Chapter 92
The durian tree was brought back from the center island
In July and August, Xu Wen once went to the center island with Lu Yuanzheng and accidentally found a durian tree in the camp
It was said to be the last garrison in the camp, and some people liked to eat it, so they got it back from a long way
The officers and soldiers in the camp are all men, and they generally dislike the smell, suspecting it to be stinky, and at one time they wanted to eradicate it
Xu Man pleaded for the durian, saying that he would move it back to Rainbow Island when he had the chance
And he picked all the ripe durians on the spot
He went home and ate the durian in his arms, and even made a delicious durian lasagna
Xu Wen is eating beautifully, but Lu Yuanzheng and Dongsheng all hide out when she is eating
Whenever Xu asked Lu Yuanzheng to move the tree back, he always had a good reason for not doing so
This time, when the land was divided, Lu Yuanzheng couldn’t stop him any longer, and he could only help move the tree back
The reason why the durian is so expensive is because it is rare and only bears fruit once a year
It takes six to eight years from planting to the first fruit, so it’s no wonder it’s so expensive
Like the tree Xu asked to move back, a total of about eighty fruits a year, equivalent to the realization of durian freedom
Seeing how happy Xu asked was, Lu Yuanzheng began to regret that he hadn’t moved it back for her earlier
Dongsheng squatted on the side and asked him, “Dad, you obviously think it stinks too, why do you want to help Ma Ma plant a stinky fruit tree?”
Lu Yuanzheng said meaningfully, “You’re still young When you grow up, you’ll know why”
“Then I’d better not grow up” Dongsheng looked disgusted, does growing up mean you have to accept this stench?
Lu Yuanzheng: “”
The sisters-in-law’s making of cloth shoes also came to an end
After the soles were finished, all that needed to be done was to sew the uppers and soles together
Before sewing, the soles are hemmed
This is done by wrapping the cut edges of the sole with white cloth and running it through the sewing machine
In this way, a pair of cloth shoes is finished
Of course, the quality and appearance of cloth shoes varies from person to person
Mrs Li’s cloth shoes are works of art, both front and back
The stitches on the soles were fine and smooth, the threads were threaded and tightened evenly, and the cotton threads on the soles were of average size
In contrast, the shoes made by Xu Man were a buyer’s show, with uneven stitching, uneven rows and columns of stitches, uneven strangulation, and cotton threads on the soles that could be viewed horizontally and horizontally as peaks
Xu asked to think about it, decided not to give this defective product to the road to the expedition, and threw it away
By Lu Yuanzheng saw and picked it back up from the trash can, and was particularly unhappy that Xu Man had thrown away what was given to him, with displeasure written all over his face
“These are the shoes I made, how did they become your things?” Xu Man raised an eyebrow
Their house didn’t have a special trash can, so the trash would sometimes remain in the dustpan, and sometimes there happened to be unwanted cloth bags and woven bags, so they used them to hold the trash
When Lu Yuanzheng picked up the shoes, there happened to be no other dirty things inside
He picked the shoes out, patting the shoes occupied a little ash, rare to show his unhappiness so obvious, “Every day shouting to me to do shoes, that is my thing!”
“It’s not well made Wearing them out you’ll be laughed at” Xu Wen tried to convince him
“Who laughs?” Lu Yuanzheng sat on a chair to change the cloth shoes on
Slightly too big, a padded insole was just right
Lu Yuanzheng bounced in place and walked back and forth in the living room twice, like a child who had just gotten new clothes, his fondness overflowing
What else could Xu Wen say? He didn’t mind, and she seemed to be quite happy!
She was encouraged and said that she would make him another pair when she had the time
Lu Yuanzheng was also very happy and asked her when she was going to make them
Xu Wen immediately changed the topic and asked Lu Yuanzheng: “Dongsheng’s birthday, how do you plan to give him?”
