Chapter 119 Return to the Troops

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment, then she realized that Li Zhan was teasing her for biting him. She couldn't help but hit him in shame and anger: "I...I bit you because you forced me to do that? You deserve it!"

After thinking about it, I felt a little guilty.

The last time Lizhan helped her warm up her body, he bit her. It seemed that she thought Lizhan was a bad guy, so she bit him hard. She even bled. I don’t know if it will really leave a scar...

It was not until the second half of the night that the two of them managed to get some shut-eye and sleep.

In the morning, Xia Juanjuan got up early again. She took out the pig head that had been brined overnight, cut the pig ears and pork cheeks into thin slices, added soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and chili peppers to make a cold dish, and put it in cans. She also cut the brined meat into large pieces, but did not cut the pig's trotters into a whole piece. She packed them all up and put them in his luggage.

Li Zhan had lost his temper, and he couldn't argue with Xia Juanjuan, so he could only let her arrange it.

Xia Juanjuan wanted to wake up the three kids, but was stopped by Li Zhan.

"Let them sleep. It's not like they won't come back."

However, the three little guys woke up on their own without being shouted at.

Xiaowen rubbed his eyes and sat up, his eyes still closed, and asked vaguely: "Mom, where is my cotton-padded jacket? I want to get up and send my fourth uncle off..."

After saying this, he sat there hysterically for a while, then lay down again.

Xia Juanjuan: “…”

Li Zhan: "..."

What a heartless person!

Xia Juanjuan was about to scold when Xiaowen suddenly sat up again. He turned his head to see that the bed next to him was empty, and quickly woke up Xiaowu and Beibei: "Xiaowu, Beibei, wake up! Fourth uncle is gone!"

Xiao Wu and Bei Bei were both woken up. They sat up in a daze with their eyes still half closed.

After hearing what Xiaowen said, Xiaowu came to his senses first: "Well... Fourth Uncle is gone? What should I do? I still need Fourth Uncle to pick up bullet shells for me!"

Beibei said vaguely: "Um... Beibei, Beibei also wants to shell..."

Xiao Wen pulled the clothes off the quilt and put them on, saying anxiously, "Hurry up and put on your clothes. Let's go to the village and chase him. Maybe we can catch up with him."

In order to save his shell, Xiao Wu hurriedly put on his cotton jacket and even buttoned it up incorrectly...

Li Zhan was trying so hard to hold back his laughter that he got internal injuries.

Xia Juanjuan coughed twice, feeling both angry and amused.

The three kids turned around at the same time and were stunned.

Xiao Wu looked at Xiao Wen unhappily: "Brother! Where is Fourth Uncle? He almost killed me with worry!"

Xiao Wen made a big mistake and looked so cute with her blushing face.

Beibei hadn't woken up yet. He suddenly twisted his head, squinted his eyes, and asked blankly, "Hmm? Let's go to the village to chase him..."

Xia Juanjuan covered her face. These three little heartless ones...

Lizhan coughed twice and said with a smile: "Don't get up, it's very cold. Uncle Danshu has made a note of the shells and will bring them to you next time. I will also make small wooden guns for you next time..."

After giving them a few more instructions, asking them to be good, do the housework to help their mother, and take good care of her, they packed their bags and set off.

Lizhan didn't let Xia Juanjuan see him off, but Xia Juanjuan didn't listen and followed him out anyway. When the time came to say goodbye, they both fell silent.

When we arrived at the entrance of the village, we saw from a distance a thin figure with gray hair and wearing a patched cotton jacket. He was carrying two buckets of water on a shoulder pole and was staggering from the river to the cattle-raising side of the village.

After taking only two steps, her feet went soft and she fell to the ground. The two buckets of water she was carrying were knocked over, and the water, filled with icy cubes, flowed all over the ground, soaking her clothes.

Li Zhan saw it and without saying a word, he handed the bag to Xia Juanjuan, walked over quickly, and helped her up: "Auntie, are you okay? Did you fall anywhere?"

Xia Juanjuan also hurried over and recognized that the person who fell was Shen Wanxue, who had just transferred to Qingshui Village recently.

The name was so poetic and picturesque that she remembered it.

Later, I looked at her from a distance. She was delicate, but not submissive, neither humble nor overbearing. She was also pretty. She must have been a beauty that charmed everyone when she was young. She was also very elegant. At first glance, she was a lady from a big family.

But now he looks so haggard that one can't help but feel distressed.

However, Xia Juanjuan only paid a little attention to it.

Whether it was at the educated youth camp or anywhere else, she basically didn't get involved.

If it weren't for Fu Qingye, she wouldn't even have gone to the educated youth point last time.

Shen Wanxue raised her head and looked at Li Zhan with a dazed look, then smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, comrade. I'm clumsy and delayed your work! I'm fine, I didn't fall."

Li Zhan smiled and said, "I'm glad you're okay."

Shen Wanxue bent down to pick up the carrying pole, hung up the two buckets, then turned back to the river to fetch more water.

However, she said she did not fall, but her right foot was obviously sprained, and she walked with a limp while carrying the bucket.

Without thinking, Li Zhan walked forward, grabbed the pole and said, "Madam, please rest here for a while. I will fetch you some water."

As he said this, he strode towards the river.

Shen Wanxue quickly chased after Li Zhan and said anxiously, "Comrade, please don't... I'll choose it myself! You guys should leave quickly. It would be bad if the villagers saw you talking to me...

Xia Juanjuan walked over, took Shen Wanxue's hand, and checked her ankle. It was indeed swollen. She took her to sit behind a bush that was a little more hidden, and said, "Auntie, please don't bother him. That's just his temper. Let him go."

