Raising Babies in the 70s - Chapter 140

“No violin.” 

It was not that Li Qinghua had never heard Chief Lu play the violin.

Qin Rou: “…” Huahua, you may have misunderstood something.

After Wang Yuanzheng moved into the colony courtyard, he and his wife Xue Xiaohui got along very harmoniously. He was originally a gentle person, not to mention Xue Xiaohui, the two of them didn’t even quarrel.

However, there was only a slight problem with the diet, of course, not a big issue.

As soon as Wang Yuanzheng moved into the family’s courtyard, he immediately learned to plant yellow peppers. He was a person who loved spicy food and couldn’t lose the most amazing pepper in his life.

And his wife, Xue Xiaohui, neither liked nor hated chili peppers. She could eat chili peppers on weekdays, and she also liked sweet and sour things, so the two of them had a good diet.

The only thing was that his wife liked to eat raw marinated seafood, marinated shrimp, and marinated crab… Lao Wang ate it twice and thought it was delicious, but he really didn’t want to eat it. If he let his wife eat like that at home, he would only get steamed seafood and chili to eat.

The timid Xue Xiaohui opened her jar of pickled shrimp at the dinner table again.

Lao Wang: “…” 

‘It smells good, but I don’t want to eat it. I’ll get used to it over time’, he thought.

Within two months of moving into the colony home, there came good news from his wife Xue Xiaohui. It was said that she got good fortune from the Lu family. She got pregnant just after getting married. For that, Lao Wang was especially grateful to his friend. 

After his wife became pregnant, she couldn’t eat raw and salted shrimp. Wang Yuanzheng couldn’t sleep because of excitement. He was the same man with foresight as before. He had to make all preparations in advance, and had a deep understanding of the experience of the ancestors.

He was fine, but Chief of Staff Lu was miserable.

He became the best predecessor of Lao Wang. He only became a father the previous year, and he had a lot of experience. If he didn’t learn from him, who would he learn from?

“What would the baby be like when it’s just born?”

“Is it noisy? Is it difficult to take care of the baby?”

“How do I take care of my pregnant wife?”

Those questions made Lu Yan extremely annoyed, and he didn’t want to see him again. When it came to the non-stop chatter between Lao Wang and him, he would rather stay silent with Comrade Lao Ma than talk to Lao Wang about children.

Talk about kids? Talk sh*t!

But no matter how indifferent Lu Yan was, he couldn’t diminish Lao Wang’s fiery spirit of positive learning.

“How do I wash the child’s diaper?”

 “Would you like to try it?” 

…

In the yard, Lao Wang was about to take the diaper from Lu Yan’s hand. Lu Yan was so annoyed that he could not wait. He left early after washing up, as he didn’t want him to succeed.

D*mn you, you’re going to rob me of the diaper.

The men were fighting over the diaper. Mr. Zhang looked at them both with a “changed” look. The world was getting worse and people’s hearts were not good. He had never seen such a thing.

But when he returned to the room, he thought about it. The diaper might belong to his future son-in-law, should he go grab it too?

Lao Wang’s wife was pregnant, maybe it was a girl. Did he also want to fix the baby engagement with Lao Lu?

Mr. Zhang hesitated for a whole night, and after thinking about the pain, he found that he still couldn’t go to the next door to grab the diaper, so he had to give up.

At that time, the Chinese New Year was approaching again. 1972 was about to end and a new year would begin. Although the conditions were difficult, everyone was actively preparing for the New Year.

Qin Rou bought some mackerel. Not only did she buy fish, but also dividing pork was a big deal. They raised pigs in the community the previous year. Chief Lu took the enamel basin and went to line up for the pork. 

Among the large group of family members, Chief Lu was carrying a basin, which was very conspicuous.

 “Xiao Lu, where’s your wife?”

“What meat are you going to pick?”

“Xioa Qin isn’t home today?” After picking out a big pot of pork belly and going home, Chief Lu said to his wife, “Next year, you go get the pork yourself.”

“Well, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to carry it back…”

“Let’s go together.”

“Okay! We can go with the kids.” 

When the kids would be able to walk, the whole family should be mobilized for such a lively occasion as getting meat during the New Year.At that time, the couple would take the big pot, and the kids would carry a small pocket pot.

There was more meat that year. Qin Rou also planned to grill some sausages, but considering the weather, the grilled sausages there would not be too delicious. It was better to ask someone to buy sausages from Guangcheng next time.

“Mother-in-law, let’s make oil cakes this year.”

“Go to Huahua’s house to get pickled cabbage, and I’ll go make sauerkraut and pork stewed vermicelli.” 

During the Chinese New Year, they would be able to eat fresh pork, and not only make dumplings with it but also make the balls, some dishes such as braised pork, sweet and sour pork ribs, and lychee meat that were not eaten usually.