In the north city in early May, the temperature is slowly rising. When the sun is out during the day, you just need to put on a sweater. But it will be a little cold after nightfall, so you have to put on a cotton jacket.
In the past two days, Wen Nuan and Sister Guihua planted some cucumbers, beans, eggplants and radishes in the open space behind the house.
There is not much time to grow vegetables in Beicheng, so Wen Nuan has taken advantage of the time to grow the vegetables in the past few days.
The fruits and vegetables had just been planted when Li Daxiang informed her that Gu Qinghan had called back.
Wen Nuan carried Lele on her back and rode her bike to the telephone room.
Wen Nuan had never talked to Gu Qinghan on the phone. He sent her a telegram when he first went to Factory 112, but there was no news after that. Wen Nuan guessed that he must be very busy.
After arriving at the telephone room, Wen Nuan hurried to answer the phone. Li Daxiang originally wanted to help her take care of Lele, but Wen Nuan told her that it was her father's call, so the little girl also wanted to say a few words to Gu Qinghan, although she couldn't speak completely yet.
Gu Qinghan on the other end of the phone heard the warm voice and spoke directly: "Wife."
A deep, magnetic voice rang through the microphone in Wen Nuan's ears, making her feel numb all over. After not seeing him for more than half a month, Wen Nuan already missed this man.
Wen Nuan put Le Le on the chair. She twirled the telephone line with one hand and answered softly, "Qing Han."
When leaving, Gu Qinghan said that he would be back in about half a month, but it has been almost twenty days now, and it seems that Gu Qinghan cannot return to Beicheng so soon.
Perhaps Lele heard a familiar name, so he reached out to grab the microphone from Wen Nuan's hand.
Seeing this, Wen Nuan simply put the microphone directly to the little boy's ear and said, "Hey, it's dad, call me dad."
Gu Qinghan on the other end of the phone heard the warm voice, and before he realized that someone else had answered the phone, he asked, "How have you been doing lately?"
It was Lele's first time answering the phone. Suddenly, she heard Gu Qinghan's voice from the microphone. She was stunned for a moment. She looked at Wen Nuan with a bit of confusion, and curiously reached out to take the microphone from her ear so that she could study it more carefully.
Wen Nuan saw that she didn't say anything, and was afraid that she had broken the microphone, so she simply took it back and said to Gu Qinghan on the other end, "I just told Lele to listen, but she didn't want to talk."
Gu Qinghan heard his wife's voice and felt warm in his heart: "Then let's talk to her when we get back."
He asked again: "How are you and Lele doing in the family compound recently?"
The warm voice softened, and then responded: "Everything is fine. How about you? Are you still at Factory 112? Is the flight test going well?"
Gu Qinghan glanced at the familiar streets outside and smiled slightly: "The work over there has been completed for the time being. We have tested it more than a dozen times and it was relatively successful. I just returned to my hometown. I passed by the post office before going home, so I called you first."
Before Wen Nuan asked him a question, Gu Qinghan said, "Wife, I miss you a little."
Wen Nuan smiled faintly, glanced at Le Le who was sitting next to her, and whispered: "I miss you too, Qing Han. I miss you so much. When can you come back?"
During this time, Wen Nuan deliberately did not inquire about Gu Qinghan's test flight work, but this matter seemed to be no longer a secret in the family compound. Even if she did not take the initiative to inquire, she would often hear others discussing it.
Many people say that this job is dangerous, so Wen Nuan sometimes would rather not have any news about Gu Qinghan, because at least it means he is safe.
But when she heard his voice, Wen Nuan felt like she was going crazy missing this man.
At this moment, Lele suddenly shouted loudly: "Dad—"
Gu Qinghan heard this and smiled more deeply: "I will be back in two days, my wife will wait for me."
Wen Nuan twirled the phone line in her hand and said, "Well, I'll wait for you to come back. Remember to eat on time."
"Um."
Wen Nuan originally wanted to tell Gu Qinghan about Chen Meijiao and Zhang Zhibin, but when she thought that the call quality was not that good, she didn't say it.
The two chatted about Lele's recent situation. The little guy is eating and drinking well now, so there is nothing to worry about. Gu Qinghan is worried that Wen Nuan won't be able to take care of him at home alone.
Wen Nuan said, "Qinglan has been staying at our house for the past half month, don't worry."
Then, Wen Nuan thought for a moment and asked, "By the way, do you want to tell your mother that Qinglan has come to serve in our army?"
Gu Qinghan on the other side said without any hesitation: "If they don't ask, I don't plan to tell them."
"Yeah, I think so too." Wen Nuan said.
Although she is Zhao Wuzhu's mother, Wen Nuan feels that she does not love Gu Qinglan much. She had let Qinglan replace Gu Qingsong to go to the countryside before. If Zhao Wuzhu knew that she was a soldier now, she might come up with some crooked ideas and make money from Gu Qinglan.
