Chapter 322: Following the Army

The incident in which Lizhan was detained and then taken away by Fu Beifa and his men was finally resolved thanks to the efforts of the Fu family and other people who admired Lizhan.

Xia Juanjuan's guess was correct. Although Zhang Weiguo reported the incident, he alone could not stir up trouble. Moreover, he did not know about Shen Wanxue's affairs. Zhang Weiguo had colluded with Fu Qingye's man Xu Dayou to cause this incident.

Xu Dayou felt that he was looked down upon by the Fu family because of Fu Qingye's incident. The last incident did not bring him any benefits except a courtyard house, so he has been resentful ever since.

Zhang Weiguo was originally one of his bad friends. After hearing Zhang Weiguo's complaints, the two of them colluded with each other.

However, apart from the two of them, the people who backed them up this time were also quite powerful, and they were people who had always been at odds with the Fu family. Therefore, Li Zhan was still affected to some extent.

Although it is understandable that Lizhan used money to buy food on the black market for disaster relief for the sake of the people and was forced to do so, he was also breaking the law knowingly. He may not be held legally responsible, but if nothing happens and everyone follows suit in the future, what will we do?

In addition, Shen Wanxue and Xia Juanjuan had contacts in Qingshui Village, and no one knew who reported Xia Juanjuan's care for Shen Wanxue.

Both the Fu family and Li Zhan were afraid that if the matter was investigated seriously, the relationship between him, Shen Wanxue and Rong Zhenbang would be exposed and discovered.

If that happens, the consequences will be a hundred times worse than they are now!

Therefore, the Fu family did not argue too hard, and in the end, after a game of bargaining among all parties, each took a step back and arrived at a satisfactory result.

Therefore, Lizhan still received a serious punishment.

Another option is to be transferred from the current position and stationed on the island to guard the border.

Although he was still the head of a regiment, one was a reinforced regiment of the military region's elite forces, and the other was a garrison regiment on a small island far away from the mainland. In fact, he was demoted.

Bai Zihan, Wei Bin, and Lu Xiangdong were all very angry. Why did their leader, who had saved so many people with his methods, not only have to bear the disciplinary punishment, but also be transferred? ?

Where can I seek justice?

It was Li Zhan who came out to do ideological work on them. After some persuasion, he managed to stop them from making trouble any further.

Fu Weixin also felt guilty. He was the one who agreed to buy food on the black market for disaster relief, but now Li Zhan was the one to take the blame. He felt really sorry for Li Zhan.

Li Zhan smiled and comforted him: "Dad, don't think too much. I am satisfied with the current result of this matter. If it was just about buying food on the black market, I would definitely feel wronged for taking this punishment. But since it also involves my biological parents, this result is already the best."

Even if there was no rumor that Juanjuan had taken care of Shen Wanxue, Lizhan himself had gone to the relevant departments to ask if it was possible to transfer Rong Zhenbang.

Therefore, Li Zhan would rather be punished, demoted or even dismissed than allow the investigation to continue.

Fu Weixin also knew that what Li Zhan said made sense, and said, "Alas! It's just... I've wronged you so much."

Li Zhan smiled and said, "I don't mind. I have been carrying out missions all over the country these years. This time I am just going to a remote place and staying for a few years. As for Juanjuan and the kids at home... I will have to trouble you and other people in the family to help take care of them in the future..."

Fu Weixin sighed and said, "Juanjuan is my daughter. Neither I nor the other members of the Fu family will let Juanjuan get into trouble. Alas! Last time, Nanzheng mentioned to Juanjuan that she should move to Beijing with the children. Juanjuan agreed with great difficulty. I thought that after she moved here, you could meet more frequently and it would be easier. I didn't expect this to happen again..."

"However," Fu Weixin said, "the battle will last for three to five years at most, or one to two years at most. I will definitely transfer you back! You just need to be patient for the next few years!"

Li Zhan nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you, Uncle Fu. I have no complaints in my heart. I am defending my country in Beijing, and I am also defending my country on the island. I am a brick, I will move wherever I am needed!"

