Chapter 73 Chapter 73 Makeup

Captain Han's parents in his hometown have passed away. He just sends some money to his brothers in his hometown every year, so he doesn't have as heavy a burden as others.

Moreover, the army provides food and accommodation, so there is no place to spend money. Just spending a few dollars a month on cigarettes is enough.

If the two had a good relationship, Captain Han would have given it to them, but in this situation, the two were almost getting divorced, so how could he agree?

"It's seventy yuan a month at most. If you don't agree, Jianbao will stay on the island and I will take care of him. There is a kindergarten in the family compound anyway, so I just need to spend some time to pick him up every day." Captain Han said as he sat down on the sofa.

Wei Shufang stood in the living room, looking at the man's cold expression, and questioned him: "You only have this one son. If you don't want to give your money to him, who do you want to give it to? Do you want to marry a younger one?"

"I'm telling you, you can't do that while I'm here! I won't agree to it." Wei Shufang said in a decisive tone.

At worst, she could just go and make a scene. Anyway, she had already lost face and would never come back to the island, so she didn't care.

Head Han took out a newspaper and flipped through it while saying, "I not only have a son, I also have a daughter. I treat both children equally. I give half of my money to Jianbao and half to Jianhong."

Hearing his expressionless words, Wei Shufang said with a smile: "Treat her equally? Haha, you really can say that. Why didn't you come out and say anything when I did those things to your daughter? Now that the child has grown up and I want to separate from you, you just remembered that you still have a daughter, right?"

Captain Han's thick eyebrows wrinkled slightly, and he shook the newspaper and said, "70 yuan a month, or you can keep Jianbao. It's your choice."

Wei Shufang gritted her teeth and said, "I'll take Jianbao back to my parents' home!"

She has lost her job now. If Jianbao doesn't go back with her, what will she and Jianping do without the 70 yuan a month?

If Captain Han retires in a few years, will he still care about me? By then, I'm afraid I will really be unable to get anything.

A few days later, Wei Shufang took her two children and boarded the ferry to the outlying island, carrying a lot of luggage.

On the beach, Han Jianhong looked up and gazed at the ferry not far away, which slowly sailed out of the coast and disappeared into the distant sea.

The big rock in my heart seemed to have disappeared as well.

"Hey, Jianhong, what are you daydreaming about? Zheng Laoba and the others have already run ahead! We must catch up quickly. We can't lose to them." Qi Zhuzhu turned around and shouted at her from the front.

"Hey, here I come!" Han Jianhong smiled brightly and quickened his pace to run forward.

The graceful girl runs on the beach, and the future is bright.

…

After Wei Shufang, the potential dangerous element, left, Meng Yufei felt much more relieved and began to concentrate on the May Day activities.

In the afternoon, performers from various shows came to rehearse in the cafeteria.

This is already the third rehearsal, and everyone has completed almost all the steps. This can be considered a preview, except there are no audience members in the audience.

Halfway through the rehearsal, Director Fu also came over.

"Director Meng, you have designed this venue very well."

Director Fu looked at the newly decorated cafeteria and praised it.

Early this morning, Meng Yufei took people to rearrange the tables in the cafeteria and hung a big red banner on the back wall.

The banner was made of a large red paper, and the words on it were written by Tang Jiayi's mother, Aunt Liu, whom Meng Yufei had specially asked to write.

On the banner is written in fluent and concise cursive script: Warmly celebrate the May 1 International Labor Day of 1965!

"Director, you are here just in time. Please help me see how to place the seat cards." Meng Yufei said with a smile.

When the leader comes, he has to do some guidance.

Several programs have been rehearsed several times, and there is nothing to change. If there is any need to change it, the performers will have to rehearse again.

So Meng Yufei made the request first.

Sure enough, Director Fu nodded happily: "Okay, I'll take a look. After all, you are young, so it's inevitable that you may not be able to handle some things well."

The first row was of course made up of leaders, not only from the military, but also some leaders from Qiongzhou City and the island town government.

How leaders arrange seats in the military and political systems is a science.

After Director Fu arranged the seat cards, he looked at them carefully again and confirmed that they were correct. Then he said to Meng Yufei behind him, "Okay, let's arrange them like this tomorrow."

