Chen Nongmo was more inclined to believe that this call was from Shao Zheng.
After all, my mother had only contacted me a week ago.
However, she did not tell Qiuhua's mother about her inner guess, as she felt a little embarrassed.
Chen Nongmo tried hard to suppress the uncontrollable smile, and walked towards the village committee calmly on the squeaking snow.
It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon, not yet time to close the doors.
But the temperature dropped sharply due to a heavy snowfall. Except for the energetic children who were playing wildly in the village, most people stayed in their kang rooms to spend the winter.
Or they would take their work and go to the old secretary's house to make hemp ropes, weave baskets, and peel chestnuts, year after year.
When passing by Aunt Chunmei's house, Chen Nongmo, who had been chatting with Qiuhua's mother, suddenly sniffed.
Hmm. There is a sweet and tempting rice aroma.
"We are in for a treat today." Cao Qiuhua smiled and pulled her daughter to knock on the door.
Chen Nongmo's exposed eyes curved into crescents. It tasted like rice cake. He was in for a real treat.
Chunmei was busy with work, with sweat on her forehead. When she heard the knock on the door, she rushed out without even putting on her coat.
After opening the door, I was stunned for a moment before I recognized who they were through their eyes.
She was a person who loved to laugh, and now her smile became even brighter: "You two really know how to pick the right time. I've been busy all day, soaking, grinding, and rubbing. It took me a lot of effort, and I just finished steaming the first batch when you caught up with me. Come in, come in and have a taste of how it tastes."
Cao Qiuhua waved his hand and said with a smile: "I have to go to the village committee first, and then I will come back to eat after I finish my phone call."
Hearing this, Chunmei suddenly realized: "That's right, that's right, the old secretary just blew the trumpet, so wait a moment, I'll give each of you a small piece of sweets."
Having said that, he ran back to the house in a hurry without caring about their reactions.
So, when Chen Nongmo and Qiuhua's mother arrived at the village committee, their mouths were still filled with the fragrant, sticky and sweet taste of rice cakes.
Well, it's another bumper year.
= Although Cao Qiuhua came with her daughter, she never thought of watching her make a phone call.
Especially after learning from the old secretary that the caller was Shao Zheng, there was no need to follow him.
So when the little girl ran to the next door, Cao Qiuhua sat in the old secretary's house and chatted with the old man.
"Is that girl Yu Yu dating someone?" The old secretary took a puff of his cigarette, thinking of the special supplies that Zong Xiaozi had sent over a few days ago, and asked out of curiosity.
Cao Qiuhua didn't plan to tell anyone about her daughter's relationship, but she wouldn't hide it, especially since the man was an old party secretary: "She's dating, and she's old enough to be 19 next year."
The old secretary was not surprised by this. He half-leaned on the kang, with a look of curiosity on his wrinkled face: "Whose kid is this?"
The old man knew about Chen Demao's rehabilitation. Besides, the girl was of good character and appearance, so the man's conditions would naturally not be bad, otherwise he would not have been able to pass the test of Demao and his wife, as well as Qiuhua and his wife.
Hearing this, Cao Qiuhua laughed first: "You have seen it."
This made the old secretary stunned. Then he thought of the phone call just now, and a light bulb went off in his head: "Could it be Shao Zheng's kid?"
Six or seven years ago, Shao Zheng came to the village and lived there for half a month. The old secretary had a good impression of the boy.
Cao Qiuhua: "Yes, that's him."
"I remember he is much older than Yu Yu, right?"
"It's not bad. I'm 8 years older now."
8 years old is not bad. The old secretary suppressed his shocked expression and asked, "Was it that kid Wu Wen who pulled the strings?"
When this was mentioned, Cao Qiuhua did not say that the eldest brother did not know about it. He just smiled and shook his head, and roughly described how the children met: "The two met in J City."
After hearing the whole story, the old secretary smiled, took another puff of cigarette, and then said, "Very good, I know her background very well. She is of good family background, and there are not many with good family conditions. We should treat her well."
Cao Qiuhua: "It's still early. It depends on whether the children can get along well."
Although most of the marriages of the old secretary's generation were decided by their parents, he was open-minded and nodded in agreement: "The most important thing is that the children are happy. This is a new era. Oh, I remember hearing last year that Shao Zheng was already a deputy regiment commander?"
Cao Qiuhua didn't know what the old man meant by asking this, but he still responded, "I've been a deputy regiment commander for three years, and was promoted to a full regiment commander just in the first half of the year, just like Wu Wen."
"Oh? That's amazing, a promising young man. In the past, he would have been the county magistrate. Wu Wen is also a good person. He brings honor to our Shanshun village." The old secretary was surprised for a moment, then immediately smiled like a chrysanthemum.
After a while, he said, "As for Yu Yu's relationship, I'll ask everyone to go outside."
