Chapter 224: Prosperity 224: No need
The meals were served one after another, all of them were home-cooked dishes.
Fried eggplant with beans, braised pork ribs, stir-fried prawns with green onions, and a bowl of rice.
Gu Qingqing served herself dinner first, and after eating half of it, she took Xiao Nian Nian from Shen Sui's hand and said, "You eat first, I'll eat slowly."
Shen Sui nodded, picked up the blue and white porcelain bowl and began to serve the rice.
Chu Dai fed his eldest son slowly. His little feet kicked randomly, and the man held them down with his left hand. "Open your mouth."
The little dumpling's dark eyes rolled around, and when he saw his brother in his mother's arms eating the egg custard obediently, he let out an "ah" and opened his little mouth.
From Shen Sui's side, he could just see a few sparse glutinous rice teeth.
My front teeth have grown out, but my baby teeth haven't come out yet. Every time I bite a dried sweet potato, I have to use my front teeth to grind it for a long time.
Squeaky, squeaky, just like a hamster.
After the two kids finished their egg custard, they took off their shoes, stepped on the bench, and leaned over the window to look out. The window was closed, but they could see the street view outside through the glass.
It’s similar to Yancheng, with a guesthouse next to it and a state-owned timber factory a little further ahead.
Now you can see people coming out of the factory in groups.
Most of them were allocated houses and were going back to eat, chatting and laughing. They were wearing the same blue uniform with red party badges on their chests.
Xiao Niannian waved his little hands and giggled at the people below. Chu Dai put a piece of pork ribs into the woman's bowl. He glanced at the little guy and snorted, "Silly son."
"No matter how stupid he is, he is still your son. Didn't you wear open-crotch pants when you were a child? Why don't you wear open-crotch pants in the photo?"
Chu Dai was somewhat amused but speechless: "How old am I in the photo you saw?"
"Four or five? Seven or eight?" she recalled.
"Oh," the man said, his tone was unremarkable, "Seven or eight years old and still wearing open-crotch pants. What do you want to see?"
The woman bumped him hard with her knee under the table and signaled him to hold back with her eyes.
She glanced around guiltily, but no one noticed them here, and Shen Sui was eating seriously.
Relieved.
Chu Dai looked at her with a half-smile.
Gu Qingqing turned her eyes away and ate her meal angrily.
After dinner, Gu Qingqing went to pay the bill. Chu Dai was waiting for her at the door holding Xiaotuanzi, while Shen Sui took Xiaoniannian to play on the street.
A worker who was passing by on a bicycle saw the cute little boy, stopped, bent over and asked with a smile: "Little boy, what's your name?"
"Chu...Chu Nian Nian." The young man said seriously.
"Oh, Chu Niannian?" He took out two fruit candies from his pocket: "This is for Niannian."
Looking at the two fruit candies in his palm, the boy tilted his head and thought for a while, then opened the pocket on the side of his sweater to show him: "Yes~ sticky and candy!"
The worker saw the bag of White Rabbit candies in his pocket and scratched his head in embarrassment: "Ah, forget it then."
The big and the small chatted for a while, and the worker thought that he had a five-day vacation and his wife and children were still waiting for him at home, so he said goodbye to the young man.
Shen Sui withdrew his gaze only when the man disappeared at the end of the street on his bicycle.
"What's wrong?" Seeing him in a daze, the man who walked over asked casually and opened the car door.
"It's okay, it looks familiar." said the boy.
"Hmm?" Chu Dai subconsciously looked towards the end of the street, but there was no one there. "Did you see him when you were a kid? He might be from the same village."
"I don't remember." Shen Sui shook his head.
He lived with his mother at his grandmother's house all year round. Not long after his father died, his grandmother also passed away. Due to the instigation of her parents, his mother had a bad relationship with her sister-in-law and never went back.
I also have a vague impression of the people in my hometown village.
"Oh, it's okay. If he's from the same village, maybe I can meet him when I go back."
