Chapter 36 Go to the army.
Before this, He's mother had never thought of marrying her daughter to the army. She thought that since Susu was pretty and educated, she would definitely be able to find a young man to marry and live a good life in the county town.
Now that the third brother's wife had said this, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that it would be best for Susu to go with her to the army. If she could find an officer she liked and marry him, it would be the best thing for her to go there and follow the army.
These days marrying a soldier is still a good choice. There is a fixed monthly allowance, and occasional bonuses when returning from a mission. If your rank is high enough, you can be allocated a house to accompany the army. Although the conditions there are worse, it is not too bad if you have money and tickets.
In He's mother's imagination, if her daughter really has a man she likes, he must be an officer, high enough to be allocated a house. If he is not high enough, then sending her a monthly allowance while she lives at home and can always look after her is also a good thing.
She had heard people say before that young girls went to military family compounds to help their relatives take care of their children, mainly in the hope of finding a suitable partner there.
Anyway, it is really difficult for the third brother's wife to take the train with two children and luggage this time, so it may be a good idea to let Susu go with them and stay at the army for a while.
Mother He smiled and nodded: "Third daughter-in-law, your suggestion is good. It is indeed difficult for you to take the child there alone. Susu can accompany you and take care of it. I will talk to your father and Susu about this matter later. There should be no problem."
Based on her understanding of girls and women, she would definitely be happy to help her third brother and his wife.
Su Yu nodded: "Okay, thank you very much, mother."
In her opinion, as long as her parents-in-law agreed, her sister-in-law should be fine.
When Mother He told Father He about this in the room, Father He thought about it for a moment and said, "Okay, let Susu live there for a while."
He naturally hoped that his daughter could find a good man. And these days, soldiers in the army have been tested and trained by the state, and they are upright, with no problems in terms of morality or family.
The next day, He's mother told her daughter about this matter, but she concealed the fact that the main purpose of this trip was to find a partner for her daughter. She only said, "Just think of it as going out for a walk. Don't stay at home all day. Anyway, you can write your articles anywhere. It won't be a problem."
He Susu didn't think too much about it. She had nothing to do at home anyway. Just like the story her mother told her, she could write it when she arrived in the army. It was just a little help for her third brother and his wife. She could still do it.
So I agreed.
Immediately afterwards, He's mother got busy preparing things for them to take to the army.
The third son's wife said she wanted to bring some dried food with her. It happened to be raining heavily in spring, so when the rain stopped, she would call the children in the family to go to the back mountain to pick mushrooms, and then take them home to dry them.
As for black fungus, I would exchange it with the villagers. One pound of sugar from home could be exchanged for several pounds of black fungus, all of which were sun-dried.
He Lianzhou prepared bed sheets and quilts at the army side, but He's mother wanted her daughter to bring her current set as well.
"Bed sheets and quilt covers are not that easy to buy. I guess your third brother's set and the child's set are almost the same. It may be a bit difficult to prepare your set. Anyway, they are not heavy, you can just take them over and use them. It's also convenient."
Fortunately, it is spring now and the weather is warm, so a thin quilt is enough to cover the bed. The sheets and pillowcases are not too heavy.
He Susu thought so too, so she decided to do so. In addition to clothes and shoes, she also planned to bring toothpaste, toothbrush, towel for washing face and bathing, and a kettle for drinking water.
Then there is the pen and writing paper she usually uses, which is the most important thing.
At night, she lay on the bed in her room, opened the shopping system, and scrolled through the screen, thinking about what to buy.
The biggest impact of not being at home was probably that she couldn't help buy meat for her family. She didn't have any real connections with her classmates, so she couldn't introduce her family to the other party and let them buy meat.
Thinking of this, He Susu simply exchanged five kilograms of pork, choosing three kilograms of pork belly and two kilograms of fat. The fat could be used to stir-fry lard, and then she could add some oil to the dishes she cooked later.
Then I exchanged it for a four-pound chicken.
In addition, mutton is not suitable to be eaten at this time. Beef is a scarce commodity and only old and dead cows will be sent to grocery stores for slaughter and sale. It cannot be exchanged casually.
