Anne wears a large headscarf and a very wide burlap apron, a typical image of traditional Russian women. Due to the huge improvement in her diet, she has become stronger, and her originally dry face has become plump.
The biggest change is of course the star fruit. After eating a lot of nutritional supplements like never before, she has transformed into a chubby little girl. It would be better for my wife to be fatter. I think back to when I first met her, she was not only skinny but also had a rather sallow face.
, obviously chronic malnutrition.
Looking at Anne's huge wooden spoon stirring the large soup pot, and looking at the simple room furnishings under the dim light, this batch feels like an oil painting.
"Annie!" Yang Mingzhi said suddenly.
"You also know the situation. You must take good care of my wife in the next month."
"As ordered, Comrade General."
"Very good. Now there is good news. I got some special treatment for us from the mayor. If the old guy doesn't break his promise, our design bureau's meat supply will reach a big level soon."
Annie was startled and paused what she was doing. Similarly, Carambola, who was still kneading the dough with her small hands, also stopped.
Anne had some worries. She asked: "General, you went to Moscow. The subsidies for your officers should be distributed steadily, right?"
"This? I don't know. But it doesn't matter, because I have obtained a larger subsidy for our design bureau! About five kilograms of fresh beef subsidy per day. I believe that the mayor, who is the future governor, will never
You broke your promise. Comrade Anne, you will have enough beef to eat every day from now on."
"you……"
During the long Romanov dynasty, serfs could only eat beef and mutton a few times in their lives. Not only was their social status extremely low, but also because Tsarist Russia never engaged in large-scale livestock breeding. Tsarist Russia simply did not have the ability to feed a large number of livestock.
, the ones that are raised the most are poultry.
This serious social problem was naturally inherited by the new Soviet Union. However, in order to seize the time to realize industrialization, the Soviet Union invested very little in agriculture.
The Soviet Union's investment in livestock breeding is really limited, especially during the current war period. According to regulations in many places, the monthly ration of fresh meat for ordinary people is only one kilogram. It is still unknown whether it can be implemented.
The supply of fresh meat is relatively smooth, except for the army, it is the government agencies. Of course, the Academy of Sciences, as the crystallization of the wisdom of the Soviet Union, has tens of thousands of the most powerful brains here. To make these brains operate stably, they must be provided with a large amount of meat.
In this regard, Novosibirsk Oblast is very honored to be the location of the relocated General Academy of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and the material standards provided to the Academy of Sciences are naturally very high.
In fact, the so-called high treatment is just that the food supply is much higher than that of ordinary residents. Only people with extremely high status can eat meat every day.
It can be said that the agreement reached by Yang Mingzhi and Umov was a privileged act. So what? Umov knew that he had greater power due to his promotion, and this power largely came from Belekov's help.
Not only is it his own honor and disgrace, senior personnel of the entire Novosibirsk State have reached a consensus that Belekov will give Novosibirsk significant help here, so his design bureau will be given a mere 150 kilograms of beef a month.
What is it?
It is obvious that General Berekov was sympathetic to the difficulties faced by the authorities in implementing work in a war state, and did not even make a substantively difficult request.
The flour supply will increase, and there will be five kilograms of beef every day, which is equivalent to everyone in the design bureau. How happy is it to be able to eat fist-sized boiled beef every day?
Needless to say, Anne was overjoyed. No, he stirred the soup pot even more vigorously.
The snow is still falling, and it's obviously a lot heavier than at the beginning.
If a blizzard really breaks out, life will definitely be difficult for everyone, especially during this critical period. Severe snow accumulation may even force military trains to suspend operations.
This is of course Yang Mingzhi's "Chinese-style thinking". He instinctively felt that large-scale snowfall would paralyze traffic. But here in the Soviet Union, this did not apply.
Lao Maozi, they are a nation that can take off and land planes in foggy weather. What does the mere snow mean?
The three fronts of the vehicles were close together, and the front vehicle was equipped with a snow shovel. The entire military column continued to move, with three meters of snow shoveled aside.
In fact, sometimes there will be such thick snow in Siberia, and the Trans-Siberian Railway will not be substantially disturbed. Even though the dense coniferous forest is buried two to three meters in the snow, the trains roaring past are still in the white ground.
Create a tunnel in the vast world.
From the past to the future, the Russians have always done this, as if they never thought that large-scale snowfall was a big difficulty.
Yang Mingzhi now feels that he can go back to the house after dinner, pack his change of clothes, stuff his linen pockets, and his personal belongings will be ready.