Meng Yufei nodded: "Okay, then I won't take off the seat card, in case I forget it tomorrow."

Director Fu watched the rehearsal for a while and said, "Director Meng, thank you for your hard work. The show is well prepared. Have you contacted the people at the cinema?"

Meng Yufei replied: "They have been contacted. I called them today to confirm. They will be here tomorrow morning."

Then he briefed him on tomorrow's schedule: "The event will officially begin at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Director Fu will give a speech first, followed by the city leaders we invited, and finally Teacher Li will give a speech."

In this event, Director Fu delivered a speech on behalf of the organizer, the Family Affairs Institute.

As the invited guest city leader, he must be allowed to speak a few words.

Teacher Li delivered a speech as the host.

After the leaders have finished speaking, it is time for the official show to begin.

“The first program was the publicity department’s dance, which served as the opening dance.

The second program was a chorus performed by the supply and marketing cooperative.

The third program is a stage play put on by the Women's Committee.

The fourth program was Xiao Zhang’s recitation program, praising the workers, peasants and soldiers.

The last show was a song and dance performance by kindergarten children. "

The order of these programs has been reported to the Director before and has been approved. The combination of dynamic and static events can provide the audience with a better viewing experience.

Meng Yufei continued, "The whole program lasted about 40 minutes. After it ended, a movie started. It was "Heroic Sons and Daughters," which was released last year. The movie was nearly two hours long and ended at around five o'clock."

This point is over, and it's a good time for everyone to go eat.

"At 7pm, an open-air movie will be shown in the open space at the gate of the family compound. The town government has already notified the island residents through a loudspeaker, asking everyone to come on time to watch the movie."

Director Fu nodded and said, "When I came back from the supply and marketing cooperative yesterday afternoon, I heard a lot of people discussing it along the way. They were looking forward to tomorrow's movie. They all said that our hospital's logistics department did a great job this time."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "It's rare for everyone to watch a movie once a year, so of course we're happy."

After seeing Director Fu off, Meng Yufei continued to watch the rehearsal of the show below, and let the people who had already lined up go back first.

"Everyone remember to come early tomorrow. You can come to the cafeteria to eat at noon tomorrow. The logistics department will reimburse you." Meng Yufei reminded.

When we heard that we could have a free meal tomorrow at noon, everyone laughed and said they would definitely come on time. Food is so rare these days, so we have to come early anyway.

Zhao Meixia smiled and said, "Director Meng is very efficient in his work. Don't worry, our supply and marketing cooperative will definitely arrive on time tomorrow at noon."

She was also part of the chorus.

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Okay, for those who come early, let the waitress give you more."

"For those who are not coming to dinner tomorrow, please make sure to come before 1pm," she reminded again.

"Of course I'll come, no matter who doesn't come for lunch."

"That's right, Director Meng is so generous, we must come to support him."

Everyone agreed with a smile.

We have a day off on May Day.

Meng Yufei got up early anyway. She had to go to the cafeteria to check on the venue in the morning. Some people from the cinema were coming over in the morning and she needed to be received.

After Xia Junshan came back from running, he washed up, sliced ​​the steamed buns he bought in the cafeteria yesterday, coated them with egg liquid, and fried them in a pan.

By the time Meng Yufei had finished washing up, Xia Junshan had also fried the steamed buns and brought them out to the dining table.

"Hurry up and sit down and eat while it's hot." Xia Junshan said.

Meng Yufei walked over and sat down, and Xia Junshan handed her the chopsticks.

"Don't you want to eat with us?" Meng Yufei asked, picking up a piece of golden and shiny steamed bread with chopsticks.

Xia Junshan poured a glass of water and placed it next to Meng Yufei, saying, "You eat first, I will eat with Qinqin later."

Meng Yufei said: "Send Qinqin to the cafeteria at noon today. I will take her to eat in the cafeteria. Remember to comb her hair after dinner. Oh, by the way, remember to let her drink less water in the morning. Also, don't give her candy. The children will be given candy in the afternoon."

Xia Junshan sat next to her and nodded repeatedly, "Got it, you can eat first."

When Xia Qinqin woke up, Meng Yufei had already left.

