Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 604 603 Ask for Advice
"Are they not causing any trouble over there?" When Xiao Wang arrived at Chunshu Hutong, Ye Zhijuan had just finished her meal and had not yet cleared the table.

"It's good. I'm having a lot of fun. I'm almost done with my homework." Xiao Wang untied his scarf and glanced at the dining table. There was a bowl of pickles and half a leftover steamed bread. He complained, "Mom, this is all you're going to eat in the morning? It's too makeshift."

"I'm alone and don't want to go through all that trouble. I'll just make do with this and get more sleep." Ye Zhijuan didn't care at all and replied with a smile.

"No, we can't do this no matter how hard we try. We need to at least warm up the steamed bread." Student Wang touched the steamed bread with the back of his hand. It was cold.

"Okay, why are you becoming so nagging now that you're married? You weren't like this before." Ye Zhijuan avoided the question.

"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have let them go." Xiao Wang was still dissatisfied and kept mumbling advice.

"Why did you come here today? Is there something?" Ye Zhijuan didn't want to dwell on this topic any more, so she asked.

"When we were training rural doctors a while ago, there was a guy named Wang Bo. Anzi said..." While cleaning the table, Wang Bo relayed to Ye Zhijuan what Tang Zhitong had asked him to do.

"Okay, I understand. Go to the Women's Federation when you get off work. The publishing house has sent some more letters. Take them back to Anzi." The editorial committee has not found a suitable letter reader yet, and the new edition of the manual has not been published, but people are still sending letters to the publishing house.

As for Wang Bo's matter, there may be other people's speculation about Ye Zhijuan, because she asked a few questions at the time, but it is undeniable that Wang Bo did a good job and made himself proud.

"Okay. You should eat well in the future. If you can't, I will come here every day to cook for you." Student Wang said this and then came back to the same thing.

"You can cook too? How come I don't know that?" Ye Zhijuan joked.

"Birds of a feather flock together. If I can't cook, can't I learn? There's a great chef here!" Upon hearing this, Xiao Wang was not embarrassed. Instead, he showed off Tang Zhitong.

"I won't bother you. Just take good care of yourself at home. I'll eat in the cafeteria these two days. There are hot meals and porridge. Is that okay?" Faced with her daughter's concern, Ye Zhijuan gave in.

"That's better. Let me sing a song for you!" Xiao Wang nodded happily, and without waiting for Ye Zhijuan's response, he sang the song that they had written together last night to his mother.

Xiao Wang's voice is much better than Tang Zhitong's. Ye Zhijuan nodded repeatedly after hearing it: "You sing well, and it sounds nice, but it sounds like a nursery rhyme. Is this an interlude from a movie?"

"No, this was written by the two of us!" Xiao Wang's eyes smiled into crescents, and he told the story in front of his mother with exaggeration, adding only praise for Tang Zhitong.

"Good, good, you are becoming more and more like a scholar. Do you need my help in asking for publication?" This was something that added to her glory, and Ye Zhijuan was very happy.

Nowadays, people still admire knowledgeable people. Intellectual is a positive word, not a negative word.

"No, I want to submit my work myself. You asked them for your sake, but they are doing it for your sake. I believe in the quality of this song, and I want to do it myself." Xiao Wang argued and rejected his mother's kindness.

"Okay, you are ambitious. Tell me the good news after it is published." Ye Zhijuan is very pleased with her daughter's self-reliance.

After coming out of the Women's Federation dormitory, Xiao Wang came to the unit excitedly and walked to the office humming "One Cent".

There was no iron door, so Xiao Wang pushed it open and saw Jiang Ye sitting at the desk in a bulky cotton coat. "Jiang Jie, why are you here? Didn't we agree that I would be on duty during the New Year?"

"I plan to go to the hospital for a check-up today. There are a lot of people there, so come over and sit down first." Jiang Ye replied with a smile.

"Are you feeling unwell? We can't be delayed even if there are so many people around. I'll go with you." Xiao Wang stopped taking off his scarf halfway, ready to go out again at any time.

There are no prenatal check-ups at the moment. Even in Beijing, many people give birth at home. They go to the hospital only when they can't bear it any longer. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, many babies in rural areas were born on their own kangs.

"Oh, thank you. I'm not feeling unwell, I just want to get a sick meal. It doesn't taste good, but it doesn't require a ticket." Seeing that Xiao Wang was sincere, Jiang Ye did not hide it.

"Is there such a good thing? You scared me." After hearing this, Xiao Wang smiled and took off his scarf.

Everyone has his own way of living, so just watch. Classmate Wang did not intend to blame Jiang Ye's behavior. As long as the family can have enough food to eat, who would be willing to take advantage of this?

