Chapter 58 Chapter 58 The entire Jiangzhou has been completely plundered...
Qin Zhanwu returned home in the evening. As he entered the hallway, he saw his sister-in-law next door holding her child and calling him, "Chief of Staff Qin, you're finally home. Your family member has a high fever and refuses to go to the hospital no matter what. Please persuade her. She's had a fever for a long time and refuses to take medicine, saying it's not good for the child."
When Qin Zhanwu walked in, he saw Su Yan lying on the bed, her face flushed. He touched her forehead and found that she had a high fever. He called her, "Yingzi, get dressed and go to the hospital."
Su Yan tucked the hot water bottle under her quilt and shook her head. "It's okay. I probably caught a cold yesterday. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep. If I go to the hospital, the doctor will definitely give me an injection."
Qin Zhanwu frowned. "If you're sick, you do whatever the doctor says. If the doctor says you need an injection, you have to get it. If the child can't drink milk, you just feed him formula. How can you be so squeamish?"
Su Yan shook her head: "I don't want it, you listen to me."
Qin Zhanwu cursed inwardly, "I'm going to be a fool if I listen to you." He went downstairs and called the military academy clinic to send a doctor. He fetched water again, took out some fever-reducing medicine, dissolved it with a spoon, and fed it to Su Yan: "If you don't drink it, I'll force it down your throat."
Su Yan looked at the child and was about to say something, but then she told him to put a spoonful of milk into his mouth, and he had no choice but to swallow it: "I'm afraid I won't be able to feed you for a week..."
Qin Zhanwu glared at her and said, "Take care of yourself first!"
The doctor from the clinic arrived quickly. She was a young woman. She asked about Su Yan's condition, listened with a stethoscope, and took her temperature. "It's better now. It's a little lower, 38 degrees. If you get sick again, you can't avoid seeing a doctor. You're still a college student."
Su Yan said, feeling embarrassed: "I understand, Doctor Liu."
The doctor gave Su Yan an injection with a large syringe on her butt. Half of her body was in pain and her whole face was wrinkled in pain.
Qin Zhanwu said, "I think you are afraid of injections?"
Su Yan was indeed very afraid of the buttock injection, but she could never admit it. She tilted her head and said, "Hurry up and bring the child back and feed him some milk. I've troubled the sister-in-law next door all day."
Qin Zhanwu brought the child back. Su Yan lay on the bed and instructed him, "The milk is in the kitchen cabinet. There's some rice cereal. You can make some. The milk needs to be heated before giving it to the child. There's also milk powder in the cabinet. It hasn't been fed yet. You can make some and see if he'll eat it."
Qin Zhanwu, however, showed no impatience. He placed the child beside Su Yan, then went to the kitchen to heat milk and mix formula, bringing it back to the child carefully. After feeding, Su Yan, fearing she might infect the child with her cold, told Qin Zhanwu to place the child in the cradle and push the cradle out to the living room. The little one, always content with a full stomach, slept most of the day, occasionally babbling and playing with Su Yan. Now, having had her milk, she was in high spirits.
Su Yan lay in bed, listening to the father and son playing in the living room, and soon fell into a deep sleep. When she was woken again, it was nine o'clock in the evening. Qin Zhanwu saw her open her eyes and asked, "Are you hungry? Eat something?" He reached out and touched Su Yan's forehead, "You don't have a fever anymore, eat something."
People with fever have poor digestion and are not hungry. Seeing this, Su Yan nodded and said, "I want to drink porridge, something sweet."
Qin Zhanwu nodded, and without asking her to get up, he placed a small table on the bed and brought over some thick sweet porridge. Su Yan ate a small portion of it, but couldn't eat any more. She pushed him away, "I'm full. I can't eat anymore..."
Qin Zhanwu didn't force her, but he couldn't help but say to her: "You really eat like a cat. In a year like last year, you would have been thrifty by eating like this." After that, he ate up the porridge left by Su Yan in just a few mouthfuls.
Su Yan was in the wrong and didn't dare to say anything to him: "Be careful not to catch a cold from me."
Qin Zhanwu was angry and ignored Su Yan. He took the bowl and went to the kitchen to clean up.
