The three brothers arrived at the entrance of the small park they had seen before. There were swings and seesaws, looking very fun.

But it was the first time the three brothers had seen such things, so they curiously touched the swings and seesaws, not knowing how to play for a moment.

“Brother, what is this for?” Er Bao asked.

Although they had been to the county town several times and were considered children who had seen the world in their hometown, when faced with something unfamiliar, they still didn’t know how to approach it.

Yi Bao studied the swing for a moment, pushing the wooden plank on the swing with his small hand, then ran to press the seesaw, watching one end of it sink down and the other end rise up.

He thought about how to play, but because he didn’t know if it was allowed, Yi Bao didn’t say anything.

As a young adult, Yi Bao was quite careful in what he did. Even though this was in a public place, Yi Bao wouldn’t play around casually.

So Yi Bao shook his head.

Just then, they heard a familiar voice from the military school next to the small park, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, San Bao, what are you guys doing?”

It was Yang Baozhu.

The military school was next to the military medical center, and it included a kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and high school.

Yang Baozhu was in the elementary school.

The kindergarten children were not allowed to come out during their rest time; the gate of the kindergarten was closed.

But it was different for the elementary, middle, and high school departments; their gates were open, and they were allowed to come out during break time, after all, they were adults.

Just after class had ended, Yang Baozhu came out and saw the three new brothers she had just met at the small park, so she ran over from the school.

“Baozhu sister!” Er Bao waved happily when he saw Yang Baozhu.

“Baozhu sister, what’s inside?” Yi Bao asked curiously.

“It’s a school inside,” Yang Baozhu said. “You’ll go there to study in the future, and then we can go to school together and go home together.”

So it was a school inside.

Yi Bao wasn’t curious about school, after all, Qinglin Bay Production Brigade also had a school.

“Baozhu sister, what are these for?” Er Bao liked playing more, so he pointed at the swing and seesaw and asked.

“This is a swing. If someone sits on it and someone pushes from behind, it’s a lot of fun. But you can’t push too hard, or you’ll be thrown out. And that’s a seesaw, one person sits on this end, and one person sits on the other…” Yang Baozhu explained how to play on the swing and seesaw.

Er Bao became interested after listening. But he asked, “Baozhu sister, can we play on them?”

“Of course, this is the small park in our military family courtyard. Everyone can play on the swings and seesaws here. Yi Bao, Er Bao, who wants to sit first? I’ll push you from behind,” Yang Baozhu said.

Yi Bao and Er Bao looked at each other, and Yi Bao said, “Baozhu sister, I’ll sit first.” Yi Bao felt that since he was the older brother, he should go first, even though he didn’t know if the swing was fun or if there was any danger.

“Then let the big brother sit first.” Er Bao had no objections; he always listened to his older brother.

Er Bao couldn’t imagine that Yi Bao was worried about the safety of the swing.

Yang Baozhu said, “Yi Bao, you sit up there, and I’ll push you from behind. Hold onto the ropes on the sides with both hands.”

“Okay.” Yi Bao quickly climbed onto the swing, gripping the ropes tightly with both hands.

He was nervous but also excited. “Baozhu sister, I’m ready.”

“Okay, you’re ready, I’ll start pushing,” Yang Baozhu said, gently pushing Yi Bao’s back.

She pushed lightly and slowly, and Yi Bao’s small body began to sway with the swing.

Yi Bao felt like he was about to fly; it was so much fun.

“Yi Bao, do you want me to push higher?” Yang Baozhu asked.

“Yes!” Yi Bao felt the fun of the swing.

So, Yang Baozhu pushed a little higher.

Yi Bao gripped the ropes tighter, and his laughter rang out as the swing moved back and forth.

Er Bao naturally sensed his brother’s joy and curiously asked, “Is it fun, big brother?”

“Yes!” Yi Bao nodded heavily, then said to Yang Baozhu, “Baozhu sister, I’m done. It’s Er Bao’s turn to play.”

