Chapter 46

Walking on the way back to his family compound, Cheng Zheng's steps became faster and faster, as if he wanted to fly back immediately. When he met acquaintances on the way, he just nodded hurriedly. When he went upstairs, he took two steps at a time. Soon he arrived at the door of his house.

At this hour, just as the sky was getting dark, Cheng Zheng took out his key and opened the door, only to find that there was no light in the room and the bedroom door was closed. His wife had gone to bed so early?

Pushing open the bedroom's wooden door, Cheng Zheng took one look at his wife lying on the bed. Her black hair covered the entire pillow, and she was sleeping soundly.

Hearing some noise at the door, Jian Lu opened her eyes in a daze, and saw Cheng Zheng suddenly appear in front of her. Her obsidian eyes suddenly widened, and she remembered that today was the day he would come back!

She originally wanted to pick someone up, but after dinner she felt sleepy and planned to take a nap before going, but ended up napping until this moment.

"I'm back." Cheng Zheng said softly, walked slowly to the bed, and reached out to pick up his wife who wanted to get up.

Who knew that Jian Lu, as if she had no bones, would dive into his arms and said in a soft voice, "Brother Cheng, you are finally back."

The sound of someone just waking up was so soft and sweet that Cheng Zheng felt itchy inside.

Holding his wife, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, tightly in his arms, Cheng Zheng felt satisfied. He curled his lips and said, "Why did you go to bed so early today?"

Jian Lu pursed her lips, leaned into the man's arms and said listlessly, "Pregnant women just feel a lot."

Oh, I feel so much...

Cheng Zheng took two seconds to react, then his body suddenly froze. "What did you say?"

Cheng Zheng's body froze, and he glanced down, only to see Jian Lu's dark hair. His wife's hair was soft and neatly spread out, with only a few strands of hair standing up from a nap.

The room was quiet. Cheng Zheng didn't get an answer, and everything made him think he had misheard.

Jian Lu, wearing a short-sleeved cotton pajamas, held his wife's arm. Because she had just woken up, her arm was still warm and emitting heat. Cheng Zheng was nervous and didn't pay attention, so his hand was unconsciously irritated.

"Lulu, what did you just say?" He had to confirm again.

My heart was beating very fast, boom, boom, it sounded in my ears and I felt like my heart was about to jump out.

"I say..." Jian Lu raised her head and looked from below. The first thing she saw was the man's chin. It was short and had some blue stubble. When she reached out and touched it, it felt a little prickly.

Taking her hand back, Jian Lu smiled silently, as if she had discovered something interesting.

When Jian Lu touched the man's stubble, she found that his body was still stiff and he had to wait for her to confirm again.

"I say, pregnant women feel a lot. I didn't mean to not pick you up just now. It's all his fault." Jian Lu put her hand on her belly and stared at Cheng Zheng.

After getting married, Jian Lu made a very formal promise to Cheng Zheng that she would pick him up every time he came back from a mission. But she didn't say it, it felt like picking up a child from kindergarten, she didn't want her family to be left alone, Cheng Zheng didn't react when he heard it, but his eyes became a little deeper.

So, I really can’t blame her today!

It’s all children’s pot!

The unborn baby has to bear the brunt of the burden while still in the mother's belly.

Cheng Zheng took a few seconds to digest his wife's words, then stretched out his hand and slowly moved it towards Jian Lu's belly. For the first time, his bony palm was trembling slightly.

Putting his hand on her belly, Cheng Zheng raised his eyes and looked at his wife, and asked word by word, "Are you pregnant?"

Without waiting for his wife to answer, he muttered to himself, "I'm going to be a father?"

The curve of the corners of his mouth grew bigger and bigger, and his eyes instantly brightened, as if a torch had been lit in his dark pupils, warm and bright.

"Yes!" Jian Lu pressed his hand against her belly, just as gently, "I've been pregnant for more than a month, but..."

Talking about this, Jian Lu wanted to scold this person, "On the New Year's Day, you...!"

The rest of the words were left unsaid, but Cheng Zheng understood. He had indeed lost control that day. He didn't expect that just that one time, the two of them would have a child.

“Lulu!”

The breeze blew by, softening Cheng Zheng's usually cold and handsome face. The man's eyes were full of tenderness. He held his wife's hands and said with joy, "I'm going to be a father! We have a child!"

Jian Lu had never seen Comrade Cheng Zheng so excited before; he was always calm and composed.

