Then, she stood under the good news, and the more she read it, the more satisfied she became, with a smile on her face.
The father removed the wooden ladder, stood beside Wang Yan, and looked at the good news with a smile on his simple face.
Chen Ming was sitting on a small bench beside the hall at this time, with a brazier burning with charcoal in front of him.
He used tongs to constantly turn over several large sweet potatoes in the brazier, and the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafted into the air.
Seeing his parents' expressions, he quickly smiled and said, "Mom and Dad, it's okay. Just hang this thing at home and you can look at it anytime. Come over and warm yourself by the fire. It's really cold here."
Although the sun is shining today, the wind is quite strong and makes people feel cold all over.
The two of them reluctantly withdrew their gaze, brought two small stools, and sat beside the brazier with Chen Ming, warming their red hands.
After a while, the mother took out the red envelope that Ji Hua had just given her and handed it to Chen Ming.
Chen Ming looked at the red envelope and naturally knew what his mother meant, but he didn't reach out to take it. He pretended to be dumb and said, "Mom, it's not the New Year yet, isn't it a little early to give a red envelope?"
Although today is Little New Year, there are still several days away from New Year's Eve.
The mother chuckled and said, "How can I give you such a big red envelope? This is the bonus that the government leaders just gave you. You can use it for yourself."
This red envelope is indeed not small, it looks very thick, I guess it must contain at least one or two thousand.
Chen Ming hurriedly shook his head and said, "Mom, I'm not short of money. You can take it and buy some clothes and food from Dad from time to time."
Anyway, there is not much place to spend money after returning to the army, so it can basically just sit in the bank card and collect dust.
It would be better to let Wang Yan and others improve their food.
Seeing that Chen Ming refused to accept it, Wang Yan thought for a moment and said, "Then I will keep it for you first, and I will prepare some money for you to get married and find a wife."
After saying that, she stuffed the red envelope back into her pocket.
At this time, mother Wang Yan did not open the red envelope to see how much money was inside.
After all, the amount of money in this bonus is not important. What it represents is the honor, which is the most important thing.
After roasting the fire for a while, the mother suddenly said, "Xiao Ming, now that you are an officer, can you not retire on time?"
Before, she thought Chen Ming would only be gone for two years and could go home after two years.
But now seeing that Chen Ming has achieved so much and has become an officer, it is obvious that he cannot retire on time as he said before.
Chen Ming nodded and said, "Well, I will definitely stay in the team now, and I will still have to lead the troops when the time comes."
My father was smoking a cigarette with a pipe. When he heard Chen Ming's words, he couldn't help but grin and said honestly:
"It's good to lead the troops. I will strive to become a general as soon as possible. By then, I will be the general's father, and I will be more confident when talking to the village chief."
His son's career is booming, which is definitely the best news for Chen Gensheng.
Wang Yan rolled her eyes at him and said, "Go away, what do you know?"
Then she looked at Chen Ming nervously and asked, "How long will you stay in the army?"
Chen Ming was stunned for a moment when he heard this.
He didn't know how long he would stay, but with his ability, he should be able to work until retirement.
Otherwise, they would retire from the military after they were in their thirties or forties because they were tired of the military.
After thinking for a while, he told Wang Yan truthfully: "I'm not sure how many years I'll stay. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be about ten years."
This is Chen Ming’s most conservative estimate.
When Wang Yan heard this, her brows suddenly furrowed and her face looked a little worried.
Seeing this, Chen Ming thought that Wang Yan was afraid that he would be away for too long and would not be able to return home for more than ten years, so he quickly explained:
"Mom, don't worry. I'm an officer now. I can take a vacation or visit my family every year. I can come back for a month every year."
According to the leave regulations for active-duty officers, officers like Chen Ming have a certain amount of leave.
After all, you are going to join the army, not to become a monk.
Wang Yan shook her head and said, "That's not what I'm worried about."
After a pause, she asked again: "Xiao Ming, let me ask you, are there any female soldiers in your army?"
Chen Ming was stunned when he heard this. Why did he suddenly ask this
Wang Yan continued, "If there are any female soldiers in the army, you should prepare them as soon as possible if you find any good ones. If there are none, tell me and I will help you find some outside. When you come back from vacation, I will ask them to go on blind dates with you one by one."
It is said that one should start a family and a career. Now that Chen Ming has become an officer and is highly valued by his superiors, he can be said to have established a career.
