Minister Gao and Nie Bozhao were sitting side by side in the back, with the Chief of Staff sitting in the front passenger seat.

Good heavens, Minister Gao completely ignored the bet from earlier.

“Minister Gao, is your wife pretty?”

“Oh, Comrade Nie, your thoughts are pretty reactionary. It’s people like you that make Old Chiang tell the world that our republic practices communal marriage and that we are a bunch of bandits. Why does it matter to you if my wife is pretty or not?”

“Minister Gao’s wife is indeed very beautiful. She’s the vice-head of the art troupe in our mining area. Comrade Nie, I can testify that you won this bet today,” Chief of Staff Yu added.

“Old Nie, I have to tell you, Chief of Staff Yu isn’t married yet, but his girlfriend is the lead dancer in the ‘Women’s Army’ performance in our art troupe.

After the mission is completed, why don’t you compete with him in an arm-wrestling match? I’ll be a witness, and then he’ll have to give his girlfriend to you. How about it?”

“Come on, let’s arm-wrestle now,” Chief of Staff Yu, a young man, said, confident he wouldn’t lose to an engineer.

He immediately walked over.

“Enough, enough. You guys keep joking about your families. That’s disrespecting women. Besides, I have a family, and I don’t need to know how beautiful your wives are. But a bet’s a bet. Minister Gao, I have my eye on your watch,” Nie Bozhao said directly.

Minister Gao was wearing a watch, not a regular military one, but a shiny, silver-plated, brand-new one.

He grabbed his wrist and said with a pained expression, “Old Nie, your eyes are sharp. This is a Meihua brand, even though it cost 180 yuan, it’s an old one. Don’t stare at it.”

“Stop lying. This is a women’s watch. You obviously bought it for your wife.

Meihua watches are factory-made with original gear oil, which has a high content of sulfurized isobutene, so it has a faint sulfur smell.

You guys like to use military-grade gear oil, which is rough and has low viscosity, so it doesn’t have that strong smell.

This watch is probably only two days old. You’re probably planning to give it to your wife for Labor Day, aren’t you? Now you’re showing it off, but you’re wearing it first.”

After hearing this, Minister Gao had to admit the truth.

He took the watch off and showed it to Nie Bozhao. “Incredible, Old Nie. This watch really is from a state-run store in Beijing. I was going to enjoy it for a day and give it to my wife tomorrow. You’ve had your eye on it for a while, haven’t you?”

“Minister Gao, then I won’t be polite. It’s mine now.”

“Hey, Old Nie, I don’t believe you have the nerve to take something I was going to give to my wife.”

But the shameless Nie Bozhao really put the watch on his wrist and said, “It’s nice, I like it. But I won’t take your watch for nothing. You guys are using subpar engine oil, right?

When the temperature drops below minus thirty, those light off-road vehicles always stall. Bring me your oil, and I’ll adjust the mix ratio in my lab so your vehicles won’t stall.”

Well, does this mean he’s got some principles as a thief?

“Commander, there’s a civilian truck ahead. Someone’s waving a white flag. They’re probably our comrades escaping from the farm.”

“Alright, that should be my wife. Hurry up and stop, I’ll go take a look.”

Inside the encirclement of several military Dongfanghong vehicles, Chen Lina got out of the car, holding hands with children, and others were clutching her clothes or being carried in her arms.

“Chief of Staff Yu, is your girlfriend, the one who dances in the ‘Women’s Army,’ really that pretty?”

“No, her skin isn’t as white as hers, and that long hair is just beautiful.”

The woman walking toward them, dressed in a military-green vest and with wavy hair flowing in the wind, was stunning.

Her arms were open as she carefully embraced four children, her figure graceful despite the dust and fumes surrounding her.

“She’s like the snow lotus on Tianshan, the rose in the flames, the most beautiful sight in the midst of this armored world.”

“I didn’t expect an engineer like Nie Bozhao to have such a beautiful wife.”

“Well, he’s probably had his eye on your watch for a long time, Minister Gao. We rough guys can’t outsmart these clever intellectuals.”

“Thief! So that watch he took is actually for his wife?” Minister Gao realized what had happened.

He glared at Nie Bozhao from a distance, rolled down the window, and mimicked a gunshot with his hand, making a ‘bang’ sound.

Alright, the crafty intellectual had to die.

