Chapter 73

The art troupe's performance ended, and the troops' pre-New Year training also came to an end. The soldiers were looking forward to the Chinese New Year with all their heart, after all, the food was the best during the Chinese New Year.

Qian Jingjing left the island with her comrades and returned to the military art troupe to rest and study, and was also waiting for the Spring Festival in a month.

At noon on the day she left, she and Hu Zhenghao met briefly. It was the first time for both of them to date each other, so they felt a little reserved and unfamiliar. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they hurriedly parted ways.

Hu Zhenghao only said that he would send her a letter as soon as possible.

About half a month after returning to the military region, Qian Jingjing received a letter from Hu Zhenghao.

As the saying goes, the handwriting on the envelope was very neat and formal. Qian Jingjing stared at it and almost forgot to open it.

"Jingjing, what are you looking at? I want to ask you whether you will go home for the New Year or not?" The comrades were discussing the New Year holiday. Those who did not have leave to visit their families would spend the New Year in the military area. There were always a few days of leisure time, and they were discussing going to the county town for a stroll.

However, Qian Jingjing did not participate in the discussion. When she turned around, everyone saw her lying on the bed with an envelope in her hand.

"Nothing, Chinese New Year? I don't have any family leave this year, so I'll spend it in the military area."

"Then on New Year's Day, let's go to the department store together!"

"good."

Qian Jingjing chatted casually with her comrades, then turned her back to them and opened the letter.

The letter sent by Hu Zhenghao was two pages long, with neat handwriting and appropriate wording.

"Comrade Qian Jingjing, it's nice to meet you..."

Qian Jingjing found that Hu Zhenghao looked fierce and dull in person, and was taciturn in person, but he was quite talkative in his letters, and even made people laugh when he talked about interesting things in the army.

"Last week, several of my comrades (all single men) went to the mountains to have a good meal. You know, the mountains here are not very high, and most of the food we eat is from the sea. We don't like it that much, and always want the meat that runs on the land. One comrade said that he always felt that the meat that comes from the land is firmer and more delicious, while the meat that swims in the sea is softer.

To this end, this comrade extended this stuttering theory to us and also proposed to the brigade commander to cancel the annual swimming training and increase the training volume to land running training, saying that this would make the soldiers stronger. "

Qian Jingjing curled the corners of her lips when she saw this. She didn't expect Hu Zhenghao's comrade-in-arms to be so funny.

She then looked down and saw another statement above.

"Of course, all this is because the comrade is a landlubber, but he can't be said to be a landlubber. He has been afraid of water since he was a child, but after joining the army, he was forced to learn to swim. Now he can swim, but he still hates swimming, so he finds ways to come up with some bad ideas."

Qian Jingjing's eyebrows curved, and she couldn't help but continue reading, even looking forward to what the next content would be.

"By the way, we went up the mountain to have a bite to eat, and we were lucky. We picked up a lot of wild vegetables, so we could make some stir-fry dishes. We also caught a wild rabbit, which we roasted right in the mountains. It tasted good. Rabbit meat doesn't taste as good as pork, but it's good. Do you like roasted wild rabbits? If you do, I'll take you to catch one next time if I have the chance."

Qian Jingjing was reading a short story with great interest when she suddenly heard Hu Zhenghao talking to her through the air. Her face turned red, as if she heard this man asking her in person whether she wanted to go catch rabbits with him.

She tried to ignore that line and continued reading.

"We were just about to leave when one of our comrades said he saw some movement in the grass ahead and thought there might be some hares or pheasants. We thought since we were already here, we might as well catch one or two, so we turned back.

When we got close to the bush, we looked around to see what unlucky creature we had discovered. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew and a snake suddenly jumped out..."

Qian Jingjing sat up straight instantly, her whole body tensed up. How did she encounter a snake?

Seeing the fourth line from the bottom of a page of letter paper, Qian Jingjing couldn't wait to read on.

Hey, why is it gone?!

