Lin Guodong hadn’t been gone long to Commissar Zhang’s house when the sound of a car was heard at the courtyard gate again.

Ning Shu went out to look and saw Li Zao returning.

After Li Zao got out of the car and saw Ning Shu, he said, “Sister-in-law, your package has arrived. There are a lot of things, and I couldn’t carry them all, so I brought them over in the car.”

Ning Shu was overjoyed, “That’s great! Can you help me bring them in? Our platoon leader went to borrow a bucket to fetch water.”

“Sure.” Li Zao naturally helped to carry the things from the car into the house.

“You can leave them outside,” Ning Shu said hastily when she saw Li Zao preparing to bring the things into the house, “The inside is too dirty, all covered in dust. It needs to be cleaned first.”

“Then I’ll stay later to help.” Li Zao said.

Ning Shu was originally going to refuse, but she thought about how every room needed to be cleaned, so she didn’t refuse. “Then I’ll trouble you.”

Li Zao asked, “Is there any furniture in the house? Have you ordered any?”

“I don’t know either. Guodong said we’ll stay at the military guesthouse for a few days.”

“We have a lot of unused tables, chairs, and beds in the logistics department. If you haven’t ordered any, you can go take a look.”

Ning Shu was a bit tempted when she heard about the furniture.

She didn’t really want to stay at the guesthouse, although she wasn’t very particular about cleanliness. It was still uncomfortable to stay outside.

If Lin Guodong hadn’t ordered furniture, they could go look for some later.

But according to her guess, Lin Guodong most likely hadn’t ordered any.

“Is Guodong’s wife here?”

Just as Ning Shu was thinking, a cheerful female voice came from the door.

Ning Shu looked over and saw a very capable-looking woman, probably around thirty-five, with a neat short haircut that many women liked. She was also holding several pieces of cloth.

“I’m Lin Guodong’s wife. May I ask who you are?” Ning Shu smiled and greeted her.

“I’m Commissar Zhang’s wife, Lu Hong. Since Guodong went to my house to borrow a water bucket and is now fetching water, I came over to help you tidy up.” Lu Hong said as she looked Ning Shu over. Her first impression of Ning Shu was that she was well-raised, fair and tender-skinned. Even in the family courtyard, she hadn’t seen such a fair-skinned girl.

Her second impression was that Ning Shu smiled before speaking, showing that she was well-mannered.

Lin Guodong had mentioned her before, saying that his wife was a educated youth from the city. No wonder she looked so poised.

“So you’re Sister Lu. Hello, hello. Guodong has mentioned you before. He said that Commissar Zhang has taught him a lot at work, and in life, you often help the women in the family courtyard. You’re someone I need to learn from. Our house and the bicycle incident, we’re really grateful for your help.” Ning Shu said flattering words. After all, compliments cost nothing, and everyone loves to hear nice things.

Lu Hong smiled happily.

Hearing Lin Guodong’s wife say this, it was different from what others said.

She was someone who knew how to speak. When you heard her, you knew she was exaggerating, but you couldn’t help but feel happy. “I’ve heard Guodong mention you too. He said that not only are you good at cooking, but you also manage the three children at home very well. Now he’s finally managed to bring you all here.”

“That’s great. When we’re done here, please taste my cooking, Sister Lu. If you find it’s not as good as Guodong says, don’t make fun of me.” Ning Shu wasn’t modest either.

“What’s the big deal? Can I be worse than me? I’m the type who cooks to get it done, not for the taste. My husband would rather eat at the canteen than my cooking. He doesn’t want to eat, and I don’t want to cook, which saves a lot of trouble.” Lu Hong wasn’t being modest.

She really didn’t know how to cook well and didn’t bother to put much effort into it.

Before marrying Commissar Zhang, she used to be a strong woman, a women’s director in the neighborhood committee.

She was more focused on her work and didn’t pay much attention to the household because of her strong personality.

She wanted to find a man who could manage the household.

But such men were hard to find, and even if she reluctantly found one, she wouldn’t be satisfied, so the marriage was postponed again and again.

Later, when she was getting older, she married the widower Commissar Zhang. When she found out that Commissar Zhang had a child, Lu Hong was actually quite happy.

She was afraid that she was too old to have children herself.

After following the army, she became the women’s director of the family courtyard, and she took care of many things in the family courtyard.

So, she threw herself into work again.

Commissar Zhang didn’t think much of it. His wife had things to do, which was better than some wives who nagged all day.

To this, Ning Shu smiled and said, “There are 360 trades, each with its own master. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.”

“That’s right…” Lu Hong said, smiling at the three kids who had been staring at her, then asked Ning Shu, “Are these your children? These two are twins, right? There haven’t been any twins in the family courtyard before.”

“Yes, that’s right. There are no twins in our hometown either. When they were born, many people came to see them.” Ning Shu waved to the three kids and said, ” Yibao , Erbao and Sanbao, come and meet Aunt Lu. She’s the one who helped us change the bicycle tickets. You should thank her.”