Fu Weixin couldn't help but laugh: "You are quite open-minded."

Lizhan's departure for the island was scheduled for half a month later.

Fu Weixin simply gave Lizhan a half-month vacation so that he could go back to be with his wife and kids.

After all, once you leave for the island, it will probably be much more difficult to come back to visit your relatives than before. If things go wrong, you may not see them for several years!

Li Zhan did not refuse.

The transfer order has come down, and he will no longer be assigned any tasks here. No matter how dedicated he is to finish the last half month and insist on standing guard until the last minute, he will just be stationed there doing nothing.

More importantly, it would be even more difficult for him to see his wife and kids in the future, so he was reluctant to waste every minute of this moment.

The kids were still at home in the countryside, so Li Zhan and Xia Juanjuan took the train home.

Not long after they came out of the Fu family, a person suddenly appeared from the corner. Li Zhan and Xia Juanjuan were both startled. When they saw who it was clearly, their faces turned a little ugly.

The person who came was Fu Qingye.

Fu Qingye's eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying. When she saw Li Zhan, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes again.

"Brother Lizhan, I'm sorry... I... I really didn't know that Xu Dayou actually used the matter between you and Shen Wanxue to make a fuss and harmed you like this! He suddenly asked me about my situation in Qingshui Village, and I... I just said it casually and didn't care. Who would know..." Fu Qingye said aggrievedly.

But in fact, it was Shen Wanxue who took the initiative to tell Xu Dayou that she and Xia Juanjuan were having a private relationship.

The last time Lizhan treated her coldly at the train station, she was so angry and humiliated that she wanted to take revenge.

But now, seeing that Li Zhan was punished, she regretted it again...

Without waiting for her to finish, Xia Juanjuan walked forward and slapped Fu Qingye directly on the face with a "slap".

Fu Qingye was stunned by the beating. He looked at Xia Juanjuan in astonishment, and then angrily said: "Xia Juanjuan! How dare you hit me! Who the hell are you...ah!"

Xia Juanjuan didn't waste her time talking and slapped her again with a "slap" sound!

"Beating you is too light a punishment! You ungrateful troublemaker! How dare you come here to show off your presence? Who gave you the face!"

Fu Qingye was so angry!

Originally, she was the daughter of the high and mighty Fu family, while Xia Juanjuan was just a country woman.

Now, Xia Juanjuan has suddenly become the long-lost daughter of the Fu family who is doted on by the whole family.

And although she married the popular Xu Dayou and became a pillar in the art troupe, she clearly felt that other people in the troupe looked at her with contempt, and no one came to support her. Not to mention the presence of many stars, she even felt like a rat crossing the street!

She was already feeling very unbalanced.

Now, Xia Juanjuan actually dared to hit her? !

"Xia Juanjuan! I'm going to tear your mouth apart!" Fu Qingye said as he rushed forward.

However, she obviously underestimated Xia Juanjuan's fighting ability.

Xia Juanjuan turned her body to the side and successfully avoided her hand, then raised her hand and grabbed Fu Qingye's hair and pulled it back hard.

"Ah, ah! It hurts! Xia Juanjuan, let go! Brother Lizhan, look at this shrew...ah!"

Xia Juanjuan slapped him again, and Fu Qingye's face was already swollen.

Li Zhan had never thought that his wife was such a ruthless person who didn't talk much. He was stunned for a moment, then hurried forward and pulled Xia Juanjuan away, saying with a smile, "Juanjuan, it's not worth it to fight with such a person."

It is easy to get along with a gentleman, but difficult to guard against a villain.

For villains like Fu Qingye and Xu Dayou, it may feel good to vent your anger for a while, but you may end up being attacked and retaliated against behind the scenes.

Xia Juanjuan naturally understood this logic. She wanted to beat Fu Qingye up to vent her anger because he had shamelessly come to her house.