She reached out and patted the man, with a hint of disdain, "Are you so excited about being a father? You weren't this happy when we got married!"

It is said that pregnant women have changeable temperaments. Cheng Zheng remembered what Liang Haisheng had said to him, and now it seems to be true.

"That's because this is our child." A smile filled his eyes and eyebrows, and leaked out from every word. "I was happy to marry you at the beginning, and I am happy now. It's all because of you."

Jian Lu's heart skipped a beat. Seeing this handsome man suddenly start to speak cheesy love words without any instruction, Jian Lu almost couldn't handle it.

The most important thing is that she is wearing a military uniform, which really satisfies her uniform lover!

"Look at you! I'm pregnant and you can even say sweet words. Before I was pregnant, you were never so cheesy."

Cheng Zheng saw his wife saying bad things about him and felt as if a jar of honey had been spilled. It was so sweet that it made him feel dizzy. His heart was filled with something and there was no space left.

The woman in front of me had lively eyebrows and eyes, curved willow-leaf eyebrows, and peach blossom eyes that were as bright as pearls. The world was contained in her eyes. Every time she scolded me, her small nose would wrinkle slightly, with a bit of playfulness, and her cherry lips would open and close, and the sound was like the gurgling of a clear stream.

"I never say those sweet words." Cheng Zheng kissed her red lips and then held her in his arms.

Jian Lu leaned on his strong chest and wanted to nod. This man was indeed not that kind of person.

But then I listened to him again.

"I really mean what I say."

Jian Lu: “…”

You also said that you can't say sweet words!

After a moment of hesitation, Cheng Zheng suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Let's go to the hospital for a checkup."

In the past, some comrades’ children had problems before they were born. Because of this, everyone knows that if you are pregnant, it is best to go to a health hospital for a check-up.

"Yes, I went for a checkup yesterday." Jian Lu knew more than him, "The doctor said the fetus is healthy and asked us to pay more attention to it in the first three months."

"What should I pay attention to?" Cheng Zheng had no idea what his wife should pay attention to when she was pregnant. He just thought that pregnant women should be careful and not fall or get bumped.

"Pay attention... You can't do that in the first three months."

Cheng Zheng: "..."

——

Lying on the bed at night, after coming back from a bath in the bathhouse, Captain Cheng, who was clean and refreshed, held his wife in his arms, and the two talked softly.

Jian Lu took a nap in the evening and now she feels pretty energetic and not sleepy at all.

However, she found that the man next to her was stupid and silly.

"Are you tired of lying like this?"

"How about lying down flat?"

"Will it make my stomach uncomfortable?"

Jian Lu covered his mouth with her hand, and he really didn't want to fight back. "If you keep whining, I won't let you touch the child anymore!"

It was really annoying. She had never realized before that the taciturn Captain Cheng actually had the talent of being a chatterbox.

Cheng Zheng nodded, and then said, "Okay, you decide for yourself."

While speaking, he looked at his wife's belly again.

"By the way, when are we going to tell Mom? Should we call her tomorrow? And other people too." Jian Lu couldn't wait to share the good news. She was the kind of person who couldn't hold back her joy.

"Wait a little longer. They say you can't tell anyone about it in the first three months." He had heard this before.

"That's feudal superstition." Jian Lu and Cheng Zheng lay face to face, and Jian Lu poked Cheng Zheng's strong arm again and again with one hand. "In the first three months, because the baby is unstable, some people attributed the miscarriage to the fact that the pregnancy was announced to the public. We just need to pay more attention to it. It has nothing to do with whether we say it or not."

Cheng Zheng shook his head. This time he was very firm. "This is a rule that has been passed down for many years. We would rather believe it. Let's wait for three months before we decide."

"Comrade Cheng Zheng!" Jian Lu found that this person was being hypocritical. "Didn't you say that we should destroy the four olds and not be superstitious? Who told mom on the phone that time not to believe in any particular date when choosing a wedding date? Now, you actually believe this."

Cheng Zheng remained calm, "I didn't beat you up that time either. This time I'm taking the initiative to learn from you. Isn't that good?"

Jian Lu: “…”

Forget it, let him be. Jian Lu will give him peace of mind.

Lying in Cheng Zheng's arms and looking at the ceiling, Jian Lu muttered about the things she needed to prepare later. "Also, Brother Cheng, please remember this for me. I need to make clothes for my children later. I never thought that what I learned when I first learned to make clothes would come in handy here!"

