, I didn’t blink. "
So in the next few minutes, Zhu An spent the whole time while the older friends and the children asked and blinked.
Zhu An ignored the older friends and children anymore. She poured oil into another hot pot and waited for the oil to boil. When it is hot and foaming, put the twist noodles in. Most of the oil at this time is rapeseed oil. You need to heat the pan and pour the oil into the rapeseed oil, and then wait until the oil bubbles before adding anything, otherwise the oil will have a raw smell and fishy smell. The smell is very strong.
Bah...
The originally white twist noodles slowly turned golden brown while being fried. The burnt aroma gradually came out. The
two children who were originally paying attention to the watch were attracted again. But Ren Jianchen only glanced curiously and secretly for a few times, and then immediately withdrew his gaze.
Zhu Dabao was not so honest. His eyes were still staring at the watch, but his mouth was not idle: "Sister, what are you doing? ? "
I'm making twists. " Zhu An said, "You and Xiaochen watch your watches obediently. I'll call you when the twist is ready."
"Well, I will watch my watch obediently. " "Zhu Dabao patted the chest for assurance.
The fried twist is faster. The steamed chicken cake is not ready yet, but the twist is already ready. However, the freshly baked twist needs to be aired and filtered. Oil.
As more and more twists came out of the pot, Zhu Dabao became more and more restless. He could still stare at his watch and keep asking questions. But now, his mouth and eyes are in sync. "Sister , my stomach is going to growl.
"Okay, okay, you go get a bowl. " "Zhu An fried all the twists and put them all in the basket. There was a piece of cloth in the basket. The oil stains that fell from the twists dripped on the cloth. After hearing Zhu An's words, the eldest brother and Xiao
Chen Immediately went to get the bowl, and the two of them lined up obediently like they did when eating before. The little Xiao Chen lined up in the front, and the big Zhu Dabao lined up in the back. Two pairs of puppy-like eyes stared at... Zhu An's hands Zhu An
gave them five twists each, and then said: "You can go outside to eat. I will call you when the steamed chicken cake in the steamer is ready." "
"Hey."
The two of them went out with the twists and sat on the threshold. Unlike Zhu Dabao who ate immediately, Ren Jianchen did not eat immediately. Instead, he sniffed the twists with his little nose. The fragrant twists made his mouth salivate more and more. When he heard the crunching sound coming from beside him, Ren Jianchen picked up one and took a bite.
tasty!
Fried twists are crispy and fragrant, so of course they are delicious.
While the two of them were eating, a satisfied smile appeared on their lips.
However, unlike Zhu Dabao who ate four sticks in one go and had one left, Ren Jianchen stopped eating after eating one stick. He likes to eat slowly and is most afraid that it will be gone soon after eating. He cherishes hard-won things very much.
Zhu Dabao saw that there was only one stick in his bowl, but there were still four sticks in Xiao Chen's bowl. He pursed his lips and said, "Xiao Chen, you eat so slowly." Ren Jianchen showed
a shy smile: "Well ."
Zhu Dabao was a little jealous. He only had one such delicious twist, and Xiao Chen still had a lot. After he ate it, it would be gone, and Xiao Chen could continue to eat. Woohoo... I knew he would have as much left as Xiaochen.
Although Zhu Dabao was annoyed that he ate too quickly, he did not ask Ren Jianchen for it. He just stared at Ren Jianchen, hoping that he could eat faster.
However, he was disappointed. No matter how much he waited, Xiaochen just refused to eat.
Zhu Dabao was confused. There were still a lot of twists in his bowl. Why didn't Xiao Chen eat it?
Before he could solve his doubts, Zhu An called them: "Brother, Xiao Chen, the cake is ready. You can come over." "Here it comes."
As soon as they heard that the cake was ready, the two of them immediately went to line up. .
After getting the chicken cake, Zhu Dabao's mind was no longer on the twist. As soon as he got the chicken cake, he blew it several times and then drank it in one gulp. The taste of the milky egg cake and the twist are completely different. One is crispy and crispy, and the other is soft and fragrant.