Last year she didn’t know which birthday Dongsheng had, and when she came to find Lu Yuanzheng it was already long past Dongsheng’s birthday, and this year she said she had to give Dongsheng his birthday
“Don’t you just eat something nice for your birthday? Do he like to eat braised pork? Should we no longer take him to buy a piece of clothing?” Lu Yuanzheng didn’t have much of a concept of having a birthday
As a matter of fact, no matter whether it was in the army or in the production team, everyone didn’t have much feeling about celebrating birthdays
Adults basically skipped it
Those who had small children at home would give them a boiled egg and at most one or two cents of pocket money, and the children would be especially happy
Xu Man’s family’s current conditions weren’t such that eggs were considered a good thing, and braised pork was quite the specification
Xu Man shook his head, “I want to organize a small birthday party for Dongsheng”
After hearing this, Lu Yuanzheng hesitated, but still shook his head no, “It can’t be that big Just our family of three can have a low-key party”
“Why? Dongsheng will be very happy”
“He will be happy But a lot of people won’t be happy It’ll mostly lead to some not-so-good consequences The island is this big, and if you ask Toshio to call the kids to his birthday party, then the kids’ parents have to know about it, right? I’m the highest ranking cadre here, so guess if they’ll send gifts? As long as someone sends, others will follow suit Maybe they’ll even climb up and send”
Lu Yuanzheng sighed softly, “And it will also invariably bring pressure and burden to other family members If you give Dongsheng such a nice birthday party and make it so grand and lively, then other children will definitely ask their own moms and dads to give them such a birthday party when they celebrate their birthdays Slowly, a bad culture of comparison will form”
Xu Wen was stunned, “I didn’t think that much”
She just wanted Dongsheng to have a pleasant and happy birthday
Lu Yuanzheng stopped beside her and rubbed the top of her head, “I know It’s my relationship that has to aggravate you guys”
Xu Wen shook her head, somewhat ashamed, “You’re right It’s me who thought less”
Whether it was the gift-giving wind or the climbing wind, it was not to be
It would become a vicious cycle once it started
Besides, she and Lu Yuanzheng’s conditions were considered good, and it was nothing to give the child a lavish birthday, but most of the warriors were ordinary families, and if they really wanted to follow suit and learn from them, it would be a big expense just to give the child a birthday every year
And it was an unnecessary expense
When Lu Yuanzheng saw that Xu Man was a bit lost, he knew that she had been preparing for Dongsheng’s birthday for a long time Just researching the cake alone took a month or so
He thought about it and proposed, “Why don’t I take a day off and take you guys out?”
“Where can we go out? At most to the center island, it’s better to stay at home by yourself”
“Take you guys out to play on the sea”
The weather on Dongsheng’s birthday was particularly good, the so-called wind and sunshine
Moreover, Rainbow Island’s winter was neither cold nor hot, it was positively comfortable outdoors
Early in the morning, Lu Yuanzheng was busy cooking the rice to be brought for the “picnic”, while Xu Man was busy preparing the cake
The cake embryo was prepared the day before, but it took some time to beat the cream
It was the same “fake cream” that he had learned to make last time
Xu Man also tried to improve, but it is useless, the magic mirror told her, the real light cream are equipment processed out, she can not homemade, can only use milk plus gelatin blended into this kind of appearance is very similar to the taste of a big difference in the fake cream
Cake embryo is divided into three layers, each layer is sandwiched with fresh fruit
Xu Wen did not have a laminating bag laminating nozzle, can not get very complex pattern, just smooth the cake surface, and then use the homemade jam on the top of the written sentence: wish Dongsheng children happy birthday
After finishing, Lu Yuanzheng drove the boat borrowed from the fishermen of the center island, carrying Xu Man and Dongsheng out to sea
In order to be safe, did not go in the direction of the open sea, just rowed in the direction of the center island, away from the main channel, kinda on the surface, let the boat drift by itself
Xu Wen made a triangular hat with newspaper and drew some pretty cartoon patterns on it
To be exact, she and Lu Yuanzheng split the work
Lu Yuanzheng was in charge of drawing and she was in charge of coloring
Xu Wen placed the cake on the small wooden box between Dongsheng and herself, “Dongsheng, happy birthday!”
