Chapter 196: The Wives of the Soldiers Visit

Li Xinyue didn’t know that Wu Xiuzhi was treating her like a spy again, and even if she did, she wouldn’t bother with her.

Unless Wu Xiuzhi had X-ray vision, she wouldn’t be able to tell that Li Xinyue had a different soul inside.

Li Xinyue was not afraid of anyone finding her out, neither the Chen family nor the Li family.

The next morning, the chicken was bought and Wang Hao even helped to kill and clean it. The vegetables were also washed.

Li Xinyue had also prepared shiitake mushrooms, morel mushrooms, and sweet potato starch.

She also found a few wild seasonings. After drying the remaining mushrooms, the two women started making chicken essence.

“What smells so good?”

Xu Hongqin passed by after work at noon, her nose was drawn in by the scent.

The chicken and vegetables in the pot were already cooked, and Li Xinyue was adding sugar and salt.

“Sister-in-law, we’re making something delicious, I’ll send you some to try later.”

Xu Hongqin burst into laughter: “Hahaha, I guess I have a hook on my mouth! If there’s something delicious, I’ll be there!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll be waiting for you!”

Li Xinyue’s vegetables had only been planted recently, and they were just starting to sprout.

These days, the vegetables she ate were either from Qian Sanni’s family or Xu Hongqin’s family.

Especially after Chen Mingchuan went on a mission, Li Jianshan, the deputy battalion commander, took extra care of her family, often sending some vegetables over with Liu Qiang.

The three of them were talking when suddenly a few people came to the door.

“Xiao Li, are you home?”

Hearing the voice, Li Xinyue immediately ran out. She saw that it was the wives who had followed her into the mountains yesterday…

The leader was Liu Cuijiao, the wife of Wang Daxi, the battalion commander of the engineering battalion. Behind her were Mo Xiu and the wife of a staff officer from the political department.

“Oh, Sister-in-law, you came over? Come in, come in, have a seat.”

Liu Cuijiao was thirty-five years old, the same age as her husband, and they were childhood sweethearts. They had two sons and two daughters.

“Xaio Li, what are you doing? It smells so good.”

“Xaio Li is making something delicious. I also smelled the scent and came in. Sister Cuijiao, it seems your nose has a hook too!”

Xu Hongqin and Qian Sanni also came out of the kitchen, laughing and echoing Liu Cuijiao’s words.

Seeing it was her, Liu Cuijiao also laughed: “That means I have good fortune! Xaio Li, these are the mung beans I grew myself.”

“The weather has been good this year, the mung beans have had a bumper harvest. If you don’t mind, take them.”

The mung beans weren’t many, about two or three pounds.

But these were dried mung beans, it wasn’t easy to dry two or three pounds.

Li Xinyue felt embarrassed: “Sister-in-law, you’re so kind, I’m really embarrassed. This is a good thing.”

What good thing?

As long as you plant it well, you can get a whole basket of mung beans from just a few plants!

Liu Cuijiao was a rural person, and rural people were most afraid of not having enough to eat.

The army didn’t care about digging up some wasteland to grow some miscellaneous grains, so she devoted all her energy to farming in her spare time.

“If you don’t mind, take them. Next time you go up the mountain to pick mushrooms and wild vegetables, remember to take me with you.”

With the words said to this point, it would be rude to refuse.

Li Xinyue immediately nodded: “Alright, alright, as long as you’re willing to go, I’ll definitely take you!”

She took Liu Cuijiao’s things, and Mo Xiu also stuffed a bag of green beans into her hand: “I grew these myself too, if you don’t take them, you’ll be looking down on me.”

“Pfft!”

Li Xinyue laughed: “I see you, I see you. You can move all the things from your house over, I’ll take them all, okay?”

“Hahaha…”

Liu Cuijiao laughed: “No wonder Hongqin said that Battalion Commander Chen’s wife has a straightforward personality, she’s really not wrong! I like this personality!”

The military wife from the political department was called Wang Xiuxiu, she was Liu Cuijiao’s cousin, and her husband was also from the same place.

She brought a bag of potatoes.

