Chapter 545: Gossip-for-Survival System (44)

It's not that the Xie Family isn't good, but Xiao Shitou will be starting school in a few years, and the school district where the pooled-fund housing is located is much better than the primary school at the entrance of the hutong.

So even if they don't move now, they will definitely have to move there in a few years when it's time for school; at worst, they can just return to the Dazayuan to live during winter and summer breaks.

"Xiao Xie!"

Near the Little New Year, Miao Lan brought a lamb leg to Xie Yang.

"It's cold, stew some lamb soup to warm yourself up. In winter, lamb is good for both the elderly and children to eat."

"Thank you, Miao Yi."

Xie Yang didn't stand on ceremony with her; in any case, whenever her own family had something good, she would also send a portion to the Zheng Family.

Over these past two years, the two families have become closer than ordinary relatives.

"Miao Miao has been in the Women's Federation for over half a year now, is the work going smoothly?"

After getting the keys to the public housing, they started renovations. Xie Yang would go over to check the progress whenever she was free, so she hadn't had a proper chat with Zheng Miaomiao for a while; even when they met, it was just a hurried greeting before leaving.

Miao Lan smiled and said, "This girl, ever since she joined the Women's Federation, she's like a fish in water or a bird in the forest—she's having a great time."

Xie Yang couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.

That's true! Her daily work is just "eating melons" (gossiping); while others get pay raises, she gets a lifespan increase—how could she not be happy?

"But there is one thing, I really do have to trouble your Gu."

"What is it?"

Miao Lan coughed lightly: "It's just that your Zheng Shu is bent on finding Miao Miao a partner who works at the Public Security Bureau. It doesn't necessarily have to be a police officer; a clerk or logistics staff would be fine, as long as their character is good and they can apply for pooled-fund housing after marriage. You see, the land for the pooled-fund housing approved for our Supply and Marketing Cooperative is very close to the pooled-fund housing for Gu's unit, just separated by one road..."

They were thinking that if their daughter found a partner working at the Public Security Bureau, once they were married, it would be so convenient to just cross the road to visit her parents' home.

It would be just like Xie Yang now—returning to her parents' home for meals during the day, and at night, she can choose to stay at her parents' or go back to her own little home; either way, there's no need to agonize over it.

And if they have children in the future, it would be convenient for them, as the father-in-law and mother-in-law, to go over and help take care of them.

"... In short, your Zheng Shu is now obsessed with finding a son-in-law who works at the Public Security Bureau. He even said that when Gu isn't busy, he wants to invite him home for a drink. I was afraid Gu would be confused when the time comes, so I wanted to give you a heads-up first."

Xie Yang: "..."

Come to think of it, if Zheng Miaomiao really married a police officer and lived in the same residential area as her in the future, it would be all benefit and no harm for Xie Yang.

However, for such a major life event as marriage, one must first ask Zheng Miaomiao herself.

Thus, when the fragrant lamb soup was ready, Xie Yang called Zheng Miaomiao over to the house for a meal.

The milky-white soup was topped with green scallions and minced cilantro. Taking a sip, the mouth was filled with the aroma of lamb without a hint of gaminess, and the body warmed up along with it.

"It's so delicious!"

Zheng Miaomiao held the bowl and drank several mouthfuls with satisfaction.

Not just Zheng Miaomiao, but Grandma Xie and Xiao Shitou, including Xie Yang herself, were all drinking so much they didn't have time to talk.

Xiao Shitou held his own special little wooden bowl, gulped it all down, held the bowl high, and said in a milky voice: "Sister, Xiao Shitou is finished! Xiao Shitou wants more!"

"Alright, Sister will serve Xiao Shitou another bowl." Xie Yang took the bowl, skimmed off the oil, and served Xiao Shitou another half-bowl of soup.

His wooden bowl was relatively small; calling it half a bowl was actually just one adult spoonful.

"Gu gets off work late, remember to save a bowl for him." Grandma Xie never forgot her granddaughter-in-law's husband when there was something good.

