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Not only did Meng Zheng not wait for his mother to save him, but the next day when Ye Min woke up and learned about this, she punished him by making him sweep the floor for a month.

Last year, when Ye Min had just returned from the hospital after giving birth to An An, Meng Zheng spent some time cleaning the land to improve his performance. But after Ye Min left the hospital, he was not so active in his work and would forget about it every now and then.

As time went by, forgetting to do the job every now and then became just sweeping it when I remembered. It has been almost three months since Meng Zheng last worked.

People are always like this. They don't feel it when they are working every day, but once they stop for a long time, they feel reluctant to pick it up again. What's more, Meng Zheng didn't do this voluntarily at all.

But Ye Min didn't care whether he was willing or not. He dared to drink secretly at the age of four. What would happen if he was two years older?

He must be severely punished!

Children aged three or four tend to remember food but not beatings. Ordinary punishments are unlikely to make them learn their lesson. It is better to work. The deadline is one month, so there is no need to worry that he will be punished today and forget it tomorrow.

It doesn’t matter if she forgets, the work has to be done anyway, and it will save her and Meng Cheng some trouble.

Because of the training scheduled in the morning and time constraints, sweeping the floor was scheduled for the evening.

After dinner that day, Meng Cheng went to wash the dishes, while Ye Min played with her daughter while urging Meng Zheng to work.

Meng Zheng's mouth was pouting, and it was obvious that he was unwilling in his heart. He looked back every few steps as he walked into the house with the broom, hoping that his mother would soften her heart for once.

But he was destined to be disappointed. Ye Min was not only unyielding, but also kept adding to his workload: "Sweep the floor more thoroughly. I will check it after you finish sweeping. If there is garbage, you have to sweep it again. Do you understand?"

"I know!" Meng Zheng replied reluctantly.

They were having a great time here. Liang Juan from next door heard the noise and came out with her rice bowl to ask, "What is Xiao Fengzheng doing? Why are you suddenly asking him to sweep the floor and watching him so closely?"

There was nothing to hide about this matter. Ye Min said, "Didn't Meng Cheng get a promotion? Yesterday, the two of us drank some bamboo wine. After dinner, Meng Zheng took advantage of us not noticing and drank the remaining wine in the bamboo tube with water."

Yesterday, Feng Xuewen's comrades invited him to dinner, and his family went over to eat. They didn't know about this. Liang Juan was surprised when she heard it: "Really? Little Feng Kite is so brave?"

"Of course it's true. Not only did he drink, he got drunk. When he was drunk, he acted like a drunkard and went crazy. Last night, Meng Cheng was so angry that he grabbed him and beat him up!"

Thinking of Meng Zheng covering his buttocks and showing off to her in the morning, Ye Min felt angry and amused. But in the end, anger prevailed, and she said, "I have discussed with Meng Cheng and asked him to reflect on himself for a month."

After saying that, he shouted into the room: "Meng Zheng, hurry up, don't hide in there and play! And don't give me a perfunctory attitude, I'm going to come in and check it out later!"

Meng Zheng shouted from inside the house, "I'm not hiding! I swept the floor very cleanly!"

"That's fine."

Ye Min raised his hands to Liang Juan and said, "This is how we should deal with him!"

"You still have a way. Next time Dongdong dares to make me angry, I will make him work." Liang Juan smiled, holding the bowl and walked around to the Meng family's yard, sat next to Ye Min and asked, "Do you know what happened to Captain He's family?"

Captain He is Wei Chunhua's husband, and his home is next to Ding Yang's.

However, Captain He is not as noisy as Wei Chunhua. The first three of his four children are daughters of noble families. Because their parents favor boys over girls and treat them differently, they are all very sensible.

The eldest daughter of the He family is only twelve years old, but she can already wash the clothes of the whole family, including Captain He, and she can also cook well. The two younger daughters also help their older sister with housework and take care of their younger brother.

So after Wei Chunhua was sent back to her hometown, there was no chaos in the He family. Captain He still had hot meals and clean clothes to wear when he returned home.

The slightly more noisy member of the family is the fourth child, the only boy in the He family. His full name is Guoqing and his nickname is Dabao.

He Guoqing was indeed the baby of the family. When Wei Chunhua was around, she doted on him so much that his sisters had to give in to him. The only person he was afraid of at home was Captain He.

When Wei Chunhua returned to her hometown, she was most reluctant to leave He Guoqing. Of course, He Guoqing was also the one who was most reluctant to leave her among her children. According to her, she wanted to bring her son back to her hometown.

