Chapter 133 Chapter 133 Did I laugh?
When Lu Chongfeng went to the battlefield, each department of the family factory had its own capable cadres, and each did their best.
Liang Xin's main focus was on some family members in the division headquarters compound who were unable to work in the family factories due to family burdens.
During the day, family members will gather together to exercise while listening to the Liangxin version of Eight-Section Brocade music that has been released. In the afternoon, everyone will be organized to go to the Family Committee to sew insoles with various patterns and words of comfort for the soldiers on the front line.
Every military wife is a soldier in the rear. Only one out of ten military wives will cry and need protection and comfort, while the others basically live their daily lives before the war.
Liang Xin and Chen Cai, carrying milk powder, came to the house of the crying military wife.
This military wife was a pregnant woman. She had just gotten married and joined the army when her husband went to the battlefield. Her belly was not yet noticeable when he left, but now it is very big and the war is not over yet.
"Hongfang, I've brought you the milk."
Lu Hongfang, who was sitting on the wooden bed with a handkerchief pressing the corner of her eyes, moved slowly, holding her belly and getting out of bed, "Chairman Liang, we don't have a ration of milk for shopping at home.
"Commissar Ji's Guangming went to college, so we mixed a bottle for you from their family, and we also collected a bottle from our family. It's enough for you to drink for a few days."
Liang Xin put the milk on the dining table and patted the aluminum lunch box. "Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to eat the pork trotter rice from your hometown? I made it specially for you. I just don't know if it tastes similar to your hometown. If not, just treat it as a snack to satisfy your craving."
Lu Hongfang pressed her handkerchief to her eyes again, "President Liang, I really don't know how to thank you."
"If you adjust your mood and stop crying, that will be our thanks."
Liang Xin opened the lid of the aluminum lunch box, and the stewed amber pig's feet were shiny and oily. "When the due date comes in a while, if you really don't want to stay in the hospital first, you can stay at our house. If you have labor at night, someone will be able to take you to the hospital in time."
"Thank you, President Liang, but I still want to stay at home."
Lu Hongfang picked up the chopsticks and said, "I'm afraid that Guosheng will come back suddenly, and the house will be a mess, and there will be no home feeling at all."
Chen Cai wanted to persuade him, but Liang Xin stopped her and said with a smile, "That's fine. The service center just received a batch of fabrics with bright colors. You have such good skills and are good at using the sewing machine. You can make a few more clothes. You can also make a few more clothes for Guosheng, so that he can wear them when he comes back to visit his family."
"real?"
Lu Hongfang perked up, "I'll go after I finish my meal..."
Suddenly, there was a loud noise outside, like an enamel basin falling from a high place, interrupting Lu Hongfang's words.
Liang Xin looked outside and said, "Hongfang, you eat first. This should be Xiulan's house. Let's go over and take a look."
Lu Hongfang didn't even eat, she stood up holding her stomach and wanted to go with Liang Xin to see it.
Liang Xin looked at Lu Hongfang, who was more energetic after smelling the gossip, and said, "...You can watch it, but be careful of the baby in your belly, stand away."
Lu Hongfang nodded repeatedly.
As soon as I stepped into Captain Liu’s home, I saw Captain Liu’s family member lying on the ground, unconscious.
Liang Xin hurried forward and just as he squatted down to check the situation, Captain Liu's family member's eyebrows moved and he woke up.
Liang Xin and Chen Cai hurriedly helped him up.
"What's wrong with me?"
Captain Liu's family member had a pale face, a painful and bewildered expression. After a long pause, he said, "I was just dreaming. It was a very quick dream."
"You fainted."
Liang Xin took the sugar water handed over by Chen Cai and brought it to the mouth of Captain Liu's family member, "Drink a sip of water first, we will send you to the division hospital."
Suddenly, the sound of ringing bells was heard in the room again.
That was Captain Liu’s mother, whose lower body was paralyzed.