After spending the night with my wife, a new arduous journey officially began.
He thought that the tranquility of the design bureau would not be disturbed by anything anymore. As a result, the honking of a truck suddenly came from outside.
Night has fallen, the sky is hazy, and fine snowflakes are falling continuously. The bright yellow light of the outdoor incandescent lamp of the design bureau is reflected on the snow, making the surroundings of the building quite bright.
Although it has just arrived at 5 pm, the actual astronomical time is already 8 pm. Besides, as the autumnal equinox passes, polar night begins to appear in the Arctic Circle, and the nights here in Novosibirsk are getting longer and longer.
The actual temperature of the mercurochrome thermometer has dropped to minus 8 degrees. It stands to reason that in such a cold day, you should call if you have anything. Why is there still someone driving a truck and heading straight to the design bureau?
Of course, the first ones to be alert were Grishenko and others, especially Grishenko, who took the lead in leaving a series of footprints in the snow, stopped the truck with anti-skid chains, and asked what was going on.
As a result, as soon as he walked in and shined a flashlight into the truck compartment, he saw the special markings on it.
"Wow! It's actually the logistics department's car?!"
Grishenko was a little confused, but the vehicle was a bus from the logistics department of Novosibirsk City, and the visitor was ordered by his superiors to deliver supplies.
Grishenko maintained absolute vigilance and after checking all the documents they provided, confirmed that their identities were correct.
For Yang Mingzhi, his mood at this moment can only be described as overjoyed.
He never expected that the "secret agreement" was discussed in the morning and implemented in the evening.
Although it was agreed that it was only five kilograms of beef, the truck did deliver five kilograms of red fresh beef, but the weather was cold and it had been frozen a bit hard. In addition, there was actually a bag of flour and some wine.
In line with the principle that something is better than nothing, Yang Mingzhi couldn't control so much and accepted all the goods according to the order, and signed the receipt provided by the other party to confirm that the design bureau had indeed accepted the goods.
All the designers who received the extra subsidy were in jubilation. After all, in this cold period, getting these three things, bread, meat and wine, is simply the greatest happiness in life. They also had to face another reality, thinking back to when they were children.
Who is not hungry but full after every meal? Now not only do we eat every meal, but our diet is becoming more and more refined.
The beef was sent to the kitchen immediately, but it took a while to cook, so dinner had to be put off for a while.
Who would mind? After all, beef tastes best when it's cooked.
Speaking of this beef, after all, it has been frozen, which makes it easier to cut with a knife.
There was too much meat, so I cut it into thumb-sized pieces and put it into an iron plate. The whole plate was put into the oven and it was cooked quickly. Finally, I threw it into the thick soup to make a pot of beef soup.
It's just that the meat is a bit cumbersome.
If it were just this processing, it would be easy, but Carambola came up with his own idea.
"Brother! Why don't we use this beef to make some dumplings?!"
What? Dumplings?!
Yang Mingzhi was startled and looked at his wife who rolled up her sleeves and kneaded a large piece of dough.
"Making dumplings? Is that possible?"
A smile immediately appeared on Yang Tao's face: "Hey! Who doesn't eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year? Besides, the little devils are so rampant, they can't cover up our Chinese people's enthusiasm for eating dumplings. The devils don't let us make white noodles, so we can't
You can do it secretly, but the price on the black market is higher."
"Of course you can make dumplings. I'm not industrious but only eat them. Is it too late now? It's very late."
"What's the point?" Yang Tao smiled, "You're going on a long journey. I'm your woman, so why don't I make something special for you to take with you on your journey? Aren't you quite free now? Go get two kilograms.
Meat, cut it into minced meat for me, right?"
Looking at his wife's confident smile, Yang Mingzhi thought about it.
Dumplings, originally called flat food, originated in the Central Plains during the Northern Song Dynasty. With the expansion of the Mongolian Empire, dumplings, a pasta processing model, was also introduced to Eastern Europe. The fillings are still wrapped in dough, unlike the Chinese who cook them in boiling water.
Cooked, the Tatars love to fry them, and the Slavs who overthrew the Tatar rule also accepted these fried dumplings.
However, the deep-rooted tradition of the Russians believes that only Daliba is the truth, and the others are just snacks.
In Russian festivals, bread is given a sacred meaning. In northern China, when the cold season enters, eating dumplings is also a "ritual-like" custom.
With two sharp meat-cutting knives in hand, Yang Mingzhi cut a kilogram of beef into pieces with three strokes. Look at his brutal movements, which are quite similar to Li Kui's style.
