After waving his hand, Li Mingcheng walked away quickly and disappeared from their sight in a short while.

Aunt Fang was still saying, "There are so many kind-hearted people out there."

Just then, the No. 13 bus arrived. Lin Manman helped Aunt Fang and the mother and daughter got on the bus. There was an empty seat on the bus. After about 20 minutes, they arrived at the station. The two followed the route Li Mingcheng had given them and arrived at the pier a dozen minutes later.

When they went to buy the boat tickets, Aunt Fang told Lin Manman that they would ask if there were any soldiers coming to pick them up.

It's better to be safe than sorry. Maybe he's waiting for them at the pier. But after searching for a while, they couldn't find the soldier. When buying the ticket, Aunt Fang told the ticket seller again.

The ticket seller glanced at them and called the island.

After the call, I asked them to wait for a while. After all, the next boat was still two hours away, so there was no rush. About half an hour later, the phone rang again.

The young comrade answered the phone and handed it to Aunt Fang.

Aunt Fang heard Li Chengxi's voice on the phone: "Aunt Fang, this is Li Chengxi. You and Manman will take the boat to the island first. A Tao and I will pick you up at the dock."

"Okay, sure." Aunt Fang agreed and hung up the phone without saying anything else.

The young comrade said to them, "Captain Li sent someone to pick you up, but he probably missed you somewhere. You guys go to the island by boat first, and when we meet him, we'll explain the situation to him and tell others that we've arrived."

It just happened that we missed it.

However, when Aunt Fang heard what the young comrade said, she felt relieved.

The boat ride took more than two hours. Fortunately, the sea was calm today, much better than the day Lin Tao went to the island.

Lin Manman was fine and didn't suffer from seasickness. But Aunt Fang was older and prone to seasickness, and she vomited on the boat.

The boat gradually arrived at the dock. Lin Manman supported Aunt Fang and looked out the window: "Mom, is that Sister Tao? The one standing next to her is my brother-in-law. Sister Tao's belly is really as big as the letter said. It looks like she is carrying twins."

Aunt Fang was a little depressed at first, but when she heard Lin Tao, she quickly looked out the window. As expected, she saw Lin Tao and Li Chengxi standing side by side on the dock, looking at them.

It's just that they were on the boat and could see Lin Tao through the window, but Lin Tao couldn't see them.

Lin Manman helped Aunt Fang outside and waved.

Lin Tao only then saw the two of them. A smile broke out on her face. She pulled Li Chengxi's sleeve and pointed at Aunt Fang and Lin Manman, just like her reaction when she saw Lin Changhai go to the island.

"Chengxi, look, it's Aunt Fang and Manman."

Li Chengxi smiled. Seeing Lin Tao like this was like seeing the time when they first met. He couldn't help wanting to reach out and touch the top of her head, but there were so many people at the pier that he didn't actually take action.

The boat stopped at the shore. As soon as Aunt Fang and Lin Manman got off the boat, Lin Tao walked over to support Aunt Fang and said, "Aunt Fang, you must be seasick. You've worked hard on this journey. Let's get in the car first."

Lin Manman nodded: "Yes, my mother is seasick."

Aunt Fang waved her hands and said, "It's okay, it's not that serious."

Li Chengxi took the package and put it in the trunk. Lin Tao and Lin Manman helped Aunt Fang get into the car. Lin Tao opened all the windows so that the wind would blow in and make it feel better.

When they got home, Lin Tao asked Aunt Fang to go to bed and have some rest.

After working so hard for so long, she was not as young as Lin Manman and was indeed tired. She didn't say anything and went to rest first.

"Manman, are you hungry? We have steamed buns at home. I'll get them for you." Lin Tao took Lin Manman to wash her face and hands.

I didn't have a good wash on the train, so I washed my face here and felt much more refreshed. Lin Manman shook her head and said, "We ate some dry food on the way, so we're not hungry."

"Sister Tao, your place is so nice and beautiful." Lin Manman was too embarrassed to say much in front of Li Chengxi when they were in the car. Now that she and Lin Tao were alone, she started to talk.

