Chapter 87
Chen Shengqing thought of this incident and felt very heavy. "Captain Guo, I was not considerate enough during this mission and caused several comrades to be seriously injured. I will distribute all my share of the bonus for this mission to the injured comrades."
Political Commissar Liao held a large bowl of tea in his hand, stared at Chen Shengqing and said, "Xiao Chen, think about it. The bonus for this mission is not a small amount. Your sister-in-law is about to be born, and your family needs money everywhere. All the medical expenses of the injured comrades will be borne by the troops."
As the commander of this mission, no matter what the cost, it is an indisputable fact that Chen Shengqing's special operations team successfully completed the mission.
According to the mission reward indicators, as the commander, Chen Shengqing can get a reward of at least 300 yuan, which is enough money for an ordinary family to live on for several decades.
Chen Shengqing certainly knew that this amount of money was not a small sum, but compared to the lives of his comrades and colleagues, money was nothing.
He said without hesitation: "Commissar, I think very clearly. If it weren't for Captain Ruan and his men who risked their lives to do their utmost, we would not have succeeded in this mission. If the Soviets had taken the map away, our losses would have been even greater."
Political Commissar Liao laughed and said, "You are right. I will follow your wishes and divide your bonus among you. However, as for my sister-in-law..."
Political Commissar Liao and other military officers all laughed mockingly. After all, Yang Qiujin was well-known for her sharp tongue in the family compound.
Chen Shengqing had a bit of embarrassment on his face. He had forgotten that the last time he went on a mission, he boasted that he would take the bonus and buy all kinds of eating and drinking utensils for the baby in his belly. Now how was he going to report back?
In the kitchen, Yang Qiujin was cooking with a big belly, Zhao Erfeng was helping her, Li Xiu'e was helping to light the fire, and the two sisters Li Xia and Li Tao, who were asked by Yang Qiujin to stay for dinner, were also helping to peel and cut vegetables and prepare them. Only Liang Xueqing and Wang Songyue, mother and daughter, were sitting far away at the door and could not help at all.
Liang Xueqing looked at the women in the kitchen busying themselves, and stood up restlessly and said, "Sister Yang, how about Songyue and I go wash the vegetables?"
"Okay, go ahead." Yang Qiujin also noticed the awkwardness of the mother and daughter, and pointed to the basin of vegetables that Li Tao and her sister had picked with a spatula and said, "Go to the yard and wash them."
"Okay." Liang Xueqing held the basin of vegetables, and Wang Songyue followed her to the sink in the right corner of the yard to wash the vegetables.
A deputy regimental-level officer had lived in this yard before. Basically, everything that needed to be repaired in the yard and the house had been repaired, so when the Chen family moved in, they didn't have to repair anything. The faucets and sinks were all ready.
Chen Tianyou was originally playing with four boys, Wang Songyang, Li Dadan, Li Sandan, and Li Goudan, in the soil of the vegetable patch on the left side of the yard, looking for bullworms.
Seeing Liang Xueqing and her daughter coming out with the vegetable basin, Chen Tianyou threw away the bugs in his hand, strode over to them and said, "Auntie Liang, do you want to wash the vegetables? I'll do it, you and Songyue can go sit in the yard and eat some melon seeds and peanuts."
"No need, Tianyou. Your mother is very busy in the kitchen. I can't help with anything else, but I can wash the vegetables." Liang Xueqing said, opening the water basket on the sink and preparing to fill it with water to wash the vegetables.
Who knew that the head of the water basket was rusty and had not been used for many years, so she couldn't open it no matter how hard she tried.
Wang Songyue saw this and went over to help. It turned out that the mother and daughter didn't do much at home and didn't exercise much, so they had very little strength and couldn't twist it open for a long time.
Chen Tianyou couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he reached out and gently twisted the water cage head, opening it with a strange hissing sound.
"Aunt Liang, Songyue, you guys step back." Chen Tianyou felt something was wrong. After he said this, he covered the pipe head with his hand. After the air was drained from the pipe that had not been used for a long time, a stream of muddy yellow water spurted out.
"Ah——" Wang Songyue saw it, screamed, and quickly pulled Liang Xueqing back.
Fortunately, Chen Tianyou was quick and covered the head of the water basket, otherwise the muddy yellow water would have sprayed onto Liang Xueqing and her daughter.
