The two boys sat down properly.

When they first bought bicycles, the two boys were very interested and circled around the bikes.

The other day, when they were on the train, they were also extremely curious. Today, riding in this truck, their curiosity was aroused again.

For most people, curiosity manifests in touching this and that. But for Lin Erbao, his curiosity showed in his questions.

Er Bao noticed that this truck could also carry many people, so he called Grandpa and Grandma, Haicai, Youfu, and others to join, and there was still room.

So, Lin Erbao couldn’t sit still and asked, “Mom, is this truck expensive, or is the train more expensive?”

When Lin Guodong heard his son’s question, his eyelids twitched.

Ning Shu, having experienced the train ride, understood Lin Erbao’s meaning when he asked this, “Trains are very expensive, much more expensive. Er Bao, if you want to buy a car, you can consider buying this type first.”

“Oh.” Er Bao responded thoughtfully.

Ning Shu thought, could he be considering this?

Sure enough, Er Bao spoke up, “Mom, how much does it cost to buy this truck?”

Ning Shu replied, “I don’t know about this. Why don’t you ask your dad?”

Er Bao looked at his dad.

Lin Guodong, without changing his expression, said, “I don’t know either. When we get home, you can ask Uncle Li, he knows more than dad.”

Li Zao was driving attentively and didn’t realize that his respected captain had just thrown him under the bus to keep himself out of the conversation.

Sneeze…

Li Zao sneezed, feeling somewhat strange.

He was dressed warmly enough today and didn’t catch a cold, so why was he sneezing? Ah… he suddenly remembered something.

Could it be that the literary soldier he had been pursuing missed him?

Suddenly, Li Zao felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

“When I get off the truck, I’ll ask Uncle Li, okay?” Er Bao had a plan in mind.

Lin Guodong’s unit was called the 616 Unit and was located in Haikou, so it was also a remote place.

It took about an hour to drive from the city, even with the truck’s speed.

As Lin Guodong had said, once the truck left the county seat, the road became a bit bumpy.

Although the seats were not hard, the shaking was uncomfortable.

With Yi Bao and Erbao on each side of Lin Guodong, both boys held his hands, wanting to sit on the floor.

“Dad, can we sit on the floor? Our butts are getting sore from the shaking,” Er Bao thought for a moment before asking.

Yi Bao also nodded and echoed, “Mm.”

Lin Guodong took off his coat and spread it out, saying, “You guys can sit here.”

Seeing this, the two boys immediately sat on the floor, leaning against the back partition, which was much more comfortable than before.

Feeling comfortable, Er Bao spoke again, “Mom, I’ve decided that when I earn money in the future, I won’t buy this truck.”

Ning Shu thought Lin Er Bao was going to say something important, but it turned out to be this.

However, this could be considered significant, after all, it was Lin Er Bao’s words. “Why don’t you want to buy this truck anymore?”

Lin Guodong also raised an eyebrow, listening eagerly for his reasons.

Yi Bao was curious too and couldn’t help asking, “Why?”

Er Bao said matter-of-factly, “Because sitting on this truck makes my butt sore, but sitting on the train doesn’t. On the train, you can also sleep, but not on this truck. You can also eat on the train, but not on this truck.”

Listening to his reasons, all of them seemed reasonable.

Ning Shu couldn’t help but think that Er Bao’s words made sense.

Yi Bao nodded in agreement with his younger brother’s words and summed up, “Then let’s buy a train instead. We’ll earn money in the future.”

“Mm,” Er Bao nodded.

The brothers’ first dream was to earn money to buy a train.

This dream put them ahead of people all over the world.

Ning Shu couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably, her mouth unable to close.

She felt that her two sons’ current ideals were so great that their future setbacks would be even more painful.

However, as a mother, of course, she had to encourage them, “Then you guys work hard. Mom is looking forward to you buying a train for her to ride.”

“Mm,” Er Bao was even more motivated by his mother’s words.

Lin Guodong looked at his wife and son, figuring that if his wife praised his son, his son would also happily praise his mother.

He didn’t mind, as long as it wasn’t directed at him.

The truck continued to drive steadily, and after an hour, they finally arrived at the foot of a mountain.

“We’re at the entrance of the camp,” Lin Guodong said. Then he got up and went to Ning Shu’s side, opening the window a little. “You can take a look outside, and I’ll you.”

In this era, military trucks did not have glass windows in the cargo area, only in the driver’s cab.

You couldn’t see inside from the outside unless someone inside moved the window.

As Lin Guodong spoke, he opened the window, and Ning Shu saw the scenery outside.

It was probably early spring, as the mountain looked lush and green.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a majestic gate, and the walls on either side were made of reinforced concrete, very tall.