"The yard is so big, and there are flowers planted, it's really beautiful. The sea is also beautiful. It's my first time to see the sea. The sea is vast and the waves are endless. The sea reflects the blue sky, and it's really hard to tell which is the sea and which is the sky. When I read books before, I saw the smell of the sea in the books, but I couldn't imagine what the sea smelled like at that time, but today I know."

"When I first came to the island, I was also shocked by the sea. I thought the sea was so beautiful. Even though I have lived on the island for more than a year, sometimes when I get up early and go out, I am still shocked when I see the misty sea." Lin Tao smiled, "What does it smell like?"

Lin Manman smiled and said, "I think it tastes similar to the seafood you sent me, salty and a little fishy."

Lin Tao was amused by Lin Manman's words, but when she thought about it, she realized that it was really the case.

Next, Lin Manman talked to Lin Tao about the children and the book she sent her last time.

"Sister Tao, your belly is so big, are you pregnant with twins?"

"That shouldn't be the case, everyone says so, but the doctor said there was only one fetal heartbeat."

"I really don't know whether it will be a boy or a girl, but the child you and your brother-in-law have, whether it's a boy or a girl, will definitely be beautiful."

"I actually want to have a daughter. When I first got pregnant, I thought it could be a boy or a girl. But as time went by, the more I wanted a daughter."

"I like girls, too. Girls are so cute. By the way, Sister Tao, have you read the books I sent you last time? One of them is about the stories of a few girls. I was particularly moved after reading it, and I even made comments on it. Did you see my comments?"

Lin Tao nodded: "I see, your opinions are getting more and more sharp now. You must have read a lot of books at home, right?"

Lin Manman smiled and said, "Well, I borrowed a few books from my classmate. She has a lot of books at home, but I have to read them at her house and can't take them back."

Lin Tao took Lin Manman to the bedroom and pointed at the bookcase and said, "The books here belong to your brother-in-law. Take any book you want. But some of the books are too professional. I don't know if you can understand them."

"So many." Lin Manman's eyes lit up, "I didn't expect my brother-in-law loves reading so much."

After listening to this, Lin Tao said proudly, "Your brother-in-law is a graduate of a military academy and a serious college student. You can't underestimate him. He can also read these English and Russian books."

While speaking, Lin Tao didn't realize that there was a hint of pride in her tone.

While the two were talking, Li Chengxi had already washed the sheets and hung them out in the yard. He walked over and said to Lin Tao, "A Tao, I have washed the sheets and hung them out. I have something to do in the group later. Please take good care of Aunt Fang and Manman. I should be back early today."

"Well, go ahead." Lin Tao nodded.

After Li Chengxi left, Lin Manman whispered, "Sister Tao, my brother-in-law is still at home washing the bedding. He is so nice."

"Manman, we used to live in a small place called Taohua Village, and all we saw were the people in the village, which greatly limited our vision. When we walk out of that small place called Taohua Village, we will find that the world is big, and not all men are like those in Taohua Village." Lin Tao said.

Although Lin Manman is already seventeen or eighteen years old, she has never been involved in a relationship between a man and a woman and does not understand these things.

After listening to Lin Tao's words, he nodded repeatedly.

Not long after Li Chengxi left, Aunt Fang woke up, washed her face, and came out. Not seeing Li Chengxi, she asked Lin Tao where he had gone.

Lin Tao explained it, and seeing that it was almost time, she started steaming the buns.

The buns were delicious, and since Aunt Fang and Lin Manman were both hungry, they each ate two buns.

After eating the buns, Aunt Fang walked into the yard to look at it. She said that the yard was well maintained. However, when she saw the dozen chickens in the yard, she asked cautiously, "You raise so many chickens, won't the Revolutionary Committee cut off your tails?"

Nowadays, it is not allowed to raise so many poultry outside. The maximum number of chickens and ducks is one or two. If there are more, you will be labeled as a capitalist.

Lin Tao knew that Aunt Fang was worried about them, but the atmosphere on the island was not that serious. Otherwise, Xu Yuting and Zhong Jing would not be able to teach at the school.

