Chapter 18 Chapter 18 If you go on a blind date, you’ll get married, and you won’t…

Then he asked Qin Zhanwu, "When do you think you are free?"

Qin Zhanwu said: "Can we do it tomorrow?"

Sister Wang choked him up, looking genuinely anxious. She said awkwardly, "Okay, tomorrow, that's it. I'll talk to Yingzi this morning and tell her we'll meet at the entrance to Hehai Park at noon. How about that? You two can go for a stroll, too. It's cool now, maybe go hiking or just sit down. I heard the osmanthus flowers are in bloom in Hehai Park in early autumn."

Qin Zhanwu nodded: "Okay, I'll follow your arrangements!"

As they were talking, the military leader came over and patted Qin Zhanwu on the shoulder: "You kid, you have to hurry up this time and make a quick decision!" At the same time, he said to Sister Wang: "We are going to trouble the local comrades with these matters."

Sister Wang didn't recognize this man. She looked at the military rank on his shoulder and nodded repeatedly with a smile: "Of course, of course. The military and the people are as close as brothers and sisters. It's our honor for us local comrades to contribute to the People's Liberation Army!"

Su Yan couldn't fall asleep that night. As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw her mother's tearful face. She remembered that she had to go to the train station to exchange food the next day. When it was about five o'clock, she rode her bicycle from home to the train station.

The machinery factory was quite a distance from the train station, and it took over forty minutes to finally reach it. Su Yan found a quiet, deserted spot and retrieved five kilograms of rice and five kilograms of potatoes from her space. Although it was ten kilograms, it fit neatly into a large, transparent supermarket plastic bag. She placed it in a basket, covered it with a floral fabric, and placed it in front of her bicycle.

When Su Yan entered the train station, there were already a lot of people there, but none of them were carrying any bags, at most an army green cross-body bag. They saw Su Yan looking around.

Someone came forward, grabbed a handful of golden cornmeal from his bag, and leaned sideways to block the view of others: "Comrade, do you want some cornmeal? 80 cents a pound!"

Su Yan was surprised: "Cornmeal is so expensive!"

The man looked up at Su Yan and said, "Is this expensive? It's up to you to buy it or not. No bargaining! There are many people who will buy it if you don't." Then he turned and left.

There were so many people here that Su Yan parked her bicycle under a tree and stood at the entrance of the train station waiting for Qu Siyu. After a while, she saw her riding a 28-inch bicycle over. Su Yan called her, "I'm here!"

Qu Siyu parked the car and asked, "Did you bring the food?"

Su Yan nodded and lifted a corner of the floral cloth: "Five kilograms of rice and five kilograms of potatoes!"

Qu Siyu nodded and handed a package to Su Yan. "Here are three paintings, one from the Qing Dynasty and two from the Ming Dynasty. You must keep these paintings safe. If anyone finds them, I'll be the one who ruined you. I also took a few English books and notes on Ming Dynasty novels. These are what my mother wanted to throw away. You mustn't let anyone see them."

Su Yan took it, hid it in the basket, took out the rice and potatoes and gave them to her: "Be careful, don't let anyone find out."

Qu Siyu shook it up and found it was indeed a full ten kilograms. She nodded and said, "Okay, see you next time!"

The two of them exchanged a few words briefly, which took no more than two or three minutes before they each rode their bikes home. Su Yan rode to a deserted spot and quickly tossed the paintings and books into the space.

When I got to the main road, I saw a man on a bicycle shouting, "Catch the speculators! Catch the speculators!"

After a minute or two, I saw a few policemen on bicycles following behind me and heading towards the train station.

Su Yan, still in shock, quickly rode away. Unfortunately, she wasn't good at riding a large bike, and she fell off the road. Luckily, she fell on the green grass beside the road, where there were no rocks, only tender grass. Her hands and feet were fine, but she had a black scratch on her face.

She sat on the grass for a long time, feeling very depressed. After a while, an old man came over and asked her, "Girl, did you fall?"

Su Yan had no choice but to get up: "It's okay!"

The old man helped her to lift the bicycle up: "Just ride slowly, practice a few times, and you will get it naturally."

Su Yan thanked him and rode slowly back to the machinery factory. When she got home, she saw Sister Wang sitting at home. "Hey, Yingzi, where did you go so early in the morning? You kept me waiting?"

Su Yan put the empty basket away and said, "Sister Wang, I went to the grocery store. I forgot. They don't work on Sundays, just like us."

When Sister Wang saw her face, she was shocked: "Yingzi, what happened to your face? Why is there such a large scratch? What should I do?"

Su Yan took a mirror and looked at it: "It's just a small area down there. It will scar in a few days. In a month, there won't even be a scar. It's an abrasion. The soft tissue on the surface is damaged."