The two of them were eating snacks outside, and Zhu An was cleaning up the kitchen inside. The chicken cakes were placed in the basket, and the twists were packed in cloth bags, and then put into the milk powder jar. Twist twists tend to become damp if not put in a clinker bag. Once damp, they will lose their crispiness, so they should be placed in a milk powder can.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Zhu An was not idle. She wanted to go back to the brigade. Her eldest brother and Xiao Chen's household registrations were in the brigade. If they went to the army, she would also need a letter of introduction from the brigade.
"Brother, Xiaochen, I'm going to the brigade. Do you want to go with me?" Zhu An asked the two of them.
"I'm not going, I want to play with glass balls later." Zhu Dabao finally found someone willing to play with him, so he didn't want to go to the countryside.
When Ren Jianchen heard that his uncle refused to go, he also said, "Auntie, uncle and I are at home." He was always casual, and although he was reluctant to leave his hometown, he didn't like the fact that there was Ren's family in his hometown. Now that his uncle is not going, he will stay and take care of him.
"Okay, I'm going. You guys should be good and don't quarrel with others when I'm not around." She was away, and she was worried that they would be bullied and no one would make the decision. So it is better to endure it.
"I understand, auntie."
"Sister, I will be good."
Zhu An warned the two of them and then returned to the brigade. They ate lunch quickly, and it only took about an hour to make snacks, so Zhu An arrived at the production team early, only at 2:30.
But by now everyone was already at work, and many people saw Zhu An while he was at work.
"Isn't that Zhu An? She's back from the county town." "
She was the only one on the bicycle. Sha Bao and Ren San's son didn't come back." "
This Ren San's son is enjoying happiness in the county town." "
I remember Zhu An My aunt is from the city. What do you think their family is like in the city?" "
Their family has no relatives in the city. When Dr. Zhu and his wife died, they didn't see any relatives from the city." "
That's okay. It's not necessarily that there are no relatives, maybe the relationship is broken."
"Xiao An..." Qian Shuhong also saw Zhu An, she put down her work and went ashore.
Zhu An originally wanted to go directly there on her bicycle, but she had to stop when she heard Qian Shuhong's voice. "Aunt..." When Qian Shuhong arrived, she called out.
"Xiao An, how are you in the county?" Qian Shuhong took a good look at her and saw that she was getting better and her face was rosy, and she felt relieved.
Zhu An said: "Many of the neighbors in the county know each other. After knowing that my father and mother passed away, they took good care of the three of us." In fact, this was not the case. We didn't have much contact with anyone except Grandma Qin. She and others No contact. In addition, these days she went to the black market in the middle of the night, caught up on sleep during the day, and went to the hospital, so she didn't have time to walk around with everyone. However, she plans to live in the county for a long time and will not be in a hurry to move around.
"That's good, that's good. Far away is not as good as close neighbors. You have to have good relations with your neighbors." Qian Shuhong warned.
Zhu An: "I know, thank you aunt for reminding me. I came here today to see the captain's grandfather."
When Qian Shuhong heard this, she thought she was here because of Ren Jianchen's medical expenses, and asked hurriedly: "How is Xiaochen's condition? Like? Is 20 yuan enough for medical expenses?"
Zhu An shook his head: "Not enough. The doctor in the county said that the child's malnutrition is secondary, and the main reason is poor physical development. The organs in the body are not developed well, which will affect future growth. It is estimated that it will be difficult to even grow taller, unless there is a lot of nutrition. If you continue to drink it, you have to use milk powder and wheat%e4%b9%b3 essence to supplement it. Also, because the organs are not developed well, your health will not be good in the future. If you are not careful, you can easily get sick. Getting sick is a trivial matter, but whether you can grow Most of them don't know." As for Xiao Chen growing up safely and taller in the future, it was because the Zhu family spent a lot of money and drank a lot of milk powder and wheat essence.
So Zhu An is not worried about this.
As soon as Zhu An said that Xiao Chen would be frail and sick in the future, and he didn't know if he would be able to grow up, Qian Shuhong couldn't help but blame the Ren family: "Damn it, this Ren family is really indifferent. A good child can't do anything." Being ruined like this. If Ren San is still here, this is the revenge of killing his son, and Ren San will definitely not give up."
