The weather in April was unpredictable. I thought the temperature in the north city would gradually rise, but after a strong wind in the evening, it started snowing again.
The family compound, which had originally been free of snow, was covered with a layer of silvery white snow overnight. Wen Nuan finally realized what a late spring cold snap was.
I stayed at home almost the entire winter, but these two days Wen Nuan had to go back to the cafeteria to work, so I belatedly felt the coldness of the north city.
Fortunately, Wen Nuan saved a lot of honeycomb coal after going to work, so the house was not like an ice room. Otherwise, they didn’t have a kang at home, and they would definitely be so cold that they would have a runny nose.
Gu Qinghan was also secretly delighted that Wen Nuan took the initiative to move closer to him these past two nights. Finally, he was not despised like he was some time ago. So he hugged her tightly before going to bed at night, fearing that when the weather got better later, Wen Nuan would think he was too hot again.
That day, Gu Qinghan got up early and went back to the regiment. Before leaving, he told Wen Nuan that he could not send her to the kitchen squad, saying that the division commander had organized comrades above the battalion level to take a walk to the nearby cemetery.
Although it had been several days since Qingming Festival, feudal superstitions were not allowed these days, so the event was deliberately delayed for a few days before being organized.
Because the weather was bad all day, at around four o'clock in the afternoon, the quartermaster asked Wen Nuan to take Le Le back home first, in case it snowed again later.
A few days ago, colleagues from the kitchen team went up the mountain to pick mushrooms and wild vegetables, and brought back a lot of mugwort. Wen Nuan made some green rice dumplings in the cafeteria these two days, but the soldiers of the flight team are not suitable to eat too much of this kind of indigestible food, so they didn't make much.
There were a lot of mugwort leaves left in their kitchen, so Lao Zhong simply distributed them to his comrades in the kitchen.
But everyone was obviously tired of cooking in the cafeteria, and basically wouldn't touch the boiler again when they got home, so no one wanted it.
Wen Nuan had no choice but to take the unwanted mugwort leaves home and planned to make some green rice dumplings. She asked Qinglan to take some back to the dormitory. The weather was cold these days and they would not spoil easily if left alone.
The dough with mugwort juice had just been kneaded when Gu Qinglan and Sister Guihua came over.
As soon as you enter the door, you can smell the fragrance of mugwort leaves. The refreshing fragrance makes you feel refreshed, and the fatigue of the whole day disappears in an instant.
Lele was kneading a piece of dough. When she saw Gu Qinglan coming, she quickly walked towards her and called out in a baby voice, "Gu."
Seeing this, Gu Qinglan picked up the fat girl and kissed her vigorously on the cheek: "Le Le, do you miss your aunt? I bought you a new hairpin, do you like it?"
As she spoke, she took out a new hairpin from her pocket, pinned it on Lele's hair, and said with a smile: "Wow, our Lele is so pretty! Auntie loves you so much!"
Wen Nuan looked over at them and saw the hairpin on Le Le's head, so she said, "Qing Lan, don't buy her so many hairpins. She already has seven or eight now."
Gu Qinglan smiled and said, "I don't care. I will buy it for our Lele. In the summer, auntie will buy you a nice dress!"
As he said that, he kissed the little guy on the face a few more times. The little guy laughed and brought the green rice flour in his hand to Gu Qinglan's mouth, motioning her to open her mouth: "Ah—"
Gu Qinglan smiled and took the mugwort dough that the little guy handed to her and bit it directly into her mouth.
Wen Nuan frowned upon seeing this and said hurriedly, "Qinglan, the dough is not cooked yet, aren't you afraid of getting an upset stomach?"
"Besides, I don't know how long Lele has been playing with that piece of dough, and you actually dared to eat it!"
Gu Qinglan laughed carelessly, pinched Lele's cheek, and said nonchalantly: "Anyway, you won't die from eating too much. Besides, I'm almost starving to death. I'm busy like a top every day. I feel like I'm never full no matter how much I eat."
The little guy giggled, hugged Gu Qinglan and gave her a kiss on the face, "Kiss—"
Seeing the two of them quarreling, Wen Nuan shook her head in amusement, "You should be careful about diarrhea. By the way, there are walnut cakes and rice seeds in the chest of drawers. If you are hungry, eat some first."
