“Xiao Chen, the ribbonfish is here, hurry up, go grab some!” Sister Wang shouted from next door, and Chen Lina immediately came out of the house. “Really? There’s ribbonfish?”

In this area, they had eaten enough beef and lamb.

When they heard there was other meat available, all the families’ eyes lit up, but there were only a few ribbonfish.

“It’s right at the entrance of the base. They say it’s an extra benefit from the mining area. Hurry up and bring your fish tickets out. It’s strange, though—there were no fish last year. Let’s go, we should hurry up and grab them,” said Sister Wang.

“Ha mama, ha mama, we’re going to grab fish!” Chen Lina said, quickly rummaging through the sewing machine for all kinds of tickets.

Her family had five members, but only three fish tickets, San Dan was an unplanned child, so he didn’t have a ticket.

She picked up San Dan, grabbed a small bucket, and called for Er Dan.

Then she headed out.

“Comrade Nie Weiwin, hurry up, why are you lagging behind?”

“The fish isn’t that tasty.” Nie Weimin, moving slowly, was adjusting his cotton jacket and pants.

“Didn’t you say the milk wasn’t tasty either? Let me ask you, is the one I made good?”

“That was cheese, yogurt, not milk. I’ve eaten fish before. Pfft, it’s awful.”

All the families from the base were out, some carrying buckets, some holding bowls, all running quickly.

The children ran the fastest, one faster than the other.

Only Nie Weimin seemed truly laid-back, walking slowly at the back.

“Can you at least leave the house first? I need to lock the door,” said Chen Lina.

“Ah, even if we can’t grab any, what’s the big deal? Just walk slowly. Comrade Chen, won’t you fall?” Nie Wei Min lazily said as he noticed some fallen dry branches in the yard.

He slowly placed them in the firewood pile.

Outside, Aunt Ha actually got knocked down by someone, and Chen Lina hurried to help her up.

The old lady had indeed fallen.

She patted her bottom and continued running forward.

On the icy and snowy path, everyone slipped and fell, laughing all the way.

They helped this child up and then knocked another one down.

By the time the Nie family of four reached the big truck, there weren’t many people left to collect the fish.

“One ticket, one fish, but you can’t choose. Hey, big sister, we said you can’t pick—this is a distribution, you can’t pick the big ones,” the person from the supply and marketing cooperative said.

Sister Wang let go of her hand and waited for the staff to hand over the fish.

The ribbonfish, of course, varied in size, and the staff wouldn’t play favorites, giving out two large and one small fish.

On the way back, the kid named Goudan was still crying because he had scraped his knee in his green military uniform.

Aunt Ha got her fish but had hurt her back, so Chen Lina helped her back home.

Nie Weimin continued to walk slowly, “See? Being early doesn’t always help. We still got the fish, even though it’s just stinky fish and shrimp.”

Back at home, he remained slow, as though he was uninterested in anything.

“Weimin, pass me the reel of thread,” Chen Lina called out a couple of times, but Nie Weimin didn’t respond.

Instead, San Dan happily brought the reel of thread to her.

Outside the window, Nie Weimin was playing with Er Dan and Goudan.

Because Goudan wore a military uniform, he naturally took on the role of a soldier, while Nie Weimin and Er Dan, due to their clothes, became little japanese soldiers.

They used firewood as bayonets, and Goudan was quite proud, leading Nie Weimin and Er Dan around the yard.

Whatever the adults did, the kids imitated. Before long, Goudan became even prouder: “Little Japanese, kneel down!”

Er Dan didn’t mind getting dirty and actually kneeled down.

Chen Lina was suddenly furious.

If she wasn’t afraid of scaring the children, she would have rushed out to support her sons right away.

“Enough of this! Goudan, we’re just playing, you can’t really treat us as Japanese soldiers,” Nie Weimin said.

“You don’t want to play? Then I’ll leave!” Goudan pretended to walk away.

Alright, kids are always better off playing together, and besides, Goudan’s military uniform was what everyone liked.

Er Dan quickly said, “Don’t go, Goudan, don’t leave!”

Nie Weimin said, “Let him go, I don’t want to be a Japanese soldier anymore.”

The little guy, wearing his stylish little cotton jacket, was walking back and forth angrily in the yard.

Well, it’s clear that he didn’t always want to be a bad guy, and deep down, he still had a sense of justice. “The child is teachable,”

Chen Lina thought to herself. “Not bad, not bad, this kid can still go down the right path.”

“Er Dan, come inside and try on your clothes,” she said as she cut the thread with one quick bite.

Er Dan darted into the room. “Mom, you really made me clothes?”

Nie Weimin was still slow and lazy, basking in the sun.

After all, he didn’t care much about the new white clothes.

All he wanted was to have a green military uniform one day, and that would be enough.

