Chapter 14

A roll on the bed

Back at the base, Chief Engineer Wang, the head of the mining area oil base, was waiting for Nie Bozhao.

"What's up, Mr. Nie? I heard you got married?" Chief Engineer Wang asked straight to the point, looking surprised. "You want to get married, why didn't you discuss it with the leaders of the mining area in advance? What if Sun Gong's family at Mulan Farm makes trouble?"

Xiao Chen also came to report on his work, so he said, "We are so lucky. Our new sister-in-law is not only beautiful, but she is also a college student."

Nie Bozhao not only felt that he was very lucky, he was actually frightened.

"Besides, my new sister-in-law has the best taste in the whole border." Xiao Chen raised his thumb and said, "In the whole border, except for my new sister-in-law, I haven't seen anyone recognize the model of my car."

"She is a college student, so it's normal for her to understand this," Nie Bozhao said with a smile.

"Not all college students understand this. For example, I don't know what Engineer Xiao's car is," Chief Engineer Wang added.

Nie Bozhao laughed and said, "Chief Engineer, although all classes in universities have been suspended and decentralized, there were still elective courses a few years ago. Wasn't it the policy at that time that all college students had to take several industry-related courses? I guess Comrade Xiao Chen learned some automotive knowledge at that time.

After all, self-made cars, like surpassing Britain and the United States, is the hope of leaders. When we were in college, oil refining was just an elective course for me, but now I am working in the oil fields.”

In this era, college students are a golden sign. Even in the current oil base, there are not many real college students.

"By the way, all our Jiefang trucks and Dongfeng cars, you are not allowed to take the keys at will now. You need approval to enter and exit, understand? The Russians and we had an accidental shooting at Tielekti two days ago. If the two sides do not just have a gunfight, once a war really breaks out, our oil base will be the first place to be bombed, so we must do a good job of concealment."

President Wang repeatedly instructed, especially staring at Xiao Chen closely, "Without my order, your jeep cannot leave the base again."

"Don't worry, leader. I guarantee it will be done," said Xiao Chen.

"As long as there is a driver, I never touch the steering wheel, and I will never privately dispatch vehicles to leave the designated route. The chief engineer can rest assured about this," said Nie Bozhao.

The oil fields in Umayyi border the Soviet Union. Two hundred miles ahead is Tacheng, and thirty kilometers ahead of Tacheng is the Soviet border. Over the years, the friction between the two countries has never stopped.

Moreover, there were several accidental discharges of guns, which almost led to war. Being on the border, Nie Bozhao was very familiar with the current situation.

He was born in 1940. His adoptive parents were both revolutionary fighters. He grew up with them and knew how difficult it was to build New China.

Today's oil fields do more than just produce oil. Although they are oil workers, they have to take time out every month for military training.

They are usually busy with oil production, but once a war breaks out, they immediately become logistics troops to ensure the oil needs of border fighters.

"Although it is said that someone dared to marry a Nie Gong, it is quite heroic and moving. I am very moved and I want to go and express my condolences to her. But Nie Gong, there is nothing wrong with her political standing, right?" the chief engineer took a deep puff of his cigarette and continued.

Of course, this is also the most important thing.

The oil base is a pure land. If we want to prevent outside revolutionaries from entering, we must ensure that the composition of the group is clean.

Nie Bozhao quickly confessed, "Her grandfather was a scholar in the last class of the Qing Dynasty. She was a stinking ninth grader, so she was advised to drop out of the university. But, Chief Engineer, I don't think her grandfather's status as a scholar has anything to do with her."

Chief Engineer Wang raised his head amid the smoke and said, "What we value in our oil fields is talent. As long as they are not Soviet revisionists, we can use any talent. I am naturally sour and smelly, and my favorite is the stinky old nine. Invite them to my house as guests some other day, and your sister-in-law will cook for you."

When Nie Bozhao returned home, the three children were lying all over the big kang. Because of the heat from the fireplace, their faces were red as if they were red apples.

There was a strong and fragrant smell in the kitchen, which was hard to describe. When the door was opened, there was no smell of mutton, which was common in frontier homes. Instead, there was a fresh fragrance like orange peel, which made Nie Bozhao feel refreshed.