It’s good to buy clothes directly, but how can it be as loving as making them yourself? This is the love of mother!

"We also need to prepare shoes for the baby. I don't know how to make them, but my mother will definitely make them for the baby when the time comes. We also need to prepare a crib, diapers, open-crotch pants..."

The more she talked, the more confused she became. The new mother felt that giving birth to a child was too troublesome. "No, I'll learn from Sister Xiuhui and Sister Yuhe these few days."

"Then I'll ask Lao Liang and Lao Xu too."

Jian Lu looked over with suspicion, very doubtful, "Do they understand?"

......

"Who said I don't understand?"

The next day, in the office of the commander of the third regiment of the army, Cheng Zheng made two cups of tea for Liang Haisheng and Xu Lang. They were top-quality tea cakes that he won in a bet from the brigade commander.

He didn't hide the news that he was going to be a father from Liang Haisheng and Xu Lang. First, Feng Xiuhui was the first to know about it. Second, his wife was pregnant, so she would inevitably have to trouble the two sisters-in-law to help.

But Liang Haisheng was quite dissatisfied with this. After all, he had been a father for several years!

"Old Cheng, my sister-in-law still doesn't understand us! We are so experienced."

Xu Lang came over and agreed vigorously, "Especially me, I've been in that position twice."

"This daughter-in-law is pregnant, so what you have to do is not difficult."

When Cheng Zheng heard this opening remark, he immediately leaned forward and pricked up his ears.

"Just listen to your wife in everything. Don't have your own ideas. Just follow her instructions. That's it. No problem!"

Cheng Zheng:?

Asking is in vain, and speaking is in vain.

"Well, neither of you two is reliable. You've wasted my two cups of good tea." Cheng Zheng drove them away.

Liang Haisheng and Xu Lang held the enamel mugs and took a sip of tea. It was really fragrant. It was worthy of being Old Cheng... No, it was worthy of being Songlv's tea cake!

Cheng Zheng felt that his two brothers were useless, so he prepared to take his wife home to figure it out on his own. However, as soon as he arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, he saw her standing on tiptoe, stretching her hands to prepare the top piece of cloth.

“Lulu!”

Jian Lu heard a familiar voice and turned around, "You're here, wait for me for a while."

Cheng Zheng quickly stepped forward and took off the gray cloth for her.

"Be careful."

She whispered softly, earning a roll of the eyes from Jian Lu.

She hasn't told her colleagues yet, so she won't get any special treatment for now.

"What do you think of this color?" Jian Lu was preparing to make clothes for her baby. Since she didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, she chose gray because it was versatile and could be worn by both boys and girls. "It feels very comfortable. There aren't many fabrics of this material in the store."

It was already time to get off work. Qiu Sifeng and Li Jihong had gone home, while Sun Qiuyue was doing the accounting at a distance.

Jian Lu lowered her voice and discussed with Cheng Zheng.

"Very good." Cheng Zheng had no opinion on this matter and just listened to his wife.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt that this sentence sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere.

This fabric is plain cotton that just arrived this morning. It is soft and skin-friendly. They are salespeople, and if nothing else, it makes buying things much more convenient.

If others want to buy precious fabrics, they have to queue up early in the morning. If they come late, they will not be able to buy the new fabrics. The salesperson is different. He can reserve some in advance, and as long as you don't go too far, no one can say anything.

After paying the cloth coupons and money and entering the account, Jian Lu asked Team Leader Cheng to hold the cloth and went home from get off work.

The bicycle that Jian Lu rode in the morning stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative. Cheng Zheng stepped onto the bike, handed the cloth to Jian Lu who was sitting on the back seat, and then the two of them went home.

It had been a while since she last sat in the back seat and Jian Lu missed the feeling. Looking at the "private car driver" in front of her, Jian Lu pursed her lips.

She has always felt a little uncomfortable since she became pregnant. When she feels good, she seems fine, but when she wants to vomit, she feels nauseous. However, it is not a particularly severe type of morning sickness, it just comes from time to time.

Look, she doesn’t feel like eating dinner today.

Cheng Zheng, who had cooked sweet potato porridge tonight, served a bowl of it to his wife to cool down, but she still had no appetite.

"You don't want to eat this dish and this steamed bun?" Jian Lu ordered these two dishes at first, and Cheng Zheng went to the kitchen to stir-fry some shredded potatoes and cabbage leaves and steamed four steamed buns. The taste was so-so.

Jian Lu shook her head.

