The boat that Lin's father and mother were on arrived at around eight o'clock, so Lin Wei was woken up by Zong Shao before half past seven.
She went to bed early last night again. She was still sleepy when she was woken up. She half-closed her eyes and looked at Zong Shao for a while, then turned over and prepared to continue sleeping. But after a few seconds of sleep, Zong Shao said, "If you don't get up, you will be late to pick up your parents."
Due to lack of sleep, Lin Wei's brain was a little slow. After thinking for half a minute, she remembered that her parents were coming, so she had to rely on her willpower to get up.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Zong Shao said as he came out of the bathroom, "There's soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table."
As the Chinese New Year approaches, the variety of breakfast in state-owned restaurants has increased a lot. Usually there are only steamed buns, steamed buns, noodles and rice noodles. Recently, soy milk and fried dough sticks have been added, and occasionally tofu pudding is also available.
Lin Wei picked up the dough stick, broke it in half, took a bite and asked, "What time is it?"
"Seven thirty-five, we'll leave around forty?"
Lin Wei nodded and chewed the dough sticks quickly, trying to finish them before 40. But she ate in a hurry and couldn't finish the soy milk, so she put it down and said she would drink it when she came back.
Zong Shao responded, went to the back to call the two children back, then locked the door and set off.
The military prohibits the use of official vehicles for private purposes, but due to the inconvenient transportation on the island, the military does not completely prohibit officers from using vehicles for private purposes. As long as they apply in advance and pay for the gas themselves, they will be fine. In addition, if the vehicle breaks down during use, they will also have to pay for the repairs themselves.
The fuel cost is not expensive and it is totally affordable for traveling around. But it’s hard to say how much the repair cost will be. If you’re lucky, you don’t have to replace parts and the army can repair it. If you’re unlucky and it’s a broken old part, it’s hard to say how much the money will be.
Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, few people would apply for private use. But today the person he wanted to pick up was his father-in-law and mother-in-law, so Zong Shao applied in advance and drove the jeep back last night.
The distance from the family quarters to the port is actually not very close. It takes about twenty minutes to walk there, but it is faster to drive there. Before 7:50, the family of four appeared at the naval port dock.
Today is Sunday and the soldiers are not training, but the dock is not cold at all. As the Chinese New Year is approaching, many people are visiting relatives or returning home, and it is not just Lin Wei's family who come to pick people up.
They all live in the family quarters, so no matter how close they are to each other, they all know each other. When they meet, they can't help but exchange a few pleasantries and ask each other which relatives are visiting.
In fact, this question is pure nonsense. The New Year is almost here, and the only people who will go out at this time are my parents.
But there are also differences for parents. For example, other people who come to pick up the children are basically the man’s parents, while Lin Wei and her friends are going to pick up her parents. Because of this difference, people looked at them with a little more curiosity.
Lin Wei knew what they were curious about. The mainstream idea these days is to celebrate the New Year in one's hometown, especially with one's son. Those with more old-fashioned ideas would not allow daughters to return to their parents' home on New Year's Eve.
It cannot be said that Shicheng has no such tradition at all. For example, in the brigade where Lin Wei's family lives, girls are driven out on New Year's Eve. But her parents are not like that. In the years since her mother-in-law passed away, she has spent the New Year at her parents' home with her two children.
But she wrote a letter to invite her parents to come all the way to Yazhou Island to celebrate the New Year, not because they had celebrated it together in previous years, so they had to celebrate it together this year as well. It’s because although she hopes she can survive, she is not sure what the future will be like, so she wants to take advantage of the New Year to reunite with her family.
It was just that Zong Shao had taken more than half a month's leave in the middle of the year, and it would be inconvenient to ask for another one at the end of the year, so after some discussion, Lin Wei wrote a letter to invite them to come to the island to celebrate the New Year.
When writing the letter, Lin Wei was afraid that her parents would not want to come, so she praised Yazhou Island over and over again, saying how the four seasons were like spring, suitable for wintering, and that there was a lot of abalone, sea cucumber, shark's fin, and bird's nest to eat.
After reading the letter, Zong Shao was silent for a moment and asked, "You can eat whatever you want, are you sure?"
"Abalone is easy to eat, and sea cucumbers are often sold, so it's not a scam." Lin Wei argued, "Besides, my parents came all the way here, they must want to see us, these are not important."
…
While recalling the past, Lin Wei heard a "woohoo" sound coming from afar. After waiting for about a few minutes, a military supply ship appeared in sight.
