Chapter 59.3

It had been two days since Feng Mei left. Suddenly, she missed Sister Feng’s noisy presence. Her departure had left an unsettling quietness.

Jiang Nian heated water in the kitchen, planning to make a simple lunch, when suddenly she heard lively voices coming from the neighboring courtyard. The loudest voice seemed to be Chen Fang’s, and she leaned against the window to listen carefully. In addition to Chen Fang’s voice, there were several unfamiliar voices coming from Mrs. Feng’s courtyard.

“Jiang Nian—”

Xu Yan’s voice came from the courtyard gate.

Jiang Nian ran over to open the gate, glancing at the neighboring house where Tang Ze was shuttling back and forth with bags. Chen Fang and three military wives were carrying snake-skin bags, standing at the doorway chatting. Chen Fang called out, “Hurry up, we’re waiting for your keys to open the door.”

“Coming.”

Tang Ze set down his things and took out the keys to open the door.

Seeing Xu Yan and Jiang Nian next door, Chen Fang smiled and greeted, “Xiao Nian, from now on, you and Tang Ze  are neighbors. Feel free to visit us more often.”

Jiang Nian: …

Annoying.

She had actually become neighbors with Sun Ying…

But not wanting to offend anyone, Jiang Nian exchanged pleasantries with Chen Fang for a few moments. The military wives next to her asked Chen Fang, “Is this Jiang Nian that you mentioned, who’s really skilled at embroidery?”

Chen Fang replied, “Yes, it’s her.” Then she said to Jiang Nian, “Xiao Nian, this is my elder sister who just came from the original military district to visit. She saw the mandarin ducks you embroidered at my place and really liked them.”

The other woman smiled and said, “Comrade Jiang, I’m Chen Ping, older than you. Just call me Sister Ping.”

Jiang Nian thought these two were indeed sisters, both very sociable.

So she smiled and said, “Sister Ping.”

“Sister-in-law, bring the quilt inside,” Tang Ze shouted from inside the house.

“Coming.”

The three of them entered the courtyard. Chen Ping asked quietly, “Fangzi, whose wife is Jiang Nian?”

Chen Fang sighed, “She’s not a young wife anymore, she’s the sister-in-law of the deputy commander of the Second Regiment. Jiang Nian has had a hard life. Her husband’s spine was crushed during a rescue operation, and later he passed away. She followed her younger brother-in-law to the army.”

Hearing this, Chen Ping said, “What a pity.”

Another military wife said, “What’s a pity? Her embroidery skills can earn her money. Even if she doesn’t marry, she can support herself. Let’s not worry about her.”

“Who are you talking about?”

Tang Ze came out carrying a table and asked.

Chen Fang put down the snake-skin bags and let Chen Ping spread the quilt, saying to Tang Ze, “We were talking about Jiang Nian.”

Tang Ze: …

He reminded them, “Sisters-in-law, let’s not discuss others’ affairs too much to avoid misunderstandings like last time.”

Chen Fang: …

“Got it.”

Next door, Xu Yan followed Jiang Nian into the house and said, “I just found out this morning that Captain Tang and the others are moving here. I heard from others that there’s no more courtyard available in the family quarters area. Since Commander Song and the others moved out, this courtyard became available and was assigned to Captain Tang.”

No wonder it’s so coincidental.

Jiang Nian felt a bit speechless.

“Jiang Nian,” Xu Yan whispered, “Captain Tang’s wife is pregnant, already three months along. She seems to have gained weight and is not as pretty as when she first came. I have run into her several times and she always has a cold face, as if someone owes her money.”

Jiang Nian had guessed she was pregnant the last time she saw Sun Ying.

She flicked the sparks in the brazier and didn’t follow Xu Yan’s words further, changing the subject, “It’s been snowing these days. Is Jianwu still going to school?”

Xu Yan reached out to warm herself by the fire, rubbing her hands. “I was thinking of letting him take a leave, but Jianwu doesn’t want to.”

She paused for a moment. “Liu Qiang is coming back.”

Jiang Nian’s movement with the sparks paused, looking up at Xu Yan. “When is he coming back?”

“The 10th. I got a call at the military guard office. The military guard asked me to pick him up, saying he’ll be home for a month before leaving.”