"You eat, I'll take a break, maybe I'll want to eat later."

"Otherwise, if you have anything you want to eat, I'll go buy it now." Cheng Zheng had never seen his wife have a bad appetite. In the past, Jian Lu enjoyed everything she ate. She was good at cooking and eating. Watching her eat could even make him eat well.

But the little sun in the past was a little wilted now and didn't want to eat anything.

Captain Cheng, who was used to being powerful, felt helpless for the first time.

"Do you want to eat fish? Or shrimp? Crab?" Cheng Zheng shook his head. "It seems that crabs are not edible. They are cold in nature."

Jian Lu sat at the square table. She didn't expect him to know this. "Captain Cheng, did you do your homework?"

“I still know that.”

"Okay, don't worry about me. Eat first. I'll find something to eat if I'm hungry and have an appetite."

Jian Lu really had no appetite. She had no appetite for anything, even the hot pot, barbecue, seafood, fried chicken and cola that made her drool in the past.

It's over, there's no hope for me!

Cheng Zheng was eating alone, with his wife, who didn't eat, sitting next to him and watching him. Naturally, he ate faster, the same speed he usually ate in the army, which made Jian Lu frown.

"You don't have a set time to eat here, why are you eating so fast? Someone who doesn't know would think you have a mission in five minutes." Although the man didn't look like a savage when he ate his food quickly, it's not good to eat too fast. "It's best to chew slowly when eating. Of course, if you can't do that, you can still slow down a little."

After being scolded by his wife, Cheng Zheng did not dare to refute a word. He just slowed down a little and ate a mouthful of porridge and then a steamed bun.

"Would you like to try the steamed bun I made?" Cheng Zheng brought the steamed bun in his hand to her mouth.

"I don't want to eat." Jian Lu refused mercilessly.

Cheng Zheng remembered what his wife had said last time, and said it to her, "You won't mind if I ate two bites, right?"

Jian Lu obviously also remembered that day when she said two words "no" to comfort Qian Jingjing, and ended up being treated as a lie.

She acted coquettishly and asked Cheng Zheng to eat the crab roe buns, saying that if he didn't eat them, it meant he was throwing away the ones she had already bitten. In the end, Cheng Zheng succeeded in breaking her trick.

This time, she had to take the initiative and smiled, "Yes, I just hate you!"

Cheng Zheng silently took back the steamed bun, took a bite of it, and continued eating with his head down.

Eh, you won't be angry anymore, right?

Jian Lu moved closer. This man couldn't be so stingy, right?

Before Jian Lu could figure it out, she heard Cheng Zheng speak calmly and just glanced at her indifferently, as if to say that the weather was pretty good today.

"It seems I haven't kissed you enough, and you still feel bad about me."

Jian Lu sat up straight instantly and stayed away from the dangerous person. How could this person still be threatening with an expressionless face?

......

Finally, after being "threatened" by Cheng Zheng for some unknown reason, Jian Lu ate a few bites of the steamed buns. It must be said that the steamed buns made by the authentic northerners were indeed delicious.

"Captain Cheng, I didn't expect that you are not so good at cooking, but you are really good at making steamed buns."

Cheng Zheng raised his eyebrows, automatically accepted the latter part of the compliment, raised his chin, and said, "Would you like to try my fried shredded potatoes and cabbage?"

Worried that his wife would shake her head and say she didn't want to eat it again, he added, "I have made great progress. As a chef, please give me some comments."

Jian Lu got excited when she heard this. This guy was probably blindly confident. She didn't care whether she had an appetite or not. She picked up a few shredded potatoes with chopsticks and put them into her mouth, then took a bite of cabbage.

How should I put it, it’s neither good nor bad, and it’s edible.

"Not bad." Jian Lu didn't want to criticize this guy, so she gave him a classic evaluation.

"It's just okay?" Cheng Zheng picked up another piece of food with his chopsticks for her. "Try it again. Are you pregnant? You can't even taste it."

"What are you talking about!" Jian Lu chewed the shredded potatoes in her mouth. It was indeed just okay. "I think it tastes good."

In this way, Cheng Zheng fooled Jian Lu into feeding her several mouthfuls and teasing her a few times. By the time she came to her senses, she had already eaten quite a bit.

After dinner, Cheng Zheng washed the dishes and accompanied his wife to digest the food. Feng Xiuhui specifically told them to take a walk so that they would have an easier time giving birth in the future.

