Chapter 238: Prosperity 238: What do you want?

Gu Qingqing usually didn't speak when they were talking about serious matters. Shen Sui went to the shared bathroom in the back and only came in now.

"We're almost done eating." Gu Qingqing pulled out a chair next to him and asked him to sit down. "Are you feeling well?"

When he first arrived in the north, Gu Qingqing was worried that he would not be able to adapt to the climate there.

In the past, some educated youth who went to Datunzi Village to work in the countryside suffered from acclimatization problems. If that was really the case, Gu Qingqing thought of going to the market to buy a piece of tofu for him to eat in the evening.

You may have to stay in the Construction Corps for two days before you can go back.

While Chu Dai was talking, he looked up at his brother-in-law's face. He was relieved to see that there was nothing unusual and continued talking to his second uncle.

"I'm fine, sister." Shen Sui sat down next to Gu Qingqing, took the bowl and chopsticks she handed over, and filled half a bowl of rice: "I just sat in the car for too long, and I feel a little dizzy."

"Then after dinner, why don't you go lie down in the next room?" Sun Shufen said, "The two rooms where your elder sister and Xu Nian lived before are not occupied yet. I will tidy them up later. You and your elder brother can stay in one room at night, and your elder sister and brother-in-law can stay in another room."

"How is it, Qingqing?" Sun Shufen held the bowl and looked at Gu Qingqing.

"Okay," Gu Qingqing raised her eyebrows, "I'll do whatever you say."

"Hey!" It is said that Qingqing's words are very pleasant to the ears.

"The little rabbit would be so happy if he knew you were here."

"I miss them, too." Seeing Aunt Yu picking up a piece of tender pork belly and about to hand it to her, Gu Qingqing quickly took the bowl over.

The pork belly was fatty but not greasy and melted in the mouth. The soup was especially delicious. Gu Qingqing felt that she could eat at least two bowls of rice with this meal.

After they finished their meal, Yu Fugui came back.

In his hands were the bags of salted fish they had brought. Three of them were empty and the remaining one didn't weigh much.

"I kept four or five salted fish and a bag of dried shrimps, and put the rest in the canteen as a snack for the soldiers at night." As he said this, he lifted all the luggage bags and put them in the corner.

Gu Qingqing had no objection to this. She gave it to him and let him deal with it. The original intention of showing so much was to let the warriors have a taste.

Sun Shufen wiped the table with a rag and said, "We still have about ten salted fish at home. Qinglie brought them here a few months ago. I saw that they haven't been used much yet, so I dried them again. My two little ones at home were very hungry, so I steamed one. It was delicious."

"It's delicious. The taste of sea fish is different from the fish here, with more meat and less bones." Yu Fugui went to make tea: "Qingqing, how long can you stay in the Corps?"

Hearing this, Sun Shufen also looked at her.

"Two days at most," Gu Qingqing said, a little embarrassed. It was so hard for them to meet, but she couldn't spend more time with them in the regiment. "Chu Dai and Ah Sui both took a week off, so it will take us four days to go back and forth."

"Is that so?" Yu Fugui brought her a cup of hot tea. "Your aunt is always talking about you, and Xiao Xu. I don't know how they are doing on the island."

They only had correspondence with Gu Qingqing via letters and telegrams, and very little with Zhao Ze and others.

"Xiao Yu'er is almost two years old. It's just that there are no photographers on the island. Otherwise, I would send her a telegram and ask her to send a family photo over to see." Gu Qingqing blew away the cold tea and took a sip: "I'm still wondering when I can go over to see them."

It is more convenient to go to Baisha Island than to come to the Construction Corps. It only takes seven or eight hours by boat, which is much more comfortable compared to the nearly two days and two nights by train.

The first time she came, she took a train from Yancheng in the middle of the country to Biancheng, which took a day, a night and a morning. This time, coming from Nanyang, it was even more painful, and her bones were about to fall apart. Fortunately, Chu Dai and the others were there.

"I want to go see you, but I just can't leave." Sun Shufen sighed: "The kids have to go to school, and the journey is long. It takes several months to go to the island for political review."

"I had discussed with your uncle Yu that if he had a day off this year, we would go to Nanyang to visit you. Your uncle Yu even showed off a lot of dried sweet potatoes and taro chips."

"Yes, I'll go look for it. The sweet potatoes I dried two days ago are still soft and dry. Don't worry, they won't make your teeth ache." Yu Fugui said as he was about to get up to get them.

Gu Qingqing sighed, "I just finished my meal, Uncle Yu, there's no rush to eat."

One of the two little guys was dozing off in the arms of his eldest uncle, while the other was fluttering in the arms of his second uncle. Chu Dai leaned back in his chair and stretched out his hand to tease Xiao Nian Nian, with laziness in his eyes.

Yu Fugui sat down again, thought for a moment, and said, "You're not eating at home tonight, are you? Let's go to the cafeteria and have a good time with Lao Zhang and Lao Zhu. I'll light a stove after the soldiers finish their meal."

At this point, he asked Sun Shufen: "Do you have any meat at home? Go to the supply and marketing cooperative this afternoon and buy some spare ribs. Stew the spare ribs with potatoes and add some vermicelli. Qingqing used to love it."

"We have everything ready at home." Sun Shufen cleaned the table and washed the dishes, then poked her head out of the kitchen: "Qingqing, wait for me a moment. I will make your bed after I wash the dishes."

They must be tired after sitting on the train for such a long time.

"No, I can do it myself." Gu Qingqing stood up and said, "Auntie, are there any quilts in the two rooms next door?"