Zhu An didn't know much about Ren Guoyong. What she knew about Ren Guoyong was from the life of Xiao Chen in later generations. . I only know that he died when Xiao Chen was eight years old. After his death, Xiao Chen was bullied by his stepmother. In the middle of winter, Xiao Chen went to the river to wash clothes, and then fell into the river. Because he was discovered too late, his legs were frostbitten. , and has been disabled ever since.
Later, he was taken home by his eldest brother.
But that was three years from now. Now it is 1959, that is, 1962. At that time, little Zhu An had passed away. Can the eldest brother guard the Zhu family by himself?
"Auntie, what kind of person is Ren Guoyong?" Zhu An asked.
"Speaking of Ren Guoyong, we have to talk about old man Ren's family affairs. Old man Ren married two wives. Ren Da and Ren Er were born to old man Ren and his first wife. Ren Guoyong was born to old man Ren after his first wife passed away. He was born to his wife. It was very chaotic outside at that time, and Ren Guoyong's mother was brought back alone by Old Man Ren." Qian Shuhong was also helpless about the world at that time. Many people were separated from their relatives, or their wives and children were separated. . Situations like Ren Guoyong’s mother are too common.
"Six years ago, in 1953, the army came here to recruit soldiers. Ren Guoyong signed up and passed. Mrs. Ren was worried that her son would not be able to come back, so before he left, she told him about his wife. Xiao Chen's mother was from the brigade next door. , her father died early, and her mother remarried when she was very young, so Xiao Chen’s mother lived alone with her grandparents. Before she got married, her grandparents also passed away
.
But Xiao Chen’s mother was also very lucky. , I found out that I was pregnant a month after the man left, and gave birth to Xiao Chen the next year. However, when I gave birth to Xiao Chen, I suffered a lot because of the abnormal position of the fetus, and also hurt my body, so my health has not been very good since then. Okay.
Half a year after Xiao Chen was born, Xiao Chen’s grandma left. Three years later, when Xiao Chen was three years old, Xiao Chen’s mother didn’t survive. When Xiao Chen’s mother went, Guoyong came back once. After that At the end of March this year, the telegram came that Guoyong had died."
Zhu An couldn't help but feel his heart twitch when he heard this.
Qian Shuhong saw Zhu An's expression was a little bad, and knew what she was thinking. She was just sympathizing with Xiao Chen.
"Don't worry, Auntie, I will take good care of Xiaochen. He is a well-behaved and filial child." Zhu An said.
This is also why Qian Shuhong said it in such detail. Frankly speaking, it is indeed appropriate for Zhu An to take Xiao Chen in. If this was placed in other people's homes, even hers, in the brigade, the Zheng family's mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and sisters-in-law would get along well with each other. But if she wanted to take in a child, her husband, sisters-in-law, and parents-in-law would definitely have objections.
Zhu An of the Zhu family can make the decision, and Zhu Dabao is in such a situation. The main thing is that Zhu An's mind is not bad, and Xiao Chen will not have a bad life in their family. No matter how bad you are, you will still be better than others.
Besides, she was on good terms with the Zhu family, and she knew Zhu An a little bit, and knew that this girl was kind-hearted and would not treat Xiao Chen badly. "That child is indeed well-behaved and filial." The little figure never stopped from dawn to dusk every day. I go dig wild vegetables and collect firewood at dawn, and don't come back until dark. Children without parents are miserable.
The two of them didn't say much. Zhu An still wanted to go to the captain to get a letter of introduction, so after talking to Qian Shuhong for a while, he went to find the captain.
The captain was in another field and heard Zhu An's cry. When he saw that Zhu An was coming, his heart beat faster. Seeing that Zhu An hadn't come back these days, he thought that Ren Jianchen's condition was okay, and he felt relieved. But he didn't expect that he was relieved just yesterday, and Zhu An would be back today. I wonder how Ren Jianchen is doing? Don't be too serious, otherwise the Ren family will most likely not come up with any more money.