The bell rang for a few seconds and no one answered, then a very dirty curse was heard.
Captain Liu's family member struggled to get up, Liang Xin held her shoulders and said, "Go to the hospital for a checkup first, and leave the family to us."
"No, you can't serve."
Captain Liu's family struggled to stand up, hunched over and walked slowly into the house.
Perhaps because of the footsteps, the swearing in the room became louder and more vulgar.
Liang Xin asked the young cadre of the Family Committee to go to the division hospital first and ask the doctor to bring a stretcher over. She quickly walked past Captain Liu's family and walked into the inner room on the left.
The old man lying on the bed in the inner room was cursing and spitting everywhere. When he saw that it was Liang Xin who came in, his ferocious expression paused and then changed into another pitiful face.
"President Liang, you are finally here. President Liang, you have to make a decision for me. My daughter-in-law is a troublemaker. My son went to the battlefield, and she had a lot of fun. If I don't see her for a while, I can't find her. I don't know where she went..."
“Where did you sell it?”
Liang Xin walked into the inner room and looked at the old man with a frozen expression. "I can't say such harsh words as you just said. Comrade Sun Genmiao, what do you think the military camp is? Just based on what you just said, you can be sent to court and jailed. Do you know that?"
The old man was stunned.
Captain Liu's family members standing outside the door were also stunned. They didn't expect Liang Xin to suddenly speak such harsh words to her paralyzed mother-in-law.
"I, I didn't, I didn't say anything." The old man reacted and waved his hands in fear, "I didn't say anything, I really didn't say anything."
"You've said this more than once or twice."
Liang Xin said: "Legally, you are slandering and damaging the image of the army. Privately, she is your daughter-in-law. Even if you are paralyzed and in a bad mood and need to find a punching bag to vent your emotions, you can't just say whatever you want and say unpleasant words. Everyone has seen how Xiulan took care of you. You know in your heart that Xiulan is a good person, so you dare to bully her like this. In addition to this, everyone also understands that you rely on your son being a soldier and this is the army. Xiulan dare not do anything to you, so you become more and more unscrupulous. But I tell you, the military family committee not only protects the parents of soldiers, but also the wives of soldiers. If you keep scolding like this, even if your son has made meritorious service on the battlefield, we will have to send you to the police station. By then, your son will be implicated by you and cannot be promoted. Your descendants will also be affected by your criminal experience and cannot go to college or become an official. I will see how you will face them then."
The old woman had been in the military camp for so many years, and the leaders had always been polite when they visited her, fearing that they had not taken good care of her. Liang Xin had also been so caring every time she came before. Suddenly, Liang Xin's expression changed, and she showed no respect or politeness at all.
The old man was frightened even more and after a long time, he still couldn't react.
Captain Liu's family members walked into the room and tried to persuade him.
"I'm going to talk about you, too."
Liang Xin continued seriously, "When old people get older, they become like children. You younger generations should not just be filial and keep silent. Comrade Sun Genmiao's reckless remarks today are also the result of your mismanagement!"
Captain Liu's family looked at Liang Xin and was silent for a while before saying, "Chairman Liang, please forgive my mother-in-law this time. She is used to scolding people in the countryside. After this experience, she will definitely not dare to do that next time."
"Yes, yes, I don't dare anymore." The old man was really scared: "President Liang, you must not send me to jail!"
Liang Xin turned around and said, "I think you can't control yourself at all. Your daughter-in-law can't guarantee that she can control you. The Family Committee can't let you say these indecent words in the barracks. If someone hears it and spreads it out, who knows what will happen!"
"She, she can control me!" The old man said hurriedly: "Even if she doesn't, I will force her to control me. You know my wife here, she is a civilized person. With her watching over me, I will definitely not dare to speak nonsense again!"
Liang Xin looked at Captain Liu's family and asked, "Do you dare to intervene?"
Captain Liu's family members smiled and said, "I will take care of it. I will definitely take care of it."