The filling is not only beef, but the important supplement is sauerkraut, which is most eaten in Russia in winter. The sauerkraut here is not sour cabbage, but fermented cabbage. In terms of taste, it is similar to Chinese sauerkraut.
The dumplings stuffed with pickled cabbage and beef have a sour taste and the richness of the meat, so it is naturally delicious. In order to make the filling thicker, it is also necessary to beat two eggs.
"Oh, dear, I'll break your eggs for tomorrow, so you'll only have beef to eat tomorrow." Yang Mingzhi pretended to be a little embarrassed.
"What's the matter? I eat too well now and have gained a lot of weight."
"Okay, I'm almost ready to mix the meat filling here, and you can roll out the dough quickly."
"I will work hard. Brother, when you are done, make dumplings. Let's use up all the meat filling as soon as possible and don't waste it. The noodles I just made are used to bake bread tomorrow. I can only ask Annie for a while.
.”
At this moment, Anne also had some intentions of joining the general and his wife, but the task on her shoulders was also very heavy.
Although the general and Deputy Director Popov both proposed to their superiors, requesting the design bureau to increase manpower. The manpower must be increased. In the future, he will no longer fight alone, and there is no need to ask the general's wife to help.
For the time being, I still have a heavy cooking task every day, so eating beef every day from now on is just a kind of reward.
Dinner was served, and everyone in the design bureau was eating bread again. The difference was that this time there were large pieces of beef in everyone's soup bowls, and it turned into beef and potato sauce soup.
The general and his wife are still busy in the cafeteria. They plan to cook some Chinese food for themselves, which is understandable. Everyone has a lot to talk about. For example, since the new toilet was put into use, everyone's life has become more convenient. There is also the brick building under construction.
The canteen is a permanent structure of stone.
Everyone ate for a while, and suddenly, they saw the general walking out of the kitchen, holding an iron plate for baking bread in his hand, and there was a bunch of white stuff on the plate.
what is that?!
The curious designers couldn't help but get close to it, and they instinctively realized that it was a kind of pasta.
Popov was also attracted, and he understood everything immediately.
"Comrade General, you...haha, you are actually making dumplings."
"Yes!" Yang Mingzhi shrugged, "Look at them, these young people are really rare and strange, but you still understand me."
"Of course, you did it in the swamp, and I even ate it!"
"Okay, I asked Anne to do more of this in the future. You know, I have taught her how to do this. As for what you see now, hey, I will take them with me as food on my journey.
.”
This statement made Popov a little surprised: "You...don't you think the military train's dining car doesn't suit your taste?"
"Huh? Pretty much. The guards I brought with me are very familiar with this matter. However, China has its own customs. For example, on the autumnal equinox, one should eat a meal of dumplings. This has been the case for a thousand years. On the 22nd, we did not
The conditions are now there. It is very cold outside. You see, these dumplings made by my wife and I will freeze hard quickly and can be stored for a long time."
"Ah! That's true."
One kilogram of beef is used as the core of the filling, and will eventually be processed into four kilograms of dumplings, and three kilograms will be quick-frozen.
Yang Mingzhi knew how long the journey would be. If he had to eat dumplings every day, three kilograms would definitely not be enough.
It doesn't matter, these three kilograms of dumplings gradually become the warmth of the family and the wishes of my wife. Isn't it great that dumplings are the staple food of the dinner on the military train?
The dumplings were quickly frozen and put into a linen bag. Tomorrow, along with the six wooden boxes of firearms, they would be taken to the central train station in Novosibirsk early in the morning.
A small iron pot was placed on the coal-fired stove. One kilogram of dumplings was dinner for Yang Mingzhi and his wife tonight.
The dumplings were cooked quickly, and the couple skillfully handled the money. What they ate into their mouths was filled with happiness.
No more words were needed, the two pairs of eyes looked at each other, exchanging encouragement and comfort.
After dinner, Yang Mingzhi packed his luggage, and Yang Tao folded a change of clothes for her husband like a typical housewife.
That night, Yang Tao also hugged her husband's arm tightly, as if she hugged the whole world. Her husband was only leaving for a month to complete a major task related to future happiness. As a wife, she must support him.
However, if they are really separated, it is obviously only temporary, and they can still communicate by telegraph with each other.
When the real thing comes, this feeling of loss and loneliness...
Her husband was fast asleep and looked exhausted both physically and mentally. In the darkness, Yang Tao could only shed a few tears and continued to support her husband's career.