Chapter 1499: Chapter 1499: Old Promise 4
Seeing Shi Guantao, Feng Qingxue was instantly taken aback.
“Comrade Shi Guantao?” she blurted out, noticing the surprised looks on Lu Jiang’s and Shi Guantao’s faces at the sa ti.
Lu Jiang’s eyes flashed with a trace of confusion. “You know Comrade Shi Guantao?”
Feng Qingxue nodded and said, “Today, while queuing to buy grain, I happened to catch a glimpse of Comrade Shi Guantao and also learned from others about his past occupation and current profession.”
Shi Guantao, hearing this, replied sowhat awkwardly, “Sorry to make my sister-in-law laugh.”
“Family doesn’t laugh at family! Co, co inside. You ca at the perfect ti; the dumplings just ca out of the pot. Eat them while they’re hot. The ones with the crimped edges are filled with cabbage, no spicy onion, specially made for the kids, so you should let them eat first. Adults like us can have the rest later. Ajiang, you entertain Comrade Shi Guantao, and I’ll reheat the dishes you brought.”
Luckily, many hands make light work, so a lot of dumplings were made today. The leftovers were originally ant to be frozen outside for tomorrow’s al.
She took all the dumplings out of the pot and hurriedly added the remaining dumplings to cook. The red-braised pork, cabbage stir-fried with pork skin, and shredded pork in Beijing-style sauce that Lu Jiang brought back were all placed straight onto the stear rack in a small pot to warm up.
Lu Jiang ca into the kitchen to help, adding coal to the stove.
“Why aren’t you in the main room entertaining our guest? What are you doing in the kitchen? That’s no way to treat a guest,” she chided.
“Guantao’s not an outsider. My father and Tianzhi and the other brothers are there; I just ca to check on the leftovers,” Lu Jiang replied.
Feng Qingxue nodded slightly. “Weren’t you just ho? Why are you back again? How long can you stay this ti? And what’s the story with Comrade Shi Guantao? I’m dying of curiosity!”
Lu Jiang smiled faintly. “Work required to return. I’ll stay as long as I can, going to headquarters during the day and coming ho at night. But I won’t be here long—establishing diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. is imminent, and we all have to be ready for anything, paying attention on all fronts. As for Comrade Shi Guantao, he used to be a child soldier in the military and followed for several years.”
“How co I’ve never seen him? If I had, I wouldn’t have failed to recognize him while buying grain,” she said.
Lu Jiang sighed. “He followed a long ti ago, three years younger than . During one battle, only five people from our company survived. I was one of them, he was one of them, and Brother Zhao was one of them. Over a decade ago, Guantao was transferred to a different unit from us, so of course, you wouldn’t have seen him. Running into him today was sheer coincidence.”
Still adding half a ladle of water to the pot, Feng Qingxue remarked, “People say he loves eating at restaurants. Why didn’t you go to a state-run hotel to eat together? You’re comrades, you should understand each other better.”
“Do you know why Guantao loves eating at restaurants?” Lu Jiang asked suddenly.
“Why?”
“Before and after the founding of the country, conditions in the military were always tough. It was hard for the brothers to get enough to eat or drink. Before going to war, we made a promise: whoever made it off the battlefield alive, whoever lived to see the Communist society, whoever saw the days of peace, they would eat an extra portion of good food for the comrades who’d sacrificed themselves! Guantao goes to restaurants not to gorge himself, but to fulfill his promise to those fallen comrades. It’s just that good food is hard to co by in the canteen or at ho, so he goes out instead.”
At this point, Lu Jiang rubbed his eyes, which were stinging from the soot. “Most of the comrades loved red-braised pork. Whether it’s Guantao or , we’ve got to eat it for them for a lifeti.”
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