All heard from afar
The moon is bright and the sky is full of stars.
Under the swaying shadows of the pine and cypress trees, Zhao was feeding the chickens in the chicken coop, carrying a vegetable basin in one hand and pouring feed with the other.
She looked at the chicks that were growing stronger and stronger, and carefully checked to see if there were any injured or sick ones among them.
Seeing that the chickens were not injured from fighting today, he finally took a break from his busy schedule and occasionally looked in the direction where Song Tiaotiao would return from the vegetable garden every day.
After not seeing him for a long time, her beautiful eyes looked deeply into that place, as if they were about to sink into it.
After looking for a while, she frowned, took off her apron, and wanted to walk a few more steps to welcome Song Tiaotiao home.
When I looked up again, I unexpectedly saw a pair of figures walking side by side.
Seeing the couple she had been longing for for a long time, Zhao was stunned at first and wiped her eyes lightly.
After a moment, she realized it was not an illusion, and she quickly dusted off the last few grains of feed in her hands. Tears welled up in her eyes unconsciously, and she walked forward with a smile.
Seeing this, the two people in the distance also went to greet him.
The distance that should have been seen from afar is now right in front of you because of the two-way running.
Zhao's delighted gaze lingered on the smiling faces of the two people and the bouquet of flowers in Song Tiaotiao's hand.
Seeing this, her eyes turned darkly, and the smile in her eyes became deeper. After saying a few caring words to Song Tiaotiao, she turned her beautiful eyes and carefully looked at her son who had quietly returned home.
After seeing that Gu Chengjue was in high spirits and in good health, and even healthier than before, Zhao finally put aside the worry that had been weighing on her mind for the past month, and smiled as she led the two of them into her home.
As the three approached the gate, they saw a small figure half the height of the gate, holding a night light and sticking his head out of the yard, looking for something.
When his clever eyes traced the figures of the three people gradually approaching, his eyes sparkled, and two small canine teeth were revealed between his smiling lips. He said in surprise: "Grandma, Aunt, and Second Uncle! Second Uncle, you are finally back... Zhao'er missed you so much."
Hearing the sound, the thin frost with embroidered patterns on her face in the house also put on her clothes and came over.
Having not seen each other for a long time, everyone looked at each other with joy and laughter.
Seeing Zhao'er acting like a spoiled child, which was rare for him, Gu Chengjue smiled and squatted down, gently stroking the back of Gu Zhao's head with his thin palm: "Good Zhao'er, you have grown a lot taller recently."
Complimented by his uncle, Gu Zhaolian smiled and said, "Aunt said that if I drink more milk and soy milk, my growth will be unstoppable... Then Zhao'er will soon be able to become a son of the Gu family who protects the country and the people."
Hearing this, the warm atmosphere of laughter and conversation suddenly became quiet.
Gu Zhao looked at the different expressions on everyone's faces, his eyes full of confusion.
Especially when he looked at his grandmother's slightly red eyes, Gu Zhao felt so guilty that his brows almost knitted into a small mountain.
He thought he must have said something wrong, but after thinking about it, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with what he said.
When Song Tiaotiao gently stroked Zhao's back, Bo Shuang also worriedly put her arms around her.
Zhao then nodded as if she had just woken up from a dream, as if she had finally woken up from the sadness she was immersed in.
She looked up at Gu Zhao's eyes full of self-consolation and felt that she had lost her composure.
After a moment, she placed one hand on Gu Zhao's shoulder to soothe him, and with the other hand, she used her clean fingertips to smooth out his frown. She shook her head and smiled, "Zhao'er, you have the same heart of serving the country and protecting the family as your fathers. Grandma is very pleased with you."
Hearing this, Gu Chengjue's eyes moved slightly.
Seeing Gu Zhao nod, he took Gu Zhao's hand, thought for a moment, lowered his eyes and said: "Zhao'er, your original intention is good..." Having said this, he stopped talking about the unfinished words in his heart, "Remember this, that's enough."
Seeing that Gu Zhao had cleared the haze from his brows and eyes, Bo Shuang pressed his shoulder and said, "It's cold outside, why don't we go home first."
When she returned home that night, Song Tiaotiao first warmed up a cup of milk tea for Gu Chengjue, which was about to be launched at Tiaotiao Food Store.
