Jiang Sheng frowned and stared at the young couple for a moment. In fact, this was the best choice. He knew Chu Dai's character well, and Gu Qingqing didn't need to be told, otherwise she wouldn't have suggested teaching the children to read.
He felt relieved to leave Shen Sui to them.
After thinking for a while, he nodded: "Okay, let's do this. I'll send a telegram to the police station and ask them to transfer Shen Sui's household registration to your name."
This matter is easy to handle. They are all in Nanyang, Shen Sui is the orphan of a martyr, and Chu Dai's family has that kind of relationship, so it will be handled efficiently. Besides, Shen Sui's grandmother's family will definitely be happy about it.
To them, Shen Sui was a burden, and they would blame him for He Gui's death. His household registration was classified as an agricultural household along with He Ying's, so he could not get the rations.
Now they can get rid of such trouble, which they are more than happy to do.
So, Gu Qingqing and Chu Dai brought a twelve-year-old child home.
"A'Sui, this is your home from now on!" Gu Qingqing pushed open the gate and smiled at the little boy behind her.
The island, which had been hit by typhoons for several days, began to clear up, with no clouds and a deep blue sky.
Shen Sui looked up at the two-story white building in front of him, feeling sad. Then he looked into the woman's smiling almond eyes, and his originally empty heart seemed to be filled again.
Chu Dai was already used to this quiet boy. He took the boy who was standing there in a daze and said loudly, "Come in. The house hasn't been cleaned up much since the typhoon passed through in the past few days. I don't know if the power lines at home are down."
The yard was indeed a mess. Gu Qingqing looked at the broken tiles and dead branches and leaves scattered everywhere. She first went to the living room and turned off the lights.
"The power line is still connected!" the woman said in a clear voice, "Please go to the bathroom. It's already 11:30 and I have to cook."
"Okay." Chu Dai smiled and nodded, took out two brooms from the corner of the door, and handed one to Shen Sui: "Your bones must be numb after lying in bed for a few days, move a little."
Shen Sui said nothing, but took the broom.
Gu Qingqing saw the interaction between the two, smiled knowingly, and ran to the kitchen to see how the two pheasants were doing.
"Brother!" A woman's scream came from the kitchen.
Chu Dai strode into the house without hesitation. Shen Sui's dark pupils shrank for a moment and he quickly followed him in.
Gu Qingqing had three small eggs in her hand, with white shells tinged with a hint of pink. Seeing the big and small coming over, she smiled and said, "Our wild pheasants have laid eggs! Just in time to steam a bowl of boiled eggs for you to eat."
Chu Dai can eat spicy food now, but she is not sure whether Shen Sui can. After all, he grew up in Nanyang and his taste should be lighter.
Seeing that she was fine, Shen Sui's tense body relaxed visibly. Chu Dai lowered his eyes and glanced at him, the smile in his eyes becoming deeper.
Two men, one big and one small, were outside sweeping the yard, sweeping all the dead branches, leaves and rubble into a pile.
When Xu Nian heard that Gu Qingqing had brought back a child, she came over with her big belly to see, and saw the harmonious couple of big and small through the fence.
The little boy looked tall and thin, only as tall as the man's elbow, with a pale face, as if he would fall down at any time if a gust of wind blew.
Chu Dai lowered his head and said something to him from time to time. Although the little boy did not respond, he followed his instructions one by one and looked very harmonious.
Xu Nian pushed open the fence, and they both looked over at the same time. Chu Dai was calm and composed, while the little boy's narrow eyes were gloomy.
She swallowed and asked softly, "Captain Chu, where is Qingqing?"
"In the kitchen." Chu Dai ruffled Shen Sui's hair and said with a smile, "You're just in time. Let's have dinner together. I'll go call Zhao Ze later."
"No, no." Xu Nian shook his head repeatedly: "Brother Ze went to the cafeteria to get food, I just came here to talk to Qingqing."
"Okay, you go in." Chu Dai nodded at her and continued sweeping the floor with Shen Sui.
"Sister Anian!" Gu Qingqing had heard the voice. She ran out with a blue coarse cloth apron tied around her waist. She took Xu Nian's hand and walked inside affectionately: "You came at the right time. I just opened the jar of sauerkraut. It smells especially good. It should be ready. I was just planning to send some to you."
She helped Xu Nian into the kitchen, moved a chair for her to sit on, poured her a cup of boiled water, and added a spoonful of sugar.
"Sister Anian, this is the cane sugar that my eldest brother asked the supply ship to bring back last time. Have a taste of it."
Xu Nian took a sip and smiled, "Sweet."
Gu Qingqing smiled and took out two handfuls of cabbage from the transparent glass jar. The sour smell mixed with the fragrance filled the kitchen and went straight into her nose.
