Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Visiting Neighbors
When this person was mentioned, several people became excited and started the conversation.
"Yesterday I saw her go to the teacher's house again, and the day before yesterday she went to the political commissar's house. Look how many times she has gone there in just one month. She always had something in her hands. Who wouldn't know why she went there? She just wanted to be a teacher in an elementary school."
"She's dreaming. There are so many people without jobs in the family home. Why should she be given a job first?"
"Who says she is a cultured person? When she first arrived, I met her on the road and tried to say hello to her, but she ignored me."
"He's just a high school student. Isn't Jianhong's aunt also a high school student? She's always polite to us every time she sees us, not like her."
"Yes, by the way, Jianhong, your aunt is also unemployed, right? I think it would be better for your aunt to be the primary school teacher."
The aunt they were talking about was actually Han Jianhong's stepmother, a well-known good stepmother in the family compound.
Han Jianhong tried his best to hide his disgust and said calmly, "My aunt went to the logistics department a few days ago and said that the leadership has not yet decided on this job and asked me to come back and wait for notification."
"I don't know what kind of culture this Captain Xia's family has. If he is also a high school student, it would be quite lively."
Meng Yufei, who didn't know that she was being talked about as soon as she entered the family compound, was now packing her luggage and folding her clothes one by one and putting them in the closet.
Vanishing cream, lipstick, comb, hair tie and other items were placed on the dressing table, and toothpaste and toothbrush were also taken out.
Xia Junshan had cleaned the house a day in advance. He wiped all the furniture carefully with a wet rag, bought a new porcelain basin and kettle, and mopped the floor several times.
He brought the good hygiene habits developed in the army into his home: neat, tidy, clean and hygienic.
It was inconvenient to wash the clothes he took off yesterday in the guesthouse, so Xia Junshan took the clothes to the faucet in the yard and put them in a newly bought wooden basin.
The weather in Hai City in February was still a bit cold. Meng Yufei and Xia Qinqin were wearing thick coats and sweaters when they set out, but they definitely couldn't wear them here.
The weather here is humid, and clothes will become moldy if they are not washed in time. Xia Junshan rubbed the clothes skillfully with soap.
Xia Qinqin was wearing her little slippers, running around in and out of the house, sometimes helping her mother pass things, sometimes watching her father wash clothes.
Meng Yufei didn't have much luggage to bring, so she packed it quickly. She took Xia Qinqin's muddy shoes under the faucet.
"Do you have a shoe brush at home?"
Xia Junshan said, "I forgot about that. I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a pair later. You can leave the shoes here first."
Meng Yufei looked at the faucet and said, "This faucet and water pipe are so new, have they just been replaced?"
Xia Junshan smiled and said, "The tap water here was only connected last month."
"Ah?" Meng Yufei was surprised. Her family had running water since she could remember. "Then what did the people here do with water before that?"
"There is a well in front of the family compound, and everyone used to fetch water from there."
As he said this, he squeezed the water out of the sweater in his hand and put it aside. "Fortunately, when Commander Li was transferred here before the New Year, he felt that everyone had difficulty using water, so he quickly got running water to work."
Meng Yufei said: "That's really a big debt to Master Li."
Otherwise, you have to fetch water every day. Just imagine how inconvenient it is.
"By the way, we just got here, should we say hello to our neighbors?"
When moving, you must give some moving gifts to your neighbors and say hello. There are so many people in this compound, you can't say hello to every household.
Xia Junshan said, "It's not that complicated. Just say hello to the families in our row. Well, I remember the one next door is Captain Ma from the Third Regiment, then Deputy Captain Chen from the Second Regiment, and Captain Han from the Fifth Regiment. The one at the head of the building is also from the Second Regiment, Deputy Captain Jin, but his family hasn't arrived yet, so there should be no one at home now."
Meng Yufei said, "Then let's go together after you finish washing your clothes. We can also go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. I just couldn't find a mouthwash cup."
"Okay, okay," Xia Junshan quickened his movements.
Meng Yufei went into the house and took out a large bag of candy, including white rabbit milk candies from the market. She divided it into four small portions, thought for a moment, and then asked towards the yard:
"Junshan, can I just go over and bring some candy?"
Meng Yufei remembers that her family moved in the summer and her mother took her to say hello to the neighbors, giving them cakes she had made herself.
"Okay, these days, giving candy as a gift is acceptable anywhere."
In times of material scarcity, food is the most precious commodity, and sugar is an even more strategic commodity.
Before going out, Meng Yufei changed Xia Qinqin into a pair of breathable leather sandals, which she bought in a department store a few days ago. The lambskin used was very soft and not easy to rub the feet. A pair cost more than 20 yuan.
Nowadays, a pair of good leather shoes for adults only costs a dozen yuan, and spending more than twenty yuan to buy a pair of children's shoes was expensive, even Meng Yufei thought it was too expensive, but she could not stop her love for her granddaughter and insisted on buying them.
Xia Qinqin was wearing comfortable leather sandals, holding her father in one hand and her mother in the other, with a piece of candy in her mouth that she had just given to her by her mother, and she was walking on the road in the family yard with a smile on her face.