Su Yan had a fever and was sweating all over. She went to the bathroom to get some water and wipe herself. When she came out, she ran into Qin Zhanwu, who glared at her again: "Why don't you put on some clothes?"
Su Yan nodded dejectedly: "I understand."
In the middle of the night, the two of them were lying in bed, but Su Yan couldn't fall asleep. She started to have a fever this afternoon and hadn't breastfed for most of the day. It was better when she had a fever, but now that the fever has subsided, she feels bloated and painful.
Qin Zhanwu heard her tossing and turning, unable to sleep, so he turned on the light and asked, "What's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable? Let's go to the hospital. I'll call a car."
Su Yan shook her head: "No, it can't be cured even if you go to the hospital."
Qin Zhanwu got angry when he heard this. He had always been very dissatisfied with Su Yan for not going to the hospital when she had a fever: "Nonsense, it's you who decides whether the hospital can treat a disease. You are a doctor, right?" Then he was about to go out to make a phone call.
Su Yan had no choice but to hold him back: "I'm not sick, it's just that my milk is swollen. I had a fever this afternoon, and the baby hasn't been fed for most of the day." As she said this, she got dressed and got up: "I can just squeeze it out, can you please stop making such a fuss?"
Qin Zhanwu also followed him out: "I don't want to make a fuss, but why don't you tell me? You are always alone and depressed, and you think you are right?"
As soon as the two of them left, they saw the child wake up. Su Yan watched Qin Zhanwu clumsily pick up the child and coax him. Su Yan walked over and touched the child's forehead, saying, "It's probably time to change his diaper. He's always been very well behaved and only cries when he's uncomfortable."
After hearing this, Qin Zhanwu clumsily began to change the baby's diaper under Su Yan's instructions, but no matter how clumsy he was, he refused to call Su Yan over.
When pouring water for the child, she almost scalded herself. Su Yan gloated: "See, it's not easy to take care of children, right?"
Qin Zhanwu glared at her. Su Yan didn't want to provoke him anymore, so she had to go to the bathroom to squeeze out her milk. When she came out, Qin Zhanwu was playing with the child.
Su Yan watched him quietly for a while and asked, "What kind of person do you think he will be when he grows up?"
The baby grabbed one of Qin Zhanwu's fingers and babbled softly. Qin Zhanwu looked back at Su Yan and said, "I hope he will become a strong, loyal, and fearless soldier in the future."
"And you?"
Su Yan thought for a moment and said, "That depends on him. I just hope he lives a healthy and happy life. When I die, he can tell me that he is very grateful for bringing him into this world and that he has lived an interesting and happy life. If that happens, I'll probably feel relieved!"
Qin Zhanwu stared at Su Yan in a daze, and then heard Su Yan ask, "What about you?"
Just as he was about to speak, he heard Su Yan hiss, pointed at the child, and whispered, "He's asleep."
The two of them carefully placed the child in the cradle and covered him with a small quilt.
The two returned to their room in silence. When Su Yan was about to fall asleep, she heard Qin Zhanwu ask, "Did you find your life interesting?"
Su Yan shook her head speechlessly. How could life in the 1960s compare to the vibrant 2020? But her words would surely piss off Qin Zhanwu. She rolled over and leaned against his shoulder. "It's not very interesting... but if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have planned to get married at all."
Qin Zhanwu hummed softly, indicating his satisfaction with Su Yan's answer. Sure enough, the next morning, Qin Zhanwu got up early, made chicken soup, and made meat and vegetable dumplings for Su Yan. He cleaned the house inside and out, washed and dried the children's clothes, blankets, and diapers, and folded them neatly.
Su Yan was startled when she opened the bedroom door that morning, thinking to herself, "This is just like the Snail Girl." After washing up, she sat at the dining table, contentedly drinking chicken soup while watching Qin Zhanwu clumsily prepare milk powder and feed the baby.
Su Yan ate buns while giving orders: "Lower the bottle, or he'll choke..."
Qin Zhanwu turned around and glared at her, but Su Yan didn't care at all: "See, raising a child is really hard. I've been raising a child for almost half a year, and it's like this every day. And that's not even mentioning the pain of giving birth."
Qin Zhanwu asked, "I heard from Lao He on the phone that you gave birth for a whole day. The nurse came out and told the family that the woman was in so much pain that she kept asking for a caesarean section and was in a very bad mood. She asked the family to go in and try to persuade her. Lao He had no choice but to say that the family couldn't come back..."