When Mingming saw the ship, he jumped up and waved his arms excitedly.
Ruirui also walked forward a little, wanting to see more clearly, but was stopped by Lin Wei after a few steps. She was afraid that he would fall into the sea. But Ruirui didn't need to go any closer. As the distance got closer, the ship in his field of vision became larger and larger. Finally, he took several steps back and raised his head to see the big guy in front of him more clearly.
After the ship docked, it took a few minutes before the hatch was opened and the families of the officers who had arrived on the island on the supply ship disembarked one after another.
Lin Wei's parents were walking in the middle, carrying large and small bags in their hands. After seeing them, Lin's mother stopped, hung the things in her right hand to the other side, and raised her hand to wave.
"Grandma! That's Grandma!" Mingming shouted as soon as he saw Lin's mother, jumping and waving his hands.
Lin Wei and Zong Shao also rushed over. After her parents got off the boat, they took the things from their hands and asked, "Why did you bring so many things?"
"Is that all?" Mother Lin handed a light bag to her daughter and complained, "If your father wasn't so young, I would have been able to pack two more bags if I asked him to take more things and he would have kept complaining about this and that.
Father Lin, who got off the boat later, was very dissatisfied when he heard his wife's words: "What are you talking about, old woman? Come and try to carry something weighing more than 30 kilograms!"
"Let me take it." Zong Shao said, taking the bag from Lin's father's shoulder, and then reaching out to take the remaining package from his mother-in-law.
Mother Lin declined, "No, I can take it."
"Mom, let him take it. He is very strong." Lin Wei assigned a task to Zong Shao.
Mother Lin turned around and saw Zong Shao lifting the bag of grain that Father Lin was carrying with one hand. She handed the package to him doubtfully, and did not forget to scold her husband: "Look at you, you are not even half as good as Xiao Zong."
Father Lin was so angry that he fell backwards, thinking, how old is he and how old am I? Besides, he is a soldier, isn't it normal for him to be strong? But in front of his daughter and son-in-law, he gave her face and just waved to his two grandchildren: "Mingming, come here, Ruirui has grown taller again."
Mingming, who was accused of being taller, said, "Grandpa, I'm not your brother!"
Rarity said, "I'm Rarity."
Father Lin: "Ah? So, you two brothers look more and more alike."
"Come on, you're talking as if you've recognized it before." Lin's mother said, pulling out a few candies from her pocket and handing them to the two children, "These are specially brought by grandma for you."
Children all love to eat candies, and Mingming Ruirui is no exception. He happily said, "Thank you, grandma." Father Lin straightened his chest after listening to this. He waited for a long time but didn't hear the second half of the sentence, so he coughed lightly.
"Mingming Ruirui, aren't you going to thank grandpa?" Lin Wei reminded, "Grandpa and grandma are together."
What this means is that the candy was given by both grandparents.
Mingming Ruirui suddenly realized and thanked them again. Seeing her husband's smug look, Lin's mother muttered to her daughter, "The older you get, the more you care."
Lin Wei smiled: "You two were together originally."
After the greetings, they walked out to the dock.
He was chattering non-stop on the way, asking his grandparents like a little adult when they set out, whether the journey was fun, and whether he was tired.
The question made Lin's mother feel relieved and praised: "You are obviously becoming more and more sensible."
Mingming said proudly: "I am already a big boy!"
After hearing this, Lin Wei whispered to her mother, "Mom, don't praise him. He's going to be so proud of himself."
Lin's mother disagreed with her daughter's point of view and said, "Of course we should praise children for being sensible."
Lin Wei thought, I was so sensible when I was a child, but I never heard you praise me like this, it's true that grandparents are close to each other.
The mother and daughter were chatting and laughing with the two children, while Lin's father was walking with Zong Shao and asking him some questions about his work. Although he had never been a soldier, he had been aware of relevant news after his daughter married Zong Shao, and the questions he asked were not too superficial.
As they were talking, several people left the dock, and Zong Shao led his men to the docked military jeep.
Knowing that Zong Shao came by car, Lin's mother was very happy, but she still said angrily: "It's such a long way, why do we have to drive here?"
Father Lin thought more deeply and asked, "Is it okay for you to drive over here?"
"It's okay. I've applied in advance. I can just pay for the gas myself," Zong Shao said.
When Father Lin heard this, he knew that his son-in-law was reliable and nodded with satisfaction. Mother Lin then asked, "Is the gas expensive?"
"Not expensive." Zong Shao gave a number.