“Okay.” Yang Baozhu stopped pushing and helped hold the ropes.

As soon as Yi Bao jumped off the swing, Er Bao was about to climb on when someone shouted from the school gate, “Yang Baozhu, it’s time for class. Stop playing.”

Compared to going to class, Yang Baozhu would rather play with her younger brothers.

She had always heard her grandmother talk about how precious younger brothers were, so she knew that being able to play with three younger brothers made her very happy.

However, she also dared not skip class.

If she didn’t go to class, the teacher would tell her parents, and then her grandmother would definitely scold her.

So, Yang Baozhu could only weakly say, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, I’ll come find you to play after class.”

Yi Bao: “Okay, Baozhu sister, go to class first.”

Er Bao: “Baozhu sister, I’ll wait for you.”

Yang Baozhu returned to the school and saw Zhang Qian standing at the classroom door.

“Hmph.” Yang Baozhu snorted coldly at her and then walked into the classroom with her head held high.

Zhang Qian didn’t know why Yang Baozhu was upset again.

She had just seen Yang Baozhu playing with the three children next door, and she didn’t understand why those three children would rather play with Yang Baozhu than with her.

Whether it was before at her grandparents’ house or with the other children in this family courtyard, they all liked to play with her.

But the three children next door, for some reason, preferred to play with Yang Baozhu, which made Zhang Qian feel a little aggrieved.

The three brothers in the small park, of course, had no idea what Zhang Qian was thinking.

At that moment, Er Bao was sitting on the swing, urging Yi Bao to push him higher. “Brother, higher! It’s so fun, I want to fly!”

Yi Bao didn’t dare to push his brother too high; he was worried Er Bao would fly off.

San Bao watched as both of his brothers played on the swing, but he hadn’t had a turn yet, and he was getting anxious.

“Okay, okay, San Bao, it’s your turn. Er Bao, you come down,” Yi Bao said, holding onto the ropes after Er Bao’s swing came back down.

“Okay.” Er Bao jumped off the swing; he was also a caring older brother.

Upon seeing Er Bao come down, San Bao climbed onto the swing, but it was moving, and San Bao couldn’t climb up. Er Bao, laughing, hugged his brother and struggled to lift him up.

Once San Bao was seated, Yi Bao and Er Bao taught him to hold onto the ropes tightly and then gently pushed him.

The two brothers were very careful; compared to them, San Bao was still a little child.

“Guo guo guo guo…” San Bao sat very happily, continuously calling out “guo guo” as he swung.

Town

After inquiring with the guards, Ning Shu finally arrived in town.

It was not much different from the county town back home; it was also desolate like a county town in the 1970s.

Compared to the future, except for the capital and a few developed cities, most places in this era were considered desolate.

Today, Ning Shu naturally didn’t come to shop but to familiarize herself with the locations of the department stores, supply and marketing cooperatives, parks, bookstores, etc., as she planned to bring the children here later.

After becoming familiar with the area, Ning Shu bought notebooks, pencils, pencil cases, and erasers at the bookstore.

These were all for the three kids.

They had the little bags she made, but they didn’t have any school supplies.

After getting these, she planned to go to the school in the afternoon to ask if they could attend the nursery class.

In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem for nurseries in this era.

Even if they couldn’t get in, with notebooks and pencils, the children could draw on their own. She didn’t miss out on San Bao’s share either.

After buying the school supplies, Ning Shu also bought three children’s books at the bookstore and then rode her bike back to the family courtyard of the army camp.

Halfway there, Ning Shu chose to stop where there were no villages.

The absence of villages meant fewer people around, making it safer for her to take things out of the app.

Ning Shu took out the pork ribs, pig’s feet, oil, and the six catties of fresh eggs, six catties of sliced noodles, 20 small steamed buns in oil-paper wrappers, 40 pieces of green bean cake in oil-paper wrappers, and a catty of lemon chicken feet in a lunch box that she had bought today.