Sister Wang scolded her, "You're such a worry, girl! Where do I get a bottle of medicinal oil? I'll bring it to you later." She then asked Su Yan to sit down, "What do you think of Qin Zhanwu, the deputy head of the troupe, from yesterday's dance?"

Su Yan took a towel and put it on her face: "Sister Wang, I'm still young and don't plan to get married now."

Sister Wang immediately burst into a torrent of words: "What are you doing, girl? You're too young to get married? Don't say that again. Your family has such a heavy burden now, wouldn't it be better to find someone to share it with you? How long will your father and brother's pension last? Can it last for a year or two? Can it last you two nephews and nieces? This Deputy Commander Qin is twenty-eight years old, which is just the right age for you, and he's not bad looking either. You're beautiful, but he's a good match for you! You say you're young, but you're twenty-one already, and twenty-three in your lunar age. It's time to think about a partner."

As he was talking, he remembered that it was Yingzi who first fell in love with him at the dance: "You had a good time at the dance, didn't you have a good impression of Qin Zhanwu? Why did you change your attitude 180 degrees now and don't want to get married anymore?"

Su Yan made her speechless. She couldn't say, "Marrying a man of this generation means being treated like a slave and a nanny." It's okay to have two small children at home, but I can't do the laundry and cooking for an adult day in and day out, year after year.

I live well on my own, with plenty of food and clothing. Occasionally, I can lock the door in my bedroom and play some tablet games, or read some taboo novels in this era. If I get married, all of this will be gone, and I will never be able to take anything out of the space.

So, from the most realistic point of view, getting married is of no benefit to Su Yan.

After a while, Su Yan said, "Sister Wang, something happened in our family just now. My mother is still in the hospital. How can I think about finding a partner?"

Sister Wang half-coaxed, half-cajoled, "We agreed to meet you at the entrance of Hehai Park today at noon. Our local government must unconditionally support the PLA's work. Yingzi, your mother is in the hospital, and her employer is paying for her medical expenses, so you can relax. Now, it's time for you to think about your own big things. Only when you're doing well can your father, mother, and brother feel at ease."

Su Yan was not angry at what she said and nodded: "Okay, I'll go, Hehai Park at 12 o'clock."

Sister Wang smiled brightly and took Su Yan's hand. "Yingzi, I knew you were smart and quick to understand!" She walked out. "I'll call and tell them you agreed to meet. You should dress up and look nice. I'll ask our waiter to bring you the medicated oil."

Su Yan pulled her and said, "Sister Wang, let me tell you straight away, I did go to meet you, but I can't guarantee whether it will work out or not. If it doesn't work out, don't talk to me about it."

Sister Wang didn't care about that. She thought it was better to meet him first. "Let's talk about it after we meet. Let's talk about it after we meet. Let's get to know each other better. Maybe we'll get along better than at the dance."

Su Yan had no choice but to throw a handful of rice into the pot and put it on the stove to make porridge, adding more water. She then pulled out a potato, a few slices of dried wood ear mushrooms, and a small piece of bacon from her space. Su Yan had found this bacon while unpacking it; it was a local specialty sent by a college classmate from Xiangxi. She sliced ​​the bacon into slices and stir-fried it over high heat, adding the chili peppers she had secretly bought with Aunt Xu last time. The meaty aroma instantly permeated the air.

Then, slice four or five potatoes and stir-fry them, and you have a big plate of stir-fried pork with peppers. No matter how much of this dish you make, the two kids always eat it all up.

Around eleven o'clock, the two children came back from playing. Xiaogang asked, "Auntie, did you see Auntie Wang this morning?"

Su Yan nodded and served them both a large bowl of porridge. She hadn't controlled the amount of water well, and it seemed like she had added a bit too much rice. It couldn't be called porridge anymore, it was just softer white rice. "I see. Auntie has to go out later. You can take your sister to take a nap at home, and play in the yard for a while after you wake up."

Yan Zi was confused and said, "Aunt, they said you were going on a blind date, and that after that you would get married and they wouldn't want us anymore. Aunt, is that true?"

Although Xiaogang didn't say anything, he also looked at Su Yan.

Su Yan pinched their faces and said, "Of course not. Auntie won't get married, and she won't abandon you. The three of us will be together forever and never separate. When grandma gets better, we will take her back from the hospital and live together."

Yan Zi smiled and said, "Okay, pick up grandma and have some fried pork with chili peppers!"

Xiao Gang sighed and knocked Yan Zi's head: "I told you, don't talk about what we eat at home. We can only talk about cornmeal steamed buns and rotten cabbage leaves."

Yan Zi was not angry, she covered her head and said, "Brother, I won't say it next time."

After dinner, Su Yan had just put away the dishes when she saw Dayan riding a bicycle and shouting in the yard in front of the door: "Yingzi, Yingzi!"

Su Yan simply didn't want to pay attention to him, afraid that he would call out the neighbors to watch the fun, so she opened the window: "Dayan, what's going on?"