Chapter 89
In June, the border areas entered summer, the weather was scorching hot, and people were getting restless and irritable.
The cicadas outside the yard were chirping non-stop on the big willow tree. The blue sky and white clouds outside the window, and the breeze were blowing in gusts, could not blow away the heat in my heart.
Chen Tianyou sat by the window in the classroom, staring at the cicadas chirping non-stop on a big tree in the playground outside the window. The teacher called him several times, but he didn't hear anything.
Wang Songyue, who was still sitting next to him and at the same table with him, nudged his arm and whispered, "Tianyou, Teacher Liu is calling you."
Chen Tianyou came back to his senses and looked at the middle-aged teacher wearing thick glasses at the podium, "Teacher Liu, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Teacher Liu pushed his glasses and said, "Chen Tianyou, the final exam will be here in half a month. You are absent-minded now, your mind is not in class, you are not studying seriously, and you can't hear the teacher's questions. What will happen if you fail to pass the junior high school entrance exam?"
Chen Tianyou was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Teacher Liu, I was able to pass the junior high school entrance exam. It's not that I don't want to answer your question, I just feel a little uncomfortable. I might be sick."
"Are you sick?" Wang Songyue, his deskmate, reached out to touch his forehead and found that it was not hot.
However, the next second, Chen Tianyou suddenly stood up, stood at the window, bent over and vomited violently.
Teacher Liu was startled and quickly walked over to pat him on the back, "Student Chen Tianyou, what's wrong with you? You feel uncomfortable somewhere. Come with me to the school clinic."
"I don't know. I just feel uncomfortable in my stomach, feel like vomiting, dizzy, and weak in my limbs." After vomiting, Chen Tianyou sat back on the stool weakly, looking listless.
"Don't sit here, hurry up and see a doctor immediately if you feel unwell." Wang Songyue reached out to help him.
He did not refuse and allowed Wang Songyue and Teacher Li to help him go to the school hospital for a check-up.
When Yang Qiujin received the news that her son was sick and hurried to the hospital to rest, Chen Tianyou had already been taken to the army emergency room by the school doctor for treatment.
Yang Qiujin didn't see anyone in the emergency room. After looking around, she saw Chen Tianyou sitting listlessly on a stool in the infusion room, receiving an infusion.
Since he was a child, Chen Tianyou was very naughty and active, so he had a strong body and seldom got sick. This was the first time that Chen Tianyou got sick since he joined the army.
Yang Qiujin saw his expression and touched his forehead distressedly, "Son, how do you feel?"
"My stomach feels a little uncomfortable and I have no strength at all, but everything else is fine." Chen Tianyou said with a guilty look on his face: "Mom, I didn't delay your work, did I?"
"Silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? Work is not as important as you."
In fact, Li Xiu'e also received the news from the teacher and rushed to the hospital immediately, but she didn't know much about the ins and outs of the hospital. The school was busy with logistics work and the students were waiting for dinner, so Chen Tianyou let her go back.
Instead, it was Teacher Liu who used the school phone to notify Yang Qiujin and Chen Shengqing respectively.
Chen Shengqing was busy in the army and had no time to look after the children, so only Yang Qiujin hurried over to take care of the children.
The doctor said to Yang Qiujin: "The child is dizzy and vomiting due to food poisoning. Let him have an IV for two days. Eat light food during these two days and take medicine on time. He will be well soon."
"How could he get food poisoning?" Yang Qiujin found it strange. The meals at home were cooked very cleanly and the whole family was eating them. She, who always had a weak stomach, had no problems, so how could Chen Tianyou have a problem?
"Aunt Yang, this is all my fault." Wang Songyue raised her hand weakly, her eyes red as she said, "Yesterday, I had a sudden impulse and tried to cook for myself. I fried some beans, but I didn't know how they would taste, so I asked Tianyou to taste them for me. But he ate the whole dish and asked me to keep eating. I, I didn't expect him to be poisoned."
Yang Qiujin was stunned for a moment. She never thought that her son had food poisoning for this reason.
