Wang Zhong over here.
He was sharing cola with General Gorky.
After finishing a bottle, the general let out a satisfied sound, “Ah, that’s really nice.”
He put down the bottle and said with a teasing tone, “You know, they’ve started calling me the Firefighter Chief. Ironically, since the war began, I’ve only carried out two ‘firefighting’ missions.”
Wang Zhong, “That’s easy, I know a reporter from the Federation named Mike, I’ll get him to write an article for you. Soon, Ye Fort Daily will pick it up, and you’ll have a cool title.”
General Gorky, “You might as well write a song about me.”
Wang Zhong could only give a dry laugh; how could he write songs? He always copied them. If he really had to write an essay on a given topic, he would be exposed immediately.
Wait, it might not be impossible to consider, just copying some hymns would solve it.
As Wang Zhong was contemplating which one to copy, General Gorky said, “Why are you seriously considering it? Stop it, I was just joking. You’d better continue praising our soldiers. Today, I took the train back and saw a mother at the station sending off four sons to join the army, four of them!”
Wang Zhong, “All four sons are within the current conscription age range? Truly a respectable mother.”
General Gorky, “There might even be one more at home, after all, this conscription is asking each family to keep at least one male. If the war situation deteriorates further, the mother might send her last child to the front line as well; looking into that mother’s eyes, I know she would do it!”
Strangely enough, Wang Zhong had not actually seen that old mother, but just from General Gorky’s description, he had formed a clear image, as if there really was such a mother, standing in a corner of the room watching him.
Was it because he had seen too many such mothers?
The traditional military song “Farewell to the Women of Ante,” was it really just about bidding farewell to a beloved girl?
Wang Zhong mixed vodka and cola together, making a drink for each of them, then raised his glass high, “To the mothers of Ante.”
“To the mothers of Ante,” General Gorky softly repeated after him, and they clinked glasses before downing the drink.
Then the general smacked his lips, “Unexpectedly not bad. I thought mixing vodka with cola was definitely a bad idea.”
Feeling suddenly inspired, Wang Zhong rang the bell on the table.
Nelly came in with a puzzled face.
General Gorky, “Why did she come in with that expression?”
Wang Zhong, “Because most of the time I ring the bell just to see Nelly heal my soul.”
Nelly, “I still have three rooms to clean, I’m very busy.”
Wang Zhong, “Do you miss the days of being a duty soldier on the front lines?”
“No, although there was less for me to do on the front lines, shells kept falling. Compared to that, I choose to clean a whole floor of rooms,” Nelly replied.
Wang Zhong, “Next time I’ll switch you out for a male orderly, and you can just keep cleaning rooms in the rear.”
Nelly now looked displeased and asked with a stern face, “Do you need me to get you something?”
Wang Zhong, “Get some ice, beer, and fresh lemons.”
Nelly, “You want ice in this weather?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Can I use the lemon canned food that just arrived?”
Wang Zhong, “That’ll do.”
Nelly turned and left.
General Gorky looked surprised, “There’s canned food for that stuff?”
Wang Zhong, “There’s even pineapple canned food. Would you like to try it?”
“What is that?” General Gorky asked with even more confusion.
Wang Zhong, “Pineapple, a tropical fruit.”
“Aren’t bananas the only thing the tropics produce?” asked the Ante local, who had never been south of the Tropic of Cancer, with a face full of shock.
Wang Zhong promptly educated the general on tropical fruits, and of course, he ended by saying, “That’s what Crown Prince Ivan told me; where would I get to taste these fruits.”
“I see,” the general nodded repeatedly, believing it because, after all, the Royal Family, with their exorbitant luxury, even used golden shoulder poles for menial tasks.
While they talked, Nelly brought the canned food and beer, “There’s only rye beer, and it’s been produced a while ago.”
Wang Zhong, “No problem, I know a recipe His Royal Highness the Crown Prince told me about. The authentic version requires ginger beer, but I have no idea what ginger beer even is.”
As he spoke, Nelly opened the can of lemons with a can opener.
General Gorky said, “My father’s a cobbler, and there’s a sailor who always came to him for shoe repair. He said they often eat this kind of lemon canned food, saying it’s an old tradition left over to prevent scurvy.”
Wang Zhong, “Do they still eat canned lemons to prevent scurvy now?”
In the past, scurvy was an issue because voyages were too long, usually taking a year or two, and they needed to supplement with vitamins.
Now, with steamships, you can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. There’s no need to eat lemons on the ship anymore.
General Gorky, “He said it’s a habit.”
Nelly, “Should I pour out the lemon canned food?”
Wang Zhong, “No no, just go get the pineapple canned food and give it to me.”
He stood up, went to the liquor cabinet in the study, and returned to the table with a cocktail shaker and juicer to start his own performance.
In fact, he had never learned bartending, but he had watched many short videos, just so that one day he could “show off”. He had never dreamed he’d be showing off for an old man, though.
Wang Zhong squeezed the canned lemon into the juicer, and with a firm press, he squeezed the lemon juice into the cocktail shaker.
— Wait, are you supposed to put in the ice cubes first? Never mind, forget it.
