On the way to the Tang family, Mu Huaixi learned about Tang Xiaotang's life experience. His mother ran away with her and someone ten years ago. Tang Dashu had been looking for her and her mother for a long time. He only married a widower a few years ago and had a son.
But at the beginning of winter this year, Tang Xiaotang knelt at the door of the Tang family with a letter, saying that her mother had passed away and she came back to honor Tang Dashu. Tang Dashu was so moved that he burst into tears, but his wife was unwilling.
"There was a big fuss at the beginning, and it was the elders in the brigade who persuaded Tang Xiaotang to stay. I didn't expect something like this would happen," the brigade leader's youngest son sighed.
Mu Huaixi saw that he and Xiao Gao could chat together. Both of them had a pair of protruding ears, so they heard all the news from the village and the group, and they were equally excited to talk about gossip.
When they arrived, the Tang couple had already been persuaded to leave. However, Tang Dashu glanced at his daughter lying on the stretcher, and with red eyes, he was about to rush over to hit his wife again. Xiao Gao and Xiao Hu also rushed over to stop him. Tang's wife, Li Hua, also fell to the ground and rolled around in the yard. She rolled on the ground and cursed, "If I have the intention to hurt her, I will be reborn as an animal in my next life!!"
"Dad..." Tang Xiaotang didn't know when she woke up. She forced herself to sit up, her face frighteningly pale. "Dad, don't blame Auntie. It was me who lost Dahei. I went to find him by myself."
Tang Dashu looked at the bump on her forehead and ran over anxiously, "Girl, are you okay?"
Mu Huaixi frowned, while Xiao Gao breathed a sigh of relief, "Now that he's awake, let's leave."
Tang Dashu hurried over to thank them and invited them to stay for dinner. Xiao Gao and his friends kept declining and it took them a long time to get away. When they were about to leave the village, Xiao Gao suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "It was so chaotic just now that I forgot to give Dahei to the fellow villagers."
"Dahei has already gone back to the shed to eat grass," Xiao Hu looked at Xiao Gao with contempt, and the two started fighting like fighting cocks.
Mu Huaixi thought of the goat and found it funny. The Tang couple had a very fierce quarrel, and the chickens in the yard were huddled together and trembling. Only Dahei walked into the shed with his tail wagging calmly, not even paying attention to anyone.
It didn't react when the Tang couple quarreled, and it continued to eat grass with its head down when Tang Xiaotang woke up. But when she left a small packet of medicine for Tang Xiaotang, it rushed over excitedly, squeezed in between the two of them, sniffed the paper packet, and then left with a snort.
"It really has become a spirit!"
Because of this delay, it was already past lunchtime when Mu Huaixi and the others arrived at Hulu Pass. Cang Kaiyu finally picked them up and brought a box lunch for Mu Huaixi. "Sister-in-law, you can eat slowly at the guard post. Your luggage will be checked soon."
Mu Huaixi found out that the other party had been waiting for her for the whole morning, and she felt embarrassed when she saw that she was the only one among the three who got a lunch box.
But her frown and slightly awkward gaze caught Cang Kaiyu's eye, which was a critical scrutiny. Communicator Xiao Cang rubbed his hands nervously, wondering where he had fallen short. He and Xiao Gao were both communicators, but Xiao Gao was in the regiment, while he was in the Fourth Battalion, primarily responsible for Ying Mingcheng's affairs.
"Sister-in-law, we'll be going to the restaurant soon. Deputy Company Commander Zhu must have saved some food for us." Xiao Gao was quite familiar with her and quickly handed her a chair. "You can only eat here. Xiao Cang will take you to the family compound later. I'll send all your things over there this afternoon."
Mu Huaixi nodded. Ying Mingcheng had already told her the procedure before. The luggage and herbs she had left in the car were taken away for inspection, and a female soldier would come over to check her personal belongings soon.
Such an inspection is necessary. Mu Huaixi will not have any bad emotions because of the necessary procedures. In fact, when she saw the guard post set up at Hulu Pass, she was deeply shocked.
Two high mountains sit on both sides of the sentry box like door gods. The road behind the sentry box extends to the gap between the two mountains and suddenly narrows, only allowing one car to pass. The car that drives in is like being sucked in by the purple gold gourd!
Hearing her say this, Cang Kaiyu couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked, "Comrade Mu, have you been here before? There really is such a saying in Hulukou!"
According to local legend, the Monkey King was nearly refined after being swallowed by the Purple Gold Gourd. Afterwards, Laozi came to apologize, but the Monkey King refused and snatched the gourd away from the clouds. He landed in the mountains and turned into this treasure land. The two children, Gold Horn and Silver Horn, came down to look for the Purple Gold Gourd, but when they saw that the gourd had changed into a human form and they couldn't take it back, they also turned into two mountains and stayed near the gourd.
"The two mountains behind our sentry box are called Golden Horn Mountain and Silver Horn Mountain." Cang Kaiyu was also amazed when he first heard about it. Seeing that Comrade Mu was listening attentively, he took on the spirit of storytelling, "The Treasure Gourd Lake next to it is the Heaven-Transforming Liquid that leaks from the Purple Gold Gourd. Anyone who falls into it will be melted, leaving no trace of their body!"
"Also, whether you're on Golden Horn, Silver Horn, or Gourd Mountain, you can't call out other people's names. If you hear someone calling your name on the mountain, you absolutely can't answer, or you'll be sucked away by the Purple Gold Gourd!"
"Comrade Mu, if you go up the mountain, you must go with someone else. Don't go alone."
"Okay, I'll remember that." Mu Huaixi put down the empty lunch box and thanked him again, "Thank you, Xiao Cang."
The legends that Cang Kaiyu told were quite interesting. The description of the lake was obviously meant to scare children and tell them not to go into the water.
However, thanks to these legends, she was even more curious about the treasure land behind Hulu Pass, and she also looked forward to living in the family compound. "Xiao Cang, tell me about the family compound."
Cang Kaiyu responded, "You can see the family compound after entering Hulu Pass. It's called the family compound, but there's actually no wall around it. It's just what everyone calls it."
"There are four four-story buildings in the family compound. One is temporarily used as a guesthouse, and two are already occupied." Xiao Cang counted on her fingers and smiled at her, "But Deputy Battalion Commander Ying's assignment wasn't a building, but a two-story building newly built this year. There are ten buildings in total, and only those at the battalion commander level and above can live there."
"There are seven or eight families living in the small building now. Deputy Battalion Commander Ying didn't apply for family members to accompany the troops before. The remaining buildings are not in good locations, don't have glass, and the yard needs to be cleaned up. Comrade Mu, you will have to stay in the guesthouse for the next few days."
Mu Huaixi nodded. Ying Mingcheng had also told her about this, but he rarely went to the family compound and didn't know what the remaining small buildings looked like. He let her choose by herself and entrusted all the new houses to her.
"The small buildings are all made of blue bricks, which are better than the materials used in our dormitory. When you have chosen one, I will call the brothers to help. Whether it is installing windows or expanding the building, we can do it."
"You guys also know how to build a house," Mu Huaixi was a little surprised, "You're really capable."
Xiao Cang felt a little embarrassed by the praise, scratched his head and replied, "That's nothing, isn't that what my uncles and aunts do at home? They tend to the fields during the busy farming season and go out to find work during the slack season, building houses, carpentry, and everything in between!"
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