Gu Qinghan looked at the three short words on the telegram and was instantly lost in a brief moment of confusion.
The political commissar on the other end craned his neck curiously and looked over, and asked jokingly, "Is this the telegram sent by your wife?"
Gu Qinghan didn't reply, but his expression returned to its previous calm state, and his brows raised slightly, which was considered as his agreement.
The political commissar laughed and teased: "It's been several months since you last went home, right? Your wife just gave birth to a child not long ago, she must miss you."
When Gu Qinghan got married, he applied for an expedited report and the political review was approved in just two days.
So everyone agreed that Gu Qinghan and his wife must be very much in love, otherwise they wouldn't be in such a hurry to get married.
We haven't seen each other for almost half a year. Even when his wife gave birth, he had to go out on a mission and couldn't go home.
Gu Qinghan folded the telegram in half and put it into his military uniform pocket.
Then he asked, "Do we have two days off before we leave for North City?"
The political commissar nodded and said, "Yes, it's only for two days. If you decide to bring your family with you, you must apply to the base in advance."
Gu Qinghan didn't intend to take Wen Nuan and the children with him to join the army.
Although he and Wen Nuan had very little contact after their marriage, Gu Qinghan probably guessed that Wen Nuan would not follow him to join the army.
Especially in the northern city where it is covered with ice and snow in winter.
Because when they got married, he had asked her if she wanted to follow him into the army, but Wen Nuan said no without even thinking about it, and told her not to mention it again in the future, as she said she wanted to stay in the city.
Gu Qinghan put away his thoughts and said calmly: "No, I'll just go home and take a look."
*
Wen Nuan also thought about it before sending a telegram to Gu Qinghan.
The first reason was to prevent Gu Qinghan from returning home due to an emergency before he set off for North City, and then she would not be able to follow the army.
Secondly, Gu Qinghan is a soldier, and his mind is more meticulous and cautious than ordinary people.
Although they are husband and wife, they are really no different from strangers.
They had only met three times in total after being married for so long, and each time they met for only a few hours. Their conversations totaled no more than ten sentences. If she rashly proposed to follow him to the North City to join the army, it would definitely arouse his suspicion.
In this sensitive era, if she was suspected of being a spy by Gu Qinghan, she would never be able to clear herself from the blame even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
So before joining the army, she had to make some preparations.
After leaving the post office, Wen Nuan went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy cloth and cotton for her child's cotton-padded jacket. Thinking that she would go to North City with Gu Qinghan later, she used up more than a pound of cotton coupons in one go so that the child would not catch a cold in the icy and snowy North City.
These days, most people make their own clothes, but she had never done it before. So she just asked someone, and after making cotton-padded jackets for her children with more than a pound of cotton, there wouldn't be much left.
She hasn't found a cotton jacket yet.
I have to find some more tickets.
Wen Nuan was carrying cloth and cotton, thinking about how to ask Gu Qinghan to join the army when he came back, and also wondering if she could find some more cloth and cotton coupons.
Because it took a long time to queue up at the post office to send the telegram, it was already evening when I got home.
It was the time when every household was cooking. The family compound was a large concave courtyard, but it was full of one- or two-story low buildings.
As I walked in, I could hear the familiar sounds of children being beaten and scolded, the noisy sounds of singing and playing with swords, guns and sticks, and the clanging sound of cooking, which was a strong flavor of life in that era.
Zhao Wuzhu from the family brought out a plate of sweet potato leaves from the kitchen. Seeing her son Gu Qingsong lying on the wooden sofa, she couldn't help but scold him, "You all just wait for food and don't even come to help. Did I owe you in my past life? You're all debt collectors!"
Gu Qingsong stretched lazily and yawned: "I just got back. I worked all day and I'm exhausted. I'm sorry to trouble you."
Gu Qingsong walked to the table and sat down, took the chopsticks handed to him by Zhao Wuzhu, and started picking up food and eating.
Zhao Wuzhu tapped Gu Qingsong's hand with his chopsticks and asked, "You only know how to eat. Where's that lazy fellow?"
When Gu Qingsong heard this, he knew that the lazy guy his mother was talking about was Wen Nuan. He curled his lips and said, "I didn't see her. I didn't see her when I got home."
Because Wen Nuan had just given birth to a child, the child's crying was irregular, so she often took the meal back to her room to eat.
Therefore, they don't often sit together to eat, and their relationship is so distant that it seems like they are unrelated people.
Zhao Wuzhu simply sat down after hearing this. "By the way, why did you come back so late tonight? Did you meet Meizhi?"
Speaking of Lin Meizhi, Gu Qingsong suddenly perked up and straightened his back instantly.
He smiled and said, "Well, didn't you tell me to get married to Meizhi earlier this morning? I went to see her in the evening. But..."
Zhao Wuzhu pricked up her ears and waited for Gu Qingsong to continue. "Why do you only tell half of the story, kid?"
Gu Qingsong paused for a moment, then took a look at Zhao Wuzhu's expression and said in a muffled voice, "Well, Meizhi's family said they want to increase the gift money."
Zhao Wuzhu was immediately displeased when she heard this: "What? One hundred yuan is not enough? Are they marrying off their daughters or selling them? Do they really think their daughters are inlaid with gold? I don't think Lin Meizhi is a good person either. Why did she change her mind after agreeing on something?"