The two of them went downstairs, and Cheng Zheng even wanted to help Jian Lu walk, but someone slapped him in the face.

The lovely wife narrowed her eyes and said, "I'm not that rich."

Jian Lu especially doesn't like being treated too specially by others, as it will make her nervous. Now that she is pregnant, she has to pay attention to the things she needs to pay attention to, but she also has to relax.

"Okay, my bad."

Cheng Zheng and Jian Lu walked down the stairs one step apart. His eyes were always glued to his wife, sometimes on her stomach and sometimes on her feet. As a result, when they just reached the last step on the first floor, a person suddenly rushed out from the left.

The child was running very fast, with his head fixed forward. He happened to look back and didn't notice someone coming down the stairs in front of him.

"Lulu!" Cheng Zheng quickly pulled his wife back and leaned forward. Liu Huayong bumped his head against a hard waist and then he realized there was someone!

Uncle Cheng Zheng is still the scariest!

Jian Lu was also startled. A child suddenly rushed out without any reason. She subconsciously protected her stomach. Fortunately, Cheng Zheng was quick and blocked the child in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Cheng Zheng turned his head and asked.

Jian Lu shook her head.

"Uncle Cheng..." Liu Huayong was holding a can of fruit in his hand with the lid already opened. There was some canned water on his lips, emitting a sweet breath. But at this moment, he looked at the serious face of Uncle Cheng Zheng in front of him and felt a little scared.

"Don't you even look at the road when you walk?"

Cheng Zheng has a handsome face, but once he gets serious, his stern face is quite intimidating, especially when his eyes are slightly narrowed, which gives people a strong sense of oppression.

Many soldiers were frightened when they saw it, let alone this child who was only a few years old.

"I didn't notice..." Liu Huayong licked the corner of his lips. The aroma of canned fruit was still there. He was used to being arrogant, so he became obedient in front of Cheng Zheng.

"It's ok, I didn't bump into anyone." Jian Lu patted the man's arm, telling him not to scare her. Although she was also scared just now, it didn't seem like a big deal for two adults to interrogate a child. She just taught him a lesson, "Xiaoyong, remember to look at the road when you walk next time. You can't just bump into people like that."

"knew!"

Cheng Zheng was indeed worried and angry. If it was one of his soldiers, he would have punished him long ago. However, this was someone else's child, so he said a few words in a deep voice, asking him to be careful in the future, and then let the man go.

The Wu family's step-son is indeed a bit out of character.

Jian Lu felt that Cheng Zheng's standards for judging children of a certain age were too high. "He's only six years old. If he wasn't so impetuous, wouldn't he be too sensible?"

Cheng Zheng didn't care about all that. He was frightened when he thought about how this man almost hit his wife and the baby in her belly.

"Okay, let's go, it's just a false alarm." Jian Lu tried to calm the new father down, "I'm not that weak, even if I really get hit, it's okay..."

Seeing that she had said the words "I was really bumped into", Jian Lu noticed that the man's eyes suddenly turned cold, and she immediately spat twice, "I reacted very quickly, so I wouldn't have been bumped into."

Cheng Zheng held his wife's arm and explained to her, "In the past, a comrade's child was hit and killed."

"Ah?" Jian Lu was shocked. "Is it so serious?"

"But their child seemed to have some problems when she was conceived, but who knew how to get checked out at that time? If she had gone to the hospital for a checkup earlier and taken some medicine, she should have been able to be saved. But the child came into the picture, which made the situation even worse."

No wonder Cheng Zheng was so nervous just now. Jian Lu comforted him, "Don't worry, I will be careful. I will stay away from these children in the future. Besides, our child is very healthy, the doctor said so."

"Um."

After being scolded, Liu Huayong took the canned fruit and found a place to hide it secretly to eat it. He put his dirty little mouth against the can and drank from it in big gulps.

The orange flesh is soft and sweet.

When I had almost finished eating, I shook the can and found that there was still a little sweet water inside, so I went home.

Two days after his stepfather, Mr. Wu, came back, Liu Huayong wiped his mouth with his clothes before sneaking into the house, put the canned fruit on the long cabinet in the living room, and ran to his stepfather to call for help.

"Dad Wu!"

"Xiaoyong, where have you been?"

Wu Feng had just returned from the army. Chen Qing was heating up food in the kitchen. Her stepson was talking to her affectionately. Her biological son was in the living room and went back to his room as soon as he saw her coming back.

