Chapter 89: First time spending the New Year in the army

Chen Xiaowei read the letter written by Sulan and liked this girl even more.

Sulan did not hide her family situation at all, including how much money she earned every month.

The whole family depends on a 20-year-old girl. Such a girl is hard to find in ten or eight towns.

The point is that the girl not only works to earn money, but also takes good care of her seriously ill father and young siblings at home. For this reason, Chen Xiaowei will not hesitate.

He needs such an independent partner in the army so that he can guard the borders of the motherland with peace of mind.

Chen Xiaowei is already looking forward to the family leave.

Ma Siqing noticed that Chen Xiaowei had also finished reading the letter, so she told Chen Xiaowei about Sulan's wish, hoping that he would give it serious consideration before replying to Sulan.

Chen Xiaowei did not hesitate at all:

"Sister-in-law, please help me, I think Sulan is a good match for me. She is a good girl and very capable. Although the family is in temporary difficulties, with my salary, our life will not be that difficult."

"Okay, when I write to her again after the New Year, I will tell her your idea. You can also write to her yourself, she should have left you the address."

"Well, she gave it to me."

"Then sister-in-law can only help me to this point, and you have to walk the road ahead by yourselves."

"She listens to you, so I hope sister-in-law will say more good things for me."

"Then don't let Sulan down, otherwise your brother Shiyu and I will be the first to not forgive you."

"I swear in the name of a soldier that I will treat Sulan well all my life!"

"Okay, sister-in-law promises you. Remember, no matter how busy you are, you must take time to write to Sulan."

"I'll write when I get back."

"Sulan is twenty years old this year. She is good-looking and has a job. Although there are many people in the family and few laborers, there are still many people who like her."

"She, she told you?"

"Well, there is a man pestering her now, and then she did something, I hope you can understand."

"What thing?"

"She said you are her target, so she persuaded the persistent man to back off."

"Really? Did Sulan really say that I am her target?"

Chen Xiaowei is really a simple-minded person. I don't know how he became the deputy political commissar.

"Aren't you angry? She used you as a shield."

"No, I'm glad I could help her. In this way, will no one bother her in the future?"

"For now, it's like this, but I don't know about the future! Unless you can walk around Danjiang with her, people will believe it."

"The Spring Festival holiday is not enough. The earliest I can go back is when I visit my relatives."

"It's okay. Give her the phone number. If she works the night shift, she can call you during the day. Sulan has a nice voice."

Chen Xiaowei took the letter Sulan wrote to him and went back to his home.

Before going to bed, Chen Xiaowei read the letter again, as well as the recent photo Sulan sent him.

The words on the letter were neatly written and the language was simple.

Chen Xiaowei felt that he had picked up a treasure.

He picked up a pen to write a letter to Sulan, and wrote until late at night. Then he fell asleep with Sulan's letter as a pillow.

Ma Siqing told Chen Xiaowei about her pregnancy.

She had been here for two months, and only Aunt Feng was close to her.

But Aunt Feng was not feeling well recently. Ma Siqing went to visit her some time ago with a bag of sugar and six eggs.

Aunt Feng said that it was the root cause of the disease when she gave birth to Mao Xiaowang. When the weather was cold, she would feel pain all over her body. She

just needed to rest more.

Mao Xiaowang had been a soldier in the army for ten years. His family was poor and he had no wife. He

was finally promoted to company commander, and it was not easy for him to find a wife as he had been in the army for a long time. If he could hold on

for another two years, be demobilized and return to the local area, and have a job, it should not be a problem for him to find a local marriage.

Ma Siqing didn't tell Aunt Feng about her pregnancy, to avoid her thinking about Ma Siqing and sending her gifts.

Sometimes Ma Siqing would send a few steamed buns to Aunt Feng.

She didn't dare to send them often, nor did she dare to send too much.

This era was too difficult.

The New Year was coming soon, and every household was preparing for the New Year.