She got up from bed, put on the slippers beside the bed, rubbed her eyes, opened the door and shouted: "Mom, Mom, it's not time to go to school yet, the sun is shining in the window."

Xia Junshan was sitting on the sofa in the living room reading a newspaper. When he heard his daughter's tender voice, he quickly put down the newspaper, stood up and said with a smile: "Today is May Day holiday, so you don't have to go to school. Don't you remember?"

Xia Qinqin, with her slightly messy hair on top, squinted her round eyes and said, "Yes, I still have a performance today."

She turned her head, looked around, and asked, "Dad, where's Mom?"

Xia Junshan walked to his daughter's side, gently brushed away her hair, and said with a smile, "Mom has to work today, so she went to work."

"Ah...Mom is busier than Dad now." Xia Qinqin pouted.

Xia Junshan took his daughter to wash up and said softly, "Yes, Mom is very busy now. Can I take you to have lunch with Mom at noon?"

"Yeah, okay." Xia Qinqin nodded with a smile.

After washing up, Xia Junshan carried his daughter to the dining table, then went to the kitchen to put the steamed bread slices back into the pan, fried them, and brought them out.

"Pay attention to the hotness and eat slowly," Xia Junshan reminded.

Xia Qinqin nodded, picked up the chopsticks, picked up the steaming steamed bun, placed it in front of her, and blew hard with her lips pouting.

“Hoo~Hoo~”

After blowing it for a while, she put the steamed bread into her mouth.

The fragrant and crispy steamed bread slices were delicious. Xia Qinqin ate them while shaking her little head happily.

Xia Junshan went to the room, took out a comb from Meng Yufei's dressing table, and picked up a hair tie.

Because of Xia Qinqin's shaking little head, Xia Junshan took a while to tie her hair into a high ponytail.

After dinner, Xia Junshan let his daughter play on the sofa. Xia Qinqin nodded happily and ran back to the small room to take out her doll and storybook.

"Dad, can I have a candy?"

"No, Mom said that she will give candy to the children during the performance in the afternoon. Can we eat it in the afternoon?"

"All right..."

Seeing his daughter playing with her doll obediently on the sofa, Xia Junshan went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. After washing the dishes, he changed the sheets in the two rooms and washed them.

After washing the sheets, Xia Junshan fetched some water and took a mop to mop the house.

Xia Junshan had worked in the army as a housekeeper for many years, and he was very efficient and quick at doing housework.

It was only a little after nine when I finished everything, and there was still a long time before lunch.

He said to his daughter on the sofa, "Qinqin, shall we go to the yard and plant some flowers?"

"Okay!" Xia Qinqin immediately stood up from the sofa and responded loudly.

The father and daughter were planting flowers in the yard. They were gardenias that Xia Junshan had cut when he went to Captain Song's house. This kind of flower is easy to grow, and all you have to do is cut the branches and stick them in the soil to cultivate.

Xia Junshan used a shovel to dig a small hole, and put the branches in with Xia Qinqin. Xia Qinqin happily took the small shovel to dig the soil and put it into the hole.

Boom boom boom!

There was a knock on the gate.

The father and daughter looked up and saw that the gate was not closed. Standing at the door was Lu Yannan.

Xia Junshan said with a smile: "Yannan is here, we are planting flowers, do you want to join us?"

Lu Yannan nodded and walked in.

Xia Qinqin said with a smile: "Brother Yannan, why are you here? You don't have to go to school today."

Lu Yannan said: "Aren't we going to perform a show today?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "Yes, Dad is going to take me to have lunch with Mom at noon. Do you want to go?"

Lu Yanna nodded.

"Brother Yanan, let's plant the flowers first. Come here, let's fill the pit with soil together." Xia Qinqin greeted, waving a small shovel.

Lu Yannan walked over, squatted down beside Xia Qinqin, looked at the soil in front of him, and frowned.

Xia Qinqin grunted as she dug the soil to fill the hole, and patted the dirt with her hands. Soon her originally fair hands were covered with mud, but she was smiling happily.

Lu Yannan pursed his lips, slowly reached out his hand and pushed the soil into the pit.

While planting flowers, Xia Junshan took the two children to wash their hands, carefully cleaning each finger.