Gu Qinglan is a carefree person. If Zhao Wuzhu and Gu Qingsong coax her a little, she might listen to them.
Gu Qinglan finally had a new life, but it hadn't really settled down yet. Wen Nuan didn't want Zhao Wuzhu and Gu Qingsong to disturb her.
Before Wen Nuan could say anything, Le Le, who was sitting there waiting impatiently, reached out and hung up the phone...
Wen Nuan wanted to call back, but she remembered that phone calls were very difficult to make in that era, so she had no choice but to hang up the phone.
Lele smiled innocently, then reached out for a warm hug and called out innocently, "Mom, hug—"
Wen Nuan smiled unhappily, picked up the little guy, kissed her on the face, and said helplessly: "Baby, do you know that long-distance calls are difficult to make?"
Then, he carried Lele out of the telephone room.
Li Daxiang was still waiting on the other end. When he saw Wen Nuan coming out, he asked, "How is Deputy Commander Gu? Is the test flight going well?"
Originally, Li Daxiang was going to follow Gu Qinghan to Factory 112, but Gu Qinghan assigned most of the tasks in the group to him, so he stayed in North City.
Wen Nuan looked at Li Daxiang and said, "It should be going smoothly. He has already returned to our hometown."
Li Daxiang nodded: "That's good. Sister-in-law, are you going back to the flight crew kitchen or the family compound? Or do you want me to take you back?"
Li Daxiang glanced at Lele, and saw that she showed a few bright white little teeth and smiled at him.
Wen Nuan then taught Le Le, saying, "Le Le, call me uncle."
"I have to go back to the cafeteria first, so you don't have to take it." Wen Nuan took out a notebook from her bag and handed it to Li Daxiang, saying, "Oh, Daxiang, you will pass by the military hospital when you go back to the regiment. Can you help me give this notebook to Qinglan? That idiot went to bed late this morning and was in such a hurry when he left that he forgot to bring his things."
Gu Qinglan carries this notebook with her every day, and it is filled with dense handwriting. Wen Nuan is worried that she will be affected in her work without this book.
But she was not free now and had to go back to the cafeteria first. If she went to the hospital and then came back, it would probably be a bit late.
Li Daxiang raised his eyebrows, showing a bright smile, took the notebook from Wen Nuan's hand, and said, "No problem, sister-in-law, I'll send the things over now."
Wen Nuan looked at Li Daxiang who was like a gust of wind. His figure had disappeared at the door of the telephone room.
In such a hurry
Lele watched Li Daxiang leave before she called out, "Uncle—"
Wen Nuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and pinched the boy's cheek: "What were you doing just now? You're calling for help now."
*
After Wen Nuan returned to the flight crew kitchen cafeteria, she let Le Le play in the backyard with the quartermaster's daughter, and they also helped pick up eggs.
As soon as I entered the kitchen, I heard the quartermaster and the squad leader from the logistics kitchen having a small meeting.
The quartermaster said: "Now that your logistics kitchen has lost two employees, it is time to recruit two more people from outside. As before, give priority to the families of the compound. You must be fair and just, and at least set up three examination levels, otherwise it will be difficult to convince everyone."
There are already more people than jobs in the family home, and they are also canteen jobs. Now that two vacancies have been finally released, there will definitely be a scramble for them.
After hearing this, the squad leader of the logistics kitchen said, "I understand, Chief Steward. I will make the arrangements."
After hearing this, Wen Nuan realized that Li Qiuyan and Chen Meijiao had left the family compound one after another, and now there were indeed two vacancies in the logistics kitchen, and they were going to recruit people from outside.
When she got off work, before she got off her bicycle, she heard the voice of Sister Juxiang coming from Sister Guihua's house.
Wen Nuan didn't think much about it. After locking her bicycle, she held Lele and knocked on Sister Guihua's door: "Sister Guihua, it's me."
"Hey, Xiao Nuan, are you off work?" Sister Guihua opened the door and said with a smile, "We were just planning to tell you about this when you come back, but we didn't expect you to come back just in time."
When Wen Nuan saw Sister Gui Hua wanted to hold Le Le, she let the child go and asked, "What's the matter?"
Could it be that they knew so quickly that the canteen was going to recruit workers
However, sister-in-law Juxiang said: "Zhang Zhibin has returned to the army after his vacation. Meijiao just telegraphed me that they have already started the divorce process and Meijiao wants to take their daughter away."
Sister Guihua said, "Then they will definitely take our daughter away. Who would trust Aunt Zhang with the child?"
Wen Nuan was silent for a few seconds before she nodded: "That's good..."
Then she asked, "What about Zhang Zhibin?"