On the third line from the bottom, Hu Zhenghao wrote: "I am almost done writing these two pages. I will end this month's letter here. It is a pleasure to correspond with you, Comrade Qian Jingjing. I look forward to hearing from you. I will strictly abide by our agreement and will be ready to reply at this time next month."

Next comes the signature and date.

Qian Jingjing: "...???!!!"

How can it break here? !

Hu Zhenghao, how could you do this? You encountered a snake, and then what?

Why do I have to wait a month to find out what happens next?

Thinking of the unequal treaty she made him sign, Qian Jingjing felt depressed. Is this just shooting oneself in the foot?

Sitting at the table, Qian Jingjing began to write back to Hu Zhenghao. She couldn't speak in person, but writing a letter was different. It could break through many barriers.

Thinking about the letter Hu Zhenghao wrote to her, there were no sweet words, but it was full of details about her life. Qian Jingjing also rambled to him about the hard work of practicing dance, and unconsciously began to complain to others. Of course, in the end she still had to brag about her dancing skills.

At the end of writing, Qian Jingjing was still thinking about the follow-up of Hu Zhenghao's letter. It was too much. How could it end there!

Couldn't he have said a few fewer words at the beginning and just finished talking about this matter? !

Filled with resentment, Qian Jingjing mailed her reply letter, returned to the art troupe dormitory, and began to live by flipping through her calendar. It took a month for her to receive a reply. It was so hard to wait!

=

While Qian Jingjing was counting the days waiting for a reply, Jian Lu was packing her things to return to her hometown in the north.

Cheng Zheng asked someone to buy three berths for tomorrow afternoon's train, and children of even ages don't need tickets.

"It will be more comfortable to go back in a sleeper." Aunt Wang thought it was a good idea, but she was worried about the money. "Shitou, why don't you exchange my ticket for a seat? I'm in good health, so I'll sit on the train, and you can take care of the mother and daughter in the sleeper."

You can save five dollars by exchanging a sleeper ticket for a hard seat ticket!

This is a huge sum of money.

"Mom, these few dollars are not a big deal. You can take a good rest and don't worry about these things." Cheng Zheng knew that his mother was used to being frugal. Now that she was older, she was generous to the younger generation, especially to her grandchildren, but she was still frugal with herself.

Jian Lu also helped to persuade her, "Mom, Brother Cheng is right. We don't spend money to take the train every day. It only happens once every few years. There's no need."

After being persuaded by her son and daughter-in-law, Aunt Wang finally gave up the idea and went on packing her luggage.

This time when we went back to visit relatives, the family brought a lot of things. Winter in the north is cold, so everyone had to take out their thickest cotton jackets, plus two quilts. The quilts in my hometown were already hard, and it was definitely not warm to cover them. We also brought food for the brothers and sisters on both sides of the family. All in all, there were three big packages.

They sent the two quilts back in advance and asked their second son Cheng Liang, who worked in the county town, to help collect them. They carried the two packages back by themselves.

Jian Lu was really worried when she looked at the packed luggage. It was not easy to travel far away these days. Fortunately, she had Cheng Zheng, a strong man!

While mom, dad and grandma were packing their luggage, Shuang was not idle either. She was saying goodbye to her friends outside the yard.

"Shuangshuang, when will you come back?" Dongdong looked at Shuangshuang's changing expressions, sometimes happy and sometimes sad, and he couldn't guess what she was thinking.

"Very, very soon." Shuangshuang stretched out her little hands and gestured with her five fingers back and forth. After a long time of calculation, she still couldn't figure it out. "My mother said that I will be back soon."

Dunzi is the only one among the gang who has experience, after all, his hometown is the same as Uncle Cheng's.

"It's very far. It takes five days by train, and you have to sleep on the train." Dunzi remembered the cold weather in his hometown and couldn't help but tell Shuangshuang, "Shuangshuang, you must wear something thicker. It's not that cold here, but it's really cold in my hometown! It's so cold that it's hard to get frostbite on your hands."

When Dunzi was in his hometown, he would get frostbite, which was painful and itchy and very uncomfortable.

“Your fingers will swell up like carrots.”

