In the family compound, each household has already put up couplets, creating a festive atmosphere for the Chinese New Year.

Ye Zhaozhao and Gu Yunduan were preparing dumpling filling in the kitchen.

In the afternoon, Sun Xiuhua and Zhou Dawu, Liu Erfeng and Liu Guanjun brought the dumpling fillings they had prepared to their homes. The dumpling fillings prepared by the three families were all different.

There are fillings like cabbage and pork, mustard greens and pork, and chives and eggs. Six people sit together making dumplings, with the men rolling out the dough and the women filling them.

"Zhao Zhao, are you going to treat everyone to a meal now that your Commander Gu has been promoted?"

"I won't invite you this time; we'll talk about it next time."

The two of them had discussed this matter. The promotion was already quite eye-catching, and they felt it wouldn't be appropriate to host a dinner party in such a high-profile manner, so they decided not to do it.

Sun Xiuhua nodded, agreeing with their approach. In this military region, being too high-profile was not a good thing.

The dumplings were cooked, and everyone sat together to eat the delicious dumplings. Sun Xiuhua said that they would spend the holiday together again next year, and no one objected. It would be more lively to spend time together.

...

On Ye Qianxue's side, Shen Yihan looked at the steamed buns on the table, unable to contain his anger.

"Is this what we eat during the Lunar New Year?"

Everyone else's family is eating dumplings or meat; they all live in the same compound, and the aroma is practically wafting into his stomach.

Although Shen Zedong and Shen Ze'an didn't say anything, they also disliked the cornbread.

They've been eating cornbread for several meals now, and Ye Qianxue doesn't want to eat it anymore; she's almost sick of it after eating it every day.

"There's nothing we can do, we're out of money. What about Zemin?"

Shen Yi was so cold that he slammed the door and left. Ze Dong and Ze An shook their heads.

They hadn't seen Zemin for several days, and as they were talking, they heard their neighbor aunt come to call her.

"Comrade Ye, you should hurry to the county town. Your son Zeming has been arrested for speculation and profiteering."

"What!"

Ye Qianxue panicked and rushed to board the boat without even eating. Ze'an and Zedong remembered what their brother had told them a few days ago, and panic flashed in their eyes.

Ye Zeming was arrested for selling fish on the black market. Ye Qianxue waited at the police station for most of the day but didn't see him.

A man could tell from Ye Qianxue's appearance that her family members had been arrested.

"Young lady, what's wrong with you?"

"My son has been arrested."

Ye Qianxue thought that Zeming would be the most promising of the three children in the future, and she absolutely couldn't let anything happen to him. The man continued.

"Don't worry, tell me the details. My older brother works at the police station, maybe he can help."

At this moment, Ye Qianxue was only thinking about saving Shen Zeming and completely forgot to consider the truthfulness of the man's words. After listening to Ye Qianxue's words, the man shook his head.

“My older brother can’t handle this.”

Ye Qianxue was disappointed, and the man immediately spoke again.

"However, my older brother's boss can handle it, but the boss will charge a fee."

Ye Qianxue thought that as long as she could save Shen Zeming, she could find a way to get the money. She told the man that she would give him 100 yuan and then go back to raise the money.

The next day was New Year's Day, and Ye Zhaozhao and Gu Yunduan both wore new clothes, knowing that children would be coming to their door today.

Ye Zhaozhao had taken out the White Rabbit milk candy and fruit candy early on.

There were also sponge cakes and mung bean cakes. The children went from house to house, and they were happiest when they arrived at Ye Zhaozhao's house.

Not only could they eat, but when they left, Ye Zhaozhao also filled everyone's pockets to the brim.

Because of these candies and pastries, the children felt that today was the happiest day. In the morning, Sun Xiuhua took Tiezhu and Shazhu with her.

Liu Erfeng brought her daughters, Da Niu and Er Niu, to the house. Ye Zhaozhao gave each of the four children a red envelope, which made Sun Xiuhua and Liu Erfeng scold her for a long time.

The child was too young to need a red envelope. Tie Zhu and Sha Zhu couldn't wait to open the envelope. Inside was a dollar, which they had never seen before.

"Thank you, Aunt Ye."

The four children were overjoyed after receiving the money, but the next second, Sun Xiuhua's words made their smiles disappear.

"Give it to me, I'll keep it for you."

"No, we want to carry our own to buy things."

"Hurry up and bring it here, or you'll lose it again."

Tie Zhu and Sha Zhu had no choice but to obediently give it to Liu Erfeng, and Da Niu and Er Niu also gave it to her.

When they saw Ye Zhaozhao take out the pastries, Tiezhu and Shazhu forgot about their unhappiness.

They grabbed the pastries and candies and ran out to play, while the three of them gathered together to chat.

"Commander Zhu said that after the New Year, land will be allocated to our families as well, so that we will have our own land to cultivate."

Having land means you can grow food, so no one will go hungry. That's a really good thing.

The Spring Festival passed in a lively and bustling atmosphere, and after the holiday, all the soldiers who had gone home to visit their families returned.

When Chen Sufeng returned, she gave each of them a lot of black fungus.

This is a local specialty of their home, and their family housing building is about to be completed.

I heard that new people will be moving into the family compound in a few days. Everyone is busy, some moving, some farming.

After the winter break, Ye Zhaozhao had to go back to work. Everyone hadn't seen each other for the entire break, so they sat together and chatted on their first day back at work. Xie Jianing had also gone home to visit her family.

She wasn't very happy on this trip, and couldn't help but complain to everyone.

"Going home is more tiring than going to class."

Xie Jianing's husband's hometown is far from the military region, so going home is quite tiring. The worst part is that there's her mother-in-law and her sisters-in-law too, Xie Jianing doesn't even want to talk about them.

"Xiao Xie, it's a good thing you came with the army, otherwise it would be really tiring."

Tang Yi, having been through it all, knew how annoying it was to have a meddlesome mother-in-law. Xie Jianing nodded, and as they chatted, they noticed that Jiang Yuzhen had actually returned to class.

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