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Wen Jiajia went outside with her bag. At the outer door of the workshop, she saw a girl in work clothes with two thick braids hanging down her chest.
For a moment, she wondered why people from this era all seemed to have such thick hair. If she had seen these braids in her previous life, she would have been envious.
Liu Sihua stepped forward, smiled, and said, “Comrade Wen, I’m Liu Sihua, and Liu Hong is my aunt.”
Wen Jiajia responded with some familiarity: “Hello, Comrade Liu. What can I do for you?”
Noting that Wen Jiajia was carrying a backpack, Liu Sihua got straight to the point: “Comrade Wen, could you help me deliver this bag to my aunt?”
As she spoke, she handed Wen Jiajia a cloth bag.
Wen Jiajia took it. “No problem.”
Although it was a small favor, she was happy to help.
Liu Sihua thanked her repeatedly and left immediately.
It was still daylight, and the sun had not yet set.
Wen Jiajia went to the carport to get her bike. As she left the pharmaceutical factory, she saw elementary school students from a nearby school getting out. Seeing these children, full of energy and happiness, made her feel much better.
She arrived at the family building area a few minutes earlier than usual. Instead of going directly home, she went upstairs to Sister Hong’s house.
A quarrel was ongoing in Sister Hong’s family, which was typical with so many children around.
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, as inseparable as they were, quarreled on average once a week.
She knocked on the door and called out, “Sister Hong.”
A child’s tender voice came from inside: “Who is it? Mommy isn’t home.”
“Not home?”
The neighbor next door added, “Sister Hong went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables. She left only a short while ago. Jiajia, do you need to talk to her about something?”
Wen Jiajia held up the cloth bag and said, “Sister Hong’s niece asked me to bring her something.”
“Gao Fei, come out and help Aunt Wen with something. Why are you closing the door in broad daylight?” The neighbor shouted towards Sister Hong’s house.
The door opened, and a girl who looked about Wen Chun’s age came out.
Wen Jiajia recognized her as Gao Fei, Sister Hong’s daughter.
“Aunt Wen?” Gao Fei looked timid.
Wen Jiajia smiled at her and said, “Do you remember me? This is something your cousin asked me to give to your mother. Take it inside, but don’t touch it. Give it to your mother when she comes back.”
There seemed to be some medicine in the cloth bag.
Gao Fei took the bag and nodded.
Wen Jiajia said goodbye and left. When she returned home, Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were already there, which showed that yesterday’s beating had been effective.
“I didn’t get my clothes dirty today,” Wen Xuan said excitedly when she saw Wen Jiajia.
Wen Jiajia teased them, “Really? I’ll check after you take a shower.”
Wen Xuan quickly added, “Mud spots don’t count.”
Wen Jiajia understood immediately and looked down at her own trouser legs, noting some mud spots.
It was from another puddle.
Wei Dai came home late today, almost at seven o’clock. Wen Jiajia didn’t wait any longer and called the children to eat.
As expected, the braised pork with preserved vegetables was their favorite dish.
After being re-steamed, the pork with preserved vegetables had a rich aroma, with the black preserved vegetables soaked in oil and water.
Wen Jiajia liked to mix the rice with the preserved vegetables, then mash the meat and eat them together.
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan also learned to eat this way. They ate until their mouths were full of oil and felt satisfied for the first time in a long while.
“Go for a walk,” Wen Jiajia said. “Walk for half an hour and then come back to take a shower.”
There was still a third of the preserved vegetable and pork stew left. She planned to keep it warm in the pot after boiling the bath water.
Wei Dai hadn’t left a note today, so he would probably come home for dinner.
Wen Jiajia guessed right.
Wei Dai came back at 9:30 in the evening, just as the power went out. Fortunately, Wen Jiajia was still awake.
If she had been woken up just as she was about to fall asleep, her head would have throbbed.
Wei Dai arrived covered in mud again. Wen Jiajia took a towel to wipe his face, removed the warm food from the pot, and placed it on the table. She lit the kerosene lamp and carefully checked Wei Dai. She was relieved to see he had no visible injuries.
In such training environments, injuries are common. Wen Jiajia had once seen Xie Yang from next door with a large cut on his head, requiring him to wear gauze for several days.
Wei Dai saw the pork with preserved vegetables and said, “Wow, is this from your factory cafeteria or a restaurant outside the factory?”
Wen Jiajia, sitting next to him and stifling a yawn, replied, “It’s from the cafeteria. The food there has been really good recently.”