Shuangshuang looked at her fingers. They were plump, white and tender. How could they look like carrots?

So scary!

"I know." Shuangshuang rubbed her little hands, determined to protect herself!

Hengheng dragged Yuanyuan out of the house. His younger brother was a naughty boy and Hengheng was very troubled.

"Shuangshuang, are you leaving?"

"Heng Heng Guo Guo, yes, the nests are leaving."

"Come back early!" Hengheng said to Shuangshuang.

Yuanyuan beside him was a little envious, "Shuangshuang, let me go with you, I want to take the train too."

Heng Heng couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Are you going to someone else's house for the New Year?"

"It's not impossible." Yuanyuan said righteously.

Shuangshuang listened to Hengheng Guoguo talking to his brother, "Hao, I'll buy you a train ticket, I have money!"

As he said this, he took out a one-cent coin from his pocket and threw it in the air, making a rustling sound. "It's only five days. It would be better if there were some children to accompany me."

Heng Heng pulled Yuan Yuan behind him and said to Shuang Shuang, "Don't pay attention to him. He just does whatever he wants."

"Brother!" Yuanyuan wanted to defend herself, but when she saw her brother's look, she immediately became obedient.

Juanjuan was the saddest. Sister Shuangshuang was leaving. She pouted, her eyes were red, and her soft face was full of reluctance.

"Sangsang, come on, come on, come on."

"Great." Shuangshuang was looking forward to taking the train, but was reluctant to leave the children. She felt very complicated and simply hugged Juanjuan.

The two little girls, one tall and one short, were half a head taller than the other, and their bodies were pressed together like two little balls stuck together.

When Wu Xiangchen ran over from home, he seemed to see two glutinous rice balls, one of which was filled with meat.

The chubby little hands were placed on Juanjuan's hands, and he tried to touch her back to comfort her, "I will be fat soon, wait for me to come back and have some coconut rice."

"Good!" Everyone likes the coconut seafood fried rice made by Aunt Jian Lu.

"Shuangshuang!" Wu Xiangchen approached his friends and called out "Shuangshuang", but the little girl was talking to Juanjuan and didn't hear him at all.

“Sangsang!”

"Why?"

Shuangshuang heard it this time; someone was really calling her.

"Chenchen Guoguo." Shuangshuang looked at Chenchen Guoguo running over and was sweating.

"This is for you."

In the blink of an eye, Shuangshuang found that there was a glass jar in her hand, which was neither too big nor too small, just right for her two little hands to hold.

"I don't want it. My mom said I can't just take things without permission."

"It's not for you. Please bring us some snow!"

"Ah?" Shuangshuang raised her head, her black eyes were bright, and her long eyelashes fluttered. She didn't understand, "What is like snow?"

"I know!!!" Dunzi grew up in the north, and the kids from the south had never seen it before. "It's white and very beautiful, it must have fallen from the sky!"

After that, several children looked up at the sky at the same time, but there was nothing there.

"Shuangshuang, you pack the snow for them. The snow is cool and fun. We can have snowball fights with it." Dunzi thought this was a good idea!

Shuangshuang nodded. Although she didn't know what snow was, she agreed, "Okay, I'll pretend to be snow again."

Holding the glass jar in both hands, Shuangshuang said goodbye to the other children and went home, asking her mother to put the glass jar away for her.

Auntie Wang laughed when she heard her granddaughter was going to put the snow in a glass jar. She said to her daughter-in-law, "These kids are really hardworking. How can the snow last this long?"

Jian Lu put the two glass jars into the military bag she carried with her, not caring about it. "It's okay. Children always have some strange ideas. Just treat it as a game."

The next morning, Cheng Zheng's family packed up their bags and went out. They both followed their father, mother and grandmother. It was their first time to go on a long journey, to a very far place.

When she walked out of the house, she kept looking back at her own small building, and couldn't help waving her little hand to say goodbye to the small building.

"I'll be back next month, don't miss me too much."

After getting on the ferry, the family prepared to go to the county town for lunch, and then went to the train station to wait.

