Chapter 30: Moving and Organizing

The troop is in the suburbs and can be reached by bus.

They first went to the restaurant downstairs for breakfast and were surprised to find that this restaurant actually had Aozao noodles.

Aozao noodles^[1]a traditional Chinese noodle dish known for their long, thin shape, These noodles are typically served in a flavorful broth. The dish often features a combination of savory, spicy, and tangy flavors, … Continue reading are soup noodles with a slightly red soup base. This restaurant probably uses pork bones and fish bones to make the soup, and then uses soy sauce to brighten the soup color.

As for the toppings, there was only fried fish. Wen Jiajia had also eaten braised duck, but the braised duck used white soup, and in comparison, she thought the fried fish with red soup tasted better.

Logically speaking, this was the first time she had eaten Aozao noodles in her life, so Wen Jiajia did not act like she knew a lot.

Wei Dai ordered three bowls of noodles and handed the chopsticks to Wen Jiajia. “Try it. It tastes good, very different from what we have here. The fish used here is herring.”

There were very few black carp in the small river in their hometown, but there were quite a lot of black carp here.

Wen Jiajia picked up a piece of noodle with chopsticks and pretended to be surprised. “Wow, it’s dragon beard noodles.^[2]also known as “Longxu Mian” (龙须面), are a type of Chinese noodle known for their extremely fine and delicate texture, resembling strands of a dragon’s beard.”

Wei Dai was really surprised. “Do you know dragon beard noodles?” It’s not that there are no thin noodles in their hometown, but they are only called “thin noodles.”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes naturally. “Read books. Read more books and newspapers. Books have everything.”

Wei Dai immediately shut up and took out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. Wen Jiajia had the bad habit of always holding a handkerchief when eating.

Eat a few bites, wipe your mouth. Eat a few more bites, wipe your mouth again. Wei Dai couldn’t understand.

Then he went to get two bowls and divided the bowl of noodles into two portions for Wen Chun and Wen Xuan to eat.

They were small and had small stomachs, so one portion of noodles was enough for them.

The fried fish was really delicious. The herring was fried until crispy and then soaked in the soup base. The skin absorbed the juice and became soft, and it tasted the sweetness of the soup when eaten.

As for the noodles, they were very flavorful because they were thin.

The soup base was mellow, but a little sweet. The locals loved sweet food, even more than those in her hometown.

After finishing breakfast quickly, Wei Dai went to the post office to check. After finding out that the mail had not arrived yet, he took them directly on the bus back to the army.

It was really crowded.

Wen Jiajia felt like she was going to be squeezed into a can. She had never been on such a crowded train before. Even the morning rush hour subways in big cities decades later were not so crowded.

Fortunately, the train station bus station was the starting station, so they were able to barely cram their luggage onto the bus.

Half an hour later, the bus left the city.

There were still many people on the bus at this time. Wen Jiajia found an empty seat and sat down, holding Wen Chun and Wen Xuan. Wei Dai stood beside her, separating her from the crowd. Wen Jiajia’s pressure was greatly relieved.

Without the concrete road, the bus began to shake.

The most rocky section of the road could even make people vomit—not from motion sickness, but from the shaking that pushed breakfast up into the esophagus.

Fortunately, the road was shaking for only a little over a minute. After finally escaping this stretch of road, the driver cursed. “We asked for repairs a long time ago, but now the road is still this broken.”

The scolding became less frequent afterward.

But Wen Jiajia could still vaguely hear him scolding. “Sooner or later, I will bring you leaders along this stretch of road for a spin.”

Well, that’s a good idea.

The suburbs were not far away, and it took about 40 minutes to get there after leaving the city. There were not many people on the bus at this time, and they were very relaxed when they got off.

Wei Dai borrowed a cart from a fellow villager in the nearby village, put the luggage on the cart, and pushed it away.

Wen Jiajia followed behind, holding one child in each hand.