Sister Guihua also shook her head in amusement. "That's right. You still work in the hospital, but you don't even pay attention to your own hygiene."
Gu Qinglan ignored her two sisters-in-law's teachings and quickly walked towards the chest of drawers with the still giggling Lele in her arms. She whispered in her ear, "Lele, auntie will get you something delicious. What do you want to eat?"
As she spoke, Gu Qinglan opened the chest of drawers. Lele's reaction was even faster than hers. She stretched out her little hand and grabbed the bag of candies that she usually kept warm and didn't let her eat. She said with a smile, "Candies."
Gu Qinglan quietly took a candy and said with a smile: "Don't be so loud, be careful not to let your mother see it, or she will scold your aunt again."
When the little guy heard it, he quickly raised the index finger of his right hand, placed it on his rosy lips, and made a "hush" sound.
Gu Qinglan kissed Lele's chubby face twice more, "Our Lele is still smart!"
After saying that, Wen Nuan, who was kneading the qingtuan, suddenly said, "Gu Qinglan, don't give her any more candy. She only had one at noon."
"Oh, I see!" Gu Qinglan took a seed and asked Lele to hold it. "Lele, let's eat this. It smells good."
The little guy quickly covered his mouth, shook his head, and frowned.
"You don't know what's good about it. If you don't want to eat it, then my aunt will." As she said that, she put the seeds into her mouth and bit them with a crunch.
Over there, Wen Nuan and Sister Guihua were making green dumplings. The filling was what Wen Nuan had just made, with fresh spring bamboo shoots chopped into small pieces and mixed with green onions and minced meat.
There are also three-fresh fillings, using mushrooms, black fungus, minced meat, and some small dried shrimps brought by Sister Guihua. They haven’t been steamed yet, but you can already smell the delicious fragrance.
Because Gu Qinglan and Lele both love sweets, Wen Nuan specially made one with white sugar and peanut filling.
With the help of Sister Guihua, the green rice dumplings were wrapped very quickly.
Wen Nuan hasn't cooked at home very often recently, so she saved some oil.
In order to make the taste of the green dumpling not too rough, a layer of oil is applied to each green dumpling. Each green dumpling is kneaded into a round and smooth shape, and no mugwort particles can be seen on the surface.
Sister Guihua then praised Gu Qinglan, "Your sister-in-law is the best. When I made Qingtuan before, I directly added chopped mugwort leaves into it. My son Zhou didn't like it very much and said it made his throat choke."
The warm method is to squeeze the mugwort into juice and then add it to the flour dough, so the surface is particularly smooth.
Wen Nuan put the qingtuan into the pot, and Gu Qinglan took over the job of lighting the fire. She looked up curiously and saw that the qingtuan were particularly round and looked very beautiful.
"Just looking at this makes me want to eat it now." As she said this, Gu Qinglan quickened the pace of burning firewood in her hands.
After steaming for about ten minutes, the green rice dumplings can be served.
The steamed green dumplings look soft, glutinous and delicate. They are neatly arranged on the plate, green and fresh and cute.
Wen Nuan separated the various fillings into several plates. Gu Qinglan had been looking forward to it for a long time. When the plate of white sugar and peanut filling came out of the pot, she didn't care that it was scalding hot and just picked up one with chopsticks and ate it.
The sweetness of melted sugar plus the crispy fragrance of peanuts are so sweet that people can't help but take a sip of the sweet juice in the green rice dumpling. The soft, glutinous and refreshing green rice dumpling skin weakens the sweetness of the sugar, so the taste is just right, neither too sweet nor bland.
After trying the one with sugar and peanut filling, Gu Qinglan tried the one with three fresh ingredients. No wonder the teacher was attracted by the food cooked by her sister-in-law!
Who wouldn’t say it’s delicious after eating it
Wen Nuan saw that Qinglan had eaten three and still wanted to eat more, so she stuffed the lunch box with green dumplings into her hands and said, "Qinglan, take some to Sister Juxiang. These are all glutinous rice dumplings. Don't eat too much at once."
