The child's cry was sharp and loud, which immediately attracted a lot of people's attention.
It was the rush hour for work, and there were many people on the roadside and in the state-owned restaurant. When they heard the child crying, they all looked over.
Regardless of the era, eating melons is people's hobby.
Even the people who were eating in the restaurant picked up their bowls and walked to the door to squat and wait to watch the fun.
Mother Wen had never seen Wen Nuan crying like this before, and she was suddenly frightened.
She quickly grabbed Wen Nuan's arm, her voice panicked: "Xiao Nuan, what do you mean? Doesn't your Qing Han send you money every month? How is it possible that you can't even afford a piece of clothing? Don't talk nonsense!"
As more and more people gathered around, Wen's mother felt more and more guilty and even forgot to pretend to be pitiful.
When Wen Nuan heard the child crying on her back, she simply took off the baby carrier and held her crying daughter in her arms.
Wen Nuan hugged her child and cried, "Mom, it's no use pinching or hitting me, I really have no money! I don't have a job and no income, and the child's father is the only one who supports the family. Before, you said my brother wanted to date someone, and I gave you all the money and bills. Now you come to me for money, where can I find it for you?"
"Mom, I wanted to ask you for some cloth and cotton coupons. Winter is coming soon, and my child wants to make a cotton-padded jacket but doesn't have the coupons to buy the cloth."
Wen Nuan remembered that her mother had said before that cloth and cotton coupons should be saved for winter, because that was the time when the supply and marketing cooperatives would get new ones, and the ones in autumn were all last year's stock.
Wen Nuan guessed that the money her mother borrowed from her father-in-law last month should not have been spent yet.
When the neighbors who were watching heard this, they immediately started talking about it.
There were still many enthusiastic neighbors, especially some women who knew how difficult it was to be the head of a household. They immediately stood up and pointed at Wen's mother and scolded her, "Sister, how can you be a mother and grandmother like this? Look at how small your grandson is. How can you bear to leave a crying little baby without even a piece of clothing?"
"That's right. If such a small baby gets frozen in winter, it will be fatal!"
"Bah, I've seen shameless people before, but I've never seen someone so vicious and cruel. What's the point of bullying a baby? And you still call yourself the child's grandmother? I think you are the wolf grandmother!"
Someone who knew Wen Nuan stood up and said, "I think you are just bullying your son-in-law because he is not at home all year round. You come here all day to ask for this and that. I have seen you come here several times. Winter is about to come. Please have pity on the child."
"That's right. Look how pitifully this child is crying. Maybe he got scared because of all the pulling and tugging just now."
Seeing that the child was crying so hard, everyone pulled Wen Nuan behind them to prevent her mother from doing anything and hurting the child.
Wen Nuan also hugged the child tightly, stood aside, and soothed the child's back with her hands.
The child felt the warm comfort and stopped crying. He looked up at her with tears in his eyes, and then buried his head in the warm socket of her shoulder.
He looks so pitiful that anyone who sees him will feel soft-hearted.
Mother Wen looked at the people around her pointing and accusing her of various things. Her face turned red and she didn't know where to put her hands and feet.
Mother Wen hurriedly explained: "It's unfair! I'm the child's grandmother. I feel sorry for her so much. How could I bear to bully her?"
Wen Nuan didn't give her any leeway and said, "Mom, if you feel sorry for your children, just return the cloth coupons to me. Each person only gets six feet of cloth coupons and one pound of cotton coupons per year. I really have no choice!"
Mother Wen was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that this time she would not only not get any money, but also have to give some money to Wen Nuan.
She won't do it!
But a caring neighbor nearby came up to her, pointed at her and scolded her: "Winter is coming soon, and you, as a grandmother, not only don't buy new clothes for the children, but you also take the children's cloth coupons. This is unacceptable."
In those days, cloth coupons and cotton coupons were in short supply. Each person had a fixed quota every year, and they were more precious than food coupons.
Everyone’s clothes are patched up for three years.
Mother Wen pretended to wipe her tears and shouted innocently: "Oh, it's unfair. Where do I get the tickets? If I had them, I would have made some clothes for my children a long time ago!"