The captain sighed and walked to Zhu An: "How is Xiaochen's situation?" He, an old man, didn't have to mince words when talking to a little girl.
Zhu An frowned and said: "Not very good. I have other things to trouble the captain, grandpa. Can we find a place to explain?"
"Go to the village committee office." The captain walked in front, and Zhu An followed behind pushing his bicycle.
There were many people watching them in the field. Especially the Ren family. A few days ago, the captain said something about 20 yuan. Although Zhang Hongfen didn't want to agree, the captain's majesty was there, and the captain said that if the 20 yuan was not given and this matter reached the commune, It's not that simple anymore.
Zhang Hongfen was worried that the 2,600 yuan solitary payment would be exposed, so she didn't dare to make any more trouble. She treated the 20 yuan as a dog feed. But Zhu An is here again today. Is he coming to ask for money again?
In the village committee office
, Zhu An told the captain what he had said to Qian Shuhong. The more the captain listened, the more he frowned: "In other words, Xiaochen's body needs to be taken good care of? Just take good care of it. It may not be possible to raise it? Even if it is raised, the body will be very weak?" What is going on? To put it bluntly, if this is the case, is it still necessary to raise it?
But having said that, if it was his grandson, he wouldn't be able to give up just because he wanted to. After all, it would cost him his life. "In such a situation, the Ren family will not give so much money."
Zhu An naturally knew this: "I came today not for money, but to get a letter of introduction."
"A letter of introduction?" The captain was puzzled. He was not asking for money, but a letter of introduction. "Where do you want a letter of introduction?"
"A letter of introduction to the army..." Zhu An said the address again, "Comrade Ren Guoyong passed away. As a son, Xiao Chen should go and see him off. At the same time, I also hope that the army will look at the situation of Comrade Ren Guoyong and subsidize some medical expenses for Xiao Chen. In this way, there is no need to ask the Ren family for money. Grandpa, the captain of the brigade, also No need to be embarrassed."
Captain: "..." I thought to myself, this Zhu An is so courageous. If you go to the army to pay homage to Ren Guoyong, that's no problem. If Xiaochen's medical expenses are required, then I'm afraid... But I can't stop it. If I stop it, what will happen to Ren Jianchen's medical expenses? "Juan, if you want subsidies from the army, you have to be more careful with what you say. If you think the situation is wrong and there is danger, don't ask for it."
"I understand, and I won't take risks. Don't worry, Grandpa Captain. But I hope Grandpa Captain can keep this matter a secret. Otherwise, if the Ren family knows about this, they might come to me and ask for money." Zhu Andao . She didn't want the Ren family to know that they were going to the army.
The captain nodded: "Don't worry about this, I won't talk about it." Given the moral character of Ren's family, if they knew about this, they might actually ask Zhu An for money. He didn't have money to treat the child, so he wouldn't trouble them for such a small thing.
After Zhu An got the letter of introduction from the brigade captain, he went to his house to look at it again. He didn't meet Mrs. Lin, so after looking at her house, she went back to the county seat.
When Zhu An returned to the alley, he saw Zhu Dabao and Ren Jianchen playing with the children at the door of his house.
"Brother, Xiaochen." Zhu An called. She came over on her bicycle and met several familiar faces, and everyone looked at her.
"Sister (aunt)..."
The two people who were originally squatting stood up.
"You guys can continue playing." Zhu An pushed the bicycle into the yard.
Zhu An took Zhu Dabao and Ren Jianchen to the army two days later, which happened to be April 30. Because we took the morning train, the family got up early. I didn’t bring much. In addition to each person bringing a change of clothes, I also brought two sets of clothes inside. Then he also brought some food, including salted duck eggs that Zhu An bought from the black market, homemade soy sauce baked potatoes, home-made pickled radishes, chicken cakes, twists, sugar and green onion steamed buns, and brown sugar steamed buns. As for not bringing all kinds of bills, the current bills are local bills and are not nationwide, so it is useless to bring them.