After paying the bill, Gu Qingqing had a note from the state-owned hotel in her hand, which she casually put in her pocket. She still sat in the back with her two sons.
After eating, they dozed off. I brought the cradle quilt from home, so the two little guys could sleep side by side in the back, and it was very warm huddled together.
Gu Qingqing tucked the quilt tightly in, rested her head against the car window, and was a little sleepy.
After driving for a while, Gu Qingqing gave the man money and asked him and Shen Sui to go down to buy candles. After they got in the car with their things, she said, "We also need to go to the department store to buy a bottle of wine. After the worship, we will stay at the guesthouse in the town tonight. Tomorrow I will take Ah Sui to visit the village and return to the military area in the afternoon."
There was definitely no place for them to live in the village. It could be said that there was no one left in Shen Sui's house, except for an aunt with whom he had long lost contact.
"Okay." The man started the car and said to Shen Sui, "Let's go to the department store to see if you have any stationery to buy. Do you need a pen?"
"I have it at home." He was talking about the Hero brand pen that Chu Yuan gave him.
"Buy another one, just in case you need it for calligraphy practice."
"Okay, thank you brother-in-law." Shen Sui did not refuse.
Chu Dai just smiled and shook his head.
Arriving at the department store, which is the most prosperous area in Suining City, the department store has five floors. Chu Dai stopped the car and turned to ask her, "Are you going down?"
"You guys go ahead. I'll look after the two kids in the car. You go see if there's a grocery store and buy some fruit." She simply gave all the money she had on her to the man.
"good."
Chu Dai led Shen Sui out of the car and went to the department store.
Gu Qingqing was infected by the two sleeping kids and also yawned against the car window.
He asked the salesperson and found out that pencils, fountain pens and cartons were in the second store on the second floor of the department store, so he went upstairs with his brother-in-law.
Although Shen Sui is from Suining, this is his first time visiting the department store in Suining. He was a little resistant to Suining at first, but after coming here, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Chu Dai saw what he was thinking and took him to the store: "Where you grew up, you will always miss that place. We will accompany you back every year. You are no longer an isolated island floating on the sea, Shen Sui. You have a place to belong."
"Don't be afraid no matter where you go in the future. Your family will always be behind you. No one will abandon you."
He didn't know if it was because of the boy's growth or the milk he drank, but Shen Sui had been growing very fast recently and was already at the man's shoulder. He only had to tilt his head slightly to see the man's thin and smooth jawline.
After a long time, he said, "Brother-in-law, I know everything."
Chu Dai rubbed his head and took him to buy two pens, one with the words "Hero" and the other "Eternal Life", each costing five yuan.
I vaguely remember that when he was a kid, he only spent three dollars to buy a pen.
"Do you want a notebook?" the man asked, picking up a thin notebook.
"No, I have some at home." Seeing that the man didn't believe him, Shen Sui said helplessly, "I really have some. I haven't finished writing the ones you bought for me on the island, and Teacher Qin also gave me a lot of notebooks."
"Okay, then let's not buy anything. Let's go buy some wine. There's a grocery store next to it. Let's buy some food for your sister."
At the Qiaohui counter, I saw Moutai and Zhuyeqing, and ordered one bottle each. Before leaving, I saw some toys, so I bought a yellow duck for each of the two kids, which would squawk if you pinched it.
After leaving the department store, the two of them headed towards the grocery store next door. Chu Dai weighed some apples, oranges and pears, and the two little guys loved mangoes so they also took a few.
Thinking of something, he asked, "Does your father smoke?"
Shen Sui thought about it and nodded.
"Hello, comrade, please help me get a pack of Daqianmen and a box of matches."
"Da Qianmen is 35 cents, matches are 2 cents. Do you have cigarette and match tickets?" asked the salesperson.
"Yes." Chu Dai asked Shen Sui, "What do you want to eat? Go and choose."