She glanced at Chen Tianyou, who coughed, avoided her gaze uncomfortably and said, "She was frying lentils, maybe they were not cooked enough."
In fact, not only was it not cooked through, it was also fried black and tough, and too salty. In order not to hurt Wang Songyue's feelings and to prevent other friends from making fun of her, he gritted his teeth and finished it.
He felt unwell all night last night, and after two classes at school today, he couldn't bear it anymore.
No one knows a son better than his mother. Yang Qiujin understood what her son meant at a glance. She comforted him, "Songyue, it's okay. This is your first time cooking. Your mother doesn't know how to cook, and no one taught you. It's normal that you didn't cook it well. Next time you want to learn how to cook, you can come to me and your grandmother Li to teach you. We will check for you, and you will have no problem cooking again."
"Okay, I understand. Next time I want to cook, I will come to you to teach me." Wang Songyue said while wiping her tears.
After the false alarm, Yang Qiujin sat with the child in the hospital for a while. Li Xiu'e came to see the child after get off work at noon. She saw that Chen Tianyou didn't have any serious problems, so Yang Qiujin went home to rest.
Yang Qiujin was not idle when she got home. Today was a sunny and beautiful day, perfect for drying clothes.
The baby in her belly will be born in two months. Many children are born prematurely. Although she was full-term when she gave birth to Chen Tianyou, there was no guarantee that the second baby in her belly would be born prematurely. So she took out all the small clothes and diapers made by her and her mother-in-law, as well as the small clothes that Liang Xueqing had given her before, and sat in the yard to wash them all, and then hung them one by one on the clothesline in the yard.
When Chen Shengqing came back from visiting the child at the hospital, he saw her carrying a large basin of water with a big belly, which frightened him so much that he walked over in two or three steps and said, "Qiu Jin, let me do it."
Yang Qiujin was glad to see him back and asked, "Why did you come back at this time?"
"Teacher Li called the troop communications room. I went to see Tianyou and came back to see you." Chen Shengqing effortlessly poured out the water in the basin and placed it under the eaves. He turned to look at Yang Qiujin and said, "Luckily I'm back. Let me do the laundry and pouring water. Don't move around. Be careful not to hurt your back."
Yang Qiujin chuckled, "Look how anxious you are. I am pregnant, not disabled. How can I not move?"
"Nonsense again." Chen Shengqing held her waist with one hand and pulled her into the living room with the other hand, letting her sit on the sofa in the living room. "You haven't had lunch yet, right? What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."
Yang Qiujin received a call at the farm and hurried back on her horse-drawn cart. She had indeed eaten nothing. She thought for a moment and said, "You can just cook some sweet potato porridge, mix some cucumbers, and grab some kimchi from the kimchi pit for me."
The weather was getting hotter day by day. When it was hot, Yang Qiujin had no appetite. She didn't want to eat those big fish and meat meals. She just wanted to eat something light.
"Okay." Chen Shengqing walked into the kitchen, lit the fire skillfully, washed the rice, added water and cooked porridge.
Yang Qiujin was not idle in the living room either. She took out the wool she had bought from the supply and marketing cooperative, sat on the sofa in the living room, and knitted a small winter sweater for Erbao.
It was not known whether it was because the cicadas on the rows of poplar trees planted outside the family yard were too noisy, or because she was pregnant and her body temperature was higher than that of ordinary people, but after knitting a sweater for a while, Yang Qiujin was sweating profusely. She simply put the sweater aside, picked up a cattail leaf fan, and fanned herself vigorously.
Chen Shengqing cooked the porridge and brought it and some side dishes into the living room. He saw her fanning herself with a palm leaf fan. He walked over, took the fan from her hand, fanned her and said, "Eat your meal. I'll fan you."
"It's so hot! It's just the beginning of summer this year, why is it so hot? I'm almost dying of heat." Chen Shengqing had carefully cooled the cooked porridge with cold water. The porridge was warm, but Yang Qiujin still felt hot while drinking it, and she looked listless when eating the dishes.
Chen Shengqing saw this and reached out to help her tidy up her sweaty hair. "I'll go to the county and buy a fan later. It won't be so hot with the fan."
