A few days after He Dongchuan's birthday, the military primary school had its final exams.

He Yan did not dare to be careless in this exam. He read the questions very carefully. After finishing the test paper, he did not sit down and play like he did in the past. He checked it twice and started to play only after making sure that there were no problems. When the teacher shouted to hand in the paper, he was the first to start.

As soon as He Yan finished his exam, Su Ting became busy. Today she went to the county, and tomorrow she will go to the city to prepare specialties to bring back.

As early as last year's Spring Festival, she and He Dongchuan had agreed to go back to her hometown to visit Su's father and mother. As a result, this matter was postponed from the middle of the year to the end of the year. When He Yan had his final exams, He Dongchuan finally took a leave.

This year has just started, he has not taken his New Year holiday yet, and he still has one month of vacation left.

But Su Ting was afraid that there would be other emergencies in the next year that would require her to take leave, and after all, she was not the original Su Ting, and secretly she was a little scared of staying with the Su family for a long time.

Although three years is enough time to change a person, parents and children have a close relationship and no one can guarantee whether they will notice something, so the time spent back should not be too long.

Half a month is just right, plus about twenty days for the round trip.

This amount of time will not make Su's father and mother feel that she has become distant from them after she got married, nor will it be enough for the joy of meeting her to fade away. When people are happy, they seldom think about other things. In addition, there are many things to do during the Chinese New Year, so they can have less time to think about the changes in her.

By the time the Su family had some free time and the New Year was over, it was time for them to leave.

Distance creates beauty. When the distance between them is widened again, even if they think of those changes, the Su family will find reasons themselves and gradually accept her changes.

By then, the image of Su Ting in the Su family's minds will be completely covered by her.

It may sound a bit cruel to think this way, but time travel was not her choice, and since she traveled through time and became "Su Ting", she can only live well with this identity.

All she could do was to compensate Su's father and mother materially. As for other members of the Su family, she would help if she could, but she would not force herself to help if she could not.

He Dongchuan didn't want to take too long a vacation. He had only been transferred to Shanghai for a few months, and he was worried about being away for too long during the New Year. He would definitely be very busy when he returned after the New Year.

After the couple discussed it, He Dongchuan took eighteen days off, traveling back and forth every three to four days, and stayed at the Su family for fourteen or fifteen days.

Because of the long vacation, He Dongchuan had to make a lot of arrangements for the group, so he was very busy two days before departure. Su Ting bought the local specialties herself.

There aren't many local specialties in Shanghai. Well, that's not quite right, because there are quite a few if you really count them, but many of them are not convenient to carry. Those that are convenient to carry are sold in many places, such as White Rabbit milk candy and Evergreen biscuits.

Oh, there are also 765 leather shoes. This type of leather shoes is produced by the Shanghai Leather Shoe Factory. After a few years, the goods have been stocked in major department stores in other cities.

In Rong City alone, Su Ting bought several pairs of 765 leather shoes, some for He Dongchuan, and some for He's father and Su's father. She didn't leave anyone out.

Among the three major bicycle brands, Fei Pigeon, Phoenix and Forever, two are produced in Shanghai. The same goes for large items such as watches and electric fans, many of which are also produced in Shanghai, not to mention clothes and shoes.

To put it bluntly, these days no matter what it is, as long as it is labeled as Shanghai goods, it will sell better than similar products produced in other cities.

Because Shanghai has many specialty products that can be bought in department stores in other cities, for a while, Su Ting really didn't know what to buy for Su's father and mother.

However, Su Ting did not hesitate for too long and quickly turned the corner.

What if the things that can be bought in Shanghai are also available in the department stores in my hometown?

The Su family all have rural household registration. They can only get a few bills throughout the year and have little money in their pockets. No matter how many times they go shopping in the department store, they will still go back empty-handed.

She didn't need to consider whether the things she wanted to buy were available in her hometown. She just needed to consider whether the old couple of the Su family could use them. That was enough.

After coming to her senses, Su Ting bought each of them a tweed coat. No matter what era it was, it was always right to buy clothes and shoes for the elders. She also bought a scarf for Su's mother to match her clothes.

She bought tea for Su's father, but Su Ting actually had another choice, which was to buy cigarettes.