Thanks to the fact that although the weather is nice now, it's not very hot, so it won't go bad if I bring more steamed buns.
"Brother, you have to follow me closely." Zhu An led Ren Jianchen and walked in front, while Zhu Dabao followed closely behind her with his luggage. Zhu An took a few steps and looked behind him. Zhu Dabao made a mistake behind him. In fact, Zhu Dabao is very tall and tall, and many people look up at him just by standing there, so under normal circumstances he will be fine. But Zhu An was still worried.
"Sister, I'll follow." Zhu Dabao was carrying a backpack in front of him. Zhu An had taken apart Zhu's father's clothes and made two of them in the past two days. She carried one and Zhu Dabao carried one. Zhu Dabao was also carrying a suitcase in his left hand. The suitcases of this era were very heavy and made of leather, which the Zhu family had before. His right hand was holding a large rag bag with a drawstring opening. There were two thin quilts inside, weighing about eight kilograms of cotton in total. For Zhu Dabao, it is not heavy at all.
The railway station in the county town was not crowded, so there were no accidents on their way to the train. But when I found my seat, I found someone there, a woman and a child sitting there.
Chapter 25
◎Getting off the train◎
When reading forum posts in his previous life, Zhu An often saw people sitting in the "wrong" seats on high-speed trains, but he had never encountered it before, and he didn't expect to encounter it once he traveled through time.
Zhu An held Ren Jianchen's hand and carefully checked his ticket, and then said to the woman sitting on his berth: "Sister, this is my seat." The woman looked young, about in her early twenties
. , less than thirty years old, the children around him looked about the same age as Ren Jianchen, but they were much taller than Ren Jianchen.
When Zhu An came in front of her, she had a hunch that the sleeper belonged to him. But: "I'm sorry, sister, my berth is on the upper berth opposite, but it's inconvenient for me to get up there with my child. Can we change seats?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm sorry, sister, I have a child with me too. My child is not in good health and can't sleep up there." Zhu An also said with a smile, while taking off his backpack and putting it directly on the bed, he said to Zhu Dabao behind him. , "Brother, please take out the quilts and put one on top and one on the bottom."
Zhu An bought the bunk bed and the bottom bunk together. She didn't want to buy someone else's bottom bunk for fear that the people on the top bunk would be unclean, so she didn't want to buy one. Someone else's upper bunk will disturb others when they come down. It happened that they wanted two berths. The eldest brother and Xiao Chen slept on the bottom, and she slept on the top. ⊥思⊥Rabbit⊥网⊥The
woman glanced at Ren Jianchen in Zhu An's hand. Even after a week of nursing and drinking milk powder, he had gained some weight, but his physical condition was real and he could not be healthy. So fast. So he is still very thin, and his dark face still looks like there is no flesh. His big bright eyes look a little bulging on this face. If he was poorly dressed, he might be regarded as a beggar by others, but he was decently dressed, clean and without patches, so it would make sense to say that he was covering up because he was sick and in poor health.
Ren Jianchen was a smart man. Seeing the woman staring at him, he hid behind Zhu An and said in a pitiful tone: "Auntie, I feel uncomfortable, have a headache, and have a stomachache."
Zhu An was very happy. Xiao Chen was so clever. She just opened her mouth and he would cooperate with her.
The other people in the carriage looked on as if watching the fun, but no one spoke.
Seeing this, the woman wanted to say something, but she saw that Zhu Dabao had already taken out two quilts, one was placed on the upper bunk, and the other was about to put down the bunk, but the mother and son were sitting on the lower bunk with their things on it. , there was no place to put his quilt. So, Zhu Dabao hugged the quilt and looked at them.
"Auntie, I'm so sad, my head hurts so much..." Ren Jianchen held Zhu An's hand, with a cry in his voice. In the past, when his cousin beat him, he would just pretend to cry and beg for mercy, and Brother Tang would stop, so he knew how to pretend to cry.
The woman had no choice but to get up. If the other party doesn't have children, she can still fight for it, but if the other party has children, the children are crying. If she doesn't give in, what will others think of her?