Xie Yang smiled and said: "There's still plenty, it's keeping warm on the stove, I guarantee he'll be able to drink it the moment he walks through the door."

As she spoke, she urged everyone to eat the lamb meat and not just focus on the soup.

The lamb trotters, stewed until tender and soft, were dipped in the sauce she had prepared—it was incredibly fragrant.

Although Xiao Shitou had been weaned, he couldn't eat large pieces of meat yet, so Xie Yang wrapped a few small wontons just for him, using lamb as the filling. The small wontons were thin and flat, the filling minced into a paste; there were about ten in a bowl, totaling at most ten grams of meat, but the little guy ate one after another with great satisfaction.

Equally satisfied was Zheng Miaomiao, who was devouring the clear-stewed lamb and exclaiming how satisfying it was: "My dad stews it this way too, but it just doesn't taste as good as what you make, Yang Yang."

Xie Yang smiled indifferently.

Perhaps it was because the cooking wine she used this time was the Zhuangyuan Red she had stockpiled; stewing it with the lamb not only removed the gamey smell but also brought out the lamb's aroma, making the soup even more delicious.

After eating and drinking their fill, Grandma Xie took Xiao Shitou for a few strolls around the main room to aid digestion, then went onto the warm kang to listen to the radio.

The old one and the young one actually both liked listening to opera.

The old one hummed along to the tunes, and the young one babbled and giggled nonsensically.

Xie Yang was long used to this pre-sleep entertainment activity of the grandmother and grandson; she left them be and took Zheng Miaomiao to her own room.

The chimney stove, which had been lit in advance in the corner, had already made the small room feel warm and cozy.

The ceramic teapot on the stove was bubbling, and the water had already boiled.

Xie Yang took two ceramic cups matching the teapot, wrapped the teapot handle with a towel, and poured two cups of sweet and refreshing pomelo tea: "Here, one cup each, hold it to warm your hands."

The pomelos were naturally sent by the Qiu Family; they sent even more this year than last, a full thirty of them.

Fortunately, there were many people to give them to this year—she took four to her aunt's house and sent four each to Gu Yu'an's three comrades-in-arms. Of course, it wasn't just pomelos that were sent, but other things as well.

But pomelos are bulky, and four pomelos made the package bulge.

The rest still needed to be exchanged with neighbors.

In the end, what was left for herself was only seven or eight.

She peeled two to boil into pomelo jam; having a cup after a meal made everything from her mouth to her stomach feel extremely comfortable.

The two sisters sat around the stove holding their cups and sipping the pomelo tea, and Xie Yang got to the point: "What kind of partner are you looking for?"

"Pfft..."

Zheng Miaomiao choked, coughed for a long time, and said with a flushed face: "Yang Yang, why are you suddenly asking me this?"

Oh my!

How embarrassing!

In her past life, in order to train for shot put, she was forced to become a 180-jin hulk, and she never found a suitable partner until she retired.

It wasn't that she had no suitors, but those who were interested in her often had some ulterior motive.

With her hulking physique, and her facial features not exactly being pretty, could anyone purely like her for who she was?

Therefore, her lifelong matter remained unresolved even until she retired.

Returning to her hometown would surely lead to her parents pressuring her to marry, so she bought a Recreational Vehicle, planning to imitate those travel bloggers and tour the magnificent mountains and rivers of the motherland...

Never did she expect to transmigrate into this sickly little body, and just after turning sixteen, her family was already worrying about her lifelong matter.

This made Xie Yang feel both bashful and a little bit expectant.

Xie Yang glanced at her blushing earlobes and said with a smile, "I'm not asking you to settle it immediately, just asking for your thoughts. Your work has already stabilized, so the next step is to settle on a partner; you wouldn't want a blind marriage, would you?"

That was true!

She was, after all, a youth of the new era born under the national flag and raised in the spring breeze; how could she live her life moving backward!