Finally, everyone sat down at the stone table. The sun was shining brightly today, and it felt warm on our bodies.
After serving a bowl of rice to the man and the boy, Gu Qingqing looked at the dazzling sun in the sky and scooped a bowl of soup for herself: "In two months, the island's midsummer will arrive. Brother, you have to build a shed in advance to keep cool."
Chu Dai wanted to drink soup first, but seeing her serving him rice, he had no choice but to eat some vegetables: "Okay, I have nothing to do this afternoon, I'll go to the back mountain and cut two trees to build a shed."
Gu Qingqing nodded and said, "The roof of the shed is also made of wood? Otherwise, I can go to the quartermaster department and ask for a tarpaulin." This would save some effort.
"No need, let's just build a wooden frame and move two grape seedlings here later." Chu Dai looked up and was thinking in his mind how to best build the frame.
"Eat first." Gu Qingqing scooped two spoonfuls of egg custard into the bowl of Shen Sui who was eating rice. This brother will eat whatever you give him and won't take the initiative to pick up food for himself.
Looking at his thin and pale face, Gu Qingqing felt a little distressed: "I didn't put any chili in the stir-fried pork with pickled cabbage, so don't worry about eating it. This is your own home, don't be restrained."
Shen Sui nodded silently, but continued to eat the egg custard in his bowl.
Gu Qingqing and Chu Dai looked at each other and knew that they had to take it slow. She took another pair of clean chopsticks and picked up the meat slices in the sauerkraut and gave them to Shen Sui.
Seeing that only pickled vegetables were left in the bowl, Chu Dai felt a little jealous. The man said lazily, "I've been busy for a few days. Wife, you should also feel sorry for your man."
Gu Qingqing put a tiger-skin green pepper into his bowl with a funny look on her face. "Eat it. Peppers are good for your health."
Chu Dai sighed to himself, and the boy, who was originally a little nervous, relaxed his back. There was a momentary smile in his eyes, which disappeared in a flash.
This meal was eaten very slowly. Gu Qingqing put food into one large and one small bowl from time to time, and she also ate until she was full.
After finishing the three dishes and one soup, the bottom of the bowl was clean, which was really rare. Gu Qingqing just liked this feeling and felt very satisfied.
Chu Dai packed up the dishes and was about to wash them. Seeing Shen Sui about to follow him, Gu Qingqing grabbed him and said, "Sui, go upstairs with your sister and check your room."
My...room?
Shen Sui was a little dazed and let Gu Qingqing pull him away.
After walking up the wooden stairs to the second floor, Gu Qingqing showed him two rooms. "Which one do you like? Feel free to pick one, and then buy clothes and daily necessities slowly."
There are two bedrooms, a living room and a small bathroom upstairs. The layout of the two rooms is the same, and the furniture is also the same, with a double-door wardrobe, a 1.5-meter wooden bed and two bedside cabinets.
It's the same room as Gu Qingqing and her friends' downstairs, the only difference is that the upstairs has a waxed wooden floor, while the downstairs has a concrete floor due to moisture.
The lighting in the two rooms is the same, both have a large wooden window next to the bed, and the nailed wooden strips have been removed by Chu Dai.
Gu Qingqing opened the window to let in some fresh air. The view from here was beautiful and far-reaching. She could see the vast ocean and the white-sailed fishing boats in the distance that were going out to sea because the weather had cleared up.
"Sister." The boy stood behind her, looking into the distance along her line of sight, and said in a childish voice with a hint of uneasiness: "Can I have this room?"
It was rare to hear him speak, Gu Qingqing's eyes reddened, she turned around and looked at the little boy who only reached her chest, raised her hand to rub his messy hair, combed it with her fingers, and said softly: "Of course you can, you can ask for anything you want, we will be a family from now on."
The boy looked up into her gentle eyes and nodded heavily, the defensiveness and sharpness in his eyes fading away.
Gu Qingqing took out the army green sheets and quilts distributed by the troops from the cupboard and put them on him, letting him rest upstairs. "Call me if you have any problems. Get a good sleep. If you want to eat anything, tell me. If you don't know how to make it, I'll learn to make it for you..."
After a lot of chatter, she went downstairs.
Gu Qingqing went downstairs, and Chu Dai had finished washing the dishes. He came out after drying his hands and asked with a smile, "Are you done?"
"Yeah." Gu Qingqing hugged his waist, buried her head in his warm chest, and said in a deep voice: "Brother, what on earth did Ah Sui go through? Look, my nephew is only three or four years younger than him. He is so cheerful and lively that he eats everywhere. Why is Ah Sui... so cautious when he looks at everyone?"
How did his grandmother treat such a little kid?
Chu Dai patted her back gently, comforting her silently.
Thinking of Shen Sui, his eyes became dark.
Now they just have to wait for the result from the police station. If his mother was really pushed off the cliff, his aunt must pay the price for what she did, only in this way can she be worthy of Shen Sui and his sacrificed father.
"Go back to your room and get some sleep." The man gathered his emotions and kissed the ends of her hair. "You've been tired enough these past two days. You'll have to go back to school tomorrow. Rest well today."
Gu Qingqing nodded, and was carried into the bedroom by the man. Sitting on the bed, she asked the man, "If I tell Ah Sui that I want him to go to class tomorrow, do you think he will agree?"
"Yes." Chu Dai lifted the quilt and lay down with her. The gauze on the back of the man's right hand had been removed, leaving only a shallow cut that had already scabbed over.