Although it was only five or six pounds, it was still a gesture of goodwill.

There were over a hundred family members in this compound, but only a few would appreciate such things.

Li Xinyue asked everyone to sit down and brewed some malted milk.

“This was sent by Comrade Ma Zhen, everyone try some. We usually give all the good stuff to the kids, it’s a rare treat to have a drink.”

Of course!

Who wouldn’t give the good stuff to their kids first?

Speaking of kids, Liu Cuijiao had something to say: “My girl heard from Pingping that her new Auntie Ye is both smart and funny, she said she wants to come chat with you next time.”

“Xaio Li, you’re the first one in the family compound who can chat with the kids.”

Li Xinyue smiled modestly: “Sister-in-law, you’re flattering me, I just like playing with kids.”

“Today the sisters-in-law happened to catch me making something delicious, wait for me to finish, I’ll send some to each family, don’t refuse!”

Everyone had already smelled the aroma, and were immediately curious.

“Xaio Li, what are you making that smells so good? I’m telling you, my nose is about to fall off!”

“Sanni said you’re the best at cooking, can I come learn from you next time?”

Mo Xiu and Qian Sanni were from the same hometown, they were close and neither of them had been assigned work yet.

Li Xinyue smiled brightly: “No problem, as long as you want to learn, come anytime.”

“Right now I’m making a seasoning similar to MSG, it’s made with old hens, mushrooms, and vegetables.”

“Come, come, come, take a look.”

Hearing that she was making MSG, everyone was truly curious and immediately followed her into the house…

“Goodness, Xaio Li, you’re really not sparing any expense!”

Liu Cuijiao looked at the chicken in the pot and gasped.

It was indeed not sparing any expense!

Wang Xiuxiu hadn’t joined her husband in the army yet, but she had a son and a daughter. Because her husband was an office worker, their life was even worse.

“Battalion Commander Chen’s wife, you’re lucky that Battalion Commander Chen can earn money, if it were me, I wouldn’t be willing to do this.”

“Hahaha…”

Li Xinyue laughed out loud, this needed to be explained, otherwise others would assume she was a spendthrift wife!

“This chicken was put together by Sanni’s family, these vegetables are from our own garden, and these mushrooms were picked yesterday.”

“To be honest, the cost of this pot is not small, but the chicken essence made from it can last for three to five months.”

An old hen costs ten yuan.

Just using it to make MSG, that’s expensive too.

The service center sells a half-pound bag of Lotus MSG for only a few cents, and one bag can last for half a year.

It’s a bit extravagant!

Everyone chatted for a while, seeing that it was noon, the wives of the soldiers took their leave.

“Xinyue, you’re going to be famous in the whole family compound now, making MSG from old hens, that’s spending a lot of money.”

Xu Hongqin helped Li Xinyue tidy up the teacups while she muttered.

Li Xinyue laughed: “Sister-in-law, life is all about food and clothing. When people are alive, the first thing is to eat, isn’t it?”

“If I’m going to be famous, I’ll be famous. Last time I almost became a spy, and then I got into a fight with someone, I’ve already made a big name for myself, I don’t care about this one.”

“Sister-in-law, I can’t say this to others, but I’ll tell you: there’s an ingredient in this MSG that’s not good for your health if you eat too much.”

What?

There’s something in MSG that’s bad for your health?

Xu Hongqin was stunned: “No way? If it’s bad for people, how could the country produce it?”

“Xaio Li, did you get it wrong?”

“You can’t say this to outsiders, or you’ll be arrested and accused of slandering socialism!”

Li Xinyue: “…”

I really can’t do this, why do I always forget about the times?

“Sister-in-law, I’m saying that eating too much is not good for your health, it’s fine to eat a little bit.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll only tell you two, I definitely won’t tell anyone else.”

Is that so?

It turns out Xaio Li trusts her so much!

Xu Hongqin felt relieved…

But her relief was short-lived, someone ran in from outside.

“Battalion Commander Chen’s wife, someone is going to report you for taking the capitalist path and being a capitalist miss! You better go take a look!”