Seeing him like this, Su Yan felt it difficult to continue and said, "It's good that you know. Giving birth is very hard. So, it's best if we don't have any more children in the future. If it happens again, I can't bear it."
Qin Zhanwu snorted, "You're really good at passing the buck. It seemed like you were the one who took the initiative and held me back, right? As if giving birth to a child is something I can do on my own if I want to?"
Su Yan had nothing to refute, and put down her chopsticks angrily: "Whatever you say is right!"
After breakfast, Qin Zhanwu coaxed the child to sleep, and then said to Su Yan: "I have to go out for a while to meet up with my old comrades. You don't have to wait for me for lunch. The vegetables have been washed and cut for you. Just stir-fry them in the pot."
Su Yan nodded and told him: "Drink less."
Su Yan was worried that the child would sleep too much during the day and not be able to sleep at night, so she played with him for most of the day, babbling and teaching him to speak. His words were unclear, and when his parents spoke, they all sounded the same: "Papa!"
He could stand for a while even if he was held against the wall, but Su Yan was worried that he was still too young and his bones hadn't grown well, so she wouldn't let him stand for too long and just let him crawl on the bed. Su Yan was sitting on the side knitting a sweater, and she had a blue ball of yarn rolling around with him, looking very excited.
At night, he'd roll around in Su Yan's arms, a sign of hunger. But Su Yan had just gotten an injection and taken fever-reducing medicine the day before, so she didn't dare breastfeed. Instead, she made him formula and fed him. Though young, he was quite shrewd. He hummed a few times at first, but when Su Yan didn't react, he settled in and began drinking from the bottle. After finishing the milk, he felt sleepy, his eyes fluttering open and closed.
Su Yan took a ball of yarn to tease him, and saw that he really opened his eyes wide, staring at the yarn without reacting. Su Yan took it closer, and saw that he quickly reached out his hand, grabbed the yarn ball, and held it in his arms. Su Yan smiled and put the child in the bassinet. She had a fever yesterday and was sweating all over. Qin Zhanwu refused to let her take a bath, saying that the weather was too cold and she might catch a cold again. While he was away, Su Yan took a hot bath and lay on the bed knitting a sweater.
It was already very late when Qin Zhanwu came back. As soon as Su Yan opened the door, she could smell a faint smell of alcohol on him. Although he smelled of alcohol, he was still sober. She could tell at a glance that Su Yan's hair was still wet: "Did you take a shower?"
But that was all he asked, he didn't say anything else. He just asked, "Where's the child?"
Su Yan saw him walking towards the bathroom and followed him: "He's already asleep. He played all day and now he's sleepy."
Qin Zhanwu poured hot water to wash up, and when he saw Su Yan following him, he told her to go back: "It's so cold, go back and lie down quickly. Your hair is not dry yet, don't catch a cold again."
Seeing that he was still awake, Su Yan nodded and left. After a while, Qin Zhanwu finished washing up and came over with a dry towel. He sat on the bed and wiped Su Yan's hair. "Did I meet your college classmate today?"
Chu Si was the only college classmate from Jiangzhou. He had arrived in May and was assigned to the Jiangzhou Machinery Factory to support second-tier cities. By then, Su Yan's belly was already quite large, and when they met in the cafeteria, they were both startled.
Later, the two met outside. Chu Si was open-minded and didn't ask anything, only caring about Su Yan's life. Su Yan knew that he was not asking about her, but about Lu Yingzi. She remembered what she saw in her dream. If it was true, then Lu Yingzi should be living a good life, doing the job she loved and having no worries about food and clothing.
Su Yan nodded: "I'm fine now."
Chu Si looked at Su Yan's slightly apologetic expression and said, "Yingzi, I don't blame you. I'm satisfied as long as you're doing well. I've heard about what happened between you and your husband from the people at the factory. When a person is helpless and desperate, they probably want someone to help and support them. I only regret that I didn't come to Jiangzhou with you at that time. If I had come with you, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
Su Yan didn't know what to say. Chu Si was right. If he had come along, Lu Yingzi might not have gotten into trouble, and she wouldn't have come here. However, it was all meaningless now.