He held her waist tightly with his right hand and pulled her towards him: "This child is afraid of being disliked by you and being driven away, so she will not reject all your suggestions."
Gu Qingqing was stunned for a moment, buried her head in his neck, smelled the sweet candy scent on the man, and said: "Then I will ask his opinion first, there is no rush. If he is willing to go, he can go, and if he is not willing, it doesn't matter. He should also want to become a soldier like his father. In four years, we will send him to join the army."
"He learned the flag language by himself. He has never been to sea before." The man hugged the gentle woman and said in a clear voice: "This child must want to be a navy."
Gu Qingqing was stunned for a moment, then she laughed in his arms: "This is good."
The man rested his chin on his head and nodded slightly.
Chu Dai slept until 2:30 in the afternoon. He opened his eyes, turned his head to look at the sleeping woman next to him, kissed her eyebrows, and gently and slowly pulled his right hand out from under her head.
After looking at her for a while, the man's eyes softened. He tucked in the quilt for her before getting up from the bed.
I went to the kitchen to drink some water and was about to go to the quartermaster's office to borrow a saw to go to the back hill to get two trees to build a shed. As soon as I walked into the yard, I saw the boy standing facing the gate, motionless.
Hearing the footsteps, he slowly turned around and met the man's raised eyebrows. Shen Sui spoke in a calm tone without any waves -
"Brother-in-law."
"Hmm?" Chu Dai didn't expect that the child would take the initiative to talk to him. After hearing the name, he found it quite rare.
"I'll go with you."
After hearing this, the man smiled and said, "Okay, let's go together."
He put his arm around the boy's shoulders and went to the quartermaster's office together. He noticed that the boy's body was a little stiff. It was obvious that he was not used to being so close to others. Chu Dai just chuckled and did not let go.
As we walked, I told him what kind of people lived in the North District and how to address them when we met. The man's voice was lazy as if he had just taken a nap, and his pace was neither fast nor slow.
"Captain Chu." A military wife was hanging clothes and looked at the little boy next to him through the fence. She couldn't help but ask, "Who is this?" He looked unfamiliar.
"My brother-in-law." Chu Dai raised his lips, "He doesn't like to talk much."
Shen Sui was not willing to say hello to others in the first place, and now he didn't have to say anything.
"Oh." The military wife shook her clothes and looked at the child carefully. She thought that this should be the child that Captain Chu rescued from the fishing boat. He was indeed very good-looking.
He's just too thin, like a bamboo pole. But Captain Chu is also thin, so they fit in perfectly.
Chu Dai greeted people along the way, and soon everyone on the island knew that the child who was rescued from the fishing boat was now Captain Chu's brother-in-law, and was registered in his family's household registration book.
I took him to the quartermaster's office to get an axe and a saw, and then the two of them, one big and one small, went to the back mountain again.
It was past three o'clock when Gu Qingqing woke up. She looked for Chu Dai in the house but couldn't find him. She went upstairs and knocked on the door and called Shen Sui a few times, but there was no response.
Although the door was not closed tightly, it was half-closed and Gu Qingqing did not reach out to push it.
Shen Sui is not a child anymore, she can't just enter his room at will.
After going downstairs, she guessed that the two of them should go to the back mountain to cut trees and build a shed. She didn't know who took the initiative. She hoped that it was Shen Sui who took the initiative to go with Chu Dai.
Otherwise, he would be too slow to integrate into this family.
She felt distressed when she saw his resistance and cautious look.
After walking around the house, her eyes fell on the kimchi jar in the corner. She thought for a moment, then took a large bowl and opened the lid of the glass jar.
Grabbing two handfuls of pickled cabbage, she tightened the lid, closed the door, and walked towards the south district.
Along the way, military wives would greet her: "Qingqing, who are you sending the pickled cabbage to? I can smell the fragrance from a long distance away."
"Let's go to Sister Taozi's house. She's pregnant now, so I think she'll like this, too." Gu Qingqing said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, can you teach me how to make new clothes later? We have some fabrics at home, and I want to make two new sets of clothes for my younger brother."
Because of the rush, the clothes Shen Sui is wearing now are all modified from the military green pure cotton training shirts that Chu Dai brought back from the regiment.
The military wife didn't expect that she would mention Shen Sui first. She thought that Teacher Gu was indeed honest and didn't hide anything.
"Okay, bring the cloth over later and I'll make it for you. My family is the only one on this island that has a sewing machine." It took a lot of effort to deliver this Bee brand sewing machine to the island, and I asked the captain of the supply ship for help several times.
"Okay, thank you. I'll bring the fabric over later. Classes will resume tomorrow, so don't forget to remind Xiao Huan when you get home."
"Okay, don't worry, I'll remember it." The military wife said straightforwardly: "You can just put it in my yard later. I won't lock the door. I have to go out for a while."
She wanted to visit Erpang's mother's house and chat, otherwise life on this island would be difficult.
Gu Qingqing smiled and nodded, and walked for another ten minutes before reaching the South District. She stood at the gate of Bai Tao's courtyard and called out twice: "Sister Taozi! Are you home? I'll bring you some pickled vegetables."
She tiptoed along the fence and looked inside the courtyard gate, but heard no sound. She thought Bai Tao was not at home and wanted to leave, but in the blink of an eye she saw Yu Yang stumbling out, crying.
"Auntie! My mother has passed out, Auntie..."
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