Sister Juxiang sighed and said dissatisfiedly: "This is still a family matter after all. Secretary Song actually turned a blind eye that day and let the eldest brother of the Chen family beat Zhang Zhibin up."
Sister Juxiang also sighed: "Besides, this military marriage is not that easy to divorce. I guess it will take a while."
"Based on Zhang Zhibin's previous behavior, we don't know if anything will happen next. After all, Zhang Zhibin really pretended to admit his mistakes well. After returning to the army, he took the initiative to write a letter of apology to his superiors. The superiors must think that he knows his mistakes and can correct them, and he will still be a good comrade in the future."
Wen Nuan peeled a walnut for Lele, then said, "It's okay. Meijiao's brothers and sisters are not pushovers. With them around, Zhang Zhibin won't be able to do anything. At most, he'll jump a few more times."
"Besides, Meijiao is determined to divorce him this time. If Zhang Zhibin continues to make trouble, it will only make people more disgusted with him."
After hearing this, the two felt that Wen Nuan's words made sense. Chen Meijiao's brothers and sisters were also soldiers. Although they were not in the same unit, since they dared to take action at the beginning, they would definitely make arrangements for the follow-up.
After talking about Chen Meijiao, Wen Nuan said, "I heard that the logistics kitchen is recruiting people. Are you two sisters-in-law interested in trying it out?"
Zhang Guihua hugged Lele, gave her another candy, and said, "I won't go. I'm still recovering."
This time, Zhang Guihua followed the instructions of Doctor Zhao and Doctor Li very seriously, took medicine every day, and started to lose weight again.
Zhou Jianshe was also discharged from the hospital. Although he has returned to the team now, the two of them cannot have sex for the time being. They can have sex again after a month. If they really get pregnant by then, all her work will be in vain.
Wen Nuan smiled and said, "That's right, Sister Guihua, your current task is to take care of your body first. There is no rush for work for now."
Then, Wen Nuan looked at Sister Juxiang.
Sister Juxiang just smiled awkwardly, rubbed her hands on her thighs twice, and said, "I'm not really suitable for this. I can't cook."
To be honest, everyone would be excited about working in a cafeteria.
However, Deng Juxiang knew her own limitations. Without good cooking skills, it would be difficult for her to work in the cafeteria.
Besides, there are so many people in the family home, and I don’t know how many of them have been there for ten or eight years and still can’t find a job.
She didn't dare to hope for it.
Wen Nuan looked at Sister Juxiang and smiled, saying, "I heard that there are three levels of recruitment this time. Sister Juxiang, there's no rush for you to sign up and try it out. Besides, I think you can do it. Before, when I made that pickled fish, you helped me cut the fish slices into thin and neat pieces. Your knife skills are great."
"Besides, the job of cooking in the cafeteria is actually done by soldiers from the army. The others just do odd jobs, such as washing and cutting vegetables and serving meals. Sister Juxiang, you can go and try it first."
When Sister Guihua heard this, she felt that there was hope, and said with a smile: "I think what Sister Xiao Nuan said is right. It won't hurt to give it a try. Besides, you have Sister Xiao Nuan as your military advisor, so what are you afraid of?"
Deng Juxiang felt itchy after hearing this and thought it would be okay to give it a try, so she said, "Then I'll sign up and give it a try then."
Wen Nuan smiled: "If you have anything you want to know, feel free to ask me. If you also go to work in the cafeteria in the future, we will have company."
Sister Juxiang has wanted to work for a long time but never had the chance. Now the canteen happens to be recruiting workers, and Wen Nuan hopes she can be hired.
When Deng Juxiang heard this, she suddenly felt it was a good idea and became full of confidence.
*
Province G.
After Gu Qinghan hung up the phone, he tried to call back, but the call was not picked up.
So he walked towards home.
Lin Meizhi hasn't been to work for some time. Gu Qingsong said that she almost had a miscarriage before and he was afraid that she would give birth prematurely.
Lin Meizhi, with her big belly, looked at the calendar on the wall with an unclear expression. On it was a date circled by Gu Qingsong and the number of days of the fetus written down.
After watching for a while, she supported her sore waist and sat down on an armchair in the living room with some discomfort, then took an orange and peeled it.
Gu Qingsong, who had just returned from outside, saw Lin Meizhi eating oranges again, so he walked over and said with concern: "Wife, eating too many oranges will cause stomach acid, don't eat so many."
Gu Qingsong saw that Lin Meizhi was not sitting very comfortably, so he shouted in the direction of Zhao Wuzhu's room: "Mom, where is the quilt you made earlier? Where did you put it?"
Zhao Wuzhu didn't want to pay attention to him. During the time when Lin Meizhi was pregnant, Gu Qingsong was like a dog. He did whatever Lin Meizhi said. Not only did he not ask her to cook or do clothes, he also gave her foot washing water every day.