Finally, Chu Si asked, "Can we still get along as friends in the future?"
Su Yan shook her head quickly: "It's better not to meet." Chu Si nodded, and indeed, he never bothered Su Yan again after that, as if he really didn't know her.
This is a very sensible person who does things decently.
Su Yan came back to her senses and asked, "What happened to him?"
Qin Zhanwu shook his head. "Nothing serious. It seems someone is sick, and he went to the hospital to look for medicine. That medicine is hard to get approved, so he seems to be trying to find connections everywhere."
Su Yan put down the wool in her hand and asked, "Isn't he sick himself?"
Qin Zhanwu lifted the quilt and lay down: "You care about him?"
Su Yan thought this person was so boring. He knew clearly that she was not the original Lu Yingzi, but he kept attacking her with every word. She held her breath and said, "I just think he is quite pitiful."
Qin Zhanwu snorted and turned off the light with a snap: "I'm sleepy, let's go to bed."
Su Yan turned on the light: "My hair isn't dry yet."
Su Yan shook him, but Qin Zhanwu closed his eyes and had no intention of communicating with Su Yan at all.
Su Yan said, "I really don't know any of Lu Yingzi's former classmates, not even Chu Si. If he hadn't sent me a photo, I wouldn't have recognized him even if I ran into him on the street."
Qin Zhanwu opened his eyes and listened to Su Yan continue: "I drove out from home, and when I was going back, there was no road at the end of the drive. When I got out of the car, I found a cornfield. It was already summer."
Qin Zhanwu asked, "It's summer already? What does that mean?"
Su Yan said, "It was still autumn when I drove out, and there was frost on the grass in the morning. What do you suspect me of being? A migrant worker, a spy?"
Qin Zhanwu said, "You're full of loopholes. You're just relying on Lu Yingzi's simple social connections. If you're a spy, you really haven't received any training at all."
Su Yan rolled her eyes: "Of course I'm not a spy, I'm still an active member of the party."
Seeing Qin Zhanwu's suspicious eyes, he explained: "I went to the mountainous area to teach, and our college has preferential treatment..."
Before Su Yan finished her words, she asked Qin Zhanwu to turn over and kiss her.
Su Yan panted: "Didn't you keep forcing me to talk? I haven't finished yet?"
Qin Zhanwu opened his shirt with one hand and slipped in stealthily: "The content is not important. You think you are a cautious person. We have been sleeping together for so long. If I can't guess everything, what kind of soldier am I?"
Su Yan cried out, forcibly taking his wandering hand away: "When did you find out? How could I possibly?"
Qin Zhanwu kissed Su Yan's neck and replied vaguely, "When you were pregnant, you took a medicine called folic acid. The production date was printed on the inside of the bottle. Do you think these things will disappear if you tear off the packaging?"
Su Yan was so nervous when he said that: "I, I..."
Qin Zhanwu said, "What do you mean by 'you'? If you hadn't married me, you would be full of loopholes. Who would fill them for you?"
After a long while, both of them were sweating and lying on the bed hugging each other. Qin Zhanwu said, "Don't say these things to me anymore. You are Lu Yingzi. I checked Qingyuan's car. It was sent to the Beijing Hongqi Locomotive Factory. But whether it was used or not is a strict secret."
Su Yan was extremely tired and nodded, not wanting to say anything. She felt that Qin Zhanwu was terrifyingly meticulous. She didn't even know whether he had been to Lu Yingzi's university or met Chu Si.
Qin Zhanwu could tell what Su Yan was thinking at a glance: "One of us has to be smarter. If we are both like you, we will be finished."
The next day, the two of them took their child to the photo studio early in the morning to take a family photo. They paid for the expedited photo and agreed to send it to the military academy gate in the afternoon.
Su Yan took the paper and counted her belongings, preparing the things she would bring with her. She didn't need to bring furniture, but she did need to bring her newly made quilts and the sets of teacups she'd exchanged for food. She was afraid of the bumpy ride, so she put everything in the space. However, she couldn't bring everything in there. It would save her some trouble, but the luggage she was carrying was too small, and there were too many things at home, so she wouldn't raise any suspicion.