She shook her head and said, "Aunt Fang, no. The island is not as strict as outside, and everyone is like this. Cheng Qi bought these chickens at the beginning of this spring, saying that he planned to let me eat them while I was in confinement."

"Chengxi is so considerate." After hearing this, Aunt Fang took Lin Tao's hand and praised Li Chengxi.

He looked at Lin Tao again and said with a smile, "I haven't seen you for more than a year. You are fatter than before and smile more. You can tell at a glance that you are spoiled by Cheng Xi. You married a good man. You can't go wrong."

After saying that, he went back into the house to pack his luggage.

In the two bundles, one contained clothes for her and Lin Manman, and the other contained things for Lin Tao. Most of them were specialties from Xiangcheng, including tangerines, fried rice cakes, blood sausages...

Unexpectedly, Lin Tao also saw a stack of diapers inside.

Lin Tao said, "Aunt Fang, why did you prepare so many diapers? I have prepared all the diapers for the baby."

But Aunt Fang said, "This diaper is not for the baby, it's for you."

Lin Tao was a little confused, with surprise in her eyes; "Prepared for me?"

"Yeah." Aunt Fang smiled and said, "This is your first time giving birth, so you don't understand many things. When you are in confinement after giving birth, you will have dirty discharge just like menstruation. When Aunt Fang gave birth, no one taught me, so I suffered a lot. I can't let you suffer these losses again. I have to let you have a good confinement and take good care of your body."

Lin Tao felt warm in her heart when she heard this.

Looking at Aunt Fang in front of her, she held Aunt Fang's hand and said, "Aunt Fang, thank you, thank you so much."

Aunt Fang came from so far away to take care of her during her confinement. She really treats her like her own daughter.

"Silly child, why are you still saying thank you to me?" Aunt Fang reached out and tucked the loose hair at Lin Tao's temples behind her ears.

In the yard, Lin Manman was looking at the flowers. The gardenias were past their blooming period, but the irises were in full bloom, with many colors, including crimson, pink, and rose red.

After looking for a while, Lin Manman noticed that there was a little rabbit in the yard, so she hurried over to take a look.

I reached out and touched it. The rabbit was pregnant at this time and had a bad temper. It didn't let me touch it and raised its front paws to chase me away. Fortunately, Lin Manman retracted her hand quickly.

At this moment, a voice came from above Lin Manman's head: "Hey, you must be Teacher Lin's sister, you are so pretty, as fair as Teacher Lin!"

It was Chen Shuifen. She had dried some radishes on the roof and was about to take them, but as soon as she climbed up the ladder, she saw Lin Manman in the yard.

Lin Manman didn't know Chen Shuifen, and her face turned red when she was praised. She replied in a low voice, "Yeah."

Chen Shuifen smiled and went to work, while Lin Manman went into the house.

Lin Tao and Aunt Fang had almost finished packing their things. When they saw Lin Manman coming in with a red face, they asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Manman told Lin Tao what had just happened.

Lin Tao laughed out loud and said, "That's the sister-in-law next door. She's a very nice person, but a little too familiar. Wait, she knows we have guests, and she will definitely send something over."

Speak of the devil, and he appears. Not long after Lin Tao finished speaking, Chen Shuifen came over.

She actually brought some gifts, which were some freshly dried radishes and some cakes she had baked. She generously let Aunt Fang and Lin Manman taste them.

However, they had just finished eating buns and couldn't eat anything for the time being, so they shared one between the two of them.

Pancakes are Chen Shuifen’s specialty, and they taste really good. Aunt Fang and Lin Manman both thought they were delicious.

When Chen Shuifen left, Aunt Fang stuffed a few tangerines into her pocket, saying they were a specialty of Xiangcheng and asked her to take them back and taste them.

When Lin Tao left Xiangcheng last year, the tangerines were not yet ripe. It had been two years since she had eaten tangerines from her hometown.

