Siheyuan: Security Office of Wude

"You're here so early, why don't you get some sleep?"

Fang Qiang replied: "I'm used to getting up early, and I can't fall asleep any more. I heard some noise over here, so I came over to see if there's anything I can help with."

"Hey, you guys came just in time. Fang Qiang, go to my little room and get a broom and a shovel. We need to sweep the snow in the yard. Yu Li, your sister-in-law is in the room. You can just go and chat with her first."

It snowed several times in Sijiu City. Although the snow was not heavy, it was cold and the snow could not melt. In order to prevent Zhu Qingan from falling, Bai Wanli swept the snow several times and laid straw between the main house, the kitchen and the bathroom.

However, it snowed again last night. Although the snow on the ground is not thick, it still needs to be swept away in time.

The men naturally would not refuse to work. Fang Qiang went to the hut to get a broom and a shovel and started to clean the yard.

Yu Li reached the main room and knocked on the door: "Sister-in-law, I'm here to see you."

"Yu Li, please come in quickly."

Zhu Qingan's voice was full of joy. After Yu Li pushed the door open, she was also worried that Zhu Qingan might catch a cold, so she quickly closed the door. Seeing Zhu Qingan's rosy complexion, she was originally a fairy-like appearance, and this complexion alone was rare for ordinary people. She said half sincerely and half enviously:

"Sister-in-law, you look so good. The director must be fascinated by you."

Zhu Qingan smiled and said:

"Oh, we are an old married couple, what is there to be obsessed with? And since I got pregnant, Wanli won't let me do this or that. He just keeps feeding me all day long. I've gained a lot of weight. What is there to be obsessed with?"

"Sister-in-law, that's not the way to say it. When other people gain weight, they are called fat. But when you gain weight like this, you are called plump and plump. Others can't even envy you even if they want to."

Chapter 283: Playing Mahjong, Poker, and Celebrating the New Year

Yu Li has a clever mouth and speaks nicely without offending anyone. They are also trying to curry favor with the Bai family, but the Fang family couple is much better than the Liu family.

Zhu Qingan was very happy and greeted with a smile: "Xiao Li, don't stand there, sit down and chat with me."

Yu Li moved a chair over, and Zhu Qingan grabbed a handful of melon seeds, peanuts, oranges, candies and other snacks from the fruit bowl and placed them in front of Yu Li.

"Eat quickly, don't be polite to me"

There is a shortage of supplies now, so the biggest concern is to let people eat more.

Yu Li knew that these things were nothing to the Bai family, and being too polite would only make her seem hypocritical, so she picked up some melon seeds and started eating them, then asked, "Sister-in-law, how are you feeling lately? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm in good health. Wanli takes care of me every day. My aunt asked someone to prescribe me a bowl of tonic medicine every day. If I still don't feel well with all this tonic, won't I become that delicate Lin Daiyu?"

"My sister-in-law is a blessed person. How can she be compared to Lin Daiyu? Pah! Just pretend you never said that."

Zhu Qingan didn't believe this, but Yu Li was concerned about him, so Zhu Qingan pouted three times, indicating that he took back what he had just said.

"Xiao Li, stop talking about me. You and Fang Qiang have been married for some time. Is there any movement in your belly?"

Speaking of this, Yu Li, who was so excited just now, felt a little disappointed and said while touching her belly:

"Not yet. Brother Qiangzi and I didn't try to avoid pregnancy, but I don't know why I haven't gotten pregnant yet."

Speaking of which, Yu Li and Yan Jiecheng had no children after they got married. I don’t know if it was someone’s health problem, or if it was the feng shui of the No. 95 courtyard house that caused many childless families.

Zhu Qing'an didn't study Chinese medicine, so he couldn't diagnose Yu Li's pulse. He comforted her:

"Xiao Li, don't be too anxious. This also depends on luck. Some people get pregnant within half a month after marriage, while some people get married one or two years before having a child. This is normal. You and Fang Qiang are both young and have not been married for long. There is no need to rush this matter."

Just like Zhu Qingan said, Yu Li and Fang Qiang were young and had not been married for long, so they were not particularly anxious about having children. So after being comforted, they stopped worrying about it.

By this time, several men had already swept the snow in the yard. Bai Wanli went to the kitchen and added a few more corns and meat buns to the pot, then returned to the house wrapped in cold air.

