Chu Dai returned to the officers' quarters and found his luggage bag. As soon as he unzipped it, he saw the people chatting next to him. He paused, took out a red scarf from the bag, then opened the side pocket and hid the things she needed under the scarf.
Her expression was calm throughout the whole process, but there was still an unnatural red spot behind her ear.
"Captain Chu." Someone walked over with a water cup in his hand. "Why are you holding the scarf? Is your sister-in-law cold?"
Chu Dai nodded, and lied without changing his expression: "She wanted to see the sea, and it was windy on the deck."
"Hey, the sea is just like that. You'll get bored if you see it too much. It's only fresh for two days when you first arrive." The speaker was the instructor on the ship, who was reading a book in his hand.
Chu Dai didn't say anything, just smiled and went out with the things.
Gu Qingqing was still waiting for him there. As she looked around, the sea level seemed to have no end. The sun was setting obliquely on the deck, and a few seagulls flew across the blue sky from time to time.
When Chu Dai came over, he saw that she was engrossed in watching, so he didn't call her, but just stood there looking at her profile.
The little woman's face had become much rounder during this period. Her big eyes were staring at the horizon, and the ends of her black braided hair were swaying left and right in the sea breeze.
Two minutes later, she came back to her senses and noticed the straight-backed man next to her. She looked at the red scarf in his hand and asked, "Brother, did you take it?"
"Downstairs." Chu Dai handed her the things and opened the toilet door for her. "I'll wait for you. Dinner will be ready soon."
The officers and soldiers of the Nanyang ship usually have lunch at 12:30, but today there are so many of them that the lunch was delayed until 2:00 in the afternoon.
Gu Qingqing quickly took the red scarf and went to the restroom. When she went in, the man let go and the door slammed back automatically.
The doors on the ship are easy to open from the inside out, but it takes some effort to push them from the outside in.
After a while, Gu Qingqing came out reluctantly, the red scarf still in her hand, her hands still wet and dripping with water. She washed the cotton strips she had just changed, but was too embarrassed to take them out to dry on the boat, so she looked at her man helplessly.
Chu Dai glanced at the red scarf in her hand and roughly understood what was going on. "Give it to me. Go back to the soldier's cabin to find Xu Nian and Zhao Ze first."
Anyway, she had no face to show in front of him. Gu Qingqing handed the things over with a look of despair, "Come quickly, let's have dinner together."
"good."
Chu Dai returned to the officers' quarters and asked the same question as before: "Why did you bring the scarf back?"
He glanced at it casually and jokingly said, "It's still dripping. Was it blown into the sea by the wind?"
"The waves were too big, so I splashed some water." Chu Dai found a plastic bag from his side pocket, put the red scarf in it, and put it back in. "I'm going to eat first. Call me if you need anything."
"OK."
The officers and soldiers on the ship had already dealt with two bites of food. After sending the soldiers to the island, they still had patrol missions to perform and could not go hungry.
There was a cafeteria on the ship. When Chu Dai walked over, Gu Qingqing was waving at him in the corner. He walked straight over and sat down next to her.
Zhao Ze gave all the cod in the lunch box to Xu Nian, "You need to take more nutrition since you are pregnant. Eat it first. If it's not enough, sister Qingqing has more."
Gu Qingqing clutched her lunch box tightly and said unhappily, "Brother Zhao, you can't use other people's food to please your wife. Do you have the nerve to do that?"
Xu Nian chuckled, "He was just joking with you. With Captain Chu here, he wouldn't dare touch your lunch box."
Chu Dai slowly picked out the shrimp and cod from the lunch box and gave them to Gu Qingqing, "Wife, let's eat more too."
Zhao Ze said with a "tsk". "You are not even pregnant yet, but you are treated like a pregnant woman. If you are pregnant in the future, you will definitely be in trouble. But Old Chu..."
Before he could finish his words, someone kicked him from under the table.
Zhao Ze's body tilted and he almost fell off the chair.
Xu Nian and Gu Qingqing looked at him at the same time. Xu Nian was worried: "What's wrong? Did you feel dizzy because you didn't rest enough?"
Zhao Ze pushed back his glasses that had slid down his nose, held onto the table and sat up straight. He looked through the thick lenses at the man opposite him who looked indifferent, and muttered softly, "...black-hearted man."
After dinner, Chu Dai went to wash the lunch box and sent it back, then took her back to the soldier's cabin.
Gu Qingqing wanted to take a nap at noon. She felt sleepy after eating. In addition, her stomach was uncomfortable, so she lay on her side on the bed and curled up in a ball with the quilt in her arms.
There were many people around, but luckily this bed was at the back. Chu Dai sat on the edge of the bed, blocking other sights with his body, and reached his hand into the quilt to slowly rub her belly.
Seeing her face turn pale, he frowned.
It was fine when I was eating just now, but why did it start to hurt again all of a sudden? I glanced at Zhao Ze who was staring at Xu Nian's stomach and talking softly, and planned to ask him for some medicine when I got to the island later.
At 5:20 p.m., the warship docked, and the officers and soldiers who had landed on the island came down the gangway with their families in an orderly manner.
The sun was setting, slowly disappearing into the sea.
The evening sea breeze was cool and fishy. Gu Qingqing rubbed her nose and followed the man dejectedly.
The island is very large, with white sand everywhere, and only in the middle area is there exposed soil.