Gu Chengjue looked at Song Tiaotiao's eyes full of expectation, and smelled the unique fragrance in his nostrils. He held the teacup with both hands, smiled softly and took a sip.
After the tea fragrance and milk flavor are blended, the aroma becomes one. Not only do they not cover up each other's flavor, but they also eliminate their respective bitterness and greasy taste, complementing each other and adding a refreshing sweet fragrance that is refreshing and sweet.
After drinking a cup, Gu Chengjue savored the subtle fragrance between his lips, raised his eyes to look at Song Tiaotiao, and chuckled softly, "Tiaotiao, you always live up to my expectations and exceed my imagination... Thinking about it this way, I still need to work harder in the military camp."
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao's eyes flickered.
Why do words become sweeter after drinking sweet tea?
Thinking of this, Song Tiaotiao chuckled softly and poured him another cup. Seeing him lower his eyes and smile as he drank, he tilted his head and looked at him, "If you like it, you can drink more. But you have been so valued in the army in just a few months. I think you have put in a lot of effort. In such a harsh environment in the army, you still have to take care of yourself first, otherwise we will worry about you."
Gu Chengjue lowered his eyes, his eyes flickering. After a moment, he nodded gently: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Song Tiaotiao raised her eyes slightly and smiled softly.
Afterwards, after Gu Chengjue had his meal, he was determined to stay by her side and help her.
Seeing this, Song Tiaotiao did not refuse and led Gu Chengjue to continue the work that she had not finished in the evening. They made some snacks that needed to be pre-sold tomorrow, until the night fell into darkness.
In the next few days, Gu Chengjue and his companions went to the surrounding villages to collect grain during the day. In the early morning and evening, he and Song Tiaotiao made sprinklers for the vegetable garden and repaired their small home.
After the sprinkler was manufactured and officially put into use, the family no longer had to carry water manually, saving a lot of manpower and material resources.
After finishing this matter, the family expanded the yard outward into more than four circles with the kitchen as the center, even including the rabbit hutch and chicken coop a little further away.
In the northwest corner of the yard, there is now a small thatched hut built by Song Tiaotiao, and in the northeast corner a small shower room has been built.
The small hut looks like a single room from the outside, but it is actually separated by partitions inside, with a squat toilet and a sit-down toilet chair each to meet personal needs and reduce the pressure of using the toilet when there are many people.
Inside, Song Tiaotiao was equipped with a large water pump tank. Although it was not yet fully automatic, it satisfied her need for flushing after use.
The walls are designed with semi-open ventilation holes covered with wooden shutters, which can not only remove odors but also serve as a thermal insulation measure in winter.
As for the land below, Song Tiaotiao made full use of it and secretly led the sewage route into the vegetable garden to make the land fertile in the future.
In the shower room, Song Tiaotiao planned a shower area and a washing area, and separated the two into dry and wet areas.
During this period, Song Tiaotiao tried many methods such as fumigating with moxa and applying wax, and finally extracted the best measures to eliminate odors, prevent insect bites and repel insects, solving her worries.
When these two functional rooms were first built, everyone was not used to using them.
But over time, when he felt the beauty of it, he shook his head and laughed at Song Tiaotiao's wonderful ideas.
After solving the physiological problem that had been on his mind for a long time, Song Tiaotiao naturally cast his gaze at the large open space behind the wooden house.
Song Tiaotiao pondered for a moment, clapped his hands, looked at Gu Chengjue who was doing carpentry beside him, and called out with a light smile: "Gu Chengjue..."
Hearing this, Gu Chengjue paused for a moment, raised his eyes and smiled, "Tiaotiao, do you have any new ideas?"
Seeing that Gu Chengjue had guessed what she was thinking, Song Tiaotiao chuckled and her eyes flickered.
In fact, it’s no wonder that Gu Chengjue understood what he was thinking.
These days, whenever she wanted to do something, Gu Chengjue would just agree with a smile.
During this period, Gu Chengjue never questioned her decisions, which might seem ridiculous in the eyes of everyone.
On the contrary, the eyes looking at her were always gentle yet firm.
I always implemented her ideas step by step and followed her instructions seriously every day.
Thinking of this, Song Tiaotiao smiled and walked to Gu Chengjue's side. She squatted down, approached his shoulder, and used her fingertips to guide his gaze to the place she liked: "Gu Chengjue, why don't we build another wooden house over there."