"What song were you humming just now? It sounds quite nice." Jiang Ye asked with a smile.

"One Cent, a nursery rhyme." Xiao Wang replied as he took off his shoulder bag and placed it on the table.

"I haven't heard it. Is it a new song?" Currently, audio channels are very limited, with the radio accounting for the largest share. Jiang Ye has been listening to the radio at home a lot recently, and she doesn't remember this song.

"Yeah, it's a new song. My husband and I wrote it." Student Wang replied with seven parts reservedness and three parts proudness.

"Hey~ There is a couple of song writers in our office! Are you planning to publish their work? I can recommend them for you." Jiang Ye returned the favor and took the initiative to express his willingness to help.

“Will it be difficult?” Xiao Wang hesitated for a moment. She had been planning to write a letter to Liu Yue, asking her to help ask the music teacher at the dance academy. It wasn’t too hard, but it was a roundabout way and the relationship was a bit distant.

"What's the difficulty? Have you forgotten that my husband works at the radio station? They are looking for excellent works everywhere. I gave this song to him and helped him complete the task. Thank you so much." Jiang Ye is also a good talker. He can express the same thing in a different way, which makes people feel comfortable.

"Okay, thank you, Sister Jiang." Student Wang knew that Jiang Ye's lover worked at a radio station, but she was not a talkative person and usually would not ask how others did their work, so she did not think of this channel.

"With our relationship, there's no need to be polite."

Just after the Spring Festival, the Beijing Library was very quiet and work was not busy. The two of them chatted lively, and the topic was mainly about what they did and ate during the Spring Festival.

Classmate Xiao Wang hid his shortcomings in this regard and did not say that he had meat dishes every day at home. But Jiang Ye said that his family bought pork leg bones this year and cooked three delicious dishes with one bone.

The first thing you eat is the remaining meat scraps and tendons on the outside of the pig leg bone. Although there is not much, if you pick them off carefully, the accumulated amount will at least make the cabbage have a bit of meaty flavor.

The second dish is the broth. The cleaned pig leg bones must be sawed open with a saw. Do not smash them with an axe, as the bone marrow inside will be shaken out and wasted.

There is a skill to sawing. You have to saw in circles and then pry the bones apart with force so that the bone marrow inside the pig bones remains intact.

Boil the pork leg bones in the pot until the last bit of oil is boiled out, then take out the bones and drink the soup dry or add some rotten vegetable leaves. The third dish is bone marrow, which is a bit difficult. Everyone hates that their parents gave them a short tongue, and they wish they could be like an anteater, stretching their tongue to the bottom and hook out all the bone marrow.

Some people would knock on the top of the leg bone with their hands and catch it with a plate; some would poke it with chopsticks; and some would hit it with an axe, just like primitive people, as long as they could make a hole, the gibberish would come out.

Jiang Ye was not showing off, but was passing on his experience to Xiao Wang as the supply of materials was difficult, so that she would know how to use the existing resources more efficiently to eat and drink well.

As we chatted, the topic turned to having children.

Among Xiao Wang’s circle of friends, only a few have children.

Liu Yue was confused about wanting to have a child, and she would write letters to Xiao Wang from time to time to complain about this and that.

Although Dr. Lu is professional, he is currently concentrating on taking care of the children and is not suitable for asking for advice.

Only Jiang Ye had the most experience, and the two of them usually talked about a wide range of things. Occasionally, the speed of this older sister's car would make Xiao Wang's heart beat faster.

"Are you pregnant? It's a bit difficult at this time." After hearing this question, Jiang Ye's first reaction was to persuade her not to keep the baby, but he couldn't persuade her to have an abortion, so he asked tentatively first.

"No, but you never know when such a thing might happen. Sister Jiang is the only one around me who has the most experience, so I'd like to learn from you first. Anyway, it will be useful sooner or later." Student Wang really wanted to ask for advice. Jiang Ye was due to give birth in a month, and would not come to the unit for a long time. Since he had met her this time, he had to seize the opportunity.

"Oh, I thought you were pregnant." Jiang Ye laughed when he heard this, lowered his voice, and taught Xiao Wang mysteriously: "Well, if you want it, you have to push harder, and then put a pillow under your butt."

"Oh~ Sister Jiang, I didn't talk about that aspect. I was asking you what you should pay attention to when taking care of the pregnancy." Although she is married, Xiao Wang is not used to talking about those things in bed, even with someone close to her husband. When she heard Jiang Ye say that, her face turned red.