…

Although all the trucks had stalled, Sun Dabao and his men shot a few security team members before breaking open the back gate of Loulan Farm and charging into the desert.

The truck stalled after two kilometers, and they used the vehicle as cover to engage in a gunfight with the armed department.

Nie Bozhao was called back to the command vehicle, since the bandit leader was his brother-in-law, Sun Dabo.

“Report, sir. Most of the reactionaries have been killed, but there’s still one hiding in the truck, armed with a Gatling M134 machine gun. The firepower is too strong, and he’s using the truck as cover. We can’t get a clear shot, and we’ve suffered heavy casualties. What should we do?”

“Old Nie, how about we have another competition?” Minister Gao said.

“Compete in what?” Nie Bozhao had also gotten out of the car.

In the desert, surrounded by enemy fire, a truck was stuck, surrounded from all sides, with the dark muzzle of a machine gun like the watchful eye of a hawk.

The M134 is the world’s fastest-firing machine gun, known as the ‘Gatling Gun’—its power is unmatched.

“Ever used a machine gun? Each bullet has its own unique serial number. Let’s be snipers for a moment. Whoever kills that stubborn one gets the watch. We’ll use bullets as proof.”

Minister Gao said, then grabbed a sniper rifle.

Well, Nie Bozhao was forced into this one.

Half an hour later, the fugitive inside the truck, growing impatient, exposed himself for a moment.

At that instant, two gunshots rang out, and the fugitive was finally killed.

Then, the entire desert echoed with Minister Gao’s roar: “Tomorrow, give Lao Nie the gear oil. If he can’t adjust it so the vehicles don’t stall in places like Tibet and Ali, I want my watch back!”

That was the last roar from Minister Gao.

The Dushanzi Hot Springs, the only hot spring in the mining area, was still quietly running, even though it was officially prohibited to indulge in luxury, and the masses were encouraged to work hard.

Nie’s family made the hot springs their final destination for their trip.

Children love water, so it was time to let them experience it up close.

“In our mining district, this is the only hot spring we have, real volcanic rock water, it’s great for skin care. I’m taking you there today, so you can’t complain that I’ve mistreated you, alright?” Nie Bozhao said.

Chen Lina looked at herself in the mirror and said regretfully, “Comrade Nie, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten much darker and thinner. I’ll be honest with you, when I was fifty in my past life, my skin was better than it is now.”

“Did you eat snow lotus every day like the apricot tree fork?” Nie Bozhao teased.

“In those days, we didn’t need to eat snow lotus. The essence of the snow lotus flower was extracted and directly applied to the face, or made into capsules. It was very expensive, but he was rich and could afford it.”

To give her a watch, Nie Bozhao had even gone to the state-owned shop at the Dushanzi Hot Springs Resort to buy a small box to store it.

After hearing her words, he felt a little uneasy and said, “Alright, I understand. The apricot tree fork is just a decaying capitalist. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t live like him.”

“No, he’s the richest man after the Republic’s reform and opening up. If you continue on your current path, you might achieve something in industry, but to compare with him—there’s a long way to go.”

Once again, Nie Bozhao’s self-esteem was crushed like a Gatling machine gun, and he didn’t take the watch out.

“Oh, this is a watch!” Chen Lina, with sharp eyes, spotted it while packing and immediately saw it in his bag.

“Meihua brand, Phoenix mechanical watch, Old Nie, how much did this watch cost?” Chen Lina asked.

Nie Bozhao held up his hand, “One hundred and twenty.” He left out sixty.

She slapped him: “You have money to burn, huh? Do you know what we need most right now?

Money! We’re about to send Weimin to school, I need to buy him a backpack, stationery, and exercise books.

These all cost money. Erdan’s clothes are getting too short, I have to buy fabric to make new ones.

There are fabric coupons, but they only give coarse cloth.

The supply and marketing cooperative charges fifty cents for one meter of cotton cloth.

Your son doesn’t eat fabric, but for boys, they need durable fabric. And in such times, you didn’t keep the money for me, but bought a watch instead.”

“I just want to know, does it look good when you wear it? You’ve always complained that you’re walking around with a little alarm clock, and the farm’s intellectual youth calls you ‘Clock-holding Director’. Now you have a watch, at least you have something to tell the time with.”

“It still shouldn’t be this expensive! You could have bought an old clock for ten yuan. You really know how to waste money,” she said, though secretly, she liked it very much, almost smiling from ear to ear.