"Someone asked you to be a matchmaker again?" Cao Qiuhua frowned.
Looking at his niece-in-law who was obviously angry, the old secretary's cloudy eyes were full of wisdom: "It's nothing, it's human nature. Not to mention Demao's current status, even Yuyu is an eye-catching kid. Don't worry, your uncle is here, so you and Zong can't get in trouble. After a while, everyone will know that Yuyu is dating someone, and they will be less concerned about him."
"Thank you for your trouble again."
The old secretary waved his hand: "What's the big deal? Wu Fu is still an ancestor. But does Zong really not want to take over my position?"
Cao Qiuhua smiled: "It's not like you don't know him. He is a dull person and doesn't like to interact with people. Besides, don't we still have Brother Erjun?"
"Erjun is still too honest." The old secretary has several sons. Except for Erjun who is a farmer in the village, the others are all promising people in the eyes of everyone.
In the county town, they are either workers, teachers, or sales clerks. Anyway, since they are eating public food these days, they look down on the three mu of land in the village.
Everyone has selfish desires, including the old secretary, but he understands his son. Erjun is too honest, and he also has to consider the villagers.
The leader of a village may not be very powerful, but at least he can protect the village.
He admired Zong Xiaozi very much. He was smart and had prestige in the village. The old secretary was very relieved to have him take over the position of village secretary.
But no matter how many times he mentioned it, Zong just played dumb.
"You should also persuade him. Being a secretary doesn't mean he should be asked to accept a bomb. What is there to be afraid of?" The old secretary took another puff of his cigarette, still not giving up.
Cao Qiuhua still shook his head. When the old man glared at him, he whispered, "You know, Chen Zong and I are not promising people. We just want to stay at home. We will live in the old man's house for a few months next year. Maybe when the second son gets married, I will have to go to his house to take a look. Running around everywhere, where is it suitable to be a secretary?"
Seeing the hesitation on the old secretary's face, Cao Qiuhua added: "Chen Zong said that you always fail to find the real capable people."
"Oh? Which one?" The old secretary was really surprised.
Cao Qiuhua didn't keep it a secret: "Hongxia, she's such a capable person, just pass the position to her directly."
Chen Hongxia is the old man’s youngest daughter. She married in the same village and is the village women’s director. She is a very capable woman.
The old secretary paused as he was about to pack the tobacco, obviously he had never thought of passing the position to his daughter.
But... he pondered for a few moments, and suddenly realized that it was not impossible. Hongxia was indeed the one who looked most like him among the children.
Maybe some people opposed it in the past, but since the new county party secretary can be a female comrade, it seems nothing unreasonable for his daughter Hongxia to be the village secretary.
That’s great. I’ll be helping out for a few years.
After realizing this, the old secretary stopped talking about this topic: "I have to think about what you said. By the way, when will your fourth son come back? He has been gone for a month, right?"
“It should be these few days.”
= The other side.
Chen Nongmo used the key he got from the old secretary to open the door of the village committee office.
There is no kang in here, and it's very cold and gloomy.
The person on the other end seemed to have been waiting and the call was quickly connected.
"Hello? Is this Yu Yu?"
A warm yet slightly hoarse voice reached my ears. I didn't think anything of it at first, but now I felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
Chen Nongmo pulled his earlobe and responded softly: "Yeah."
Shao Zheng on the other end of the phone pinched his brows and instantly relaxed: "Yu Yu, I'm back."
Hearing this, Chen Nongmo no longer cared about being shy and asked hurriedly: "Are you not hurt? When did you come back?"
Shao Zheng chuckled. He liked the little girl's concern. He leaned back in his chair and said softly, "I just got back to the army today. I called you after reporting the situation to the brigade commander. You are not injured."
This is not a lie, even if the bruises and small wounds with stitches on my body are not considered a lie.
Chen Nongmo believed it and knew that his partner was not injured. His eyebrows immediately curved: "After such a long mission, how many days of rest can you have?"
Shao Zheng thought the girl missed him, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry Yu Yu, I can only rest for two days, so I don't have time to see you."
"What are you thinking? I'm just curious!" Chen Nongmo said she would not take the blame.
They broke up after just one day together, and they lost contact for a month and a half. She didn't know what she could talk about with him, and her efforts to find topics were misinterpreted.
Shao Zheng forced himself to smile, and said in an especially honest tone, "It's mainly because I miss Yu Yu, so it's hard not to daydream."
Chen Nongmo blushed. "Aren't you afraid of being overheard? Isn't it said that the army's phone calls will be monitored?"
"Yes, we will be monitored, but don't be afraid. Isn't it normal to be in a relationship?" The man's voice was a little lazy, and there was a smile on his face. It was obvious that he was in a good mood.
Chen Nongmo, whose emotions were aroused by him, couldn't help but tease him, "Aren't you afraid that my eldest brother will see it?"