These days, cigarettes are a great way for men to get closer to each other, and He Dongchuan gets cigarette coupons every month, but he doesn't smoke, so all the coupons are given to others.

The cigarette coupons he received every month alone could buy half a pack of cigarettes. Su's father was an old smoker, so he would be very happy when he got it.

But Su Ting really doesn't like people around her smoking. Su's father is an elder and lives far away, so she can't do anything about it and can just turn a blind eye to it. But she is not happy when she takes the initiative to buy cigarettes for him.

Moreover, she had asked He Dongchuan to quit smoking, so if she bought cigarettes for Su's father, wouldn't that be treating him differently?

So after careful consideration, Su Ting finally chose to drink tea. Drink more tea. Although it may not be good for the body, at least it has no harm.

I bought things for the two elders, and as for the rest, I just picked what I liked. I bought two bags of White Rabbit milk candy, half a pound of pear paste candy, and some various biscuits. These are all Shanghai specialties, and I can share them with the children after taking them back.

By the time Su Ting had packed her luggage to take back home, He Dongchuan had officially gone on vacation.

He came back very late on the day of the holiday, and didn't get home until after ten o'clock. Afraid that he wouldn't have hot water for a shower, Su Ting got up and added honeycomb coal. When he got home, the lid of the kettle on the coal stove was jumping up and down due to the steam.

When He Dongchuan heard the sound when he entered the room, he first went to the kitchen to get the kettle, and then went back to the room to find clothes.

When I entered the master bedroom, the light was still on, but Su Ting had already fallen asleep. Her whole body was covered by the quilt, with only half of her face exposed.

Hearing the voice, she opened her eyes dazedly and asked vaguely, "Are you back?"

"Well, I just got home, I'm going to take a shower."

"Go ahead." Su Ting said, and when he walked to the door of the room, she said, "Don't worry about the clothes, wash them tomorrow." They bought tickets for tomorrow afternoon, so they had time to wash clothes in the morning.

He Dongchuan responded and went to the bathroom to take a shower with his clothes.

He didn't go out for training today, so he didn't sweat much, so he didn't wash his hair. He took a quick shower, which took less than ten minutes. Because of Su Ting's words, he didn't wash his clothes, but he simply tidied up the bathroom to make it look less messy.

After cleaning the bathroom and spending five minutes washing his face and brushing his teeth, he returned to his room.

The winter in Shanghai is much colder than that in Pingchuan Island, so this year he did not try to be strong. He would apply the vanishing cream when he felt dry without his wife urging him. However, he did not like the sticky feeling of the vanishing cream, so he applied it in an extraordinary way. Today, he did not feel dryness or pain on his face. After returning to the room, he went straight to bed and hugged his wife in his arms.

Even though his wife had been lying in bed for several hours and he had just gotten into bed, Su Ting was actually not much warmer than him.

Because of this, Su Ting did not struggle after being hugged, and found a place in his arms to continue sleeping.

Thinking about having to take a bus tomorrow, He Dongchuan hugged his wife and did nothing. He turned off the lights and went to sleep.

…

Because she went to bed early the day before, Su Ting woke up early the next day as well and opened her eyes before the alarm clock rang.

In winter, the days are short, the sun rises late and sets early, and the light on the curtains is gray. Su Ting stared at the curtains for a long time, and He Dongchuan's voice sounded behind her: "Are you awake?"

Su Ting turned her head and asked in a puzzled tone: "How do you know I'm awake?" She was in this position when she opened her eyes, without moving her body.

"You breathe at a different rate when you're awake than when you're asleep."

"You can hear this?" Su Ting felt that this was almost like metaphysics. Anyway, as long as He Dongchuan closed his eyes, she couldn't tell whether he was asleep or pretending to be asleep.

Unless his mind was full of inappropriate thoughts for children at the time and his body reacted.

He Dongchuan said: "I have received relevant training before." The things learned in the special forces are very diverse, but they are all very useful.

Su Ting said "oh" and asked, "Do you want to get up?"

"Do you want me to get up, or do you not want me to get up?" He Dongchuan pushed the question to her.

"I can't make up my mind whether to get up or not, so I want to see if you can get up, and then decide whether I can get up or not," Su Ting said before she burst out laughing, "Why does it sound like a tongue twister?"