But after careful consideration, Wei Chunhua finally did not take her son away.

It wasn't that she couldn't leave her son behind, nor that she thought it was better to leave the child in the army, but that she always had the thought of returning in her heart.

She felt that after she married Captain He, she had been working diligently and conscientiously. Although she had no contributions to the family, she had worked hard. Captain He would not be so cruel as to let her stay in his hometown forever.

Moreover, it was she who kept the house in order, which allowed Captain He to live such a comfortable life. After he returned to his hometown, the house would definitely be in chaos without a hostess.

By then, Captain He would have to take her back whether he wanted to or not.

But Wei Chunhua forgot one thing. The orderliness of this home might be inseparable from her management. But when she was there, she often asked her daughter to do the housework. All the girls in the He family could do it.

And because she favored boys over girls and often beat and scolded her daughters, after she left, none of the girls missed her. As for her little son Dabao, who was the apple of her eye, he didn't think much of her after his sister took care of his food, clothing, housing and transportation.

So after Wei Chunhua returned to her hometown, the He family not only did not become chaotic, but Captain He's life became more comfortable because she was no longer quarreling with others every other day.

So more than half a year passed, and Captain He never thought about bringing her back. Even after receiving her letter of apology, he never softened his heart.

Therefore, during the past six months, except when she went to see Qian Xiaoyun and occasionally heard He Guoqing next door throwing a tantrum at home with his three sisters trying to comfort him, Ye Min actually didn't think much about his family.

The wives of soldiers in the compound rarely talked about their family. In the first two months after Wei Chunhua returned, people often said that Captain He was cruel and the children were pitiful. But as time went by, fewer and fewer people said such things.

The reason was the same as why Captain He was unwilling to bring Wei Chunhua back. Everyone found that even without Wei Chunhua, the He family was not in much chaos, and several girls even lived much better than when she was there.

In this case, who would stand up for Wei Chunhua? The girls gradually became cheerful, and the He family gradually became an ordinary family in the family compound, so naturally there was nothing to discuss.

Although Liang Juan was well-informed, she was not one of those military wives in the compound who liked to gossip. Suddenly, she mentioned the He family. Ye Min asked in confusion, "What happened to Captain He's family?"

Liang Juan kept the secret and asked, "Didn't Captain He go back to his hometown a few days ago? Do you know why he went back?"

Ye Min did know that Captain He had returned to his hometown. Before he left, he had approached Qian Xiaoyun and his wife, hoping that they could help look after the children. As for why he was going back... Ye Min shook his head and asked, "What was he going back for?"

Although the houses in front, behind, and to the left of Ye Min's house were occupied, the residents in front of him faced the same direction as his house, so few people came to the backyard. The residents to the right built their houses facing the right, and the backyard facing her house was also there. The residents of Feng's house were a little far away, so it was difficult to hear what they were saying, so there was no need to worry.

Theoretically, Liang Juan could speak freely in Ye Min's yard, but she still looked up and around. Seeing that no one was coming, she approached Ye Min and said in a low voice, "Divorce!"

"Divorce?" Ye Min was shocked. "It's been less than a year since Wei Chunhua returned to her hometown. Why is she getting divorced all of a sudden?"

"It's been less than a year since I returned to my hometown and I can't resist her hooking up with other people!" Liang Juan curled her lips and looked down on Wei Chunhua.

Ye Min asked, "Hooking up with someone? What did Captain He say?"

Ye Min wholeheartedly agreed with Wei Chunhua being sent back to her hometown, but from a woman's perspective, Captain He was indeed a very cruel person.

Although Wei Chunhua had many problems, they had been married for ten years and had four children. If she made a mistake, he would send her away without any hesitation, which showed that Captain He had no feelings for her.

Moreover, for ordinary couples, even if the wife is confused and the husband is afraid that she will cause trouble and sends her back to her hometown, as long as they want to continue living, they will not send only the wife back. Even if they can't take all four children with them, they will at least take one or two of them back, right?

Perhaps it was not Captain He's decision to go back alone. Wei Chunhua also wanted to use the child as a bargaining chip, but Ye Min felt that when he nodded and agreed to this, he might have already thought about divorce in his heart.

Especially after learning that they were divorced, thinking back on these things, the more Ye Min thought about it, the more she felt that Captain He's decision at the time was worthy of scrutiny, and it was hard not to make conspiracy theories.