Xu Yan smiled, “Jiang Nian, I think things are good now.”

Jiang Nian had seen the changes in Xu Yan over the past half year, not just her, even Jianwu’s smile had become more frequent than before.

In the dim twilight, Jiang Nian heard Sun Ying’s voice from the neighboring courtyard, complaining to Tang Ze, who was coaxing her kindly.

Since Sun Ying moved in, Jiang Nian had never approached that wall again.

At the end of December, New Year’s Day arrived.

Lu Yu had been gone for several months, with only one phone call in between, and no news since then.

On New Year’s Day, Jiang Nian sat in the kitchen burning fire to make dumplings. Even if she was alone, she wanted to have a decent meal. But as she wrapped the dumplings, Jiang Nian’s eyes turned red, sniffing, trying not to let the tears fall.

She missed Lu Yu.

She missed him so much.

The tightly closed courtyard gate was knocked. Jiang Nian’s dumpling-making stopped abruptly. She turned her head and saw a military-green figure through the crack of the door, her breath catching. She put down the dumpling skin and ran out. As soon as her hand touched the latch, she heard Song Bai’s voice outside the door.

“Sister-in-law, open the door.”

Her excited heart suddenly cooled down. Jiang Nian blinked and, after calming herself, opened the courtyard door. Besides Song Bai, there were also Zhu Jun and Zhang Xiao outside.

“Sister Jiang!”

Zhang Xiao ran over and hugged Jiang Nian. Zhu Jun was startled and said, “Slow down.”

It snowed yesterday, and the ground is slippery now. Don’t fall. Seeing Zhu Jun so nervous, Jiang Nian suddenly thought of something. She released Zhang Xiao and looked at her belly, which was still flat. Zhang Xiao, feeling embarrassed, held Jiang Nian’s arm and said, “It’s only been two months, no signs of showing yet.”

Jiang Nian chuckled softly, “That was quick.”

“Sister Jiang.”

Zhang Xiao seemed a bit embarrassed.

As they talked, Song Bai watched from the side, noticing the tears in Jiang Nian’s eyes when she opened the gate just now.

Had she been crying at home?

“Why are you guys here?” Jiang Nian led them inside. Zhang Xiao said, “To spend New Year with you.”

Zhu Jun carried a bag of peach crisp and two pounds of brown sugar. Song Bai brought a small bag of chocolates, candies, a jar of honey, and milk. He looked at Jiang Nian’s slender figure and followed her and Zhang Xiao into the house. He placed the food in the cabinet and said, “Sister-in-law, we’re here to mooch a meal again.”

Jiang Nian laughed, “I was just about to make dumplings, but I don’t have enough dough and meat. I’ll go to the food station to get some meat. I’ll be back to knead more dough.”

“I’ll go with you,” Zhang Xiao said, about to get up, but Song Bai stopped her: “You guys sit down, I’ll go buy.”

After saying that, he went out.

Zhu Jun and Song Bai went out together, Jiang Nian went to the kitchen to knead dough, Zhang Xiao sat in front of the stove to light the fire.

Jiang Nian finished wrapping the remaining dumplings, kneaded another basin of dough. When Song Bai and the others came back, seeing Jiang Nian about to chop meat, Song Bai took the knife: “I’ll chop.”

The stove was burning in the kitchen, not at all cold. After Song Bai chopped the meat, Jiang Nian mixed the dumpling filling. She and Zhang Xiao wrapped dumplings in the kitchen, while Song Bai and Zhu Jun swept the snow in the courtyard, fetching several buckets of water into the jar. Since Lu Yu left, Song Bai would come every ten days to help Jiang Nian fetch water and sweep snow, but he never stayed home for meals.

Song Bai couldn’t help but want to see Jiang Nian, but also restrained himself from causing her trouble and annoyance.

He especially didn’t want her to become a topic of gossip in the courtyard.

After wrapping the dumplings and putting them in the pot, Song Bai moved the table into the kitchen, and several people crowded into the kitchen to eat. Zhu Jun occasionally handed dumplings to Zhang Xiao, who touched his toe and felt a little embarrassed: “Enough, I can hardly eat anymore.”

“Sister-in-law.”

“Yeah?”

Jiang Nian took a bite of a dumpling and looked up at Song Bai.