Lu Yuanzheng left the helm of the ship and came over to sit behind Dongsheng, rubbing the top of his head, “Happy birthday!”
With that, he lit the candles on the cake
Xu Wen carefully gave Dongsheng the meaning of wishing, “You can blow out the candles after you close your eyes and make a wish without making a sound You have to blow it out in one breath to make it count!”
Dongsheng obediently closed his eyes, opened them after a while, and blew them out in one breath
They did not have plastic knives and forks, using a homemade serrated knife, so did not dare to let Dongsheng cut the first knife, afraid that he cut his hand
There were no disposable plates either, what they brought were ordinary household plates
Xu Wen and Dongsheng sat on the boat and ate a piece of cake, while Lu Yuanzheng took a fishing rod and started fishing
He couldn’t eat any of the cake, and all of those failures had gone into his stomach
After eating the cake, Xu Wen put on life jackets for himself and Dongsheng and went down to the sea for a swim
The sun was high when they came out, and the sea water wasn’t warm, but they were used to it on the beach, and they didn’t feel cool after a slight acclimatization in the water
Lu Yuanzheng did not go into the water, one to watch the boat, two to fishing, three to be ready to rescue
Dongsheng is a better waterman than Xu Man
Xu asked to swim around the boat for a while, climbed into the boat, into the cabin to change clothes out
Lu Yuanzheng handed her the towel resting on his neck to wipe her hair
Xu Man stood, Lu Yuanzheng sat and looked up at her, “Isn’t it better than swimming in the small pond back home?”
Xu Wen grunted lightly and sat beside him, incidentally kicking him with her foot, “How dare you mention the small pond? Taking advantage of me the first time we met”
Lu Yuanzheng took hold of her calf and squeezed it, “People are all mine now”
Xu Wen withdrew her leg with force, “Not at that time! Denizen! Rascal!”
Lu Yuanzheng touched the tip of his nose, “This is called fate! However, this girl of yours is really bold! Let’s not talk about the safety of that pond Who in their right mind would herd sheep in a grave all day?”
“At first I was afraid to go there too There was less grass there, so it wasn’t hard to herd the sheep, and it didn’t stop me from reading” Xu Man explained, “At that time, I didn’t like dealing with people much I was always afraid that people would see that I was different from before, and I was also afraid of saying the wrong thing Besides, besides you, that pond has never been visited by anyone, okay? I didn’t dive in headfirst I watched for a week before I dared to take a bath It’s a no-contact place, no one’s there Who knows where you father and son came from”
“I’m used to waking up early, at the right time There’s nothing to do, so I want to go see my parents and grandparents Also want to let Dongsheng recognize his ancestors just do it to his uncles” Lu Yuanzheng chin points in the boat near with a tail of fish like Dongsheng, “this kid in the sea to stay accustomed to, go home without touching the water he is not adaptable, see a puddle of mud puddle to jump in I wouldn’t have gone to that pond if he hadn’t gotten all muddy”
Xu Man elbow back on the boat, supporting the body half lying half sitting, squinting up at the sky is also very emotional: “So, fate this thing is really quite metaphysical Do you think I traveled for decades just to meet you?”
“I think so!” Lu Yuanzheng nodded nonchalantly, “I’m charming!”
