Chapter 10 Son! You are finally back

While peeling potatoes, Wang Ziru glanced back at her son and thought that it was probably because of last night, when they were sitting in the main hall to divide the family property, they kept mentioning Zhai Ximo from time to time.

The little guy was sleeping in a daze, probably thinking that his father had returned from the army.

Wang Ziru smiled softly and asked the boy, "Does Baoer miss his dad?"

"Yeah, I thought about it." The young man said this, with a hint of joy on his face again, "I dreamed that my father brought me some fruit candy, the same kind of fruit candy that Luo Jiumei's father bought for her. I peeled off the candy wrapper and the fruit candy inside was so sweet..."

That time, he saw Luo Jiumei eating candy and throwing away the candy wrapper. He quietly picked it up and licked the candy wrapper. He then felt that the fruit candy was so sweet.

It must be the sweet fruit candy that his father bought for him.

Wang Ziru couldn't help licking her lips as she looked at the little guy, and promised, "Tomorrow Mom will take you to the market in town and buy you lots of fruit candies."

"But Dad brought such a big bag of fruit candy!" The little boy drew an exaggerated arc with his little arms towards the sky.

Wang Ziru knew that the boy might feel a little insecure because he and his mother were living alone.

Suddenly my nose felt sore and my eyes turned red.

She quickly turned her back and pretended to be busy cutting potato shreds, but it took her a long time to find the knife for cutting vegetables.

"Those two women finished making breakfast and actually hid the kitchen knife!!"

This little episode brought Wang Ziru back to her poor reality. While cooking, she was thinking, should she just ask Mr. Zhang to borrow ten yuan so that she could replace all the mattress and sheets on the bed with new ones?

The mother and son drank two bowls of corn grits porridge and ate some shredded potatoes, which was their first breakfast.

After cleaning up the dishes, Wang Ziru took the boy and saw the single clothes that she had changed for her son yesterday and a pair of tattered pants that had been worn until they turned black. She planned to take them to the stream to wash them.

"Baoer, come with mom to the stream to wash clothes. It's a bit cold outside. Come, let me put a scarf around you." Wang Ziru found a wrinkled nylon scarf from the cupboard and wrapped it around her son's neck.

He then found a blue cotton hat that he had worn for who knows how many years and had never washed, and then he went out to the stream with a basket of clothes.

When she went out, she saw a pile of mixed yellow mud clay in the yard.

Both families worked together, making earthen stoves for the second family, and they were busy.

The little boy looked back every few steps and saw his cousins ​​playing in the yard, so he quickly followed his mother out of the yard.

…

At this moment in Asami Town, a military jeep slowly drove into the town.

"We'll get off right in front. Thank you so much, Captain Tang, for coming today." The young man in a military coat said politely in the back seat of the jeep.

Another man in military uniform sitting next to him, who was about the same age as him, looked at the familiar street scene outside the car window and said excitedly: "Zhai Ximo! We have been away for five years and finally returned to our hometown to visit relatives."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that I would be gone for five years." Zhai Ximo felt a little uneasy, wondering how the woman at home was doing now.

They got married under such strange circumstances. He had been away from home for five years and he didn't know whether the woman was still living there.

At this time, Captain Tang, the deputy captain of the county armed forces, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned around and said with a smile: "We can take you two to the village."

"Just drop her off in town! Let's get off the car and see if there's anything we can buy to take home..." An unnatural expression appeared on Zhai Ximo's stern face.

Zhai Ximo and his old classmate Zhang Kang, also an old comrade-in-arms, got off the jeep, each carrying a suitcase.

Captain Tang also got out of the car, shook hands with the two, and said excitedly: "Remember to keep in touch. In the future, if you are discharged from the army, you may be assigned to our armed forces."

"That's great! We are all old acquaintances." Zhai Ximo's old comrade grinned.

The jeep drove to the wide intersection ahead and turned around to leave the town.

In a remote town, two young men in military padded jackets suddenly appeared. They looked like they had just returned from the army. Shop owners on both sides of the street came out to watch the excitement.

Many people came out of the store and enthusiastically asked which unit they came from.

"Zhang Kang, let's say goodbye here. We can talk next time we meet." Zhai Ximo wanted to go back to the village immediately. He wandered around the street for half a minute and decided not to buy anything. He went straight home.

Zhang Kang enthusiastically greeted the proprietresses along the street, waving to them regardless of whether he knew them or not.

Zhai Ximo felt a little embarrassed and left with his suitcase.

Just at this moment, a tractor rumbled past Zhai Ximo.

Sitting next to the driver was Village Chief Li. He saw from a distance two tall men wearing military coats and carrying suitcases on the street. When he got closer, his eyes suddenly lit up and he shouted, "Are you the third son of the Zhai family?!"

Zhai Ximo stopped his hurried steps, turned around to look at the middle-aged man sitting on the tractor, then quickly turned around and walked over.

"Uncle Li! Are you going with us to haul coal?"

The tractor stopped on the street, and Village Chief Li said with a smile: "Yes, several families in our village need to make honeycomb coal. So, I will follow you to the Caigouwan Coal Factory to negotiate the price."

Two minutes later, Village Chief Li discussed with the driver and decided to send Zhai Ximo back to the village first.

Soon, the tractor turned around and drove back to the village.

In fact, the village is very close to Asami Town, and it only takes half an hour to walk there.

Village Chief Li didn't know what Zhai Ximo usually said in his correspondence with his family, so he didn't mention much about the Zhai family's affairs.

He just asked Zhai Ximo, "Are you coming back specifically to visit your relatives this time?"

"..." Zhai Ximo nodded through the driver in the middle.

When the tractor drove back to the village, the adults and children in the village were extremely excited to see the third son of the Zhai family coming back. They all chased the tractor all the way to the gate of the Zhai family's yard.

The eldest and second sons of the Zhai family and their families were busy as hell. When they saw the third son suddenly return home, the whole family was surprised.

"My son! Mom has finally waited for you to come back..." When Mrs. Liu saw the third child suddenly coming home, her eyes welled up with tears. She ran over and hugged her son, crying so heartbreakingly.

"Mom, I'm back now, right?"

Zhai Ximo finally managed to pull his mother into the main room. He turned around to look at his eldest and second brothers, greeted them, and saw his eldest sister-in-law carrying a shoulder pole. "What are you busy with?"

He also saw that something seemed to be under construction in the east room where his second brother lived.

The second brother, Zhai Jiahao, was helping his eldest brother make an earthen stove when he heard that the third brother had returned. The two brothers ran out with tools in their hands.

"Our family...separated yesterday. So I plan to build an earthen stove in the room where I live. Otherwise, it will be too crowded for such a large family to cook in the back." Zhai Jiahao explained.

When Xu Ping saw the third son of the Zhai family looking so cool and handsome, and then looked at her own husband, who was covered in mud, her brows furrowed in disgust.

"Third brother, you're back! By the way, where's your wife? She wouldn't have gotten up yet, right?" Liu Xiangqin said this deliberately as she carried the mixed clay into the east room.

"Yes, she is. Who knows where she has gone." Mrs. Liu said angrily.

Zhai Ximo finally responded, "Did you split up yesterday?"

"It's that lazy and gluttonous woman of yours who insisted on dividing the family! Now you can see that even after the family was divided, she still does nothing. Just wait and see, she will be home at dinner time." Mrs. Liu snorted coldly, spreading her hands.

Zhai Ximo felt that this family did not seem to welcome his wife, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

He carried his suitcase and walked straight to his side room at the back of the house.