Gu Qinglie came over with a washbasin and some daily necessities, and saw his sister leaning against the window in a daze, looking out the window with unfocused eyes.
Outside were flat-roofed barracks covered with fake nets, and a scorching sun hung high in the sky.
There’s nothing good to see here, Gu Qinglie thought.
"Qingqing." He called out.
Gu Qingqing's eyes slowly focused, and she sat down beside the bed: "Brother."
Gu Qinglie put down the basin and said, "I just got this from the commissary. You can use it first. If you need anything, tell me. I'll ask my brother to buy some for you tomorrow."
Gu Qingqing sniffed, her eyes clear and bright: "I call Uncle Yu Uncle, and you call him Brother?"
"We are all brothers in the army." Gu Qinglie sat down next to her. "Chu Dai calls him Lao Yu. If you count it that way, you are a generation behind him."
Gu Qingqing muttered in a low voice: "It's too late for me to change my mind now." She had been calling me aunt all the way.
Gu Qinglie was amused by her and flicked her forehead with his finger, "What are you thinking about in your little head? I want to ask you, how do you feel about him?"
Hearing this, Gu Qingqing was furious and glared at him fiercely: "How could I come if I didn't feel well? No wonder you only told me to come and give you plums in your letter and didn't mention anything else."
"I didn't mean that at all, right?"
Gu Qinglie scratched his head embarrassedly and said, "Not really."
Seeing the girl looking at him coldly, he added with a smile: "Actually, I never mentioned it to him at all."
Gu Qingqing clenched her fist and hit Gu Qinglie's chest directly. He dodged to the side and grabbed her hand.
"No, you heard from me that the regiment commander and battalion commander wanted to introduce him to someone several times, but he rejected it outright. I have been friends with him for many years and I trust his character. I thought it would be good for the family so I asked him for advice."
Speaking of this, Gu Qinglie was also a little worried: "He doesn't seem to have any plans to get married with his partner. I don't know what's going on."
"But we are siblings, and I thought you would also like the person I think is good, so I called you over. You are smart, so feel free to use whatever tricks you have."
Gu Qingqing's clenched fist finally loosened. Gu Qinglie caught a glimpse of the White Rabbit candy in her hand and exclaimed, "Huh?"
"Chu Dai gave it to you?"
She recalled the man's words, "Don't be afraid," and nodded slightly with a red face.
Then I felt something was wrong, "Brother, he doesn't look like someone who likes to eat candy."
Gu Qinglie arranged her bedding and made the bed for her: "Hey, Lao Zhao said he has low blood sugar. You should keep some sugar in your pocket to prevent yourself from passing out without realizing it."
"He is in good health and has no other problems."
Gu Qingqing said "Oh" and stood up to make it easier for her brother to make the quilt.
Thinking of what my mother said, that most soldiers like cute girls, she asked again, "Brother, what kind of girls do soldiers like?"
Gu Qinglie had a cheerful personality to begin with, and he had been doing well in the army over the years, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with his sister asking this question.
"Someone who is fair-skinned and gentle." When he said this, he glanced at the dark-skinned girl and sighed deeply in his heart.
You don't have any of these two points, and I'm worried about you.
Gu Qingqing leaned against the window, opened a White Rabbit milk candy and put it in her mouth.
The sweet taste made her squint her eyes.
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Gu Qinglie smiled dryly and said, "But it's okay. It's enough to have someone to use for free."
Gu Qingqing's mind flashed with the man's white wrists. She glanced at the scorching sun outside and became even more depressed: "You are all training in the desert, leading troops to fight, why can't he get tanned?"
"It's natural." Gu Qinglie shook the quilt a few times, subconsciously wanting to fold it into a tofu block, but then he changed his mind and decided to lay it flat.
"Brother, you and my eldest brother are so powerful. I feel so useless." She saw the injured soldiers in the clinic today and she still feels upset.
She was proud of her elder and second brothers, but she was also afraid that they would get hurt. Whenever she thought about it, she would have a crazy thought and hope that they would be discharged from the army and return home.
"Hey, you are the only girl in our Gu family, and the brothers are boys. You don't need to do anything. Even if you are useless, the brothers will always protect you."
Seeing her wrinkled face, Gu Qinglie stood up, raised his hand to scratch her nose, and coaxed her: "Big brother flies planes, and second brother drives tanks. We are just being affectionate... Just be happy."
Gu Qingqing finally couldn't hold it in anymore and tears burst out.
"Second brother, you are a bad guy. You never told me in your letter that you can drive a tank!"
Gu Qinglie was at a loss: "Did Gousheng tell you that he was flying a plane in the military area?"
Gu Qingqing cried even louder.
Gu Qinglie brought his lunch from the cafeteria. His monthly ration of rice and flour was 48 kilograms, plus 5 kilograms of meat and 1.5 kilograms of vegetable oil.
The normal ration for troops is 45 kilograms of rice and flour, 3 kilograms of meat and 1 kilogram of vegetable oil. They are stationed on the border, working hard but earning a good living.
The meals for military dependents who come to visit are deducted directly from their own portions.
After handing a steamed bun to the girl, Gu Qinglie said enviously, "Next time you have a chance, go visit your relatives in the southern military region. The standard of food for the big brother is three dollars and fifty cents a day, while here we only have fifty or sixty cents."
