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Today, there were five products on the app that caught Ning Shu’s eye, making her want to buy them all.
Ning Shu looked at these items and didn’t hesitate to buy them.
First, she bought the eggs.
She happened to be going to the city today, so she could buy them from the neighboring Moon Bay production brigade and bring them home.
She also couldn’t pass on the sliced noodles.
She always liked eating noodle lumps but hadn’t because she didn’t know how to make noodles, and making them was troublesome.
Having ready-made noodles made eating them more convenient.
The small steamed buns were even more essential.
She brought them back from the city today and could have them for breakfast tomorrow.
The green bean cakes could be considered a purchase from the department store, to be shared as snacks with her two children and herself.
She also liked eating green bean cakes.
She was fortunate to have tasted a brand brought by a tour guide friend from Hong Kong that truly melted in the mouth.
However, she forgot the brand, and since then, she had always wanted to try it again.
But because she didn’t remember the brand, she had bought countless other brands, but never tasted the same texture.
Lemon chicken feet were her favorite, just like her love for durian, but today it was difficult to bring them back.
After all, it’s not easy to find these things outside; they are mostly bought and sold privately by ordinary people.
But she had just arrived here and couldn’t buy them privately.
Ah, she had an idea.
She could say she bought the chicken feet and made them herself.
Anyway, Lin Guodong wouldn’t know if she had bought chicken feet in the city.
That’s settled then.
Thinking about coming back from the city to eat something delicious, Ning Shu felt great and got up.
She first boiled a pot of water on the stove and left it to cool.
Then she started making breakfast.
Breakfast was vegetable rice porridge with a poached egg.
Ning Shu finished making breakfast, and her two children hadn’t gotten up yet.
Since she was going to the city in the morning, she decided to eat first.
After finishing breakfast and wanting to see her children, she found that they were already awake, playing in bed.
Ning Shu smiled and said, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, it’s time to get up. I’ll go to the city to buy things later. Eat well and play at home, okay?”
There was no need to worry in the military family compound like in the village.
In the village, she worried about her children going up the mountain and getting into trouble, falling into the river, or encountering human traffickers, among other issues.
But in the military family compound, these worries simply didn’t exist.
If the military family compound wasn’t enough to put one’s mind at ease, it would be hard to find a place that did.
“Mom, can we go together?” Er Bao asked.
Yi Bao also looked eagerly at their mother. Er Bao was always the spokesperson for the two brothers.
“Mom… hug…” Sanbao opened his arms towards Ning Shu.
Ning Shu went over, dressing San Bao while saying, “There are no baskets here, nor San Bao’s seat, so we can’t take him to the city yet. We’ll take you when we have these things at home, okay?”
Mom’s reason was reasonable.
Although Yi Bao and Er Bao were somewhat disappointed, they obediently said, “Okay.”
“Mom, are you going to buy meat in the city?” Erbao said as a meat fanatic.
Every time Mom went to the city, he always thought so.
Ning Shu said, “Yes, I’m going to buy meat. If there’s meat in the city, I’ll buy some for you children. If there’s no meat, then I can’t do anything about it.”
Camp
Zhang Xian and Lin Guodong almost left at the same time in the morning.
The soldiers, upon hearing the whistle, took almost the same amount of time from waking up to leaving because their speeds were similar.
When Zhang Xian saw Lin Guodong as he was leaving, he called out, “Captain Lin…” He was about to approach to talk about Ning Qin and Ning Shu, but then he saw the soldiers from the other family compound coming out one after another.
“Captain Lin, good morning. Lieutenant Zhang, good morning,” Wang Daqiang said with a smile.
He had witnessed yesterday’s incident firsthand, which was indirectly caused by his wife, Sun Li.
If Sun Li hadn’t mentioned Ning Shu’s name at that time, Ning Qin might not have brought it up.
However, Wang Daqiang never imagined that Lin Guodong and Zhang Xian would become brothers-in-law.
“Good morning, Brother Wang,” Lin Guodong nodded, then turned to Lieutenant Zhang, “Lieutenant Zhang, good morning.” He didn’t want to involve Zhang Xian in Ning Shu and Ning Qin’s matter.
“Captain Lin, good morning. Captain Wang, good morning. Xiaozhang, good morning,” Deputy Captain Yang also came out from his courtyard and, upon seeing the two of them, stopped for a moment.
Since he and Captain Lin were in the same company, he waited for him.
“Captain Wang, good morning. Deputy Captain Yang, good morning,” Zhang Xian greeted everyone with a smile, as if it wasn’t his wife who had embarrassed herself yesterday.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to explain Ning Qin and Ning Shu’s situation to Lin Guodong now.
However, Zhang Xian decided that after the morning training was over, he would talk to Lin Guodong when they returned for breakfast.
So, after Zhang Xian finished the morning training, he went to find Lin Guodong in his area.
Coincidentally, Lin Guodong also walked over and, seeing Zhang Xian, he knew what the other party wanted to discuss.
“Captain Lin, can we talk?” Zhang Xian asked.