It was Shuangshuang’s first time on a boat and she just felt it was new. There were many people on the boat and she looked left and right, listening to the sound of the waves around her. When her father picked her up and she saw the sea outside, she couldn’t help sighing.

Wow~

Wow~

Wow~

The military families around couldn't help laughing when they heard the children's outward excitement. If adults were to express such excitement, they would worry about being embarrassed and being considered inexperienced. But when children expressed it, no one thought there was anything wrong and they just thought it was cute.

The two of them asked a million whys and kept asking their parents on the boat.

"How can this string move?"

“Are there a lot of uncles and aunts carrying it?”

"What if the small fish in the sea eat our skewers?"

The more Shuangshuang thought about it, the more scared she became. Was she going to be eaten by the fish too?

Thinking of this, she hid in her mother's arms, snuggled up to her mother's soft and fragrant body, and asked her mother to hold her.

"What are you thinking about? What kind of fish can eat you?" Cheng Zheng was defeated by the girl's strange ideas. How could this child come up with such a weird thing? Incomprehensible!

"But the nest smells good." Shuangshuang said this while raising his fat arms to his nose and sniffing, "If it were a small fish, the small fish would eat us first, the nest first. Because the nest tastes the best~"

"Hahahahahaha." Cheng Zheng was amused by the girl. He really couldn't understand the child's thoughts. "Are you so delicious?"

"Hmm~" Shuangshuang affirmed herself again, "Sangsang smells so good."

It smells delicious and must be tasty. Little fish love it.

Ugh~ How scary!

"Mommy, hold me~" Shuangshuang became more and more scared the more she thought about it, and she shrank into her mother's arms.

Jian Lu hugged her daughter, wrapped her arms around her, and said softly and clearly, "Xiao Yu won't eat Shuangshuang. Xiao Yu can't beat Daddy."

"Really?"

"That's for sure." Cheng Zheng's confidence and pride as an old father rose up, "Don't worry!"

"Okay~" Shuangshuang felt relieved after looking at their father. After all, their father was tall and big, and really much longer than the fish.

Arriving at the county seat, the family went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some cakes for the journey, and then went to the state-owned hotel for lunch.

After lunch, head directly to the train station.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, many people travel by train, and the train stations are crowded.

Sitting in the waiting hall, Cheng Zheng put two large packages on the ground and asked his family to sit down and rest for a while, while he took a military kettle to get some hot water.

Jian Lu watched the young lady looking around curiously. Seeing so many people at first glance, both of them were obviously a little curious.

"Mom, why are there so many people here?"

"Everyone is going to take the train." Jian Lu looked at the people coming and going in the waiting hall and listened to the train whistle not far away. She was a little dazed for a moment. She had been here for several years.

"There are so many people!" Aunt Wang also lamented that the train station is always crowded. "It will be fine after these few days, and when we get home, it will be fine!"

Looking at the surging crowd, Jian Lu suddenly remembered to give her young lady a few words of advice.

"We're out. There are a lot of people outside. There are a lot of good people, but also some bad people. Shuangshuang, you can't follow others at any time."

Shuangshuang blinked her big eyes and thought, "Who looks like someone else?"

"Except dad, mom and grandma, it's everyone else."

"Oh!" Shuangshuang understood and nodded obediently, "I won't go with anyone else."

"If someone tries to take you away when your parents aren't paying attention, do you know what to do?"

Shuangshuang shook her head, her little head swaying, and immediately remembered something, "I call mom!"

"So smart!" Jian Lu ruffled the lady's hair, and seeing the lady smile sweetly, she felt a little relieved.

Adults need to keep a close eye on their children and also instill in their children the idea of ​​being careful in everything.

The railway station is a hotspot for human kidnapping. Many women and children have been abducted here, so you must be careful.

After waiting for a while, as the green train pulled into the platform, the family boarded the train back to their hometown in the north.

The train was still crowded, just as Jian Lu had remembered more than three years ago.

Cheng Zheng was carrying the package in front, clearing the way and "cutting" a path, just enough to get through the passengers sitting on the floor in the aisle.