As for Nie Bozhao, he realized that coming to the hot spring was a bad idea because he kept getting annoyed just by looking at her in her shorts.

And what about relaxing?

But thankfully, the men and women had separate pools, so for the time being, he left the children with Chen Lina and separated from her.

The people who came to the Dushanzi Hot Springs were mostly the families of the district’s cadres.

Chen Lina applied some snowflake cream, put on the swimsuit provided by the hot springs, which was actually just a pair of square shorts and a little tank top.

She looked into the only dressing mirror—although her skin had gotten much darker, her figure was perfect, flawless.

A chattering group of girls from the cultural troupe arrived.

Because they danced, they had high-cut, tight swimsuits provided by their organization.

Each one had beautiful long legs and was full of confidence.

Chen Lina stood among them, wearing her square shorts and tank top, a country girl.

“Hey, how’s it going with the armed forces’ Commander Yu? Are you getting married soon?”

“Mm, soon. But yesterday they were on a mission at Loulan Farm, and I heard some people died. They have to report to Urumqi, so it might be delayed a few days.”

“I heard that Sun Gong’s younger brother, Sun Dabo, died too. Sun Gong only just had an accident, and now his brother was shot dead. I heard from my husband Yu that the bullet that killed him was shot by your husband Nie Gong. He’s usually so calm, but he’s a sharpshooter.”

“At least he’s the brother-in-law of the late wife. Nie’s shot is something else.”

“Who told him to be so stubborn, trying to escape to the Soviet Union? If you ask me, our Republic is pretty good.”

Chen Lina thought, this is strange—Sun Dabo was actually shot dead by Nie Bozhao.

Afterward, Nie Bozhao was happily taking his family to the hot springs as if nothing had happened.

This man had a heart as deep as the ocean.

“Alright, why are you guys gossiping? Can’t you see there are outsiders around?” A woman, about thirty years old with an exceptionally well-maintained figure, came over and pulled the chattering girls away.

Chen Lina envied the cultural troupe’s girls in their swimsuits but thought, well, this is the 1970s, so she’d better stay low-profile.

After all, she’d already had her moment in the past life.

“Mom, Mom, can I not wear the shorts?” Erdan asked.

He really wanted to get close to the water in the hot spring without his shorts, so he started pulling them off.

“No, Nie Weiguo(Er Dan’s real name), you’re already five years old. Kids your age should know that your little bottom is not for others to see, except for your mom and dad,” she said.

Alright, the shorts went back on.

“Mom, can I pee in the hot spring?”

“San Dan, let me tell you a story. Come here, Weimin, Weiguo, you all come listen, okay?”

“Okay, Comrade Chen, we love hearing stories!” Weimin, who was very thin, kept his shorts from falling off by holding them up with one hand while running over.

In the warm indoor hot spring, the steam was swirling, and the stones were all hot.

“There was a kid in our village named Daniu. One day, his mom took him to the county to soak in the hot springs. He thought, ‘There’s water everywhere, no one will notice if I pee in the water.’ So, when no one was looking, he started peeing in the hot spring.”

“And then?”

“Then, soon after, they grabbed him from the pool and threw him out. Do you know why?”

“Why?” Erdan was clearly scared, thinking about how he was about to pee in the hot spring and imagining he would be thrown out.

It would be such a waste of Mom’s three yuan.

Looking at the innocent eyes of her children, Chen Lina thought it was so fun to scare them.

She had to be more careful, or she’d end up being a dishonest mom.

“Because, in these hot springs, to prevent people from peeing in the water while soaking, they actually added a special powder. When the urine hits the water, it changes color. You might think you’re peeing without anyone noticing, but the water behind you will turn deep blue.”

As her voice fell, a few girls from the cultural troupe turned around to check the water behind them.

Chen Lina nearly died laughing on the stone: “Wait, do adults pee in the pool too?”

“Mom, you’re lying again.” After a while, Er Dan, who was in the shallow water with a float, mysteriously ran over. “There’s no medicine in the water. Peeing won’t change the color.”

With a slap on his bottom, she said, “Er Dan, if you pee in the hot spring again, we’re putting on our clothes and going home right away.”

“I didn’t! I really didn’t! I just…” He only scooped some hot spring water out and peed into it, wanting to see the ‘miracle’ of water changing color.