However, the muddy yellow water sprayed all over him. In less than a minute, the water in the pipe turned into normal clear water and flowed slowly.
Liang Xueqing, who always likes to be clean, was also shocked. Seeing Chen Tianyou sprayed with mud and water, she quickly asked: "Tianyou, are you okay?"
"No, I'll just go change my clothes in a bit." Chen Tianyou wiped the mud off his face, added clean water, washed the vegetables in the basin, put them in the basket to drain, and brought them to Liang Xueqing, "Aunt Liang, take them to the kitchen and say that you and Songyue washed them together, then the adults won't gossip about you."
Liang Xueqing was stunned for a moment as she held the dishes. She didn't expect that a half-grown child like him could be so smart and actually knew what she was thinking. He even knew to protect her and her mother and washed the dishes and handed them to her.
This child has grown up.
By the time Yang Qiujin finished cooking, it was already around six o'clock in the evening.
Plate after plate, pot after pot of dishes were brought to the table, including spicy boiled fish, spicy cold chicken, braised pork, braised rabbit, mapo tofu, four-happiness meatball soup, stir-fried cabbage and potato shreds, and so on.
The most amazing thing was that the mutton that everyone was tired of eating was transformed by Yang Qiujin's skillful hands. The mutton was cut into two centimeters wide and five centimeters long strips, and then mixed with broken rice flour, bean paste, rapeseed oil, a little sugar and chili oil. Some straw was found and spread on the steaming rack in the pot to steam it. After steaming, the chopped coriander that Yang Qiujin grew herself and pulled up and could not finish eating was placed on it. Finally, dried chili powder and Sichuan pepper powder were added. When it was served, the aroma of the steamed mutton was fragrant.
The rich aroma was so spicy that Wang Songyang took the chopsticks and put a piece of mutton with coriander into his mouth. The tender meat, wrapped in fine rice noodles, with the special taste of spicy seasoning and coriander, was so delicious that Wang Songyang shed tears, "Oh my God, this is too delicious, I have never eaten such delicious mutton!"
After hearing his description, everyone swallowed their saliva at the same time. No one scolded Wang Songyang for being a child and not knowing manners. They all went to the table impatiently to eat.
Because there were so many people, and because not everyone had a strong taste for food, Yang Qiujin specially prepared two tables of food, one table with spicy dishes, and the other table with slightly spicy and light dishes. Everyone spontaneously sat at the two tables.
Yang Qiujin was a person with strong tastes, so she naturally sat at the men's table.
As soon as she sat down at the table, Guo Shengrong said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you have such a big belly and you still cook for us. It's really hard work for you."
"You know how hard they work, yet you still stay for dinner." The speaker was Fan Qionghui, a relative of Guo Shengrong. She was invited to dinner by Chen Tianyou, who was called by Yang Qiujin after get off work.
Today is Qiao Qian's wedding day, Yang Qiujin cooked many dishes, and it wouldn't be a big deal to invite a few more people.
After having eaten a dish cooked by Yang Qiujin once, Fan Qionghui could not forget it, so when Chen Tianyou invited her, she came.
Yang Qiujin smiled and said, "It's OK, Director Fan. I'll just cook. The rest of the work will be done by my mother-in-law, Sister Zhao, and Sister Xu Tao. I don't feel that tired."
Fan Huiqiong seemed to think about something, turned around and looked at the Xu Tao sisters at another table, and asked: "Xu Tao, your father and stepmother are still beating you and your sisters recently, and not giving you food to eat? Xu Xia, are you still studying?"
Sister Xu Tao, Zhao Erfeng and her five children, Wang Songyue and her three children, Li Xiu'e and others, squeezed together at another table to eat.
"No, they didn't beat us anymore, and they didn't deny us food anymore." Xu Tao said honestly as she distributed bowls and chopsticks to everyone.
Xu Xia said: "Thank you, Director Fan, for your concern. I am now continuing to study in the fifth grade."
Xu Tao and her sister's father and stepmother are indeed much better to them than before. At least now they don't dare to kill them for no reason and beat them to death.
Previously, Fan Huiqiong led the discipline team on a tour of the family compound and let the members of the discipline team hear from other military wives about Xu Tai's abuse of his own daughter.
The people from the discipline department were very angry and gave Xu Tai a warning as soon as they came to his house. Xu Tai was originally going to be promoted, but because of his bad character, the promotion was canceled.