After washing his hands, he played a few games of chess with the children. At around eleven o'clock, Xia Junshan got up and took the two children out.

When they came to the cafeteria to look for Meng Yufei, Meng Yufei was directing people to move tables at the back of the cafeteria. There were only tables in the first row, and stools were placed straight in the back, otherwise there would not be enough space for so many people.

All the extra tables were placed in a row against the wall in the corner of the cafeteria.

In the corner on the right side of the stage, several performers have already arrived; some are reciting their lines, while others are speaking.

There were also a few parents who came with their children. Xia Qinqin spotted Fangfang and quickly shouted, "Sister Fangfang!"

As he said this, he was about to shake off Xia Junshan's hand and run over.

Xia Junshan hurriedly pulled her along and said, "Don't worry, there are a lot of people here, I'll take you there, okay?"

People were moving tables back and forth, and he was afraid of bumping into the little thing.

Xia Junshan led the two children over before letting go. Xia Qinqin happily hugged Fangfang. She touched Fangfang's two pigtails with red hair strings tied on them.

"Sister Fangfang, your braid is so beautiful." Xia Qinqin praised.

Fangfang smiled and said, "It was Grandma Liu who did it for me."

As she spoke, she pointed to Aunt Liu who was sitting in the corner at the back and braiding Daya's hair. Tang Jiayi was helping her by the side, handing her a comb or a hair tie.

Zhou Wen Qian was sitting not far away, holding a brush in her hand, brushing something on the face of the little girl who also had her hair in pigtails.

"The teacher said that every child who is performing in a show has to have their hair combed like this. Qinqin, you should also go and line up to comb your hair." Fangfang pulled Xia Qinqin towards Aunt Liu.

Xia Qinqin looked back at Lu Yannan and asked curiously, "Brother Yannan, do you want to braid your hair too?" Then she touched her head and said, "But Brother Yannan has no hair, how can we braid it?"

Xia Junshan heard this and said with a smile: "You can give him a fake braid."

Lu Yannan immediately said: "I don't braid my hair!"

Fangfang said: "The teacher said that boys don't need to comb their hair."

Xia Junshan shook his head and said, "That's a pity."

Lu Yannan looked up at Xia Junshan, who was smiling, and pouted unhappily. Xia Junshan laughed when he saw his rare childish expression.

The two little girls ran over hand in hand to watch Aunt Liu combing her hair. Lu Yannan walked to the first row next to her and sat down.

I looked up at the words on the banner and my eyes lit up. These words looked a bit like Teacher Tang's, but they were better than Teacher Tang's.

Who wrote this?

Meng Yufei turned around and saw Xia Junshan. Then he walked over and said, "You're here. Where's the child?"

Xia Junshan pointed at Xia Qinqin who was queuing to comb her hair, and then pointed at Lu Yannan who was sitting on a stool and looking up at the words.

Meng Yufei said, "Just leave the child here, why don't you go back and have a rest first." He would also come to watch the performance in the afternoon.

Xia Junshan took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the sweat from Meng Yufei's forehead, and said, "Let me help you. Aren't you very busy?"

As he said this, he turned around and helped move the table.

The person next door joked, "Oh, Captain Xia really loves his wife and even knows how to wipe the sweat off Director Meng."

Meng Yufei looked at Xia Junshan's back and smiled shyly.

She walked over to Aunt Liu and said, "Aunt Liu, I'm really sorry to bother you."

Aunt Liu heard Tang Jiayi say at home that the children in her class were going to perform today and she wanted to come over to help tie the children's hair, so she volunteered to come over.

She is an expert at making beautiful hair and can braid children's hair quickly and beautifully.

Aunt Liu smiled and said, "It's no big deal. I'm bored at home alone, so I came to see how beautifully the little girl dances."

This red hairband was also provided by Aunt Liu. She cut it out from a piece of cloth last night.

Yueyue came here with her mom and grandma to play. Since she was a few years older than the kindergarten children who were performing, she acted like an older sister and directed the children to line up.

"Everyone line up and come one by one, okay?"

"Okay~" Several children stood up and responded. Children of this age still listen to their older sister.

Over there, Zhou Wenqian was putting makeup on the children. The things were what she used when she was in the art troupe. When she came to the island, she somehow brought these things with her.