"It does." He Dongchuan said and sat up.

Su Ting turned her head and asked, "Are you going to get up?"

"Well, I'll go wake Xiaoyan up."

"Why did you wake him up?"

"Running, training," He Dongchuan walked to the closet, dug out some clothes and put them on while saying, "It's not convenient to train on the train at night. It just so happens that I don't have to go to the military camp in the morning, so I might as well move up the training."

Because he was going for a run, He Dongchuan didn't wear anything too thick. He just wore a training suit underneath and a military jacket before going out: "You sleep a little longer, we'll come back and bring breakfast for you and Manman."

Su Ting, who was originally hesitant about whether to get up, lay down again very decisively after hearing this. She decided to sleep for a while longer.

She slept for more than an hour, but she didn't sleep very soundly. First, she slept very well last night and was not sleepy at the moment. Second, after He Dongchuan left, she felt colder and colder as she slept, and her feet were so cold that she couldn't fall asleep.

But she didn't want to get up. No matter how cold her feet were, there was warmth inside the quilt, unlike outside the quilt where it was so cold that she was shivering.

This winter, not only the two children had difficulty getting out of bed, she was almost the same, but she was an ordinary person with self-control, so she could get up no matter how difficult it was.

But sometimes she wanted to let loose, like this morning, when she stayed in bed until after seven, and only got up after the father and son finished their exercise.

After getting up, Su Ting went straight to brush her teeth, while the father and son went to the second bedroom and called for help. After the mother and daughter finished washing up, the family sat down at the dining table.

After breakfast, He Dongchuan washed the dishes while Su Ting went back to the room to continue checking the luggage, first looking at the things she brought for the Su family, then looking at the clothes they were going to wear, as well as the food coupons and money.

After the inventory, Su Ting went to the second bedroom to check the things the brother and sister were going to take. During this time, she asked He Yan to check the luggage himself to make sure there were no clothes he wanted to wear but she had not packed.

But this check was useless. The father and son had been training for the whole morning and were sweating to some extent, so they took a shower one after another after they finished their work.

After taking a shower, the father and son changed their clothes. He Dongchuan then washed all the clothes he had taken off last night and this morning and hung them on the balcony in the living room.

Worried that the weather would be bad during the New Year, the father and son did not have any clean clothes to change into after taking a bath, so Su Ting took out some clothes from the closet for each of them and stuffed them into their luggage.

By the time they were all done, it was almost ten o'clock. Their train was at two o'clock in the afternoon, departing from Shanghai, so they had to go to the Shanghai Railway Station in advance. Therefore, the family did not delay any longer and picked up their luggage and went out.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, many people are going back to their hometowns. Every day, there are people in the compound carrying luggage, large and small, rushing back to their hometowns.

So when neighbors saw them carrying so many things, they didn’t think it was strange. They just smiled and asked, “Are you going home to celebrate the New Year?”

The other person smiled, and Su Ting also smiled and replied, "Yes."

"Then I wish you a Happy New Year in advance!"

“Happy New Year to you too!”

They chatted with people as they walked, and once they were out of the compound, they headed straight for the shuttle bus stop.

Today is a working day and it is not yet the New Year holiday. Besides their family, the only one waiting to take the bus to the city is a military wife named Song Chunxue.

However, Su Ting was not familiar with her, so the two of them just nodded as a greeting without exchanging pleasantries.

After getting on the bus, they didn't sit together because there weren't many people on the bus. Su Ting and her family chose the front seats, which were not as uncomfortable as the back seats. Song Chunxue sat directly in the last row, choosing a window seat, which made her look a little lonely.

This is the normal life of Song Chunxue. She was born in a poor family. Her family was a capitalist before the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the 1950s, her grandfather and uncles all went abroad, and only her father chose to stay in the country.

Capitalists have overseas connections, so one can imagine what will happen to them once the big movement starts.

Although Song Chunxue's parents divorced shortly after the Great Movement began, and her mother remarried a worker in the unit with her and broke off all ties with her father, her life was still not easy.

Song Chunxue's experiences in her youth influenced her character, so she has always been a little withdrawn. After joining the army, she didn't interact much with the soldiers' wives in the compound.