Yu Li stood up and said:

"Director, what are we having for New Year's Eve dinner today? I'll go prepare it right away."

Bai Wanli waved his hand and said, "There's no rush. There's not much work to do today."

"My uncle sent me two slaughtered sheep. I plan to eat one today. I have soaked the sheep in water to remove the fishy smell. You can cut some of the mutton and keep it for making mutton and green onion dumplings during the night watch. Use the rest to make a pot of mutton soup. Prepare some vegetables, tofu and vermicelli and have it in hot pot in the evening."

"All that's left is to steam another fish and prepare two refreshing side dishes."

Bai Wanli's family's New Year's Eve dinner arrangement this year is indeed not complicated, mainly because of a whole pot of mutton soup.

Although Yu Li has always known that the Bai family has a good living condition, she couldn't help but complain in her heart: "They only eat a whole sheep a day. What kind of family is this?"

But mutton soup is really not complicated to make, you just have to watch the fire and don't let the soup dry up.

Steaming fish is a bit more troublesome, you have to marinate it in advance to remove the fishy smell. There are two remaining greasy side dishes that Yu Li hasn't decided on yet.

"Then I'll go to the kitchen first."

Yu Li was busy and worked hard. Bai Wanli saw that it was useless to talk to her, so he just let her go and turned to get the playing cards and mahjong from the cabinet.

"There's not much work to do at home. It's too boring to just sit there. Let's play cards."

The work of the security department is quite boring. When there is nothing to do, they just patrol around or slack off in the office. So some people will play cards when they have nothing to do.

Fang Qiang was also an expert at dry swimming, and he said excitedly: "Director, playing cards alone is a bit boring, how about we bet something?"

It was New Year's Day, so Bai Wanli naturally wouldn't lose interest. He said, "Okay, let's count with peanuts. The two who win the most before dinner will each take two bottles of wine home, and the two who lose the most will have to wash the dishes. How do you think?"

The Security Department plays cards, but there are rules. You can gamble on alcohol and cigarettes, but you can't gamble directly on money.

Fang Qiang knew that the wine here was a special supply that could not be bought with money, so he was naturally very happy.

The four people from the Wu family were originally ordered to protect Bai Wanli and Zhu Qingan, but they didn't want to ruin the fun during the New Year, so they joined in. As long as they didn't drink and stayed sober, it would be fine.

Soon two tables were set up in the room.

Zhu Qingan played mahjong with the Wu sisters and Fang Qiang, while Bai Wanli played poker with the Wu brothers.

Yu Li walked back and forth, and if she saw someone who didn't want to play anymore, she would replace them. With the songs playing on the radio, the atmosphere in the room was lively and cheerful.

In the morning, each family cleans up and the children jump and play around.

In the afternoon, each family in the yard began to prepare dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Cut what can be cut in advance, and stew what needs a long time. Soon, the yard gradually smells of meat.

It's Chinese New Year, and ordinary neighbors in the yard are willing to stew some meat and soup for themselves.

In addition to the Yan family

Yang Ruihua smelled the meat smell coming from outside, and then looked at the dishes he prepared, and couldn't help sighing.

"Old Yan, today is New Year's Eve, and every household has meat to eat. The food we have is a bit too shabby. Why don't we go buy some more meat?"

The Yan family did prepare some meat, a small piece less than half the size of a palm, about one tael, but this meat was not to be eaten directly by cooking, but to be used for keeping watch and making dumplings, with the classic pork and cabbage filling.

However, considering the amount of meat and vegetables, the dumplings have a bit of meaty smell. They should be called pork-flavored cabbage dumplings.

Yan Bugui held two or three peanuts in his hand, drank some liquor that had been diluted with water several times, and said quietly:

"You think I don't want to eat meat? Give me money, I'll buy meat right away."

In the past, Yan Bugui had ruined his reputation by playing the victim everywhere to get benefits. Now, no one in the courtyard likes him. It is impossible for Yan Bugui to get some food from other families by claiming that his family is in trouble. He can only be stingy to the extreme. Being willing to buy a pound of meat to make dumplings is the greatest respect he can show for the New Year.

If you want to eat more meat, it is better to just cut it from him with a knife than to let Yan Bugui take the money.

Yang Ruihua sighed helplessly and could only continue to deal with the cabbage and potatoes in front of him, imagining that he could use them to make a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner.