Zhao Wuzhu was very dissatisfied with this, but every time she mentioned it, Gu Qingsong would always say that Lin Meizhi was pregnant and it was inconvenient.
Zhao Wuzhu thought that being pregnant didn't mean her hands and feet were paralyzed. When she was someone else's daughter-in-law, she had to do housework and farm work even when she was pregnant.
Zhao Wuzhu said unhappily: "No, it's not ready yet."
Who knew that Gu Qingsong had already walked in, opened her rice box, and took out a small quilt.
Zhao Wuzhu wanted to scold him for rummaging through other people's things, but Gu Qingsong took the quilt and walked out of the living room, saying to Lin Meizhi, "Come on, Meizhi, I'll cushion your back so you can sit more comfortably."
Gu Qingsong held Lin Meizhi's arm and said, "Be careful and sit down slowly. How is it? Is it more comfortable?"
Lin Meizhi smiled and said, "It's quite soft and comfortable."
Although Gu Qingsong broke his promises several times when they were married, he was very caring towards her during her pregnancy. No matter how angry she was, her anger gradually faded over time.
It was already hot in the south in May. Lin Meizhi was only wearing a long-sleeved dress. Gu Qingsong admired his wife. Looking at her pregnant belly, he put his hand on it and said happily, "Wife, your belly is so big in just over seven months. I thought you were pregnant with twins at first."
After that, Lin Meizhi was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything.
Gu Qingsong added: "But maybe she's pregnant with a big fat boy, who will definitely look like me in the future, a tall one."
Lin Meizhi pushed away Gu Qingsong's hand on her belly and said in a light tone: "Stop talking, go cook first, your mother will be unhappy when you get back."
Then, Lin Meizhi added: "I don't know if it's because I fell down the stairs before, but I feel like my stomach has been bloated recently, as if I'm going to give birth prematurely..."
When Gu Qingsong heard this, he immediately panicked: "No way? Wife, please don't scare me."
Lin Meizhi curled her lips: "It's okay, I just had a hunch."
Gu Qingsong smiled, patted her head, and said, "Don't think too much, my wife. I just bought some chicken. I'll make some chicken soup for you later. The child will be fine. Just wait!"
After that, Gu Qingsong touched her belly again and said, "Little guy, don't be too anxious. Stay in your mother's belly and come out when it's time. Otherwise, I will be rude to you."
Lin Meizhi pushed his hand away again: "Okay, go and cook."
Gu Qingsong said: "Okay, I'll go make you some chicken soup, you take a break first."
Zhao Wuzhu just came out of the room and heard what Gu Qingsong said about stewing chicken soup, and immediately got angry.
When she saw Gu Qingsong carrying chicken into the kitchen, she twisted his ear and cursed, "Gu Qingsong, you're cooking for your wife again, aren't you? Do you still have me as your mother in your eyes?"
Gu Qingsong's ears were suddenly twisted by his mother, and he cried out in pain: "Mom, let go!"
"Why are you arguing with a pregnant woman? Isn't Meizhi not feeling well? What's wrong with asking her to eat more?"
Zhao Wuzhu glared at him: "What's wrong? I worked so hard to raise you, and now you don't even leave me any chicken soup. You ungrateful bastard!" As she said that, she hit him on the back from behind.
Gu Qingsong was speechless and could only perfunctorily say, "Okay, okay, I'll get a bowl for mom later."
Zhao Wuzhu: "You are smart."
Gu Qingsong smiled and said flatteringly: "Mom, I'll go make the soup, can you cook the rice? Otherwise, I won't be able to finish it in a long time!"
When Zhao Wuzhu heard this, her blood pressure rose again, and she gritted her teeth and said, "I owe you this life!"
But he still went to the stove reluctantly.
Suddenly, Gu Qingsong heard Lin Meizhi outside the living room scream "Ouch".
Gu Qingsong had no time to stew the soup and ran out in a hurry.
Lin Meizhi was seen sitting on the armchair, holding her stomach with a painful expression and crying "ouch" again.
Gu Qingsong asked with concern: "What's wrong, Meizhi? You..."
Just when Gu Qingsong was about to pull her up, Lin Meizhi yelled in pain: "Don't pull me, it hurts! I I I..."
Is she going to give birth
Seeing her like this, Gu Qingsong shouted loudly: "Mom, come here quickly, take a look at what happened to Meizhi?"
As he was talking, a stream of warm water dripped from the armchair onto the ground...
Gu Qingsong was in a panic and could only shout, "Mom, Meizhi is about to give birth! Come out quickly!"
Then Zhao Wuzhu was not called over, but there was another figure at the door. Gu Qinghan was standing at the door, looking at him.
Gu Qingsong was unable to think at all when he saw this, and turned to Gu Qinghan for help as usual, "Brother, you're back just in time, Meizhi is about to give birth, please come and help me!"