How should she put it? This place is called the suburbs, but it is actually no different from the countryside.

There are large tracts of farmland on both sides. Compared with her hometown, the farmland here is flatter and wider. At this moment, sweet clover is blooming only in the farmland.

Occasionally, she could see a few old cows and a few flocks of sheep grazing in the fields.

Not far away was Qingshan. According to Wei Dai, his troops were in that area.

Wen Jiajia observed carefully and said, “In fact, your troops are quite close to the nearby village.”

Wei Dai replied, “Yes, sometimes there will be a market nearby. You can come and take a look. I heard you can exchange a lot of things.”

This place is located in the north, so the temperature is lower than in her hometown. The terrain is wide, and the wind is strong, which makes people feel quite cold.

Just as Wen Jiajia was wondering whether she should put on some warmer clothes, they finally arrived at the army base.

After entering the base, they passed through the logistics department first. The person on duty obviously knew Wei Dai and smiled when he saw him through the window.

“Brother Wei, you’re back!” he said as he ran out.

Wei Dai introduced him. “This is my wife, Wen Jia.”

Then he said to Wen Jiajia, “He is Wang Xiangyang.”

“Hello, sister-in-law!” Wang Xiangyang said it enthusiastically. “Oh, I’ve heard Captain Wei mention you for a long time. He’s been looking forward to your coming.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “Hello, just call me by my name.”

“That won’t work.” Wang Xiangyang was puzzled when he saw that she was still holding the two children. “Didn’t you just get married?”

He felt his pocket and found that he didn’t have any candy with him that day.

When Wen Jiajia saw his eyes, she said, “These are my nieces.”

Wang Xiangyang suddenly realized this. “The little girl is really beautiful.” But he was puzzled about why she brought her nieces to join the army.

Wen Jiajia didn’t explain much. After living here for a while, everyone would know everything they wanted to know.

Since there was still a pile of luggage waiting to be unpacked, they didn’t chat for long.

After a detour from the logistics area and heading north, they finally arrived at Beishan after more than ten minutes.

Beishan is relatively remote, but for Wen Jiajia, remote places are also good.

Wei Dai pushed the cart to the house on the far left and said, “It’s right here.”

As he said this, he parked the cart, took out the key from his pocket, and opened the gate.

With a “creaky” sound, Wen Jiajia saw the appearance of her new home.

The yard is small, with a jujube tree planted near the wall. Judging from the jujube tree, it was probably planted here originally.

The ground in the yard was also very flat, without any large clods of earth or gravel, and some tender green grass was sprouting.

“Come in and see what it’s like.” Wei Dai felt a little proud and wanted to hear Jia Jia praise him.

Wen Jiajia let go of the two girls and walked into the yard, her eyes moving around.

There is a bluestone-paved path from the courtyard gate to the door of the house, so the soles of shoes will not get stained with mud on rainy days.

After entering the door, there is a cement laundry sink on the left. The sink is not big and has a faucet, which can fully meet the needs.

On the right side of the door is the bathroom and toilet, which are also not big. When Wen Jiajia walked over to take a look, Wei Dai introduced, “The bathroom is more than 3 square meters, and the toilet is 2 square meters. There are doors inside.”

He pushed open the door, and Wen Jiajia saw that there was indeed a wooden door on the wall separating them.

Uh… pretty good.

It was actually quite good, and it exceeded her expectations.

Wen Jiajia looked at the empty space next to her and said, “Can we grow some vegetables in our yard?”

Wei Dai nodded. “It is possible, but we can’t grow a lot because the logistics department has specially allocated land for the families in the family compound to grow vegetables.”

Wen Jiajia was delighted. “That’s good. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even have vegetables to eat.”

Wei Dai laughed. “Not really. The logistics people are smart. The vegetable patch is on the slope behind the family building. There are terraces there. We have two ridges, which is more than enough for daily consumption.”

As they were talking, the two children were also exploring their new home.

