Chapter 120.1

The car was already waiting in front of Wen Nuan’s house, and Lele had hurriedly gotten in first to sit down.

Sister Juxiang and Sister Guihua knew that Wen Nuan was going to Beijing for the New Year, so early in the morning, they brought over some ingredients. Wen Nuan didn’t hesitate and accepted the food they brought.

The evening before, Wen Nuan had asked Aunt Chen to take two large fat geese from the yard and send them to the two sisters as well.

So, she wasn’t worried about any losses when they returned.

After all, their row of red-brick houses was near the birch forest, and even in the dead of winter, there were always various small animals around.

They would be gone for a bit longer, as Gu Qinghan had coincidentally been assigned to a mission in Beijing after the New Year.

It was just in time for the New Year, so they could also take the opportunity to bring more food to the two sisters.

Sister Juxiang, seeing that Lele had already brought her cloth doll and gotten into the car, smiled and said, “It looks like Lele is really looking forward to celebrating the New Year in Beijing.”

Recently, Sister Juxiang had learned that Wen Nuan had already spoken to Quartermaster Luo about resigning before the New Year, because she said that the two children would likely not be able to be separated from their parents for at least a year.

Although Aunt Chen helped out at home, Wen Nuan said it was too exhausting to take care of several kids and still do the housework, so she decided to stay at home until the children were older.

However, Quartermaster Luo was reluctant to let her go. He arranged for Wen Nuan to take a leave of absence, saying she could return to the Kitchen Unit when it was more convenient for her.

But coincidentally, Gu Qinghan had recently been promoted, and some people said that the vacant position in the general’s office might need to be filled.

Colleagues from the Kitchen Unit speculated that Wen Nuan’s family might soon be leaving the family compound.

Now, seeing General Lu’s car arrive to pick them up, Sister Juxiang couldn’t help but think that this possibility might not be so far-fetched.

Wen Nuan smiled when she heard Sister Juxiang’s words, and replied, “Lele is just thinking about watching TV.”

During the New Year, General Lu had come over and taken her to General Xu’s house twice. At General Xu’s place, she had watched TV.

Seeing how engrossed she was in the television, General Lu had teased her, saying that Beijing had access to more TV channels, tempting her to go to Beijing.

So during this period, Lele had been eagerly waiting to go to Beijing as soon as possible.

Although Lele had been to Beijing for the New Year two years ago, he had mostly forgotten about it, except for remembering the television.

Sister Guihua had just stuffed the seafood she had prepared into the trunk of the car and said, “Isn’t this normal? I also like watching television, much more convenient than the radio.”

“By the way, Xiao Nuan, isn’t Qinglan and Daxiang going to Beijing with you? Where are they?”

The news of Gu Qinglan and Li Daxiang’s upcoming wedding had already been shared with the two sisters-in-law a long time ago. They had already made plans to sew a quilt, pillow, and bed cover for Qinglan.

However, in the town in the North, there weren’t that many things to choose from. Wen Nuan had suggested they let the young couple go to Beijing to take a look.

Upon hearing this, Wen Nuan replied, “They haven’t had their holiday yet. They plan to go with Doctor Li on New Year’s Eve.”

Since Li Yunhua was planning to bring Doctor Zhao’s disciple back to Beijing for the New Year, she knew that Gu Qinglan and Li Daxiang were also planning to go to buy things for their wedding, so they had agreed to leave together on New Year’s Eve.

Now, Gu Qinglan was considered Doctor Zhao and Li Yunhua’s closed-door disciple. Now that she was getting married, the elders decided to prepare a gift for her.

Doctor Zhao had always been unaware that Gu Qinglan was already in a relationship, and when the girl suddenly mentioned that she was getting married, he was somewhat upset.

He even told Wen Nuan that he wanted to investigate Li Daxiang and see if he was suitable.

Wen Nuan pretended not to know and arranged for Gu Qinglan and Li Daxiang to go to Beijing with Li Yunhua’s car.

Sister Juxiang glanced at the time and said, “It’s almost eight o’clock. By the time you get to Beijing, it will already be dark. Hurry up and get in the car, we’ll talk when you return.”

Sister Guihua also urged, “Go on, go on. Otherwise, it will get too late, and your Grandpa will worry.”

If the road conditions were good, it would probably take about eight hours to reach Beijing. But if the winter roads weren’t good, it could take ten or more hours.

Traveling with a family like this was indeed troublesome.

Wen Nuan glanced inside the house and just in time saw Gu Qinghan carrying a large bag of diapers and baby formula.

She then said to the two sisters-in-law, “It’s cold, you should go back inside. You don’t need to send us off.”

Wen Nuan had only learned last week that Sister Guihua was pregnant again, though she wasn’t even three months along yet.

Although it was her second child, Zhou Jianshe and Aunt Liang were still very nervous. They didn’t let her go out much, worried she might fall.

