Chapter 18

"Brother-in-law, I'm hungry." Jiang Leyun pulled the corner of Xu Zhao's clothes and put his right hand on his stomach.

We had breakfast early and it’s almost noon now. Children are growing up and get hungry quickly.

Xu Zhao opened a big bag, took out two lunch boxes and opened them one by one. There were steamed buns, steamed buns and eggs.

Jiang Leyun didn't like steamed buns as he thought they had no taste, so he took a meat bun instead.

Although it was cold, it tasted very good. Xu Zhao went to a state-owned restaurant to buy the meat buns. The master craftsman who made the buns had great skills. The skin was thin and the filling was rich. A meat bun was as big as half a child's face. When you took a bite, your mouth was filled with the aroma of meat.

Xu Zhao held up a peeled egg and asked, "Do you want to eat it?"

Jiang Leyun hesitated for a second and then nodded. He didn't like boiled eggs because they had a fishy taste in his mouth. He preferred fried eggs or boiled eggs with soy sauce.

However, now on the train, the conditions did not allow him to make any requests. He could only frown and eat a bite of egg and a bite of meat bun.

After drinking the water, I couldn't help but burp.

The child jumped out of bed, his face flushed, and whispered, "I want to go to the bathroom."

After a good night's sleep and drinking so much water, my bladder is almost unable to hold it anymore.

The brother-in-law was only seven years old, and there were strangers on the train whose backgrounds he didn't know. Xu Zhao was worried about the child going to the toilet alone, so he stood up, patted Jiang Huihan's arm, and whispered, "Wake up."

Jiang Huihan opened her eyes dazedly, feeling as if she didn't know what day it was. She rubbed her eyes and sat up: "What's wrong?"

Xu Zhao: "Le Le needs to go to the bathroom, I'll take him there, you take care of the luggage, I've put the food downstairs, eat first and sleep later."

"Okay, I got it." Jiang Huihan covered her mouth and yawned. She had slept for almost an hour and felt weak and lazy.

After going to the toilet, Xu Zhao took the child to wash his hands and filled a pot of water.

Jiang Leyun took the handkerchief and dried his hands. He looked at Xu Zhao and suddenly said, "I find you are a nice person."

"Why do you say that?" Xu Zhao raised his eyebrows and looked down at the child.

"Because you buy me food, accompany me to the bathroom, and, oh, you beat away those bad guys who bullied us. Anyway, I think you are a good person, and you are barely worthy of my sister."

Jiang Leyun counted on his fingers after every sentence he spoke, and nodded in self-affirmation at the end. The more he spoke, the more he felt that Xu Zhao was indeed a pretty good brother-in-law.

Xu Zhao found it a little funny and curled his lips slightly: "Thank you for your recognition, Comrade Lele. I will continue to work hard."

Jiang Leyun raised his chin, trying to hold back his smile, but it seemed that he was not very successful. He leaned close to his ear and said in a low voice, "You're welcome. If you treat me better, I will help you speak well of you in front of my sister in the future."

This child has learned how to please himself at such a young age. He is quite smart.

Xu Zhao raised his hand and rubbed the little guy's head, shaking his head and laughing.

"Have you all eaten?" Jiang Suihan took a bun and ate it slowly. She felt better after a nap, but she had no appetite.

She is prone to motion sickness and cannot ride in a car or a train. She cannot stand the smell in the car and now she wishes she could seal her sense of smell to avoid some of the suffering.

This is in the sleeper car, which is quite good compared to the crowded ordinary cars.

Xu Zhao unscrewed the kettle and handed it to Jiang Suihan: "Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"

Baozi choked a little, Jiang Huihan took the kettle and drank two sips of water: "It's okay, I just can't get used to the smell in the train, I'll be fine after a while."

It took her a long time to finish a bun. She had no appetite on the bus in the first place, so she filled her stomach to relieve her hunger. Looking at the quarter of the bun left in her hand, she felt a little conflicted.

"Are you full?" Xu Zhao asked her.

"I can't eat anymore." Jiang Huihan nodded

She was wondering what to do with the leftover buns. It didn't seem right to put them together with other food since they were her leftovers, but she didn't have any extra lunch boxes.

She couldn't even finish a bun and had such a small appetite. Xu Zhao thought that after returning to the army, he would have to buy her some nutritious food to supplement her. Being too thin is not good for her health.

He reached out and took the small piece of bun from her hand and put it into his mouth without saying a word.

Jiang Huihan was stunned by his actions and said, "This is something I have eaten before."

How could this person do it so naturally without any psychological burden? If she was asked to eat other people's leftovers, she would definitely not do it. Even if she had to eat what Jiang Leyun had eaten, she would have to prepare herself mentally.

Xu Zhao just looked at Jiang Huihan quietly, with a look of "and then" written on his face.

Jiang Suihan almost blurted out "I don't want to eat it". After so many years of education, how could she have the nerve to give others the food she had eaten? Isn't this an insult?