The treatment in the Air Force is good, but the requirements are also high. There are not many people who can afford this kind of food. It is really a great pity for their ancestors that a dog left over appeared in their family.
Gu Qingqing was depressed: "I don't want to go."
Gu Qinglie bit into a piece of dried radish, making a crunching sound. "Then don't go. Chu Dai's family seems to be in the southern military region. We all have leave this year, and he will probably go back to visit his family at the end of the year."
Gu Qingqing's eyes lit up instantly, "Brother, let's go see Gousheng!"
Gu Qinglie was overjoyed, "Brother, can I discuss something with you?"
"You say."
"Give your brothers some face outside and stop calling them dogs. We'll do as you please."
"Okay." Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "I want to eat salted vegetables."
"Hey, hey, hey, here you go." Gu Qinglie pushed the aluminum box over and said, "I guess you won't be back so soon. Send a letter home later, and I can just send it back tomorrow."
"good."
Gu Qingqing blinked and said, "Brother, there is something you definitely don't know."
"What is it?"
"Dad is the production captain now!"
Gu Qinglie: “…” Damn it.
This is even more incredible than Gousheng becoming a pilot.
After a while, Gu Qinglie finally found his voice, "My father...didn't bribe Master Xu, did he?"
Gu Qingqing laughed out loud, chewed the steamed bun in her mouth halfway and swallowed it, almost choking.
"I'm going to write in a letter to tell my father that you look down on him."
"No." Gu Qinglie handed over a glass of water and looked at the girl with some worry in his eyes.
This guy can make people shocked even when eating. How could Chu Dai like this?
Gu Qinglie scratched his hair and thought to himself, girl, you're on your own. I really can't help you.
After dinner, the brother and sister chatted for a while, and Gu Qinglie began to clear the table: "You should hang out more with Yu's wife and Lao Zhao's wife, so you don't get bored staying here."
"Also," Gu Qinglie took a step back, fearing he would be beaten, "Don't go under the scorching sun all the time. If Gousheng saw you, it would take him a long time to recover."
There’s no way, I can’t recognize it.
Gu Qingqing's face fell: "How good are you? You are still the same color of soy sauce."
Gu Qinglie laughed and carried the aluminum lunch box out of the room. He closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief.
This guy was absent-minded the whole morning. I heard that he followed Chu Dai to the health center, which was full of wounded soldiers who retreated from the battlefield last night. Most of them were probably scared by his sister.
Even though his sister had been spoiled and fearless since she was a child, she was still a girl after all, and would definitely get scared when she saw blood.
Gu Qinglie thought that he might as well find an opportunity for her to meet Chu Dai at night, so that she wouldn't have the energy to think about random things and have nightmares.
I couldn't sleep at noon, but since I had nothing to do, Gu Qingqing took out the candied green plums that she had brought for Gu Qinglie from the package. My grandma and mom made five jars in total.
She planned to give one can to Chu Dai and another can to Aunt Yu. Sister Anian would definitely want one can as well. The remaining two cans would be left for Goudan, who would just have to eat some.
After finishing her calculations, she went to the next room carrying two jars of candied green plums.
Xiaoxu from Aunt Yu's family had slept enough on the train. She followed Aunt Yu and made a lot of noise with her brother and sister. Aunt Yu thanked her and said, "I feel embarrassed to always eat your food, Qingqing. Tell me what you want to eat later and I'll make it for you."
She didn't plan to eat in the cafeteria and wanted to buy her own food and cook, and she thought this was more cost-effective.
Gu Qingqing smiled and replied, "Okay, then I'll thank you first!"
After chatting with Sun Shufen for a few words, she went to Xu Nian on the right.
Zhao Ze brought her food and went to the clinic. Xu Nian picked up a basket of her man's clothes, found a large basin, and planned to wash and dry them.
This is why it's not good to be without a woman by your side. There are many wounded soldiers coming off the battlefield and the health center is overwhelmed. It's extremely hot and stuffy here during the day, and you come back sweating and just throw your changed clothes there.
I really don't have time to wash them, so when I have nothing to wear after a while, I just turn them over and wear the other side.
Xu Nian smelled the foul smell and sighed loudly.
Gu Qingqing pinched her nose and stood beside her, leaning against the wall: "Sister Anian, if you need help, just call me and I'll get you some water."
This place is close to the desert and there is little water. Every morning, the soldiers have to fetch water from a lake ten miles away. They first fill the water tanks in the kitchen and then fill the several large vats in the kitchen of the military compound.
Xu Nian squatted in the yard and said softly, "Okay, let me clean these clothes first."
Gu Qingqing nodded, pinched her nose and squatted down to talk to her: "Sister Anian, the conditions here are so harsh, why did you think of joining the army?"
Xu Nian's eyes dimmed: "Originally, I shouldn't tell outsiders about these family matters, but you are not an outsider in my eyes."
"My mother-in-law thought I didn't do enough work at home, so she didn't give me food. She also withheld the allowance that Brother Ze sent back. I was so angry that I came to join the army."
Gu Qingqing was secretly shocked. From what she had known for the past two days, Xu Nian seemed to be a very gentle person. She didn't know how far she would have to be pushed to make her so angry that she would run away from home and come to the desert thousands of miles away.
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