As for the fact that Wei Chunhua cheated on her husband, if it was Captain He who said it, Ye Min felt that the truth needed to be verified. After all, Wei Chunhua was not around, so wasn't he the one who had the final say on the truth of the divorce?

Liang Juan, however, did not think there was any conspiracy and felt very sorry for Captain He: "Although Captain He said that, it is definitely true. You don't know that Wei Chunhua was caught in bed with someone. I heard that half of the team saw it that day. If not, would his family have called him so anxiously to ask him to come back?"

Although Ye Min couldn't help but speculate, she couldn't help but believe it after hearing this. Catching someone cheating in bed is different from making groundless accusations of infidelity. Since Captain He dared to say that half of the people in his hometown saw it, even if there was some water in his words, it must be 80% to 90% true.

Ye Min recalled that Captain He was not too tall, but he was not too tall either, probably about 1.75 meters. He also had a decent appearance and worked out regularly, so he looked very strong, neither fat nor thin. Except for his dark skin, there was nothing wrong with him.

In contrast, Wei Chunhua’s facial features are not ugly, but perhaps because she works too hard, her skin is not white, and she has wrinkles between her eyebrows. She looks a few years older than her age.

When the couple stood together, it would be exaggerated to say that their generations were different, but Wei Chunhua did look older than Captain He.

People are sensory animals. Although they will consider many conditions when choosing a partner, when two people with similar conditions are placed in front of them, most people will give priority to the one who looks better.

Captain He's personal qualifications are not that outstanding in the army, but in their hometown, he is definitely far ahead of his peers, and he has a good figure and appearance. Ye Min does not think that Wei Chunhua can find anyone with better qualifications than him in her hometown.

Perhaps Captain He's ruthlessness made her feel discouraged and wanted to seek comfort from other men. However, the living style was strictly controlled at that time. Once such a thing was discovered, she would be stabbed in the back at best, and demoted at worst.

What's more, Wei Chunhua has four children. She may not care about her daughter, but she can't completely give up on her son and not consider him at all, right?

Ye Min thought about it over and over again, but still couldn't figure out why Wei Chunhua cheated on her.

Liang Juan felt that Ye Min was still too young and had not experienced enough: "Why would you need so many reasons to be an adulterer? Isn't it enough that you can't stand the loneliness? In the final analysis, Wei Chunhua is too frivolous and not serious enough. Who among the military wives in our compound has not been separated from their husbands and raised their children alone at home for a few years? If others can endure it, why can't she? She was sent back because she made a mistake. It would be fine if she didn't reflect on it, but she caused such a thing. Now her reputation is ruined and her family is gone!"

Ye Min thought about it and felt that what Liang Juan said made sense. It was not the first time she had seen a man cheating on his wife even though she was pretty and gentle, and the woman he married was not very good-looking.

She never really understood the reason, but she forgot that there is no logic to cheating.

Ye Min gave up her search for the truth and asked, "What will happen to Wei Chunhua and her man? Is that man breaking the law?"

"It's said that Captain He is a good person. Not only did he not pursue the adulterer, he also divorced Wei Chunhua in a friendly manner," Liang Juan frowned, "Wei Chunhua and that man are probably going to get together."

Ye Min was confused: "Get together?"

Liang Juan explained, "Although Captain He did not pursue their adultery, it is a fact that they were caught in bed. If they do not want to be sent down to labor reform, then the only way is to get married. With the marriage certificate, everything can be turned around. Even if people stab them in the back for the rest of their lives, it is better than being sent down to labor reform, don't you think?"

"That's right, but..." Ye Min felt that something was wrong and asked, "Would Captain He be willing to see them get married?"

"What can we do if he doesn't want to?" Liang Juan sighed. "No matter what Wei Chunhua did, they have been married for so many years. And even if we don't consider the relationship between husband and wife, they still have four children. He certainly doesn't want his children to have a mother who was sent to labor reform."

That makes sense.

Ye Min thought for a moment and asked, "But how do you know so much about his family? If he doesn't want his children to be criticized, shouldn't he keep these things secret?"

"He really didn't want to say it, but which man would feel good about this? Didn't Lao Feng and I go to Zhang's house for dinner last night? Battalion Commander He has a good relationship with Lao Zhang, so he also came over. He sat down and drank. After getting drunk, he hugged Lao Zhang and cried, and told him all these things."

As if she remembered the image of Captain He hugging Lao Zhang and crying, Liang Juan said with a look of pity: "It is said that men do not shed tears easily. Captain He must be sad this time. What is going on?"