"She promised!" The old man said anxiously, "President Liang, please forgive me this time. I won't dare to curse again!"
Liang Xin said, "We all heard what you said today. There are so many people who are witnesses. If it happens again, we will never let you continue to live in the barracks and damage the image of the army."
The old man hurriedly said, "Of course, I won't do that anymore. Thank you, President Liang. You are such a kind-hearted person."
Liang Xin put on a kind face again, pointing at Captain Liu's family and addressing them differently: "Aunt, Captain Liu went to the battlefield, and you are paralyzed in bed. You still have three grandchildren waiting to eat, and they all rely on Xiulan to run around. Look at how thin and haggard she is. She is obviously overdrawn, and she even fainted just now."
The old man was stunned for a moment, then waved his hands, "It's okay, it's okay to faint. Life is so good now, with plenty of flour and meat. Compared to our past..."
"You compare her to your past, why don't you think about comparing your daughter-in-law to others."
Liang Xin said, "Don't think that it's still the same as it was before, thinking that soldiers are glittering and everyone wants to marry them. Girls nowadays don't even want to meet a soldier when they hear about him on a blind date. Everyone's life is good now, and you can earn more by setting up a street stall than a soldier's monthly salary. Do you think your daughter-in-law will never want to leave your home? Do you think that even if your daughter-in-law leaves, there will still be plenty of girls lining up to marry your son?"
After hearing this, the old man's face turned even more pale and ugly, as if something had been stabbed in the heart.
"Stop torturing Xiulan's kindness and filial piety."
Liang Xin said: "In the family factory, capable people like Xiulan can not only get a basic salary of 30 or 40 yuan, but also get more sales commissions. For example, Comrade Chang Li in our factory can get more than 100 yuan in commissions every month. The commission alone is more than your son's salary!"
The old man's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe it, "How can a woman earn more than my son?"
"There are many women in the factory who earn more than your son!"
Liang Xin said, "If it weren't for you, Xiulan wouldn't be worse than the others, nor would she be inferior to your son. In this era, Xiulan is the popular one if she goes out. If she is not your son who is a soldier, if you don't know how to cherish her, you will just be paralyzed in bed, crying out to the sky and the earth for help!"
The old man stopped talking, and his previous arrogance was completely gone.
Liang Xin did not try to comfort her any further and just turned and walked out.
"President Liang, please don't be angry..."
Captain Liu's family members chased out, but when they saw Liang Xin's smiling face halfway through their words, they were stunned again.
"I'm not angry."
Liang Xin continued to walk further away, and then whispered, "I have also been observing Auntie for a while. For people like Auntie, the better you treat her, the more she thinks she is powerful and that you are trying to curry favor with her. She will not think that you are doing this out of kindness. She would never think of that. So when dealing with a girl like her, you must be tough and can no longer ignore your own mood. You must know that only when you are in a good mood and in good health can you take good care of this family and not let Captain Liu have any worries on the front line."
Captain Liu's family members looked at Liang Xin in shock.
"President Liang is right."
Chen Cai said, "You can't just tolerate your aunt because she's paralyzed and not bother with her. If you don't care about what happened today, you're really harming her, Captain Liu, and your whole family. For the sake of your whole family, you have to be tough. You're toughening up so that you can take better care of this family, not abuse her or be unfilial to her."
Captain Liu's family member breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "I understand."
Doctors and nurses from the division hospital came carrying a stretcher.
Liang Xin said, "You should go to the hospital for a physical check-up. We will bring you food at noon so that the elderly and children will not starve."
Captain Liu's family member did not refuse. As they walked forward, a voice came from the room that was no longer ferocious, but rather kind and somewhat pitiful: "Xiu Lan, where are you going?"
Lu Hongfang burst out laughing.
Captain Liu's family was in a trance for a moment, and couldn't help but smile at Liang Xin, "I have never heard my mother-in-law speak to me so gently."