Now it happened to be the season for cats to hibernate, and everyone didn’t wake up that early. Otherwise, if they were coming to deliver something to her, Sister Guihua wouldn’t have left so early.

Sister Guihua smiled and replied, “No rush. We’ll head back to the house once you get in the car. It’s rare that Juxiang has the day off today, so later we’ll prepare some New Year’s snacks.”

Sister Juxiang smiled and said, “Yes, yes, you guys hurry up and organize everything, don’t waste time.”

Gu Qinghan knew that the two sisters-in-law had brought things over early in the morning, so she said to them, “Sisters, we’ve packed everything and can leave anytime. Thank you both for coming to help.”

Gu Qinghan stuffed the things into the back seat; these were items that needed to be within easy reach since they would be used at any moment.

Because they had to bring the family’s things, especially bags and things for Zhou Zhou, it didn’t look like much at first, but once they started packing, it seemed like everything was needed, so the trunk ended up packed full.

She didn’t even realize that the two sisters-in-law had brought so many ingredients. Now, the trunk was almost full to the point of not being able to fit anything else.

Deng Juxiang and Zhang Guihua watched as Wen Nuan and the others got into the car, and only when the car had driven off did they sigh.

After returning to Zhang Guihua’s house, Deng Juxiang sighed and said, “I have this feeling that Xiao Nuan is going to leave the family compound soon. It’s hard to let go.”

Wen Nuan was simply so good, and after these years of getting along, they really felt like real sisters.

If Wen Nuan really left the North, they wouldn’t want her to go.

They didn’t know if they’d ever meet such a good partner again.

Sister Guihua poured a cup of tea for Deng Juxiang and then slowly replied, “When Colonel Gu was the chief of the test flight team, I knew they would leave here sooner or later. After Xiao Nuan met General Lu, I was even more sure that she’d go to Beijing.”

Zhang Guihua had been Wen Nuan’s neighbor for so long and felt even more reluctant to part with her than Deng Juxiang.

It felt like they were family now. Whenever there was food or drink, they would share it with each other. If anyone needed help, a loud call would bring assistance.

Not to mention, when she gave birth to Zhuzi, it was Wen Nuan and Gu Qinghan who lent a helping hand in time, which deepened her affection for their family.

In the family compound, there were so many military families, but the only ones Zhang Guihua felt she could trust unconditionally were Wen Nuan and her family.

And Lele, that little one, she had almost watched him grow up.

Zhang Guihua still remembered the days when she took care of her. If it hadn’t been for the little one keeping her company, she wouldn’t have been able to endure the period when her mother-in-law came to the family compound.

People were nearly going crazy.

After hearing Zhang Guihua’s words, Deng Juxiang patted her on the back and said, “It’s okay, I believe Xiao Nuan. Even if she goes to Beijing, she’ll still treat us as friends.”

Wen Nuan had never looked down on them because of her changing status.

Zhang Guihua nodded and sighed, “It’s just so hard to let go. The thought that we won’t see Lele and Xiao Nuan anymore makes me feel down.”

“Don’t think too much about it. You’re pregnant now,” Deng Juxiang sat down and added, “I don’t think it’ll happen so soon. After all, Colonel Gu has just been promoted. If they were really going to Beijing, they probably would’ve gone right after the promotion.”

Aunt Liang happened to come out of the room and had overheard their conversation. She smiled and said, “This is a good thing. People should always aim for higher places. If there’s really this opportunity, they should seize it. After all, it’s Beijing, who doesn’t want to go there?”

“Besides, Xiao Nuan is capable on her own. If she ran that Kitchen Unit processing plant by herself, she’d make a fortune.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guihua couldn’t help but frown. “Mom, don’t say such things. If someone hears it, it’ll cause a big misunderstanding.”

Because Wen Nuan had asked her father for dried seafood, now there was a lot of income in the village, much more than before.

Every time Aunt Liang saw the commune savings book in her father’s hand, her eyes would widen.

She had never seen so much money in her life.

When Aunt Liang heard this, she didn’t dare to say anything more and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

After Aunt Liang left, Deng Juxiang smiled and said, “Your mom’s right. People should aim higher. If Xiao Nuan really goes to Beijing, we should be happy for her.”

Zhang Guihua nodded. “Yes, it’s a good thing.”

The journey to Beijing was too far. After a while, the children got into the car and, after some noise, fell asleep.

When the children woke up, Gu Qinghan stopped the car in a small town, allowing the kids and Aunt Chen to rest and eat something.

Wen Nuan, having been in the car for three to four hours, couldn’t handle it anymore. She couldn’t imagine that when Gu Qinghan was traveling back to the North with Bao Bao and Zjuo Zhuo, he didn’t stop even once. He had driven straight through.

He really was like iron!