"Xiaoyong went out to play." Chen Qing brought out the food left for the man, "By the way, Xiaoyong, take the canned fruit to Chenchen. Old Wu, you don't know that Xiaoyong is thinking about Chenchen. I bought them a can of fruit, and Chenchen ate it a few times. I let Xiaoyong have a few bites, and now he has some left for Chenchen to eat."

Wu Feng nodded, stood up and sat at the table, picked up his chopsticks and spoke, "Xiaoyong is quite sensible."

Liu Huayong went to Wu Xiangchen's bedroom with the empty can of fruit.

Chen Qing followed and sat down. "Xiaoyong is a good kid in this way. He is lively and doesn't make me worry. Chenchen is good in every way except that he doesn't like to talk. I feel bad taking care of him. He is such a good kid, how could he..."

"Thank you for your hard work. Chenchen has been like this since his mother passed away. I can't do anything about it."

"What's so hard about it?"

Liu Huayong pushed open the door and saw Wu Xiangchen in the room drawing with a pen.

Putting the canned fruit on the table, he glanced at Wu Xiangchen's paper, which had some messy drawings on it, and sneered, "Wu Xiangchen, your dad is back!"

Wu Xiangchen ignored him and continued to paint.

"But he is still my dad. I have a dad and a mom. From now on, you won't have a dad anymore. Everything is mine!"

Wu Xiangchen's hand holding the pencil paused.

Liu Huayong likes Father Wu, who is better than the father in his vague memory! Father Wu has a high salary and will buy him candy, snacks and new clothes.

Before running out, Liu Huayong turned around to look at the figure with his back to him. He hated Wu Xiangchen so much!

If only he wasn’t Mr. Wu’s son, then Mr. Wu would only have him as his son!

=

The weather was getting hotter and there were more mosquitoes. Jian Lu instructed Cheng Zheng to hang up the mosquito net. Today was her day off. Ever since she became pregnant, she had become more and more sleepy.

She had just fallen asleep when she was bitten by mosquitoes and her legs were itchy. She had no choice but to get up and urge the man to hang up the mosquito net.

Cheng Zheng looked around the mosquito net, fanned it with a palm-leaf fan, and when he was sure there were no mosquitoes, he closed the mosquito net curtain and lay down to sleep next to his wife.

With the mosquito net hung, it naturally became a little stuffy, so he fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan and watched his wife fall asleep again in a short while, her little face flushed from her sleep.

I don’t know how long I watched my wife. Cheng Zheng dozed off for ten minutes. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. His first reaction was to look at his wife. Seeing that she was not woken up, he got out of bed quietly and opened the door.

When the door opened, it was Cai Xiujuan, the girl who raised pearls, whom I had met last time.

"Captain Cheng, is Lulu at home?" Cai Xiujuan came over with her daughter, carrying a lot of things in her hands, including a mackerel, a herring, and a bag of winged beans.

"She..." Cheng Zheng was about to speak when he heard some noise behind him.

Jian Lu woke up from her nap and saw an acquaintance at the door. She smiled and walked over to him, "Sister Xiujuan, Duoduo."

After welcoming the guests in, Jian Lu and the guests sat at the table. Cheng Zheng went to pour water for them, and then listened to his wife's instructions to take out the peach cakes prepared at home from the cupboard and put them on the table.

"Sister Xiujuan, Duoduo, you guys eat."

Jian Lu was calling people, but Cheng Zheng didn't want to join in the conversation with the female comrade, so he went back to his room. It was a good opportunity for him to read a book.

Cai Xiujuan heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Captain Cheng leave. Jian Lu's man was indeed very majestic, and she became a little nervous when she saw him next to her.

"I hope I didn't disturb you by coming here."

"No! Did you and Duoduo come back specially to visit?"

Cai Xiujuan shook her head, looking at the two fish that Cheng Zheng had just put in the kitchen basin and said, "We just caught a batch of fish, so I said I'd bring you two, and some winged beans, which are grown in the private plot in front of our house. They are emerald green and delicious. Try them."

Jian Lu just saw that the two fish were plump and the four-winged beans were fresh and tender. They looked delicious. "Then I won't be polite to you. Hey, it's better to be in your place. You can grow some vegetables yourself. Look at us. We have to buy everything we want to eat."

"It's different here. I can't help it. We still have enough food there. I'll bring you some fresh food if there's any."

Cai Xiujuan exchanged a few pleasantries with Jian Lu before getting down to business. This time she came specifically to discuss pearl breeding with Jian Lu.