Passing through the hard-seat carriage, there were many people talking and it was noisy. The smell was also strong. Shuangshuang's face was wrinkled from the suffocation. She buried her head in her mother's chest and covered her nose and mouth tightly with her hands.

After passing the hard seat car and reaching the sleeper car, the whole space became spacious and the smell was much fresher.

Although it can't compare to outside, it is much better than the hard seat compartment.

"Huh~" Shuangshuang was finally able to take a deep breath and whispered to her mother, "Mom, this stuff stinks."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Um."

Jian Lu put her daughter down and tidied the bed with her mother-in-law. They brought their own sheets and simply spread them out. Cheng Zheng stuffed two packages under the bed on the lower bunk and helped to tidy up the bed.

Shuangshuang was carried by her father and placed on the sleeping space under the tidy bed. She swung her legs and looked around curiously.

The sleeper compartment can accommodate four people, divided into upper and lower bunks facing each other. Their family occupied three berths, leaving one berth unoccupied.

"Mom, are we going to sleep here tonight?"

The two have never slept anywhere other than home.

"Yes, you sleep with me tonight. Do you want to sleep on the upper or lower bunk?"

They immediately struggled to jump down from the lower floor and looked at a small staircase extending upwards. Wow, this is so interesting.

"There."

"Okay, let's sleep on the top floor."

The train started slowly with clanging sounds, and the people in the sleeper car finally gathered. The person who came was a middle-aged man wearing a Zhongshan suit and gold-rimmed glasses. He greeted a few people and went to the sleeper car opposite.

Shuangshuang originally thought that she could climb the stairs, but her two short legs were floating upside down. Just as she was about to make an effort, her father picked her up and lifted her high up, and her mother caught her and carried her upstairs.

They flew up in the blink of an eye, excited.

"Okay, you sit inside. This upper floor is dangerous, you know? You can't sleep outside. Mommy has to sleep outside."

"good."

We lay down together and felt the train moving slowly. Wow, it was so interesting.

Jian Lu and her daughter slept on the upper bunk on the left, her mother-in-law, Aunt Wang, slept on the lower bunk, Cheng Zheng slept on the lower bunk on the right, and a man in a Zhongshan suit slept on the upper bunk.

It was the first time for Shuangshuang to feel a moving car. She sat on the upper deck, moving around excitedly and making a lot of noise for a while, and only went downstairs when it was time for dinner.

Meals on the train did not require grain coupons or meat coupons, as one could buy them as long as one paid. The only difference was that the prices were a bit higher than in state-owned hotels. Cheng Zheng spent RMB 2.60 to buy three meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and three servings of rice, and the whole family ate at a small table.

Shuangshuang had a small appetite, so Jian Lu gave her two spoonfuls of rice and softened it a little with hot water so that it would be easier to eat.

"Mom, I want a spoon~"

This time, Shuangshuang specifically asked to bring her own small bowl and spoon, as she couldn't live without them.

Holding a small spoon, Shuangshuang tried hard to eat the rice and vegetables. Jian Lu rinsed the meat and vegetables for her in a small bowl of water. She also bought a steamed egg with meat sauce for the child and placed it directly in front of her.

"Mom, why are the trees outside moving backwards?" They sat in front of the window, looking at the trees and fields outside and were very confused. They were actually moving and moving in the opposite direction of themselves.

Jian Lu followed the look and found the scenery here quite nice, a rare sight after staying on the island for such a long time.

"They are not moving backwards. It is the train we are on that is moving. They are actually standing still."

"Huh?" Shuangshuang was so surprised that she forgot to chew the rice in her mouth. Is this really the case? How strange.

Shuangshuang, who was riding a train for the first time, spent three days at the train station. Jian Lu originally thought that the child's curiosity would only last for three days, but who knew that the girl's curiosity showed no sign of abating.

Every day he loves to swing his short legs to look at the scenery outside the window. When the train arrives at the station, he asks his father to take him to watch the passengers getting on and off the train. From time to time, he asks questions that make adults laugh and cry.

