Chapter 18: Pension, no news

Chu Sangning was puzzled: "Isn't this a good thing?" Aunt Lin was so worried that she couldn't sleep all night. Shouldn't she be happy that there was news about her son?

Pan Wenlan sighed: "This time there was a letter and a lot of money. We all know Xingyan's salary. He hasn't been promoted yet, so it's impossible for him to get so much salary."

"Maybe... maybe something happened, and the army gave me... a pension." Pan Wenlan whispered the last three words, fearing that her mother-in-law would think too much if she knew.

"Ah?" Chu Sangning took a breath in surprise, his pupils trembling slightly.

"Let's wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will take my husband to the county post office to ask." Pan Wenlan also had a big headache. For no reason, the army suddenly sent a letter and gave so much money. No wonder her mother-in-law would think too much.

Chu Sangning thought of how Aunt Lin was crying so hard that she almost fainted, and she felt relieved. She asked anxiously, "Do you need my help?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I'll go." Pan Wenlan was embarrassed to bother Chu Sangning and pretended to be calm.

Since receiving the letter from the army, Lin Xiuzhi has not spoken a word for the entire day. She is always dazed when someone talks to her and can barely hear a few words.

It was even more exaggerated at dinner time. Even the food was salty. Chu Sangning took a bite and it was like swallowing a lump of salt. It took him a long time to recover.

No one else dared to touch him. Seeing his absent-minded look, Jiang Panan stopped laughing at the dinner table and ate the steamed bun in his hand slowly.

"Don't worry, Xingyan is strong and nothing will happen." Jiang's father is not good at speaking. He only has his son in his heart, but he is also the head of the family after all, so he can't panic at this time.

He started to comfort his wife, but he didn't expect that he would directly ignite the bomb of Lin Xiuzhi.

Lin Xiuzhi put the bowl in her hand on the table with a bang, her face darkened and her breathing quickened: "I'm not anxious? How can I not be anxious? That's a piece of flesh that fell off my body."

"Our brother Yan has not been by my side since he was a child. I have told you that being a soldier is hard and tiring, but you refused to listen and supported him to join the army. Now, my brother Yan——"

Lin Xiuzhi started crying again as she spoke. She covered her eyes with her trembling hands, lowered her head, and her shoulders rose and fell, making soft sobbing sounds.

No one spoke at the dinner table. Jiang Panan covered his mouth nervously, afraid that the sound of his breathing would touch his grandmother's nipples.

Father Jiang sighed helplessly, picked up his pipe and wanted to smoke but didn't. He lowered his eyes and said nothing.

"Mom, I'll go to the post office tomorrow to ask, don't worry." Pan Wenlan knew that she couldn't panic at this time, so she hurried to comfort her.

"Yes, yes, let Wenlan ask tomorrow. She is an educated youth and knows a lot." Father Jiang seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw.

"Auntie, I happen to be delivering a letter to my family tomorrow, so I'll ask about it while I'm at it." Chu Sangning said, thinking that she would also be going to the county town tomorrow.

Lin Xiuzhi's eyes turned red. She held Chu Sangning's hand and looked at her pleadingly, her voice trembling: "Sangning, you must ask, you must ask."

Chu Sangning patted her hands and nodded seriously: "Auntie, don't worry."

The next morning, Chu Sangning and Pan Wenlan got on an ox cart to the county town to sell goods. Pan Wenlan looked at Chu Sangning's bags and smiled.

“Are you sending all this home?”

"Well, the wild vegetables here are quite fresh. I sent some to my dad to try. I also exchanged some with fellow villagers for local specialties that we don't have over there."

Pan Wenlan was slightly absent-minded, murmuring, "You have a good father."

"Well, my mother died early, and my father never remarried. He said he was afraid that I would suffer any injustice." Chu Sangning also accepted her father from the bottom of her heart, and she couldn't help but smile a little more when she talked about it.

When Chu Sangning arrived at the post office, he put the package on the table. The staff at the post office immediately smiled and asked, "Comrade, are you an educated youth?"

"Ah? How did you know that?" Chu Sangning's eyes flickered and he asked curiously.

"We have seen many educated youth mailing things, but you are the one who mailed the most. I am afraid you mailed all the things back." The post office staff weighed the items with a smile and asked Chu Sangning to take the stamp and fill in the address.

"That's one dollar and eighty-seven cents."

Hearing that the postage was so high, Pan Wenlan smacked her lips and gave Chu Sangning a thumbs up, "You are such a sweetheart. Your dad must be very happy."

"Sister Pan, please stop teasing me. We have business to attend to."

After Chu Sangning finished speaking, Pan Wenlan became serious and took out a piece of paper from her pocket. She walked up to the post office staff and asked, "Comrade, can I get in touch with this place?"

When she saw the address, she frowned and said, "I'm afraid that won't work. Who among you is a military family member?"

"I, I am, and he is my brother-in-law." Pan Wenlan said.

"Comrade, I'm afraid we can't tell him about this important military location, but you can send him a letter and he will contact you when he sees it."

Pan Wenlan smiled bitterly and shook her head, "We just couldn't get in touch with anyone."

The post office staff was moved upon hearing this and offered some advice: "Do you know the army's phone number? Why don't you give them a call?"

Pan Wenlan pursed her lips and said nothing. If she knew the phone number, she would just call directly. Why would she go to the post office to ask?

The soldiers were often on missions, and we could hardly get in touch with them for ten days or half a month. The postal staff comforted us, saying, "Don't worry too much, comrade. The troops are often on missions. Maybe they will write to you after they complete their mission."

What else could Pan Wenlan do? The post office couldn't help her either. She was worried all the way back. Thinking of her mother-in-law's eager eyes early in the morning, Pan Wenlan didn't know what to say when she got home.

She asked, "Sang Ning, what should we do now?"

If she told the truth, her mother-in-law would definitely think too much. If she kept doing this, her body might even break down. But if she didn't tell anyone, what if, what if...something happened to her brother-in-law, Pan Wenlan felt that she would become the sinner of the Jiang family.

Chu Sangning thought that keeping a secret was not a good thing. A white lie was still a lie. Maybe no news was the best news.

After returning home, Pan Wenlan shook her head at the look in her mother-in-law's eyes and told the truth: "You can't go to the post office privately. After all, the work of the banquet is special."

Lin Xiuzhi looked listless, and the dark circles under her eyes could not be concealed. Hearing this, she nodded in disappointment and went to the kitchen without saying a word.

She couldn't go to work in this state, so Jiang's father wanted his wife to rest at home for two days, but Lin Xiuzhi refused.

"Forget it, I'll just get back to work. I'm so tired that I can't think of anything."

Lin Xiuzhi's condition could not be hidden from other people in the village. Nowadays, everyone knows exactly what everyone eats, let alone such a big thing.