Xu Wen listened with an unbalanced heart and stomped him with her foot
Lu Yuanzheng was lightly shaken by her kick, hooking his lips and smiling, “Okay, okay, okay, it’s me who made a deal with you in my last life to let you come to me”
Satisfied, Xu Wen withdrew her foot, “That’s more or less the same”
It was rare for the two of them to have such a quiet space to chat without being disturbed, chatting blindly from all over the world
Chatting about the past, chatting about the future, chatting until Dongsheng tired of swimming climbed onto the boat, “Dad Ma Ma, I’m hungry”
Xu Wen sat up straight and went to the stern of the boat to bring over all the aluminum lunch boxes they had brought, “We can’t starve the birthday boy, come, eat”
Lu Yuanzheng took Dongsheng to the cabin to change into clean clothes
The “sea picnic” began
A particularly extravagant meal
There is not only braised meat, but also braised pork ribs and fried crab, as well as two green vegetables
The one who likes to eat braised pork is Dongsheng, but the one who likes to eat braised pork ribs is Xu Man
Swimming is a particularly physically demanding activity, and Dongsheng was sleepy after eating
Xu Man hugged him as Lu Yuanzheng drove the boat back to Rainbow Island, sending the mother and son home before going to the center island to drop off the boat
“You’re going by yourself, how will you get back?”
“Swim back”
Xu asked, “”
Seeing Xu Man’s disapproving face, he rubbed the top of her head, “Just kidding Called a person to go with me in our boat and come back together”
After Dongsheng’s birthday, Lu Yuanzheng started to play vacation report
Xu Wen is about to take his final exams, it’s time for him to set sail for Beijing, and incidentally go home for the New Year
This really needs to go, I didn’t expect Xu Man to be busier than Lu Yuanzheng
The army’s life and work are in order, Lu Yuanzheng vacation and Shi Lei town, as long as you grasp the general direction, the bottom of the people will not fall off the chain
Xu Wen is different, she has to hand over the work, professionalism is very strong, can take over a limited number of people
For example, the wind power generation, now debugging has entered the final stage
The electricity on the island was basically supplied normally
All the construction workers are also thinking of going home for the New Year, rushing day and night to finish the work earlier
Only one or two technicians were left in the temporary power supply office to celebrate the New Year
They stayed here to prevent equipment failures, record parameters, and so on
Strictly speaking, it is not even considered a power supply center, for one thing, it is considered an experimental base for wind power generation, and for another, it is a supply for the troops
For the time being, they don’t charge for electricity either, they only provide the service
Xu Man and two officers and soldiers who know electricity, from the first day the equipment on the island followed, until now
However, they knew electricity but not much about wind power
Xu Man was more professional than them, and had been making especially detailed notes and such
Before he left, he took the time to instill some knowledge of wind power generation in them, leaving the notebook with them as well
There are also lessons for the soldiers and children, she left the class can not stop, at most, the New Year to take a winter vacation
Jiang Yi Yi volunteered to sign up, and Wang Ying also took the initiative to step forward She has been a spectator for so long, just for this day
Xu Wen let the two of them teach one class each
As for her sisters-in-law’s cloth shoe making competition, Xu Man had no time to participate in it, and if she did, she wouldn’t be able to win any prizes at this level
The sisters-in-law were reluctant to let Xu Man go, thinking that if she stayed, the New Year would be very lively
Xu Man said, “I’ll be back after the New Year When I come back, we’ll have a great time every day!”