Therefore, he let go and warned him coldly: "Fu Qingye, you'd better keep your tail between your legs. If you dare to come over and jerk off at my house again, you'll just have to wait for what happens!"

Fu Qingye thought that Lizhan pulled Xia Juanjuan away because he couldn't bear to see her being bullied, so he called out pitifully, "Brother Lizhan..."

As a result, Lizhan just treated her as air, ignored her, and left with his wife.

Fu Qingye's heart sank. He could not help but chase after him a few more steps, shouting in despair: "Brother Lizhan! You...are you really ignoring me? Lizhan..."

But Li Zhan didn't even have time to turn back!

Fu Qingye was completely despairing. He collapsed to the ground in grief, sobbing.

Many people saw their noise on the street, and some curious people went to Xu Dayou and reported Fu Qingye, saying that she had pulled other men in the street.

Xu Dayou was already furious because what Fu Qingye said about Shen Wanxue didn't work, and he didn't gain any advantage after all his efforts. Now he heard that Fu Qingye, that bitch, was flirting with another man in the street, which made him even more furious.

When Fu Qingye came back, he beat Fu Qingye severely with a belt, making Fu Qingye cry and scream.

Originally, if Fu Qingye had not broken with the Fu family, each of the three brothers in the Fu family had status, ability and position, and ordinary men would have to think twice before taking action.

But now the Fu family no longer wanted to acknowledge her. After Fu Qingye was beaten up, no one stood up for her or came to beat Xu Dayou up to vent her anger. She could only obey orders and never dared to be arrogant again...

Li Zhan and Xia Juanjuan returned to the village. Xiao Wen, Xiao Wu and Bei Bei went to school. The remaining triplets naturally rushed over happily, hugged their legs and cried sadly.

Even the wolf cubs remembered Lizhan. They ran over and sobbed, surrounding Lizhan and Xia Juanjuan, wagging their tails with joy.

Lizhan was very strong, and he picked up Yaoyao in one go, put him on his neck, and supported him with one hand, while holding Yeye in his arms with the other hand, and instructed: "Hold on to daddy, do you hear me?"

It was the first time for Yaoyao to be held so high. He was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He then held Lizhan's head with his little hands and replied in a baby voice, "Okay! Dad, I'll hold on tight!"

Xia Juanjuan looked at it and was horrified. She quickly said, "Don't do that! They might fall down!"

Li Zhan smiled and said, "It's no problem, it's just this short distance."

Xia Juanjuan glanced at him, then picked up Yanyan and walked towards home.

Xia Juanjuan didn't mention the fact that she bought a lot of snacks and specialties from Beijing.

In the next few days, Lizhan went to the mountains to hunt every day, and then came back to ask Xia Juanjuan and Lin Yuru to make the prey into bacon and sausage.

In the next few days, we killed a wild boar, three wild deer, five or six rabbits, and seven or eight wild pheasants.

This time the wild boar did not bring the fierce battle to the village. Instead, it waited until night and secretly carried it back home from the mountain.

Lin Yuru looked at the many wild animals at home and realized that she had been cooking bacon and sausage at home these days. She quickly said with a smile, "Lizhan, you have hunted a lot of game these days! If you make bacon and sausage from them, we will have to eat them until next year or the year after next. Stop it now."

Li Zhan smiled and said, "Mom, it's okay. I'm on vacation now, so I just have some free time. Anyway, I can put it away after I finish it. I can just put more on the shelf. I'm sorry for the hard work on mom and Juanjuan these days."

When Lin Yuru heard this, she shook her head and said, "Look at what you said. How can you not be tired from hunting? How can we be tired from pickling meat and stuffing intestines at home?"

Xia Juanjuan glanced at Li Zhan and said with a smile, "Mom, don't worry about him. He is just destined to be restless."

Lizhan scratched his head, chuckled, and did not refute.

However, no matter how tired you are from hunting in the mountains during the day, it does not affect your vigorous fighting spirit at night.