After Xu Nian became pregnant, she particularly craved sour food and almost drooled at the smell of it.
Seeing her craning her neck to stare eagerly, Gu Qingqing almost laughed out loud, and took a large bowl and filled it with two handfuls for her: "Take it back and eat it first. If it's not enough, I'll bring you more."
"Okay." Xu Nian didn't bother to be polite with her. He had already thought about eating pickled cabbage and vermicelli for dinner. Holding the enamel cup, he heard Chu Dai's clear voice outside and couldn't help asking, "Is this little boy the one who was rescued from the fishing boat?"
Gu Qingqing nodded and took out some pickled cabbage from the pot to stir-fry with meat. "His name is Shen Sui. His father was a scout in the Southern Military Region Tank Group Army. He died while on a combat mission."
As she was chopping sauerkraut, she sighed, "This child is quite pitiful, with so many wounds on his body." Yesterday, when she was using old clothes to make two sets of clothes for him, she accidentally saw the crisscross pattern of old wounds on his arms and she burst into tears.
Instead, Chu Dai and Shen Sui were at a loss.
"He's a poor child, an orphan of a martyr! How could they treat him like this! How could there be such a cruel grandmother and uncle!" Xu Nian gritted her teeth after hearing this, especially now that she's a mother, she couldn't bear to hear these things even more.
Heartache!
Gu Qingqing was no different. "It's better to let him come here with us than to send him back to suffer. At least he'll have food to eat and clothes to wear, and he won't be pushed off a cliff or thrown into the sea one day."
Both women sighed. Xu Nian looked at Gu Qingqing beating the eggs skillfully and said, "This little boy looks good, but his personality seems a bit gloomy. Qingqing, you should pay more attention to him. You will have your own children sooner or later. This Shen Sui..."
"I know." Gu Qingqing added some cooled warm water and salt to the mixed egg liquid, turned on the gas and put it on the pot to steam, and then started to wash rice and cook: "I treat him as my younger brother. When I have children in the future, he will be my uncle. I will bring him home and won't push him away again."
As soon as she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of the little boy standing at the kitchen door. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Ah Sui, what's wrong? Do you want some water?"
Shen Sui's icy eyes began to melt when he felt her warm gaze, and he nodded gently.
Gu Qingqing didn't care. She took a military green enamel cup and poured half a cup of water for him, saying gently, "Be careful of the burns."
Shen Sui nodded and went outside with the cup of water. Gu Qingqing followed his back and saw him give the water to Chu Dai, and smiled.
Xu Nian also took in the scene, and his original worry was slightly relieved: "Brother Ze told me that this child doesn't talk much and doesn't like to talk to people. It seems that he is quite special to you and Captain Chu."
"Perhaps we are the people you have seen the most these two days." Gu Qingqing said cheerfully, "It just so happens that our house is usually quiet. It is difficult to cook for two people and there will be leftovers. It is more lively with more people. Look at these sisters-in-law on the island. They all have five or six people in their families. You will soon be a family of three too."
"If you are jealous, just give birth quickly. You and Captain Chu are still young and will recover quickly. Having two babies in three years is not a problem." Xu Nian finished drinking the sugar water, supported by the back of the chair and stood up slowly: "I just came here today to see how the child is doing. He is doing well. I have to go home for dinner. Brother Ze should be back from the cafeteria as well."
She put the enamel cup on the stove and took the bowl from the side: "I won't be polite with you about this."
"Who are we? Do I eat less of your food than usual?" Gu Qingqing smiled and shook her head, thinking of another thing: "I have been in the camp these few days. How is the matter of Sister Taozi's sister-in-law going?"
"I don't know. Bai Tao resigned and her sister-in-law didn't take her place. She is now a researcher teaching." Xu Nian looked at the pickled cabbage in the bowl and couldn't help swallowing his saliva. "Bai Tao and I have a normal relationship. She won't come to me to talk about anything. I guess you must be upset after not seeing you for the past two days."
Gu Qingqing was happy: "I'll send her some pickled cabbage when the time comes. By the way, I'm going to the backyard to pick some peppers and cut some leeks. Do you want some?"
"Yes, get a plastic bag and fill it up for me. I'm going to have fried pork with chili peppers and stewed vermicelli with sauerkraut tonight." Xu Nian said with a smile when she saw her put the pressure cooker on the stove.
Gu Qingqing has a gas-fired frying pan here, and Chu Dai has a brick-built stove that he uses to cook in a pressure cooker. It uses coal as fuel, and can also be used to boil water, so that he doesn't have to go to the cafeteria to get hot water all the time.
"Okay." Gu Qingqing lit the coal balls, bent down to take a small basket from the corner, took out a red plastic bag, and took her to the backyard.