A neighbor who had just come out of the supply and marketing cooperative stood up and said, "I just saw you at the supply and marketing cooperative. You were queuing up to buy cloth and cotton. When you saw your daughter and grandson, you hurried over. You must have the ticket. Return the ticket to the child!"
Mother Wen has always bullied the good and feared the evil, and she is also very concerned about her reputation. Wen Nuan has been under her control all these years and has never resisted. She never expected that she would embarrass herself in public today.
Seeing more and more people gathering around her, it seemed that if she didn't get something out today, she wouldn't be able to get out of this street.
Mother Wen reluctantly rummaged through her pockets and just took out a stack of bills. Without even seeing what was in it, she was snatched away by a neighbor who stuffed it directly into Wen Nuan's hands, saying, "Comrade, take it back! How can such a small baby survive the winter without a decent cotton-padded jacket? Don't be so stupid in the future and give away everything!"
Mother Wen almost stumbled as she watched the stack of money and bills being taken away!
Wen Nuan took the money and bills that the enthusiastic neighbor stuffed back to her, and without even bothering to see what the bills were, she held them tightly in her hands: "Big sister, thank you."
Then he raised one of the child's arms and waved to Mother Wen: "Baby, let's thank grandma quickly."
She added hypocritically, "Look, grandma is really good to you."
He even deliberately pronounced the word "good" extremely loudly, which was very ironic.
The child was babbling and waving his arms. He no longer cried as he did at the beginning, but instead started to giggle.
Mother Wen didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment. Although she could hear Wen Nuan's sarcasm, it would be difficult to end up in a quarrel at this moment.
And she also knew Wen Nuan's personality very well. She was a little willful and would occasionally have a temper tantrum.
Maybe she was a little upset because she took all her money and bills last month.
Maybe next time she comes, she won’t be so excited.
She curled her lips towards the child and said through gritted teeth: "I am the child's grandmother. If I don't treat her well, who else can I treat well?"
The onlookers laughed and said, "That's right, we love our own children."
Wen's mother was in no mood to stay any longer. Looking at Wen Nuan and the child's smiling faces was irritating, and she felt annoyed and sad.
She made up an excuse and left.
Wen Nuan was too lazy to pretend to have a mother-daughter relationship with her. After seeing Wen's mother leave, she thanked the enthusiastic neighbor who had just spoken up for her.
Most of these neighbors had met Wen Nuan before and knew that she was Gu Qinghan's wife, so they advised earnestly: "Comrade, your Qinghan is a good man. He is a soldier and is away from home all year round. You should be careful with him and don't give him anything."
Wen Nuan nodded: "Aunt, I know, thank you."
"No, no, just live your life well from now on, there is still a long time to go."
*
Wen Nuan got back some bills and money, but did not change her original plan and still had wontons at the state-owned restaurant.
Food these days is all made with real ingredients. Although a bowl of wontons is only 1.2 cents, it is a big bowl full of meat, and you can see meat in the filling, which is rare.
I don’t know if the little girl was starving, she ate up all the wonton skins that Wen Nuan fed her.
At the end of the meal, he picked up the chopsticks beside him and tapped them on the table, as if he wanted another bowl.
Wen Nuan took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth, saying, "That's enough. You're going to vomit if you eat any more."
The little guy had just been able to sit steadily, and now he was being fed by Wen Nuan. When he heard Wen Nuan say this, he raised his head to look at her, blinked his big eyes several times, and stared with his eyes wide open.
Because she had just cried, her eyes were especially bright, like two huge gems.
Seeing her pitiful appearance, Wen Nuan smiled and said, "Don't act pitiful, you are a little devil."
"Come on, Mom will take you to buy cloth and cotton and make you new clothes!"
Although Wen Nuan planned to buy some cloth and cotton before going home, she backed out when she passed by the supply and marketing cooperative and saw how crowded it was.
This is the time in the morning when the most people go to the supply and marketing cooperatives to buy things, because many vegetables, meat, etc. are supplied in the morning.
Wen Nuan thought that she had a baby with her and didn't want to squeeze in at this time, so she bought some flour and went home, planning to come back in the afternoon.
After returning home, Wen Nuan counted the money and bills she had just brought back from her mother, and found that there were eight feet of cloth and more than a pound of cotton.