Shao Zheng also smiled: "Don't worry, he also went on a mission. He left two days ago. We didn't meet."
Chen Nongmo was startled: "Then my sister-in-law is alone?"
My sister-in-law is almost five months pregnant now. Can she handle it alone? Especially since she has been diagnosed with twins.
Shao Zheng comforted her: "It's okay, your sister-in-law is in good health. I heard from Lao Chen that she didn't have any morning sickness reaction. Her sister-in-law who has the best relationship with her in the family compound accompanies her every night. You don't have to worry about her in the hospital during the day."
"When will my brother come back?" Chen Nongmo was still a little worried.
"That's not certain yet, but it shouldn't take too long. After all, when the organization issues tasks, they will take the special circumstances of the family members into consideration."
After hearing this, Chen Nongmo felt relieved, but still said, "Then can you help take care of it a little more?"
"Okay." Shao Zheng agreed immediately. Even if he didn't have this relationship with his little girl, based on his friendship with Lao Chen, he would not stand idly by. Even if he didn't have time, he would ask the attendant to make more trips.
Not wanting his girlfriend to worry too much, Shao Zheng talked about something else to divert the girl's attention.
When the little girl was amused by him again, he said with emotion: "Actually, I'm a little glad that Lao Chen is on a mission."
"Why?"
"Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep the fact that I'm dating you a secret for a few days."
Chen Nongmo suppressed a laugh: "Then can't you be more low-key?"
Shao Zheng laughed again, and said honestly: "I want to, but there are some things I can't control."
Chen Nongmo blushed, and pretended to be calm as he relayed his fifth brother Chen Yi's advice: "So, why don't you wait a little longer until I go to the army? Qiuhua's mother will help stop him."
Men understand men better. Shao Zheng just cares too much about his relationship with the girl, which makes him seem clumsy. It doesn't mean he is really stupid.
As soon as the object started, he understood Chen Yi's sinister intentions.
But he didn't object. He deserved to be beaten by Lao Chen.
After all, sometimes he also felt that he was nothing.
Well, it doesn't matter how many times I beat him.
So, after the little object finished speaking, he immediately agreed: "Okay, I'll do as you say."
"Then if my brother asks you why you don't file a relationship report?"
The man hesitated for a few seconds and said in a negotiating manner: "Just say that I haven't thought it through yet?"
The smile on Chen Nongmo's face froze, and he kicked a small dirt puddle at his feet in dissatisfaction: "Then I will be so embarrassed."
Shao Zheng laughed out loud and coaxed him gently, "So you haven't thought it through yet?"
"That's what you said."
"Yes, I said that."
Young lovers always have endless topics to talk about, and they can find everything interesting no matter how boring it is.
Both of them wanted to talk on the phone for two or three hours.
Unfortunately, reality did not allow it, so after a few minutes, I reluctantly hung up the phone.
Chen Nongmo stood there and stamped her cold feet, thinking about what the man said at the end, that he would write a letter to her. Her depressed mood immediately brightened up again, and she ran next door to call her mother.
We have to call my sister-in-law together. = After talking to my sister-in-law, Chen Nongmo and Qiuhua's mother were a little absent-minded on the way back.
Although I didn't forget to go to Aunt Chunmei's house to get rice cakes, I no longer had the mood to stop and chat.
"Your sister-in-law can't be left alone at home, no matter how good Yue Gui's advice is. If your eldest brother can't get back to the army within half a month, let's go ahead of time.
When they were almost home, Cao Qiuhua announced her decision.
Chen Nongmo did not object: "Don't worry, Brother Shao Zheng will also help to find out. If the eldest brother's mission will be delayed for a long time, he will inform us."
Cao Qiuhua felt relieved: "That's good."
Fortunately, Chen Wuwen was still very reliable, and the mother and daughter did not worry for long. On the fourth day, when heavy snow once again ravaged the land, he called personally and said that he had returned to the army.
"Mom, shall we make rice cakes today?" After putting his worries to rest, Chen Nongmo suddenly missed the taste of the rice cakes he brought back from Aunt Chunmei's house a few days ago.
Cao Qiuhua, who never skimped on food for her children, put away the blanket she was sewing for her grandchildren and nodded, saying, "Okay, if you like it, make more. This weather won't be bad."
Chen Nongmo was full of energy: "The one from Aunt Chunmei's house last time was a little bland, how about we make something a little sweeter?"
"Okay, we have both brown sugar and white sugar at home, so we can make something lighter. Your father doesn't like it too sweet."
"Good mother Qiuhua, would you like to make some more red date and raisin flavors and send them to my sister-in-law and the others?"
"Don't you want to send it to Shao Zheng? I remember you said he likes sweet things, right?"
"He, he, that's just by the way."
“You.”
(End of this chapter)
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