Chapter 23

After understanding the whole cause and effect, Zhang Xiangqian felt guilty. He heard the first half of the information and excitedly told everyone, but who knew there would be a twist later.

He had good intentions, but ended up causing trouble. Zhang Xiang rolled his eyes and decided to strike first and get himself out of this situation, to avoid being punished by Xu Zhao later.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me about this earlier? Are you still a good brother? You didn't even tell me that you had a partner, and I was so anxious about your important life event every day. Look, your hair has turned a few gray. Whenever I meet someone, I ask them if they have a suitable girl in their family. People are afraid of me. How many people have I offended for you?"

"You have time to talk to the political commissar, but you don't have time to talk to me. In the end, it's all your fault. If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have gotten into such a mess."

Zhang Xiangqian turned to Jiang Suihan with an exaggerated expression: "Look at you. Comrade Jiang is such a good girl, elegant, gentle, dignified and generous. She is willing to come all the way with you to this place where chickens lay eggs and birds shit. You hide such an outstanding comrade and don't say anything, as if Comrade Jiang is so inferior. How can you treat her as a partner? It seems that you are not sincere and don't value the girl. ”

Xu Zhao glanced at Zhang Xiangqian nonchalantly and said, "You are becoming more and more proficient at putting the blame on someone else. Don't worry. I have plenty of time to settle the matter with you when we get back."

He is just like that, smiling and frivolous. The more you pay attention to him, the more he will act arrogantly.

Zhang Xiangqian wailed and thought, it's all over. Xu Zhao has always been cold-hearted and cruel. If I piss him off, my life in the army will be difficult when I return.

Seeing Jiang Suihan as a lifeline, he said in an earnest and flattering manner: "Sister-in-law, you have to help me. I am doing this to defend you. You can't just stand by and watch me die, or I will die."

Jiang Suihan was startled by Zhang Xiangqian's sudden call of "sister-in-law". She choked and quickly covered her mouth to prevent the food in her mouth from splashing out.

She coughed several times, took a deep breath, and then said, "Good brother, let's settle the account clearly. Come on."

Zhang Xiangqian was stunned when he saw Jiang Huihan's reaction. He couldn't help but rolled his eyes. "Okay, you two are a family. I was just being sentimental."

Xu Zhao raised his lips: "That's good to know."

Zhang Xiangqian rubbed his arms and felt goose bumps all over his body. Is this still the Xu Zhao he knew?

So shameless.

Jiang Suihan didn't have much appetite at first, but when the rice noodles were served and the aroma wafted to her nose, she suddenly felt hungry.

The ingredients are fresh, with meat and vegetables. The soup base should be chicken soup. I ate half a bowl without realizing it.

The state-owned restaurant does business in a very honest way and serves huge portions. A bowl of noodles is bigger than her face.

Xu Zhao noticed that Jiang Suihan had stopped eating: "Are you full?"

He ate two bowls of noodles, and Zhang Xiangqian was no less busy, also eating two full bowls. He was now leaning back in a chair and taking a rest.

Jiang Suihan looked at the remaining rice noodles in the bowl with embarrassment: "I'm full, I can't eat any more."

Half a bowl of rice noodles is her normal food intake. She has to take a bus soon and is worried that she will vomit if she eats too much.

After making sure that she was full, Xu Zhao took the bowl in front of her without saying a word, picked up the chopsticks and started eating.

Jiang Huihan was shocked by his actions and stood there in a daze.

She understood the truth. These days many people don't have enough food to eat, or even can't get any food to eat. Food is precious, and people who can't even get enough to eat won't waste it. But she couldn't bear to eat what others had left. She couldn't get over the hurdle in her heart.

Xu Zhao was so decisive and didn't mind her leftovers at all. He really didn't consider himself an outsider.

He ate the buns she left over without changing his expression on the train, and it was the same this time.

Xu Zhao took the time to look up at Jiang Suihan: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Suihan shook her head: "Nothing."

Forget it, let’s not talk about it anymore. They’re almost done eating, why bother about it? After all, he’s the one eating her leftovers, not her eating his leftovers, so it’s okay as long as he doesn’t mind.

The department store in the county is called a big building, but it is actually just a small two-story building. It is not very big. When you go inside, you will find that the things sold there are quite complete. Except for a few scarce commodities that are sold out, all the basic daily necessities are available.

Xu Zhao took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "There are many things that we don't have at home. I made a rough list. See if there is anything else you want to buy. The army is far from the county town, so it's not convenient for you to come here."

He was used to being single and lived in a dormitory, eating three meals a day in the cafeteria. Two days ago, he called the political commissar and asked him to keep an eye out for vacant houses. There were not many family members accompanying the troops in the family compound, so he thought there should be some, but most of them were leftovers from others.

Now that he is a married man, he can't continue to live in the dormitory. Zhang Xiangqian happened to drive over and bought as many things as possible at once. .

Jiang Huihan took a closer look and saw that his handwriting was very beautiful and it was obvious that he had practiced it.

