Chapter 98 Chapter 98 Packing

The most important reason why Meng Yufei got to know Xia Junshan was because of the eldest brother of the Meng family.

When Xia Junshan was promoted to battalion-level cadre, he was recommended to study at the military academy in Hai City. He happened to be in the same class with Brother Meng, and they were also roommates in the same dormitory.

The two of them had similar interests, hit it off right away, and had a good relationship.

The Meng family lives in Hai City, so during the holidays, Brother Meng invited Xia Junshan to his home for dinner. It was also because of this that Xia Junshan and Meng Yufei got to know each other.

I still remember that when Brother Meng first knew that the two were dating, he asked Xia Junshan out for a private talk.

Meng Yufei didn't ask what he said specifically, she only saw the blue corners of Xia Junshan's mouth, and he said that he accidentally knocked it.

Meng Yufei said with emotion: "I haven't seen my eldest brother since we got married. I don't know if my sister-in-law will come back with him this time."

Xia Junshan said: "They are in the same unit, so if they want to come back, they will definitely come back together. The leader will not approve leave for one and not for the other."

"That's right." Meng Yufei nodded: "Sister-in-law hasn't been back for many years. The organization should give him a vacation."

Xia Junshan said: "The southwestern border where they are stationed has been plagued by friction in recent years, and they really couldn't get away. They were able to come back this time, and it seems that the situation has improved recently."

Meng Yufei sighed and said, "I still remember when my eldest brother went to the battlefield a few years ago, my mother was so worried that she couldn't sleep for days at home. Her hair turned a lot white. Fortunately, he was only slightly injured later."

Xia Junshan patted her on the shoulder and consoled her: "Going into battle and killing the enemy is a soldier's duty. From the moment we joined the army, we were never afraid of bloodshed, let alone death. The only people we feel indebted to are our families in the rear."

"Fei Fei, thank you very much for supporting my work over the years. Thank you also to my parents-in-law for marrying their daughter to me despite having a soldier at home and experiencing the fear of life."

His words were very sincere and really came from his heart.

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "You are doing a great and meaningful job. As your partner, I cannot hold you back."

The couple smiled at each other with affection.

"Dad, Mom, we've finished practicing calligraphy." The daughter's crisp voice interrupted the couple's tender moment.

"Dad, we have to send Brother Yannan back home." Xia Qinqin looked up at her parents and asked curiously, "Hey, Mom, is there sand in your eyes? Why does Dad have to keep looking at you?"

She remembered that when sand got into her eyes, her mother just kept looking into her eyes.

Meng Yufei subconsciously raised her hand and touched her eyes, and smiled: "Well, Dad was looking at my eyes, and something accidentally got into my eyes just now."

Sometimes it is unavoidable to tell white lies to children...

Xia Qinqin immediately tiptoed and asked concernedly: "Mom, do your eyes hurt?" - She used to feel very painful when sand got into her eyes.

Meng Yufei shook her head: "It doesn't hurt."

Xia Junshan coughed lightly and said, "Well, didn't you say you were going to send Yannan back? Let's go."

"Oh, okay." Xia Qinqin nodded and stopped asking about her mother's eyes.

The weather is a bit cool at night, and it is easy to catch a cold if you go out and are blown by the wind.

Meng Yufei took out coats for the two children to change into.

Because Lu Yannan is here almost every day, there are several sets of his clothes in the house. Sometimes when Meng Yufei buys clothes for Xia Qinqin, she will also buy one for Lu Yannan.

In the cool night breeze, the couple, each holding a child in their hands, walked slowly towards Teacher Li's house.

"Yannan, are you going back during the winter vacation or will you wait a few days before going back?" Meng Yufei asked with her head down.

Lu Yannan said: "Go back during the holidays."

Xia Qinqin asked: "Brother Yannan, do you also want to take a long train ride?"

Lu Yannan shook his head, "No, my grandfather sent someone to pick me up."

Xia Qinqin said: "Then remember to take the train next time you have the chance. My mother and I took the train when we came here before. That train is very long, much longer than the bus. You can even sleep on it. It's fun."

"By the way, Brother Yannan, have you ever taken a train?"

"No." Lu Yannan shook his head.

After all, he was only four years old, and he had never traveled far from home. He usually took a car for short distances and a plane for long distances.

For example, this time, he was following a comrade-in-arms of his grandfather. That person was going back to Beijing to report on his work, and the organization sent a special plane to pick him up, and just happened to take him back along the way.