There were a lot of newspapers at home, so Su Yan wrapped them up carefully and placed them in a wooden box. She also put straw in one or two porcelain items to prevent them from breaking. She also used kraft paper to wrap the quilt to prevent it from getting wet in the rain. Large sheets of kraft paper were hard to come by, so she paid double the price and got it through the back door.
Qin Zhanwu listened to Su Yan's words and packed the boxes. While tying the ropes, he complained: "How can we use so many things? Where did you find these teacups and porcelain? If others saw them, it would have a bad influence. And these books, textbooks from elementary school to university, why did you collect them? It's too early for our children to go to school. Textbooks are fine, but what are these old books for? They are only in our house. If they were found in the homes of those landlords, they would be another crime..."
But even though he kept muttering about it, he didn't say that he didn't want to take it and pack it all up.
Before leaving, Su Yan went to see the two children of the Lu family. Lu Yingzi's sister-in-law had a quarrel with her brother and was kicked out. Now she lives in an empty room in the factory. Su Yan carried a bag of flour over. Yan Zi and Xiao Gang were both dirty, with black circles on their cuffs. Yan Zi was not restrained and ran over: "Aunt, aunt, I'm so hungry. Can you give us more money? Mom was kicked out by uncle and will never give him money to spend again. Can you give us more money? Just ten yuan will be enough."
Su Yan saw that the leather shoes on the two children's feet were the ones she had bought for them before. One of them was torn at the front, exposing the toes, and the other one's sole was almost falling off and was tied up with a rope.
Su Yan pulled the two of them into the house and took out two pairs of leather shoes from her bag: "Auntie bought new shoes, go change into them."
The two of them quickly put on their new shoes and ran out to show off to their friends.
Lu Yingzi's sister-in-law seemed to have aged five or six years. She was much more polite to Su Yan than usual, pouring tea and moving chairs. Su Yan took out an envelope and placed it on the table. "This is next month's living expenses. Keep it. I'm leaving Jiangzhou in a few days to join the army in Fujian. I'll send you living expenses every six months. The pension is only a little over a thousand yuan, but don't worry, I will definitely pay for the two children's education, even if the pension is all gone. Xiaogang and Yanzi are good children. You should raise them well, and they will be filial to you when they grow up."
Sister-in-law Lu Yingzi just nodded blindly. She only agreed with everything Su Yan said, saying that she was confused and incompetent. She made the two children suffer with her. In the middle of winter, they didn't even have a decent cotton coat or trousers, and their shoes were just tattered shoes. As she spoke, she burst into tears and pulled Su Yan to beg her, "Auntie, please have pity on the two children. What future will they have if they follow me? Only their aunt and uncle can have a future. His uncle is an officer. In a few years, when the two children are older, they can join the army. I am a useless person. I can't even fool people with my mouth. You have to suffer with me. Your dear aunt and niece, please have pity on the two children?"
Su Yan shook her head and said only polite words: "You know, my health has not been good since I gave birth, and I really can't take care of three children. I know you are in trouble, and I will give you the money. If you really don't want to take care of these two children, I will take Xiaogang and Yanzi with me when my child is older and can go to elementary school. What do you think?"
Who knows what will happen in a few years? Sister-in-law Lu Yingzi was extremely disappointed. She sent Su Yan all the way out and urged her to write more letters. She also asked Yan Zi and Xiao Gang to write more letters.
After returning home, Su Yan felt a little depressed. Qin Zhanwu rubbed her head and said, "Everyone has their own way of living. If you feel bad, send a little more money every month."
Su Yan leaned on his shoulder. "It's not about the money. I give her 30 yuan a month, and she earns over 30 yuan herself. How can she not even have enough to feed two children? In our factory, there are some employees whose wives don't work and have three or four children. They only get 40 yuan a month, which is tight, but we can get by. I just feel sorry for the two children. Not everyone in this world is qualified to be a parent."
Su Yan looked at the sleeping little carrot head beside the bed and pinched his red cheeks: "I hope we can be a good pair of parents."
At this point, she remembered that Qin Zhanwu had gone to register the child's household registration and asked, "Did everything go well today? Did you register the character 'Fang' correctly? I heard that some household registration officers are careless and write names and birth dates wrong. It happens a lot. We're going to Fujian now, and if we make a mistake, we'll have to come back to correct it, which is troublesome. Jiangzhou will be much easier to take the college entrance examination than Fujian."