Liang Xin glanced into the room and said, "You go check first. I'll watch over here."
After the stretcher was taken away, Lu Hongfang walked over to Liang Xin and said, "President Liang, you are so amazing. With you here, I am not afraid at all. It's like I have a backbone all of a sudden."
Liang Xin moved a chair for her to sit down. "It's not the first day you've known me. How come you suddenly have such a strong backbone?"
"When you came to the family compound before, you were always polite and gentle to everyone. You were no different from the female cadres and their families I met before."
Lu Hongfang said, "I thought you were concerned about your image as a hero and the image of a leader's family member. I never thought you would get angry at paralyzed Aunt Sun today. You would rather be the bad guy and wake Aunt Sun up so that Sister Xiulan can have an easier life."
Liang Xin looked at Lu Hongfang, then raised her head to look at the battalion officers' family compound, and suddenly smiled.
"What are you laughing at? I'm telling the truth." Lu Hongfang said, "Today I suddenly feel closer to you. I understand that you are not one of those fake relatives of high-ranking officials!"
Liang Xin was smiling and suddenly felt like she had become President Shi.
Lu Hongfang and Xiulan in front of her looked like she and Li Mao and other young family members when they first arrived at the 11th Division.
Although she is not very young, there is a feeling that a generation has replaced the next.
"Have you met many family members of high-ranking officials?"
Lu Hongfang said: "I've seen it a lot!"
Liang Xin smiled and said, "You need to maintain your current mood and state, and stop crying. Too much emotional fluctuation may cause premature birth, and the baby may also suffer from hypoxia and maldevelopment."
"real?"
Lu Hongfang took a few deep breaths and said, "I will never cry again!"
Captain Liu's family has many people, and they rely on Captain Liu's salary to live.
Liang Xin knew that Xiulan would not cook meat every day, so she gave the young cadre some money to buy meat at the service center. She used Xiulan's big pot to cook pork with radish, and steamed egg custard while steaming rice, and also fried some shredded potatoes.
After Captain Liu's family came back, it was confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his body. It was just that he was busy making breakfast and sending the children to school in the morning. When he came back, he was called by the elderly to clean up his feces and urine, help him dress, feed him water and food. He did not have time to eat breakfast and fainted due to hypoglycemia.
Captain Liu's family looked at the table full of steaming food and their eyes were red. "President Liang, thank you so much. You are in charge of such a big factory, and I still bother you with such a small family matter. I am too incompetent and useless."
"Hongfang just decided not to cry anymore, why are you crying again?"
Liang Xin took out some toilet paper and handed it to her to help her wipe her tears. "Captain Liu and Instructor Lu pioneered the military-civilian dual-use talent reform in the Sixth Company, and became a model company in the entire army. Now he is on the battlefield, and the newspapers have reported his heroic deeds. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be promoted when he comes back. When you become the family member of a regimental cadre and your salary goes up, you can hire someone to help you, and your life will get better."
Captain Liu's family knew that Liang Xin had just said in front of her mother-in-law that being a soldier was not popular, and they were afraid that she would think too much, so they said something positive to comfort her, and she nodded with emotion.
"Chairman Liang, it is a blessing for our family to have a family committee chairperson like you. It is more useful than having your parents by our side!"
Liang Xin smiled and said, "Eat quickly, don't be hungry anymore."
I paid special attention to these two families and then took a walk around the staff quarters. When I got home, Sister Ji had already helped me prepare dinner.
Dudu can walk and speak fluently now, and he runs out to play with other children every day.
Since Sister Ji doesn’t have to keep an eye on Dudu all the time, she has time to study cooking.
The cooking became a little better under Liang Xin's guidance.
"Mother."
Dudu, wearing the pumpkin-colored down jacket his father bought for him, wrapped up like a chubby little pumpkin, ran in from the front door. "Wu Gang said his dad was also on the newspaper. Why hasn't my dad been on the newspaper yet?"