Hearing this, Gu Chengjue's eyes darkened slightly, and his handsome brows frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly.
Gu Chengjue didn't respond for a long time, so Song Tiaotiao assumed he was thinking seriously. She chuckled and continued, "Mother and sister-in-law have been living in the same room for a long time now. Zhao'er is getting taller, and the earthen kang in their room is already narrow. It was already very crowded when they used it before, and now it seems that it is no longer suitable for the three of them to live together."
Hearing this, the depression that had been pent up in Gu Chengjue's brows suddenly cleared up.
He glanced at Song Tiao Tiao, who was confident, with a smile in his eyes, and agreed, "Okay."
After asking the three people for their opinions, a wooden house was added to the small courtyard that originally had only a shabby thatched hut.
On this day, the spring breeze was blowing gently and flowers were blooming in the mountains.
A man in white clothes and a black robe sat on a red horse. He stopped in front of the Tiaotiao food store and looked down.
Looking out, I saw Song Tiaotiao sitting alone under the awning, a serious expression on her face, sketching on a piece of thin paper. Her smile and frown were as lively and graceful as ever.
His eyes moved slightly, and he thought for a moment. He turned his horse back to a pine and cypress forest a little further away, then jumped off the horse and walked as fast as a meteor until he was in front of Song Tiaotiao.
Seeing Song Tiaotiao's almond-shaped eyes finally looking up at him, he sat down in front of Song Tiaotiao and tapped the table with his fingertips, "Miss Song, long time no see."
Song Tiaotiao looked at the rude person in front of him for a long time before she remembered who this person was.
Six years ago, at a spring banquet in the capital, the Prince of Zhenbei, whom he had only met once, was in awe.
The Spring Banquet was nominally for the Spring Festival, but in reality it was nothing more than a transaction of interests between the noble families and the powerful in the capital, which made Song Tiaotiao not interested in it at all.
Out of boredom, Song Tiaotiao found a deserted place to hang out.
Passing by a tree, the chirping of birds was melodious.
Song Tiaotiao was listening with great joy.
Suddenly, a faint chirping sound came from the grass. She looked over curiously and found that it was a fallen bird.
She looked up at the bird's nest on the branch and made a decision in her heart.
However, the climbing skills she had mastered as a child had been gradually forgotten during her time in Beijing.
Even more unfortunate was that she had used up all her strength to climb halfway up the tree trunk when she stepped on a loose branch, missed her step, and almost slipped.
But she held the little bird in one hand, which was not as effective as hugging the tree trunk with both hands.
From time to time, when her strength was exhausted, she would fall straight down from the tree.
But the burning pain did not come from the back for a long time. Instead, the softness under my body felt like the velvet blanket covering the beauty bed in my elder sister's room.
Song Tiaotiao felt strange and turned around to see a jeweled human-shaped cushion under her.
Looking at the boy with eyes full of hostility, her eyes trembled. She picked up Xiao Que and stood up quickly. For a moment, she didn't know whether to apologize or thank him.
She thought she would be scolded by the boy.
Who would have thought that this person was not to be judged by appearance. He looked like a cat with its fur standing on end, but in the blink of an eye, he showed a rare good temper.
It was obvious that he was the one who fell the hardest, but he lifted her shoulders and asked her if she was hurt. He also wanted to ask his personal doctor to see her.
Now that they met again, Song Tiaotiao looked at Shen Pinglang in front of him and said hesitantly: “Mr. Shen, long time no see.”
It has indeed been a long time since they last saw each other.
It was so long that she had now realized her identity as a book traveler and remembered that he would be Gu Chengjue's right-hand man in the future.
Chen Pinglang tilted his head and looked into Song Tiaotiao's eyes, his eyes flickering: "It's really unpredictable that we would meet here."
Song Tiaotiao handed the cold tea in her hand to Shen Pinglang and nodded slightly: "Master Shen, why are you here?"
Chen Pinglang took a sip, raised his eyes to look at her, and said: "There are arrangements in the army."
Upon hearing this, Song Tiaotiao's eyes dimmed.
In the book, it is clear that Chen Pinglang was not transferred to Songbai Village until there was movement at the border.
But these days are still peaceful times, as described in the book, without the wars that followed...
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