Ever since she had planted some river clams at the bottom of her fish pond, she had been looking forward to the pearls coming out every day. As several months passed, she became a little impatient and planted more river clams in the pond.

As a result, she found that some of the female clams were getting smaller and smaller. She thought about it for a while and worried that they were raised too densely. She also bought some clams, but she was still worried.

"That's the estimate." Jian Lu had never raised pearls, but from what she heard, it seemed that there was such a small amount of fish soup, and Cai Xiujuan had overcrowded the land with clams. The density was too high, and she couldn't clean them all by herself, so it was counterproductive. "You still have to take it slowly. You should raise the first batch first. Also, don't force it. The more impatient you are, the less likely you are to get the hot tofu. When the pearls grow bigger and have better color, they will be more valuable."

Cai Xiujuan talked with Jian Lu for a while, and gradually relaxed. She even mentioned that she wanted to borrow some books to study.

Jian Lu thought this was a good thing. Only by learning can one make progress. It is not possible to develop things in isolation. "I support you. There is no harm in learning more."

"But I can't read. What should I do?"

Jian Lu had forgotten about this, but when she thought about it, Cai Xiujuan in her previous life was also illiterate. She taught herself for several years and worked her way up to become the Pearl King. It was really not easy.

"I'll go with you to the Xinhua Bookstore in the city later. I happen to have some stuff to sell, so you can pick out two books and take them home to read. You can't read, but Duoduo does. She has learned a few. It's just right that you two can learn to read together and read books at the same time. Also, there are educated youths in your team, right? You can ask them. It's a pity that we're a little far away, otherwise I could help you read."

Cai Xiujuan was also quite regretful that she was too far away from him. But she heard that Comrade Jian Lu learned very quickly and even got a primary school diploma. This was amazing.

"Do you have any tips for learning? I'm worried that I'm too stupid to learn at this age."

Jian Lu smiled and encouraged her, "There is no age that you cannot learn. You can learn at any time if you want to. Look at me, didn't I start learning to read when I was almost 20 years old? Now I can recognize many characters. I will tell you about the pinyin method. By the way, I have my previous study notes here, you can take a look."

Jian Lu had never thought that the beginner's notes she had taken to fool people would actually come in handy. She gave Cai Xiujuan a lot of instructions and also reminded Duoduo to teach her mother to read together in the future before sending the mother and daughter away.

Cheng Zheng heard someone leaving outside, and then he went out, "You don't want to stay for dinner?"

"I stayed. Sister Xiujuan said we should hurry up and take the boat back. Otherwise we will have to wait until tomorrow, which is not convenient."

"That's right." Cheng Zheng went into the kitchen and saw two fish swimming around in the wooden basin. He turned around and looked at his wife, "Do you want to eat fish tonight?"

Jian Lu's appetite has improved slightly in the past half month. After thinking for a moment, she nodded and said, "Let's have Spanish mackerel dumplings."

Cheng Zheng was in charge, and Jian Lu was the boss who directed him. It's not easy to eat Spanish mackerel dumplings. First, you have to clean the Spanish mackerel, slice off the fish meat on both sides of the middle fish body, and then use a kitchen knife to scrape the fish meat from the fish bones. The white fish meat is scattered on the chopping board. Chop it back and forth with a kitchen knife, and then use a small piece of fat to chop it. At the same time, chop the scallion and ginger, add water, mix the minced fish meat, minced fat meat and chopped chives, and add scallion and ginger juice from time to time.

Cheng Zheng has known how to roll out dumpling wrappers since he was a child. Jian Lu was not worried. She just looked at the bowl of dumpling filling and couldn't help swallowing her saliva.

"Want to eat?" Cheng Zheng was quick and skillful in wrapping the dumplings.

The young couple sat at the table making dumplings. Jian Lu nodded, as if she could already smell the delicious aroma of the Spanish mackerel dumplings. Most importantly, there was no fishy smell.

Thirty dumplings were put into the pot and cooked until they were plump and white. One bite revealed that the Spanish mackerel filling was tender and juicy, soft in the mouth and delicious. Jian Lu ate ten of them slowly, and the remaining twenty were finished by Cheng Zheng.

"Comrade Cheng Zheng, I declare that this is the most delicious dish you have ever cooked."

As long as it does not involve cooking, stewing or frying, Comrade Cheng Zheng seems to have some talent in cooking.

Cheng Zheng: "..."

