15
Yang Qiujin did not sleep well that night because Chen Tianyou was not sleeping well and kept tossing and turning. His two legs kicked her from time to time, which made her very uncomfortable. She had to reach out and pat his back in a daze, gently coaxing him to continue sleeping, and then she would fall asleep.
I finally fell asleep, but I heard him humming again. I couldn't tell if he was dreaming or talking in his sleep.
Chen Shengqing had amazing hearing ability. He had originally fallen asleep, but was tortured by this kid and had not slept well for most of the night. Later, he could not bear it any longer and carried the sleeping Tianyou to the small bed against the wall to sleep.
The strange thing is that this kid was very quiet when he slept in a bed by himself. Although he tossed and turned and groaned, the noise was much quieter. Chen Shengqing finally got some peace and fell asleep.
When Yang Qiujin woke up at daybreak to the sound of roosters crowing throughout the brigade, she discovered something was wrong around her.
Tianyou, who was sleeping next to her, was nowhere to be seen. She was squeezed tightly against the corner of the bed by a hot body. The enlarged handsome face of Chen Shengqing was right in front of her. A strong and powerful arm was pressing on her slender waist, holding her in his arms.
Yang Qiujin's nostrils were filled with the pine-like scent of a man. Her face couldn't stop reddening, her heart pounded, and she couldn't help struggling.
However, the man was muscular and his body was as hard as iron. She thought she was very strong, but she couldn't push him. She couldn't help but think that this man was even stronger than he was seven years ago. If she fought with him, they would no longer be evenly matched and he would easily defeat her.
Sensing the movements of the person in his arms, Chen Shengqing opened his eyes instantly, his eyes alert and fierce. After seeing Chen Qiujin's delicate, familiar, yet somewhat unfamiliar face, he was startled at first, then came to his senses, his eyes became clear, and he said in a low voice: "Awake?"
Yang Qiujin did not miss the cruel look in his eyes. She suddenly remembered how he killed a mad dog alone in the middle of the night when he was still a teenager many years ago. She was frightened and did not dare to look him in the eye. She lowered her eyes and asked, "Where is Tianyou?"
"Tianyou couldn't sleep well at night. I saw him kick you twice. I was afraid that you couldn't sleep well, so I took him to the crib." Chen Shengqing calmly let go of her, sat up straight, picked up the clothes from the bedside table and put them on. "Has he always been so restless when sleeping?"
Tianyou was sleeping peacefully in his crib. The sleeping child had a tender and white face and looked particularly cute, which was completely different from his naughty and troublesome appearance when he woke up.
Yang Qiujin got out of bed with a soft heart and touched Tianyou's forehead. She walked to the small red plastic round-frame mirror next to the bedside table and combed her hair. "He has always been like this. I had a difficult birth and he stayed in my stomach for a long time. The doctor said he might become a fool due to lack of oxygen, so I was fully prepared. Later, I observed him carefully and found that he was not stupid, but just hyperactive and naughty. He didn't like to study. He tortured me every day and didn't let me sleep peacefully at night. Before I let him sleep in a separate bed at the age of five, he slept next to me. It was like this every day, and I was used to it."
She said it calmly, but Chen Shengqing felt uncomfortable. He looked down at her and said, "Back then, I wanted to come back, but I was a volunteer soldier and was carrying out a secret mission assigned by my superiors. I really couldn't ask for leave to come back. I'm sorry that you and Tianyou have suffered all these years."
"I know. I have never blamed you." Yang Qiujin put down the comb and reached out to pick up the hair on her shoulders. "It's getting late. Let's go out and wash up and make breakfast. Let Tianyou sleep a little longer."
Of course she was lying to him. When she gave birth to Tianyou, she narrowly escaped death, but the man never showed up from the time she was pregnant to the time she gave birth. It was impossible for her not to hate him and to resent him.
Every time she had difficulty in labor in the hospital operating room, she would greet Chen Shengqing from head to toe, as well as all eighteen generations of his ancestors, to ease her pain.
Now when she saw the doctor in the hospital, she felt a little embarrassed and she even thought that she was a bit too harsh at that time.
However, what she didn't know was that she was in so much pain during childbirth that she cursed so loudly that her voice could be heard on the third floor of the small county hospital. Her father-in-law felt that his son was ashamed of her, so he went to the county post office to send a telegram to inform Chen Shengqing in the army of her "glorious" deed.
Upon hearing what Yang Qiujin said, Chen Shengqing felt a pain in his cheeks. Yang Qiujin became the same way she used to be when she was with him. She liked to talk nonsense with him whenever she had nothing to do, and she felt better only after she made some sarcastic remarks to him.
However, this kind of temperament is exactly what he remembers her to be. Chen Shengqing felt half guilty and half helpless as he followed Yang Qiujin silently. After washing up, the two of them worked together to make breakfast.
After breakfast, Chen Shengqing went straight to the big room next door. Chen Shenggui and his family were just getting ready to have breakfast. When they saw him coming, Chen Shenggui quickly put down the bowl in his hand and stood up to greet him: "Shengqing, you are here. Have you had breakfast? When you came back yesterday, I wanted to go see you, but your sister-in-law and your wife were having a quarrel, so I..."
"Yes, his uncle, have breakfast..." Tian Chunlian and her two sons stood up, with flattering smiles on their faces, and also invited Chen Shengqing to have breakfast.
Tian Chunlian was somewhat envious of Chen Shengqing. When she married into the Chen family, Chen Shengqing was still a teenager. Everyone praised him as a sensible and obedient child, but only his family knew what kind of character he had under the mask of a good child.
Tian Chunlian had seen Chen Shengqing do cruel things before, so naturally she was afraid of him.