Shen Sui walked to the shelf and remembered that his sister liked to eat red date cakes and mung bean cakes, so he took a bag of both, and also took a bag of salted dates and olives.
"Enough?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows.
Shen Sui nodded and then asked, "Brother-in-law, did you bring any candy?"
"Your sister brought it." Chu Dai didn't expect that this young man still cared about him. He clicked his tongue, took the things in his hand, put them on the counter, and paid the bill together.
Two people got into the car carrying a big bag of things, and when they opened the door, they found that Gu Qingqing had fallen asleep.
After putting all the things under the passenger seat, Chu Dai put his finger to his lips, signaling the boy to move more slowly.
Shen Sui understood and even closed the car door gently.
Chu Dai walked around the front of the car, got in and started the car slowly. The car drove steadily on the street.
After half an hour, Shen Sui was needed to show the way.
There are many forks here, and there are wooden signs of the production team next to them, which Shen Sui needs to identify.
"Which one?" he asked.
"Seven Star Production Team." Shen Sui pursed his lips.
Chu Dai could sense his tension and said to him, "I have some candy in my pocket, help me get two."
Shen Sui reached into his tweed jacket and touched it twice, took out two candies, peeled them and put them to his mouth.
"Thank you." Chu Dai bit off one, "The remaining one is a reward for you, provided you don't take the wrong path."
Shen Sui also ate a White Rabbit candy. The sweet taste suppressed the tension and panic in his heart. He followed his brother-in-law's words: "If I bring the wrong one, you can beat me up."
Then he added: "I won't fight back."
Chu Dai snorted and laughed, his long, white fingers gripping the steering wheel. Because he was thin, his finger bones were prominent and veins were visible on the back of his hand.
The man said lazily: "I would like to beat you up, but I'm afraid your sister will feel bad."
"never mind."
I followed the sign and walked for another forty minutes before finally seeing the village entrance. It was almost three o'clock.
The production team had not yet finished their work, and people could be seen working everywhere in the fields, wielding hoes and pickaxes.
The car stopped and Gu Qingqing woke up.
Shen Sui looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar place in his memory, feeling somewhat dazed.
The two little kids were trying to get off the bus by dangling their short legs, holding onto the seats with their hands, their feet still half a foot short of the ground.
The man couldn't bear to see it and took it down directly.
Xiao Niannian was running around everywhere, calling Shen Sui to come over: "Chirp~"
Seeing that he didn't move, the boy ran to him and pulled his sleeve.
"Chirp!" Xiao Niannian was angry, "Sticky~Chirp!"
"Niannian, you call me uncle?" Shen Sui came back to his senses, bent down and hugged him: "Sorry, uncle didn't hear you."
Xiao Niannian blinked and shook his head, meaning that she didn't blame him.
Gu Qingqing was a little worried about his condition, so she took the man's arm and asked, "Are you okay, Ah Sui?"
"He is homesick. He may be thinking about some things in the past. If this knot is not untied, it will continue to torment him." Chu Dai carried the things and said to Xiao Tuantuan, "Chu Jinghong, Daddy Teng can't open his arms to hold you. You follow your uncle."
"Chirp~" Little Dumpling understood and ran over happily to hold his uncle's hand.
Shen Sui held one in his right hand and another in his left hand. He felt the warmth of the little dumplings in his palms, and his mood calmed down a little.
The green hills behind were where his father was buried. Halfway through the walk, the little boy couldn't walk anymore. Gu Qingqing took a bag from the man. Chu Dai picked up the little guy with one hand and held the wine in his left hand.
Now that the weather is good, the original muddy road has been hardened by the sun. People often come to the mountain to chop firewood. There is a small path leading directly up, with no weeds.
Chu Dai and Shen Sui were both in good physical condition and walked easily. Gu Qingqing was a little unable to walk at the back, so she pulled the man holding the child's arm to move forward.
The man did not forget to tease her: "Where is the energy you had when you were working in the corps to build greenhouses?"
