Before she even walked into the yard with the hot water bottle, she saw a child looking around not far away with a green plastic bucket next to him.
"Auntie!" The little boy almost jumped up when he saw her figure: "Why did you come back just now? Did you go to the cafeteria to eat?"
His voice was loud, and Gu Qingqing heard every word clearly from a distance. She walked over with a smile, bent down to look at the things in the bucket, "Yes, you didn't go to the cafeteria?"
"Wait a minute, I got up early in the morning and went to the beach with Erpang Xiaohuan to catch seafood. Yesterday we only caught crabs and clams, but today we caught three groupers. I'll bring one to you." The little boy pointed at the grouper swimming in the bucket and said, "It must have been thrown into a puddle by the waves. I used some seaweed to cushion it so that the crabs wouldn't crush it to death."
Gu Qingqing found his tone a bit like that of a little adult and found it quite amusing: "This fish is hard to catch, why don't you keep it for yourself? There are many people in your family, how can two fish be enough to share?"
"Your man is too thin." The little boy didn't respond to her. "You can make fish soup for your man. My mother said that the troops stationed on the island have to do hard work every day, so they have to eat more to replenish their energy."
Gu Qingqing touched her nose embarrassedly, always feeling that she didn't have enough care for Chu Dai.
"Thank you, little nephew," she stood up, holding the hot pot and bucket, "Come in with me, I'll return the bucket to you later."
The little boy responded and followed her into the yard carelessly.
Gu Qingqing shook her head and smiled. This little guy is really brave.
When we got to the kitchen, I put down the kettle and poured him a cup of hot water. "Want to go to the beach to catch a cold so early in the morning? Have a drink of hot water to warm yourself up first."
The little boy took it, blew on it and drank it slowly, watching her catch the fish and put it in the basin, and then pour out the remaining crabs and shrimps. He drank most of the cup and returned the enamel cup.
"I have to go to the cafeteria to eat. Next time if you want to eat something I'll make it for you. Just let me know in advance."
"Okay." Gu Qingqing scooped a spoonful of water from the side, shook his bucket, and then poured it into the basin to feed the fish.
Handing the bucket back to him, she said, "Wait for me a moment."
After that, he hurried to the bedroom and took out a handful of dried sweet potatoes, peanuts he brought from home, and a few chocolates with liqueur fillings. He stuffed them all into his pocket, and said with a smile, "Thank you, my little nephew."
The little boy quickly waved his hand to stop her from moving, "I already received your reward yesterday, as well as your black label wolf head armband. I can't accept this anymore."
"This is the next reward, given in advance." Gu Qingqing stuffed the snacks into his pocket without question. She felt a little guilty about a seven or eight-year-old kid going to catch fish and shrimps for her early in the morning. She thought he was just saying it casually yesterday.
Children tend to forget what they say as soon as they turn around, but she didn't expect this kid to be so serious. She thought he was indeed a good candidate to join the army.
The little boy couldn't refuse now, so he just said, "Next time I will definitely catch a few more fish for you, and you should also..." He glanced at her round face and said hesitantly, "You should also eat more. My mother said that women should be fatter to give birth better."
Gu Qingqing: "...Thank your mother for me."
The little boy carried the bucket and said, "I'm going to eat now. I'll live in the buildings in front of you. Remember what my clothes look like now. When you go to the cafeteria tomorrow, take a look at the yard and you'll know which yard it is."
"But don't tell my mother that I sent you anything, or she will beat me up."
"Okay." Gu Qingqing smiled when she heard that. Thinking of something, she asked again, "Have you ever studied at home before?"
"I grew up in the army. The Luzhong Corps has a primary school for children. I studied there for two years and this year I came to the island to be stationed." The little boy looked nonchalant: "I don't really want to study. I will be a soldier in the future anyway."
"That won't work. You're still young. You need to study more." Gu Qingqing stroked his messy hair and said patiently, "My eldest brother flies a fighter plane in the Southern Military Region. He was selected only after he finished high school, otherwise he wouldn't be able to read the instruments on the plane. And your uncle, although he joined the army when he was fourteen or fifteen years old, he trained during the day and took classes at night in the Southern Military Region to finish high school. He went to the Construction Corps two years ago. To fight on the border, you need to be able to read maps, understand the direction of mountain ranges, and use Sun Tzu's Art of War. Otherwise, you can't make a name for yourself just by being brute force."
"My dear nephew, you still have a long way to go in your life. Now is the best time to study. At least you should learn all the characters. Then you won't just be a soldier in the army. Don't you agree?"
Her brothers and she all finished high school, and her family has never been reluctant to spend money on this.
It doesn’t cost much to go through five years of elementary school, three years of junior high school and two years of high school.
Their production team has a complete primary school, and all students go to school right next to their home. The primary school fee is RMB 1.80 per semester, and the junior high school fee is RMB 2.50 per semester. There are also exemption policies for economically disadvantaged households that lack food.
The first semester of each year starts in spring, and she studied in town for two years of high school.
The little boy scratched his head in thought, "Then there is no school on our island."
Gu Qingqing was also stunned.
After the little boy left, she stared at the grouper swimming in the basin in a daze.