Gu Qinglan smacked her lips and said with a smile, "How could I have eaten too much? I only ate three!"
But he still obediently took the lunch box handed to him by Wen Nuan and asked, "Is this for Sister Juxiang?"
"Okay, go and come back quickly, otherwise it might snow again." Wen Nuan took a woolen hat for Gu Qinglan and asked her to wear it, but Gu Qinglan didn't wear it.
"It's not that cold now, so it's troublesome to wear it. I'll be back after I've delivered it." Gu Qinglan took the lunch box and walked out the door.
The little guy thought Gu Qinglan was leaving, and he pursed his lips as he watched her leaving the door, as if he was about to cry, with tears welling up in his eyes.
Sister Guihua picked Lele up and said, "Your aunt is delivering Qingtuan to Aunt Juxiang and will be back soon."
When Lele heard this, he stopped crying.
Wen Nuan poured a cup of tea for Sister Guihua and placed it on the eight-immortal table. Suddenly, she said, "Sister Guihua, I'm going to visit Lao Zhao in a couple of days. Do you want to come with me?"
Just now Zhang Guihua said that Captain Zhou will have a holiday in two days, and they plan to go see a barefoot doctor in town.
Since Wang Xiaoxia returned home, Sister Guihua has finally become happy, and Captain Zhou also took the initiative to say that he wanted to see a doctor.
The two still wanted to have a child, but with the intervention of a mother-in-law, Sister Guihua couldn't be happy at all.
Wen Nuan thought that since everyone had seen it, it would be a good idea to go to Lao Zhao's place and have one more person to give advice.
Sister Guihua lowered her voice and asked, "It won't be a problem if we go find him, right?"
Because Lao Zhao was labeled a rightist, all the family members in the compound had a very high level of ideological awareness. Not to mention going to look for him, they would usually avoid going to the cowshed when they went to the village to exchange things, for fear of bringing trouble to themselves and the career of the one in the family who was a soldier.
Wen Nuan smiled and said, "I asked Qinghan to ask the political commissar, and he said there is no problem."
In fact, Wen Nuan didn't go there often. She had visited him once before. Lao Zhao knew that she was from the staff quarters, and after they talked, Lao Zhao let her go.
Old Zhao is even more cautious than her.
Sister Guihua was also tempted. After all, she had seen almost all the doctors available around the family compound, except Lao Zhao.
Sister Guihua thought for a moment and said, "I'll go back and ask Lao Zhou tonight, and then I'll ask him to go with us."
*
Gu Qinglan walked quickly to Sister Juxiang's house, because it was a large concave-shaped courtyard where many people lived.
Although Wen Nuan had told her about Sister Juxiang's home several times, Gu Qinglan still didn't understand...
Never mind, just knock on the door and ask.
Not long after Gu Qinglan knocked on the third wooden door on the left, she saw a thin figure holding a baby opening the door, but the person was wearing a hat that covered most of his face.
Gu Qinglan glanced at the baby in her arms, who was still very small, and thought that Chen Meijiao was still in confinement after giving birth, so she was wearing a hat.
Gu Qinglan didn't want to waste other people's time, so she asked embarrassedly, "Sorry, sister-in-law, I'm here to look for sister-in-law Juxiang. Do you know where her home is? I don't quite remember."
Chen Meijiao looked at Gu Qinglan's pretty face and thought she looked familiar, so she said, "It's okay. Sister Juxiang lives next door to me. She should be home now. Go ask her."
Before Gu Qinglan could say anything, Aunt Zhang came out and asked, "Meijiao, who is this?"
Then he walked in front of Chen Meijiao, blocking her, and looked up and down at Gu Qinglan who was standing at the door. Then his eyes lit up: "Oh, you are the sister of Deputy Head Gu, right? Are you looking for our Meijiao?"
Gu Qinglan knew this Aunt Zhang. It turned out that she was the aunt who went to the kitchen and caused trouble last time, forcing her daughter-in-law to go back to work after her confinement.
Gu Qinglan's face looked a little bad, "No, I'm looking for Aunt Juxiang."
Aunt Zhang smiled and wiped her hands on her apron. "Oh, Juxiang? It's next door."