Xu Zhao saw that she was only staring at the paper in her hand: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Huihan came back to her senses, a little embarrassed: "It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of something. I see that the things you listed above are quite complete, and buying some needles and thread and scissors should be enough. You can come back to buy anything you are missing."

She was always embarrassed to say that she was fascinated by his calligraphy. It was so embarrassing.

Xu Zhao was a very careful and thoughtful person. He even considered small things like how many bowls and pairs of chopsticks to buy. Jiang Huihan saw the words "sewing machine, bicycle, and radio" and asked him, "Do you want to buy these too?"

These three items are big items, no less than buying a small car in modern times. To be precise, they are more difficult to buy than modern cars. In modern times, as long as you have money, you can buy any kind of car you want, and you can choose any color, style, origin, and performance. But in this era, such big items are sometimes not available even if you have money.

Not only are there few tickets and it is difficult to collect them all, but the factory's output is low and supply cannot keep up with demand. Each shipment is allocated to each unit, and no unit can get as many as they want. Sometimes the goods are bought up as soon as they arrive.

"These are the betrothal gifts. I don't have the tickets for the radio and sewing machine on hand right now. I'll ask other people later." Xu Zhao lowered his voice and revealed to her.

"I haven't touched my salary over the years. I saved it all. I called home a few days ago and my parents sent me 800 yuan and some other things. They are busy with work and can't leave. They asked me to say sorry to you for not being able to come in person. When I have time in the future, I will take you to the capital."

Xu Zhao's father, Xu Zhenguo, is a leader in the Capital Military Region, and his mother, Lin Xiuqin, is the director of the Women's Federation. The couple are very busy with work on weekdays and sometimes don't even have time to eat. Their son's marriage was very difficult before, and Lin Xiuqin was very anxious and even called Political Commissar Zhou.

Now that her son is finally married and has brought his wife home, she feels very relieved and thinks her son can still be saved. She wanted to pack her bags and come over immediately, but she has been busy with work recently and cannot get away for the time being.

Worried that her daughter-in-law would think that her mother-in-law was unwilling to come over because she had something against her, Lin Xiuqin not only sent a betrothal gift of 800 yuan, but also took the time to go to the department store to buy a lot of things and sent them over together, so that her daughter-in-law could rest assured that the Xu family was very satisfied with the new daughter-in-law.

In Xu Zhao's opinion, he and Jiang Huihan got their marriage certificate in a hurry and did not hold a wedding banquet. Although it was unavoidable, a girl might look forward to the wedding day the most, and he felt sorry for Jiang Huihan.

It's not impossible to go back to the army or the capital to hold a wedding ceremony again, but that's different. A wedding ceremony is just a wedding ceremony and has a different meaning. He wants to satisfy Jiang Suihan as much as possible materially. She should have everything that other brides have, or even more.

To be honest, he was quite touched that a girl was willing to leave the city where she had lived for almost twenty years and follow him here from afar. Although there were other external reasons, one thing that was undeniable was that she believed in him and was willing to give her life to him.

Just thinking about this, Xu Zhao's heart moved slightly. He thought that he should do better and not let this trust down.

Hearing the word "bride price", Jiang Suihan blushed slightly and asked him in a low voice: "How much is your current salary?"

She was just curious and guessed that it should be around a hundred dollars a month.

Xu Zhao: "I completed my last mission very well. I am now a battalion-level cadre. If nothing unexpected happens this time, I should be able to be promoted to the next level, that is, deputy regiment level, and my salary will also increase to more than 120 yuan."

After a pause, he added: "Don't worry, there will be absolutely no problem in raising you and Lele."

He thought Jiang Huihan was worried that she and her brother would be a burden to him and that he couldn't support them, so he told her his monthly salary and also secretly told her the amount in his passbook.

Jiang Huihan opened her eyes wide, clear and bright, with a hint of surprise and admiration: "So many, you are amazing!"

Just now Xu Zhao told her that he had saved more than 3,000 yuan, and he would give the passbook to her when he got back and let her manage the family's finances.

I have to say that this guy is very sensible. Before she even had the chance to mention it, he had already made up his mind to hand over his salary.

Xu Zhao raised the corners of his mouth. What he said about being able to support his young wife and brother-in-law was by no means empty talk.

Now that she knew the family had so much money, she shouldn't have to worry about the family's livelihood like before. He was a man and it was his responsibility to support the family, so she didn't have to worry about it.

After asking about some information about the army, I learned that I could buy a bicycle or not, but it would be convenient to buy one as it would make it convenient to go anywhere. Besides, my family is not short of money.

With three thousand yuan in her pocket, Jiang Suihan was very confident and said, "Let's go look at the bicycles first."

The salesperson held his chin high, and his tone was not arrogant: "You are lucky. A new batch of products was just shipped back yesterday. They are all good brands produced by big factories. The quality is absolutely fine. Fei Ge brand is 155 yuan, and Phoenix brand is more expensive, 180 yuan."

Jiang Suihan thought that the bicycle was the first big item the family bought and it would be used for many years, so it would be more cost-effective to spend an extra twenty or so dollars to buy a good quality one.

"Then let's go with the Phoenix brand."