Chapter 10

“Isn’t Battalion Commander Shen a cadre? The army seems to forbid new recruits from dating other new recruits. If the other party is a cadre and they submit a love report, it should be allowed, right?” Su Xiangwei said.

The three of them shook their heads, “We don’t know.”

It didn’t concern them anyway. After speculating for a while, they stopped talking about it.

The next day, new recruit training began.

The first item was standing at attention. Lin Shuoyin wasn’t afraid of anything else, but she was afraid of standing at attention. Whenever she had to stand at attention, something would always be wrong. Either her nose would itch, or her eyelids would itch.

In junior high, high school, and university, she had gone through military training three times, and each time, she couldn’t stand at attention.

So, before standing at attention this time, Lin Shuoyin scratched her face, arms, eyelids, and everything else. Maybe because she had scratched, or maybe because it was too cold, she didn’t have any itchy spots after standing at attention.

She completed it without any problems. Amazing!

“The north is too cold. My hands and feet are numb from the cold.”

Back in the dormitory, Li Jinye rubbed her hands to keep warm.

“My hands itch so badly.” Su Xiangwei muttered.

Since morning, her second finger on her left hand had been itching terribly.

Sareen said, “Your hands might have chilblains.”

Su Xiangwei was shocked, “Chilblains? No way. I wore such thick gloves.”

Sareen said, “It’s possible. Look at the red circles on my face. They’re scars from chilblains I had when I was young. I even wore a hat and scarf to cover my face, but I still got them.”

Speaking of itchy hands, Lin Shuoyin’s hands were also a bit itchy. It was the same as Su Xiangwei’s, her fingers were itchy. “I heard that if you get chilblains, they’ll come back every year. They’ll appear every winter.”

Sareen said, “If you treat them properly, they won’t come back the next year. When our new recruit training is over, I’ll go home and get some eggplant stems. I’ll ask the army wives in the canteen to help me boil them. Soak your hands and feet in the boiled eggplant stem water, and the chilblains will go away.”

“That’s how I cured the chilblains on my hands, feet, and face.”

“Thank you, Sareen. You know so much.” Lin Shuoyin was impressed.

She had lived two lives, and she didn’t even know this.

She had to remember this. Boiled eggplant stem water could cure chilblains.

Sareen smiled, “You’re welcome. Everyone in the countryside knows this method. It’s a folk remedy.”

In the evening, after dinner, the five of them washed up and lay down in bed. They fell asleep quickly. They had trouble sleeping the first night because they were in a new bed, but after a day of training, they fell asleep instantly.

The next day, they woke up early as usual.

Su Xiangwei was scared of standing at attention. She asked, “Are we standing at attention today?”

“My whole body itches when I stand at attention. It’s so uncomfortable.”

“I don’t know.”

Being a soldier really tested one’s willpower. When they first started training, the new recruits couldn’t stand at attention or run in the cold wind.

But after two months of training, they had gotten used to this intensity. Now, Lin Shuoyin felt that running outside in winter was quite good for exercising.

However, the new recruit training was over. New recruits had three months, but they, the art troupe, had two months. They wouldn’t have to go tomorrow.

They had been in the army for two months, and they hadn’t written a single letter home. The troupe understood, so they gave them a day off the next day so they could go out and mail letters and buy some personal items.

Li Jinye said, “Why don’t we go take a picture? Wearing this uniform. My parents have always wanted to see me in a uniform.”

“Okay.”

Everyone agreed. They really should take a picture in this uniform to send home or keep for themselves.

So, they went to a photo studio. Click, click. Lin Shuoyin asked the photographer to develop two copies, one for herself and one to send home.

Although she wasn’t very fond of her family, she couldn’t neglect the superficialities. After all, they were family, and so far, they hadn’t done anything too outrageous to her.

“Master, we’ll come back to pick up the photos later.”

Developing the photos would take half an hour to an hour. The old photographer said, “Okay, no problem.”

The four of them left the photo studio and went to the department store. The department store in Hohhot was quite large, with one floor.

“Sister-in-law.”

Sareen’s sister-in-law worked at the department store. Sareen borrowed her sister-in-law’s bicycle. “My brother is the only high school graduate in our village. After graduation, he went to work at the machinery factory. Later, he met my sister-in-law.”

“The machinery factory allocated them a house. They live in the city.”

Lin Shuoyin asked, “Sareen, how many children are there in your family?”

Sareen said, “My family? Three children. I’m the second child. I have a younger brother named Aodun. Do you know what Aodun means?”

“Star.” Lin Shuoyin said.

Sareen was surprised, “How did you know?”

Lin Shuoyin smiled, “You said your name translates to Moon in Chinese. Your brother is called Na Ren, which is Sun. Then, your younger brother is called Aodun. I guessed it was Star.”

Actually, it wasn’t a guess. She understood Mongolian. In her previous life, she was of mixed Mongolian and Han ethnicity. Her mother was Mongolian.

“Yes, the three of us siblings are named after the sun, moon, and stars in the sky.” Sareen said with a smile.

Li Jinye said, “That’s very beautiful. It seems like your parents are good at naming.”

Sareen said, “Oh, they’re not good at naming. Most people in our village are named after flowers, plants, trees, the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and seas.”

Su Xiangwei listened and said, “That’s quite good.”

“Naming them after the sun, moon, and stars is better than those broken names like Zhaodi and Dai Di.”

“When I was born, my grandmother wanted to name me Zhaodi because I was a girl, but my parents stopped her.”

Lin Shuoyin said, “Xiangwei, your family must be quite well-off.”

Being able to learn the violin, they must not be an ordinary family. Why were they so conservative?

Su Xiangwei said, “My maternal grandparents’ family is well-off, but my paternal grandparents’ family is not. They’re an ordinary family, and they’re very conservative.”

She learned the violin from her maternal grandparents.

“Oh, I see.” Lin Shuoyin understood.

The five of them left the department store and went to pick up their photos. Sareen said, “I’m going home to get some eggplant stems. My home is very close. An hour round trip is enough. You guys find a place to wait for me.”

Lin Shuoyin said, “The state-owned restaurant near the department store, okay?”

“Okay.” Sareen nodded.

After Sareen left, the four of them, who were from other places, went to the post office to mail letters and photos home. Li Jinye also mailed money home.

They had been in the army for two months and had received two months’ salary, a total of 13.5 yuan. Li Jinye mailed ten yuan home.

Lin Shuoyin, the unfilial daughter, didn’t send any money. She only sent photos and a letter. She also complained in the letter that she didn’t have enough money and hoped they could send some if they had any.

Lin’s mother received the letter and was quite happy to see her daughter in the uniform. The uniform looked especially good on her daughter.

She wanted to show it to her neighbors, but when she saw the contents of the letter, her face immediately darkened.

She scolded, “A girl like you, what do you spend so much money on every month? I gave her ten yuan when she left, and now she’s got another ten yuan or so after receiving her salary. Two months, and she’s spent twenty yuan.”

“What is she doing? Going to restaurants every day?”