After Chen Lina set the dining table, the three children sat up, rubbing their eyes.

Baked hot-dough pancakes, stewed yellow mutton soup, Erdan grabbed the pancake and stuffed it into his mouth. "Soft, mom's pancakes are really soft."

"Comrade Xiao Nie, you really don't want to eat?" Chen Lina served herself a bowl and looked at Nie Weimin with a smile.

He curled his lips and said, "I said I don't want to eat mutton. I hate eating mutton the most, huh." His teeth were still showing.

"Eat whatever your mother makes. Children should not be picky eaters." Nie Bozhao took a bite of mutton and a big radish, and then chewed a piece of biscuit. The three grandfathers were like three hungry wolves.

"Just take a bite. If you really don't like it, Mom won't say anything. Just take a couple of bites and go back to sleep."

Nie Weimin wanted to eat but didn't. He took the bowl and pretended to taste it. "Oh!"

"What's wrong?"

"It smells so good." I don't know how she cooked it, but the soup was milky white without any smell of mutton. It was fresh and sweet, with big, bright radish cubes in the soup, and thin shreds of garlic and scallions floating on top. Nie Weimin was no longer afraid of it being hot, and drank a big bowl of it in one gulp.

"This is real mutton. How come it doesn't smell at all?" Nie Bozhao smacked his lips, still not satisfied.

Chen Lina carried the bowl into the kitchen, pointed to the small bucket of oil in the corner and said, "Wash it first, then drain it with oil. After draining, stew it with seasoning. After stewing for a long time, the mutton smell will naturally dissipate."

"Comrade Xiao Chen, that's half a year's worth of cooking oil in my house, and you used it up in one go?" Nie Bozhao was almost going crazy.

The mutton in clear soup that I just ate turned out to be the final indulgence of all the cooking oil in the house?

He discovered on the train that she was a spendthrift, good at spending money, and a poor family with a rich road, so he just thought about it and let it go.

However, she had already used up half a year's worth of oil. The base did have clean oil, but Nie Bozhao's family used one barrel of oil every three months. Once this barrel was used up, they would have to wait three months before they would have oil again. What would they eat during these three months?

"Isn't the oil used to fry the meat in this enamel pot? Don't worry, this oil is cooked and seasoned, so it will be very delicious when used to bake pancakes."

When I opened the enamel pot, I found that it was indeed a large pot of hot oil.

Well, Nie Bozhao's heart, which had almost ascended to heaven, returned to his chest.

"Comrade Xiao Chen, this is the situation in my family. Do you really have no intention of leaving?" Nie Bozhao asked tentatively.

This girl is lavish, spends money like water, and is quick-witted and responsive. Up to now, Nie Bozhao has not figured out her intentions.

"No, not only am I not leaving, I still remember that we haven't even gotten married yet."

Sure enough, Chen Lina was relentless and was still after her marriage certificate.

Only with the evidence can she reveal her true colors. It hurts my head to pretend to be virtuous.

"The leader is not here, so I can't get my letter of introduction. Let's wait a little longer. Besides, the mountain is blocked by heavy snow, so we can't get out even if we want to. Why don't you investigate for a while? If you are really determined to stay here, we can get the certificate. How about that?"

Nie Bozhao felt a little guilty about telling a lie, but he was afraid that such a grown girl would not be able to settle down and raise a child for him.

After all, it's only the first day and I've already been exhausted. There will be many more difficulties and tests in the future.

Chen Lina recalled that in his previous life, in order to get the marriage certificate, he sent someone abroad to choose a ring, considered what words to engrave on it, and personally selected the venue for the proposal.

Oh, that's really thoughtful. I rolled my eyes at him and wondered why this guy was so stupid when he was young.

She rolled her eyes at him and threw down her chopsticks. "Then wash all the pots and bowls."

"You are not a woman, so shouldn't you wash the dishes? How can you ask me to wash the dishes for you?" Of course Nie Bozhao refused to wash the dishes. Of course, he had never washed dishes in his life.

"So it's always been like this. Whenever I cook, you wash the dishes. Even if Auntie is around, you have to wash them. We've already agreed on this. Why are you like this?"

Chen Lina was a little angry and stomped her feet in anger. Just as she finished speaking, she saw Nie Bozhao looking at her as if he was a ghost.