Liang Juan's explanation basically made sense, and Ye Min had to admit that she might have really been lying, and Captain He was not that scheming.

After admitting this, Ye Min thought seriously about what happened to the He family and said, "Actually, divorce is not necessarily a bad thing. In the past six months when Wei Chunhua was away, didn't the He family live well?"

Especially the girls, who not only had to work hard but were also scolded by their mothers from time to time.

Although they still had to work after Wei Chunhua left, Captain He focused all his energy on work. As long as there was no trouble at home, he didn't care. Therefore, over the past six months, the girls in the He family have become visibly cheerful.

As long as Captain He doesn't remarry and Wei Chunhua is gone, their lives will definitely get better and better.

Will Captain He marry again?

After the news of Captain He and Wei Chunhua's divorce spread, everyone in the compound was talking about it.

Some people think that no matter what, there must be a mistress in a family. Captain He is already divorced, so it is natural for him to find a wife to take care of the children.

Some people think that it is easy to find a wife, but it is difficult to balance the relationship between the new wife and the children left by the ex-wife. As the saying goes, if there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. For the sake of the children, it is better for Captain He not to remarry.

But after Captain He got divorced, he devoted himself to his work and did not personally respond to these discussions.

However, after he successively rejected several military wives who wanted to introduce him to potential partners, everyone gradually came to their senses. They believed that Captain He probably had no plans to remarry in the short term.

These things had nothing to do with Ye Min, and she didn't pay any more attention to them. To her, Mr. Dong's upcoming birthday was more important.

Mr. Dong’s birthday is at the end of July, not a full birthday, he is 63 years old this year.

The date of birth was not told to Ye Min by Mr. Dong, but was accidentally seen by her when he filled out the hospital registration information some time ago and asked her to hand it in as he had something else to do.

Ye Min felt that Mr. Dong probably didn't plan to celebrate his birthday because the time was almost up, and she didn't hear him reveal any hint of it.

Most people of this generation don’t celebrate birthdays very often. It’s okay for those who are older and have children, but they will celebrate birthdays like their 40th, 50th, and 60th birthdays. For other birthdays, they will just cook a bowl of longevity noodles at most.

But Mr. Dong was alone.

He was married, but his wife died a few years ago after not being able to survive the criticism and struggle. He had a child, but the child died on the battlefield more than 20 years ago.

He also accepted apprentices, but he turned out to be an ungrateful person. The apprentice pushed him for fame and status, causing him to be demoted.

So it’s normal that Mr. Dong doesn’t want to celebrate his birthday.

However, Ye Min felt that although she and Master Dong had only known each other for a short time and they did not have a master-disciple relationship, Master Dong was honest when teaching her and she truly regarded him as her master.

It would be fine if I didn't know his birthday, but since I knew it, I couldn't fail to show my appreciation, so I discussed with Meng Cheng to invite him to our house for a meal on that day. If Mr. Dong didn't want to celebrate his birthday, then we wouldn't have longevity noodles, and we could just have a family get-together.

Since New Year's Day, Ye Min would invite Mr. Dong to her home for dinner every once in a while, so Meng Cheng was already very familiar with him.

Meng Cheng also knew that Ye Min respected Elder Dong from the bottom of his heart and regarded him as his master, so he also respected him and had no objection to celebrating Elder Dong's birthday. He even asked, "Should we prepare a gift for Elder Dong?"

Before Ye Min saw the barrage, their family didn't really celebrate birthdays. At most, they would just have a good meal on the day, and they never prepared any special gifts for other family members.

But after seeing the bullet screen, Ye Min's thoughts gradually changed, and she began to cherish every birthday and every holiday that her family spent together.

Last year during the Spring Festival, Ye Min prepared a pair of leather shoes as a gift for Meng Cheng.

In fact, except for the clothes issued by the army, most of Meng Cheng's clothes were bought by Ye Min. The pair of leather shoes she bought for him during the Chinese New Year was not the first pair she bought for him, nor would it be the last pair, but it was the pair of leather shoes Meng Cheng treasured the most.

Because it is a gift.

They rarely gave each other gifts before, so Meng Cheng never thought how important this step was. But when they started choosing gifts for each other, this matter began to become more important in their hearts.

It is for this reason that Meng Cheng suggested preparing a gift for Mr. Dong.

Ye Min also had the same idea. She took advantage of Sunday to go shopping in a department store in the city with Meng Cheng and picked out a pen to give to Mr. Dong.