Aunt Fang knew that she would definitely miss this, so she took the trouble to bring more than 20 kilograms of food. She was afraid that it would be accidentally squeezed on the road, so she wrapped it with straw, so that it would not be easily squeezed or damaged.

Lin Tao brought over a small basket to put the tangerines in. There were about twenty pounds of tangerines filling the basket.

Aunt Fang picked the best-looking one and handed it to Lin Tao: "Take one and try it. See if it still tastes the same as before."

Lin Tao took the tangerine, peeled it, and put a slice into her mouth. The tangerine tasted sweet with a hint of sourness and was juicy, exactly the same as she remembered.

Lin Tao's eyes turned red, and a surge of emotion surged in her chest. She suppressed the urge to cry for a long time.

She was really afraid that she would cry in front of Aunt Fang. It was a good thing that Aunt Fang came, but why did she start crying as soon as she got here?

But when she thought about how Aunt Fang had gone through so much trouble to come across the ocean with such a heavy bag on her back just so that she could eat the tangerines from her hometown, she felt both touched and sad.

"Are they delicious?" Aunt Fang asked with a smile, "These tangerines are picked from the tree you said grows the sweetest tangerines. I know you like them."

Aunt Fang's family planted several tangerine trees. Lin Tao especially liked to eat tangerines from one of the trees. She always felt that the tangerines from that tree were sweeter than those from the other trees.

Aunt Fang kept all these things in mind.

"It's delicious, really delicious." Lin Tao nodded, and the tangerine in her mouth seemed to be even sweeter.

Lin Manman said, "Sister Tao, my mother loves you so much. When I was at home, I wanted to eat the tangerines from this tree, but she wouldn't let me, saying that you loved them and she wanted to save them for you."

Aunt Fang glanced at her and said angrily, "You kid, you're even jealous of your sister. Your sister married far away and doesn't usually get to eat the food from her hometown. If you want to eat, you can eat it anytime."

Lin Manman smiled and wrinkled her nose: "Mom, I'm just joking. How could I be jealous of Sister Tao?"

Lin Manman took Lin Tao's arm and shook it.

In fact, her movements were quite gentle. In the past, the two of them were also so close. They grew up together, and Lin Manman treated Lin Tao as her own sister.

But this action made Aunt Fang very worried, and she quickly said, "Let go of your sister. Your sister is pregnant and about to give birth. She is heavy. Don't let her fall accidentally, or it will be troublesome."

Lin Manman was so scared that she quickly let go of Lin Tao, and brought a chair over for Lin Tao to sit on.

Seeing how nervous the two were, Lin Tao smiled and said, "Aunt Fang, it's not that exaggerated."

Aunt Fang said, "It won't be long before the baby is born, so it's better to be cautious. Giving birth is a matter of life and death for women."

What Aunt Fang hadn't said yet was that Tao Rong, Lin Tao's mother, was careless at the time, which led to her falling and death. Fortunately, she used her last breath to protect Lin Tao.

But she couldn't say this. If she did, it would bring up Lin Tao's sadness.

Lin Tao felt that what Aunt Fang said made sense, so she also sat on the chair, no longer daring to be indifferent as before.

Aunt Fang packed up all the things and hung the blood sausage in the kitchen. The fried glutinous rice cakes need to be heated up before they taste good, so they are put aside first.

She and Lin Manman's clothes were also placed in the small closet in the guest room.

Lin Tao poured a glass of water for Aunt Fang and Lin Manman, and asked them to sit down and rest. They had just arrived and were busy packing things, and had not had time to talk about family matters, so they finally had some time.

Lin Tao asked about the situation at home, and Aunt Fang said everything was fine.

Then she mentioned the book that Lin Tao had given to Lin Manman. Aunt Fang held Lin Tao's hand and said angrily, "You are such a brave child. You actually hid so much money and notes in the book. You weren't afraid that Manman wouldn't know and accidentally dropped them on the way back. I counted them. There are a total of 80 yuan. They are all here."

As he said this, he wanted to return it to Lin Tao.