The horizontal inscriptions on the gate read: “Hua Country People’s Liberation Army 616 Garrison.”

The side inscriptions on either side of the gate were written in imitation of Mao Zedong’s calligraphy: “Observe discipline and defend the country.”

For some reason, reading these words could evoke a sense of respect in people’s hearts.

A guard ran over to salute Li Zao, who was driving.

Ning Shu didn’t know what they said, but the guard turned to see Lin Guodong in the truck, saluted him, and then ran back.

The gate of the military camp opened.

The truck started again and slowly entered the camp.

“After entering, the entire right side is the barracks area, while the left side is the military medical center and the family compound.

The military medical center is like a small hospital, but the facilities inside are complete. The barracks area is where we train and work. If there are performances by the cultural troops, they are also held in the barracks area.

“The family compound on the left is also very spacious, including soldier dormitories and family courtyards. There is some distance between the soldier dormitories and the family courtyards, about a five-minute walk at my speed.

“Behind the family courtyards is a vegetable garden. For every few family courtyards, there is a piece of land, so every household has one. In addition to the vegetable garden, there is also a military childcare center and school in the family compound, from elementary to high school, after all, there are quite a few children in the entire military district…”

The car drove into the family courtyard. Since it was afternoon, there were only a few people in the courtyard, chatting or doing small chores in the sun. They couldn’t help but be curious when they saw the car being driven in.

“Who’s coming? Who drove the car in?”

“It must be a family member of someone here.”

“Did anyone hear about a family member joining the army recently?”

“Should we go and see?”

“Oh, it looks so nice! Let’s go and see. We can see from here too.”

The people chatting couldn’t be heard by the people in the car.

Li Zao parked the car at the entrance of the family courtyard applied for by Lin Guodong.

She couldn’t help but sigh.

The roads in the family courtyard were still clear, and they were smooth cement.

Even when it rained, it wouldn’t be muddy.

Lin Guodong opened the car door and got out first, then carried Yibao , Erbao and Sanbao out of the car.

Ning Shu then got out by herself.

She looked at the small courtyard in front of her.

The courtyard was indeed not big and had no special features.

They were all black tile houses, with three in the front and two on the side, a total of five.

The small courtyards here were all in rows, planned very clearly.

There were five courtyards in a row, probably to save space.

So the courtyards were all facing each other in pairs. That is to say, there were five courtyards on each side of a road.

This way, space was saved, but five courtyards faced south, and the other five faced north.

Fortunately, their courtyard faced south.

After Lin Guodong took down the rice and sacks, he said to Li Zao, “Go and check if my package is at the guardhouse. If it is, bring it over for me. If not, you can arrange it yourself this afternoon. I’ll come find you later.”

“Yes.” Li Zao got back into the car.

Lin Guodong took out the keys, opened the courtyard gate, and then gave the keys to Ning Shu.

The courtyard’s walls were not short, about two meters high, and quite secluded.

“Dad, is this our home?” Yibao , Erbao and Sanbao stood at the door, holding hands, looking inside curiously.

Lin Guodong lifted the rice. “Yes, this is our home.”

“Let’s go in and see.” Ning Shu walked in first. The courtyard was also cement, very clean.

Ning Shu opened the door to the room inside. When the door opened, a lot of dust rushed out, making Ning Shu step back a few steps.

“Mom…”

The three kids followed behind their mother and almost stepped on her when they saw her step back.

Ning Shu said, “It’s okay, there’s dust in the room. Let’s ventilate first. Don’t come in yet. The hygiene inside needs to be cleaned.” She then went to open the other room doors.

All three room doors were open, and they were all empty.

Ning Shu was embarrassed.

How were they going to sleep tonight? “Comrade Lin Guodong, there’s nothing here. No beds, no blankets. How are we going to manage tonight?”

“It’s okay, we’ll stay at the military guesthouse tonight.”

“That’s okay then.” Ning Shu went to see the other two rooms on the side, one was a kitchen, and the other was a bathroom.

“Is there no toilet?” Oh my goodness, if she had known, she wouldn’t have come.

She couldn’t stand public places. Was there a way to undo this!

Lin Guodong could tell what she was thinking from her expression. “…On the left side, there’s a household toilet and a lane there.”

Ning Shu went to take a look and indeed found a household toilet. “That’s good.”

She said. “Let’s clean up first. Wipe the dust inside, you go borrow a bucket and water, and a cloth.”

“Okay, I’ll go borrow from Sister Lü.” Lin Guodong explained, “Sister Lü is Commissar Zhang’s wife. I’ll introduce you to her later. She helped us change the bicycle tickets last time.”

“Okay, after we’re done here, let’s invite her over for dinner!”