She didn't put foundation on the children, but only put on blush and drew eyebrows. Although she hadn't put on makeup for a long time, her hands were still very skilled.

Xia Qinqin had her hair combed by Grandma Liu, and then went to Teacher Zhou to put on makeup. She looked at herself in the mirror, then turned to look at Fangfang, and said with a smile, "Sister Fangfang, now we look the same!"

The two pigtails tied with a red hair rope and the rosy puffy face do look alike.

Xia Qinqin turned to look at Lu Yannan who was sitting next to her. She rolled her round eyes, trotted over, and said in a pinched voice, "Excuse me, is your name Lu Yannan?"

Lu Yannan turned around and saw a flash of surprise in Xia Qinqin's eyes, and then a look of doubt appeared on her beautiful eyebrows.

Xia Qinqin continued in a pinched voice, "Have you seen Xia Qinqin? The teacher is looking for her." As she said this, her lively eyes were filled with a sly smile.

Lu Yannan asked: "Why did you paint your face like this? It's so weird."

Xia Qinqin said: "All the children who are performing have to put on makeup like this. Teacher Zhou said that this is stage makeup."

After listening to this, Lu Yannan turned around and looked at the children over there. They all had red faces. Zhou Wenqian had finished putting makeup on the girls and was now putting makeup on Yang Yongming. There were several boys from the class waiting in line behind him.

His handsome brows wrinkled up as he wondered if he would be discovered if he quietly walked away now.

Seeing Meng Yufei walking around busily, he sighed slightly and thought, forget it, the person in charge of this event is Aunt Meng, so give her some face.

Grandpa once said: Give face to your own people.

Seeing that he was silent again, Xia Qinqin urged him to ask, "Hey, have you seen little Xia Qinqin?"

Lu Yannan stood up from the stool, walked to her side and said, "Xia Qinqin, you just forgot to pinch your throat when speaking."

Xia Qinqin blinked and covered her mouth. Oops, I forgot about this!

Zhou Wen Qian quickly put makeup on a few boys, and then she pointed with her hand and found that there was still one missing.

She looked around and saw Lu Yannan not far away, and shouted, "Lu Yannan, you are the only one left to put on your makeup, come to the teacher quickly."

Lu Yannan nodded, gritted his teeth and walked over.

After Zhou Wenqian put blush on him, a woman next to him said, "Wow, this guy is prettier than the girl."

"Yes, with red lips and white teeth, his face is more handsome than that of a little girl."

"You can tell at first glance that he's a city kid. Look at his fair skin. He's nothing like the country kids who get all tanned from the sun."

…

All of a sudden, several adults around came over to look at Lu Yannan, and some couldn't help but reach out to touch his face, but Lu Yannan frowned and turned his head away.

He pursed his lips and sat there with an unhappy look on his face while Zhou Wenqian did his eyebrows.

Zhou Wenqian said with a smile: "Please stop crowding around here. It's hard for me to put on makeup."

After she said this, the others dispersed a little with interest.

Lu Yannan's frown finally relaxed a little. He raised his eyes to look at Zhou Wen Qian in front of him, only to see her blinking at him.

"Thank you." Lu Yannan said in a low voice.

Zhou Wenqian smiled and continued to do his eyebrows.

His eyebrows are thick and straight, and he doesn't need any makeup, just use an eyebrow pencil to darken the color.

"Okay, we can go play now." Zhou Wen Qian put down her eyebrow pencil and said.

Xiao Lin from the Publicity Department came over to take a look, then ran over to pull Xia Qinqin over and said with a smile, "Look, don't they look like a perfect match?"

People looking over saw a pair of delicate and pretty children with exquisite features and fair skin.

Xia Qinqin felt uncomfortable being stared at, so she ran over pulling Lu Yannan.

Just then, Xia Junshan had finished moving the table and was drinking water nearby. Meng Yufei tiptoed on a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face.

Xia Junshan bent down with a smile on his face to make it easier for her to wipe the sweat off her face.

"Dad, Mom!"

Xia Qinqin shouted loudly, ran to them, looked up and asked: "Look, Grandma Liu combed my hair, and Teacher Zhou put on makeup for me, do I look good?"