"Brother, what are you doing?" Ruan Ruan woke up and couldn't find him. She changed her clothes and searched the front yard, but couldn't find him. She was about to go to the kitchen to see what food they had when she heard a thumping sound from the backyard. Ruan Ruan went over and saw Huo Haocheng wielding a hoe.
"You're awake? Are you hungry?" Huo Haocheng saw that Ruan Ruan was awake and immediately put down the small stone he had just picked up and walked towards her.
"I'll hoe the soil in the backyard. In a few days, we can sow some vegetable seeds in it. I just asked my sister-in-law and the others. Tomorrow we'll go to the commune to buy some cucumber, cowpea, radish and other vegetable seedlings to plant. That way, it'll be convenient to grow them when we want to eat them," Huo Haocheng explained to Ruan Ruan while washing his hands at the sink.
"Let's go, there's some food warming up in the pot for you. Eat some first, then we'll go to the commander's house. School here lets out early, at 4 o'clock, so Teacher Shen will probably be home around 4:30. We can go there at 5 o'clock." Huo Haocheng first went to the kitchen to get Ruan Ruan's food, then led her to sit down in the living room. "Try it and see if the food in our military canteen suits your taste."
"It's alright." A hungry person will eat anything, but Huo Haocheng had really given her too much. A few minutes later, Ruan Ruan couldn't eat much anymore, and the rest went straight into Huo Haocheng's stomach. After finishing, Huo Haocheng took the bowl to the kitchen to wash it.
"Are these gifts enough for our visit to my uncle's house later?" Ruan Ruan took out the gifts she had prepared in Beijing from her luggage: clothes for her uncle and aunt, school supplies for her cousin, two cans of malted milk powder, a pound of White Rabbit milk candy, and dried pheasant and rabbit made at home.
"Don't worry, just take these with you, they might even let you bring them back." These days, if you see subordinates giving gifts to superiors, you'll be reported. Although Huo Haocheng is Gu Wencheng's soldier, Ruan Ruan is his niece. Their coming to deliver gifts changes the nature of the situation. But only a few people in the military region know about this.
"This is a gift for my uncle and aunt to greet them. Who would say anything?" Ruan Ruan didn't quite understand why her niece was buying something for her uncle. *You're meddling in other people's business.*
"Sweetie, don't get excited. I just meant that these things are enough. Your aunt and uncle will definitely like the clothes you bought." Huo Haocheng knew he had misspoke. It was all because of the old ladies in the residential compound. They would always say that so-and-so had given gifts to the leaders, and the investigation results were all slanders by them, making the whole compound a mess. Now, the women's wives would run away as fast as they could when they saw the old ladies.
"Did someone really report it?" Ruan Ruan asked, still curious.
"Hmm," Huo Haocheng nodded, somewhat embarrassed.
"Are they so idle? This residential compound is so small, you see each other all the time. Aren't they afraid of ruining their son's reputation?" Ruan Ruan couldn't understand it. In this tiny place, if you report someone to the leaders, do you think the leaders will be happy? Especially if it's fabricated. How can their son hold his head high in front of the leaders? If they are broad-minded, it's fine, but if they are petty and vengeful, wouldn't that be sending their son to be made miserable?
“Uh (⊙o⊙)…” Huo Haocheng didn’t know how to explain to Ruan Ruan for a moment; “Is it possible that they didn’t even think of this when they went to report it?” The older women are not very educated. If they see who gives gifts and the leader accepts them, then when there are good things, their family will be the first to benefit. Wouldn’t their family be at a disadvantage?
Wasn't this how it was when you earned work points in the countryside? Those who didn't get along with the brigade leader were assigned to hard, dirty work, while those who got along well, being family members, got easy, clean jobs. In the old women's minds, the military leaders must have been like that too.
"When they went to report him, didn't his family know?" The old lady hadn't thought of that, but didn't his family know either? Ruan Ruan didn't believe it; maybe they were just pretending not to know.
Huo Haocheng didn't answer Ruan Ruan's question, but just shook his head. He didn't know what they were thinking, nor did he want to ask. Anyway, everyone knew what they were thinking.
"Understood." It seems we should have less contact with these families in the future, or better yet, no contact at all.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Come help me sprinkle some water on the soil." With that, Huo Haocheng pulled Ruan Ruan to the backyard and continued to finish hoeing the soil that hadn't been hoeed before.
Ruan Ruan followed behind Huo Haocheng, using a bucket to scoop water and splash it onto the ground, so that the soil would be wet before planting vegetables.
After they finished working, it was almost 5 p.m. They washed up, changed their clothes, and headed towards the Gu family's house with their things. Huo Haocheng's house was the last one on the right in the third row, while the Gu family's house was in the middle of the first row; it was a fifteen-minute walk. They left just as the children were getting out of school, and they encountered many people along the way.
"Commander Huo, is this your wife?" The two had just stepped out of the courtyard when they heard the voice of their neighbor, Sister Zheng.
"Yes, sister-in-law, this is my wife, Ruan Ruan." Huo Haocheng saw that Sister-in-law Zheng had just returned with her youngest daughter and had just reached the gate of the courtyard. He turned to Ruan Ruan and said, "This is Sister-in-law Zheng."
"Hello, Sister-in-law Zheng." The person in front of her gave Ruan Ruan the impression of being efficient. Although her clothes were old, they were very clean. Her little daughter next to her had two small pigtails and was very cute. Her clothes and face were also very clean.
"Wow, Battalion Commander Huo's wife is really beautiful! No wonder Battalion Commander Huo has been so fond of her." Wang Xia was also seeing such a pretty young girl for the first time, and she thought she was even prettier than the girls in the cultural troupe.
"My name is Wang Xia, this is my daughter Zheng Yuxing, and I also have a son, Zheng Yuchen, who should be back soon. Xingxing, quickly say hello to your auntie."
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