"Okay, thank you, auntie." After thanking her, Gu Qinglan picked up the lunch box and prepared to leave.
But when Chen Meijiao closed the door, he saw that the half of her face covered by the brim of her hat was a little bruised.
But the wooden door was already closed, and Gu Qinglan had no way to take a closer look.
When she found Deng Juxiang's house, Gu Qinglan handed her the lunch box and said, "Sister-in-law, this is the green rice dumpling that my sister-in-law and sister-in-law Guihua made. They said they would send some over for you to try."
Deng Juxiang has picked a lot of mugwort leaves recently, but she made green rice dumplings with them in the past two years, but her children and husband didn’t like them very much, so she doesn’t want to make them this year. She plans to dry them and boil some mugwort water for foot soaking in winter.
Unexpectedly, Wen Nuan was delivered to her. After she opened the lunch box, it was still steaming. It must have been delivered to her as soon as it came out of the pot.
Moreover, the green rice dumplings made by Wen Nuan are much softer and cuter. You can’t see the rough mugwort grains on the green skin. They are round and look delicious!
Deng Juxiang said with emotion: "Sister Xiao Nuan is so thoughtful. I am so lazy that I didn't make Qingtuan this year."
Then Deng Juxiang said, "Qinglan, wait a moment. I'll put the qingtuan away."
As he said that, he took out a plate and put the green dumplings she sent on it, then took some glutinous rice noodles and twisted dough sticks and put them in the empty lunch box, and said, "Please give it to Xiao Nuan for me, and say thank you for her dumplings."
Gu Qinglan looked at the extra things in the lunch box and felt a little embarrassed: "But this..."
Deng Juxiang said, "Don't worry, just take it as a snack."
Gu Qinglan was not polite and smiled: "Thank you, sister-in-law Juxiang, then I will take it home."
Deng Juxiang smiled and said, "Why are you being polite to my sister-in-law? Just take it if I ask you to. And thank Xiao Nuan for me too."
The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Gu Qinglan suddenly remembered Chen Meijiao, whom she had just met in the next room, and asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, who lives next door to your house? Is there a woman who has just given birth?"
Deng Juxiang thought for a while. The family next to her was Chen Meijiao's. The other family's children were several years old and no one was taking care of the baby. So she said, "Ah? You're not talking about Meijiao, are you? She left the baby's confinement last month. What happened? Did you see her? I looked for her these few days but she didn't come out. She said she was sick."
"Sick?" When Gu Qinglan heard this, she felt that she must have seen it right. The bruises on her sister-in-law's face seemed to be real.
Deng Juxiang nodded: "Yes, I went to see her twice in the past few days, but her captain Zhang said that both her and her child had caught a cold, so he didn't let her go out."
"Sister-in-law, just now I seemed to see that... Sister-in-law Meijiao had a little bruise on her brow." Gu Qinglan has been working in the hospital for a while, so she is particularly sensitive to wounds. Although the bruise does not look serious, it is still quite strange to appear on a woman who has just given birth.
Moreover, she had been beaten by her second brother and biological mother before, so the bruises on her face were all too familiar, and looked as if they were man-made.
Deng Juxiang was a little confused at first, but she quickly recalled and realized that she seemed to have heard crying and fighting sounds a few days ago, but the baby's crying quickly drowned them out, so she didn't pay much attention.
She said "Pah", put down the green dumpling in her hand, walked out of the house with a dark face, and walked towards the next door angrily.
Gu Qinglan hadn't reacted yet, so she had to pick up her lunch box and follow.
However, it was Aunt Zhang who opened the door this time. Deng Juxiang wanted to go in, but Aunt Zhang refused to let her in, saying that the child was just about to go to bed and had a cold, and she would not let Deng Juxiang go in and disturb the child.
Deng Juxiang was not a reckless person. Seeing that Aunt Zhang refused to let her in, she became even more certain that something fishy was going on.
However, it would be a bad idea to confront Aunt Zhang head-on at this moment. After all, Aunt Zhang was very good at throwing a tantrum. If she fell to the ground and said someone pushed her, it would be even more difficult to deal with.
Deng Juxiang had been their neighbor for three years and was not unfamiliar with who Aunt Zhang was.