He said, "Okay, I'll wash it. I'll wash it."

He felt more and more that there was something wrong with this lesbian, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

Maybe his brain really isn't right. Nie Bozhao thought, forget it, I can't afford to offend him, so I'll take the blame.

The three children had been on the train for three days and were severely sleep deprived. When Chen Lina called them over, they quickly washed their feet and cleared their heads, then went back to their beds one by one and fell asleep in the dark.

I lay on the warm kang for a long time, but Nie Bozhao didn't come in.

Chen Lina then went out and found him in a small bedroom next to the living room, alone, wrapped in a military coat, reading a book on the bed.

The reason why people in the north have kangs is because the fire wall can be burned in winter to keep the kang warm.

The reason for supporting the bed is that it is comfortable to sleep on in summer.

However, it was the first time that Chen Lina had seen someone sleeping in bed in the middle of winter. When he saw her open the door, he immediately sat up and said, "Comrade Xiao Chen, it's so late, what are you doing here?"

"Aren't you afraid of freezing to death?"

"I won't feel cold anymore once I get used to it." Nie Bozhao was still wearing a big cotton jacket. The green leather military coat could only cover his upper body, but not his long legs. The ankles exposed outside were all blue.

"Are you so afraid of sleeping with me?" Chen Lina had just come out from next door and her hair was standing up from the cold. She didn't believe that Nie Bozhao wasn't cold.

Nie Bozhao said earnestly, "Comrade Xiao Chen, we haven't gotten married yet, so it's not a good idea for us to sleep together."

Chen Lina rolled her eyes at him and said, "Don't worry, your three sons are asleep, I won't eat you. But shouldn't you talk to me about how you, a man who has been working for seven years, have nothing at home? How did your ex-wife die? Why did someone throw paint on your curtains as soon as you walked in? Why do I find all these things so weird?"

Nie Bozhao never told her these secrets throughout his life until his death.

When he met her in his previous life, she was the CEO of Zhao's Real Estate. She was elegant, talkative, cheerful, humorous and witty, which was completely different from what she is now.

Chen Lina had heard all kinds of legends about him and was extremely curious about his past.

And now, the relationship between this revolutionary couple can force him to tell all these things.

She could see through everything about Nie Bozhao, but Nie Bozhao knew nothing about her. Chen Lina found it very interesting.

Half an hour later, after Chen Lina's unremitting efforts, Nie Bozhao finally lay down on the big kang.

The kang was at least four meters wide and covered with sheep felt. When people lay down on it, their butts would be burned.

"My child's mother and I were college students in the same year, but her family was from Zhang County next door to us. After graduating from the Industrial University, we went to the oil base together. Didn't we have technical cooperation with the Russians at that time? The Russians supported us in developing our own oil fields. She and I were the first batch of workers to come to our oil base. I studied mechanical oil production technology, and she worked in logistics."

"Well, a revolutionary couple gave birth to three sons, not bad. So how did she die?"

"She brought six experts from Beijing to the front line for investigation, but their vehicles were destroyed and people died, and they were all gone," said Nie Bozhao.

"Eight people in the car, all gone? And there are experts from Beijing, it's a major accident."

"Except the driver, no one else could be rescued," said Nie Bozhao.

"When my mother died, she also said that dad was not allowed to get married again until I was 20 years old. Humph." The smart little Nie Weimin was not asleep and interrupted with this sentence.

Chen Lina counted on her fingers and concluded that if that were the case, Nie Bozhao had indeed fulfilled his promise to his grandson, Zhuan Nan, in his previous life. He did not marry for fifteen years and raised the child alone.

I don’t know what Sun Zhuannan was thinking when he died, and I don’t know if she knew what kind of path her sons, whom she neglected to discipline, would take in the future.

The oath that Nie Bozhao made to his deceased wife is not easy to break.

"Weimin, if you don't go to sleep now, go to the small bedroom next door." said Nie Bozhao.

Chen Lina thinks it's okay. "If you don't want to sleep, just close your eyes. When my mother was young, what she liked most was to lie on the kang with her family, turn off the lights, and chat with each other."

"I will listen to Comrade Xiao Chen." Nie Weimin was very proud.