Before he left, Xu Man also asked some of his sisters-in-law, who were good at sewing, to help him make some cotton clothes
The climate on the island was actually the most comfortable at this time of year, not too cold and not too hot
Wearing long sleeves was just right
Like dongsheng this kind of small children, afraid of cold and afraid of heat, winter only the most single layer of clothing inside a layer of autumn coat and pants
But, in the north, it is now the third nine days of the year, and it is freezing cold
In the train will have to cross the four seasons, so cotton clothes have to be prepared in advance
After packing properly, Lu Yuanzheng’s vacation report was also approved, the family of three departed from the island
The same as when they came, by boat, by car, by train, tossed for a week, before arriving at the four nine cities, Xu asked the final exams are still two days left
On the first day of his arrival, the family of three rested in the guest house and did not go anywhere
The next day, Xu Wen went back to school to report, get the permit number and the location of the examination room
The counselor knew that she was in a special situation and gave her a piece of the next semester’s textbook directly
No matter how good and learned she was, she still had to look at the tutorials to know the approximate scope of the exam
When Xu Man finished his school business, the family of three went to eat the famous roast duck
Dongsheng especially liked it and ate it with oil on his mouth and hands
The exam took two days
When Xu Man finished the last test and came out from the examination room, Lu Yuanzheng was already carrying a gift bag and holding Dongsheng waiting at the gate
Their train tonight, back to Weizhuang Commune
They have to leave now
But going home from the capital is much closer, sleeping on the train for one night and arriving the next day in the city where Wei Zhuang Commune is located
A family of three before arriving home first to the commune bathhouse to wash away a dusty
Xu Wen just left the rainbow island to the land on the production team called, let Xu Wen help to the courtyard a few days to light the stove, to go to the coolness
When they arrived at the house, the charcoal in the stove was burning brightly
“Second Brother just left, right?” Lu Yuanzheng was roasting his hands by the stove
Xu Wen picked up a note from the table and read it, “Yes Calling us home for dinner”
As soon as Lu Yuanzheng heard this, he began to dig out the gifts he had brought for the Xu family from the luggage he had carried back
There were those that had been carried back a thousand miles from the island, as well as those that had been bought while in the capital
Xu Man rolled his eyes, “It’s not like this is the first time you’ve come to the door, why are you so excited?”
“As for” Lu Yuanzheng returned to her while counting the gifts, “Why not? I left you behind on my wedding day, and just because mom and dad didn’t say anything doesn’t mean they didn’t mind Almost made you a widow; let my uncles ruin your reputation Then had me abducted to the islands
You were gone for a year Grandma and Mom and Dad they must have missed you terribly”
“Actually, it’s usually okay, but I was a little homesick during the time I first went there and during the few days I was about to come back”
Lu Yuanzheng counted the luggage he brought back and added some charcoal to the stove to smother it, so that it could burn for a while longer
He took Xu Man’s hand and carried the gifts, “Go, go home!”
Lu Yuanzheng’s hands are occupied, holding Dongsheng can only be Xu Man
Dongsheng had just played in the snow in the courtyard, and his hands were as frozen as ice
Xu Wen let go of Lu Yuanzheng’s hand, hands holding Dongsheng’s small hand, rubbed him to warm up for a while, then lightly nodded on Dongsheng’s forehead, “You don’t mind the cold!”
Dongsheng heatedly laughed
Lu Yuanzheng rode his bicycle, with Dongsheng in front and Xu Wen in the back
The two production teams weren’t far from each other, and they arrived at Xu’s house without waiting for the cold to penetrate
“Grandma, mom and dad, brother and sister-in-law, I’m back!” Xu Man started shouting before she even jumped off the bike
As soon as her words fell, the door opened and a bunch of people came out in a huff
Even big sister Xu Wang and her brother-in-law were there
As soon as she saw Xu Man, Zhu Meizhen started wiping her eyes, repeating back and forth, “It’s good to be back, it’s good to be back!”
Xu Wen patted Lu Yuanzheng’s shoulder, “Hard work”
Lu Yuanzheng shook his head, “I should”
Xu Qiushi spoke, “Standing outside, it’s oddly cold, let’s all go inside and talk”
Xu Wen entered the house and took a look around, in fact, it hadn’t changed much from the time she left
It’s just that after a year’s absence, it feels a bit strange to come back
Everyone sat together and exchanged pleasantries, and Xu Man distributed everyone’s gifts to everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone had a share
Xu Man took the gift for his grandmother, opened the door to the inner room, but found that his grandmother was not in the room, and asked Zhu Meizhen, “Mom, where is my grandmother?”
Zhu Meizhen sighed softly, “Your grandmother is in the hospital!”
Xu Man let out an ah, “What’s wrong with grandma?”