Fortunately, she remembered that this was the 1960s, when people lived a hard life, food was precious, and wasting food would be considered an anomaly.

Xu Zhao didn't think there was anything wrong with this. In his opinion, eating the leftovers of lesbians was indeed a bit too intimate. However, Jiang Suihan was not someone else, so eating what his young wife had eaten was not an outrageous behavior.

Jiang Huihan saw Xu Zhao finish the buns in two bites as usual, her face slightly red, and handed the kettle to him.

Xu Zhao noticed that Jiang Huihan's face was red: "Your face is so red, are you feeling uncomfortable?"

Could it be that you have a cold or a fever?

Jiang Huihan put her hands on her face and felt the heat coming from her cheeks: "No, I just suddenly felt a little hot, yes, a little hot."

She suddenly thought that he might have some feelings for her?

He didn't mind what she had eaten and was so nice to her and took such good care of her.

Or maybe she was overthinking it. She was most afraid of the assumption that others liked her. If she guessed wrong and did something that caused misunderstanding, wouldn't that be extremely embarrassing?

Forget it, don’t think about it. Just let it go and keep a normal mind.

Xu Zhao touched her forehead and found that she didn't have a fever. If she got sick on the train, it would be troublesome because there was no doctor on board. He opened the window a little to let the wind in.

The heat on her face slowly subsided, Jiang Huihan secretly let out a breath, and then felt a little annoyed and angry at herself, thinking that she had lived in a new era of information explosion and had seen everything, but she was actually shy because of a man.

I'm really sorry and have brought shame to my fellow villagers.

The space on the lower bunk was small, so Jiang Suihan sat on Jiang Leyun's bed. She had just woken up and didn't want to continue sleeping for the time being, so she asked the child to find a book and taught him to recognize words.

The brother and sister were taught by one and learned by the other. The child was very smart and knew many words. If he didn't know something, he would learn it after she taught him once or twice.

Rubbing the top of the child's head, she smiled and praised: "You are so smart."

Jiang Leyun raised his head proudly and grinned happily. He liked his sister praising him.

Xu Zhao was sitting on the bed reading a book. He took the time to glance at the siblings. His thoughts gradually drifted away from the book. He thought to himself that if he and Jiang Suihan had children in the future, she would definitely be a very gentle mother.

A young couple got on at the next stop. The woman glanced around the carriage with a look of disgust. She turned her head away angrily, looking very impatient. The man whispered to coax her.

Looking at the candy in front of her, Jiang Huihan looked up at Xu Zhao: "Where did the candy come from? Did you buy it?"

After saying that, she felt that she had asked a very boring question. Xu Zhao had four candies in his hand. Jiang Huihan took one, and Jiang Leyun also took one, leaving two.

Xu Zhao did not take his hand back: "Take what is given to you."

This candy was bought for Jiang Leyun last time. Jiang Suihan refused to take more and left half a bag for Xu Zhao to take back to the guesthouse. Xu Zhao didn't like sweet things very much, and for a grown man to eat candy was not in line with his cold and upright military temperament.

Jiang Huihan picked up one and put it in Jiang Leyun's hand, then looked at Xu Zhao with a smile and said, "I'll leave one for you. Let's share this delicious food together."

Peel off the candy wrapper, the rich milky and sweet flavors bloom in your taste buds, and the wind blowing through the car window makes me feel a little better.

The corners of Xu Zhao's mouth rose slightly, but he did not refuse. He hadn't eaten candy for a long time.

The three of them had candies in their mouths, and their left cheeks were all bulging, making them feel like a family.

The only voice heard in the carriage was the young girl's complaints. The two of them whispered for a long time, and then the young man came over. He seemed a little embarrassed and turned to look at the young girl. She glared at him.

The man had no choice but to take a deep breath and walk up to Jiang Huihan. He smiled shyly and said, "Hello, comrade. My girlfriend is feeling a little unwell and likes to toss and turn when she sleeps. I'm worried that she might fall down accidentally in the middle of the night. Can you help me and switch beds with us?"

When he came in, he observed quietly. The military comrade was with the pretty female comrade and the boy. The female comrade was thin-skinned and soft-hearted, so she should be easier to talk to.

Jiang Suihan raised her eyelids and glanced at the young girl standing in the aisle staring at her. She had a rosy complexion and looked very energetic, and there was no sign of any discomfort on her part.

"I'm sorry, I like to turn over when I sleep, and my brother is only seven years old. It's not safe for a child to sleep on top, and I'm worried that he might bump into something while sleeping. How about you go find the conductor and think of a solution?"

We all spent money to buy the tickets, so please forgive her for not having the heart to sacrifice herself for others.

What he thought was an easy task was rejected in person. The young man's face turned red. People had said this to the point, so how could he, an adult, have the nerve to snatch the bed of a child of a few years old.