Deng Juxiang took a few deep breaths and had to go home. Seeing Gu Qinglan holding a lunch box, she said, "Qinglan, I'll slowly find a chance to figure out Meijiao's matter."
Gu Qinglan was holding the lunch box, feeling a little helpless. After hearing what Deng Juxiang said, she responded, "Sister-in-law Juxiang, Meijiao must have heard the noise, but she didn't come out. It seems that she doesn't want to make a big deal out of it."
Deng Juxiang sighed: "I know, Meijiao has always been like this, making big things small and small things nothing, but now she has started to fight, isn't this being stepped on by others?"
Then Deng Juxiang said helplessly: "Forget it, I will find a chance to ask clearly. It's going to snow, Qinglan, you should go home first."
Gu Qinglan looked at the gloomy sky and had no choice but to go back.
After returning home, I told Wen Nuan about this.
When Wen Nuan heard this, her brows were almost knitted together: "Who did it? Could it be that Aunt Zhang?"
Wen Nuan had seen how fierce Aunt Zhang was. She could force a daughter-in-law who had just finished her confinement to go back to work, even if she had to use force!
However, it is also possible to be assaulted by a man. Before warming up, I have seen many so-called macho attitudes in my family home. In addition to not doing housework, I love to grope my wife. When I go home and see her not having a meal prepared, I will beat up her. If I get angry at the factory leader, I will find a woman when I go home.
But many people think it is normal, saying that every woman has gone through this.
Some people also say that a man will only hit you if he treats you as his pillow, so why don’t you see him hitting others
Moreover, in this day and age, divorce is really difficult. Wen Nuan has never seen anyone get divorced.
But what’s annoying is that Chen Meijiao had just finished her confinement not long ago!
Gu Qinglan said, "I don't know either. Aunt Zhang stopped Sister Juxiang from entering the house. I haven't asked her clearly yet. I hope it's just a mistake."
Wen Nuan slammed the table, which scared Lele, who was eating rice dumplings. He looked at Wen Nuan with curiosity and fear, as if he had never seen her so fierce.
When Wen Nuan saw Lele like this, she immediately picked her up and kissed her on the forehead a few times.
Lele hugged Wen Nuan's neck tightly, looked at her with his big eyes, and then kissed her on the face.
Wen Nuan was softened by Le Le's action, and her emotions gradually calmed down. She said, "You are right. Mei Jiao must have heard such a loud noise. She probably didn't want to come out."
Thinking back to when Aunt Zhang went to the cafeteria to cause trouble and asked Chen Meijiao to bring something over to apologize, Wen Nuan no longer had a good impression of Aunt Zhang.
And it is estimated that Chen Meijiao herself is willing to swallow her anger and does not want others to interfere in this matter.
Many people are reluctant to tell others about their family affairs, saying that family disgrace should not be made public, but they always want to laugh at other people's families.
Since the person involved is unwilling to stand up, it will be futile for others to help her.
Gu Qinghan walked in from the yard and saw that Wen Nuan and Gu Qinglan looked unhappy, so he asked, "What's wrong?"
Gu Qinglan was also a person who could not keep secrets, and she told the story again as if she was firing a bomb.
The more Gu Qinghan listened, the more his brows furrowed. He finally understood why Wen Nuan looked so angry.
It is estimated that Chen Meijiao was assaulted by someone. Whether it was Aunt Zhang or her husband, this incident is infuriating.
After all, Chen Meijiao had just come out of confinement, and it would not be an exaggeration to call her a beast for hitting a woman who had just given birth.
Gu Qinglan was attacked by Gu Qingsong before. If they were not too far away, Gu Qinghan would definitely teach Gu Qingsong a lesson.
Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan and asked him, "What if she was really being abused? Can the organization take care of this?"
Gu Qinghan looked at Wen Nuan's angry expression, hugged her and the child, and said calmly: "It's hard for outsiders to intervene in this matter. Even if it is reported to the political commissar, it will be mediated. Besides, we don't know the specific situation yet, so it's hard to judge."
"Besides, in the end, it all depends on Chen Meijiao's attitude. If she doesn't pursue the matter herself, and someone else gets involved, they will be considered as someone who is destroying someone else's family."