Xia Qinqin said: "When I grow up, I will take you to ride the train."

"Okay, I'll remember it." Lu Yannan said softly.

Two little children were talking together, and above them two adults were also talking in low voices.

Xia Junshan asked: "Why did you go to the city on business today?"

Meng Yufei said, "I went to receive the certificate. Teacher Zhou was named this year's city's outstanding teacher."

Xia Junshan was a little surprised at first. How could a teacher from their kindergarten in the family compound be rated as an excellent teacher in the city? Then he thought of something and understood.

"Because of the award we won in the last choir competition?"

Meng Yufei nodded: "Yes, that's part of the reason. The class she taught won first prize in the city's competition. She works at the grassroots level and is a retired soldier. After comprehensive consideration, she was named an excellent teacher."

Xia Junshan said: "Indeed, the evaluation of excellence and excellence should focus more on grassroots workers."

Meng Yufei said: "This time Wen Qian was named an excellent teacher, which also brought honor to our Nanya Island, proving that the teaching level on our island is no worse than other schools. Not only are Principal Tian and Director Fu happy, but the leaders in the town also attach great importance to it. They said that they will hold a commendation meeting for Wen Qian in a few days."

At this point, she smiled and said, "However, Wen Qian strongly rejected it."

"But both Director Tian and the director praised her privately and said they would give her a bonus at the end of the year."

"By the way, the director said that he would give me a bonus at the end of the year as a reward for my hard work in the National Day event last time and the May Day event before that. Both events were very successful."

——Meng Yufei is also in charge of the National Day activities.

"It just so happens that the bonus has come down and Xiao Zhang and I will each take half. This is our department's hard work pay."

"Also, the Personnel Department and General Affairs Department wanted to push the New Year activities to me, saying that I have a lot of experience and can handle it well, so why not continue to do it? Humph, I won't do it. I can just take out the New Year leave application and handle it once or twice. Why do they want to push it to me every time..."

The evening breeze was slightly cool. Xia Junshan listened to the people around him talking with a smile, and occasionally echoed them.

Occasionally I looked down and saw my daughter talking to her good friend with a happy smile on her face.

At this moment, Xia Junshan's half-month's hard work was swept away, and his body and mind felt extremely comfortable and relaxed. He only wished that this road could be a little longer so that he could listen to his lover's whispers a little longer.

—————

Lu Yannan was picked up the next day after the kindergarten's winter vacation. It was not until the correspondent Xiao Zhao came to inform them that Meng Yufei and the others found out.

So, at the lunch table, there was no Lu Yannan, only the family of three.

Meng Yufei was used to having two children come to eat with her, and now there was one less child. She was not used to it, so she brought out four sets of bowls and chopsticks as usual.

"Look at my memory. I even forgot that Yan Nan has already returned to Beijing." Meng Yufei patted her forehead and said.

"This kid usually doesn't like to talk and doesn't feel like there's an extra person at home. Now that he's gone, I'm really not used to it. I just took out the chess set and said I wanted to have a chat with Yannan after dinner." Xia Junshan said as he took the bowl and chopsticks back to the kitchen.

Xia Qinqin also nodded her head and agreed: "Yes, yes, I am not used to it either. Without Brother Yannan, there is no one to practice calligraphy with me."

Xia Junshan sat down, gently touched his daughter's nose, and said with a smile: "Then Dad will get off work early this afternoon and come back to practice calligraphy with you."

——He is going to take a leave at the end of the year, so there are no urgent tasks assigned to him recently.

Xia Qinqin said: "Then I will play chess with Dad."

Then he turned to Meng Yufei and said, "I still have to go to work with my mother."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "That's really hard work for us Qinqin."

Xia Qinqin smiled and said, "It's not hard. I like being with my parents."

Meng Yufei gently stroked her daughter's hair, "Mom and Dad like to be with you, too."

"Yes, we like Qinqin the most." Xia Junshan nodded.

"I like mom and dad the most, too." Xia Qinqin said quickly.

Meng Yufei filled her small bowl with rice and passed it to her, "Eat quickly."

"Yeah." Xia Qinqin picked up the chopsticks and ate happily.

Xia Junshan happened to be not very busy these days, so he packed his luggage with Meng Yufei after returning. In fact, there was nothing much to pack. The temperature in Hai City was low, and the clothes here could not be worn.