Ma Siqing was no exception. According to the custom in Northeast China, preparing for the New Year starts with steaming dry grains.

Ma Siqing used a large enamel basin to mix white flour and yellow rice flour, then covered it with another basin, put it on the kang, and covered it with a quilt to ferment.

Tong Shiyu took Ma Siqing to the army's clinic. The health worker asked Ma Siqing about her specific situation and, based on her recent physical reactions, confirmed that she was pregnant. He asked her to go home and have a good rest, but also to pay attention to proper exercise.

Since the sanitation worker confirmed that Ma Siqing was pregnant, Tong Shiyu was always needed to do the housework. Ma Siqing could not use yeast to make

the dough, so she had to use the most primitive method. After the dough was fermented, it was made into steamed buns. In the weather in the northeast, steamed buns can be stored for a long time.

Then it was time to make sticky bean buns.

To make bean buns, soak the beans first, put them in a large pot to cook, and use a bean pestle to mash them in the hot pot. Mix the bean paste and bean skin together and scoop them into a large bowl.

When it is slightly cooler, use your hands to squeeze them into round bean fillings and arrange them neatly in a bowl.

White sugar is added to the bean fillings.

Ma Siqing remembered that in her previous life, when she was at the Lin family making sticky bean buns, Zhang Xiao'e used saccharin instead of white sugar to save money.

It was not until later that I realized that saccharin was unhealthy, but at that time, I felt that life was good when I could eat sweets, so I didn't care whether it was healthy or not.

Soon, it was New Year's Eve.

The soldiers in the camp gathered in the canteen to celebrate the New Year, and those who had families spent the New Year with their families at home.

Chen Xiaowei came to Ma Siqing's house, and Zhong Guofan also came over.

Ma Siqing cut bright red window paper-cuts, and Chen Xiaowei shouted that he wanted a few too.

Tong Shiyu was not happy: "You cut it yourself, don't tire my wife and the baby in her belly."

Zhong Guofan only then knew that Tong Shiyu was about to become a father, and hurriedly sent his blessings, saying that he would give his eldest nephew a big gift during the full moon banquet.

Because he wanted to nourish Ma Siqing, Tong Shiyu bought a chicken from a nearby group of people yesterday.

The men who became fathers in the army said that chicken soup nourishes the body, and Tong Shiyu wrote down their experiences in a notebook.

When stewing the chicken soup, two red dates were sprinkled.

In addition to chicken soup, Tong Shiyu also stewed pork and steamed a carp.

The four of them wrapped the dumplings, cooked them in a pot, and served them on the table while chatting and laughing.

On the kang table were steamed buns, two-grain rice, sticky bean curd, candies bought from the supply and marketing cooperative, frozen pears made by Ma Siqing herself, chicken soup, fish, and stewed potatoes. It was a relatively abundant year.

Chen Xiaowei praised Tong Shiyu repeatedly, saying that Tong Shiyu's cooking skills had improved by leaps and bounds after he got married.

He lamented that having a wife could make a person progress, and he also wanted to go back and get married soon.

Zhong Guofan teased him: "Deputy Political Commissar, your wife is not even a baby yet, unlike the regiment commander, who is already pregnant with a baby."

"Hehe, I have a partner. I will get married after the New Year's visit to my family."

"Oh, you are just dreaming!"

"Believe it or not, my wife is my sister-in-law's good sister. She is as beautiful as my sister-in-law and very capable." Chen Xiaowei couldn't help showing off.

Chen Xiaowei wrote a long letter to Sulan that night.

Hearing his comrades say that money can be put in the letter, he stuffed a few oil coupons.

Zhong Guofan asked Ma Siqing for confirmation, and Ma Siqing nodded.

"Sister-in-law, I'm single too, do you have any sisters?"

"No, haha, sister-in-law has only one good sister, and I caught up with her."

"Look at how you brag, I will also have a capable wife, sister-in-law, please keep an eye out for me!"

The room was filled with laughter.