Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Going on a blind date
Liang Xin still went on the blind date.
The main road of the Jiangjing Military Region compound is lined with Metasequoia glyptostroboides that turn from green to red, creating a poetic and picturesque scene. Between the trees, there is a banner with the slogan: "The route is the outline, and the outline leads to everything."
A green mottled military vehicle was coming towards them, and Liang Xin was pulled to the curb by her second sister-in-law to avoid it.
The car window was half open, and I met a majestic gaze. Just one glance and most people would have stood at attention immediately.
For example, the second sister-in-law who was holding Liang Xin's arm suddenly straightened her body.
As the military vehicle passed by, the second sister-in-law wiped her cold sweat and looked at the lazy sister-in-law who was "an average person" and smacked her lips: "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. No, no, it can't be said to be a tiger. It can only be said that you can't guess what kind of cadre is not afraid of it."
"It has nothing to do with me in this life."
".......Too."
The second sister-in-law looked back and saw the sentry at the gate saluting the military vehicle. She grabbed Liang Xin's arm and dragged him forward. "Don't be discouraged. We can't get in touch with such a high-ranking official, but we may be able to get in touch with ordinary military officials today. If we can, you can be saved!"
There was nothing but laziness on Liang Xin's face, not a trace of interest.
As we passed the Military Service Center, a military bugle call suddenly sounded from a loud speaker on a telephone pole. The melody was passionate and melodious, and from the large playground ahead came the commands and powerful footsteps of the soldiers conducting drills.
Liang Xin listened to this and instead of feeling spirited, she yawned.
The guard leading the way stopped in front of a row of three-story red-brick staff buildings. The second sister-in-law grabbed her arm and lowered her voice excitedly, "The regimental building is for regimental-level cadres! Xiaoxin, I said you are lucky! Turn around and I will help you tidy up!"
Liang Xin's eyes were filled with tears from yawning: "......After all this time, you didn't even know the other party's family and you dragged me to a blind date?"
The second sister-in-law took off the red scarf wrapped around Liang Xin's head, shook off the dust, and then folded it into a triangle and tied it around her neck. She looked at her palm-sized face that was white and red from the cold:
"No matter who he is, he is from this military compound. Those who can live in the family compound are cadres. There is no need to worry about their family background. They have to go through strict political review and screening before they can become soldiers... Don't frown!"
The second sister-in-law scolded him and said seriously, "It was only after I went back to my parents' house and made a scene that they reluctantly arranged this relationship for me. If you don't behave well today and make this happen, you can expect to be criticized when you go back!"
Liang Xin said slowly: "You are not looking for the soldier himself, but the son of a cadre."
"There's nothing wrong with the parents' backgrounds, so how can there be any problems with their son?" The second sister-in-law's eyes became faint as she said this, and her words became softer, "If it weren't for you doing this for Wei Yuanyang, that ruthless person who would destroy his own bridges after crossing the river..."
The second sister-in-law stopped talking abruptly, as if nothing had happened. She continued, "If you hadn't gone to raise those six extra chickens, the blind date wouldn't have happened so hastily. I wasn't trying to scare you just now. This time our team has been assigned a spot for criticism and struggle. If you are caught at this juncture, Dad is a power-hungry person and will definitely put you out there to be an example of cutting off the tail of capitalism. After you're criticized, you'll have to be sent to the county for two months!"
Liang Xin quickened her pace and said, "Let's go."
The second sister-in-law smiled with satisfaction, "That's right! ...Hey? Why did he leave again?"
Passing by the three-story regimental building, the guard stopped, saluted a four-pocket cadre, and continued walking forward.
The direction they were heading towards slowly turned the doubt in the second sister-in-law's eyes into ecstasy. Her voice trembled with excitement, and she couldn't control her strength and shook Liang Xin's arm vigorously: "The west courtyard is ahead!"
Liang Xin was surprised and followed without saying anything.
“A four-story building!”
The second sister-in-law looked at the four-story red brick building on the right. Her nails on Liang Xin's arm were almost digging into the flesh. Her cheeks flushed with excitement. She couldn't hold back her voice, which was slightly raised: "Teacher's housing, little sister, these are all teacher's housing with four bedrooms and a living room! This is a high-ranking cadre that Dad, the brigade secretary, may never be able to speak to in his life! You are saved now! You are going to enjoy life!"
