Chapter 8 I miss home. Nobody's upset me, I just...miss home...
A military region in Kashgar.
Wearing camouflage, Chen Mubai had just finished a training exercise. Having been confined to the army for many years, he was unaware that his obedient second sister had secretly come to Xinjiang to work alone.
"Brother Bai, those moves you just made were so cool! You took down the other guy in no time. Please teach me!" Wang Xinjun, whose face still had a bit of a childish look, praised repeatedly.
As he walked, he tried to recreate the man's movements, but he couldn't quite grasp the essence. Chen Mubai was a fellow villager he met after joining the army. He was kind and skilled, so Chen volunteered to be his younger brother, willingly serving his elder brother.
Chen Mubai smiled gently upon hearing this, "Actually, it's not difficult. The key is to anticipate the opponent's movements. Let's go eat first, and I'll show you how to practice after we finish eating..."
"Thanks, bro! I'll get you some food later!" Wang Xinjun said happily.
It's rare for Brother Bai to agree to teach him a few tricks, so he'd better serve him well. That way, he might have more opportunities in the future, haha.
In the military camp, everyone knew Chen Mubai's nickname, "Jade-faced Scholar." When fighting in pairs, he would often be smiling gently at you one second, and the next second he would have already dislocated your arm.
Chen Mubai has been in the army for five years since he joined at the age of eighteen. He is indeed quite capable in combat, but he is usually mild-mannered and doesn't like to show off.
But in the military, you can't afford to be passive when it comes to critical moments. During training exercises or simulated combat, you have to use your best skills.
The higher-ups have been keeping an eye on this promising young man for a while now. I heard they're planning to send him to a military academy for a year of advanced training, and he'll be promoted when he returns.
At the same time, in Chenjia Village.
Mr. and Mrs. Chen had just returned from weeding in the fields and were sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air, talking about their children.
"You know, Mianmian has been gone for so many days and hasn't sent a single message back..." Chen's mother said worriedly.
Mr. Chen scoffed, "We haven't heard anything from Mu Baicai, except for sending money back every month on time."
“How can that be the same? Mu Bai is in the army, there are many rules there,” Chen’s mother said reproachfully. “Sometimes he has to go on missions to other places, how can he have time to write letters home?”
“You’re just too much of a worrywart. The children are all grown up now, it’s normal for them to go out and explore the world,” Mr. Chen said, patting his wife’s shoulder to signal her to go back inside and rest.
"Besides, we gave Mianmian so much money when she left, she'll be fine."
Chen Mian: Actually, something happened. I got scammed out of all my money, boohoo, but I managed to earn it back using my intelligence. (Proudly)
As if remembering something, Mr. Chen said, "Tomorrow I will write a letter to my eldest son and tell him about Mianmian's trip to Xinjiang."
"Don't let the two of you bump into each other and get a fright."
"Okay, by the way, ask when the eldest son is coming back this year..." Chen's mother added.
After Mu Mian left, Mu He also returned to the provincial capital to work part-time, leaving only the two of them at home to keep each other company.
A few years ago, even though my son wasn't around, we still had two daughters, and the family was always lively. But now that all the children have left, sometimes the house is completely silent.
However, the lives of farmers are always filled with ordinariness and loneliness; even without their children, life goes on.
Recently, Chen's mother has been busy pickling various vegetables. The radishes, eggplants, and chives from the field can all be made into pickles to last through the winter.
After peeling the radish, cut it into even strips and let it dry in good weather. Then mix it with chili powder, soy sauce and other seasonings.
Store it in a dry canning jar or earthenware pot and let it sit for a few days before eating. It will make a "crunchy" sound when you bite into it, and it goes well with porridge or noodles.
Eggplant needs to be peeled, diced, steamed for a few minutes, and then marinated with seasonings.
She prepared all of these in advance so that the children could eat them when they came back for the New Year, and they could also take a jar with them to eat on the way.
In the distance, on a farm in Ebony City.
The competition between Chen Mianmian and Ji Yu, two childish individuals, has reached a fever pitch. They chose two goji berry trees that were basically the same size and decided to see who could pick all the berries first, even bringing in Yu Xiaoyue as the referee.
Yu Xiaoyue: Thank you for trusting me. You're all being penalized one point each for not working properly and instead focusing on the competition.
At the start of the competition, contestant number one, Chen Mian, took the initiative and rushed to the tree. She hung the bamboo basket on her arm and picked the fruit with both hands at the same time, achieving impressive results.
Seeing this, contestant number two, Ji Yu, also brought out her special skill, "plucking feathers from a passing goose." She held the branch in her left hand and plucked the goji berries along with the leaves with her right hand, catching up with the goji berries. If there weren't enough goji berries, she would use leaves instead.
Just as he was basking in his own cleverness, referee Yu Xiaoyue saw what was happening behind him. Frowning, she put one hand on her hip and kicked him. The second player staggered, receiving a red card and a one-week suspension.
Yu Xiaoyue: How dare they damage my goji berry tree! This is outrageous!
Upon seeing this, Chen Mian stopped what she was doing and chuckled.
Ji Yu wasn't angry when his own mother kicked him. He had only suggested the competition to amuse the little girl, so he didn't care about the result.
Little did he know that Chen Mian's "ambidextrous attack" was actually a feint to deceive him; in reality, she hadn't picked many fruits with either hand.
Yu Xiaoyue: Okay, okay, you two act it out, I'll just watch and not say anything.
In the evening, the group returned to the courtyard with a bountiful harvest.