They rushed into the house, and soon Wen Xuan ran out, shouting excitedly, “Auntie, come quickly, it’s so clean here.”

The floor is flat, and there is no soil yet.

Wei Dai also said, “Go and have a look. I’ve cleaned it up.”

Wen Jiajia walked over quickly and came into the house.

This house is just an ordinary bungalow. Upon entering the house, the first thing you see is the living room. The sofa in the living room looks very familiar. It was painted by Wen Jiajia, and Wei Dai actually had someone make it exactly the same.

The dining table is also here.

The dining table is not very big; it is a long rectangular table that can seat only six people at most.

Wei Dai said, “I also built a table that can be folded up and placed in the utility room.”

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but give him a thumbs up. “Not bad.” He managed to do many things without her telling him. The six-person table was fine for daily use, but once someone came to eat at home, there would not be enough tables.

The kitchen is on the left side of the living room entrance. The kitchen is indeed large, and there is even a stove inside. There is another door in the kitchen that leads directly to the yard.

Wei Dai opened the door and said, “I built a small shed here. I chopped some firewood before going home. It’s dry and can be burned now.”

Wen Jiajia stuck her head out of the kitchen window. Wow, there were at least two hundred kilograms of firewood.

There is not only a stove in the kitchen, but also a furnace that burns charcoal. Wei Dai said there are also two baskets of charcoal in the utility room.

A countertop was also built, and cabinets were installed under the countertop. It looks a bit like a kitchen in the countryside after the 1940s.

Of course, cupboards are also indispensable. Wen Jiajia saw food in the cupboards.

After leaving the kitchen and returning to the living room, she looked at the right side of the house.

The two sides of the living room are symmetrical, and there are two areas on the right side, which are two bedrooms.

The first room you enter is the master bedroom, which is slightly larger. Wei Dai said, “It’s 20 square meters, oh no, actually 23 square meters, and there’s a small balcony.”

Wen Jiajia turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling. “A small balcony? Did you really build a balcony in the room?”

Then Wen Jiajia told Wei Dai to quickly take out the key and open the door. “Hurry up, hurry up, I want to take a look.”

Wei Dai opened the door, and Wen Jiajia exclaimed, “Wow,” with her eyes wide open.

The layout of the room was exactly as she had drawn it.

The bed is 1.8 meters long. In fact, most beds are 1.5 meters long nowadays, but Wen Jiajia tends to be restless when she sleeps, so a 1.5-meter bed is not big enough for her.

There are bedside tables on both sides of the bed. Opposite the bed is a window, and the balcony is on the right side, directly opposite the door.

There is a door on the balcony. When you push it open, a sweet-scented osmanthus tree with emerald green leaves comes into view.

The balcony has wooden railings, which make it impossible to walk down to the ground. Wen Jiajia thinks it would be suitable to put a single sofa and a small table here, which would be good for reading books and drinking tea.

Although this place is not exposed to direct sunlight, there is still a lot of light, making it ideal for reading.

There is also a desk in the room, right in front of the window. Next to it is a wardrobe that is large enough to fit a quilt.

Wei Dai leaned against the door. “Are you satisfied?”

Wen Jiajia walked forward, held the back of his head with both hands, pushed her head down, and kissed him on the forehead, answering his question with practical actions.

Wei Dai blushed for a rare moment. “Be reserved; Chun’er and Xuanxuan are still here.”

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but give him another kiss.

Wei Dai was completely defeated and raised his hands in surrender, closing the door and letting her kiss him however she wanted.

However, Wen Jiajia continued to explore.

Next to the master bedroom is the second bedroom, which is slightly smaller at only 18 square meters. It contains two beds and two wardrobes.

This room also has windows. Outside the windows is a flat area, and further ahead is the mountain behind.

Wen Jiajia thought it would be great if this piece of land could be used as a vegetable garden.

But she could roughly guess that this land might be reserved, and if the family compound were to be expanded in the future, it would probably be built here.