Liang Xin pushed away her second sister-in-law's excited hands and rubbed her arms, "You don't even know who it is, and Uncle Huzi isn't coming either, so you can really go in for a blind date like this?"
The second sister-in-law grabbed Liang Xin again and was about to say something when she noticed that the guard had walked through the four-story building without stopping. Her face suddenly changed.
The second sister-in-law didn't answer. Liang Xin turned around and found that her lips were trembling. She followed her gaze to look at the guard's back, and the sleepiness and laziness in her body subsided a little.
The two followed the guards all the way into a gate at the back of the family compound where a sentry was standing guard.
The two-story buildings with green tiles, gray walls, crimson doors and windows are hidden among the lush trees, deep and quiet.
The guard stopped in front of one of the doors, saluted the guard at the gate, then turned around and saluted Ersao and Liang Xin, pointing to the door to indicate that they had reached their destination.
The second sister-in-law subconsciously raised her stiff fingers and placed them on her solar plexus in return, and she looked like she was struck by lightning.
On the silent road, the sound of swallowing saliva could be heard.
After Liang Xin finished her inspection, she looked at her second sister-in-law with uncertainty in her eyes, "Here?"
The second sister-in-law didn't react at all except for swallowing her saliva.
The guard who led the way had already left, and a team of mobile patrols came on the road. If the second sister-in-law continued to be stupid, she would be questioned.
Liang Xin pinched her cold face.
The second sister-in-law was woken up by being pinched. There was no excitement on her face when she saw the regimental and divisional buildings. Instead, she was panic-stricken, "This... this..."
Obviously he understood what this building meant.
The two-story buildings in the military compound are all military buildings.
Just as the name suggests.
General's Building.
Family building for military district chiefs.
"What should I do? I... I don't know. This... my elder brother, how did my elder brother get here..."
The second sister-in-law was so frightened that she was incoherent. She had been dragging Liang Xin all the way from the commune to the provincial capital. Now she was still dragging Liang Xin, but on the contrary, she regarded Liang Xin as her backbone. "I'm afraid that my eldest brother is taking revenge on me and deliberately playing tricks on us. Let's... let's go back!"
Liang Xin was just happy with what he said. She dragged her second sister-in-law and turned to walk out. Suddenly, the guard at the gate called out, "Dr. Ma introduced you. Please come in this way."
The second sister-in-law once again straightened up in an instant, just like she did before at the gate of the compound, and looked at Liang Xin.
Liang Xin looked at her unreliable second sister-in-law, "............then come in."
"Go in... can we go in here?"
The second sister-in-law hung on Liang Xin's body with a crutches and walked into the two-story building one step at a time.
The walls of the reception room on the first floor are decorated with green wainscoting and mahogany floors.
There were already two or three young female comrades sitting on the sofa set by the window, which was covered with a white lace sofa cloth. They were all in green military uniforms, four-pocket cadre uniforms. Their faces under the red star top hats made people feel happy.
Several middle-aged women were chatting with smiles on their faces.
Seeing someone coming in, they all turned to look at the door.
The man on the left is in his thirties, with a handsome appearance. He is already conspicuous in the crowd, but everyone's attention is still focused on the right.
There were some mud spots on the black cloth shoes with loops. The red scarf at the collar of the thin cotton-padded jacket wrapped around the little face that was as icy as snow. Frost beads in the early winter morning slid down from the eyebrows. When she raised her eyes slightly, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her pupils immediately reflected a watery color.
Without exception, everyone who met her gaze breathed a sigh of relief.
For a moment, the people in the living room had different looks and mixed thoughts in their minds.
The short-haired woman sitting in the middle was obviously the host. "Is she Dr. Ma's sister, Ma Xiaoyan?"
The second sister-in-law was so nervous that her saliva almost dried up. She couldn't speak and nodded subconsciously.
The chief's family member was friendly and pointed to the simple single sofa on the left. "Sit down and take a rest. My child, who I have seen grow up, happened to come back to see me today. There are a lot of people at home. Xiaoshi, bring two more cups of hot tea."