"Mom, doesn't the train sleep? Why does it keep running? Isn't it tired?"

"What does it eat when it's hungry? Does it eat rice, too?"

"It must have eaten a lot since it's so big."

The gay man sitting opposite her in the sleeper car couldn't help teasing her when he heard Shuangshuang asking strange questions all day long.

"Little girl, you really care about trains, don't you?"

They both looked up at the uncle working on the opposite side of the shop and nodded, "Yes~"

"Would you like me to show you the front carriage?"

"No." Shuangshuang shuddered and leaned towards her mother, looking sideways at her uncle. "I can't go with others. I can only, only go with my father, mother and grandmother."

"Hahahahahaha, you're pretty awesome." The male comrade put down the book in his hand and looked at the military comrade opposite him, "Comrade, your daughter has taught her really well. She knows how to be on guard against bad guys at such a young age."

Cheng Zheng touched the child's head with relief, "This girl is smart."

As they spent more and more time on the train and got further and further away from the island, they were surprised to find that the world outside had changed!

"Mom, Mom!" Shuangshuang excitedly pulled her mother's hand and pointed her little hand out the window, "Mom, Bai, why did it turn white?"

The world outside the window is covered in silver. Snowflakes are falling, pressing on the branches and treetops, and splashing onto the rooftops.

"This is snow. It's snowing." Jian Lu hadn't seen snow for a long time, and was attracted by the white snow scene. "The snowflakes are so beautiful. When we get back home, we'll go make a snowman."

"Wow~" Shuangshuang didn't know what snow was, but she was still shocked by the white world in front of her. All she saw was white, pure white. Snowflakes overlapped, passing over mountains, rivers, lakes, and through dense forests and fields.

It was the first time that Shuangshuang's big eyes saw such white.

"Snow?" Shuangshuang suddenly remembered what she had promised the children, "Mom, I want to pretend to be snow."

"I can't load it now. The train is running. I'll load it for you when we get to the destination."

"Dad, just make it stop." Shuangshuang said confidently, looking at his father with high hopes for him.

Cheng Zheng: "..."

You think too highly of me!

As the train headed north, the temperature dropped rapidly, and the passengers who had traveled by train from the south took out their thick cotton jackets and put them on.

Jian Lu also dressed Shuangshuang in a thick cotton jacket in advance, a small red cotton jacket with small floral patterns. For the first time, Shuangshuang felt like she was wrapped up like a dumpling.

Shuangshuang tried to raise her hands, feeling aggrieved, but found it difficult. "Mom, I can't even raise my hands."

"Then don't worry." Jian Lu was worried that the child would be cold. She could already feel the chill in the train. "You haven't been cold before. If your hands and feet are cold, remember to tell your mother. Don't get frostbite."

"Okay." Shuangshuang thought of what Brother Dunzi said about frostbite. It was so scary. She didn't want to get frostbite.

"Come here, Shuangshuang, the woolen gloves grandma knitted for you are useful." Aunt Wang put the gloves on her granddaughter. She made them according to the size of her small hands. They looked particularly small, and only the off-white wool could be seen when she put them on her hands.

"It's so pretty." Both of them liked it, "Grandma is so greasy!"

Aunt Wang was amused by her granddaughter and also felt a little proud.

"Come on, put on your hat and scarf and you'll be complete." Jian Lu prepared everything especially well for her young lady, including a tiger-head hat and a red scarf.

Shuangshuang was a lithe little girl when she got on the train, but now she has transformed into a real little dumpling.

She wore a tiger-head hat that hid all her hair, leaving only a small tuft of black hair above her forehead. The red scarf covered most of her face, revealing a pair of big, clear, watery eyes that looked very charming.

Wearing a red floral cotton padded jacket, black cotton pants, and black velvet shoes, Shuangshuang felt that she had gained several pounds.

After another day and night of journey, the train finally arrived in City C. With the sound of the train whistle entering the station, the train slowly slowed down and Shuangshuang was able to get off.