Therefore, when Su Ting saw Song Chunxue sitting alone in the back, she did not greet her. After all, they were not familiar with each other, and if she really called her over, they would not be able to chat for more than a few words, and it would only add to the awkwardness.

The distance from the residence to the city railway station is neither far nor close. If there are few stops, it will take 40 to 50 minutes to get there, but if there are many stops, it may take an hour.

They were lucky today. In less than fifty minutes, the bus arrived at the bus station next to the train station.

After getting off the bus, they did not go directly into the station, but found a state-owned hotel and ordered a few dishes. It was almost time for dinner, so they planned to eat before waiting for the bus.

They chose this state-owned hotel because of its good location and good business, but the serving speed was quite slow. Fortunately, they were not in a hurry and could eat slowly.

It was almost one o'clock after lunch when they entered the station with their luggage and children in their arms. They waited in the waiting room for about forty minutes before a voice came from the loudspeaker asking them to get on the bus.

When getting on the train, Man Man, who was held in Su Ting's arms, kept looking around. Although she had taken trains several times since she was born, she had no memory and had no impression of it, so she found everything strange.

After entering the carriage and arriving at their berth, he was put on the bed. He would slowly lie on the window glass to look out, then jump from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed, never stopping.

Su Ting couldn't help but say, "It's not like you haven't ridden a train before, why are you so excited today?"

He slowly stopped, tilted his head and looked at his mother, and asked half-heartedly: "Have I sat here before?"

"Of course I have. Last year, we went back to my grandparents' home for the New Year and took the train. We also took the train when we moved from our previous home to our current home."

He slowly raised his head, lost in thought, and after a long time shook his head and said, "I don't remember, today is the first time." Then he raised a finger, meaning that as long as he didn't remember the previous ones, it would always be the first time.

Su Ting laughed: "Okay."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Man Man jumping up again, so he stopped him and said, "Don't jump. If the bed collapses, you will fall to the ground easily."

Hearing this, he stretched his neck, measured the distance between the bed and the ground in his mind, and then silently retracted his short legs that were about to jump up.

She didn't want to fall.

…

It takes nearly twenty hours by train from Shanghai to the provincial capital. They boarded the train at two in the afternoon and it didn't arrive until after eight.

After getting off the train in the provincial capital, you have to transfer to the city where Su Ting's hometown is. There was no electronic ticketing in those days, so you could only go out of the station and buy tickets at the ticket window to transfer.

The provincial capital is a major transfer station, and there were many people buying tickets at the window. They waited in line for more than half an hour before they bought tickets. The train was at 9:30, and the journey took more than four hours, arriving around 2pm.

After 20 hours of driving, I slowly lost the excitement I had when I first got on the bus yesterday. I felt listless and asked irritably when I got on the bus, "Haven't we arrived yet?"

"We can get there today." Su Ting said. In fact, after arriving in their city, they still have to take a bus to their commune and then find a way to get to Sujiazui Brigade.

There was no regular bus service from the commune to the Sujiazui Brigade. If they were lucky, they might run into people from the neighboring brigades who were coming to the commune on ox carts to do business, and they could get a ride there. If they were unlucky, they would have to walk back on foot.

Therefore, Su Ting only said that she could arrive today, but she did not dare to guarantee when she could arrive.

We had lunch on the train. Decades later, the lunch boxes on the train were not considered delicious, let alone at this time. The rice was very coarse and the vegetables seemed to be boiled in water without much oil.

Su Ting had no appetite, so she shared a box lunch with Man Man. He Yan didn't eat much in the morning and was hungry now, so he ate most of the box lunch and the rest went into He Dongchuan's stomach. He had a big appetite and was not picky about food, so he was always the one to finish the meal when the family finished eating.

But what makes people jealous is that no matter how much he eats, he doesn’t gain weight and his abdominal muscles are still very strong.

Of course, this is closely related to his usual large amount of training. For someone like Su Ting who just wants to lie down after eating, if he doesn't want to gain weight, he can only control his food intake.

Because it was only four hours, they bought soft seats. The seats are slightly larger than hard seats, and the space for movement is not so cramped, but it is definitely not comparable to the soft sleeper car. At least they can't sleep after eating. The whole family looked at the scenery outside the window and chatted.