Moreover, Meng Yufei and Xia Qinqin's winter clothes were all there, so in the end, all the clothes for the family of three could be packed into one suitcase.

Most of the items in it are clothes sent by Meng's mother.

There are two suitcases in the house, both of which were brought back by Meng Yufei from Hai City at the beginning of the year. One is used to hold clothes and the other is used to hold gifts she brought back.

Following Mrs. Zhang's advice, Meng Yufei went to a seafood company, where there were a lot of dried seafood, many of which were not available in department stores.

She didn't buy dried fish. There is a special seafood market in Haishi, so there is no shortage of fish to eat.

She bought some precious seafood such as dried abalone and dried sea cucumber. These things are in short supply in the seafood market and are difficult to buy even if you have money.

Even here, it was still very troublesome to buy. It was Zhao Meixia who helped. She knew someone at the aquatic product company and wrote a note for me, so I could buy these things.

I also bought a few packs of snacks, coconut candy, dried squid and other side dishes, packed them together and stuffed them into the box.

Originally, Meng Yufei had not planned to bring any fruit back. Not only were the fruits heavy, they were also difficult to preserve. She was afraid that they would get crowded on the train and go bad before reaching Hai City.

Xia Junshan took out his plastic bag and put six coconuts in it, and also put a big pineapple honey!

Meng Yufei pointed at the pineapple honey on the ground in surprise and said, "Why did you buy this? It's so big, it must weigh about 20 to 30 kilograms, right?"

Xia Junshan smiled and said, "I just weighed myself this morning, and it was exactly 40 kilograms."

Meng Yufei pointed at the pile of coconuts and asked, "How heavy are these coconuts?"

Xia Junshan said, "One weighs about four or five pounds." These coconuts were all nicely shaped and medium-sized coconuts that he had specially selected.

Meng Yufei stared and said, "Then all of this must weigh about 60 to 70 kilograms!"

Xia Junshan put them all into the bag and carried it on his shoulder. One hand gently pulled the bag's opening while the other hand was free. He smiled and said, "Look, it's not that heavy. The skins of these two fruits are thick, so don't worry about them getting damaged by bumps and bruises on the road."

Meng Yufei frowned and said, "But this is too heavy, and we have come such a long way."

Xia Junshan said, "It's okay. I'll ask the commander to drive us to the pier tomorrow. When we get to Qiongzhou Pier, I've already contacted Lao Zhao in advance. He will drive us to the train station, so we don't have to walk much along the way."

Lao Zhao was the person who drove to pick them up when Meng Yufei came. He was Xia Junshan's comrade-in-arms.

Xia Junshan continued, "Although these fruits are not expensive, they are only available here. Take them back for your parents to taste."

In those days, transportation was very inconvenient and these fruits were not sold in the market.

Meng Yufei thought for a moment and said, "Okay then." She smiled and said, "People say that a small gift is worth a lot of thought. Your gift is more valuable than your thought. I'm sorry for the hard work."

Xia Junshan said: "What's so hard about this? I haven't been back for so many years, so I have to show my appreciation. What is this called? Oh, yes, a prospective son-in-law is coming to your house."

Meng Yufei said with a smile: "A prospective son-in-law means that the person is visiting for the first time. You are already so old, and you are still a prospective son-in-law."

"It's been many years since we last met. The neighbors near your house have probably forgotten what I look like. When I go back, they might really think I'm the 'new son-in-law' of the Meng family." Xia Junshan said with a grin.

Meng Yufei slapped him in annoyance and said angrily, "Then people would think I was married for the second time. Who knows what kind of gossip they would say."

Xia Junshan raised his eyebrows and said, "You found a handsome guy in your first marriage, and you also found a man with outstanding temperament in your second marriage. I am jealous of you when I gossip."

Meng Yufei said with a smile: "Hey! How can you boast like that?"

Xia Junshan shrugged and said with a smile, "Just tell the truth."

Meng Yufei urged him, "Don't be hungry. Go to next door and pick up Qinqin. It's time for dinner. We need to go to bed early tonight because we have to get up early tomorrow."

Xia Qinqin knew that she would have to go back home tomorrow, so she took her doll and went next door to play with Fangfang. The two good sisters wouldn't be able to play together for several days.

Xia Junshan immediately responded: "Okay, I'll go right away."

Then he went out to pick up his daughter.