The typhoon blew the chili trees all over the place, so Gu Qingqing used soil to straighten them up. Xu Nian looked at the red chili peppers and sighed, "If I want to eat chili peppers on the island, I have to come to your place."
The food in the cafeteria is too bland. The sisters-in-law from the northern military corps also asked Gu Qingqing for some pepper seeds to plant, but I heard that they haven't grown yet.
Gu Qingqing picked a bunch of mixed green and red peppers for her and asked her, "How about some leeks?"
"The smell is too strong. It makes me feel uncomfortable. Please give me some shredded cabbage." She used to love eating leek pancakes, but now she feels like vomiting when she smells them.
"Okay." Gu Qingqing picked up a fresh and juicy cabbage, twisted it, pulled it out, shook off the dirt, peeled off the leaves that were full of holes bitten by insects, and threw them to the pheasant that ran out of the kitchen to peck at.
Xu Nian looked around her yard carefully. The corners and fences were planted with wild flowers transplanted from the mountains. There were clusters of colorful flowers, and the most beautiful petals were covered with crystal clear water droplets.
"Your yard is really nice. It makes me feel happy just by looking at it."
"Chu Dai moved down from the mountain. Are you jealous? Let Brother Zhao go dig too. He climbed trees and picked wild fruits for you. I heard Chu Dai say that he used to be afraid of heights."
The two women smiled at each other. Xu Nian took the plastic bag from Gu Qingqing and held the bowl in her other hand: "We are all blessed. Okay, I'm going home first. Come and play with me when you have time."
"Okay."
Gu Qingqing sent her to the gate of the courtyard. Without the chattering of the two women, the courtyard finally became quiet.
The dead branches and fallen leaves were also swept into a pile. Chu Dai leaned against the stone table and drank water. He watched Shen Sui use a dustpan to collect all the leaves and debris, and said lazily, "Dump them over to the back hill."
Shen Sui did as he was told without saying a word.
Gu Qingqing looked at the little boy moving back and forth with the broom and dustpan and couldn't help but laugh: "Ah Sui, take a rest if you're tired."
Shen Sui shook his head.
"Let him loosen up his muscles." Chu Dai put down the water cup, put his arm around the woman's shoulders and took the basket of vegetables from her hand: "What else do you want to cook?"
"Let's make some pickled cabbage and pork stir-fry. The boiled egg in the pot is almost done. Let's fry some tiger skin peppers?"
"Okay, give me another cup of seaweed and shrimp soup. My throat is a little dry." The man smiled and kissed her on the forehead.
"Okay." Gu Qingqing went into the kitchen, washed the peppers, and said to him with a red face: "Let's be more restrained at home in the future. We have a child now."
Chu Dai raised his eyebrows and subconsciously looked at her belly.
"No!" Gu Qingqing pushed the man's chest with her wet hands, and said angrily: "I mean, Ah Sui, where are you looking?"
"Oh." The man said with a hint of disappointment, "He is not a child anymore."
"Why not?" Gu Qingqing snorted, "It will count if you're not eighteen. I'll send you to school tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll do as you say." The man had no objection, rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands. "What are you doing with the leeks? Are you going to eat them for lunch?"
"I wanted to fry some chive pancakes, but there were too many vegetables to finish. I'll save them for making dumplings tonight."
"good."
The meal was ready at around twelve o'clock, and the yard was cleaned spotlessly.
Chu Dai brought the cooked dishes to the stone table outside. Gu Qingqing came out with the bowls and chopsticks. She didn't see Shen Sui anywhere. She asked the man, "Where is Ah Sui? How come he disappeared all of a sudden?"
"I'll go look for him, you bring out the food." Without thinking, the man looked around and finally found him in the backyard.
The thin boy was squatting beside the vegetable patch pulling weeds. The small grass seedlings next to him were also neatly arranged. Chu Dai couldn't help laughing.
This child is quite organized in his work.
He reached out and pulled up the boy who was still tearing up the grass. Seeing the sinister look in his eyes, he patted his shoulder and led him to the front yard: "Go wash your hands and eat. Your sister and I didn't bring you home to have you work non-stop. This is your home from now on. You don't need to work hard all the time to win our favor."
There was some confusion in the boy's eyes. Home?
He silently repeated the word on his tongue.
"A Sui, go wash your hands quickly. Brother, the seaweed soup is too hot and I dare not hold it." Gu Qingqing acted coquettishly as usual.
"I'll do it." The man chuckled and took the boy into the kitchen.
I wanted to remind him that water resources were scarce here and ask him to use water sparingly when scooping it from the bucket, but I didn't expect the boy to look at the remaining water in the sink and look at him inquiringly.
Chu Dai smiled and nodded.
After getting permission, Shen Sui slowly washed the mud off his hands.
Chu Dai looked at his thin body and his eyes that were always cautious and defensive, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
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