She talked a lot, but when Qin Zhanwu didn't answer a word, she looked up at him and said, "You didn't go, did you? We have a train at 9 o'clock tomorrow. If you don't go, the child won't have a household registration. If you hadn't insisted on waiting until you came back to do it, I would have registered it long ago."
Qin Zhanwu took out a piece of paper and said, "It's registered, it's registered. Don't worry, it's such a small thing, how can I not handle it? It's just that the name may be different from what we originally agreed on..." His voice became increasingly quiet. Su Yan almost suspected that he had made a mistake. She took the household registration paper and saw that it read: "Qin Yuejin, male, born on June 27, 1961..."
Su Yan was speechless. "Isn't his name Qin Fang? It's called Fang Fang, which means bright. It's simple and easy to pronounce, and it has a good meaning. What's this leap forward? It's everywhere, okay?"
Qin Zhanwu apologized: "When you sent the letter, the No. 1 commander happened to be in the war room. He asked if it had a name yet, and he was about to give it a name. 'Yuejin Yuejin' happened to be the construction of the Communist Party, so it fits the situation."
Su Yan was so angry that she was speechless: "Then why don't you say that you have already chosen a name? Even if we didn't agree on which character to choose from Jin and Fang at that time, it couldn't be the name Yuejin." Then she pushed Qin Zhanwu off the bed: "Get out, get out, I don't want to see you today."
Qin Zhanwu had no choice but to stand at the door with his blanket in his arms, whispering through the door, "Whatever name we choose for the next one is up to you, okay? There were so many people at the time, I couldn't refuse, so we just decided on it. Everyone said Yuejin was a good name, so I can't say no."
Qin Zhanwu stood there for a while, and when he heard no movement from inside, he quietly pushed the door open and saw a pillow thrown at him. Su Yan was obviously still angry: "Get out."
Qin Zhanwu took the pillow and smiled: "You sleep, you sleep, I will sleep outside today. If the child is hungry, just call me." He stood outside for most of the day, listening to the breathing inside become regular, then he tiptoed and pushed the door open.
As soon as he got into bed, Su Yan woke up. Seeing him approaching, she pinched his waist hard without hesitation.
Qin Zhanwu didn't even cry out in pain, but simply said, "If you really don't like this name, go change it tomorrow. When they ask, just say that the elders in the family have already chosen a name and registered it. You can name the next child whatever you want. I have no objection if it shares your surname."
Su Yan snorted, "Love is not like giving birth to a child, one after another like dumplings? You can call them whatever you want. I have no objection to calling them Gousheng Wang Erzhu."
Qin Zhanwu was still dissatisfied with what she said, but his tone softened a lot. He took the opportunity to move closer and turned over to press her down.
Su Yan pushed him, but he didn't move: "I have to get up to catch the train tomorrow..."
Qin Zhanwu lowered his head and kissed her: "Nine o'clock, there's still time."
The next morning, I woke up late again. I didn't even have breakfast and rushed to the train station. My sister-in-law next door smiled and brought out a bowl of boiled eggs and soaked rice cakes. "Eat on the way, eat on the way. I saw you guys were quiet, so I thought you'd left a long time ago. What did you do to get up so late?"
Su Yan's face flushed, and she said a few perfunctory words. When the car sent by the door arrived, she hurriedly got in, carrying the child.
When they arrived at the train station, it was already 8:50. Fortunately, Qin Zhanwu was wearing a military uniform and entered through the military priority channel, just in time to catch the train. However, after only two minutes, it left.
Su Yan pinched Qin Zhanwu's arm: "It's all your fault. I almost missed the train."
Qin Zhanwu held the child in his arms and saw him smiling excitedly. He grabbed the straps of the quilt with one hand and taught him to speak: "Daddy, call me daddy."
Su Yan took out the bottle and wanted to ask him to drink more water: "He's only six months old, it's still too early for him to talk."
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a "papa." The pronunciation was of course not standard. Qin Zhanwu looked at his child and naturally found it amusing: "My dear son, you are so smart."
Su Yan smiled and looked at the fields and houses passing by quickly outside the window. Slowly, the entire Jiangzhou was completely passed by.
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