While washing the wild vegetables, Song Yan talked to Wei Aiguo, "I just ran into Dajun. He said his dad is going fishing with him in a bit."
I didn't expect him to have a fishing rod. I borrowed it from him just now, and he said he'd bring it to me tonight.
I'm going fishing early tomorrow morning. We'll have fish stew for lunch.
Song Yan enjoys fishing.
"Be careful when you're fishing," Wei Aiguo advised, knowing she was a good swimmer.
"I won't go far. There's a river to the east; I'll find a calm spot to fish."
When Song Yan returned, he brought back half a basket of eggplants. Wei Aiguo didn't pay attention to this and assumed that he had bought them from someone else.
In the evening, I had a bowl of cold wild vegetable salad. It wasn't the same kind of wild vegetable as yesterday, so the taste was different. But both were delicious. There was also a steamed eggplant, which was also very tasty. And tomato and egg drop soup—after sweating all afternoon, it was so comforting to replenish fluids and electrolytes.
When Xu Liangsheng came out, he exclaimed, "I want to join the army right away, and then eat my sister's cooking every day here, and never go back."
Qiu Hai called him an idiot. "If you really joined the army, could you even leave the barracks?"
“Let’s call home quickly! Their food is delicious, it’s too little to give them only two cents,” Wang Jinhui suggested.
Fang Shengjie nodded.
A few boys ran to the regiment to borrow a phone. The regimental commander had given instructions beforehand, knowing they would need to make a call. The staff on duty gave them an outside line. It was a regular telephone line, nothing more.
When Qiu Hai's mother heard that her son was going to Song Yan's house for dinner, she felt bad that he was causing them trouble. Qiu Hai pleaded, saying that since they had already eaten, and the money they asked for was so little, he felt bad and offered to give Song Yan a nationally valid coupon. Qiu Hai's mother praised him for being thoughtful and not taking advantage of others. Qiu Hai asked his father to bring the gifts when he went to the military base, and his mother happily agreed.
Qiu Hai's mother hung up the phone and started thinking about what kind of vouchers to get for him. Vouchers like industrial coupons, which she didn't need herself, could be secretly sold for money, so giving them to Song Yan would be quite suitable.
Xu Liangsheng and Wang Jinhui's families are in similar situations to Qiu Hai's. First of all, their children have caused trouble for others. Even the children know they've taken advantage of others; how could the parents pretend not to know? Especially since the children have this thought, it shows they're sensible and considerate. The parents should be even more happy to compensate them.
For their family circumstances, this amount of money is nothing.
Fang Shengjie's father went out alone with nothing, so he had to call his maternal grandmother to ask for some.
Grandma Shen answered the phone and got angry as soon as she heard her grandson wanted to give Wei Aiguo something. If it weren't for him, would the family be in this mess? Giving him things! Didn't everyone give him enough when he was discharged from the hospital? He's so greedy! He took so many things; isn't it enough that he paid for the child's meal?
"Honestly, do you really have to eat at his house? Doesn't the army have a canteen? The canteen is much more hygienic," Old Mrs. Shen scolded.
"Grandma, her family's food is so delicious, I want to eat at her house." Fang Shengjie felt a little embarrassed by what his grandma said, but he still patiently talked to her.
"I think that guy surnamed Song is just trying to coax you into taking things. You idiot, you're even going to add to your own expenses."
"Grandma! Don't we have anything? You insist on making me take advantage of others." Fang Shengjie's unhappy voice rang out.
"Fine, fine! I'll get it ready for you." Old Mrs. Shen said impatiently.
Old Shen heard everything. He didn't say a word to his wife, letting her decide what to do. He could stop her once, but his wife would do it countless times when he couldn't see. Letting Fang Shengjie discover his grandmother's problems was a hundred times better than directly telling him that his grandmother was problematic.
Commander Qiu was pleased; his son had made further progress. He had originally planned to go to the troops in three days, but changed his plans and went earlier. Shouldn't Director Qiao also have his follow-up appointment?
Commander Qiu called Old Qiao, who indeed wanted to go the next day but was worried about how to get there. Commander Qiu said he would take him along, which made Director Qiao extremely happy.
Since she had decided to go, Qiu Hai's mother called each family to ask if they planned to bring anything for the child. The other three families all said they did.
Not only was Old Mrs. Shen in a bad mood, but Sister He was also furious. When she went out, she ran into several military dependents from the Second Regiment gossiping together.
Regiments often competed for performance, and military dependents also formed groups within their own regiments. Her husband was in one regiment, so she was the leader of the dependents' families in that regiment. But things were generally acceptable among the military dependents; it was only when the men competed that the distinctions became clear.
Sister-in-law He wanted to say hello, but she didn't expect what she heard would make her furious.
"...Have you heard? That military dependent who's staying at the same house isn't exactly respectable."
"Don't talk nonsense! Just because someone is pretty doesn't mean you can say whatever you want."
"It's true! The key point is that her husband knew about it and let his wife go with another man in the middle of the night!"
"My God! Could such a thing really happen?"
"I heard that woman brought back a lot of good stuff, noodles, meat, and quite a lot of it!"
"This is a disgrace to the military!"
"Where did you hear that? You're talking nonsense here. You're spreading rumors!" Sister He shouted.
The wife of the Second Regiment Commander said, "The person lives in your First Regiment. The people around him are all from your First Regiment, so of course it's someone from your First Regiment who said it."
"Who said that? Which foul-mouthed bastard is spouting nonsense?" Aunt He was getting anxious.
"Go ask your own about your regiment's affairs." The wife of the Second Regiment Commander led the way and left, and the other military dependents of the Second Regiment dispersed as well.
Sister He quickly went to each household in the troupe to ask. Did anyone know who had told them this? Sister He was pretty sure who said it, but she still needed to verify it!
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