Mainly, He Yan asked Su Ting where the outside world was, but because she had never been out of the city before marrying He Dongchuan, she knew nothing about it. Most of the questions he asked were answered by the middle-aged man sitting opposite him with his father.

At the end of the questioning, He Yan asked in confusion: "Isn't this your hometown, Mom? How come you don't know anything about it?"

Su Ting said calmly: "It's my hometown, but I've never been to these places, so how would I know?"

"Isn't this your hometown? Why haven't you been here before?"

"You lived in the capital when you were a child. Do you know every place in the capital?" Su Ting asked back.

He Yan certainly didn't know, but he said confidently: "I was young at that time and I don't remember much. I know every place on Pingchuan Island."

"The train we took went from one city to another, which is within the province. Pingchuan Island is too small to be compared. If we have to compare, it should be compared with Fujian. Do you know every place in Fujian?"

He Yan scratched his head: "Really?"

"Of course, to be honest, Pingchuan Island is not as big as our commune. When we get to the commune, if you ask me which is which, I will definitely be able to tell you."

He Yan suddenly realized: "That's it."

It was actually very difficult to spend a four-hour journey just by talking, but Su Ting had prepared well and brought a lot of melon seeds with her. She also bought a lot of oranges at the train station when changing trains.

Four hours passed quickly with eating, drinking and chatting. When Su Ting said it was over, He Yan still hadn't reacted and asked, "So fast?"

"Yes, we still have to catch the bus, let's hurry up."

"Still need to take the bus?"

"What do you think?" Not only do they have to take a car, they may even have to walk.

There is a bus station next to the train station, but there are not many buses going to the commune below, only four trips a day, and the next one leaves at three o'clock. It takes about an hour to get to the commune where the Sujiazui Brigade is located.

Therefore, by the time they arrived at the commune, the watch hands had already passed four in the afternoon. The sun was about to set, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on their bodies, without any warmth. Instead, the north wind that blew in the evening brought a slight coolness.

Su Ting raised her head and looked at the surrounding scenery.

The commune where Sujiazui is located is an intermediate station, so the commune does not have a dedicated bus station. The shuttle bus stops directly at the most prosperous area of ​​the commune, which is the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative vegetable market.

But the commune was not prosperous and the population was not that large. In addition, it was getting dark, so the entrance of the vegetable market was not busy at this time, and there were only a few people coming and going.

Su Ting looked around to see if there was any ox cart. If there was, she planned to go over and ask the other party where they were going. It would be even better if she could get a ride along the way.

They were lucky, for there really was a bullock cart outside the market. The driver was lying on the side of the cart, covering his face with a straw hat, as if he was sleeping.

Su Ting thought about it and decided to go over and ask, so she said to He Dongchuan: "I'll go ask him where he is going."

"Let's go together."

The oxcart was not far away, so Su Ting did not object. She and He Dongchuan took the luggage and walked over with the child in their arms and shouted, "Comrade?"

The people in the car didn't move.

Su Ting raised her voice a little: "Hello, comrade."

He Dongchuan was more direct. He stepped forward and took off the straw hat covering the other person's face. He was about to call him comrade, but before he could say anything, he saw the other person's face clearly and asked in surprise, "Second brother?"

He had met Su Guoping when he went back to his hometown with his mother to visit relatives. Later, he got married to Su Ting. Although he lived in the commune guesthouse during that time, he went to Su's house twice and they even sat at the same table and drank wine.

Although their relationship was not very good, He Dongchuan had always had a good memory. Even after almost three years, he could still recognize Su Guoping at a glance.

On the contrary, Su Ting, although she knew what Su Guoping looked like, had never seen him before, so she was slow to react. When she heard He Dongchuan's address, she realized that the person lying on the ox cart was indeed her second brother.

The two men's voices rang in succession in his ears. No matter how soundly Su Guoping slept, he was awakened. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Who are you?"

Su Ting: "...your sister."

Su Guoping stopped rubbing his eyes, looked up at Su Ting, and a smile instantly broke out on his face: "Sisters, you are finally here. I have been waiting for you here for several days."