"Buying a fan? Fans are not cheap, right? Any brand of fan costs more than 100 yuan, and you need industrial coupons."
In previous summers, Yang Qiujin also thought about buying a fan, but when she thought about how expensive fans were and how she had to pay electricity to use the fan, she gave up the idea.
"Buy a fan, and you, the kids, and mom can all use it to cool down, without having to endure the scorching heat." Chen Shengqing said, "If you don't want to spend money, I can also buy fan parts on the black market and assemble it myself."
Yang Qiujin was a little tempted. "If we really want to buy a fan, it's better to go to a department store. That way, if it breaks, someone can fix it. If others see that we have a fan, I can tell them where it came from. Otherwise, if a guest comes to our house and sees the fan and asks where you bought it, I can't say that you bought it on the black market. As a military officer, using black market stuff will damage your image as a soldier."
Chen Shengqing reached out and tapped her head. "Your man can assemble and repair most machines. This is the special training I received in the army. So when I go out on a mission in the field, whether the car is damaged, the equipment fails, or there is a problem with the guns and ammunition, I can correct it in time and complete the mission on time."
His knock was not painful, but it made Yang Qiujin suddenly realize something. She laughed embarrassedly, "Oh, they say pregnancy makes women stupid for three years. I didn't believe it before, but now I really understand it. Why didn't I think of this?"
"Should we go to the store to buy a fan, or go to the black market to buy accessories for assembly?" Chen Shengqing changed his hand and asked while fanning her.
"Since we need a fan, why not just buy one from the store and have you assemble one?" Yang Qiujin finished chewing a sour and spicy pickled cowpea and made up her mind, "Put the assembled fan in our room when the time comes. When the second baby is born, you can use it to fan her to keep her warm."
"Okay, whatever you say."
After dinner, Chen Shengqing took the dishes to the kitchen to wash them, and returned to the living room. Yang Qiujin took a passbook and a stack of industrial coupons, got on Chen Shengqing's jeep and went to the county. She first went to the bank to withdraw money, and then went to the department store in the county to buy a fan.
You won't know until you see it, and you'll be shocked. Yang Qiujin received the salary of two people every month. After deducting daily expenses and giving filial piety money to both sides of the parents, the rest was saved in a passbook. Over time, after five years, she had saved nearly 4,000 yuan in her passbook. In an era when one yuan could buy countless things, this amount of money was undoubtedly a huge sum.
Yang Qiujin stared at the balance in her passbook for a long time. After leaving the bank, she whispered in Chen Shengqing's ear, "Oh my God, I never thought that my husband and I could save so much money. I always feel uneasy to keep so much money in the bank."
"If you feel that keeping your money in the bank is not safe, you can take some money out and buy a bigger house in Tianli Town, and then give it to Tianyou who is in junior high school to live in."
Chen Shengqing protected her belly and dodged several fast-running children who were rushing towards her. She stared at the children with cold eyes, which made the children shudder. She said sorry to them, then took Yang Qiujin in her arms and walked towards the department store opposite.
Yang Qiujin was completely unaware, her eyes fixed on the number in the passbook. "You're right. Our army only has elementary schools but no junior high schools. If Tianyou is admitted to junior high school, he can only go to Tianli Junior High School. The junior high school is still a long way from our army. It takes an hour to walk there. We need to buy a house in the town so that he doesn't have to live in the dormitory at school. But..."
She thought of another question: "If Tianyou lives alone in a house in town, wouldn't it be unsafe?"
The border areas were filled with all kinds of illegal refugees, spies, counter-revolutionaries, factions, bandits, etc. She would be really worried if Chen Tianyou were to live there alone.
"It's okay. Let our mother take care of him when the time comes. According to the army policy, our mother has been in the army for too long and is no longer suitable to stay in the army. Let her live in the town and take care of Tianyou."
Li Xiu'e has been in the army for almost three years, except for the first two years, because Chen Shengqing was seriously injured and lying in a coma in the hospital. The army leaders sympathized with the difficulties of Li Xiu'e and Yang Qiujin, and specially approved Li Xiu'e to stay in the army to take care of Chen Shengqing. After Chen Shengqing woke up, the army did not mention letting Li Xiu'e go home.