On the ship that day, I saw about thirty or forty military wives. Most of them brought their children with them, and there were usually two or three children at home.
I heard from Chu Dai that a new batch of naval soldiers will be stationed on the island in two months, and there will definitely be quite a few people accompanying them. When the time comes, with so many kids gathered together, they will run to the beach every day to play in the sand and catch crabs. Will they not study?
She was a little worried.
In the evening, Chu Dai came back and brought food from the canteen. Seeing her sitting listlessly at the gate of the yard, he handed her the lunch box and stood in the yard, patting the mud and sand off his body with a towel.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No," Gu Qingqing looked at him while holding the lunch box and sighed, "My nephew brought me crabs and a grouper early this morning, saying that he wanted to give you some as a snack."
"Zhang Ta?" The man raised his eyelids and smiled, "This guy is quite interesting."
"Then why are you unhappy? What is given to me is also given to you. As for the fish, you can eat it with confidence." The man teased.
"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have snatched food from you." Gu Qingqing got up first, put the lunch box on the stone table, and went forward to help him wipe his face: "I heard from my little nephew that he only studied for two years. There are no schools on the island now. Are you going to let the child go on like this?"
"Have you made any arrangements with your superiors? Send a few teachers over here or something." She raised her hand to wipe the mud marks on his chin.
"This matter..." Chu Dai thought for a moment and said, "I haven't heard about it. I didn't think about it when I first arrived on the island. I will ask the instructor tomorrow and write a report."
I guess the leaders above didn't expect that there would be so many military wives and their children stationed on the island with the troops. This place is too desolate and is still waiting to be developed. The situation was explained to the soldiers at the beginning and no secret was kept.
Not to mention the higher-ups, even Chu Dai and Gu Qingqing didn't expect this.
Before, he was hesitant about whether to take her to the island to suffer, and Gu Qingqing also thought that only she and Xu Nian would follow the army.
"We need to report this matter to our superiors. We can't let so many children go without education, otherwise it will be a shame." Gu Qingqing hung the towel back and sighed.
Their older brothers in the Gu family have all graduated from high school, and their father and uncles have also graduated from junior high school. Although they did not finish, at least they can read.
Grandpa had not received much education and could barely read, so he gave her brothers gourds and eggs.
Chu Dai nodded and said, "I will talk to the instructor about this matter."
They entered the house, and just as Chu Dai was about to open the lid of the lunch box, Gu Qingqing scooped out a large basin of seafood from the pot.
Chu Dai paused for a moment, "Didn't Zhang Ta send us a fish? We can't finish all the food at home, and fish die easily. How about sending it to Xu Nian?" It was just right for Zhao Ze to share some of the seafood.
Gu Qingqing didn't hesitate and walked out the door with the basin in her hand: "Then you bring the lunch box."
It seems that she has no confidence in her cooking skills. If there is really a problem with the food, at least there is a military doctor by her side.
The man chuckled, pushed his long legs against the ground, stood up, covered the lunch box, and followed her with it.
Zhao Ze had just come back from the cafeteria when he ran into the couple. Seeing the large bowl in Gu Qingqing's hand, he frowned and asked, "What are you two doing? Visiting relatives?"
No wonder he said that. Gu Qingqing was holding a large pot of cooked seafood, Chu Dai was holding a lunch box in his left hand and a bucket in his right hand, which contained a grouper.
"It's your relative," Chu Dai raised his chin slightly and pointed at the gate of the yard: "Hurry up and push the door open."
Zhao Ze looked at Gu Qingqing's smiling face and the seafood in her hands, and was speechless.
Mr. Chu, you are deliberately dragging me into this.
Knowing that Xu Nian couldn't eat seafood, he deliberately brought it to him, just waiting for him.
Following him into the yard, Gu Qingqing looked around. It was no different from theirs, with the same format and layout. There was also a stone table and several stone blocks outside, and a bamboo pole resting on two wooden stakes.
When you enter the house, you will see that all the furnishings and walls are the same, all uniform.
When Xu Nian saw them coming, he was surprised and a little happy, "Qingqing, why did you bring so much here? Come and sit down."
Helping Gu Qingqing put the seafood bowl on the table, she pulled out a chair and sat down with Gu Qingqing.
Seeing Chu Dai put the bucket aside, Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "You can't eat cold foods like shrimp and crab, so I brought you a fish. The little boy brought it to me early yesterday morning. We couldn't eat it, so we thought we'd give it to you."
Zhao Ze opened the lunch box and placed the food in front of Xu Nian. Glancing at the big bowl of seafood, the corners of his mouth twitched. This guy would have to eat a lot for the whole day.
Wanting to give himself a glimmer of hope, he said, "I heard you say this morning that you cooked it last night and forgot to eat it. Are you eating it now? It won't go bad, will it?"
"How can the weather be so bad?" Xu Nian took the chopsticks he handed over and shook his head, saying, "Qingqing means well. If you don't eat it, I will."
Gu Qingqing looked at him with a smile: "Eat, Brother Zhao, Chu Dai and I are here to accompany you."
Chu Dai pulled out a chair, sat there with his hands clasped around his chest, and glanced at him leisurely.
Zhao Ze had to sit down: "..."
This heartless couple.
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