"Oh, take care of the fetus, eat better; stay in a happy mood and don't get angry; also don't do any strenuous activities; and pay attention to personal hygiene. If you are pregnant, don't do that, so that your wife won't have the slightest thought about it. This is very important, so that you don't have any bad experiences, and it will be too late to regret then." Jiang Ye gave additional instructions. This was the pain point of his pregnancy this time. He didn't realize he was pregnant at the beginning, and he finally got the baby out. They were both a little impatient, so they didn't control their efforts.

Student Wang was still a little shy, but when he heard the last point, he thought of Jiang Ye's pregnancy a while ago, and knew that these were all heartfelt words, so he took them seriously in his heart.

The two chatted for a while, and Jiang Ye left the office on time because he had to have lunch in the hospital today.

At the same time, Tang Zhitong also slipped away and went home. Eating at the company was always better than having something hot at home.

After dinner, Tang Zhitong went straight to the grain store with his grain book and letter of introduction. It was such a cold day, and he couldn't ask his own mother to help him get the grain coupons.

Perhaps because the Spring Festival had just passed, there were not many people buying grain in the grain store, and the clerks were also lazy, but what remained unchanged was that they knocked on the iron funnel for each customer, for fear that even a tiny bit of grain would fall into the funnel.

Tang Zhitong took the grain certificate and letter of certification and went straight to the cashier counter. There was a young man sitting behind the counter, and Tang Zhitong looked unfamiliar.

Tang Zhitong handed over the certificate and said kindly: "Comrade, let's start with the national food coupons."

The young man did not respond to Tang Zhitong's kindness with enthusiasm. He took the certificate and looked at the letter of certification first.

After seeing the signature on the letter, the young man smiled: "Hey, a certificate from the ministry."

"Yes, on a business trip." Tang Zhitong echoed from the side. As for the service attitude, he would not force it. In the next few years, the food system of Sijiu City was the most awesome department, without a doubt.

It’s hard to say about the grain departments in other cities, they might even be criticized.

After repeatedly confirming that the certificate was OK, the staff opened the grain book again and confirmed that there was a balance before asking, "How much?"

"Fifteen catties, is that okay?" Tang Zhitong's ration was thirty-four catties. In terms of quantity, he could consume a little more than eleven catties during this ten-day trip. The national food coupons would not expire, so in order to have a little more money, Tang Zhitong reported a few more catties.

"You'll be away for ten days..." Although the red seal of the ministry was very conspicuous and the gate of the yamen was very large, the young man did not intend to buy Tang Zhitong's account.

"Alas, I don't know if I can finish this trip in ten days. If I can't, I will suffer without food coupons." Tang Zhitong said as he handed over a box of cigarettes.

"It's the same with your company. Why are you going on a business trip during the New Year? Can't you wait until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month?" When the young man saw the cigarettes, he reached for them with one hand and opened the drawer with the other hand, then slid into the drawer smoothly, with a smoothness that didn't match his age.

"Who said it wasn't? It would be great if you were our leader." In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Tang Zhitong complimented against his will.

"It's better to come at the right time than to come early. There just happens to be a lot of people flying around in our store today." The young man took the cigarette and, after hearing the compliment, he worked much more efficiently.

The young man wrote down the amount of food coupons he needed on the food coupon book, stamped the card, registered himself, asked Tang Zhitong to sign, and counted out fifteen national food coupons from the drawer.

Tang Zhitong took inventory and came out of the grain store just in time to meet Xiao Wang who was carrying the letter.

"Why are you here?" After seeing her husband, Xiao Wang stopped the car and smiled.

This scene happened to be seen by a young man from the grain store who was about to come out to take a breath and smoke a cigarette. He was so amazed by it that he could hardly take his eyes off it.

"The date of the business trip has been set, I came here to issue some food coupons. Is this another letter?" This time the letter was tied with a rope, two neatly arranged bundles.

"Well, you have something to do again. Let's go home." When Xiao Wang saw the clerk's gaze, a look of disgust appeared on his face. He stared at him, which was very impolite.

Tang Zhitong noticed the change in Xiao Wang's eyes, turned around to look at the young man, stretched out his hand, motioned for Xiao Wang to go first, and followed behind to block the young man's sight.

If this young man was eligible to attend the street party in the first grade of junior high school, he would never look at Xiao Wang in this way.

The swan doesn't fight with the toad, and Tang Zhitong has no intention of doing anything to him. After all, it's not illegal at the moment.

"The manuscript of "One Cent" was taken away by Sister Jiang. Her lover works at the radio station..." After walking a few steps forward, Xiao Wang told Tang Zhitong about the song in a sweet voice. As for Jiang Ye's other words, Xiao Wang didn't say anything for the time being.

(End of this chapter)