Chapter 7

Lin Shuoyin had just arrived at the army when her elder sister, Lin Shuting, came to visit.

Lin’s mother was surprised, “Eldest, why did you come?”

Lin Shuting, her eldest sister, had a look of joy on her face, “Mom, good news, great news!”

“What good news?”

Lin’s mother poured her daughter a cup of hot water and sat next to her.

Lin Shuting took a sip and started talking, “Mom, the factory director’s youngest son has taken a liking to your second daughter. He asked me to introduce them.”

“Mom, I’m telling you, the factory director’s youngest son is tall and handsome. He’s two years older than Shuoyin, twenty this year, turning twenty-one for the New Year.”

“He said that if Shuoyin marries him, she won’t have to worry about a job. He’ll arrange one for her. Maybe he can even arrange a job for Jian she too.”

She also mentioned that if this happened, they would both be promoted.

Lin’s mother listened and said in a huff, “If you had come a few days earlier, it might have been possible. Your second daughter has joined the army.”

“She left just the day before yesterday.”

Indeed, a few days earlier, there would have been a choice. Now, she was already in the army. What was the point of saying anything now? Besides, her daughter joining the army was a great honor. The factory director’s son, Lin’s mother wasn’t interested.

“What? Shuoyin joined the army? How come I didn’t know?” Lin Shuting was shocked.

Lin’s mother said, “Don’t talk about you, even your father and I didn’t know. She only told us the day before she left. She joined the art troupe of the army in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.”

Lin Shuting asked, “How did she get into the art troupe?”

Lin’s mother told her about Lin Shuoyin saving someone. Lin Shuting said, “So that’s how it is. But why did she join the art troupe? Does she sing or dance?”

Did her second sister know how to sing or dance?

“She sings. Don’t underestimate her. She sings beautifully. She’s as good as I was when I was young.” Lin’s mother was a bit proud.

She used to be a good singer too, a flower of the machinery factory.

“Why haven’t I heard Shuoyin sing before?”

Lin Shuting was confused. Her second sister could sing? How come she hadn’t heard her sing before, not even humming? Why did she suddenly join the army art troupe?

It was so sudden.

Lin’s mother said, “You just haven’t heard her. Besides, why sing for no reason?”

Lin Shuting didn’t know what to say. Her sister joining the army was an honorable thing, but why did she feel a little disappointed?

“What about Jian she’s job? Has she found one?”

Lin’s mother shook her head, “No.”

Lin Shuting said, “What are you going to do? Make Jian she go to the countryside?”

Lin’s mother said, “If we can’t find anything, she’ll have to go to the countryside.” She wouldn’t give her job to her son.

She loved her son, but her job was her life. Without a job, she would have to live at the mercy of her daughter-in-law, and she wouldn’t stand for that.

Lin Shuoyin, the person involved, wasn’t there, so there was nothing to talk about. Lin Shuting didn’t stay long. After a few words with her mother, she left.

When she got home, her husband, Xu Shengli, asked, “How was it? Was Mom really happy?” about the introduction to such a good match.

Lin Shuting said, “Happy my foot. She’s not even there. My second sister joined the army.”

“What? Joined the army?”

“Yes!”

Xu Shengli sat up straight, “What’s going on? Tell me.”

Lin Shuting told Xu Shengli what happened. After listening, Xu Shengli said, “Your second sister is a quiet achiever.”

If it were anyone else, they would have told their family about the rescue and the job offer on the same day. Or at least, they would have told their family when they received the enlistment notice.

But her wife’s second sister only told her family the day before she left.

Lin Shuting was a bit angry, “The third child wouldn’t say anything, but Mom and Dad didn’t tell us either. I even sacrificed my lunch break to tell them about this.”

Their two families weren’t far apart. Her second sister joined the army, and her parents didn’t tell her. It really was like a daughter who has married out is like water that has been poured out.

They treated her like an outsider.

Xu Shengli said, “Mom and Dad probably didn’t have time to tell you.”

He didn’t think his in-laws were deliberately hiding it. They probably just didn’t have time to tell them, because they only found out the day before.

Lin Shuting snorted, “You’re just saying good things for them.”

“Mom and Dad are lucky to have such a good son-in-law.”

Xu Shengli’s vanity was instantly satisfied by his wife’s praise.

Lin Shuoyin, who was far away in Hohhot, also found out about her elder sister’s visit to her family.

Because the barrage appeared.

I used to think that Lin’s youngest sister, Lin Shuoyi, was the worst and most despicable of the Lin family. Now I think Lin’s eldest sister is not very good either. Isn’t her sister joining the army a happy thing? Why is she so angry?

Isn’t this obvious? If Lin Shuoyin didn’t marry Zhou Jian Guo, would Zhou Jian Guo still promote Lin’s eldest sister and her husband? No, it would hurt their interests. They wouldn’t be able to become team leaders, so of course they’re angry.

Didn’t the old version of Lin Shuoyin marry Zhou Jian Guo? Why did she go to the army in the new version of the show?

The screenwriter probably changed it. I think it’s good this way. Why should Lin’s second sister sacrifice her happiness to fulfill the whole Lin family?

Lin Shuoyin nodded in agreement as she read the barrage. Yes, why should she sacrifice her happiness to fulfill everyone else?

The barrage discussed for a while and then disappeared. It was the same last time. It disappeared after a while.

Lin Shuoyin understood it as the “time for the heroine to go abroad.”

It had been about two months since she saved someone and joined the army, but only two episodes had passed in the show. When filming a TV series, they would definitely talk about the important things and not show the daily routines of eating, drinking, and sleeping.

She didn’t know what kind of world she was living in now. Was it a parallel world in the show, or what?

The people in the barrage thought they were watching a show, but she was experiencing real life. She wasn’t an actor, and the people around her weren’t actors either.

But whatever. She was now in the army, and she wouldn’t follow the plot of the show.

As for the barrage system she was bound to, it only appeared to post barrages and issue tasks last time. It hadn’t appeared at any other time.

Even when she called out to it, it didn’t respond. She didn’t know if it was cold or busy.

She thought it was probably busy.

Lin Shuoyin, Li Jinye, and Su Xiangwei had become familiar on the train. Sareen was also very enthusiastic and talkative, and the four of them quickly became close.

After the three of them made their beds, Sareen asked, “Are you hungry? Let’s go to the canteen for dinner. It’s almost noon.”

“Let’s go.” The three of them agreed.

The army’s food allowance was 45 kilograms of grain, 3 kilograms of meat, and 1.5 kilograms of vegetable oil per person per month.

At this time, the country hadn’t developed yet, and the army’s food wasn’t as good as it was later, but it was much better than what they ate at home. They even had three kilograms of meat a month.

Lin Shuoyin had been here for more than half a year, and except for the time she secretly ate, the meat she ate at the Lin family probably didn’t even add up to half a kilogram.

When Lin’s mother made meat dishes, she would be lucky to get two slices.

So, she thought the army was great. They could eat three kilograms of meat a month. After the new recruit training was over, they could go to the street on weekends.

She had money to buy extra food for herself.

Not to mention that she had over a hundred yuan in savings. Even if she didn’t, her monthly allowance of six yuan and seventy-five cents was enough for her.

She would use two yuan for extra food, two yuan and seventy-five cents for daily necessities, such as face cream, hand cream, hair oil, soap for washing clothes and face, paper and pens for writing letters, etc.

She thought that two yuan and seventy-five cents a month was enough for daily necessities because she wouldn’t buy face cream and soap every month. She would buy them every few months.

She would save the remaining two yuan.