Liang Xin poured hot water into the enamel basin and washed Dudu's hands. "Because my father has a higher position than Wu Gang's father, he cannot appear in the newspaper."
Dudu squatted beside the enamel basin and looked up at his mother, "Why is my father's position higher than Wu Gang's father?"
Liang Xin took the soap and helped Dudu wash his hands. "Dad has fought in many battlefields, won many medals, is educated, courageous, smart, talented, and dares to do things that others dare not do."
Dudu rubbed his hands and went back to ask, "Why can't Dad be on the newspaper?"
Liang Xin patiently explained: "Because our army keeps the details of the meritorious service of senior officers confidential, we will not disclose them in the newspapers at will."
Dudu washed his hands, smelled the fragrance, tilted his head to look at his mother, "Why do you have to keep it a secret?"
"Disclosure of details may expose our military's tactical characteristics, equipment performance and intelligence sources."
Liang Xin pulled out the small chair, and Dudu no longer had to sit in the child seat made by his father. Although Dudu had to continue to sit in the child seat every day after Lu Chongfeng went to the battlefield, he had to wear more clothes in the winter and had grown taller, so he could not squeeze in.
"Senior military officers are the focus of enemy intelligence attention, and strategic ambiguity must be maintained to enhance the suddenness and deterrence of military operations,"
Dudu folded his hands and lay on the table, frowning and saying, "But I really want to see Dad in the newspaper."
"You read in the newspaper that the uncles of the 11th Division have made great contributions." Liang Xin served some rice and placed it in front of Dudu. "Dad deserves some of the credit because he is the main commander on the front line. If the 11th Division performs well as a whole, Dad will also receive collective honors."
Dudu's eyes lit up, "Really?"
"real."
"I'm going to tell Wu Gang and the others!"
Liang Xin grabbed Dudu who wanted to run away and said, "Eat first. Wu Gang is eating too."
Dudu struggled with his mother's hand, "I want to tell him that my dad is more powerful!"
Liang Xin watched her daughter's pupils becoming more and more like Lu Chongfeng's, so she softened her heart and let go of her hand, "I'll give you five minutes."
Dudu rushed out.
Sister Ji came out with pork rib soup and looked at Dudu who was running away. "This stamina is the same as her father's!"
Five minutes later, Dudu came in bouncing, having eaten half a bowl of rice for lunch!
At night, Dudu sat on his father's desk and drew. Every week, the finished drawings would be sent to the front line together with his mother's letters, Merlin canned food, Conscience instant noodles, and compressed biscuits.
Because it would take a month for the letter to reach my father at the front line, I would write and mail it every few days so that he could receive the letter regularly.
Lu Chongfeng also sent letters back every week.
Compared to the Vietnam War in 1979, Liang Xin could often read newspapers and observe Lu Chongfeng's movements in college, but this time she could only know the battle situation on the front line through Lu Chongfeng's letters.
But in order to maintain confidentiality, Lu Chongfeng would not mention the battle situation too much in his letter.
In fact, although Lu Chongfeng was so brave in the Vietnam War and made continuous contributions on the front line, he never mentioned a word about it when he returned home and never thought about how great he was.
He thinks he is great, and he never tires of showing off his talent in love.
Liang Xin looked at the letter in her hand. Recently, Lu Chongfeng began to follow the trend and learned to write love poems that were so corny that they gave people goose bumps.
June is the rainy season.
But your smile is the sun.
Dried up all my rainy seasons.
Liang Xin looked up at the calendar and it was clearly March.
Liang Xin held back her laughter and continued reading.
The wind lifted my shirt.
Like a white flag of surrender to you.
Dudu suddenly turned around from the desk, "Mom, what are you laughing at?"
Liang Xin put away the letter, not wanting her daughter to see it. "Did I smile?"
Dudu covered his mouth with his hands, shook his shoulders deliberately, and laughed “chuckling”, “That’s how you laughed just now.”
Liang Xin: “…”
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