Because of the warm relationship, Zhao Wuzhu was quite satisfied with the person Gu Qingsong found at the beginning.
In terms of both personality and family, Lin Meizhi is slightly better than Wen Nuan.
Wen Nuan is aggressive and aggressive, while Lin Meizhi has a gentle personality. Wen Nuan has never had a job and is lazy and gluttonous at home, like a useless person.
But Lin Meizhi is different. She has a respectable job and is an employee of a supply and marketing cooperative that everyone is vying for. She feels very proud to talk about it.
Ever since Gu Qingsong started dating this guy, she never had to queue up to buy groceries or anything like that.
But no matter how satisfied Zhao Wuzhu was, she felt a little angry when the girl's family suddenly said they wanted to increase the gift money.
The 100 yuan gift money that we had agreed on before was quite good considering the whole street.
Gu Qingsong had long expected his mother's reaction to be like this, so he explained confidently: "Isn't this all my eldest brother's fault?"
"Bullshit, what does this have to do with your elder brother?" Zhao Wuzhu raised his hand and knocked Gu Qingsong on the head, glared at him fiercely, and asked, "How much did the Lin family say they were going to increase the salary by?"
Gu Qingsong touched his head which was hurt by the blow, shrank his neck, and said in a muffled voice: "He said he wanted two hundred."
"Two hundred?!" Zhao Wuzhu stood up suddenly and yelled, "Why don't they just go and rob them?"
"Mom, please listen to my explanation first and don't be so quick to get angry!" Gu Qingsong knew that his mother had always loved him and had never really gotten angry with him.
Gu Qingsong pushed Zhao Wuzhu back to sit on the chair and said in distress, "This matter is really related to my eldest brother. Isn't it because when he married my sister-in-law, he gave the Wen family a gift of 120 yuan? Meizhi's family heard about this from somewhere and said that their daughter is better than my sister-in-law in every way, and the gift can't be lower than that of my eldest sister-in-law, otherwise our family will be inferior to her after she marries, and Meizhi will have a hard time in the future."
After listening to Gu Qingsong's words, Zhao Wuzhu's expression finally became less tense.
The Lin family's words are rough but their point is that Lin Meizhi is indeed better than Wen Nuan in every aspect, except that she is not as beautiful as Wen Nuan. She is indeed a very good candidate.
Zhao Wuzhu sighed: "This matter is indeed your elder brother's fault. He was blinded by lard and spent so much money to marry a ancestor!"
Gu Qingsong touched his nose and asked in a muffled voice: "Mom, what do you think we should do? Do you think these two hundred yuan can..."
"That's two hundred yuan, not two yuan! Do you really think your mother is a god? There are three idle people in the family, and you only have such a low salary. Even if your eldest brother is very capable, I can't get these two hundred yuan!" Zhao Wuzhu was also having a headache. The marriage had obviously been discussed, and she was just waiting to marry a good wife to serve her.
Although in the eyes of outsiders, Gu Qinghan’s allowance alone is enough for the food and drink of several people in their family.
But there are two idle people in the family. Neither she nor Wen Nuan has a job, and there is also a baby. Although they don't need food and drink for the time being, no matter how capable Gu Qinghan is, he can't support several people in the family to eat commercial grain every day.
And sometimes she would also take some money from her parents' home, so the money Gu Qinghan sent her every month was just enough for them.
Zhao Wuzhu thought about it and glanced at Gu Qingsong. She had loved her son since he was young. Knowing that he was dating Lin Meizhi, she felt it was an honor for her. Now that they were finally talking about marriage, she couldn't let this matter drag them down.
Zhao Wuzhu glanced at Gu Qingsong and said, "Do you really have to have her? There are many female comrades of the right age in our family compound. Any one of them doesn't cost a hundred!"
Gu Qingsong groaned, a little annoyed: "What are you talking about, Mom? How can others compare to Meizhi? They are not even worthy of carrying her shoes!"
"What a promising future!" Zhao Wuzhu looked at her son's bewitched look and said, "How about this, didn't you say your eldest brother was promoted to deputy regiment commander? Send him a telegram tomorrow and tell him that Mom is in urgent need of money."
Then, she snorted, "Don't think I don't know that your eldest brother secretly sends money to that lazy bum. Now the family is in urgent need, what does she, an idle person who doesn't work, need so much money for? You shouldn't give her money. She's so young and doesn't go out to work. She just stays at home and waits for a money-losing thing. I'm annoyed when I see her."
Before Wen Nuan even stepped into the house, she heard her mother-in-law complaining.
Wen Nuan took a deep breath. If she wasn’t carrying her daughter on her back at the moment, she would have really started cursing.
It’s not enough for Zhao Wuzhu to have her own income, but she even wants Gu Qinghan to cut off her source of income
No, she has to follow the army, she must follow the army.
Even if you can't take control of the economic power, at least you don't have to be cheated of the little money you have.
The next day, Wen Nuan was waiting for Gu Qinghan's reply, but when she went to the post office to ask, there was no reply.
Wen Nuan was not giving up and sent another telegram to Gu Qinghan.
On the third day, when Wen Nuan went to the post office again, she received a notice saying that a sum of money, a total of 180 yuan, had been transferred from the army.
Wen Nuan held her daughter in her arms and looked at the remittance bill, feeling a little confused.
What does Gu Qinghan mean