Chapter 2 Old Hetou

Qin Lai Di, who had just woken up, almost vomited blood.

Qin Guihua was also struck by a bolt from the blue.

It was true that the two PLA soldiers who saved her granddaughter at that time were one of them was the third son of the Zhao family, but she hadn’t seen Zhao Qingsong for many years. She saw a young man in military uniform standing in the Zhao family yard from a distance…

Who could have thought that the person she was crying and making a fuss about was not the real person!

Zhao Qingsong had such good conditions. If she hadn't fallen into the water, she would not have dared to think about it. But his former comrade-in-arms... Qin Guihua suddenly felt her eyes go dark. The young man retired from the army and worked as a worker in Haicheng. The two words "keywords" made her ears hurt.

Widow Liu next door seemed to be afraid that it was not exciting enough, so she continued to exaggerate, "Oh, you don't know, I heard that this boy's family is very well-off, and he is from Beijing!"

Qin Guihua felt that the scene in front of her eyes was not so dark anymore.

"But, if such a good thing really happened, it wouldn't be the turn of the poor family in Wulitun, right? I heard that his parents were sent to the Great Northern Wilderness, and they probably won't be able to return in the future..."

Qin Guihua's eyes darkened. She knew that there were still a few people living in the cowshed of the Wulitun Production Team. But what kind of place is the Great Northern Wilderness? So many people went there and died on the black soil!

Qin Laidie in the room heard something wrong. Among Zhao Qingsong's comrades-in-arms, it seemed that only one of them had both parents sent to the Great Northern Wilderness.

Widow Liu narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you may not know this, but that young man surnamed He was very promising. He was a communications soldier in the army, specializing in communications and catching spies. Do you know why he retired?"

"Why?"

Qin Guihua couldn't help but sit up straight.

"I heard that he has a lame leg."

Everyone cried out in surprise, "Ah!" Those who work in the fields know that being poor and suffering is okay, but if you are disabled, you will go hungry.

"Oh, Auntie Qin, you really made a mistake this time. Although your daughter Lai Di has a hot temper and is more difficult to marry than other girls, you can't just hold on to a cripple and not let him go..."

"Your family is the only one marrying a cripple. Your whole family is marrying cripples!" Qin Guihua didn't grasp the point and immediately started arguing with others.

For a while, the Qin family's small courtyard was filled with noise and gossip. Qin Lai Di's heart skipped a beat. If her parents were sent to the Great Northern Wilderness just now, it was just a coincidence. Then why was she born as a signalman, had a surname of He, and had injured legs and feet...

All clues point to the same person - Lao He, the next-door neighbor.

In the eyes of everyone in Lenghe Town, Lao Hetou is a genius.

Lao Hetou's full name is He Liansheng. He was originally a native of Beijing. With the cultural level of a junior high school graduate, he was specially recruited into the army. He started as a communications soldier at the most basic level. With his extraordinary talent and courage, he became the commander of an independent communications company of a certain security force... If he had not been injured in a mission, he would not have been transferred to Haicheng Wireless Factory No. 2 as a technician.

If an ordinary person would have lived like this all his life, he might even be able to become a workshop manager after retirement. However, He Liansheng was different. No matter where he was, he was unwilling to give up learning. With the natural advantages of the radio factory, he taught himself a complete set of radio textbooks, learned English and German, and helped the technical personnel in the factory translate the latest literature and materials in the field of foreign radio. Before long, he had mastered a lot of professional knowledge.

Those who are more professional than him are not as good at foreign languages ​​as him.

There are people who are better at foreign languages ​​than him, but not as professional as him.

Later, because of his solid professional skills and excellent foreign language translation ability, he was transferred to the 412 Radio Factory in Lenghe Town, Shilan Province. Under Zhao Qingsong's countless envy, he was promoted and reused many times, and was trained to become a senior engineer many years later.

You know, in the twenty years since the founding of the New Dragon State, the radio field has been in a passive situation of being blocked, and 412 has been a key target of encirclement and suppression because of its outstanding contribution to the military industry. He is a soldier with only a junior high school education, but he can stand out in such a unit, develop multiple patents, and become a well-known expert in the entire field. He relies not only on talent, but also on efforts that are dozens of times greater than those of ordinary people!

Qin Lai Di remembered that when she got up early in the morning to fetch water, he had already returned from exercise with dew all over his body; at night, the lights next door were never turned off before two in the morning... Every time they met, he would nod politely, then move aside to let her pass first.

Silent, polite, and warmhearted, this is Lai Di's impression of Lao He, the neighbor next door. In those years, Zhao Qingsong was always away on missions and was away from home all year round. The stepchildren were still young, so whenever they had any difficulties, they would habitually ask Lao He (Uncle He) for help.

No matter how small the problem was, such as a broken light bulb, an exploded thermos or a clogged toilet, Qin Laidie had to trouble Lao He for help until she learned how to fix it herself.

There were a few years when it rained a lot and the roof of their house was damaged. Seeing that the weather was not good, Lao He quickly asked someone to take over and rode back on his bike to repair the roof for them. He used washbasins and rice bowls to collect the leaking rainwater for them and even gave them his house keys and let them stay in his house for a few days. He ate and slept alone at the unit.

Such a good person and good neighbor, even Zhao Haiyang said that Uncle He is more like their father than their own father.

She originally thought that their contact would stop forever after Zhao Qingsong moved his family away from Lenghe Town, until she was kicked out by Zhao Haiyang and left with no one to rely on, he appeared again.

This old neighbor traveled more than 3,000 kilometers by train, bus and taxi to find her homeless. He did not ask her what she had experienced, but silently helped her find a house to rent and buy pots and pans.