"Come, pack up, we're going home." Aunt Wang was more excited than her son and daughter-in-law. This was where she grew up, and she couldn't help but miss it terribly after being away for so long.

Shuangshuang was dizzy the whole time because she saw many people getting off the bus, carrying bags of all sizes on their shoulders or in their hands, and walking out with their families.

There was an auntie who had luggage in both hands and asked her son to hold her clothes. However, due to the large crowd and the naughty boy looking around curiously, the two were almost separated.

"Hold on tight! Otherwise, kidnappers will abduct you and sell you to the deep mountains and forests. You will be beaten every day and have no food to eat."

"Got it!" Hearing this, the little boy's skin tightened again. Who wouldn't be afraid when hearing the word "kidnapper"?

Shuangshuang listened silently. She also became scared while being held in her mother's arms. The kidnapper was so scary. He not only beat people but also didn't give them food. He was so bad!

The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. She held her mother tightly with her two little hands and buried her little head in her mother's neck. She must not be kidnapped! She had to hold her mother tightly!

"Wow, it's been so cold in a long time!" Cheng Zheng returned to his hometown after many years, and the first thing he felt was the biting cold.

Gusts of cold wind blew past, bringing up memories hidden deep in his heart. It was indeed the cold he had experienced over ten years ago.

"Are you cold? Mom, Lulu, do you want to put on more clothes?" Cheng Zheng asked his mother and daughter-in-law, and took the opportunity to check on the young lady's face.

Her cheeks were red under the scarf, but she was not cold. However, Shuangshuang complained that her father was cold.

The little head tilted and he said with a smile, "Dad is cold."

"Is it Dad who is cold, or are you cold?"

"Dad~"

Cheng Zheng felt that the cold was bearable, but his hands were exposed to the wind and he inevitably felt colder and colder.

The group followed the crowd out of the train station. Jian Lu looked at the familiar county town, and scenes from three and a half years ago kept flooding into her mind.

More than three years ago, I started from here and took the train to look for Cheng Zheng. Who would have thought that today I would return as a family.

Stepping on this land again, the snow under my feet was soft and made a slight sound. Jian Lu looked at the bun shop and the tailor shop in front of her. The gray bungalows were covered with thick snow. The white world made her feel intimate.

“Brother!”

A strange shouting sound came from not far away. Jian Lu subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound and saw a strange face in the crowd, but that face seemed somewhat familiar.

Vaguely similar to Cheng Zheng.

"Boss, look, the second one is coming!"

Aunt Wang was standing at the outermost part and saw her second son Cheng Liang walking quickly towards her, followed by her second daughter-in-law Feng Nianjun.

"Cheng Liang!" Cheng Zheng hadn't seen his brother for many years. When he saw him again, he felt a little dazed. This man was really different and looked much more mature than before.

The two brothers were delighted to meet each other. Cheng Liang was overjoyed. He was now a formal employee of the county grain station. Thanks to his elder brother's relationship, his retired comrade, the commune cadre, arranged a temporary job at the grain station. This was how he got rid of the fate of digging for food in the fields. Later, he successfully married Feng Nianjun, the daughter of the grain station accountant, and had a child. His life was really good. Compared with the villagers who were still digging for food in the fields, he was really enviable.

"This is my wife Nianjun. Nianjun, this is my eldest brother."

Feng Nianjun had an oval face, and looked gentle and pretty, but she was not in good spirits and looked very tired. Upon hearing this, she smiled and called mother and elder brother.

The couple looked at the woman next to the eldest brother at the same time. The woman was wearing a red cotton jacket, with two pigtails that fell on her shoulders, an oval face, peach blossom eyes, and a delicate nose. Feng Nianjun had never seen such a pretty lesbian, and he couldn't help but take a few more glances at her.

"Is this sister-in-law...?" Although he was in a different age group, Feng Nianjun couldn't bring himself to call her by name when he saw her tender face. It was obvious that this person was several years younger than him.

"Yes!" Aunt Wang was also happy to see her second daughter-in-law. She took her hand, asked about her well-being, and introduced her to her sister-in-law.