Wei Dai said, “The troops have been doing well these past two days. The soup has big beef bones in it.”
Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “So the inspectors have finally arrived?”
Wei Dai nodded.
The couple laughed.
In the military, when someone from above comes for an inspection, the food is always extra good.
Wei Dai had been leaving early and coming back late these past two days. The roads in the army had been smoothed out, so Wen Jiajia knew that the long-awaited inspection had finally happened.
She was quite pleased because the roads were now much easier to ride on with her bike, and even the trees had been pruned.
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan mentioned that their school had even replaced the doors and windows.
“When will the inspection be over?” Wen Jiajia asked.
Wei Dai quickly finished his meal and said, “I don’t know, maybe until the end of the month.”
“No way, will the inspection last until the end of the month?”
Wei Dai laughed, “Of course not. The inspector left today; he has other things to attend to.”
Wen Jiajia nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.
Winter arrived quickly, and people were already wearing thick clothes outside.
Taking advantage of the good weather, Wen Jiajia decided to dry her winter cotton-padded jacket in the sun. She set up three bamboo poles in the yard and hung colorful clothes on them.
“Hey, Jiajia, your clothes look so bright,” a passerby commented.
Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “We have two little girls at home who love colorful clothes.”
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan had stayed home from the Yuhong class because of the recent season change and some children in their class were coughing.
While a single cough isn’t a big deal, several children started coughing in the days following, causing the teacher to cancel classes until everyone recovered.
The sudden holiday excited the two girls, who ran in and out of the house happily.
At the moment, they were playing hide-and-seek around the bamboo poles, making Wen Jiajia want to scold them: “You can play, but if you knock down the bamboo poles and have nothing to wear, don’t come looking for me.”
Wen Chun bent over, rushed out, hugged her thighs, and giggled, “No way, we’re being careful!”
Wen Jiajia pinched her cheek, then went back to the room to take out the thick quilt to dry in the sun.
After sun-drying, she lay down on a bamboo chair in the yard.
The bamboo chair creaked gently, and the warm sun made her feel comfortable.
She asked Wen Chun to bring her a cup of osmanthus honey water, which she sipped while enjoying the warmth. It was moments like these that made life feel perfect.
When Wei Dai came home, he saw this scene and asked with a smile, “Didn’t you say this morning that you were going to the city?”
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan’s eyes lit up, and they ran to Wen Jiajia, looking at her pitifully.
Wen Jiajia pushed the two girls away and said, “Don’t block my sunlight.”
She placed the enamel cup on a nearby table, sat up, and said, “We’ll go together when you return.”
She intended to buy a radio and was going alone. She worried that if she came back halfway, the radio might be stolen.
“Don’t you have time today?” she asked.
Wei Dai removed his clothes and said, “Yes.”
Only then did Wen Jiajia notice that he was wearing a brand-new military coat.
“The team is distributing new clothes again?” Wen Jiajia asked in surprise.
Wei Dai replied, “Yes.”
Wen Jiajia examined the coat closely and said, “It’s much longer than the old one.”
Wei Dai smiled and said, “The old coat was issued to me when I first joined the army.”
Wen Jiajia remarked, “It’s clear that you’ve grown a lot taller.”
Wei Dai had only reached 1.8 meters after joining the army and had stopped growing once he turned 20.
Cotton coats are not easy to wash, as their warmth retention significantly decreases after washing. Fortunately, at this time, cotton coats were made of real materials, so you just needed to put them in the sun to dry.
After lunch, the two went to the city.
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were very clingy. Wen Jiajia had initially not wanted to take them with her, but they were so troublesome that she had no choice but to bring them along.
“Don’t complain about the discomfort,” Wen Jiajia said.
Even so, she still put a straw mat on the back seat.
Wei Dai smiled when he saw this. On the day he and Wen Jiajia met for the second time, Wen Jiajia also sat in the back seat like this.
“What are you laughing at?”
Wen Jiajia was focused on how crowded it was and was eager to leave these two annoying kids at home.
Wei Dai coughed and said, “It’s fine.”
“Come on, Wen Xuan, come to the front.” Wei Dai said, lifting Wen Xuan into the basket.
Wen Jiajia stared, dumbfounded. “Is this okay?”
Wei Dai started the bike and drove out: “It’s fine. I welded the basket; it’s very sturdy.”
Wen Jiajia hugged Wei Dai’s waist, with Wen Chun in between.
The leaves on both sides of the road had turned yellow, and a gust of wind sent many leaves falling.
Another winter had arrived.
***
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