Lin Guodong nodded, “What do you want to talk about?”
Both of them were straightforward men and didn’t need to be tactful.
They walked to a secluded corner, and Zhang Xian spoke directly, “Captain Lin, I want to talk to you about Ning Qin and your wife, Comrade Ning.”
Normally, according to their positions, he could address Lin Guodong’s wife as “sister-in-law,” but Ning Shu was Ning Qin’s younger sister. Regardless of Ning Qin and Ning Shu’s relationship, their relationship was here. It would be awkward to call Ning Shu “sister-in-law,” so Zhang Xian chose to address Ning Shu as “Comrade Ning.”
Lin Guodong replied, “What do you want to say?”
“After returning home yesterday, I talked to Ning Qin about the matter between the Ning family and Comrade Ning. Ning Qin said there was a bit of a misunderstanding between Comrade Ning and the Ning family. Please listen to me explain:
First, when the Ning family sent Comrade Ning to their grandparents, it was because Ning Qin and Ning Qi were very unruly at that age. In addition, they were about to start kindergarten, and their grandparents were working, so they didn’t have the energy to take care of Comrade Ning. Also, Comrade Ning had a good personality when she was young, which is why they sent her to her grandparents.
Second, when they brought Comrade Ning back when she was five years old, it wasn’t to take care of her siblings, but because she was also of kindergarten age. It’s just that the kindergarten procedures were not yet completed, so they let her take care of her siblings for a while.
Third, Ning Qin also apologized for what happened back then. She was young and lazy, didn’t want to wash clothes, so she gave them to Comrade Ning to wash. This was indeed wrong of her. She also wants to apologize to Comrade Ning herself, but she’s worried that Comrade Ning is still angry, so she plans to wait until Comrade Ning calms down before apologizing.
Fourth, when they sent Comrade Ning to the countryside back then, it was just because Ning Qin and Ning Qi were in their second year of high school and were about to take the college entrance examination, so they prioritized them. Their grandparents thought that since Comrade Ning was only in the second year of high school and hadn’t taken the college entrance examination yet, they would solve the problem of the countryside placement first and then find a way to transfer her back to the city.”
Lastly, over these years, whether it’s the grandparents or Ning Qin, they actually all care about Comrade Ning. I think between parents and children, between siblings, there shouldn’t be any misunderstandings that can’t be resolved. How about we have a meal together another day and talk about this?”
Lin Guodong listened calmly to Zhang Xian’s words and then asked in a light tone, “Comrade Zhang Xian, I have a few doubts. If you can answer these questions, then I will persuade my wife.”
Zhang Xian felt hopeful and said, “Captain Lin, please ask.”
Lin Guodong continued, “First, since Ning Qin and Ning Qi were about to start kindergarten back then, it means that the grandparents didn’t need to spend too much energy taking care of them, so how come they didn’t have the energy to take care of my wife? When Ning Qin and Ning Qi were born, the grandparents had the energy to take care of them. When it was just my wife, how come suddenly there was no energy?
Secondly, since the grandparents didn’t have the energy to take care of my wife when Ning Qin and Ning Qi were about to start kindergarten, how come they had the energy to take care of the twins later on? Logically, if they didn’t have the energy to take care of one person, they wouldn’t have had the energy to take care of two.
Thirdly, since bringing my wife back was for her to go to school, why wait until the twins were of school age before letting my wife go to school?
Fourthly, if sending my wife to the countryside back then was just to solve the immediate problem, then why did the grandparents take all the subsidies meant for my wife going to the countryside? Why did they never contact her after she went to the countryside? If my wife was young and didn’t know how to stay in touch, as a child, they could have found out her address from the Youth League office. So why did they never contact her?
Fifthly, if the grandparents were as caring as Ning Qin said, then why was it that when my wife was clearly 1.5 meters tall, she didn’t even weigh 70 catties? A person’s health is a direct reflection of their true situation.
I’m not against parents being partial, but after being partial, if they use various reasons to discredit the person who isn’t favored, then it becomes a question of the family’s character.”
Finally, Comrade Zhang Xian, you are an outstanding soldier, and I believe in both your character and abilities. I hope you can also face this matter with the right attitude. My wife is not someone who holds grudges. Regardless of what happened in the past, it’s already over. It was over when my wife submitted the list of names for everyone going to the countryside.
Since she came back, she hasn’t contacted Ning Qin. If it weren’t for Ning Qin using her sister’s name as an excuse to talk about her sister yesterday, my wife wouldn’t have brought up this relationship issue.
I believe that an outstanding soldier can handle family issues excellently. If one can’t even handle family problems, how can they defend the country? Using the word “idle talk” to describe Lin Guodong’s polite demeanor was clearly speaking ill behind someone’s back.
As he thought about this, Lin Guodong couldn’t help but ask himself. When he and Ning Shu had just gotten married, he had also avoided things at home and hastily returned to the army. Considering his character, he wouldn’t have avoided like that. Even if he did avoid, he would have faced it when he knew about Ning Shu.