"Brother, I thought we would be good brothers for life." Chen Shengqing looked at the smiling faces of the couple in front of him, with disappointment in his eyes, "Now that Dad is dead, the relationship between us brothers and sisters is also over, right?"
Facing his gaze, Chen Shenggui thought of how he and his wife had ignored Li Xiu'e's serious illness over the years and even took the opportunity to make a fuss about dividing the family property. He was so ashamed that he didn't dare to look at him.
"Third brother, you can't say that..." Tian Chunlian wanted to say something in defense, but Chen Shengqing gave her a cold look, and she was so scared that she couldn't say the next word.
Chen Shengqing took out a deposit slip from his pocket and handed it to Chen Shenggui. His expression had become very calm. "This is the deposit slip that Dad left at the county post office before he died. He was worried that I would die in the war, Qiu Jin would remarry, and you and elder sister would not care about Mom's life or death, so he kept some of the money for Mom. Mom didn't keep it for herself, but gave it to me so that I could make plans. I'm leaving tomorrow and I'll take Qiu Jin with me. Mother and son will go with the army, but my mother will not go with me, because with my current rank as battalion commander, the family members who go with the army can only bring their wives and children, not any other relatives, and my mother will stay in the village. I'll give you the list, and the request is very simple. When I'm not around, please take good care of my mother. If my mother is bullied and you don't step up, then the brotherhood between us will be completely over."
Chen Shenggui looked at the deposit slip, on which was written an amount of fifty yuan. The old man actually left so much money to that woman, and his biological mother had to live with the old man for so many years, eating bran and drinking thinly, and died of illness without even a full meal. In the end, Li Xiu'e got the money. Why did the old man treat her so well and ignore him and his elder sister!
"Don't worry, third brother. We guarantee that no one in the village dares to touch our mother." Tian Chunlian didn't care what Chen Shenggui was thinking. When she saw the deposit certificate, her eyes lit up. She reached out and grabbed the deposit certificate into her hand. She looked at the certificate carefully and confirmed that it was not expired. Then she patted her chest to guarantee it.
A deposit of fifty yuan is enough for their family to live well for several years. It's just an old woman. With Tian Chunlian around, who dares to bully Li Xiu'e? She is a military dependent!
After getting the guarantee, Chen Shengqing said no more, walked out of the main room, turned around and led his wife and children up the mountain to bury old Chen.
Halfway up the back mountain, under a crooked tree, there is a solitary grave that has just been weeded. It looks even more lonely amid the croaking of crows in the mountains.
Li Xiu'e sat in front of the grave, looking at the faded wooden tombstone, crying, "Old man, the third son is back, he is back well, you kept talking about wanting to see him before you died, but you never got to see him, now, please go and see him..."
Chen Shengqing knelt in front of the grave. The usually strong man now had tears in his eyes. He kowtowed again and again, saying, "I am an unfilial son. I came back too late. Dad, I am an unfilial son..."
Yang Qiujin held Tianyou's hand and stood aside. She was moved by this scene. Her eyes turned slightly red and she could not bear to watch it. She turned her head to look at the peaceful village at the foot of the mountain not far away.
A breeze blew by, rustling the branches. I wonder if Mr. Chen, who died with his eyes open, was happy or angry when he saw his son, who had served his country far away on the frontier, return safely?
Chen Shengqing's vacation time is limited, mainly because he was delayed a lot on the way back, so time is quite tight.
After burning incense and kowtowing in front of the grave, he rushed to the brigade headquarters, found the brigade commander, and processed various certificates of accompanying the army and relocating their household registration for Yang Qiujin and her son, and repeatedly asked the brigade commander to take good care of his mother.
Then he went to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy some sweets, wine and meat. Carrying the things, he went to Xinfeng Brigade with Yang Qiujin to visit his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
A son-in-law who was a military officer came to visit. Yang Chenghua was very honored and for the first time ever, he paid for a table full of delicious food and asked Wu Shulian to cook it while he talked with Chen Shengqing in the main room.
Before Chen Shengqing entered the room, Yang Qiujin whispered to him, "I want to give my mother some money. Do you have any objection?"
"All the money is in your hands. You are the boss. I have no opinion on who you want to give it to." Chen Shengqing said without hesitation.
So generous?
Yang Qiujin suspected that Chen Shengqing had lost his mind. He seemed like a different person when he came back this time. Everything revolved around her, as if she was very important.
She had strange thoughts in her mind, could it be that Chen Shengqing really wanted to spend his whole life with her, without getting divorced or changing partners?
"Qiu'er, you're following Shengqing to join the army. Mom is so happy for you."
In the smoke-filled kitchen, Wu Shulian was half happy and half reluctant. She cooked and wiped her tears while saying, "After you and Tianyou leave this time, I don't know how long it will take for us to see each other again. But it's good this way. Husbands and wives should stay together. If they are separated, even the best relationship will fall apart. When you and Shengqing arrive at the army, you must hold on to him tightly. Have a few more children while you are young and hold him firmly. Only then can you continue to be a military officer's wife for a long time."
Yang Qiujin listened to her mumbling and stuffed a hundred yuan into her pocket. "Mom, I almost died giving birth to Tianyou. I never wanted to have a second child. Even if I really wanted to have a child, I would let nature take its course and not force it."
"You kid, every woman who gives birth to a child has gone through the gates of hell. After the first child is born, the subsequent children will be smooth sailing. If you only have Tianyou as your child, how will people laugh at you? Nowadays, every family is lively when they have three or five children. I have eight brothers and sisters in my family."
Wu Shulian said, stuffing the money in her pocket back into Yang Qiujin's hand, "Why are you giving me money? That year you paid for your mother-in-law's medical treatment, and all the money in the family was spent, and we still owe a lot of money. You still have Tianyou to support, and when you join the army, you will have many places to spend money, so keep the money for yourself."
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