Chapter 53 : Xiao Ting’s News

“So many.” Lu Fangfang was shocked.  

There was nearly half a basket of quail eggs. It didn’t seem like they had just been casually gathered.  

“Sister Shuhua, this is too much. I only need a few, there’s no need to take so many.”  

“Comrade Lu, don’t be so polite. SinceOld Gao brought them, just accept them.”  

Chen Shuhua firmly pushed the basket into her hands.  

“This…”  

Lu Fangfang felt a bit embarrassed. A small basket of quail eggs was actually a valuable gift.  

But she really needed them.  

After hesitating for a moment, she decided to accept them. At worst, she could return the favor once she was able to raise quails herself in the future.  

She carefully picked out the quail eggs from the basket.  

After thinking for a moment, she grabbed a plate of fried fish from last night and placed it in the basket.  

“Sister Shuhua, I fried some small fish last night. Take them back for the captain to try.”  

Chen Shuhua sniffed the air and exclaimed in surprise, “So that delicious smell from the compound last night was from you frying fish, Xiao Lu!”  

“Uh… probably.”  

Lu Fangfang felt a little helpless.  

Whenever she fried fish, half the compound could smell it. To be honest, it made her feel a bit too noticeable.  

“Alright then, thank you, Comrade Lu. I’ll bring your plate back later.”  

Chen Shuhua glanced at the golden-fried fish but didn’t say much more.  

Carrying the basket, she turned and left.  

Lu Fangfang walked Sister Shuhua to the door, then headed to Political Commissar Xiao’s house.  

Inside, Wang Shufen was making breakfast.  

Lu Fangfang told her about the quail eggs and invited her over.  

“Sister Shufen, do you know how to select quail eggs?”  

“It should be similar to chicken eggs. Let me give it a try.”  

Wang Shufen had never dealt with quail eggs before, but she used her experience from selecting chicken eggs and took a flashlight to examine them.  

“Eh? I see it, sister! Look, the ones with black specks inside are fertilized eggs. The ones with nothing inside aren’t.”  

Lu Fangfang leaned in for a closer look.  

After checking a few more eggs, she started to understand. “Sister Shufen, let me try picking one.”  

Wang Shufen handed her the flashlight and began guiding her.  

“These wobbly eggs won’t hatch if they’ve been left too long, so they should be removed.”  

“And these ones aren’t good either.”  

—

Actually, selecting fertilized eggs was pretty simple. As long as one had good eyesight, they could learn quickly.  

Wang Shufen taught carefully, and Lu Fangfang listened attentively. Soon, she got the hang of it, and she personally selected the remaining quail eggs.  

Out of half a basket, they picked out just over twenty fertilized eggs.  

Lu Fangfang found a basin and carried the eggs to Political Commissar’s house. They needed to be incubated as soon as possible.  

—-

Tiedan was still lying on the kang bed, not wanting to get up. When he saw Lu Fangfang coming, he quickly pulled the quilt over his head.  

Seeing this, Lu Fangfang burst into laughter.  

This little rascal wore open-crotch pants every day, exposing his little belly, yet now he was suddenly feeling shy.  

Wang Shufen ignored her son. She lifted the old quilt at the head of the kang, picked up the quail eggs, and carefully placed them next to the chicken eggs.  

“Girl, how long does it take for quail eggs to hatch?”  

Lu Fangfang scratched her head, hesitating. “It should be a few days less than chicken eggs, right?”  

“Chicken eggs take twenty days, so quail eggs should hatch in fifteen or sixteen days. I need to remember that.”  

Wang Shufen grabbed a pencil and jotted the date down on an old newspaper pasted on the wall.  

Quail eggs were marked for the 16th, chicken eggs for the 20th, and the duck and goose eggs wouldn’t hatch until the beginning of next month.

Wang Shufen looked at the date a couple more times and committed it to memory.  

“Sister, let’s borrow a cart and go to the regiment to dig up horse manure. Bring a shovel, don’t forget it.”  

“Alright.”  

Lu Fangfang responded and turned back home to start cooking.  

—  

The Family Compound – The Regiment Commander’s Home  

Gao Dajiang was sitting at the table, drinking rice porridge. When he saw his wife return, he asked, “Did you deliver the quail eggs?”  

“Yes, Xiao Lu accepted them.”  

Chen Shuhua found a clean plate, then took the fried fish from the basket and poured it onto the plate.  

“What’s this?”  

Gao Dajiang looked surprised.  

“Comrade Lu fried the fish. Remember last night when you were wondering where that delicious smell was coming from? This was it.”  

Gao Dajiang opened his mouth, momentarily speechless.  

Comrade Lu was either eating beef or fish every day, better than even the regiment commander.  

He picked up his chopsticks, took a small fish, and tasted it. “It’s crispy and fragrant. Smells amazing. Shuhua, you should try some too.”  

He picked up another piece and held it up to his wife’s mouth.  

Chen Shuhua took a bite and nodded. “It’s really good. The bones are crispy. Xiao Lu is an excellent cook.”  

Gao Dajiang examined the fish on the plate closely and hesitated before asking, “Did she catch this from the creek near the family compound?”  

“This stuff is delicious. No, I have to ask the logistics department to catch some so we can fry them up for the regiment soldiers to taste.”  

Chen Shuhua rolled her eyes at him and quickly stopped him. “Come on, frying fish like this would use up half a month’s worth of oil for the soldiers. It’s not worth it.”  

“…Oh.”  

Gao Dajiang scratched his head. He picked up another fish, inspected it, and saw it glistening with oil.  

No wonder it smelled so good, so much oil had been used. Of course, anything stir-fried in this much oil would taste amazing.  

Gao Dajiang shook his head, giving up on the idea. The regiment’s oil supply couldn’t be squandered.  

“Comrade Lu sure is extravagant. Willing to waste so much oil.”  

“What nonsense are you talking about? Xiao Lu used a set of cow bones to render five pounds of butter. He’s not afraid of running out of oil.”  

Chen Shuhua rolled her eyes at him again. “By the way, how did your visit to the commander go this time? Everything okay?”  

Gao Dajiang shook his head with a helpless sigh. “She got caught up in Xiao Ting’s mess. The division commander spoils that girl too much. She says whatever she wants, she even belittled the peasant brothers and sympathized with the capitalists. Who does she think she is? Someone already wrote a letter to the military region to report her.”  

“The commander is planning to marry her off quickly out of sight, out of mind.”  

As he spoke, Gao Dajiang thought of Zhuang Mingcheng. “Honestly, Xiao Ting and Xiao Zhuang would make a good match. If Xiao Zhuang became the commander’s son-in-law, he’d have an even brighter future.”  

‘Smack!’  

Chen Shuhua slapped him on the arm.  

“Comrade Gao Dajiang, you’re eating fish that Xiao Lu gave us, and you’re talking like this? Where’s your conscience?”  

Gao Dajiang immediately smacked his own mouth. “Look at me running my mouth I was wrong, I was wrong.”  

“Hmm?”  

Suddenly, something clicked in his mind.  

Yesterday, the division commander had asked him about the character of Second Battalion Commander Xu Jinbu. At the time, he thought it was just about promoting cadres. But could it be that the commander was actually looking for a son-in-law?  

“What’s wrong?”  

“Nothing.”  

Gao Dajiang decided he didn’t want to get involved. It wasn’t his problem anyway. “Shuhua, when are you leaving?”  

“This afternoon. You know how busy our art troupe is…”  

As Chen Shuhua was speaking, Gao Dajiang suddenly pulled her closer.  

“Old Gao, stop it! I still have to deliver the plate back to Comrade Lu.”  

“No rush, no rush.”