Soon, a strong smell of meat drifted over from the courtyard, shattering Yang Ruihua's fantasy.

Chapter 284: Do you want dumplings? Cornmeal dumplings

Yan Bugui jumped up when he smelled the meaty aroma, opened the window, stretched his neck and looked outside.

"Oh, is this mutton? It smells so strong. How much meat did Director Bai stew at home?"

Yan Bugui guessed that the smell must have come from the Bai family. Nowadays, the meat that ordinary people eat is mainly pork and chicken (although the portion is not much). Cows are important farming tools. Except for the troops who can eat canned beef, ordinary people can't get it at all.

Mutton is also rare in the market. There are not many people who raise sheep and slaughter them. It is not easy to buy even in the pigeon market where everything is available. In addition, mutton has a strong smell. If you really stew mutton in an environment like a courtyard, even if you close the doors and windows, the smell will definitely be smelled by everyone.

The most direct way for most people to eat mutton is to eat shabu-shabu mutton

Yan Bugui also liked to hang out outside mutton hotpot restaurants in the past. He was reluctant to spend money on food, so he just wanted to smell the food. But even the mutton smell he had smelled in mutton hotpot restaurants was not as strong as today.

Yang Ruihua said helplessly:

"It's really frustrating to compare yourself with others. We have potatoes and radishes for New Year's, but Director Bai even stews mutton. It smells like he must have stewed a lot of it."

"It must be a lot. I estimate that the meat stewed by the Bai family today may be more than the meat stewed by everyone else in the yard combined."

Yang Ruihua was surprised and asked, "Can they finish all the meat?" Yang Ruihua did not doubt that Bai Wanli had the ability to get so much meat.

"How could they be the only couple here? Didn't I see that no one was at Section Chief Fang's house? They must have gone to Director Bai's yard. And the four brothers and sisters surnamed Wu who used to live in Jia's house were not seen today. I heard that they also went to Director Bai's yard. They must be having New Year's Eve dinner with the Bai family."

Yang Ruihua felt a pang in his heart, and his eyes also became sore. He said:

"How come they are so lucky? I won't talk about Section Chief Fang, he was originally from the Security Department, but how come the Wu family of four were favored by Section Chief Bai, who even invited them to the New Year's Eve dinner? How many kilograms of meat did they have to eat?"

The leaders of the Security Department and the Steel Mill all knew what was going on with the four Wu brothers and sisters who suddenly descended from the sky. They were not surprised that they could get close to the Bai couple, but others did not know so much.

After Zhu Qingan became pregnant, many people from the yard and the factory came to show their courtesy.

Bai Wanli and Zhu Qing'an would greet them with a smile, but if they wanted to give them gifts or help take care of Zhu Qing'an, they would refuse without hesitation.

It's not like no one in the courtyard had thought of taking the opportunity to take care of Zhu Qing'an to get closer to the Bai family, but they were rejected several times by Bai Wanli with a cold face. In addition, the Wu sisters moved into the cross-courtyard and followed Zhu Qing'an like bodyguards every day, making it impossible for others to get close to Zhu Qing'an. Gradually, they gave up.

But this did not prevent everyone from envying the Wu sisters. After all, they could live in Bai Wanli's exquisitely decorated courtyard and have the opportunity to eat the Bai family's meals.

Others are willing to do such good things even if they have to pay for it.

Even after the Wu sisters were commended and rewarded for discovering enemy spies, some people even imagined that if it was not the sisters but themselves who moved into the Bai family, would they also have the opportunity to be rewarded for their meritorious service?

Yan Bugui couldn't help but sigh when he thought of the Wu sisters' "luck".

"They have such luck, we can't compare to them, you should prepare the New Year's Eve dinner quickly."

"Then please close the window. The cold wind is blowing so hard that the room is freezing cold."

"You don't understand. When I smell the mutton outside, I can feel a bit like eating mutton when I eat peanuts. So if I round it off, I can still eat mutton. At worst, I can just close the window a little bit and that's it."

Yang Ruihua really didn't understand how peanuts could taste like mutton, but he was too lazy to argue with Yan Bugui.

It's hard to argue. She eats little and can't afford it.

"By the way, Ruihua, when you make dumplings tonight, add some cornmeal to the flour and make it into two-grain flour before making them."

Yang Ruihua was surprised and said, "Old Yan, are you confused? Mixing flour with cornmeal? Can you make dumplings with that?"