As they drove towards Wumayi to get fruit, young Nie Weimin was not in a good mood.

Chen Lina, driving the car, teased, “What’s wrong? Our little man seems a bit unhappy today.”

“Uncle will come again,” Nie Weimin said.

He made a gun gesture with his hand and said, “He’ll kill our little sister(rabbit’s name).”

“He likes hunting rabbits?”

“Not like Dad. Dad only hunts wild rabbits in the desert. He’ll kill little sister.”

Although he had grown up seeing Sun Dabao kill rabbits, his little sister rabbit was different.

The three brothers had grown attached to her.

The little guy’s big eyes looked innocent, biting his lip with a deep sense of grievance.

It was clear that Sun Dabao, with his cruel nature, was a source of fear in Nie Weimin’s heart.

“Rabbits can be eaten, but since we raised her, she’s part of our family. I’ll protect my little sister,” Chen Lina said with certainty.

“Really?” The little guy, fastening his seatbelt, sat in the back.

With the rearview mirror set low, Chen Lina could see his face, which seemed a little smug as he smiled.

“Really.”

“My uncle’s the head of the security patrol. We can’t beat him,” the little guy said, getting sentimental and paranoid.

He started muttering again.

Chen Lina thought to herself, You’re going to be a big boss someday. Show some courage now, why are you so scared?

She said, “Then we’ll find a way to remove him as head of the security patrol.”

“Can you really do that?”

Nie Weimin was increasingly surprised.

The child couldn’t contain his excitement and, quietly, tried to undo his seatbelt.

He liked to act like a dog with its ears up, lying in the backseat, watching Chen Lina drive.

“Ning Weimin, you promised to wear your seatbelt for the whole ride. If you try to take it off, I’ll kick you out of the car.”

“There are wolves in the desert. You wouldn’t dare. You’re just trying to scare me,” Nie Weimin said, his voice full of doubt.

“I’m scaring you for your safety. I wouldn’t kick you out, but I’ll turn around and leave you at the base. You can go to Wumayi by yourself,” Chen Lina said.

The store in Wumayi had candy, and whenever they went, she’d always buy a few pieces for him.

The child thought for a moment, then went silent.

Well, candy was more important.

With a click, he put the seatbelt back on.

At the Wumayi supply and marketing cooperative, Chen Lina ran into Qin Sheng, the head of the security patrol, who was also there with his family to pick up welfare items.

He was still standing on the roadside waiting for a ride when Chen Lina finished and came out.

From Wumayi to the base, there weren’t big buses.

The only transportation was the large trucks that left in the morning to carry goods, and everyone rode them back to the base.

Alternatively, there were the small, three-wheeled vehicles, also known as “bouncing cars,” that the Kazakhs drove.

No matter how skilled the drivers were, the roads were wild, and they loved driving over big rocks.

The bumps would result in eggs breaking and cans cracking, leaving everyone with a pile of mess when they arrived at the base.

At that moment, Qin Sheng’s family was scolding him. “I told you to come earlier. Look at this basket of eggs! When we take the ‘bouncing car’ home, I’ll have to fry them with the shells still on.”

“Blame the troublemakers from Mulan Farm; they delayed us. Alright, I’ll carry the eggs,” Qin Sheng said.

“There are cans too. The glass is about to break from the cold,” she added.

The most popular fruit cans these days were orange-flavored ones.

Each family could get two jars, but the syrup was so sweet.

Since the cans were glass, they either froze or broke—getting them home in one piece was a challenge.

As they were arguing, a red Flag car drove up.

The window rolled down, and Chen Lina called out, “Qin Team Leader, hop in! I’ll give you a ride back, alright?”

Of course, they were grateful.

They loaded two boxes of big oranges and a box of longans into the trunk.

Then, in the back seat, they placed a can of cooking oil, with Qin Sheng holding Nie Weimin, and Nie Weimin hugging a bundle of eggs.

Qin Sheng’s wife, Lu Fangfang, sat in the front.

It was her first time in a car, and she was so dizzy that she kept vomiting along the way.

“Qin Team Leader, my husband, Old Nie, works in research. He’s either in the lab or down the oil wells, so he doesn’t know much about the base’s security. But you’re an expert in this field. I’d like to ask you, do we have any regulations on the illegal sale of goods?” Chen Lina asked, using the words “expert” and “ask for advice.”

Qin Sheng had been demobilized from the army and had never been referred to as an expert.

He immediately sat up straight.

“In principle, of course, speculation and profiteering are prohibited, but our base has been a bit lax recently. Some of your family members may have things they can’t do without, and if they really need them, we’ll just have to turn a blind eye,” he said.

“But we border Su Guo (the Soviet Union), and I’ve heard that if anyone is caught trafficking goods, they could be shot. Is that true?” Chen Lina asked.

Qin Sheng replied, “There are always those who don’t value their lives, and the army handles these matters secretly. I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t seen it firsthand.”

“This kind of thing always escalates. At the beginning, people just do small things like selling essential items such as oil, salt, or vegetables. But as time goes on, if some negative ideas start to spread, what if the higher-ups suddenly come to inspect the base? What will we do then?”

Qin Sheng hesitated, “In that case, it would definitely be dealt with severely. At the very least, I wouldn’t escape unscathed.”

“Also, look at now—so many agencies have suspended work, so many people have gone to the countryside to work on the farms, living in cow sheds. Many of them are cadres who’ve been sent down. If our base is implicated, do you think we’ll be forced to suspend work too, and all the cadres will be sent down?”

