Hearing her aunt's words, Ruan Ruan felt a little sad. Huo Haocheng couldn't bear to see his beloved younger sister upset, and he wanted to say that he could choose not to marry, but before he could say it, Ruan Ruan asked...
"Can I marry my brother?" When she said this, Ruan Ruan wasn't sure if she was talking about love, but she only knew that she wanted to stay with her brother forever. Besides, her aunt had said that they weren't related by blood, and that she had been raised by the Huo family, so it was okay for her to marry into the Huo family. That way, they would still be one family, and nothing would change.
The Huo family was shocked to hear Ruan Ruan's words. They had never considered this idea before, but now that Ruan Ruan had brought it up, it seemed plausible. In rural areas of that era, child brides were indeed a possibility.
After thinking it through, Old Master Huo looked at his eldest daughter-in-law. Her family was gone; they had all been killed during the war. The Zhao family elders had hidden the young Zhao Hongmei in the cellar and used their bodies to block the entrance, thus saving her life. At that time, everyone was starving, but not hungry either. They raised Zhao Hongmei with a corn cob from one neighbor and a sweet potato from another.
As an orphan herself, she knew very well what it felt like to have family around. If it weren't for Huo Songbai always taking care of her when she was little, she might have been bullied long ago. So when Ruan Ruan said those words, she agreed. After all, this was a child she had watched grow up.
Huo Haocheng could hardly believe his ears when he heard Ruan Ruan's words. He had only just realized he loved Ruan Ruan, and now she wanted to marry him. It was like a pie falling from the sky into his lap.
"Ruan Ruan, do you know what you're saying?" Huo Haocheng ignored the adults' reactions, his eyes fixed on the girl before him. He seemed afraid Ruan Ruan would disappear at any moment.
"I know, when I came home from school today, Grandma and the others were saying that you've grown up and will get married, and I can't follow you anymore. But I don't want you to get married, I don't want anyone else to follow you. I want to stay with you forever. And Auntie said we're not related by blood, which means I can marry you. Brother, please let me stay with you forever, okay? Please don't marry another sister-in-law, okay?" Ruan Ruan anxiously held Huo Haocheng's hand, her eyes red as she looked at him.
"Okay, Ruan Ruan must remember what I said today. You must always follow your brother. Your brother will not let anyone else follow you." Just like that, Huo Haocheng ignored the adults' attitudes and made his own stance clear: he, Huo Haocheng, only wanted Ruan Ruan for the rest of his life.
"Okay, brother, pinky promise!" Hearing Huo Haocheng's words, Ruan Ruan happily stretched out her little hand, her fair and slender fingers waving in front of Huo Haocheng's eyes. He extended his slightly yellowed and dry fingers to make a pinky promise with Ruan Ruan.
"Pinky promise, for a hundred years, never to be broken."
Seeing the two of them happily making a pinky promise, the rest of the Huo family felt helpless. They hadn't said they disagreed, so why did they decide to spend their lives together on their own?
And so, when Ruan Ruan was 10 years old, she arranged to marry someone else.
Huo Haocheng joined the army at 18. For the past six years, he had sent back his monthly allowance. Occasionally, after completing a mission, if he saw any nice clothes, shoes, hair clips, or anything he thought Ruan Ruan would wear, he would buy them for her. In this way, everyone in the army, from the political commissar to the new recruits, knew that their Battalion Commander Huo had a beautiful young wife.
Just three days before Ruan Ruan turned 18, the Ruan family found her. This was thanks to Huo Haocheng's letter saying he missed her but couldn't come back. So Ruan Ruan went to a photo studio in the city to have her picture taken and send it to him. However, the photographer couldn't resist seeing how beautiful Ruan Ruan was and how happy she looked, so he put her picture on the glass wall by the door. That's when Ruan Shiya, the youngest daughter of the Ruan family, saw it on her way home from school.
When she ran into the military compound, she saw her father, who was coming home from get off work, and the political commissar of the military region cooking. Her mother was sitting and knitting a sweater. Ruan's mother, Su Yunxin, was the director of the military hospital. The couple were usually very busy with work and rarely had time, so they wanted to finish knitting the sweater as soon as possible. It was already June, and after September, it would start to get cold in Northeast China.
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