Liang Xin dragged her second sister-in-law over and sat on the single sofa.
The people in the living room appeared to have retracted their gazes and continued to ask about Liang Xin's well-being, but they were still secretly observing her out of the corner of their eyes.
The cook brought two cups of hot tea. Liang Xin picked up the hot tea, blew on it, took a sip first, and found that it was not hot. He drank it all in one gulp and put the empty cup back on the coffee table. "Comrade, please pour another cup."
These words immediately interrupted the topic and everyone looked at her in surprise.
The cook was also dumbfounded. The leader's family had never seen such a thirsty guest.
The leader’s family member: “Xiao Shi, pour another glass.”
The cook came back to his senses, hurriedly took the cup, thought about it, put it down, ran to the kitchen and brought out a bamboo thermos, added tea, waited for a while, and found that Liang Xin had only drunk half of it and left the bottle next to the coffee table.
Not only the cook stared at Liang Xin, but everyone in the living room forgot to speak and just stared at Liang Xin drinking tea.
The chief's family member coughed lightly, "I heard from Doctor Ma that his sister went to Linhuai, an old revolutionary base area. Before liberation, it took a day to walk on a dirt road to get to Jiangjing. A few years ago, a highway was built. It shouldn't take that long to get here now, right?"
"Half a day." Liang Xin picked up the teacup and handed it to her second sister-in-law, who had lost half of her souls and seven spirits.
Ma Xiaoyan was startled when she touched the hot teacup, and then she came back to her senses. When she looked up again, she met seven or eight pairs of eyes, and she stammered nervously, "It's...it's winter, and the temperature dropped again today. I didn't wear enough clothes, so I was cold. I almost froze to death."
"Aunt Hu, I remember when I was a kid, there were a lot of orchids planted in front of your house. You weren't allowed to plant them in the early years, but now the policy has changed. I specially got some Phalaenopsis seeds." The female soldier sitting opposite Liang Xin suddenly interrupted, holding a brown paper bag in her hand and handed it to Hu Fenglian, "I'm on vacation these two days, can I help you plant some?"
As soon as Liang Xin came in, she saw outside the folding floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, there was a yard of about two hundred square meters, which was deserted and full of fallen ginkgo leaves.
"I'm still worried about what to plant in the yard." Hu Fenglian said with a smile, "Someone from the logistics department said that we should lay a cement floor here, which would be neat and tidy. I'm not very happy about it. After thinking about it, I still can't think of what to plant. Yonghong's Phalaenopsis is good. Can anyone give me other ideas?"
The female soldier holding the Phalaenopsis seeds froze slightly.
The other female comrades showed a flash of joy on their faces and rushed to offer suggestions.
Some said roses, some said ivy and grape vines, some said digging a pond to raise fish, and some said asking the logistics department to send precious trees.
Only Liang Xin remained silent.
Everyone's eyes followed Hu Fenglian and looked at Liang Xin.
Everyone was waiting for Liang Xin to answer. Liang Xin had no choice but to say, "Grow peppers."
The living room suddenly fell silent.
"Chili?" Hu Fenglian asked, "What kind of chili?"
"Green pepper, chili pepper, chili pepper, lantern pepper, bullet pepper, erjingtiao pepper, screw pepper, wild pepper..."
“………..”
The female comrades in the living room were all speechless as they looked at Liang Xin who was counting the types of peppers.
Second sister-in-law's stiff body was sweating from the hot words one after another. She tugged at Liang Xin's clothes and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Hu Fenglian's face showed no trace of her thoughts, but she was a little curious. "Why do you grow so many kinds of peppers?"
"Eat." Liang Xin said, "There are many ways to eat different kinds of peppers, such as stir-fried pork with peppers, fish head with chopped peppers, spicy chicken, boiled pork slices, mapo tofu, spicy snails, chili oil..."
"whispering sound!"
A burst of laughter suddenly interrupted Liang Xin's words. A sense of superiority was hidden in the eyes of female comrade Hualan: "Do you think this is your production team's private plot? The poor and lower-middle peasants are the five red categories, the people with the highest political awareness. You just said that you are from the old revolutionary base area, how can you be like this? It's really embarrassing!"