"This is the wife of elder brother Cheng Liang, Jian Lu. Lulu, this is the wife of second brother Cheng Zheng, Feng Nianjun."

Jian Lu could see at a glance that Feng Nianjun was feeling awkward. At her age, it was also awkward for her to hear someone older than her calling her sister-in-law.

"Let's just call each other by our names. Don't be so restrained. Nianjun is a really nice name. You can just call me Lulu."

"Hey!" Feng Nianjun felt happy. He felt more favorable towards his pretty sister-in-law. "Lulu."

"What's your name? It's so rude." Cheng Liang called her sister-in-law straightforwardly, which made Jian Lu feel awkward because she was a few years younger than him.

It’s all Cheng Zheng’s fault. How come he’s so old now?

"Is this my eldest niece?" Feng Nianjun shifted his attention to the little girl in Jian Lu's arms. The family had received a letter before saying that a daughter was born in the eldest brother's family, and later the mother-in-law also passed away.

My two children are not happy about this.

Feng Nianjun's biological mother died early, and his biological father remarried. His stepmother brought a son and a daughter with him. Later, the stepdaughter got married, and the stepson continued to live in the Feng family. Feng Nianjun has always had an ambiguous relationship with his stepmother.

When Feng Nianjun gave birth to her first child, her mother-in-law, Auntie Wang, came to help take care of the child. She left when the child was a little over a year old. Later, when Feng Nianjun gave birth to her second child, Auntie Wang came to help take care of the second child, a daughter, and also took care of the eldest grandson. The brother and sister were not close to their biological mother and step-grandmother, so they were only particularly close to their grandmother.

Two years ago, when Shuangshuang was about to be born, Aunt Wang packed her luggage and left. The two kids cried their hearts out. She was really reluctant to let them go.

Today, the two of them refused to come to pick up their uncle's family. They told their parents that it was cold and they didn't want to go out, but behind their backs, the brother and sister said that they hated their little sister and had taken their grandmother away.

Feng Nianjun looked at his niece. Although he only saw half of her face and a pair of big eyes, he already felt that she must be a pretty girl.

Just these two eyes, they are so bright and watery, as if they can speak. Just looking at me like this, my heart is melting.

"Yes, this is our young lady Shuangshuang." Jian Lu held the young lady in her arms and asked her to call people, "Shuangshuang, this is the second aunt, call her the second aunt."

Shuangshuang blinked her big eyes, stared at the person silently, turned her head and asked her mother in a baby voice, "Mom, what is Second Aunt?"

Feng Nianjun found the child cute when he heard her talk. Why are other people's children so soft? They are nothing like the naughty boy and girl in his family.

"Second Aunt is the wife of your father's younger brother." Jian Lu was worried that the girl would have a million questions, so she stopped her from asking any more questions. "Also, this is Second Uncle."

Cheng Liang was talking to his elder brother about recent events, and had been paying attention to the situation on the other side. When he heard his niece's voice, he came over.

This little girl is really pretty, with fair and tender skin, and you can tell at first glance that she has been carefully raised.

"Shuangshuang, I am your second uncle, your father's younger brother, do you understand?"

Shuangshuang seemed to understand, nodded, and spoke in front of everyone's gaze, "Ersu, Second Aunt."

"Why!"

Cheng Liang took out a one-yuan note from his pocket and shook it, making a banging sound. "This is the first time that Second Uncle meets Shuangshuang, so I'll give you a big red envelope."

Seeing the red envelope, Shuangshuang pursed her lips and giggled, "Thank you, Ersu."

"Let's go!" Cheng Liang waved his hand and helped his elder brother take a package and put it on his shoulder, "Let's go to my house for dinner. You'll stay at home today."

The group went to Cheng Liang's father-in-law's house. At the same time, Cheng Liang and Feng Nianjun's two children were looking out the door of their house.

"Brother, that bad girl will be here soon!"

"We don't want her in!"

"Well, you little rascal, you stole our grandma! I don't want her to come into our house!"