As night fell, villagers from various villages were seen walking on the small roads leading to the Third Brigade, each carrying a lantern. Some of those who were in better condition were using flashlights to light the way.
After dinner, Lu Shiyi gave Su Jin a military coat and asked her to wear it when she went out.
"I'll get you a military coat from the warehouse today." Lu Shiyi applied for a women's coat, and the political commissar agreed directly.
Wang Yuan took the military coat and went straight back to the village to put it away. Lu Shiyi took the opportunity to prepare it for Su Jin.
"Lu Shiyi, how come you have a women's military coat?" Su Jin recalled that Lu Shiyi hadn't brought the coat with him. "You didn't bring an extra bag?"
"Wang Yuan wants to give me some New Year's gifts, so please bring back my coat as well," Lu Shiyi told Su Jin. "I've put the food I distributed as gifts in the cellar, and some soy products and dried goods in the cupboard. I'll leave the New Year's Eve dinner to you."
Su Jin held the military coat in his arms. In this day and age, having a military coat to keep warm was a luxury.
"Lu Shiyi, aren't you going to the village chief's house for the New Year's Eve dinner?" Su Jin had been in the village for a few days and heard the villagers mention the relationship between the village chief and Lu Shiyi. He thought that he would go there to have the New Year's Eve dinner during the New Year.
"No, uncle is worried that you won't be able to adapt," Lu Shiyi shook his head, "Come with me to have the New Year's Eve dinner, and I can talk to uncle."
Village chief Lu Boyuan mentioned the New Year’s Eve dinner several times, but Lu Shiyi refused it outright.
"I... was thinking about having the New Year's Eve dinner at home. You are a family, and it's only natural for you to spend the New Year together." Su Jin smiled awkwardly.
"Let's go to the Third Battalion first. Grandpa went to the army when he was a teenager and hasn't been back for decades. My uncle and I have a good relationship. We just send him gifts during the holidays. I've been spending New Year's Eve at the Armed Forces Department in Northeast China for the past few years." For the first time, Lu Shiyi felt the urge to celebrate New Year at home. "Put on your military coat. If anyone asks, just say it's given to you by your family."
Lu Shiyi used a flashlight to light the way and protected Su Jin by his side. It was dark, but some people in the village were still unwilling to give up.
In the village, many people asked Lu Shiyi for his military uniform. He believed that military uniforms were sacred and could not be worn by outsiders.
He was thinking about Su Jin and considered her as a family member.
"Xiaoyi, hurry to the third team. I think the time is almost up." Lu Shiyuan walked quickly from behind and looked at the two children, one tall and one short, walking slowly.
"Uncle, is there no one in the village?" Lu Shiyi felt something was wrong. "We should have the militia stay in the village. If someone from the county deliberately entered the village, the neighboring villages would be deserted."
"Xiaoyi, I'll go ahead on my bike and talk to a few team leaders. I'll make sure we get back to the village in time." Lu Shiyuan understood Lu Shiyi's reminder. "You and Su Zhiqing go back to the village first and watch. We'll come back later."
Lu Shiyi nodded. He originally wanted Su Jin to stay at home for a while longer. The threshing ground was a windy place, and if he stood there for a long time, his body would definitely hurt.
The two went home together. Su Jin took off her military coat and was pulled behind by Lu Shiyi. He pricked up his ears to listen to the movements outside.
Lu Shiyi's prediction was correct. People from the county pigeon committee had arrived. These people were probably going to check every household's private collection. Lu Shiyi was a member of the team, and Su Jin had just arrived. The team leader was Liu He, the deputy captain of the pigeon committee.
"It's Liu He!" Lu Shiyi felt relieved when he saw the team leader.
Liu He is a fair and impartial person. Unless he has solid evidence, he will not wrongly accuse a good person.
"Xiao Jin, let's go to the third team." Lu Shiyi asked Su Jin to follow him.
"Don't wait for the militia to take over?" Su Jin was a little amused. He had been at home for less than 5 minutes and was about to go out again.
"Liu He is a clear-headed person. Under his management, there will be no unjust, false or wrongful cases." Lu Shiyi knows several people in the Pigeon Committee. As long as there are no new faces, he will not easily intervene.
Su Jin put on her military coat, and Lu Shiyi pushed a cart and waited for her in the yard.
"It's just the right time for us to ride our bikes there." Lu Shiyi found an excuse. On such a cold winter night, who wouldn't want to stay home for a while longer?
He held her waist easily with his right hand and placed her on the sponge seat in the back, which he had tied up specially in the afternoon to prevent her from sitting on the cold stainless steel rack.
"You won't be cold this way." Lu Shiyi smiled, opened the gate and walked out.
Liu He was standing not far from the yard, and the team members began to check house by house, not missing any place.
"Minister Lu, are you at home? The Third Battalion is in a meeting. Why are you there so late?" Liu He asked Lu Shiyi with a smile on his face, his eyes fixed on Su Jin.
"This is Su Jin, the new educated youth living in my house, and this is Deputy Captain Liu." Lu Shiyi protected Su Jin, and Liu He greeted him with a smile.
Lu Shiyi is extremely protective of those he approves of. The girl in front of him was obviously the one he was reporting to. Liu He did not confront Lu Shiyi head-on, so he naturally let Su Jin go.
"Su Zhiqing, hurry over there. The senior Zhiqing might call out your names," Liu He said without making things difficult for the two. "You don't even have poultry in your yard. This time, we're checking the number of poultry in each household, so I won't be checking. You can go get some chicks later."
"I don't have time. Su Zhiqing just went to the countryside." Lu Shiyi hinted to Liu Hedao.
"Go quickly." Liu He nodded. He watched Su Jin holding a flashlight to illuminate the way for Lu Shiyi. He knew in his heart that Lu Shiyi had taken a fancy to Su Zhiqing. "There's no need to look at the Lu family."
"Deputy Captain, the Lu family doesn't even have any poultry, and they're stationed in the military area," the team members echoed. "There are a few families in the village who have five chickens. Should we take the extra poultry to the Third Battalion?"
"This time, six teams are conducting an inspection together. There will be some extra poultry in the village. Letting the Land Department see our inspection will also serve as a warning to the villagers to take away the extra poultry." Liu He did not intend to go against the villagers.
Except for Liu He, the team members all had family ties with the villagers of Songjiang Commune, and no one broke the peace.
"Deputy Captain, someone at the east end of our village has a large yellow croaker in their parcel." Team member Wei Dong hurried over. Several houses in the east end of the village were inhabited by educated youth. It would be bad if the educated youth implicated the villagers. "Look at that house and have someone seal it off first."
Now that the yellow croaker has appeared, their impromptu inspection of the soup has not been in vain. No matter who it belongs to, it must be taken to the farm.
"Let's wait until Captain Liang finishes the meeting and bring Captain Lu Shiyuan to resolve this matter." Liu He heard that Lu Shiyuan and Lu Shiyi were relatives, so in order to avoid misunderstandings on both sides, he would not directly add insult to injury this time.
"Yes!" The team members quickly moved towards the scene.
At this time, Lu Shiyi also rode his bike to the threshing ground with Su Jin. Lin Teng was calling the roll in the team of educated youth and found that Su Jin had not come. Just as he was about to make an X on the roll call list, he saw her wearing a military coat and walking towards him under the protection of Lu Shiyi.
Everyone saw that this military coat was the same as Lu Shiyi's coat, and they all guessed what Su Jin's family did.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com