In the kitchen, Ji's mother was preparing ingredients, cutting potatoes and eggplants into chunks and green beans into sections, in preparation for making a dish called "Three Treasures of the Earth".
Chen Mian sat on a small stool, resting her chin on her hands, staring blankly at the flames in the stove. Her usually bright eyes were now clouded with a hint of melancholy.
Back when we were at home, it was often like this: my mom would cook, and she would tend the fire. She'd stuff leftover cucumber slices into her mouth, and she was always the first to taste the cooked dishes.
Yu Xiaoyue chopped all the ingredients and prepared to fry them. When she turned around, she saw Chen Mian looking dazed and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you unhappy today? Did Ji Yu say something hurtful that made you angry?"
Chen Mian shook her head and slowly said, "No one made me unhappy, I just... miss home..."
It's been over a month since I left my hometown, and I wonder how things are back home. The wheat had just been dried before I left, and I guess they'll be starting to pickle vegetables by now.
This was the first time in her life she had been so far from home. She didn't know where the courage came from, but it sustained her all the way from the Northwest to Xinjiang.
Li Cuiping: It's just your damn stubbornness, what else could it be...?
Aunt Yu and Officer Ji were both very kind to her; she met some kind-hearted people.
Yu Xiaoyue noticed Chen Mian's low spirits, thought for a moment, and changed the subject, "Do you know where I'm from?"
Chen Mian: "So, Auntie wasn't originally from Xinjiang?"
Yu Xiaoyue chuckled: "Of course not. My hometown is in Northeast China. A few days after I married Ji Yu's father, he went back to the army."
“I was raising my child alone in my hometown, and it wasn’t until the child was five or six years old that he finally qualified as a family member to accompany him to the military…”
Back then, Yu Xiaoyue still wore two long braids, and she resolutely came to Xinjiang with Ji Yu. Her relatives all said she was foolish, giving up the good life in Northeast China to go to Xinjiang to suffer.
The early days in Xinjiang were indeed not easy. She couldn't understand Uyghur and wasn't used to eating with her hands. Ji Feng was also busy with military training, so it was thanks to the other military wives in the family compound that she was gradually helped to get to know the place.
After sending Ji Yu to school, she started thinking about what kind of business to do, but she didn't come across a suitable opportunity.
Later, the leaders in the military came to a great help and allocated this piece of land in the suburbs to the military spouses for free.
That's when she started planting goji berries, though initially the area wasn't this large. Later, some of the other military wives went home to care for their elderly parents, while others followed their husbands after they were discharged from the military…
After all the twists and turns, only she remained on this land, and the goji berry farm has been doing better and better year by year.
A few years ago, my husband also retired from the army and is now the vice president of the court in Urumqi. During the week, they stay in their house in the city, and on weekends they go back to their courtyard house.
She only recently returned to live there permanently because he went to the capital for training, and it was harvest season at the farm. Although commuting to work in the city is convenient, it's ultimately not as comfortable and relaxing as living on the farm.
Ji Yu's job at the police station is stable, and her family lives happily together. Of course, it would be even better if she could bring back a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter.
After listening to Yu Xiaoyue's story, Chen Mian asked curiously, "Auntie, how did you decide to grow goji berries? There are so many crops to choose from in Xinjiang."
Yu Xiaoyue also felt that there was a bit of a coincidence when she thought about this question. "At the time, it was because goji berries were easy to grow and not picky about the environment. I never thought that I would be able to ask so many people to help me in the future, so I could only choose one that was easy to manage."
"Back then, all I was thinking about was having something to do to pass the time. The farm was big, and we could have a small yard to improve our living conditions," Yu Xiaoyue explained.
There are quite a few people in the military family compound. Those with lower ranks can only be assigned one room, unless they have many children and apply for two rooms.
Everything on the farm was arranged by her own trial and error, such as the room specifically for air-drying.
At first, after picking the goji berries, she would only expose them to the sun, which was a lot of work, but the quality was still very poor. Others advised her to give up and plant something else instead.
She refused to believe it and spent a week researching materials at the city library, filling a thick notebook with notes. After returning home, she studied them one by one.
The following year, her family's goji berries were the best quality in the entire city of Ebony. From then on, the farm's reputation spread, and business flourished.
The story was over, and dinner was ready, but Ji Yu was missing from the table; he had been called back to work overtime.
Recently, a group of burglary gangs have emerged in the city, frequently breaking into residents' homes to steal things. Moreover, the items they steal each time are different; sometimes it's handbags and leather jackets, and sometimes it's tables and bowls.
The city government took the matter very seriously and demanded that the suspect be apprehended as soon as possible. Their police station was also assigned the task of patrolling the nearby streets at night.
Ji Yu had served in the army and was skilled in combat, so he was the first one called back.
After dinner, Chen Mian helped clean up the dishes and prepared breakfast for the next day before returning to her room to write a letter to her family.
The moonlight gradually rose outside the window, and all around was the rustling of leaves, occasionally interspersed with the chirping of cicadas.
Chen Mian wrote more and more letters, one to everyone in her family. She reminded her father to take care of his health, her mother not to be stingy with money, asked when her eldest brother would bring his wife home, and warned her younger sister not to be deceived by bad men at school…
A note from the author:
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Little Cotton: Waaaaah, I miss home and my mom...
Crucian carp: I'm at a loss, what should I do? Someone please help me comfort the little girl.
Random thoughts:
Little Cotton's older brother is a really gentle guy, and his partner is super cute!
You didn't expect that, haha! In the last chapter, I was saying that I hadn't thought of the story for my older brother yet, but I've already thought of it for this chapter. Thanks to the boring time on the business trip.
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