So the woman got up immediately and apologized with a smile: "I'm so sorry, we'll get up right away." After saying that, she first moved the things to her bed, and then said to the child, "Xiaolong, get up quickly."
The boy named Xiaolong was too lazy to get up from the bed: "I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want to sleep on the top, I want to sleep on the bottom." The
woman patiently explained: "This lower bunk belongs to someone else. Now that someone else is back, we want it." Return it to others, be obedient, and let me give you White Rabbit toffee, okay?" "
I don't want it, I don't want it. If I don't obey, you have to give me White Rabbit toffee." The little boy just sat and refused to come down.
Zhu An couldn't help but frown. She carried Ren Jianchen to the place that the woman had vacated, and then took off his shoes: "Xiao Chen, please fix it first...Brother, give me the quilt." "Huh? Oh.
" Zhu Dabao hurriedly handed the quilt to his sister.
Zhu An took the quilt and covered Ren Jianchen's belly with a corner. She winked mischievously at Ren Jianchen where no one else could see it.
Ren Jianchen closed his eyes in understanding.
The little boy was still sitting and refused to get up. Seeing that Ren Jianchen had already fallen asleep, he was furious: "Get up, this is mine. You can't sleep. Get up." As he said this, he crawled over and pulled An Gai on. The quilt on Xiaochen’s body.
"What are you doing?" Seeing this, Zhu Dabao strode forward and pulled the quilt back, "You are so disobedient. Didn't your mother teach you to be an obedient and sensible child?" Zhu Dabao always remembered As his parents have taught him, he cannot let others bully his sister. He is an older brother and must protect his sister. Even a child can't bully his sister, so he glared at the little boy fiercely.
Zhu Dabao's voice was silly and he looked upright, but he was tall, so his glare was very intimidating. Ordinary little boys would be frightened when they see such a big person, but this little boy didn't: "You dare to hurt me, do you know who my father is? Ask my father to arrest you and shoot you, you bad guy." Adult, if you bully a child, you will be shot."
Zhu Dabao didn't know what shooting meant, so he didn't understand the little boy's words, and even asked confusedly: "Who is your father?"
"Xiaolong, shut up." The woman Quickly stopping her son's words, she thought for a moment and said to the others, "Dear comrades in the lower berth, I really had no choice. When I bought the ticket, there was no lower berth, and I was in a hurry to go out, so I bought the upper berth. It's a shop. Is there any one of you willing to exchange it with me? I can pay for the replacement ticket."
"Isn't the payment for the replacement ticket appropriate?" Someone said secretly. It wasn't loud, but it was enough for everyone to hear.
After hearing this, the woman changed slightly: "I'll add an extra fifty cents. Can any comrade please do me a favor?"
"We should help each other when we go out. I don't want your 50 cents. I haven't eaten White Rabbit toffee for a long time. How about you give me half a pound of White Rabbit toffee to try and we help each other?" someone said.
Good guy, half a pound of White Rabbit toffee costs one yuan, and more importantly, it also requires candy coupons, which is much more expensive than fifty cents. This is really mutual help. So with these words, everyone looked at each other, even Zhu An couldn't hold back.
The one who spoke was also a woman. She let everyone watch, her face was not red and she was not out of breath, and she looked like a dead pig who was not afraid of boiling water.
The woman had no other choice. Although she was unhappy, she still took out half a catty of White Rabbit toffee and exchanged it with the other party. But before the position was changed, the little boy saw the woman taking the White Rabbit toffee and started arguing again: "That's my White Rabbit toffee. You can't give it to anyone else. If you dare to give it to others, I'll tell my dad to beat you to death." Wuwuwu..." He shouted and cried again. Never leave my father alone.
His cry was so loud that some people became impatient: "It's so noisy, will you take care of the child?" The woman was
also anxious: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She said to the child again, "Please understand clearly." The bunny candy is yours, don't give it to anyone else."
As she spoke, she gave the woman who changed positions a knowing look.
The little boy stopped crying when he heard that he didn't need to give White Rabbit milk candy. Then the two of them started to change places, and the woman didn't come over until the positions were changed.