It seems to be exaggerated, but also seems to be damaged.

=

As spring came to an end, the troops once again welcomed the performance of the art troupe. After a year, everyone was looking forward to watching the performance.

When Jian Lu received the news, she was already ready to meet Comrade Qian Jingjing.

The art troupe's performance starts in the afternoon. Cheng Zheng will arrange seats in advance. Other family members will carry their own small stools. Jian Lu walks over slowly with empty hands. Oh, no, not empty hands. She has prepared a paper bag of peach cakes and fruit candies.

Now she is different from before. She is often not hungry at mealtime but hungry in the afternoon and always wants to eat something to fill her mouth.

In response, Dunzi said he could understand it! After all, he was the same.

Feng Xiuhui patted her son's head and asked, "How is your Aunt Lulu? How are you?"

Dunzi scratched his head and said, "It's almost the same. Aunt Lulu is like this because she has a child in her belly, and I am the child."

Feng Xiuhui was blocked by the pile of bricks and even felt that there was some truth in it...

Cheng Zheng came directly from the army and originally wanted to go home to pick up his wife, but his wife strongly objected. She said that she had hands and feet and could walk.

The two met at the crowded performance venue. Cheng Zheng protected her as they walked inside. There were eight seats reserved, and the three families could sit next to each other.

The performances of the art troupe are highly anticipated by both military personnel and their families. Without entertainment activities, this is the biggest performance, and you won’t be able to remember it for years after watching it once.

The performance hadn't started yet, but the audience was very noisy and everyone was talking. Amid the noise, Jian Lu heard a name that alerted her - Qian Hongzhuo.

A soldier in the front row was greeting a strange man. It was the first time that Jian Lu saw him. The man was tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a handsome appearance. He was smiling when talking to his comrades, and seemed to be an easy-going and easy-going person.

Jian Lu didn't expect that this person had already arrived on the island! She was so focused on her stomach that she didn't even think about this matter.

He approached Cheng Zheng and asked in a low voice, "Has Qian Hongzhuo been transferred to the island?"

Cheng Zheng nodded, but before he could say anything, he heard his wife speaking again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Cheng Zheng: "..."

"I didn't remember to tell you that someone else was transferred to the island."

"Oh." Jian Lu was deeply worried about Comrade Qian Jingjing, so she had to persuade her again.

Just when she was worried about Comrade Qian Jingjing, she saw a tall soldier talking to Qian Hongzhuo again, and she heard Qian Hongzhuo calling his name - Hu Zhenghao.

The name sounded familiar, and Jian Lu suddenly remembered that this was the name Comrade Qian Jingjing had mentioned in the letter. Wasn't this the blind date her parents were going to arrange for her?

Unfortunately, Comrade Qian Jingjing had taken a look in advance and felt that Comrade Hu Zhenghao was a little dark and looked too rough, which she didn't like. In short, she still liked Qian Hongzhuo.

Jian Lu understood that Qian Jingjing preferred fair-faced young men, and Qian Hongzhuo was indeed such a man. He looked quite fair and kind. Just by watching him talking to others, she felt that he should be a good-tempered man.

Of course, the premise is that she didn't foresee the plot, otherwise she would have been deceived.

However, now that she takes a closer look, she thinks the big black soldier looks pretty good. Although his skin is a little dark, his facial features are still very regular. If he were in the future, he would be a very manly and tough guy. Comrade Qian Jingjing really looks down on him?

"The man next to Qian Hongzhuo is called Hu Zhenghao, right?" Jian Lu stared at Hu Zhenghao for a long time, pondered for a while, and finally became curious. She went to Cheng Zheng and asked questions in a low voice.

"Is he also newly transferred here? Is he of a high rank? What do you think of him? He actually looks pretty good, just a little dark, but he's still a handsome guy, and he should have a good figure, Jing..."

As she was talking, Jian Lu realized something was wrong. Why was it so cold in such a hot day? She looked again and saw that the man next to her had a fierce look on his face, as if he was emitting cold air.

Cheng Zheng had already noticed that his wife had been staring at the newly transferred Hu Zhenghao for a long time, her eyes fixed on him without moving.

He coughed lightly, but no one heard it. Then he came up to me to ask for news. What kind of words did he say?

Handsome guy? With a good figure?!

"Comrade Jian Lu, please adjust your gaze." Cheng Zheng turned his head to talk to his wife, his face expressionless, but his words were full of sourness, "Your man is more handsome and has a better figure."