Shen Wanxue turned around and looked at Xia Juanjuan with a somewhat unfocused look in her eyes, and said anxiously: "But... this is the job assigned to me by the village. If people get to know about this, what will you do if it gets implicated..."

Xia Juanjuan raised her hand and pretended to wave it in front of her casually, and found that Shen Wanxue's eyes did not react much.

She frowned slightly, then smiled and said, "Don't worry. We are just helping to carry buckets of water for the cows in the village. Even if someone sees us and complains, we are not afraid."

After a while, Lizhan came over carrying water.

Xia Juanjuan asked him to deliver the water first, and then she helped Shen Wanxue walk over there.

Shen Wanxue was afraid of implicating them, so she kept apologizing along the way, making Xia Juanjuan feel embarrassed.

This little episode passed quickly. Li Zhan and Xia Juanjuan left without saying anything and continued walking out of the village.

When they arrived at the village, Li Zhan turned around and urged Xia Juanjuan to go back, but Xia Juanjuan said, "Don't worry about me. I'll take you to the town. I also need to go to the town supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things!"

Li Zhan knew, of course, that she was reluctant to leave him, so in order to stay with him longer, he said nothing.

We soon arrived at the town and took a ox cart to the county.

Xia Juanjuan looked at him sitting on the ox cart, getting smaller and smaller. Her nose couldn't help but feel sore and tears fell down.

Xia Juanjuan sniffed and cursed herself in a low voice for being pretentious, but she still waited until the ox cart was out of sight before she was willing to go back.

When she passed by the supply and marketing cooperative, Director Zheng saw her and stopped her.

"Juanjuan! I haven't seen you for a long time! Happy New Year!" Director Zheng said enthusiastically.

Xia Juanjuan didn't have anything to buy, but when she heard Director Zheng calling her, she went in anyway and said with a smile, "Sister Zheng, Happy New Year!"

Ever since she recommended Zhou Qiuhe to be the salesperson, she started calling Director Zheng "Sister Zheng".

Director Zheng looked at her and smiled, teasing, "What's the matter? I heard from Qiu He that your husband left early this morning? What's the matter? Are you still reluctant to let him go? Are you crying?"

Xia Juanjuan blushed and said embarrassedly: "I didn't cry! Who can't bear to let go..."

Zhou Qiuhe came out from the back after sorting out the goods. Seeing Xia Juanjuan, she also smiled and said, "You said you didn't cry, but even your eyes are red!"

Xia Juanjuan glanced at her and said angrily, "Oh! If you keep saying that, I'll leave!"

Director Zheng quickly grabbed her and said with a smile: "Look at you, you took it seriously just because I was joking. I told you to do something serious!"

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Business? What is it?"

Director Zheng smiled and said, "Didn't you ask if there was a bicycle before the New Year? I got you one, a Shanghai Forever brand, for 120 yuan, plus a bicycle ticket. Do you want one?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Juanjuan naturally said quickly: "Of course I want it! But I didn't bring that much money and bicycle tickets today, I'll go back and get them..."

Director Zheng held her back and took the opportunity to tease her, "Look how anxious you are! What's the matter? When you heard that you had a bicycle, you weren't sad about your husband leaving you anymore?"

Without waiting for Xia Juanjuan to speak, Director Zheng stopped talking and continued, "You can ride the bike back first. How can I not trust you? You can wait until tomorrow to ask Qiuhe to bring the money and bicycle ticket to me. You don't have to make a trip alone for this."

Xia Juanjuan heard this and thought that she would have to walk back to get the money and ticket and walk back, which would take another hour, so she smiled and said, "Okay. Thank you, Sister Zheng!"

"What are you thanking me for! Qiuhe, please push the bike out."

The new Forever 28-inch bicycle has a horizontal bar between the seat and the handlebars, and a seat at the back. This design can carry as many people or goods as possible.

Xia Juanjuan had seen this kind of bicycle in TV dramas before. A child would sit on the front crossbar, another person would sit on the back seat, and another person would be held in the arms. A family of four could ride on it!

But it is much more difficult to ride than today's women's bicycles.

Fortunately, Xia Juanjuan had already practiced in the space for some time, so she succeeded in no time.

When she rode the bike back to the village, the three kids were so excited that they surrounded the bike and insisted that Xia Juanjuan pick them up so they could ride on it.

Xia Juanjuan parked the car and first carried Xiaowen and Xiaowu to the back seat, then put Beibei on the front crossbeam. She didn't dare to ride the car with others, so she pushed the three kids around the yard a few times.

Just this has made the three kids very happy. They didn't go out for the whole morning and just played with the bicycles.

After Xia Juanjuan's novelty for the bicycle wore off, she looked at the empty house and felt a sense of emptiness and discomfort as a living person was suddenly missing.

She didn't let herself think too much, and got up to clean the wild boar's heart and lungs, cut them into slices, made half of them into heart and lung soup, and stir-fried the other half with radish, dried chili peppers, and had the steamed bun for lunch.

Beibei asked innocently, "Mom, Fourth Uncle said he will be back soon, so will Fourth Uncle come back for dinner?"

Before Xia Juanjuan could say anything, Xiao Wu had already retorted, "Stupid! Fourth Uncle is going to a very far place, how can he come back in just one morning!"

Xiao Wen glanced at Xia Juanjuan, then glared at them and said, "Stop talking, both of you! Can't you see that Mom misses Fourth Uncle? What if you make Mom cry?"

Xia Juanjuan: “…”

Is she that hypocritical?

However... I don't know if he has arrived in Beijing. If he has arrived in Beijing, will he not even have time to rest and will he immediately go on another mission...

The train was a little late, and it was not until the evening that Lizhan's troops finally returned.