Who would’ve guessed that when Er Dan jumped out of the house, Nie Weimin’s eyes immediately lit up, and his mouth nearly watered. “Er Dan, is this…?”

“My mom said this is a navy uniform. The navy is like the People’s Liberation Army. It’s also part of the Republic’s military. From today on, I’m part of the People’s Liberation Army too,” Er Dan said, then saluted with perfect form.

On the wall in their house hung a calendar with a picture of the three branches of the military saluting together.

Nie Weimin scratched his head.

He didn’t dare to ask about the clothes as he entered.

First, he grabbed the little coal bucket and tongs, picking up a small bucket of coal and putting it in the corner.

Then, he added coal to the stove and washed his hands.

Afterward, he smiled and stood behind Chen Lina.

“Comrade Little Nie, weren’t you always doing passive resistance?”

“No, I’ve always been proactive. Look, today Er Dan didn’t even go out to collect firewood to play; I made him stay inside,” Nie Weimin said.

“Yes, you even helped me pick up coal. Clearly, you know the stove needs coal every hour. So, why didn’t you add it earlier? Why wait until I made Er Dan’s clothes before you added coal?”

Nie Weimin tilted his head, blinking his large eyes and pursing his lips without saying a word.

“Alright, one set for each of you. Put yours on too, but remember, it’s white, so don’t get it dirty,” Chen Lina said.

The blue-and-white striped large collar had been taken from an old shirt of Nie Bozhao’s, one whose collar had already worn out.

She had sewn it onto the white cloth.

It didn’t fade and was very vibrant in color.

The white clothes should’ve had a belt to complete the look, making it more like a real navy uniform.

But since Chen Lina couldn’t find any suitable fabric for the belt, she just added some pleats at the waist as a makeshift belt.

“Red flags flutter in the wind, our songs are so loud, the People’s Navy marches forward, defending our country’s oceans…”

Chen Lina hummed as she walked out of the bedroom.

Soon after, she saw Nie Weimin dash out like a little cannonball. “Now we’re all part of the People’s Liberation Army, let’s go find Liu Xiaogang and pretend he’s the enemy, okay?”

Alright, Chen Lina sighed helplessly. These kids, when will they stop their pointless struggles?

The 30 yuan for the child’s upkeep had been spent after Huang Huacai had a serious illness.

Things like dried fish, white sugar, and eggs were things the farm workers obviously couldn’t get.

Her only source of goods was through the base, from Nie Bozhao, but even that was gone now after her own illness.

It’s important to note that Huang Huacai wasn’t the only one in their family.

The people from the old Sun family, the Huang family, and others were all working at the farm.

While her squad leader was gone, she was still the uncontested leader of Sunjia Zhai.

After lying in bed for half a month, her four married daughters took turns taking care of her.

People from all over Zhang County came to visit, bringing milk and eggs, of course.

Though the old lady was sixty, her hearing and eyesight were still sharp, and she could still operate a tractor, determined to keep working for the country for another ten thousand years.

Looking at the local specialties brought by the villagers, Sun Duoyu sat by the stove, flipping through the account books.

She noted who had given two eggs, who had brought half a pound of milk.

When a daughter drew an egg, it meant someone had given her an egg.

If they gave two, she drew two eggs. If they gave her a rabbit, it meant they brought a big wild rabbit.

This was a great favor.

“What is prestige? When you’re sick and your door is filled with visitors, that’s prestige. What is warmth and care? Even though they were about to celebrate the New Year and didn’t have a single piece of meat for a festive meal, they still brought me a wild rabbit. That’s warmth and care.”

Sun Duoyu was a silly girl. If her mother said so, she would nod in agreement.

But those eggs?

She wouldn’t get any of them.

When the New Year came, her sisters would bring theirs as well, but they’d all end up in Sun Dabo’s stomach.

Outside the sand hut, there were white steamed buns scattered all over the roof beams.

The people from Sunjia Zhai were the “lords” of the Mulan farm.

Other villages couldn’t even afford to fill their bellies with cornmeal, but they had enough white flour for steamed buns.

Anything leftover was thrown on the roof to feed the birds.

The third son-in-law, Liu Jiefang, hurried over.

He quickly descended from the sand hut, and as soon as he entered, he heard the old lady’s loud cry, which startled the sparrows that were eating the buns on the roof and sent them flying off in all directions.

“What? What do you mean Dabo was arrested by the security office?” The old lady cried out, immediately jumping up from the stove.

“Well, it’s because our Dabo was dabbling in some small-scale smuggling. It’s something lots of people in the city do. My second brother-in-law does it too. The oil base workers earn a lot of money, and when our Xiao Ai went there, she made quite a bit. But last night, when he went to deliver goods to the base, they arrested him.”