According to the army's current regulations on family members accompanying the troops, Li Xiu'e, as a soldier's mother, should have left the army and returned home long ago. Many people in the family compound also have some complaints about Li Xiu'e staying in the army.
Chen Shengqing also knew that he could no longer let his mother stay in the army as it would disrupt the army's rules. Just as Yang Qiujin mentioned the issue of money, he had the idea of buying a house.
Yang Qiujin thought for a moment and decided, "Okay, when we get home, we'll talk to Mom about buying a house and ask for her opinion."
The two of them walked into the store and went straight to the home appliance counter. With the recommendation of the clerk, Yang Qiujin finally decided on a large fan made by Bianshi brand. The price was 98 yuan, which was 12 industrial coupons, which was cheaper than she expected.
Chen Shengqing issued industrial coupons every month, and so did Yang Qiujin. It was based on wages, with one industrial coupon issued for every ten yuan. Therefore, Yang Qiujin never lacked industrial coupons, and sometimes she would even lend them to other people to gain good relationships.
She quickly gave him the money and the ticket. Chen Shengqing carried a half-person-high fan and walked downstairs with her. When they saw a row of sandals on the counter in the daily necessities section, Chen Shengqing stopped and said, "Qiu Jin, the weather is getting hot. You, Tianyou, and our mother should change into sandals. Take a look at which style you like and buy two pairs to wear back home."
"Sandals, let me see them." Yang Qiujin was attracted by the various kinds of sandals displayed on the counter.
To be honest, she has never worn sandals in the summer, no matter how hot it is.
The main reason is that people in their hometown are very feudal and think that women should not expose their legs and toes. It is a very shameful behavior to let others see their feet.
As the country gradually opened up, there were more and more young people, and there were more and more factory-industrialized daily shoes and socks. In addition, the domestic situation in the past two years was no longer as severe as it was a few years ago. Many young women around her began to wear long skirts and sandals in the summer, and Yang Qiujin was jealous.
When Chen Shengqing mentioned it, she also wanted to try what it felt like to wear sandals, so on the recommendation of the salesperson, she bought a pair of red low-heeled plastic sandals with a butterfly flower pattern on the upper. When she put them on, her feet looked slender and white, her legs looked long and slender, and she felt cool and comfortable.
She turned around in front of Chen Shengqing wearing her sandals and asked him, "Does it look good?"
It was summer now, and she was wearing a white short-sleeved cool top, a long light blue floral skirt, and red plastic sandals. She turned around in front of Chen Shengqing. If it weren't for her bulging belly, she would have looked like a young girl, making people's heart beat faster.
Chen Shengqing's eyes were deep and he nodded without hesitation: "It looks good."
Yang Qiujin smiled sweetly, "Okay, I'll take this pair of sandals, and also pack up the dark red sandals, and the large and small army green sandals. Then everyone in our family will wear sandals."
Sandals were five yuan a pair, not expensive, but one needed a shoe ticket to buy a pair of shoes. Four pairs of shoes meant four shoe tickets. Yang Qiujin also gave the money and tickets quickly.
The salesperson liked such a straightforward and quiet customer the most. He took the shoes from her with a smile on his face and said, "Please wait a moment. I will pack them for you."
After packing the shoes, Chen Shengqing took the shoes in his hand and took Yang Qiujin to another counter to buy something. "It's a rare opportunity for us to come to the county to buy things. Please check if there is anything missing at home and buy whatever you need."
Yang Qiujin muttered, "The candies and snacks at home are all gone, the soy sauce and seasonings are almost gone, and Mom and Tianyou's socks have holes in them..."
The two of them wandered around the department store, and after they finished buying things, Chen Shengqing was carrying a lot of bags, and Yang Qiujin and Chen Shengqing were still holding some in their hands, while they both left the store empty-handed.
Two female department store salespeople who were idle on the first floor of the store saw them leaving and said with envy, "That military wife is so lucky. Her husband is handsome and willing to spend money on her, and he doesn't even let her carry things. It's really enviable."