Gu Qingqing looked around for a few seconds and found that the trees here were tall and big, with slender trunks, particularly large leaves, and green fruits on the trees.
It looks like it's the size of a bowl.
The houses had been divided long ago into four areas: east, south, west and north. Chu Dai and Zhao Ze were naturally in the north area, and the soldiers of the corps also followed them north.
Gu Qingqing felt better after seeing the rows of houses. Looking out of the porthole on the sea, there was only sea, nothing else, and her eyes were tired.
The houses here are all two-story white single-family houses. I heard from the instructor on the ship that there are more than 2,000 houses in total, which are planned in advance for the subsequent troops to land on the island.
Although there are few people and many houses, you can't just pick them randomly. They are all allocated. Zhao Ze and his family's yard is in front of Chu Dai, and there are people living next to it.
Chu Dai was at the end, with empty space on both sides and the mountain behind him. Gu Qingqing had been eyeing the empty space next to him since early morning. She was originally listless but now she was very excited. She pointed at the empty space in the yard and said to the man, "I brought a few bags of vegetable seeds from home. Brother Meng Nan said that as long as you pay attention to fertilization, it's no problem to grow vegetables on the island. Brother, we can eat at home every day then."
"Okay." Chu Dai knew he couldn't escape and accepted his fate. He pushed open the door and said, "Pack your things first. We'll have dinner at 6:30. After dinner, wash up and have a good rest. We'll be back in the army tomorrow, so I may not be able to take care of you during the day."
"I know," Gu Qingqing patted the sand off her hands, "I was able to stay alone in the Corps before, and besides, I can go and play with Sister Anian and the sisters-in-law on the island."
I followed him into the house, which had simple white walls, a cement floor, a table and four chairs. This was the layout of the living room.
"There's a kitchen here!" Her eyes lit up and she ran to the small room next to the living room. There was a gas stove already installed, as well as basic pots, pans, and seasonings.
She bent down and opened the wooden cabinet below, where there was a bag of rice, a bag of coarse grain, a bag of cornmeal and a bag of flour.
If it's just the two of them eating it, it should be fine for two months.
She finally understood why so many military wives wanted to come here to follow the troops. The food standard was quite high and the troops had prepared everything, not to mention the rich marine resources on the island.
She leaned against the stove, turned around and asked the man, "Isn't it bad that we haven't made any contribution to the army but are still taking up its resources?"
Unexpectedly, she would think this way. Chu Dai took out a piece of rough cloth from his luggage bag and tried to wipe the dust off the table. "We will stay on the island for at least five years. The army is happy to allow family members to accompany us. This will help the soldiers feel at ease and concentrate on carrying out their mission according to the organization's orders."
Gu Qingqing nodded, not quite understanding, and then asked him with a smile: "Are you at ease with me here?"
"Yeah." Chu Dai said truthfully, "I feel relieved."
Gu Qingqing smiled and hugged his neck, rubbing his neck: "Then this will be our home from now on, and I will be your home, right, brother?"
"Yes." Chu Dai picked her up and let her sit on the wooden table next to the coal stove. He kissed her forehead and continued to wipe the cabinet: "You are my home."
Gu Qingqing supported herself on the table with her hands, her eyes following his figure, her feet shaking, "Is there no water here?" There was not even a water tank.
"There are few fresh water resources on the island. Wife, I want to discuss something with you." Chu Dai suddenly turned around and looked at her with a serious expression.
Gu Qingqing's heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong? Tell me."
The man looked at her and sighed.
"From now on, we may not be able to take a shower every day."
Gu Qingqing: "..."
She blinked and said, "Why don't you leave your share of water for me? I won't mind giving it away."
The man looked straight at her.
Gu Qingqing dug her fingers on the edge of the table and said, "I feel uncomfortable if I don't take a shower. You see, I have to use water every day these days..."
Chu Dai stood beside her with a rag in his hand, wiping the door panel, and said slowly, "It's not impossible for us husband and wife to discuss this."
The woman put her arms around his waist and said coquettishly, "It's settled then. From now on, how often you take a bath will depend on how much water I use."
Chu Dai lowered his eyes and looked at the woman who was hugging his waist and rubbing against him. He rubbed her head with his left hand and sighed: "I didn't realize you were so arbitrary before."
Gu Qingqing raised her head from his arms, stuck out her tongue and made a face at him, "Now that you know, it's too late."
Seeing her humming an unknown tune and jumping down from the table, Chu Dai shook his head. Actually, he had a rough life in the Corps. When there were combat missions, he had to hide in the woods. It was common for him to not take a bath for ten days or half a month, and the blood from his wounds often stuck to his clothes.
When he returned to the regiment after the battle, Zhao Ze tried to clean his wounds by cutting off his clothes, but it didn't work, so he had to tear open the wounds again while they were bleeding.
He wasn't worried about not having water on the island, but he was worried that she wouldn't be able to get used to it.
Gu Qingqing originally wanted to check all the rooms, including the upstairs, but after taking just two steps, her lower abdomen began to hurt again.
She turned around and looked at the man pitifully: "Can I exchange my bath water for a cup of hot water first, brother?"
Chu Dai's Adam's apple rolled and he laughed silently.
He threw the rag in his hand onto the table and picked up the kettle on the cabinet: "Go lie down on the bed, I'll be back soon."
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