What she was worried about at this time was Chen Mingcheng's family problems.
She also heard that the army is mostly made up of men. If Chen Ming really had to stay there for more than ten years, how would he get married
You can't just say that if you serve in the army for your entire life, you will be single for the rest of your life.
After hearing this, Chen Ming was speechless and said, "Mom, I'm only 19 years old. Isn't it too early?"
I am so young, why is my mother so anxious
Wang Yan groaned and said, "What's wrong with being 19? Isn't that an adult? If our family wasn't so poor, and if someone asked for too much in betrothal gifts and we couldn't afford it, I would have arranged a blind date for you so that you could get married sooner."
When she saw that other relatives' grandchildren were already able to help out with family matters, she was shocked to think that her own son was still single, and in a place like the military camp where there were very few women.
Thinking of this, she naturally became anxious.
Chen Ming was a little speechless, and said: "Mom, don't worry, I know my limits. When the time comes, I promise to bring my daughter-in-law back."
When Wang Yan heard this, a smile immediately appeared on her face. "Really?"
Chen Ming nodded confidently.
Suddenly, Wang Yan said, "But don't just look blindly. You have to find someone who is of equal status. If they want a betrothal gift of several hundred thousand, we can't afford it."
When Chen Ming heard this, he was speechless, but he couldn't help but think about it.
He didn't think that Tang Xinyi's family would be the kind of family that would ask for a dowry. Even if they did, it would be at most tens of thousands of yuan as a token of appreciation, just a formality.
Besides, when cousin Zhang Bufan sells the game and becomes their family's cash machine, will Chen Ming be worried about not being able to give the bride price? !
When he thought of this, Chen Ming suddenly realized that he seemed to know nothing about Tang Xinyi's family background.
A talented girl like Tang Xinyi who graduated with a PhD in her early twenties, couldn't she come from a scholarly family, the kind where everyone in her family is a teacher
However, it is also possible that they are a family of military officers and grew up in a small military compound.
At this time, Chen Ming couldn't help but let his imagination run wild and make random guesses.
He was still quite curious about what Tang Xinyi's family did. He would ask when he had the chance and prepare for meeting his parents-in-law in the future.
If they are from a scholarly family, I would recite poems and songs before meeting them, and then drink and sing with them when the time comes.
If he was a military officer, he would wear various medals and talk about his own great achievements.
When meeting your father-in-law and mother-in-law, you have to please them.
Seeing that Chen Ming was so confident about finding a girlfriend, Wang Yan stopped asking any more questions.
He turned to look at Chen Gensheng who was smoking a pipe and puffing out clouds of smoke and said, "Stop smoking. Go to town and buy some cooked food. I'll make lunch."
It's noon now and time to eat, but there is no food at home yet.
Under normal circumstances, the two of them would just have some porridge with some pickles or something.
But today is the Little New Year, so we can’t eat too poorly.
What's more, Chen Ming is back, so we can't be shabby.
Originally, Wang Yan planned to kill a chicken in the chicken coop to cook, but because the government sent good news, she was delayed a lot of time.
If we kill the chicken now, by the time it's cooked, lunch will be almost over.
It would be better to let the child’s father go to town and buy some cooked food.
It would only take about twenty minutes to go back and forth. By the time Chen Gensheng came back, she should have finished cooking.
Wang Yan's words sounded like military orders to Chen Gensheng. He nodded woodenly, knocked the pipe against the brazier to knock out all the ashes inside, and was about to stand up.
Chen Ming immediately stood up and said, "I want to go too."
There is no internet at home now, so he has to go to the business office in town to get an internet cable.
Otherwise, life without internet would be really miserable, and I couldn’t even chat with my brothers.
After the father and son went out, they walked together on the road.
At this time, the news that Chen Ming had won military merit and received good news from the government had spread throughout the village.
When everyone saw the father and son, they greeted them warmly.
Some of my father’s old acquaintances even came forward to praise him.
Some people even said: "Old Chen, your son has made great achievements. I heard that your son has made great contributions in the army. I think it was a first-class merit, right? It's really amazing."
And words like this happen one after another.
When Chen Ming heard these words, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch, and he was speechless.
It was clearly a third-class merit, so why was it awarded to me as a first-class merit
At this moment, Chen Ming just felt that the villagers' ability to exaggerate was really outrageous.
Moreover, it had been less than an hour since Ji Hua and the others left.