Not only that, the discipline team also repeatedly warned Xu Tai to fulfill his responsibilities as a father. If Xu Tai abused his two daughters as he did before, his military career would be over and he would be sent back to where he came from. Veterans who were sent back by the army for bad conduct would not receive any preferential treatment in the local area.
No matter how much Xu Tai hated his two daughters, he had to endure it for the sake of his own future. The lives of the Xu Tao sisters during this period were indeed much better than before.
"That's good." Fan Huiqiong smiled with satisfaction.
Regarding the abuse of Xu Tao and her sister by Xu Tai and his wife, she, as the women's director of the military family home, had been interfering in their family affairs, asking Xu Tai and his wife not to abuse the children.
Unfortunately, Xu Tai always agreed on the surface, but he would turn into his true colors in a few days. No matter how Fan Huiqiong threatened or bribed the couple, they could not change their bad habits. Gradually, Fan Huiqiong was too lazy to care about their family affairs.
If Chen Shengqing hadn't suggested this time and called the division headquarters to ask the discipline team to investigate Xu Tai, Xu Tai would never have complied.
Seeing that no one had touched their chopsticks, Li Xiu'e called out to everyone, "Come on, come on, don't be polite, start eating. I hope you can forgive me for my poor hospitality."
"Auntie, you and your sister-in-law prepared such a large table of food that is comparable to that of a state-owned hotel. How could it be inconsiderate? We are so happy."
Guo Shengrong smiled and joked a few times, then he was the first to pick up his chopsticks and picked up a large piece of red, tender and sticky braised pork. He ate it with an endless aftertaste and kept praising it: "It smells good, your sister-in-law's cooking skills are amazing! Xiao Chen, you are so lucky!"
Chen Shengqing smiled languidly. When everyone started eating, he reached out and rubbed Yang Qiujin's lower back, whispering in her ear, "Thank you for your hard work. Are you tired? I'll get you whatever you want to eat."
Yang Qiujin was naturally exhausted after cooking for nearly twenty people at once. She felt that her back could not be straightened, but she could not show it in front of everyone and spoil everyone's fun.
She looked listless and whispered to Chen Shengqing, "I'm a little tired. Just give me some food. I'll go back to my room and rest after I finish eating."
Seeing that she looked tired, Chen Shengqing knew that she was exhausted. He regretted agreeing to treat her before, so he picked up some of her favorite meats such as fish, chicken, and rabbit, carefully picked out the fish bones for her, and when she was full, he helped her back to the house to rest.
After seeing off the guests, washing the dishes, and cleaning up in the evening, Li Xiu'e specifically asked the Xu Tao sisters to stay and gave them each a large bowl of the meat dishes that they had not finished that night. "Take it home and eat it. Don't complain about the small amount of dishes. When you are hungry and want to eat meat in the future, come to me and I will find a way to make a feast for you."
Nowadays, if people entertain guests and there is leftover food, they will share it with relatives, friends and neighbors. No one will complain about it. After all, food is very expensive nowadays, and being able to share leftovers means that you have a close relationship with the host family.
Li Tao held a bowl full of meat dishes, looking at the big chunks of braised pork, chicken, rabbit meat, etc., and said with tears in her eyes: "Grandma Li, thank you for being so kind to us. I may have to come to your house less often in the future."
"Ah? Why?" Li Xiu'e looked confused, "Did Tianyou bully you?"
"No." Li Tao shook her head. "Tianyou and I are getting older day by day. When I go to your house to work, people always say bad things about me. Tianyou told me to avoid suspicion, and I think it makes sense. I won't go to your house anymore in the future. Grandma Li, if you have any work, you can come to my house and ask me to do it."
"So that's what's going on." Li Xiu'e sighed.
Although Li Xiu'e thought that the Xu Tao sisters were very hardworking and she liked the two children very much, she could not let others spread bad rumors about her grandson because of these two girls.
She said, "Okay, I'll come to you in the future, but you have to remember, if you get beaten by your biological father or stepmother again, or if you're bullied by others, just come to me and I'll help you."
"Thank you, Grandma Li. I will miss you." Xu Tao bowed to her, took the bowl in her hand and walked out of the Chen family yard, crying out of breath on the way home.
"Sister, why are you crying?" Xu Xia saw her crying and moved her hand to wipe her tears.
