The first thing Gu Ye did after arriving at work was to call his brother and tell him that he had another son, Sanqi.
"Brother, I have another child, this time a boy. Now I have both a son and a daughter!"
"Are you happy? What's the child's name?"
Gu Ze could hear the joy in Gu Ye's voice on the other end of the phone; he could feel the genuine happiness his younger brother felt.
"He hasn't been given a formal name yet; his nickname is Sanqi."
"What? Panax notoginseng? Who got it?"
Gu Ze asked three questions in a row, unable to believe that his nephew had come up with a name for a medicine.
"He weighed 7.3 pounds at birth. Liu Jiu felt that his younger brother should have the same name as him, so he named him Sanqi. It sounds better than Jiu Liu, right?"
"Haha... Liu Jiu is so cute, your sister-in-law is so envious."
Gu Ye also thought his daughter Liu Jiu was super cute, and no one else's daughter could compare to her.
After hanging up with his brother, he called his grandfather to tell him that he had a new son, but they hadn't named him yet.
"Okay, let me think about it. A name that has all four elements is better than a name that has three or seven elements."
Grandpa Gu was speechless. Why did he have to name the child after a medicine?
Gu Ye didn't care anymore; his grandfather was very free, so he could find him something to do.
After showing off, Gu Ye was ready to get down to business.
The messenger also reported that the division commander had called a meeting and asked all regimental commanders and political commissars to go to the main conference room.
Gu Ye straightened his clothes and military cap and went to the meeting.
Bonnie stayed home with her two children, and there wasn't much to do this season. Like other military wives, she didn't know how to make clothes, sew shoe soles, or knit sweaters.
"Mom, I'm going to play."
Liu Jiu couldn't stay at home anymore and wanted to go out and play.
Where are you going? Who are you going to play with?
In September, Da Bao and Bai Song both went to school, and Liu Jiu was less willing to play house or play with dolls with Bai Yang.
"I'm going to find Tiger and the others to play a game of fighting the Japanese devils. They're in the sandpit on the playground."
Liu Jiu loved playing games of fighting the Japanese invaders, especially charging into battle and attacking hilltops. Despite her young age, she was quite skilled, and many children liked to team up with her, as they had a high chance of winning.
"Go ahead, but don't leave the residential compound. When you play with your friends, be careful not to use too much force."
"Okay, Sanqi, I'm leaving now. When you grow up, I'll take you to claim territory."
Liu Jiu ran out, and Bao Ni looked at San Qi on the kang (a heated brick bed). When would she be able to walk and run? She hadn't done anything all year, not even seaweed. Bao Ni and San Qi stared at each other, both of them bored out of their minds.
"Pfft pfft..."
Sanqi let out a series of farts at her mother; was she about to poop? It truly lived up to the saying, "Thunder precedes rain, and farts precede poop." Before Bonnie could finish her exclamation, a sour, stinky smell wafted out. Well, more work to do; she couldn't stay idle.
After cleaning Sanqi's bottom and changing her diaper, Bonnie quickly washed the ring, otherwise it wouldn't be clean. By the time Bonnie finished, Sanqi had fallen asleep again.
Bonnie wandered around the yard, chopped up a pile of wood, and pulled up the weeds. She threw the pulled weeds into the chicken coop for the chicks to scratch for. Looking at her only two hens, Bonnie planned to raise two more.
It's late 1969 now, the most frenzied period is over. Ordinary people can't get into their island family compound, so raising a few more chickens isn't a big deal. If the officials don't report it, the people won't investigate; otherwise, what would the two children eat?
Liu Jiu is strong and eats a lot. San Qi, so far, hasn't inherited his strength, but as boys grow older, their appetites are quite large. The saying "a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home" has some basis in fact.
While tidying up and fixing things, time passed quickly. Inside, Sanqi woke up and started yelling, "Ah ah!" Was she hungry or had she wet herself?
Bonnie washed her hands and went inside to check on Sanqi; if too much time passed, he'd start to cry. Sanqi didn't cry much; he'd usually let out a few cries first to let you know something was wrong. If no one came after a few minutes, he'd burst into tears.
Bonnie first touched the ring under her buttocks; the warm, wet touch confirmed it, and then she peed.
After changing her diaper, I picked her up; Sanqi wanted to nurse. Before I could even undress her, she was already grabbing at it impatiently. The little one is quite impatient; in another month, when she can roll over, she won't look so cute anymore.
Back in 1969, we lined the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with cotton quilts, just in case she rolled off.
Just after I finished feeding the Panax notoginseng, I heard crying again from outside.
"Mommy Liu Jiu, your Liu Jiu hits people, it hurts so much, waaaah... boohoo..."
Liu Jiu couldn't recognize whose voice it was, so he put Sanqi on the kang (a heated brick bed) and quickly went out to check.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Four or five little boys came into the yard. The one in the lead was about five or six years old, and another was crying loudly. Bonnie couldn't recognize all of them. Two of them looked familiar; they seemed to be from the Third Regiment.
“Auntie, we were playing with Liu Jiu. When we were attacking the hilltop, Liu Jiu pushed Da Zhuang down with all his might. He hurt himself and kept crying. We didn’t know what to do, so we came to you.”
Bonnie quickly squatted down and carefully checked for any bumps or scratches.
"Where does it hurt? Tell Auntie where it hurts."
"Hiccup... Waaah... My butt hurts, waaah..."
Bonnie pulled down the little guy's pants and found a bruise on his bottom, probably from hitting a pebble on the ground.
Bonnie found the medicinal wine at home, which she had used since she was a child and was still using now at 69. It was a prescription given by a doctor in the past, which her grandfather bought Chinese medicine to make himself. It worked very well, and Gu Ye and the others would sometimes use it when they got injured during training.
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