng finished singing this piece of "The Lock of Hair", the party became a little dull.
The main reason was that Weisheng's song was so high-pitched that the other young wives were a little embarrassed to go on stage. But after only a few minutes of silence, two young soldiers jumped up and told everyone a crosstalk piece that made everyone laugh.
That night, Shi Dongzhi bravely moved his pillow towards Weisheng, then half-turned his body and said, "I didn't know you could sing so well."
Wei Sheng didn't bother to make up stories, so he just said with a very proud, nonchalant tone, "I've seen you train every day for the past few years, and I've learned all your grappling and fighting techniques."
Shi Dongzhi: "...Then you are quite amazing."
"You don't believe it?" Weisheng also turned sideways to look at Shi Dongzhi, with a smirk on his face, "Then let's try it tomorrow and see who wins and who loses."
There's no need to be so serious about it, right?
Shi Dongzhi thought to himself, but seeing that Weisheng was in high spirits and had a look that said he was sure to win, Shi Dongzhi said okay gently and good-temperedly, and began to think about how he could lose tomorrow to make Weisheng happier.
After encountering a black market agency that forced him to buy and sell, Weisheng openly sought out a traditional martial arts master to learn martial arts. But before that, Weisheng had been seriously learning grappling and fighting techniques from the instructors in the army.
Coincidentally, what Shi Dongzhi and the others were practicing now was very similar to what Weisheng had learned back then. If they really started fighting... Weisheng might not be the loser.
We didn't lose, but winning wasn't that easy either.
At the beginning, Shi Dongzhi was thinking about how to lose, but later he thought about how to avoid losing so badly.
When he was knocked down by Weisheng, not only did Shi Dongzhi begin to doubt his life, but all the soldiers in the garrison also felt a kind of confusion that was unbearable to look at.
Battalion Commander Shi was no weakling, a prominent figure in their special forces brigade. But the couple exchanged hundreds of blows, and in the end, it was Battalion Commander Shi who was defeated by his wife.
The most unbelievable thing is that Captain Shi did not give any leeway, and Shi's sister-in-law won without any reason.
If they can learn it just by watching, and the fight ends up like this, how can they bear the consequences for those who have to train intensively every day?
There were those who didn't believe in evil and came up to challenge Weisheng after he had a good rest. However, in order to prevent Shi Dongzhi from being too embarrassed, Weisheng didn't even let him win, and everyone gave their all.
In order to show that their defeat was not unfair, Weisheng also specially taught them some tips of Chinese medicine to defeat the enemy, which made the group of soldiers even more depressed.
The garrison leaders heard the news and not only watched the second half but also witnessed Shi Dongzhi's defeat. They had previously assumed Shi Dongzhi was giving his wife a break, but unexpectedly, even the others, despite not giving him a break, were also defeated by Weisheng. The leaders looked at each other and then decided to increase the intensity of the soldiers' training.
A group of people who were carefully selected to join the special brigade were actually unable to beat a young military wife. It's shameful, so shameful.
╮(╯▽╰)╭
Since New Year's Eve, Shi Dongzhi still gets up early every day to go for morning training, but he comes back every day to have breakfast, and then personally holds Weisheng in his arms and feeds him egg water.
However, he also knew Weisheng's little obsession with cleanliness, so he would always take off his outer clothes before hugging someone.
Weisheng doesn't mind this overly intimate behavior, and sometimes he even likes this slightly ambiguous atmosphere.
Shi Dongzhi seemed to have noticed it, but he measured himself and approached little by little, hoping that Weisheng would slowly get used to him.
When the weather is cold, there is a little ambiguity in the warmth, but as the weather gets hotter and everyone wears less and less, it is no longer a little ambiguity, but a temptation that both parties can feel.
A very strong hormonal atmosphere permeated the air between them. Their hearts were pounding, their arms were tense, their Adam's apples were throbbing, and they were so strong that they wanted to rub the person into their body...
The excitement in the morning, the confusion at night, it seemed as if everything happened unexpectedly, yet as natural as if it were a matter of course.
After that, Weisheng developed the habit of sleeping in Shi Dongzhi's arms.
She curled up in Shi Dongzhi's arms, not minding at all that Shi Dongzhi would half-press her when he fell asleep, and even use his arms and legs to wrap her up completely.
As things got better, Shi Dongzhi would often hold Weisheng in his arms, and Weisheng would lean against him to listen to his heartbeat. However, Weisheng's favorite thing to do was to rub his face against Shi Dongzhi, which was both intimate and a little fragile, making people feel distressed.
Su was the first to notice the changes between her son and daughter-in-law. She was relieved and happy for them, and no longer worried that the two would not be able to make it together.
Really, Mrs. Su used to worry that her son and daughter-in-law wouldn't get along and would eventually get divorced.
…
In August, signals came from Beijing that the college entrance examination would be resumed.
Jin is very close to Beijing, and there were many comrades there during the winter solstice. He heard about this within a few days. After returning home, he told Weisheng the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination. Weisheng's daily review time went from two hours to four.
After picking a day, Shi Dongzhi went to the city to do some business, and brought Weisheng and Su with him.
First, the family took two family photos, then Shi Dongzhi took photos with Weisheng and Su separately, and then Weisheng took photos with Su again. After these photos were taken, Shi Dongzhi asked the photo studio to take individual photos of the three of them.
There are full-body photos and half-body photos, and then each person takes a one-inch and a two-inch photo.
In October, not only was the college entrance examination resumed, but the time for the first college entrance examination after its resumption was also announced.
As soon as the news came out, almost the whole country was in an uproar. If Shi Dongzhi had not asked his comrades to pay attention early on and helped Weisheng get a copy of the "Self-study Series of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry", he would probably have been like those candidates who wanted to take the college entrance examination, scrambling for a copy of the review materials.
On the day of registration, Shi Dongzhi took another day off and went to the city admissions office early with Weisheng's ID and a one-inch photo taken in advance.
Shi Dongzhi went there early, and unexpectedly made Weisheng the first candidate to register for the college entrance examination, and even his admission ticket number was 00001.
Weisheng was surprised to receive the numbered admission ticket. He kissed Dongzhi and went to find some plastic film to seal the thin admission ticket.
It's so memorable, I must take photos when I go back!
Shi Dongzhi leaned against the door frame and watched Weisheng walking around. For a moment, he actually felt that Weisheng's happiness was very simple.
The Su family has a strong sense of ritual now, and they always celebrate every little thing. Today is the day Weisheng got his admission ticket, and Su said happily that they would celebrate it properly.
So without waiting for Su to say anything, Shi Dongzhi, who knew his mother very well, took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves and started chopping meat.
In their family, dumplings are indispensable no matter what festival it is.
No matter what you’re celebrating, there has to be dumplings!
Weisheng's heart softened when he saw Su turning around to knead the dough and Shi Dongzhi chopping the meat.
This is her...human life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