"I, I don't know either." Xu Tao sobbed, "I just feel that Grandma Li is so good to us. I will feel sad if I can't see her often in the future."
Xu Xia looked at the meat dish in her hand, was silent for a while, and then said: "Sister, if you want to see Grandma Li often and repay her for her kindness to us, you should study hard, get into junior high school, and then get into high school and college. If you have a good job and get a high salary, you will have money to repay her."
"But didn't our stepmother say that the family didn't have the money to support our education, and that at most she would support us until we finished junior high school, and then she wanted us to get married?"
"Don't worry about her. After I finish junior high school, I will find a job and earn money to support your studies." Xu Xia said firmly, "I don't want to listen to my stepmother and marry anyone casually. I want to work hard to make money, control my own destiny, and do what I like to do."
Xu Tao was stunned for a few seconds by her words, "Sister, where do you get these ideas from?"
Xu Xia held her hand and walked forward. "That's what Principal Kong said. She said that we girls should study more, learn more, and read more to broaden our horizons and see more of the world. Only with a good academic degree can we control our own destiny."
Principal Kong, the female principal of the Border Defense Department who looks very strict but is particularly caring towards female students.
Xu Tao thought of the appearance of Principal Kong and felt the warmth of her sister's palm. She secretly swore in her heart that she must study hard, get into college, find a good job, bring her sister to a good life, and repay Grandma Li and all the people who were kind to her.
After taking a shower, Chen Shengqing entered the room and saw Yang Qiujin already asleep on the kang bed. He felt extremely guilty.
He walked over slowly, covered her with the quilt, and reached out to help her tidy up the hair that covered her cheeks.
"What time is it?" Yang Qiujin was suddenly startled, and when she saw it was him, she felt relieved and sat up to ask.
"It's already nine o'clock in the evening." Chen Shengqing helped her up, "Would you like some water?"
Yang Qiujin shook her head, "Is there hot water in the pot? I want to take a bath and wash my hair."
"It should be cool by now. I'll go add some more fire." Chen Shengqing said, and went out to light a fire.
Not long after, he came in again. "The water is hot. I have already scooped it up and filled it up. I am carrying the bucket to the toilet. Go wash up."
"I'm too tired and can't walk. Carry me and take a shower." Yang Qiujin didn't move. She stretched out her arms towards him and acted coquettishly.
The woman had just woken up, and there were still sleep marks on her face. The red sleep marks made the skin on her little face look even more delicate. Her slender body had a bulging belly, and she looked very fragile and in need of protection.
This was the first time that Yang Qiujin acted coquettishly towards Chen Shengqing. Chen Shengqing felt soft-hearted when he heard it. He walked over, picked her up effortlessly, and carried her to the toilet outside the yard.
At this time, Li Xiu'e and Chen Tianyou finished their shower and went back to their rooms to sleep. The yard was quiet.
Chen Shengqing carried Yang Qiujin into the toilet, where there was a large bucket of steaming water. A long bench was thoughtfully placed next to it so that Yang Qiujin could sit on it and take a bath as she was physically disabled.
The toilet in the new house is much bigger than the previous one, and it is estimated to be more than ten square meters. It is a dry toilet with a squat toilet on the right side, and most of the left side is paved with bricks for convenient bathing. It looks much better than the earthen toilet in the previous house.
Yang Qiujin took a look, sat on the bench and took off her clothes, "Shengqing, don't go out yet, help me rub my back, my belly is big now, my hands can't reach the back of my hands."
"Okay." Chen Shengqing was more than happy to rub his wife's back. He stood with his back to her to prevent her from slipping and falling to the ground.
Since Yang Qiujin became pregnant, except for her breasts which became fuller due to the influence of pregnancy, the rest of her body remained the same. This made her belly look particularly scary after she took off her clothes.
Because she was pregnant, Yang Qiujin was not shy to be frank with Chen Shengqing and just wanted him to help her take a bath quickly.
Under the dim pear-shaped light of the restroom, the woman had a plump figure and delicate skin. Even though Chen Shengqing had many thoughts, after seeing the woman's round belly, he put them aside and gently rubbed the woman's back and washed her hair.
Yang Qiujin sat on the stool, enjoying his scrubbing service comfortably, and thought of something and said, "The child is more than eight months old, and will be born in two months. We have to give the child a full name and a nickname. Think about what name is good."