Lin Tao frowned and acted unhappy, refusing to take it: "Aunt Fang, what are you doing? I put it in the book because I was afraid you wouldn't want it if I gave it to you. I have remembered all your kindness to me over the years. I have no way to repay your kindness over the years. You said you treat me as your own daughter, so you should treat me as your daughter honoring you."

As she spoke, Lin Tao looked at Lin Manman: "If Manman gave you money, would you refuse it? After all, Aunt Fang still doesn't treat me as her own daughter. In Aunt Fang's heart, there is still a difference between Manman and me."

This touched Aunt Fang's heart, and she quickly explained: "How can this be? Aunt Fang really treats you as her own daughter, but this money..."

"Then just take the money." Lin Tao said.

Aunt Fang sighed and had to put the money away.

Lin Tao asked again about what Aunt Fang said in her letter last time: "Aunt Fang, last time you wrote to me, you said that Manman had encountered some problems. What was it?"

Aunt Fang then told the whole story:

It turned out that after the school was closed, Lin Manman had nothing to do at home. It happened that the medical school in the city was still open, so Aunt Fang sent Lin Manman to study there for a year. It happened that the pharmaceutical factory was recruiting workers a while ago, so Lin Manman decided to give it a try to see if she could get into the pharmaceutical factory. Unexpectedly, when she went to take the exam, she was spotted by the son of the director of the pharmaceutical factory, who pestered Lin Manman to date him.

That man was lazy and didn't look like a good person. In fact, even if he was a good person, he couldn't force love. Lin Manman had clearly rejected him, but he still insisted and even said that if Lin Manman didn't agree to be his partner, he would not let her enter the pharmaceutical factory.

Later, the test results came out, and Lin Manman really didn't pass. But it was unknown whether she really didn't pass, or passed but was ruined by that person.

But what Lin Manman can be sure of is that she could answer most of the questions on the test that day. Even a classmate of hers who usually did not perform as well as her passed the test, but she did not. There was a high probability that she had some bad luck.

Aunt Fang sighed when she said this: "The pharmaceutical factory only recruits workers once every three years. I thought Manman was lucky and caught up. If she had been hired, she would have been a worker. Who would have known that she would encounter such a thing... This time, I didn't dare to leave Manman alone at home, because I was afraid that she would be bullied."

Lin Tao frowned and glanced at Lin Manman.

Lin Manman seemed to be recalling that incident and her face did not look very good.

Lin Tao had also been harassed by Zhao Yuejin at that time, and she understood that feeling. It was like being surrounded by a pair of malicious flies, and she felt disgusted when she heard the buzzing sound.

But her character is stronger than Manman's, and she is not afraid to fight against such evil forces. Manman seldom deals with people in normal times, and after encountering such a thing and losing her quota in the pharmaceutical factory, she must be very upset.

Lin Tao was so angry that she said, "This guy is really too much. Just because he is the director's son, can he cover up everything in the pharmaceutical factory?"

But it is useless to say these angry words here. Sometimes these bad guys can really cover the sky with one hand.

Wasn't that what happened at the machinery factory's social dance? Zhao Yuejin acted like a hooligan in front of so many people, and no one dared to say a word. If the factory director and Li Chengxi hadn't been there, who knows what would have happened.

What's more, Zhao Yuejin came to find me later. Fortunately, I met Li Chengxi, who beat Zhao Yuejin and sent him to the Public Security Bureau. Because of this, I had the subsequent events with Li Chengxi.

"By the way, Cheng Xi has a comrade-in-arms who is a police officer. When Cheng Xi comes back, I will talk to him and ask him if he can ask his comrades-in-arms for help." Lin Tao said.

Aunt Fang said, "Is it Captain Xiang who came to pick up the bride last time? Actually, after this happened, I took Manman to the Public Security Bureau, but Captain Xiang didn't seem to be there anymore. He said he was promoted, and we didn't know where he went. The new captain is a relative of Director Qian, so it's no use for us to go to the police. Even the fact that Captain Xiang was transferred was secretly told to us by a comrade named Xiao Deng."

Lin Tao didn't expect this to happen and frowned.