Today is not a day off. All the men in the family compound have gone to the army, and only the women are at home.
The first house we visited was naturally the home of Captain Ma next door. The family of three walked to the gate of the courtyard and through the half-high fence, we just saw someone weeding in the vegetable field in the yard.
"Sister-in-law, you're busy at home." Xia Junshan said loudly.
The woman raised her head. She was wearing a navy blue double-breasted short jacket and had her hair done in an old-fashioned bun. The skin on her face was dark and rough, with deep wrinkles around her eyes and forehead.
Seeing a man and a woman standing at the door, he recognized the man as Captain Xia from next door. He quickly put down the weed in his hand, wiped his hand on his pants, took two quick steps and opened the gate.
"Captain Xia, why are you here?"
Xia Junshan pointed to the person next to him and introduced: "Mrs. Zhang, this is my wife, Meng Yufei. I just arrived at the family compound today and came to say hello to you."
Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, hello, I am Meng Yufei. We will be neighbors from now on. Please take care of me."
Mrs. Zhang then looked carefully at Captain Xia's lover and was stunned. Oh, there is such a good-looking person.
She smiled and said, "Oh, OK, OK, you are welcome to come over."
Meng Yufei bent down and said to her daughter, "Qinqin, this is Aunt Zhang, come and say hello."
Xia Qinqin raised her head and said crisply, "Hello, Aunt Zhang, my name is Xia Qinqin, and this is a gift from us to you." Then she handed over a small bag of candy.
Mrs. Zhang then lowered her head and noticed that there was a child. "Oh, this child is so pretty." She waved her hand and said, "Child, you can keep this candy. You don't have to be so polite."
Meng Yufei handed the candy to Mrs. Zhang with a smile, "You're welcome. This candy is a specialty of my hometown. Please try it."
Mrs. Zhang accepted it somewhat embarrassedly and pointed to the house and said, "Come in and have a drink of water."
Xia Junshan said, "No, sister-in-law, we still have to go next door to say hello. We won't bother you next time."
The family of three said goodbye to Aunt Zhang. Meng Yufei whispered, "From the accent of Aunt Zhang, she seems to be from Shanhe Province."
Xia Junshan nodded and said, "Yes, when I first came here, she gave me some steamed buns, and they were delicious."
Meng Yufei remembered that Xia Junshan's hometown was in the north and he liked to eat pasta more. She thought to herself that next time she had the chance, she could learn how to steam buns from Mrs. Zhang.
Two steps ahead is the home of Deputy Head Chen. His yard is not full of vegetables like Mrs. Zhang's, but empty. The person who opened the door was a woman in her early twenties, wearing a pink floral dress, shoulder-length hair, and a green headband.
When her eyes met Meng Yufei, she scanned her up and down critically, frowned, and raised her chin unconsciously.
"What?" he asked rudely.
Xia Junshan's face immediately darkened. He had heard that Deputy Commander Chen's family was arrogant and difficult to get along with. He had never met them before, but today it seemed to be true.
After giving her the candy, the two of them left without saying much to her.
Xia Junshan said to Meng Yufei: "This deputy head Chen's family is really just like the rumors say, they are weird. It's better not to have any dealings with her in the future."
Meng Yufei said: "I see, just ignore this kind of person."
When he arrived at the door of Captain Han's house, he ran into Han Jianhong who was returning home. Xia Junshan called her and asked, "Jianhong, is your aunt home?"
Han Jianhong shook his head, "Aunt Fang took my brother to the city."
Xia Junshan said, "This is your Aunt Meng," and handed her the candy in his hand. "We just moved here today. Come to my house when you have time. This candy is brought by your Aunt Meng from her hometown. Try it."
Xia Junshan and Captain Han are of the same generation, so he naturally considers himself the elder to his daughter.
Han Jianhong took the candy and said, "Thank you, Uncle Xia, Aunt Meng."
"Well, you go home. We have something else to do. We'll leave first."
After leaving Han's house, the family of three walked towards the supply and marketing cooperative. Meeting Meng Yufei's inquiring eyes, Xia Junshan explained: "The child just now is the daughter of Captain Han. The Aunt Fang she mentioned is her stepmother. Captain Han is married for the second time."
"Oh, is that so?" Meng Yufei nodded.
Han Jianhong stood at the door of his house and watched the family of three walking away, thinking to himself: Who could have thought that such a happy family would end up like that.
Xia Qinqin playfully held her parents' hands and walked and swung on the swing. Suddenly, she stopped, looked up and asked curiously, "Mom, what is the ending?"
"Um?"
"What does the ending mean?"
Meng Yufei didn't know why her daughter suddenly wanted to ask this question, but she thought about it and explained, "Well, it's just like the story of the tortoise and the hare that you heard. In the end, the tortoise won. That's the ending."
Xia Qinqin tilted her head and asked again: "Then what will be the ending of our family of three?"
Xia Junshan picked up his daughter and said, "We live happily together." He looked at Meng Yufei and said softly, "Isn't it?"
Meng Yufei looked into his deep eyes and smiled slightly, "Yes."
Xia Qinqin looked at her father, then at her mother, and thought that her sister had spoken so softly just now that only she heard it, not her parents.