"I feel empty after giving birth." She said without blinking.
"It's my fault. I'll make up for it when I get back." The man chuckled with an ambiguous meaning.
Gu Qingqing pinched his arm, and the man felt pain and pretended to let go. The little guy in his arms shook a little, and his little butt fell steadily on his arm again.
"It's fun~ Daddy~ Play!" The little dumpling's eyes smiled into a crescent shape, with only the teeth showing but not the eyes, and his little hands kept clapping, making the sound of silver bells.
Gu Qingqing slapped his little butt angrily and said angrily, "Aren't you afraid of falling, silly boy?"
The boy immediately put his hands around his father's neck, rubbed his body again and again, and then looked at his mother proudly: "No~ Daddy, hold me!"
"Yes, with daddy here, we little Tuantuan will not fall." Chu Dai kissed his son's forehead.
Gu Qingqing watched the interaction between the two men and felt both angry and amused.
After walking for another twenty minutes, we reached the top of the mountain.
There is only a solitary tomb here, with a stone tablet standing on it, and large red characters engraved on the stone tablet:
Tomb of revolutionary martyr Comrade Shen Ze.
To their surprise, there was a figure in front of the tomb, standing there with its back to the wind, as tall and straight as a pine or cypress.
Chu Dai was surprised. "Counselor Xue?"
The man turned around and when he saw them, there was a hint of surprise in his eyes, then he nodded and greeted: "Captain Chu."
Gu Qingqing and Shen Sui arranged the incense, candles and offerings, while the two men chatted nearby.
The little guys had red date cakes to eat and did not run around. Instead, they sat on the grass and babbled something.
Looking at the boy, who was kneeling in front of the tombstone with his back straight and burning paper money, Xue Xu said, "I never thought that you were raising Aze's child."
Hearing his affectionate address, Chu Dai guessed something, "I have looked up Ah Sui's background before. His father was the commander of the reconnaissance company of the tank group army. Are you comrades-in-arms?"
"Yes, I was there in the battle where his father died." Xue Xu shook his head: "I thought my sister-in-law would take good care of Ah Sui, but I didn't expect it to be like this."
Chu Dai just told him everything that happened to Shen Sui. Xue Xu clenched his fists and then unclenched them: "Aze and I are classmates from the same military academy. After graduation, we were assigned to the Tank Group Army."
After saying that, he glanced at Chu Dai and said, "Do you think that I was able to become a staff officer because of my father?"
Chu Dai folded his arms and looked at his two sons who were rolling on the grass with grass debris all over their bodies. "I never thought so. I don't know what others think."
"That's right. After all, you have more qualifications than any of us to use connections, but you don't." Xue Xu smiled: "Neither do I."
Chu Dai just snorted and laughed.
"Ah Sui has troubled you for the past two years. I want to take him home and raise him as my own son." Xue Xu secretly thought that Chu Dai adopted Shen Sui only because he felt sorry for him. Now that he has two sons at home, he must have no time to take care of him.
As the child of his best comrade-in-arms, Xue Xu felt that he had the responsibility and obligation to train him to become a talent and live up to Shen Ze's previous expectations of him.
Gu Qingqing and Shen Sui both heard their conversation. She tilted her head to take a look and saw the boy with his lips straightened. He lowered his head to burn paper money without saying a word.
It was windy on the top of the mountain. Gu Qingqing thought it would be warm today so she wore a lotus pink long-sleeved single-piece top. Now she was shivering.
The man took a look at her, and while talking to Xue Xu, he took off his woolen coat and put it on her. He was thin and tall in only a white shirt and black trousers.
He was very gentle with women, but ruthless with others: "Colonel Xue, if I remember correctly, you have no children."
"That's why I will devote my whole heart to nurturing Ah Sui."
"Oh, so you can't give birth yourself, and now that you see a ready-made one, you want to take it back?"