The gas fee was indeed not expensive, but Lin's mother still reminded him, "When you get home, you should return the car as soon as possible. It's not good to use the army's car carelessly."
"I applied for two days and you can drive back tomorrow morning. Weiwei and I will take you out for a walk in the afternoon." Zong Shao said as he invited everyone to get in the car.
Small cars are not common these days. Even Lin's father has only seen his leaders driving one when they went to the city for meetings, but he himself has never sat in one. The same goes for Lin's mother. She had only seen it from a distance and had never touched or sat on it.
Therefore, when getting in the car, both of them were a little cautious, not because they were afraid of bumping into something, but because they were afraid of damaging the car.
Lin Wei saw it and said, "Actually, the ride in a small car is similar to that of a school bus, but it's a little more stable when driving, and not as shaky."
Mother Lin thought that was still different. The bus cost only 30 cents per ride and you could take it whenever you wanted. But the car was different. It was rare to see one on the road. However, she still relaxed a little.
Soon, the jeep started moving, still taking the same road that Lin Wei took when she first came to join the army, but the roadside was green then, but now the grass on the roadside was withered and yellow.
Mother Lin looked at it for a while and said, "This road looks similar to the one outside our brigade."
"They're all roads, so of course they're similar," said Lin Wei.
Mingming interrupted and asked, "Where is our brigade?"
Lin Wei said: "It's my grandmother's house."
Mingming said "oh", then thought of his cousin at his grandmother's house and asked, "Grandma, why didn't my cousin come?"
"They wanted to celebrate the New Year at home, so they didn't come," said Lin's mother.
Mingming asked doubtfully: "Can't you come to our house to celebrate the New Year?"
Lin's mother pointed at the luggage at her feet and said, "It's too far. Grandpa and grandma have so many things with them. We can't take them with us."
"Okay." Mingming sighed in disappointment.
As they chatted, the jeep drove into the family quarters, still entering from the row house side. Mother Lin looked at the houses outside and said, "Your family quarters have a nice environment."
Lin's father said, "After all, it's a military compound, where do you live?" The second half of the sentence was asked to Lin Wei and Zong Shao.
Lin Wei pointed to the front and said, "This is a row of houses, with several families sharing one yard. We live in an old house inside, with a separate door and a separate household."
"We can see the sea from our house." Mingming interrupted.
“Really?”
Mingming nodded and said, "Yes, there is a beach in front of our house, we can build a house. Grandma, can you build a house?"
"Then grandma really won't do that."
Mingming patted his chest and said, "It's okay, I can teach you, I'm very good at building houses."
"We're here." Zong Shao said as he slowly braked the car.
Mother Lin looked up and saw that although the houses here were not as new as the ones in front, they were all brick and tile houses, and each had its own door and looked spacious, so she asked, "Which house do you live in?"
Lin Wei opened the car door and got out, pointing to the front and saying, "That's our home."
Mother Lin looked in the direction she pointed and asked, "How big is your house?"
"The upstairs and downstairs together are almost the same as our house, but there are no rooms downstairs, only two rooms upstairs." Speaking of the old house, Lin Wei directly arranged the accommodation for the night, "You sleep with me tonight, and let Zong Shao and Dad stay in one room."
Mingming hadn't heard his mother mention him and his brother, so he quickly asked, "What about me and my brother? Where do we sleep?"
"You can sleep wherever you want and with whomever you want." Lin Wei said with a smile.
"Then I want to sleep with my mom and grandma," Mingming said without hesitation, not forgetting to complain, "Grandma, you know, Dad is a bad guy. When he's at home, he won't let my brother and I sleep with mom."
Zong Shao took down his luggage and closed the car door. Hearing this, he slapped his son on the head and asked, "When did I stop you from sleeping with your mother?"
"Yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before yesterday... and so many, many days, you didn't let me sleep with mom!" Mingming started counting immediately. The more he counted, the angrier he became. He continued to complain, "Dad not only doesn't let my brother and I sleep with mom, but he also sleeps with mom every day! As soon as mom sleeps with dad, she has to sleep in in the morning..."
Lin Wei's face turned red instantly, she coughed twice, and signaled to Zong Shao with her eyes: Take care of your son!
After receiving the signal from his daughter-in-law, Zong Shao moved his right hand from Mingming's head down and directly covered his son's mouth.
Mingming opened his eyes wide, raised his hand and pulled his father's hand down, asking loudly: "Wuwuwuwuwuwu!!"
Zong Shao: "Shut up!"
Mr. and Mrs. Lin: “…” We didn’t hear anything.
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