Wang Zhong took some ice cubes with tongs and threw them into the cocktail shaker, then poured in beer and vodka.
Right, finally, you’re supposed to add a pinch of love—but since the recipient is a guy, Wang Zhong decided to skip this last step.
He covered the shaker and, imitating the bartender from the short video, started to shake it.
After symbolically shaking it for a dozen seconds or so, Wang Zhong opened the lid and poured the drink into a glass.
It looked—uh, quite ordinary?
General Golikov: “What is this?”
Wang Zhong: “It’s called a Jack Welch, a type of liquor from the West Coast of the Federation. Ivan told me about it.”
Previously, in the game, Wang Zhong was so moved commemorating a good brother, but now using a recipe stolen from the game to commemorate a real good brother, Wang Zhong was very calm.
After taking a sip, General Golikov blinked and said, “It’s… okay? But I’d rather just drink vodka.”
Wang Zhong also put down the shaker and said, “It was just a whim. Let’s toast with vodka instead.”
Just then, Nelly came in with a can of pineapple. Looking through the glass jar, General Golikov stared at the serrated pineapple chunks inside: “What’s with these yellow saw blades?”
Wang Zhong: “They’re very sweet.”
Nelly skillfully opened the can: “I… don’t know how to eat this.”
“How else would you eat it?” Wang Zhong directly reached into the can, grabbed a chunk, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Ah, it was the delicacy that Ceres’ southern net friends would eat in the summer.
However, in Wang Zhong’s hometown, people would soak it in brine before eating it, as the canned version from the Federation was a bit too sweet.
General Golikov also tried a piece and immediately praised it: “It’s quite good, this is fruit grown in the tropics. Damn it, the Federation is really enviable—with vast, fertile lands for grain production, oil, coal, steel, and pineapples too!”
Buddy, isn’t it a bit inappropriate to lump together pineapples with coal and steel?
General Golikov grabbed another piece of pineapple.
It seemed he really liked this fruit.
Wang Zhong: “Nelly, do we have more canned pineapples? Give General Golikov some to take back.”
Nelly nodded and then curiously asked, “Is it delicious? Is it… sweet?”
Although Nelly just asked that way, and her expression didn’t give anything away, as someone who had lived with Nelly for so long, Wang Zhong immediately understood that Nelly was tempted.
Wang Zhong had once accidentally seen Nelly wash out a cola bottle with water and drink the slightly sweetened water. Since then, whenever he opened cola, he made sure to open two bottles, with the leftover one being given to Nelly “to pour out.”
Wang Zhong: “You can have a piece.”
Nelly: “There are guests here.”
If there had been no guests, she probably would have eaten it already.
General Golikov: “Am I interrupting your pleasant master-servant interaction?”
“No,” Wang Zhong and Nelly said in unison.
General Golikov: “I knew it! I am interrupting! Forget it, we can talk more at the court meeting tomorrow.”
Wang Zhong: “You’re leaving already?”
General Golikov: “I came to have a drink and chat with you because we are friends. In fact, the purpose of my visit was achieved the moment I bumped into you at the doorstep.”
Wang Zhong: “A show for the Swift Victory faction?”
“For all of Ye Fort. If I didn’t do it, tonight there would be a bunch of people trying all sorts of ways to test my stance.”
General Golikov had successfully avoided a defeat, and his firefighter moniker had already spread around Ye Fort. Although it wasn’t quite on par with the Star of Victory yet, there certainly were many who sought to court him.
So coming straight to Rokossovsky Estate upon his return was like declaring his stance to those who had expectations.
Wang Zhong stood up: “Let me walk you out.”
General Golikov laughed: “You’ve gotten the hang of it too.”
Wang Zhong laughed along.
At that moment, Ludmila entered the room: “My dear, I’m not feeling very well. I’m going to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow.”
Wang Zhong didn’t think much at first: “No problem, I’ll arrange for a car. Get some rest early, and drink more hot water.”
Ludmila: “You have to come with me!”
Wang Zhong: “I’m very busy, uh… hmm?”
He finally sensed something was amiss.
Ludmila added, “I missed my period this month.”
General Golikov: “Congratulations. One of my motivations for fighting is to protect you young ladies who are about to ignite the holy flame.”
Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow: “The Heracles on the bridge? I like that poem too.”
Then he looked at Ludmila and gently touched her abdomen: “Does the timing fit? If something’s wrong now, it would be around the time we were together in Shostka that you got pregnant? Why did I go through so much trouble teaching about public grains? I’m sick of deer meat, snake meat, hedgehog meat!”
General Golikov: “Be mindful, I’m still here. I’ll take my leave now; you two have a nice celebration at home.”
With that, he picked up his hat and coat from the coat rack.
Wang Zhong: “Hold on, I should still walk you out.”
Ludmila: “Go ahead, I’ll wait for you to come back.”
————
The next day, after a doctor’s examination, it was confirmed that Ludmila was pregnant—she had conceived during their time stationed in Shostka, making all of Wang Zhong’s efforts with deer meat and hedgehog meat in vain.
This event added an extraordinary end to an otherwise mundane January.
February of the year 915 arrived quietly.