Wen Nuan sighed, feeling very upset.
Chen Meijiao's personality seems to be as gentle as a little lamb, and she just gave birth to a child not long ago, so she probably won't pursue the matter.
I don't know how many women have endured humiliation all their lives for the so-called family integrity and to give their children a complete home.
Not to mention domestic violence, even cheating would be tolerated.
Gu Qinghan hugged her tightly, kissed her on the forehead, and said, "Wait until Sister Juxiang finds out, and then see what Chen Meijiao's attitude is."
Wen Nuan nodded. This was the only way.
The little guy suddenly let out an "Ah!" cry. Gu Qinghan lowered his head and saw that the little guy's face was deformed by their pinching, so he loosened his grip slightly.
Wen Nuan couldn't help but hugged the child and kissed him a few times, "Hey, what happened to our Lele? Don't be angry, don't be angry, it's all your dad's fault. Why did you use so much force? Right? Look, our Lele has been squashed."
Gu Qinghan smiled, picked Lele up, and saw that there were a lot of peanut crumbs on her mouth, so he asked, "What did Lele eat?"
Wen Nuan pointed at the qingtuan that Lele had eaten in a mess on the eight-immortals table and said, "Qingtuan, this little one is really good at eating. She ate all the stuffing inside the qingtuan and didn't even eat the outer layer of dough! She's so picky about food, I don't know who she resembles!"
Gu Qinghan saw that the green dumpling in the bowl had no filling left, but he still picked it up with chopsticks and put it directly into his mouth.
warmth:"… "
How did he manage to eat that
Wen Nuan originally wanted to avoid wasting it, but she didn't plan to eat it. Instead, she was going to feed it to the chickens.
After all, the green dumpling had been grabbed by Lele, the dough was deformed, and there was a layer of the little guy's saliva on it, making it look sticky.
Gu Qinghan pinched Lele's little face and said, "Don't be picky about food, otherwise you won't grow tall in the future."
The little guy didn't listen to him. He looked at the plate of green dumplings on the table and wanted to reach out to take it again, but Wen Nuan was quick and took it away directly: "Don't eat it, you won't eat again later."
Gu Qinghan raised his eyebrows: "Wife, I haven't eaten yet, give me one."
Wen Nuan looked at him and smiled, then picked up a piece of minced meat and gave it to him, bringing it to his mouth.
Gu Qinghan tasted it, nodded, and praised: "It's delicious."
Wen Nuan looked at him with a smile: "Give me the filling."
Before Gu Qinghan could react, Wen Nuan had already eaten most of the filling in the middle and smiled with satisfaction.
"… "
Finally I know who this little guy Lele takes after.
Seeing that her parents had food but she had none, Lele stretched out her hand and poked at her father's mouth twice, trying to get the Qingtuan out of his mouth, while yelling, "Tuan Tuan..."
Gu Qinghan grabbed the little girl's hand, frowned, and pinched her nose: "If you don't eat later, your mother will teach you a lesson again."
When Lele heard this, she quickly hugged Gu Qinghan's neck and quietly turned her head to look at Wen Nuan.
Wen Nuan looked at the little girl's eyes and slapped Gu Qinghan on the arm angrily: "When did I teach her a lesson? You are talking nonsense!"
The little Lele snuggled into Gu Qinghan's arms, becoming even more scared.
Wen Nuan was so angry that she turned around and left with the Qingtuan.
Gu Qinglan kept watching her brother and sister-in-law interacting, smiling foolishly.
Seeing Wen Nuan was about to take the Qingtuan away, she asked, "Sister-in-law, can I have another one?"
Before Wen Nuan could say anything, Gu Qinglan shouted again: "Please, sister-in-law, I really want to eat!"
"Why are you shouting so loudly?" Wen Nuan's ears were almost buzzing from her loud voice. "If you didn't know, you would think I was abusing you!"
Gu Qinglan blinked innocently and said confidently, "It's not abuse. You give it to big brother, not to me!"
"… "
Wen Nuan snorted, "Eat, eat, eat. All you know is eating! You three Gu guys, hurry up and cook. I won't cook anymore!"