He raised his hand, jumped out of the car, held He Dongchuan's hand and said, "Brother-in-law, long time no see!"

He Dongchuan was not used to such enthusiasm. He coughed and said, "Second brother."

"Hey!" Su Guoping responded loudly, and then looked at the brother and sister holding hands, "Oh, this is my nephew, he looks really strong, how old is he? This must be slowly growing up, your daughter is quite tall?"

Compared with people of the same age, Man Man is indeed tall. Su Ting said modestly, "She takes after her father."

The main reason was that although her height was not considered short in the local area, she was indeed not outstanding in the naval compound, especially compared with the military wives from the north, many of whom were half a head taller than her.

So no matter how thick-skinned Su Ting was, she couldn't say anything when her mother said that.

Su Guoping smiled cheerfully: "Will you gradually understand who I am?"

"I don't know." He shook his head slowly and honestly.

Su Guoping choked and said, "I am your uncle."

"uncle?"

Su Guoping corrected it and said, "It's my uncle, not Qiuqiu."

"Is it your uncle?"

Su Guoping: "...Okay, you can call me Qiuqiu."

But she was still unhappy after hearing what he said, and said, "It's my uncle!" She felt that her pronunciation was very standard and would not allow anyone to question it.

Seeing that Su Guoping still had something to say, Su Ting was afraid that the uncle and nephew would quarrel, so she said, "Let her yell."

Su Guoping then gave up on correcting his niece and asked the four people to get on the cart. After they were seated, he hurried back on the ox cart. On the way, he remembered and asked, "When did you arrive? How did you know it was me lying on the cart?"

"We just arrived and we didn't know it was you. We were far from home, so when we got off the car and saw this ox cart, we wanted to ask you where you were going. We thought it was on the way, so could you give us a ride? It was only when Dongchuan took off his hat that we realized it was you." Su Ting explained and asked, "You said you had been waiting for us here for a day, didn't you?"

"Didn't you ask for a few days' leave in your letter? My parents were worried that you had too much luggage and it would be difficult to carry it, so they asked me to drive a bullock cart to the commune every day to wait. I waited for three days, and finally I saw you."

Under normal circumstances, Su Guoping would be happy to wait for three weeks, let alone three days. However, it was almost the New Year and there was not much work to do in the fields. Everyone else was lying at home playing, but he had to wait in the cold wind every day. Just thinking about him made him feel sad.

But he couldn't help it. He and his father were the only ones in his family who could drive a bullock cart. His father was already over 50 years old, and he couldn't let him come to the commune every day to blow in the cold wind. The brigade didn't lack people who could drive a cart, but the girl they were picking up was their daughter. It was fine to borrow the brigade's bullock cart, but it was not right to ask for more and let others blow in the cold wind.

After all the calculations, he is the only one who can pick up the person.

Of course, his work was not without benefits. His father said that he would give him a big red envelope during the Chinese New Year after he was picked up.

Although his father didn't say how much money was in the red envelope, it was already a big red envelope, and it would be unreasonable not to put five or ten yuan in it. After thinking it over, Su Guoping happily took the job.

Speaking of this, Su Guoping coughed lightly and said, "Of course, I came to the commune not for the money, but mainly because I miss my sister, brother-in-law, nephews and nieces. I look forward to seeing you soon."

Su Ting: “…”

If it weren't for the memories of her original body, Su Ting might have really believed it, but she also knew that Su Guoping was a man who was greedy and lazy, but he really didn't have any bad intentions.

Therefore, Su Ting did not expose his words, but only jokingly asked: "Of course I believe that you did not come to pick us up for the money, so, when I go back, I will tell Dad that you don't need to give the red envelope, so that everyone will not misunderstand you."

Su Guoping immediately made a bitter face: "No."

"What else?" Su Ting asked with a smile.

Su Guoping took a deep breath and said, "I admit that I came to the commune to pick you up for a reason. Well, most of it was for money. But you have to believe me, sister. I really miss you. Can you please be kind enough to let me go this time? I am really poor. I have nothing left!"

After hearing his miserable words, Su Ting stopped teasing him, sat back and said, "Why didn't you say it earlier?"

Su Guoping wiped his sweat and thought to himself, I didn't expect that you've become so amazing after only two or three years of marriage!