Just after they finished, when Xia Juanjuan didn't even want to move her fingers, Li Zhan came over again, bit her lips, and laughed softly: "One more time?"

Xia Juanjuan: “…”

"No, don't... ugh!"

Xia Juanjuan discovered that Li Zhan was either asking for her opinion or informing her...

Early the next morning, Xia Juanjuan's voice was hoarse and she was so angry that she didn't want to pay attention to him.

However, Xia Juanjuan still managed to get up, and then said that she wanted to go to the town to buy some cotton and bush.

Lin Yuru smiled and said, "You want to make a new quilt? Do you have enough tickets and money?"

Xia Juanjuan said, "That's enough. My dad and grandpa gave me a lot when I came back."

Lin Yuru nodded and said, "Okay. I'll take care of the kids at home, you go and come back quickly."

Xia Juanjuan didn't actually go to the town. She just found a secluded place and took out the cloth and cotton from the space.

Lin Yuru was stunned when she saw that she brought home at least 20 kilograms of cotton at once.

"Why... buy so much?"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Winter is coming soon. The quilts and cotton-padded clothes at home have been worn for several years and are not as warm as before. I will make two quilts, send one to the master, and keep the rest at home for my own use. I will also make cotton-padded clothes with the remaining cotton."

After hearing this, Lin Yuru didn't say anything else.

That afternoon, I started making a quilt with Lin Yuru.

The cotton used is all newly-stretched cotton of the season. Although the pattern of the fabric is very common in that era and a bit old-fashioned, it is made of pure cotton.

Two quilts were made in total, one thicker, which used eight kilograms of cotton, and the other smaller, which also used six kilograms of cotton.

The remaining seven pounds are used to make cotton quilts.

I made two quilts in the afternoon, and when I finished, it was already evening.

Lin Yuru was busy preparing dinner.

Lizhan went hunting in the mountains in the morning and brought back some mushrooms, fungus and the like. In the afternoon he worked in the fields for half a day.

Dinner consisted of stir-fried spinach with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with black fungus and green peppers, and chestnut roasted chicken made with the chestnuts that Xia Juanjuan had picked up from the mountains.

Xia Juanjuan still divided some dishes and rice and asked Xiaowen to deliver them to Yang Qiushi.

After dinner, Yang Qiushi came over.

Last time, Li Zhan agreed to let the triplets recognize Yang Qiushi as their grandfather, but later it was delayed due to various reasons.

Therefore, Yang Qiushi came here specifically for this matter.

After hearing this, Xia Juanjuan and Li Zhan quickly apologized and made an appointment to have a simple godparents banquet the next night.

Li Zhan also secretly invited Secretary Zhao to come as a witness.

The people in the commune were now much friendlier towards Yang Qiushi and the other people in the cowshed. Secretary Zhao was an upright person, so he readily agreed.

Lin Yuru and Xia Juanjuan put their plan of making cotton-padded clothes on hold for the time being and started cooking early in the morning.

I stir-fried homemade tofu and spinach, and the mushroom, pheasant and wolfberry soup had been simmering in a clay pot on the stove since the morning.

In addition, a large piece of pork belly was cut into thin slices, marinated with salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, cinnamon, star anise and other spices, then soy sauce was brushed on the skin, and the meat was neatly arranged in a bowl with the skin facing down, and then soaked dried beans and large pieces of potatoes were placed on top, and then steamed in a pot. After it was done, it was directly put into the plate with a bowl. It became a luxurious dish that can only be eaten at a rural buffet - braised pork.

In addition to braised pork, braised spareribs are also made. The ribs are first marinated, then coated with sweet potato starch, fried until crispy, and then steamed.

There were also lotus roots dug from the lotus pond outside, one cold lotus root and one fried lotus root. We also caught a fish and made braised fish.

There were all kinds of dishes on the table.

Xia Juanjuan even bought a two-pot bottle of white wine for Secretary Zhao, Yang Qiushi, Xia Shuangshan, and Li Zhan and their grandfathers to have a few drinks.