"Yes, I received your telegram and I got two quilts from the quartermaster's office. I dried them in the last two days and put them in the cupboard. Go and have a look."

"Okay." Gu Qingqing couldn't sit still, so she pulled the man to make the bed.

Gu Qinglie originally wanted to make some jokes with Lao Yu, but when he saw his brother sitting there quietly, he gave up the idea.

"Squeak——" the wooden door was pushed open.

The window was open, probably because Aunt Yu wanted some fresh air.

The bed remained the same, a single camp bed, but this time there were two.

The layout is the same as Sun Shufen's house next door, with a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. The construction corps has a large area and is spacious.

It used to be a large single room, but now it has been expanded a bit into the front yard, so it doesn’t feel cramped at all.

She took out the quilt from the closet and threw it on the bed. She tilted her head and asked the man standing there motionless: "What are you thinking about? Help me pull off the corner of the quilt."

"Think about the past." The man took a step forward, bent down, grabbed the two ends of the quilt, shook it, and smoothed it out along with the woman's movements: "Sister-in-law and Xu Nian lived on both sides, and that night Lao Yu and Zhao Ze..." He smiled and didn't continue.

Gu Qingqing fell into recollection. Thinking of something, she lowered her eyes: "You wouldn't have…"

She didn't turn on the lights that night. The two of them sat in the dark room, and all they could hear was each other's breathing... and the tiny sounds in the two rooms next door.

"Yeah." Chu Dai smoothed out the creases on the quilt. "I was about 20 years old at that time, a hot-blooded man. Don't think I'm serious."

Gu Qingqing glanced at him sideways: "No, brother, I never thought of you as a serious person. You are 23 years old now, but you are still full of vigor and vitality."

Chu Dai understood what she meant and raised his eyebrows: "Isn't this a normal married life?"

Gu Qingqing snorted and changed the subject: "Shake out the quilt, there's sand in it after being outside in the sun."

The man did as he was told, but there was a hint of mockery in his eyes when he looked at her.

Women choose to turn a blind eye.

After she spread out the quilt, she went to the next room to make the bed. She said to Shen Sui, "Go and have a rest first. I'll call you for dinner."

After wasting time, it's getting late, it's already 2:35.

Shen Sui did feel a little dizzy, especially on the road from the train station back to the Construction Corps, which was so dizzy that he saw double of everyone.

"Okay, put the bag of clothes on the chair over there, and put Tuantuan and Nian Nian's diapers, milk powder and bottles in there."

"I know." Gu Qingqing thought of something and turned to the man who had just come in and said, "Go to the cafeteria and bring back a pot of hot water. The two kids will need to make milk later."

Tired from playing, Xiao Nian Nian was lying in her second uncle's arms and almost falling asleep. When she heard about the milk, she immediately opened her eyes and shook the man's strong arm with her little hand: "Jiujiu~ Drink milk!"

"Okay, drink milk." Gu Qinglie said to Chu Dai, "Don't bother. Isn't the kitchen boiling water? Just pour some boiled water to cool it down."

"Yes, yes, yes. We have a kitchen here now. It's very convenient to boil water. Captain Chu, please give me the bottle and milk powder and I'll make it." Sun Shufen came out of the kitchen after washing the dishes.

"He's not Captain Chu anymore. He was promoted to deputy regiment commander some time ago." Yu Fugui was rummaging in the cupboard for the bag of dried sweet potatoes that had not been fully dried in the sun. He had specially left them for the two little guys to chew on. They were neither too soft nor too hard, just the right texture.

"That's just a catchy phrase."

"It's okay, call me whatever you want." Chu Dai found a bottle and half a bag of milk powder from his luggage bag and handed them to Sun Shufen: "Thank you, sister-in-law."

"Look at what you said." Sun Shufen shook her head and went back into the kitchen.

Gu Canyang carried the sleeping little Tuantuan to the next room. When Chu Dai came over, he left the bed and said, "You take care of Tuantuan. I'm going to go for a walk outside."

"Do you want me to accompany you, brother?" Chu Dai asked casually.

"Need not."

After he left, Chu Dai withdrew his gaze.

Feeling a little sleepy, he sat on the bed and then lay down. The man put his left foot on the ground, his right leg slightly bent at the knee, half suspended in the air, with his hands behind his head.

He tilted his head to look at the little guy sleeping next to him. He had an indescribable feeling in his heart, which was that it felt very strange.

Two years ago, he was still working in the Construction Corps, thinking about tomorrow's strategic deployment and guessing whether Lao Yu would steam sweet potatoes or stew potatoes in the evening.

Who would have thought that a photo of Gu Qinglie would give him a wife and children, and change the trajectory of his life.

I originally wanted to stay in the Construction Corps, guard the border for the rest of my life, and die whenever I wanted.

In just two years, he got married and had children, went to Baisha Island to participate in and witness the construction and completion of the naval military base, and then left the island, returned to the Southern Military Region, and joined the Navy Command.

He and his father, with whom he thought he would never reconcile in this life, sat at the same table to eat every night.

Moreover, the old guy's attitude is getting kinder day by day, and now he will take the initiative to ask him about his work in the command department.

Well, it's quite difficult to adapt.

"Dad~" the little girl mumbled and rolled towards the man with her eyes closed. However, she couldn't get into his arms because of the quilt.

The boy frowned and kept mumbling. Chu Dai leaned over to listen but couldn't understand what his son was saying.

Just pull the man out from under the quilt and let him lie on top of you.

"What do you want?" the man asked, patting him on the back.

The little guy was still not awake after being tortured like this. He arched his butt, rubbed his head against the man's neck, and sniffed, "Daddy."