"That's not the case." Xue Xu glanced at the boy's thin but strong back and frowned, "Aze and I are comrades-in-arms. A Sui's mother is no longer alive. No matter what, I should take on the responsibility of raising him."
"No need." Chu Dai squatted down when he saw his son was about to stuff the red date cake with its outer paper packaging into his mouth.
She took the red date cake from his hand, peeled off the shredded paper soaked with saliva, crumpled it into a ball and held it in her palm, then handed the red date cake back to him, in front of her son's aggrieved eyes.
The man stood up again, stuffed the paper ball into his trouser pocket, and asked the person next to him: "Take him back, and then what?"
"Let him join the army." Xue Xu said.
"Continue to fight?" the man asked.
"Aze once told me that he wanted his son to join the Tank Corps in the future."
Chu Dai endured it again and again, "Shen Sui is now in our household registration book. His last name was not changed because he is the son of a martyr. He should remember his past. Knowing that his father is a national hero should give him a direction to work towards. But it doesn't mean that I will send him to become a martyr myself."
"Chu Dai!" Xue Xu shouted in a deep voice: "Watch your words!"
Chu Dai sneered: "Counselor Xue, you are not as good as me in rank, and you should be careful with your words. Am I wrong? Don't you just want to send him to the front line to die? And then you will be satisfied if you bury him next to his father? Counselor Xue, there are many ways to serve the country. Shen Sui does not have to follow your ideas."
Xue Xu looked at him for a long time, then nodded and said, "I understand."
Chu Dai narrowed his eyes dangerously: "You lied to me."
Xue Xu smiled, "Aze only has this one son. If you don't care about him, I will try to take him away. If it were you, you would also try it."
Chu Dai sneered: "Okay, I have seen the twists and turns in your minds."
Shen Sui understood what they meant, and the coldness in his eyes faded slightly.
"Did you bring wine?" Xue Xu took a look.
"Well, Maotai or Zhuyeqing?"
"All right." Xue Xu smiled and took the bamboo leaf green he handed over: "Stingy. But don't say this in front of the inspectors in the future. Others can go to the front line but Shen Sui can't? So what if he becomes a martyr? Isn't it glorious to defend the country?"
"Chu Dai, didn't you almost become a martyr several times?"
"A Sui has his own path to take. If he really wants to join the Tank Group Army, we won't stop him."
"My wife has raised him for several years. If anything happens to him, she won't be able to bear it."
The boy kneeling in front of the grave fluttered his eyelashes.
Xue Xu sat cross-legged in front of the tomb, first toasted his comrade with a glass of wine, then raised his head and took a sip: "I don't know whether this kid is lucky or unfortunate. He lived a lonely life when he was a child. His parents are gone, but he met you."
"Not only me, even if Aze were still alive, he would not be qualified to interfere with Shen Sui's decision. Aze has been in combat units all year round and rarely writes home. He doesn't know the situation at home. It seems that the little allowance he gets is not used much."
"Shen Sui doesn't owe him anything." Xue Xu took another sip of wine, which made his face red. "Actually, when I saw you brought him to sweep the graves, I knew you treated Ah Sui well, but I still wanted to confirm it, after all, Ah Ze is the only one. If you need anything in the future, feel free to ask."
Chu Dai patted his shoulder and took the bottle from his hand: "If you don't know how to drink, don't drink. It makes you look ugly."
Xue Xu laughed loudly, propped up his hands on the grass, and looked up at him: "To be honest, I really didn't expect that Ah Sui was taken to the military area by you. This time I came here to sweep Ah Ze's grave and then go to see them mother and son."
If he hadn't met Chu Dai, he wouldn't have known that Ah Sui's mother was dead, and he would have wanted to visit and help her.
Chu Dai bent down and placed the wine bottle in front of the tomb. He took the three incense sticks from the woman, bowed with a slightly depressed look, and said, "Nothing strange."
The two families usually had little interaction. Xue Xu was several years older than him, and they were not in the same organization, so it was impossible for them to come into contact with each other.
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