It is definitely enough to make two cotton-padded jackets for a little baby.
Because the child was still young, after returning home, my daughter took a short nap after eating and drinking.
I slept until about one in the afternoon.
Wen Nuan had a simple pancake at noon and then went out with her daughter who had just woken up.
However, Wen Nuan did not go directly to the supply and marketing cooperative, but went to the health station first.
At noon, someone from the street office came to promote polio. Wen Nuan thought of her daughter's experience in the book. To be on the safe side, she decided to take the child to eat some sugar pills and have a physical examination at the same time.
From birth to now, the child seems to have never had a physical examination, and Wen Nuan does not have enough knowledge about parenting.
The health station in the 1970s was simple and cramped, the equipment was very old, and there was only one doctor in a white coat on duty.
When the doctor saw Wen Nuan carrying the child in, he asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Wen Nuan walked in and said, "I'm not feeling unwell. I just came here to take some sugar pills and get my child checked."
"Come in, let's register the child first." The doctor asked Wen Nuan to sit down, then took out a form and a pen and asked, "What's the child's name?"
Wen Nuan was stunned for a moment, because the household registration book had always been with her mother-in-law Zhao Wuzhu. The original owner and her disagreed on the issue of naming the child. Zhao Wuzhu said that the child should be named Gu Zhaodi or Gu Panddi, but Wen Nuan was unwilling.
Names like Zhaodi and Pandi are really a headache when they hear them, and the children will feel inferior when they grow up.
When it comes to naming, Wen Nuan will never give in.
Then, Zhao Wuzhu simply hid the household registration booklet, and the child has never been registered.
Wen Nuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply, "Not yet."
The doctor looked at the child in confusion and said with a half-smile, "The child looks a few months old, why haven't you taken it out yet?"
However, the doctor had professional ethics and did not dwell too much on the name. He asked a few other questions.
Because there weren't many people, the examination was completed quickly and the child was found to be healthy with no problems.
However, you have to queue up to get the sugar pills, because this is not a major city and the sugar pills distributed here are a bit few.
Wen Nuan took the notice and left the health station.
Coming out of the health station, Wen Nuan passed by the post office.
She glanced at the people queuing inside, thought about it, and walked in.
*
A certain unit in Province G.
The political commissar looked at Gu Qinghan opposite him. Eight years had passed, and he had watched Gu Qinghan grow from a green recruit into the calm, resolute, tall and strong man he is today. What was rare was that his handsome face was still as handsome as before.
After serving in the army for many years, Gu Qinghan is also the one with the most outstanding abilities and the sharpest thinking in the army.
Otherwise, the organization would not have made an exception and selected him to join the Air Force Base in North City.
"Qinghan, North City is so far away from us. You may have fewer opportunities to go home in the future than you have in recent years. Do you want to consider letting your wife and children accompany the army?" The political commissar thought for a moment and said, "You are now a regimental-level cadre after all. You don't have to worry about housing issues at all, and it won't be difficult to support your family."
Gu Qinghan shook his head almost subconsciously, a cold face flashed through his mind, his fists clenched slightly, and he replied: "No, leave it to the comrades in need."
The political commissar smiled and said, "Don't worry. You have two days off before leaving for Beicheng anyway. Why don't you go home and discuss it first? Maybe your wife won't want to leave you and wants to go with you."
Gu Qinghan frowned slightly, pursed his lips expressionlessly, and said nothing.
As soon as he finished speaking, there were several knocks on the door: "Deputy Commander Gu, there is a telegram for you."
The political commissar asked casually, "Where are you from?"
"It's Deputy Headmaster Gu's family calling."
Hearing this, Gu Qinghan raised his calm eyes and said, "Bring it in."
It was usually his mother who contacted him, but she mostly asked her younger brother to help write letters, and she rarely tried to send telegrams.
Could something have happened at home
The political commissar looked at the telegram in Gu Qinghan's hand curiously and said with a smile: "It's probably your wife calling. She may miss you after not seeing you for so long."
The moment Gu Qinghan received the telegram, he almost immediately denied the political commissar's words.
-impossible.
Gu Qinghan took out the telegram from the envelope, and in it were three short words: "Looking forward to your return home."