When Yibao and Erbao heard this, they pulled Sanbao and walked up.

“Aunt Lu, hello. Thank you, Aunt Lu,” said Yibao, as the eldest.

“Thank you, Aunt Lu…” Erbao suddenly brightened up. “Mom, we need tickets to buy bicycles, do we need tickets to buy trains too?”

Ning Shu: “…”

She was amazed.

Was Erbao going to start a commotion in the family courtyard too?

“Buying a train?” Lu Hong didn’t understand for a moment.

Ning Shu explained, “It’s the train we took here. Erbao thinks that trains can carry many people, so if we buy a train, we can bring their Grandpa, Grandma, and their good playmates all together. That’s why he wants to buy a train.” Ning Shu couldn’t help but find it amusing when she talked about this.

“That’s really ambitious.” Lu Hong couldn’t help but smile bitterly. “Your name is Erbao, right? Yibao is the twin brother’s Eldest, and Erbao is the twin brother’s Youngest?”

She thought to herself, Lin Guodong’s wife is really lucky to have twins in the first birth.

What a blessing. And the second child is also a son.

Many people want sons but can’t have them, and some people have sons as if they don’t cost money, one after another.

“Then, Aunt Lu, do we need tickets to buy trains?” Erbao was still very determined.

When he heard that tickets were needed to buy bicycles, he asked about buying trains.

It was clear that he remembered this matter.

Yibao was also listening attentively.

“You don’t need tickets to buy a train, but you need a lot of money. However, besides buying it with money, there is another way…” Lu Hong said.

When Erbao heard this, his eyes lit up. “Can you do it without money?”

Ning Shu was also curious, wanting to hear what Lu Hong meant.

Lu Hong touched Erbao’s little head and said, “If you don’t have money, you can build a train yourself. But there’s a prerequisite: you have to study hard. When you study well, you’ll know how to build a train.”

Ning Shu: “…”

Sister Lu’s words are really something.

Is she asking her son to build a train?

Lin Erbao really took it seriously: “Then I must study hard.”

He didn’t have money, so he couldn’t buy a train.

If studying hard could build a train, then it was more cost-effective.

This way, he wouldn’t have to buy a train with money, and he could buy meat instead.

“I’ll study hard too.” Yibao also nodded seriously.

He also knew that he didn’t have money, so he preferred the idea of owning a train without spending money.

Sanbao, seeing the two siblings shaking their heads, also shook his little head.

Lu Hong found it amusing. “Your children are so cute, unlike mine. Mine is so naughty even the dog avoids him.”

She got married to Old Zhang when she was 28, and two years later, at 30, she had her child, who is now 8 years old.

He started first grade last September. Apart from class, meals, and sleep, she couldn’t find him most of the time.

Ning Shu said, “Active and lively children are good, with an optimistic and generous personality.”

Lu Hong agreed.

Compared to introverted children, she also felt that more lively ones were better.

The problem was, her child was too lively, which annoyed her a lot.

As they chatted, Lin Guodong returned with two buckets of water.

Seeing the packages in the yard, he asked, “Did the packages arrive?”

Ning Shu said, “Yes, just now, Li Zao brought them. He went to return the car. By the way, he said that if we haven’t decided on furniture yet, there are a lot of abandoned furniture in the logistics department that we can choose from. Shall we go and have a look?”

Lu Hong said, “That’s a good idea. The abandoned ones may be missing some parts, but they can be pieced together.”

Lin Guodong said, “Let’s go then. I didn’t know what kind of furniture you wanted, so I didn’t decide.”

He didn’t care about whether it was abandoned or not, or whether it was new or old.

He just thought Ning Shu would care, so he hadn’t decided.

Ning Shu said, “Let’s go now. We can bring back anything useful and clean and dry it in the sun.”

Lin Guodong agreed.

Lu Hong said, “You go pick, I’ll clean up here first.”

Ning Shu felt a little embarrassed. “Thank you, Sister-in-law.” She was someone who was used to calculating things and couldn’t do things like helping others clean.

So, receiving this kind of treatment from Lu Hong, she felt a little embarrassed. “Let’s go and have a look first.” But she remembered Lu Hong’s kindness.

“You can go. I’ll watch the kids,” Lu Hong said.

Ning Shu then said to the three kids, ” Yibao , Erbao and Sanbao , your dad and I are going to look at beds and tables. You stay at home and listen to Auntie, okay?”

“Okay.”

Yi Bao and Er Bao spoke at the same time.

San Bao was a bit slower, saying, “I know.” But he was also very well-behaved.

After saying goodbye, Lin Guodong took Ning Shu to the logistics department.

As they walked out from their own door, the group of people who had been observing their family since they arrived in the car were still watching.

They couldn’t see clearly when they were inside the house, but now that the two of them came out, they could see clearly.

Unlike Lin Guodong, who was dressed in military uniform, Ning Shu wore black straight pants she made herself, a white shirt, a navy blue V-neck sweater, and a long dark gray hooded cotton coat.