Most men nowadays are very selfish and self-centered. They don't feel sorry for their wives. Many men are too concerned about their reputation outside and will never help a woman carry anything.
Often when couples walk on the street, it is usually the women who carry large and small bags of things, while the men are strolling leisurely with nothing in their hands. It is not common to see a couple like this one where the man takes the initiative to carry things.
"That's right! They are both men, why are they so different?" sighed another saleswoman.
That officer was so handsome. He was tall, had long legs, broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His uniform was neat and clean without any wrinkles, which made his skin look even fairer. His facial features looked as if they were carved with a knife. He was so handsome that people could not take their eyes off him.
If it weren't for the fact that the officer looked gentle but actually had eyes so cold that they could kill people, his wife would have wanted to chat with him just now when she was buying things.
Yang Qiujin was unaware of other people's envy of her. After returning home in the jeep, she couldn't wait to plug in the fan, then took a small stool, sat in front of the fan, and reached out to press the switch.
After a slight clanging sound, the fan started to turn quickly, and a cool breeze blew over her face, blowing away the heat in Yang Qiujin's body.
She opened her eyes wide and called out to Chen Shengqing happily: "Shengqing, come over here and get some fresh air. It's really cool."
Seeing her so happy, Chen Shengqing also raised his lips happily and said from behind her, "You are too close to the fan. You will catch a cold. Stay a little further away from the fan. It is best to keep a distance of about 1.5 meters."
Yang Qiujin didn't want to go through the same experience again, where she had to drink bitter Chinese medicine to catch a cold and fever. She obediently moved her stool back a distance, but it wasn't as cool as before. She walked over and turned up the wind speed, blowing her hair and skirt up. She said with satisfaction, "It's really cool. The money was well spent. I just don't know how much electricity it costs to have this fan blowing from morning to night."
Chen Shengqing pressed the rotating fan to the fixed position, letting it blow only on Yang Qiujin. "No matter how much electricity it uses, just use it after buying it. The electricity bill for our border defense department is not expensive. Even if you use it every day, from morning to night, it won't cost much."
Yang Qiujin thought about it and realized that after spending all the big money, why would she care about such a small amount of money? She simply lay down on the sofa in the living room which was covered with a cool mat and took a comfortable nap.
Chen Shengqing took a thin piece of clothing and covered her belly to prevent her from catching a cold. He then turned around and walked outside the yard. He drove his jeep to the black market, spent less than fifty yuan to buy a bunch of fan parts, and assembled them in the yard.
In the afternoon, after receiving the infusion, Chen Tianyou returned home accompanied by Li Xiu'e.
As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Chen Shengqing fiddling with parts. Chen Tianyou approached him and asked, "Dad, what are you assembling again?"
"Fan." Chen Shengqing held a screwdriver and tightened the screws of the fan main unit, not forgetting to care about his son, "How do you feel after the infusion? Can you go to school tomorrow?"
"I feel much better. It won't be a problem for me to go to school tomorrow." Chen Tianyou squatted in front of him, carefully looked at the parts and circuits around him, and said eagerly: "Dad, why don't you give me some advice and I'll assemble it. Last week, our teacher Li talked about the problem of circuit equipment, and I'm very interested."
Chen Shengqing paused, and before he could say anything, Li Xiu'e, who was about to cook, heard what they said and objected, "How can that be? What if you ruin your father's things?"
In her opinion, everything Chen Shengqing was involved in was related to the military and had to be kept secret. She could not touch it, inquire about it, or destroy it. This was her perception as a military parent.
Chen Shengqing waved his hand and said, "Mom, it's okay. I bought these parts with my own money and assembled them. It doesn't matter if they break. I'll buy more if they break."
Chen Tianyou has been with the army for almost five years, and so far, Chen Shengqing has not discovered that he has any particular interest in anything.
It is rare that Chen Tianyou is interested in assembly equipment. Chen Shengqing thinks that as long as the child is interested, he will cultivate his interest in this direction.
As for broken parts, those were minor problems. His many years of experience in assembling and repairing equipment were not in vain.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