Qin Sheng glanced at his family and said, “You’ve bought things from Liu Gong’s family, right? Don’t go selling things there anymore.”

His family continuously complained, “Car sick, nauseous, it’s so disgusting.”

Chen Lina found a space, and the family member got out of the car and immediately began vomiting.

Many people don’t get car sick in big trucks or bouncing vehicles, but they do get sick in small cars like this one.

Back in the car, Qin Sheng’s family member kept shouting, “Wow, life is different. Look at how smoothly Xiao Chen drives. I just sat here for a while, and the world was spinning. Isn’t this proof that people’s lives are different?”

“My mom can also… what’s it called? Drift!” Nie Weimin quickly chimed in.

Chen Lina, boasting in front of the children, didn’t dare overdo it in front of others.

She quickly said, “In my hometown, I was the tractor driver for our village.”

Qin Sheng and the others didn’t press the issue.

After all, university students of that era, like Nie Bozhao and Sun Zhuanman, carried a certain aura.

In their eyes, these university students were so skilled, they might even be able to fly planes and operate tanks.

“It’s not about selling or not selling, it’s about the continuous flow of goods being brought into the base. That conveyor belt is always on, it’s like a ticking time bomb right next to the base,” Chen Lina continued. “I think, Captain Qin, you need to take care of this matter and handle it properly.”

When they arrived at the base, the family members pushed open the car door, but before they could take their things, they tried to run away.

Qin Sheng grabbed one of them, “What, Lü Fangfang, do you think my life is longer than yours, or are you trying to warn Sun Xiao’ai? Get back to your house!”

Lü Fangfang glanced at Chen Lina, sighed, and started walking away with her things.

Chen Lina spoke again, “If their work gets suspended, we’ll all be sent to the farm to dig alkali ditches.”

Lu Fangfang quickly responded, “I didn’t mean that. I was just car sick and couldn’t find the door!”

She probably had a good relationship with Sun Xiao’ai, but at times like this, even relatives could turn each other in, let alone friends.

Of course, Chen Lina could privately talk to Qin Sheng about Sun Xiao’ai, but what she feared most was that Qin Sheng wouldn’t realize the severity of the issue.

If the news leaked from the family, it could be disastrous—perhaps even alerting the wrong people too early.

After all, the most unfamiliar relationship in the world is between a man and a woman, but the closest relationship is also between a husband and wife.

So, while she was discussing matters with Qin Sheng, she also needed to make sure Lu Fangfang understood the stakes clearly, right in front of her.

If those black market traders really got into the base, who knew when the base might have to shut down.

If it did, Lu Fangfang wouldn’t escape either—she’d end up on the farm digging alkali ditches too.

Once Lu Fangfang left, Qin Sheng said, “After all, we’re all family members of the base. We can quietly take care of things at Sun Xiao’ai’s place, and for Nie Gong’s place, Xiao Chen can keep it under wraps too. After all, we’re all from the same base, and this isn’t exactly something we want to advertise.”

Chen Lina said, “I didn’t ask you to go after Sun Xiao’ai. Catch the big fish first. To cure the disease, you have to remove the root. The one you should be going after is the person who keeps sneaking goods into the base. Come by my house tonight, and I’ll tell you who it is.”

When they got home, Nie Bozhao was still working on his thesis, and Er Dan had nearly drawn the word tear down on the wall.

The firewood for the stove was scattered all over the floor, and the rabbit cage was open, with one rabbit almost killed by Er Dan’s rough handling.

Walking in, one might have thought Nie Bozhao could take care of the children.

But when they entered the master bedroom, the blankets were all in a pile, and San Dan wasn’t on the bed.

After searching around, they found him in the backyard, where Liu Xiaohong was cleaning his little bottom because he had been having diarrhea.

Chen Lina took the child from Liu Xiaohong, washed him, and applied medicine.

Then, she started moving things from the car.

The cans had frozen solid, but the good news was that the glass jars hadn’t broken.

Canned fruit lasts longer than fresh fruit, so Chen Lina stored it all in the warehouse, reserving it for later after they finished the fresh fruit.

The two sheep were the next task.

As usual, she had to remove the sheep’s entrails first and then chop the remaining meat into pieces to be taken outside.

Two large bowls of sheep crab needed to be cooked with oil first, then placed in a large basin.

You could stew as much as you wanted, and add some vermicelli.

The whole family loved it.

During the New Year, they were also given a bag of fine white flour.

It could be used to make dumplings or rolled into long noodles.

The children hadn’t had the chance to eat Chen Lina’s hand-rolled thin noodles yet.

She made them into fried noodles, thin and slippery, and they were delicious.

Just thinking about it made Chen Lina salivate.

When Liu Xiaohong saw Nie Weimin, she quietly tried to run away.

Chen Lina always felt sorry for the girl, so she asked, “Where are your little shoes? I saw you were wearing a pair a few days ago?”

“I sold them. My mom sold them to someone else,” the girl whispered.

Chen Lina, being a soft-hearted person, didn’t want to abandon the girl, even though she couldn’t help but think of that photo of her in the newspaper, probably taken when she was about seventeen or eighteen.

She was truly beautiful—more beautiful than the stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan, even without makeup.

However, dealing drugs was a crime that couldn’t be forgiven.

She grabbed two handfuls of cooked millet from the kitchen and whispered, “Eat these and go home after, but remember to empty the bag.”

Generally speaking, stepmothers don’t like others giving things to their children.