Chen Shengqing took a handkerchief, washed the soap bubbles on her back and said, "You can choose anything. It's up to you."
"You really want me to name you?" Yang Qiujin tilted her head to look at him. "In other families, names are given according to generation and family tree. The elders in the family will decide on the name after repeated consideration, or the father will name the child. But in your case, you are just letting me choose the name so casually?"
"A name is just a name for a person. It doesn't matter to me who gave it to him." Chen Shengqing put down the handkerchief in his hand and took the ladle instead, scooping water to wash away the foam on her head. "My father gave Tianyou the name, and I think it's just average. I can't think of a good name for Erbao. If you have a good name, give it to Erbao."
"Look at what you said. You don't even know why our father named Tianyou this. He just said it was just so-so." Yang Qiujin closed her eyes to avoid the water from washing her hair from dripping into her eyes. "At that time, I had a difficult delivery. Tianyou was born with bruises all over his body and he had no strength to cry. Our father was afraid that he couldn't keep Tianyou alive, so he didn't name him according to the family tree. He named him Tianyou, meaning that he wanted God to bless him and let him live a safe and happy life."
She took the dry towel handed to her by Chen Shengqing, wiped the water drops from her eyes and said, "Actually, I have already thought of a name for the second baby. Whether it is a boy or a girl, the full name will be Chen Tianxing, and the nickname will be Xingxing. What do you think?"
"Why is your name Tianxing?" Chen Shengqing asked while wiping her hair.
"In order to make the name similar to Tianyou, people will know they are brothers and sisters as soon as they hear the name. And I gave him the character 'Xing' because I hope the baby in my belly is a girl, who is beautiful, obedient and sensible like Wang Songyue. Wang Songyue is the moon and our child is the star. After birth, their personalities and appearances will not be too different."
"Then let's call her Tianxing." Chen Shengqing thought it made sense. He took a clean towel to wipe Yang Qiujin's body and helped her put on clean clothes.
Yang Qiujin felt it was strange that he was so well behaved today. Before, when she wanted to take a bath and take off her clothes, his hands would always restlessly indulge in it. But today, he actually gave her a bath and didn't touch her at all. It was really strange.
After getting dressed, Yang Qiujin walked back into the room, sat on the stool next to the dressing table, combed her wet hair, and asked, "Are you hiding something from me?"
Chen Shengqing was wiping her hair with a dry towel. Hearing this, he paused, pursed his thin lips, and said with a guilty conscience: "I told Political Commissar Liao today that I should give all the bonuses from the previous mission to the injured Captain Ruan and his men. They were injured because of my wrong decision. I would feel guilty if I took that bonus."
"I thought it was something else, but it turned out to be this. I heard that Captain Ruan and his men were seriously injured and are still in the intensive care unit. Their lives could be in danger at any time. I think you should share the bonus with them." Yang Qiujin combed her hair. "Have you visited them?"
Chen Shengqing breathed a sigh of relief. "I checked. Everyone else is fine and awake, except Ruan Xiangming. He was injured in the head and has been unconscious. The doctor said he will not survive this week, so his family should be prepared."
When he said this, he pursed his lips, looked gloomy, and had a very self-blaming expression.
Yang Qiujin saw his expression, let go of the comb in her hand, turned around and hugged his waist, and comforted him softly: "Don't let your imagination run wild. Captain Ruan looks like a lucky man. He will get through this. When you have time, go see him more often and talk to him. Maybe he will wake up soon."
Chen Shengqing looked at her, the gloom in his eyes gradually dissipated, his eyes gradually became gentle, and he pointed at her belly and said, "The baby is moving."
Yang Qiujin also felt it, "Do you want to listen to what she is doing in her belly?"
"Okay." Chen Shengqing squatted down and just as he put his face to her belly, the baby in her belly kicked him in the face through her belly, shocking him so much that he stood up and said, "How dare you kick me? Are you pregnant with a boy?"
Without waiting for Yang Qiujin to answer, he lifted up her clothes and reached out to grab the naughty child in her belly through her round belly, "Little Tianxing, hide well, Daddy is coming to catch you."
The baby in the belly seemed to have heard his words, and its hands and feet moved busily in the belly. A small hand and a small foot appeared on Yang Qiujin's belly one after another, which made Chen Shengqing very happy. He grabbed her small hands and feet through her belly, and the two of them had a lot of fun playing together.
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