The second sister-in-law's face changed and she opened her mouth to fight back, but Liang Xin held her arm.
"Shame on you?" Liang Xin asked in confusion, "Comrade Chairman said that if you don't eat chili peppers, you're not revolutionary. He once planted chili peppers in his yard himself and gave the red peppers he planted to Stalin as a return gift. In the early years of the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, Comrade Chairman also used eating chili peppers to explain the combat methods. In addition to the revolutionary perspective, Comrade Chairman also raised eating chili peppers to the perspective of philosophy and politics. How come it's shameful to you?"
Comrade Phalaenopsis's face suddenly changed.
The middle-aged woman next to her also turned pale.
The living room fell into silence as before, but it was a solemn and eerie silence.
The chief's family thought about it for a while, then a flash of realization crossed their faces. They looked towards the kitchen and said, "Xiao Shi, when spring comes, turn the soil in the yard over and plant peppers everywhere. Remember to plant more revolutionary red peppers!"
"I was also wondering what to plant at home. Now I know, I'll plant peppers. I'll plant all the old pots and jars on the balcony with red peppers. Remember to bring me along next spring."
"The state-owned vegetable market outside the compound sells pepper seedlings in mid-February every year, Fenglian, let's go there together and buy some, and plant them all over the front and back yards!"
The military compound was in a sensitive period of rectifying wrongs, and the family members present all understood the deeper meaning of peppers. They hit it off and scrambled to grow peppers, which no one had ever thought of before.
Liang Xin received the admiring look from her second sister-in-law, and also noticed that the contempt in the eyes of the young female comrades present was gradually fading away, but she continued to drink her tea leisurely.
It was as if the person who had just opened her mouth and frightened people so much was not her.
The chief's family looked at Liang Xin with appreciation, then glanced at Phalaenopsis and the pale-faced woman next to her, "People with low political awareness cannot enter the military compound, and those who can enter usually don't have any problems with their political awareness."
Female comrade Phalaenopsis nodded quickly, "Aunt Hu, at this year's military performance, your rose and I won first prize in the dance competition for our duet, and we were received by the leaders of the General Political Department. After returning, I was successfully promoted to officer. After being promoted, I did not slack off like others. The solo dance I recently practiced has been selected by the military region, and I am making every effort to prepare for next year's military performance, striving to win another award."
Liang Xin saw Phalaenopsis pouring out a lot of self-praise, and a slim female comrade behind her looked a little grumpy and immediately spoke up as if to challenge her:
"Although I stopped dancing after my promotion, I was transferred to the drama troupe. I played Li Tiemei in Red Lantern before, and because of the good response, the Party Committee of the troupe not only approved my application to join the party, but also planned to let me play Xiao Changbao in Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy."
Hu Fenglian smiled and nodded, "I like to watch Red Lantern. I never get tired of it no matter how many times I watch it."
"Our girl is not as good as your Rose. Although she was named an advanced individual and a March 8th Red Flag Bearer, she has been a soldier for so many years and just became the political instructor of the second company of female communications soldiers this year." "Rose is not as good as your Lily. Today she joined the party and tomorrow she was promoted to an officer. She has been saying this for two or three years, but she was only promoted last month."
"They are all better than our Yongmei, who insisted on studying medicine. Now she has become an old maid and can't even find a partner."
"Yongmei has won the third-class merit and is now a doctor in our military district's outpatient department. How can you expect your child to have a bright future?"
.......
The second sister-in-law had felt very confident because of Liang Xin's counterattack just now. But now, listening to the singers, dancers, violin players, and medical students, each one more beautiful than the other, and each one more capable and motivated than the other, her heart suddenly sank to the bottom.
My sister-in-law is as pretty as anyone here, in fact, she’s even more outstanding than them. But apart from having a high school diploma, she also works as a broadcaster in the brigade headquarters. Morning and evening, she reads a collection of news excerpts from newspapers and the latest instructions from the commune’s revolutionary committee into the loudspeaker.
It is totally incomparable with the lesbians here.
Just when the second sister-in-law was feeling depressed, she heard the chief's family member suddenly ask, "Liang Xin, what are your plans for your life?"
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