Chapter 191 Secret Base

As the weather turned colder, the days became shorter and shorter. Before dawn, Wang Tingting had packed up and was ready to go to work. She handed the child to Lin Yue, wrapped a greasy potato cake in oil paper, and hurried to the hospital in the morning dew.

Xixi is already seven months old. Wang Tingting weaned him off breast milk some time ago due to work reasons. He is now fed with complementary food and milk powder together.

The little guy's abilities are getting better and better. Now he can not only sit but also crawl. A few days ago, Lin Yue saw him almost standing up while holding something. At this time, leaving him alone in the nursery is not only unsafe, but also has an impact on his mental health. Wang Tingting had no choice but to entrust him to Lin Yue's care.

Lin Yue agreed readily. She had been very free recently. She had to harvest crops in the past two months and had also gone to the mountains with Sun Xilai to pick a lot of pine cones. Now she was suddenly free and was happy to take care of the child.

What's more, when she said before that she was the godmother of this young man, she was not just talking, but really had this idea.

After Wang Tingting left, Lin Yue started to make milk powder for the little guy. Wang Tingting had bought a milk bottle from a department store in the city some time ago. The bottle had a big belly and was connected at both ends. The nipple was made of black plastic. Lin Yue tried it and it felt very hard.

In fact, she had seen such bottles a long time ago, but felt that the pacifier was unsafe, so her four children had never used bottles and were all fed with a spoon.

But that wasn't the case back then, people always had a blind filter around these newfangled gadgets sold in department stores.

Lin Yue did not express her opinions to Wang Tingting too much. Times were different, and she had no basis for words, and did not think she could change the other party's mind.

Just like she always felt that the nutrients contained in milk powder at that time were too little and not suitable for children to drink, but in this era, milk powder was considered a good thing that was hard to get.

She respects that and follows it outwardly.

Zhang Yuandong has been too busy recently and seldom comes home to stay overnight. Without their father's supervision, the children get up later and later in the morning and have long forgotten about morning exercise.

When the sun really rose, the four children pushed and shoved themselves out of bed, and took their time to wash, dress, and eat.

Lin Yue did not rush them. Sisi and Xiao Mushroom were the slowest, so she helped them brush their teeth and wash their faces. It was not until they reached the dinner table that the two children finally woke up completely.

Little Mushroom refused to wipe his face with a towel. He shook his head vigorously several times, and the water on his face splashed onto Lingling next to him. Lingling looked at him with an "Aiya", but Little Mushroom laughed happily and buried his wet face in his sister's clothes and wiped it vigorously. Lingling was so angry that he wanted to stand up and roll up his sleeves, but fortunately Wanli stopped him, otherwise he would have been beaten by his sister today.

Seeing that her sister was angry, Xiao Mushroom hurriedly stepped forward to please her. She wanted to give her sister a squeeze on her shoulders, but unfortunately she was too short to reach them. She could only settle for the next best thing, pinching her arms here and there to please her, saying: "Sister, sister, are you still angry?"

Lingling didn't want to pay attention to him and tried to push him away, but not only did she fail, her arm was pinched and hurt.

She said unhappily, "Okay, I'm not mad at you anymore, stop pinching me, and eat quickly!"

Little Mushroom quickly flattered: "Then can you take me with you next time you go ice skating? I will definitely obey you!"

Ling Ling was horrified and reached out to cover her silly brother's mouth, but her mother slapped her hand. She didn't need to look up to know that her mother must be looking extremely ugly.

Lin Yue's face was gloomy. She looked at Ling Ling who was trying to shrink herself into a very small size, then shifted her gaze to Wan Li who lowered her head and dared not look up. She took a deep breath and said calmly, "Let's eat first. We can discuss this issue after dinner."

Wanli heaved a long sigh of relief, but Lingling looked at Lin Yue with a troubled expression: "Mom, why don't we finish talking first and then eat, otherwise I can't eat..."

Wanli was so anxious that he tried to pull her arm, but Lingling blocked his way several times. He sighed, and his shoulders suddenly slumped. This impatient and stupid sister had to be scolded at this time. Wouldn't it be better to wait until after dinner when his mother was not so angry?

Lingling didn't think so. She was afraid that her mother would become more aggressive as time went on, and then it might not be as simple as a few words. She looked at her mother stubbornly, waiting for a verdict.

Lin Yue dragged out a specially raised chair, put Xixi on it, and nodded, "Okay, then tell me, where have you been playing after school recently?"

Lingling had already prepared her speech, but when her mother asked this very question, she was stunned and could not utter a word.

Wanli's shoulders slumped even more. If he raised his head now, Lin Yue would definitely see the look of despair on his face.

Lin Yue was not in a hurry and waited for the two to make up stories. But the two children were slow to speak, so she simply said, "How about I ask Little Mushroom?"

Little Mushroom and Sisi had already sensed that something was wrong, but they were too young to express themselves. When Little Mushroom heard his name being called, he raised his hand high, and just as he was about to speak, Lingling pulled him down.

