Bonnie and Liu Jiu'er enjoyed a delicious meal of mackerel dumplings, then carried half a basket of apples and a few mackerel. The mother and daughter happily went home.
"Baoni, you've gone back to your parents' house again?"
"Sister-in-law, have you finished eating? Liu Jiu wanted to eat the dumplings his grandma made, so we went back and had a meal there."
"You're so lucky. Your parents' home is right here, you can just walk back and be treated like royalty. Unlike us, whose parents' homes are far away. Once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a cup, and no one welcomes her when she goes home!"
Bonnie knew that Sister-in-law Huang was just sighing. Her family favored boys over girls and she would often write letters to complain, asking Bonnie to help out her brothers and nephews.
Bonnie smiled but didn't reply. She couldn't say that; no matter how bad it was, they were still their family.
After eating and drinking to her heart's content, Liu Jiu started yawning. She's really like a little pig; she wants to sleep as soon as she's full.
Bonnie washed Liu Jiu's hands and face, then made her rinse her mouth, took off her clothes, and lay her down on the mattress. Soon after, she heard snoring.
Bonnie picked up some of the apples she had brought back and put them in the basket. She also put the mackerel she had brought back from her parents' home into a basin and then into the basket. She would take it to Zhao Yuan in a little while.
Days passed by, and Gu Ye hadn't returned for over two months; the leaves on the trees had all turned yellow.
Bonnie's autumn vegetables have grown quite large; they'll be ready to be harvested in a few days: cabbage, radishes, spinach, scallions...
The National Day holiday is over, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is over too. Bonnie doesn't know how long it will be before Gu Ye comes back. She's already getting used to life without Gu Ye.
The weather's nice today, so Bonnie plans to check out her secret hideout and catch some abalone and sea cucumbers—they're at their fattest now. She'll dry them and send them to her sister-in-law and the others. She just sent Liu Jiu a big package a while ago; it had food, supplies, and clothes—Bonnie doesn't need to prepare anything extra, right?
Leaving Liu Jiu with Grandma, Bonnie rode her bicycle to her secret hideout.
After changing into her swimsuit, Bonnie first went to check on her seaweed. The three surviving seaweed seedlings on the rope were growing quite well. Each seedling was about a meter long, with a thick root. It seemed that under the current conditions, seaweed cultivation was a viable option.
Bonnie circled the three seaweed seedling ropes, found no diseased ones, and swam back upstream.
Returning to her secret base, nothing had changed; her hidden items were still there, dry and undamaged.
Bonnie sat on the rock for a while to rest, then began scooping sea cucumbers and abalone into her basket. This large cave was somewhat like Bonnie's private farm, filled with densely packed, plump sea cucumbers and abalone.
Bonnie picked the bigger ones and even found a few two-headed abalone. Before long, she had filled a basket with them and even caught two octopuses.
Bonnie, carrying a basket full of her bounty, returned to her parents' home. She still needed her grandmother and mother to help process the abalone and sea cucumbers into dried goods.
"Grandpa, you're back?"
As soon as Bonnie entered the courtyard, she saw her grandfather sitting there weaving bamboo baskets.
"You're back. Everything's alright now. The fishing boats are almost all repaired. Your father can stay here."
"Grandpa, what are you making? It's so small."
"The small baskets we made for us in '69 are too big; we can't carry them."
Grandpa Lin smiled, his face full of wrinkles, his hands never stopping as he knitted; Liu Jiu was still waiting to memorize it.
Well, it's 69 again. Bonnie is speechless.
When her mother and grandmother came out and saw that Bonnie had brought back such a basket of good stuff, they quickly helped her take it to the kitchen to process it.
It took the three of them over an hour to process the abalone and sea cucumbers; they would need some time to dry completely. Bonnie kept some fresh abalone and sea cucumbers for Grandma and the others to eat that evening, and picked some more to take home, planning to make porridge for the next morning.
Bonnie and Liu Jiu ate dinner before going home. When they got home, they kept the abalone and sea cucumber in the kitchen while the mother and daughter digested their food in the yard.
Unbeknownst to the mother and daughter, Gu Ye was already on his way home.
Gu Ye arrived on the island in the afternoon and did some handover at the military base. He hadn't even tidied himself up yet. After being away for three months, he was unshaven and his hair had grown long, making him look like a wild man.
"Battalion Commander Gu, stop packing and hurry home. Your Baoni has been missing you so much that she cried all night, and her eyes were swollen the next day. You've been gone for so long, go back and check on her. I wonder if your Liujiu even recognizes you anymore?"
"Yes, stop tidying up and go home quickly, so your Bonnie won't cry again tonight."
"Ha ha……"
Listening to his comrades' chatter, Gu Ye wondered, "Are they talking about my Bao Ni? When has my Bao Ni ever cried? Could it be that she really misses me because I've been gone for so long?" Gu Ye lost all interest in packing and hurried home with his luggage.
Who are you?
Liu Jiu, who was digesting her food in the yard, looked up and saw a stranger standing at the door.
"Liu Jiu, it's me, your dad! Don't you recognize your dad?"
Gu Ye was stunned; his daughter didn't recognize him.
"Liar! Mom has a bad guy in her life!"
Liu Jiu shouted into the house, startling Bonnie.
Bonnie rushed out of the house in a panic. When she saw Gu Ye standing at the door, looking like a wild man, she didn't know what to say.
"Which primeval forest did you run into? Why didn't you pack up before coming back? No wonder Liu Jiu didn't recognize you. I almost didn't recognize you either."
Seeing Gu Ye's bewildered expression, Bao Ni couldn't help but burst out laughing. It really had been a long time.
Bonnie walked over, took Gu Ye's luggage, and told him to hurry up and wash up.
Liu Jiu followed behind her mother, peeking curiously at the stranger. Was he really her father? Why did he look so different? Little Liu Jiu was filled with questions.
Gu Ye reluctantly went into the bathroom, tidied himself up, shaved, and planned to have his comrade at the military base cut his hair tomorrow.
"Gu Ye, would you like me to make you some seafood noodles?"
"Okay, as long as there's food, that's fine."
Bonnie cleaned the abalone and sea cucumber she had raised in the water, sliced them, and made a pot of hot seafood noodles. Gu Ye came out just in time to season it.
Even after shaving, Gu Ye still seemed like a stranger to Liu Jiu.
Bonnie looked at Gu Ye, who had lost over ten pounds. His face was practically skinny, and his skin was peeling from the sun. His hair was so thin it could be braided. No wonder Liu Jiu didn't recognize her father. She wondered what kind of mission he'd been on these past few months; he must have suffered a lot.
Bonnie held Liu Jiu in her arms and watched Gu Ye finish the whole pot of seafood noodles. For some reason, she suddenly felt like crying.
"You really miss me so much you cry, huh?"
Gu Ye looked up and saw Bao Ni's tears. He made a joke, but he also felt bad.
"Dream on. Hurry up and eat, then go to sleep. You're so skinny you're unrecognizable."
Bonnie carried Liu Jiu into the house, unaware of the deep affection in Gu Ye's eyes.
That night, lying on his own kang (heated brick bed), with Bao Ni and Liu Jiu beside him, Gu Ye slept very soundly.
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