She didn't know how he was able to get news about her in such a short time. She hadn't been in contact with anyone in Lenghe Town for many years.

She also didn't know how he could recognize her at a glance in the crowd with his crippled leg and severe myopia.

Not wanting her to feel pitied, he even helped her find a handicraft job that could barely make a living. She knitted some small things every day when the light was good, and could earn 700 to 800 yuan a month. From time to time, he also sent beef, mutton, fish and shrimp. Although she said that there were too many at home and they were not worth much money, Qin Lai Di had been a housewife for so many years and knew exactly what kind of things were on the market and what their prices were. How could such a recent production date be a gift from someone else that could not be eaten?

Lao Hetou told her not to lose heart, as the legal system was sound now and they would definitely help her get her house back. Even if she couldn't get the house back, they would still pay her the full amount of compensation she deserved.

However, what he didn't know was that when Zhao Qingsong was alive, he had transferred the property to Zhao Haiyang without her knowledge. Zhao Haiyang then sold the house to several people. How much could she get back if she really sued him?

Lao Hetou said that if he missed his neighbors in his former compound, he could go back to live with him in Lenghe Town. His house was empty anyway, so he could just go live with his friends to avoid suspicion.

However, Qin Lai Di knew that in an era when housing prices were so high, who would let others live in their house for free? He was just paying for the rent.

Lao Hetou also said that he remembered that she had once said that she liked pear trees, so he ran around all the neighborhoods in the city and specifically found a house with a big pear tree outside the window.

In fact, even Qin Lai Di herself didn’t remember whether she had said such an insignificant word, but the big green pear tree, with the breeze blowing gently, was like a beautiful girl dancing in the wind... She really liked it.

Qin Lai Di is not a fool.

She knew that no one in this world would be nice to another person for no reason, without any overstepping, and without asking for anything in return.

From a good neighbor who always responded to her requests when she was young to a benefactor who gave her a place to live in her old age, Lao He has always played a taciturn but reassuring role in her life. When she was young, she had hinted at him, either openly or secretly, but his answer was that he and Zhao Qingsong were good friends and neighbors, and it was natural for him to lend a hand.

After all, he had helped and taken care of every family in the entire family area.

Until the last three years of his life, he used all his retirement salary to take her to see doctors and have checkups. He would check wherever she felt pain and buy whatever magnetic therapy or hot compress she saw in TV commercials said was good for her high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. If he didn't know how to shop online, he would learn. If he didn't know how to use electronic payment, he would give the money to young people in the community and blushingly ask them to help pay for her... When Qin Laidie received a bunch of inexplicable health products, she did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Wherever there is adult love, there is money. She asked him the question again.

That day, Lao Hetou no longer avoided her gaze, but told her in his hoarse voice: Yes, I like Comrade Xiao Qin. I have liked you since the day I rescued you from the water. I am not taking advantage of you now because I really hope to spend the last twenty years of my life with you. If not twenty years, then eight or ten years would also be an honor. If you don't want to consider these things now, I can wait.

This was probably the longest sentence he had ever said to her in his life.

What shocked Qin Lai Di was not only his love for her, but also his long-lasting love for her. At that time, she was not pretty at all, was sick, penniless, and was like a bereaved dog; while he was an ageless star in the domestic wireless communication field, and was often respectfully called "He Lao".

That night, how did she answer him? She said she needed to think about it.

So, she thought about it carefully for a whole night, planning to give him an answer the next day... However, as fate would have it, when she woke up, she became the 18-year-old Qin Lai Di.

Then, Qin Guihua, who was beating her chest and stamping her feet in regret, heard a crisp voice saying, "Grandma, I agree. Let's go get the certificate today."

To be honest, in the beginning of her last life, she didn’t know whether she was rescued by Zhao Qingsong or He Liansheng. She had been struggling in the water for too long. She only remembered that a man in military uniform jumped into the river, held her, brought her to the shore, and then she fainted.

When I woke up again, my grandmother pushed and indoctrinated me, and I reluctantly went to get a marriage certificate with Zhao Qingsong.

But on the night when Lao Hetou confessed his love to her, he told her clearly that it was he who saved her.

Because the Qin family forced Zhao Qingsong to marry, he buried this secret in his heart for the rest of his life.

At that time, grandma was very happy about the successful "forced marriage", but she didn't know that Zhao Qingsong was also taking advantage of the situation and identified her as the most suitable candidate for succession.

At this moment, Qin Guihua was not as excited as she was in her previous life. Instead, she looked at her third child cautiously, "Laidi, you are not confused because you fell into the water, are you? You also heard what the aunts said just now... Although my reputation is a bit bad, getting married is a major event in one's life, and we can't be careless..."

Lai Di's face was firm, "I'm not confused." Marrying Lao He was something she should have agreed to before she died in her previous life.

Seeing her determination, Qin Guihua thought she was embarrassed because she had lost her reputation, and immediately regretted it: "It's all your fault for being blind. I'm so sorry for you!"

Lai Di held her grandmother's skinny old hand. She wanted to hug her grandmother and spin around to feel the lost family affection that was regained.

"I think that young man has a cold temper, and I'm afraid you won't be happy in the future." Qin Guihua was still persuading her. Which girl doesn't want to marry a husband who understands her feelings? That young man is just like a piece of wood.

Lai Di thought of the old man wearing reading glasses who would call the TV shopping channel for consultation and write down a few words in his notebook after each question. She smiled and narrowed her eyes, "Whether you are considerate or not is something you learn from your life."

Without saying anything else, just get the certificate and mark it.