After dinner, Xia Juanjuan asked Yang Qiushi to sit in the right position, and then asked the triplets to kneel down and kowtow to Yang Qiushi one by one, shouting, "Grandpa!"

Yang Qiushi felt a lump in his throat and agreed without hesitation, handing them the sealed red envelopes.

Secretary Zhao also wrote a formal certificate of recognition in a very elegant manner and signed it himself.

With this, the matter of becoming godparents has been officially completed.

After Yang Qiushi returned, Xia Juanjuan and Li Zhan opened the red envelopes and saw that each kid received a store deed, which was similar to the meeting gift given to the triplets before.

Lizhan frowned and said, "This is too expensive..."

Xia Juanjuan also thought it was valuable, but she did not return it. Instead, she said, "Let's keep it for now. After a few years, we'll find a chance to return it to the master."

Li Zhan also knew that this was Yang Qiushi's intention, and it would be too hurtful to return it now, so he agreed.

A few days later, Xia Juanjuan finished making the cotton jacket and trousers.

Three sets were made, one for Xia Shuangshan, one for Lin Yuru, and one for Yang Qiushi.

Lin Yuru couldn't help but feel a little puzzled, and said with a smile: "Why did we do it first? The adults are doing the anti-freeze, so the kids should do it first! And Li Zhan, he will be back soon..."

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "We still have some cotton and cloth left. Let's make some in a few days. They were given to us by the fiercely militarized troops. We won't wear them many times after we make them, so there's no rush."

After a half-month vacation, there are only three or four days left.

Xia Juanjuan was very tired these days. She was busy making quilts and cotton quilts during the day, and had to be tormented by him three or four times at night.

Please ask him to slow down, he won't listen even though his voice is hoarse...

That night, after coming twice more, Li Zhan finally hugged Xia Juanjuan and suddenly said apologetically, "Juanjuan, I'm going to the island later, and it may not be easy to get vacation when I come back to visit my relatives. You will have to work hard at home with the kids for a few more years. I've already told Dad, and when the house is rented, you can move to Beijing with your parents and the kids, so that you and the Fu family can take care of each other..."

Afterwards, even he felt that he was too messed up. He didn't raise the child after giving birth, and let his wife take care of the whole household...

Xia Juanjuan frowned and looked at him, saying, "What are you talking about? Who said I'm going to stay at home? Aren't you the head of the regiment? It's not easy for you to settle down in a fixed place, and you don't have to travel all over the world. I must take the kids with me to follow the army!"

Li Zhan was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "How can that be possible! The conditions on the island are harsh. Sometimes meat, eggs, vegetables, and even grains cannot be transported in for several months! If you and the children go there, won't you suffer with me?"

Xia Juanjuan looked at him speechlessly: "What's wrong with the difficult conditions? The kids at home are getting older and older, and there are more boys. How long do you want to be absent as their fourth uncle and father? Anyway, I don't care! If you don't let me go, I will be angry with you! Besides, lack of clothes and food is not a big deal. Have you forgotten that I have space?"

Li Zhan looked at Xia Juanjuan, not knowing what to say for a moment.

He had originally intended to let Juanjuan accompany the army, but that was on the premise that the stationing was not that difficult.

This time when they went to the island, he really couldn't bear to let Juanjuan and the children go with him and suffer with him.

"Trickle..."

"No matter what you say, I'm definitely going to go. You don't want me to go, is it because you've taken a fancy to some female soldier in some unit?"

Li Zhan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What do you think about in your little head every day?"

"That's it, isn't it? This matter is settled, no room for negotiation!"

Li Zhan looked at her for a long time before he sighed and said with a smile: "I really can't do anything with you..."

But I feel sweet in my heart.

He has been counting the days these days. There are only ten days, nine days...three days left before he will be separated from his wife.

Now, Juanjuan is going to go to the island with him and the two of them will never be separated again...

"Wife..." Li Zhan hugged her tenderly, almost crying with joy.