She hurriedly said, "Mom, that's our secret base. We agreed not to tell you."

Lin Yue didn't want to ask more questions at first. The camp was safe and there were always soldiers patrolling the back mountain. If it weren't for what Little Mushroom said, she wouldn't have been too worried about these children.

She asked seriously, "I promised you not to ask about the secret base, but the premise is that you don't go to dangerous places! Did you go skating on the river?"

The two children looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time. Lin Yue obviously didn't believe it and asked suspiciously, "You really didn't go?"

"I really didn't go! Mom, you said the ice on the river wasn't solid yet and we couldn't step on it. We all remembered that!"

"So, where did you go to ice skate?"

Wanli lowered his head, not daring to meet Lin Yue's gaze, and whispered, "Where we skate, the water is definitely deeper than the soles of our shoes, and it's far from the river!"

Lingling deeply admired her brother's speaking skills. She nodded vigorously with her eyes wide open, as if this would make her more convincing.

Lin Yue looked at the two children suspiciously. She saw their little tricks but did not expose them immediately.

It's not that she didn't notice that their pants and shoes were often wet recently, but it was normal to get wet in the snow outside. Besides, she grew up in the city and had no idea what kids would do in the mountains.

She thought about it and felt that the matter was not urgent at this time, so she nodded and said, "Okay, anyway, you two should remember that you must not go to dangerous places!"

The two siblings nodded quickly, and Lingling flattered them, "Mom, you are so nice! Let me tell you a secret. No one in Uncle Li's family wants to get married. I saw him arguing with Aunt Zhang, and Aunt Zhang was so angry that she cried."

Lin Yue rubbed his brows. How could this kid always get into anyone's private affairs?

Ling Ling said anxiously: "Mom, please don't disbelieve me, I heard it all. Aunt Zhang said it herself. She went to the city to look for someone, but she hasn't found him after searching for a long time!"

During this period of time, there have been rumors in the family compound that she and her husband wanted to adopt her brother-in-law's child. If it was just a rumor, Li Zhiguo, with his shrewd character, would have come out to explain it long ago. Now it seems that it may be groundless, and it is more likely that the couple deliberately condoned the rumor.

Lin Yue didn't really care about Zhang Yulan's affairs. Zhang Yulan just wanted to adopt a healthy boy. Lin Yue guessed that she might want a baby that was just born. Since this didn't work, it seemed that she had set her sights on going outside the camp.

She didn't ask Lingling anything, but just urged her, "Eat quickly, it's time to go to school after dinner."

The children seemed to have received some imperial decree. They all breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their heads to eat their meals in big mouthfuls.

While Lin Yue was eating breakfast, he was thinking about the "secret base".

Unexpectedly, the first person to discover the secrets of the children was Zhang Yuandong.

A few days later, Wang Tingting took a day off and dragged Lin Yue to see her new dormitory early in the morning.

After the new family quarters were built, the troops helped the military hospital build new dormitories, and all the old dormitories were demolished.

Although Wang Tingting's dormitory only has two rooms, it is a private house, which is convenient for her to take care of her children. She plans to move there when the weather gets warmer next year, but she can clean up now and come here to rest for a while at noon.

The small courtyard is not big, with only a gate and a main room, and no separate toilet.

The two stood in the yard, discussing what to add. Lin Yue thought they should build a toilet, but Wang Tingting didn't think it was necessary. There was a public toilet not far from the dormitory, and she could go there. As for the night, everyone used a small bucket and took it out the next morning to empty it. She had always used it before and was used to it.

In fact, she had another concern. There were no private toilets in the dormitory area here. If her family built one, then people might come to her house frequently to use the toilet in the future. She didn't want this place to become a public toilet.

Lin Yue thought about it and it made sense. Even in her house, after the toilet and kitchen were built, people would occasionally come to use the toilet in the summer.

The private room was built according to the one in Oda Village, but because the space here is more spacious, the private room is divided into four rooms. It not only has a kitchen, toilet, and washroom, but also a room specifically used as an activity room for several children.

Border relations have been tense recently, and Lin Yue originally didn't plan to build a chalet at this time, but Zhang Yuandong said, "There are always wars to fight, but we still have to live a good life. Don't worry, it's just a few chalets. When the time comes, we can find a few more people and build it quickly. It won't be a big deal! You just have to pay more attention to the food."

In fact, it was not just about preparing meals. According to custom, Lin Yue stuffed a red envelope into the pockets of every soldier who came to help. That was their reward for the past few days, but he couldn't say it out loud.

The two walked into the house. Although the house was small, its layout was basically the same as that of most families at that time. The door was used for cooking, and there was a kang in the main room, which was connected to the stove at the door.

The two were planning what kind of furniture to make. Lin Yue thought that the space where the door would be was larger, and half of it could be converted into a reception room, but Wang Tingting had her own ideas.

"I want to make a partition here and free up the space inside so that I can teach Lingling to dance here in the future."

Lin Yue was stunned. He didn't expect that she would even consider this.