Song Bai’s gaze paused on her thin face for a few seconds: “Eat more. You look thinner. If Lu Yu comes back, he’ll probably scold me again for not taking good care of his sister-in-law.”

Jiang Nian: …

She remembered the bruises on Lu Yu and Song Bai’s faces that day and couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhang Xiao was puzzled: “Sister Jiang, what are you laughing at?”

Jiang Nian lowered her head: “Nothing.”

Song Bai cleared his throat and touched his brow bone with his thumb, seeming to recall something from a few months ago. A handsome smile appeared on his face. Zhu Jun heard it and almost choked on a dumpling, jokingly said, “Sister-in-law, eat more. You look thinner. If Deputy Commander Lu comes back and sees you like this, he might scold me too.”

Jiang Nian: …

Laughter filled the dining table, diluting Jiang Nian’s lonely discomfort.

After dinner, Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao washed the pots and bowls. Song Bai moved the table to Lu Yu’s room. Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, turned around and met Song Bai coming out of the room. They faced each other, and Song Bai suddenly stopped in his tracks, almost bumping into Jiang Nian. He took a step back, intending to step back again, but his leg couldn’t move.

Jiang Nian was afraid of being heard by others and asked softly, “Will Lu Yu be able to come back before the New Year?”

Seeing the urgency in Jiang Nian’s eyes, Song Bai knew she was worried about Lu Yu and lowered his voice: “It’s hard to say, but he’s fine.”

Jiang Nian smiled, her eyes showing a hint of sadness: “That’s good.”

“Sister-in-law.”

Jiang Nian looked up: “What’s wrong?”

Song Bai looked into her eyes: “If there’s anything, you can tell me. I’ll help with whatever I can.”

Jiang Nian smiled: “Thank you.”

Zhang Xiao accompanied Jiang Nian for a conversation, and the three of them went back. Jiang Nian was left alone in the courtyard.

She put away her lonely thoughts, closed the courtyard gate, and went back to her room to continue embroidering.

In the afternoon, Xu Yan came over and brought her a bowl of dumplings and a plate of pickled vegetables. She sat in her room for a while. Jiang Nian noticed that Xu Yan’s expression was somewhat unnatural and frowned. She couldn’t help but ask, “Did you quarrel with Liu Qiang?”

“No.”

Xu Yan rubbed her hands: “He sent all this month’s wages back home, saying his mother injured her leg and they need money.” Xu Yan sneered, “Why doesn’t he think that there are three of us waiting to eat at home, and Jianye will need money for school next year? Even if he leaves me ten dollars, it would be fine, but he never thinks about these things, always thinking about others.”

Jiang Nian felt that Liu Qiang was really unfair to Xu Yan.

As it was getting dark, Liu Jianye came to call Xu Yan, and she reluctantly got up and went back.

Ten days had passed since New Year, and it was snowing heavily again that day. Jiang Nian had just crawled out of bed when she heard the voice of a military guard outside the courtyard gate: “Comrade Jiang, there’s a phone call for you.”

Jiang Nian had never dressed so quickly in her life.

She wrapped a scarf around her neck and rushed out. The military guard looked at the figure darting out and was stunned for a moment before hurriedly calling out, “Comrade Jiang, the road is slippery with snow. Slow down.”

Jiang Nian ran into the military guard offices. Just as she picked up the phone, she heard Lu Yu’s low laughter on the other end: “Take a breath first.”

After several months, hearing his long-lost voice again, Jiang Nian couldn’t help but take a breath, and tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed and her voice sounded nasal, “Lu Yu…”

“I missed you.”

She didn’t dare to say these four words, after all, there was an operator listening.

“Crying?”

Lu Yu’s magnetic voice penetrated through the phone. Jiang Nian tightened her grip on the receiver, shook her head gently, then remembered that Lu Yu couldn’t see her, and said softly, “No.”

Then she added, “My nose is frozen.”

A low laughter came from the other end of the phone, so pleasant to hear.

Jiang Nian: …

She pursed her lips and said with a hint of annoyance, “What are you laughing at?”

Lu Yu chuckled, “I miss… the mixed sauce noodles you make.”

Hearing his deliberately paused words, Jiang Nian’s face suddenly turned red, and her tears disappeared. She said softly, “When you come back, I’ll make them for you.”