On Mr. Dong's birthday, Ye Min took advantage of the time when no patients arrived yet to go to the clinic opposite to find him and told him that she would invite him to dinner at her home in the evening.

After hearing this, Mr. Dong looked a little confused, and after a while he asked, "What's the matter?"

Ye Min did not hide it and replied, "When I was helping you submit your documents, I saw your birthday. According to the lunar calendar, it should be this day."

"Yes, my birthday is on this day." Mr. Dong nodded, but there was no smile on his face. It was obvious that he had no interest in celebrating his birthday.

Ye Min was not surprised. Before he could say no, she said, "I know you may not want to celebrate your birthday. It's okay. Just treat this as an ordinary meal, just like many times before. What do you think? Meng Cheng has recently learned a new dish called lemon shredded chicken. It's sour and spicy, and should suit your taste."

Seeing her sincerity, Mr. Dong couldn't refuse anymore, so he sighed and said, "Okay then."

Because Mr. Dong agreed to have dinner at his home, the two of them got off work together in the evening. Ye Min did not wait for Meng Cheng on the road, but went straight back to the family compound to find Meng Zheng, and then went to Feng Li's house to pick up An An.

Meng Zheng knew that today was Mr. Dong’s birthday, so when he saw him, he said, “Happy birthday, Mr. Dong!”

Although it was his birthday, Mr. Dong was not in a good mood that day, because the more he was at this time, the easier it was for him to think of his deceased wife and children. But after hearing what Meng Zheng said, he still smiled and said, "Thank you, Xiao Fengzheng."

Meng Zheng wanted to tell Mr. Dong that he had prepared a gift for him, but he thought that if he said it now, there would be no surprise when the gift was delivered, so he swallowed the words back.

After returning home, Ye Min asked the brother and sister to accompany Mr. Dong, while she went into the kitchen and started to get busy.

Meng Cheng came back quickly. He took Ding Yang's car today and arrived home almost at the same time as Ye Min and the others. After entering the yard, he greeted Mr. Dong first, washed his hands, and went into the kitchen to get busy.

This is also the reason why Mr. Dong is willing to come to the Meng family every now and then. He thinks the young couple has a good relationship and the relationship between parents and children is also harmonious.

Because his wife and children had all passed away and he was left alone, he particularly wanted to see a happy family.

For dinner, Meng Cheng really made lemon shredded chicken. In addition, there were sweet and sour spare ribs, braised fish, fried chicken with mushrooms, stir-fried vegetables and smashed cucumber. The soup was cooked with winter melon and lean meat to clear away heat and reduce internal heat.

During the meal, Ye Min and Meng Cheng did not mention much about Mr. Dong's birthday. They mainly talked about the two children at home. Mr. Dong was also happy to listen to them talking about the children, and his face was very warm.

After eating and drinking, Ye Min went into the house and took out the pen and handed it to Mr. Dong. He did not mention that it was a birthday present. He just said, "I saw that the pen you usually use is not grinding smoothly. I went to the market two days ago and bought you a new one. It is also a Yingxiong pen. I wonder if you are used to it."

Ye Min was a little hesitant when choosing a gift. She felt that the pen was not very useful, but Mr. Dong had no intention of changing it, which proved that the pen was of extraordinary significance.

She wasn't sure if a pen was appropriate as a gift, but couldn't think of any other gift at the moment, so after much deliberation she decided to buy this pen of the same brand but a different model.

In fact, Ye Min was overthinking it. He was the one who bought the pen for Mr. Dong. He was nostalgic, so even if the pen didn't flow smoothly, he never thought of changing it.

After opening the box and looking at the new fountain pen inside, Mr. Dong said with emotion: "I have indeed used that pen for many years. It is time to replace it. The new pen looks very good. Thank you."

The gift was accepted, and Ye Min smiled and said, "As long as you like it."

After Ye Min gave the gift, Meng Zheng also took out a gift he bought with his savings, a bag of White Rabbit candy: "Every time I feel bad, I feel happy after eating candy. I hope Master Dong will be happy every day!"

Mr. Dong usually doesn't eat candy much, but he accepted Meng Zheng's candy with a smile and asked, "Little Fengzheng, are you often in a bad mood?"

Meng Zheng sighed with a heavy heart: "Recently, I feel bad every time I finish sweeping the floor." After saying that, he glanced at his parents, hoping that they could express their opinions.

But his father looked at his nose and his nose at his heart, as if he didn't hear what he said.

His mother heard it, but she sneered twice: "Haha."