He Susu simply searched and found the pork jerky that she had seen before but had never exchanged. One pound required 3 diligence points, so she exchanged four pounds.
It’s not that she didn’t want to exchange more, but it’s true that making pork jerky requires a lot of pork, and it would be difficult to explain how she bought more.
She guessed that her mother would definitely not accept it all, so they would take one pound with them when they left and leave three pounds at home. When the pork was all eaten, they could occasionally eat some pork jerky as a meat dish.
Then He Susu exchanged another five kilograms of rice and five kilograms of flour. These are fine grains and can be used to improve the diet occasionally at home.
Finally, He Susu exchanged for another pound of milk lumps, which her mother and nephews and nieces all loved to eat.
After all this shopping, the diligence points that I had accumulated for a long time were almost used up and dropped to single digits.
He Susu was not in a hurry. The army would not need her to exchange things for a while, and she could not stay idle at her third brother and sister-in-law's house. She would definitely find some work to earn diligence points.
After finishing her shopping, she turned off the shopping system screen, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast, He Susu set off on her bicycle, using the excuse that she was going to the county town to mail a manuscript. Of course, she did not forget to carry the bamboo basket and the parcel, as she had a lot to bring back today.
When she arrived at the county town, she went straight to the post office and, as usual, mailed the 20,000-word manuscript that she had spent a lot of effort to complete.
Because she often came to submit manuscripts, the staff were familiar with her: "Are you here to submit manuscripts again?"
As he spoke, his hands had already begun to affix stamps and stamp postmarks skillfully.
"Yes, I just finished writing and came right over." He Susu replied, taking money out of her pocket to pay.
Because she was going to join the army, she filled in the return address at the end of the letter paper as the army's address. Anyway, it would take some time for the magazine to review the manuscript, and she should have arrived at the army by then.
After sending the manuscript, He Susu did not go to the supply and marketing cooperative or department store. She had already redeemed the things she needed to buy in the shopping system.
Now I just found a deserted place to sit and kill time, so as not to go back too early and arouse suspicion at home.
Remembering the idea that popped up in her mind just now when she was mailing the package, He Susu opened the shopping system and redeemed two more bottles of fermented bean curd. This was her third brother's favorite, so she could take this opportunity to bring some for him.
He Susu counted the time in her mind and thought it was about time before she rode her bike home.
When she was almost at the entrance of the village, she transferred the things into bamboo baskets and packages. She put the pork and chicken in the backpack, and also put five kilograms of rice and two bottles of fermented bean curd. The white flour, pork jerky and milk lumps were put in the package.
It was rare for her to bring so many things home. The weight of the bamboo basket on her back and the package on her shoulders made her shoulders ache. He Susu was glad that she took them out only when she reached the village entrance, as she would not be able to bear it if the journey was too long.
When they got home, third sister-in-law Su Yu, who had nothing to do during the period, took on the task of cooking lunch. After He Susu parked her bicycle, she put the pork and chicken in a bucket and sank it into the well to cool it down. Then she took the rice and flour to the kitchen.
Su Yu saw her and smiled, "Are you back?"
He Susu nodded: "I went to mail the manuscript and bought some things and then came back. I have a classmate who has connections, and I used to ask her for help when I bought pork. This time, I thought that I would be in the army for a long time, so I bought more meat and food."
As she spoke, she began to pour rice into the millet jar, which was used to store refined rice, while the rice jar was filled with brown rice.
Su Yu knew that her aunt had a way to buy meat, so they ate a lot of meat at home. But now she was watching her pouring rice into the rice jar and flour into the earthenware jar. It looked like a lot of it, and it cost a lot of money, but it was hard to buy.
But she didn't say much.
When the He family got off work and He Susu told her mother about the things they had bought, Su Yu realized that her aunt had bought so many things this time.
Not only was there a lot of pork, there was also a chicken, and the rare pork jerky weighed four pounds. There were also the milk lumps that Dabao and Erbao had always been thinking about and saying were delicious. In addition, the aunt remembered the good things about Lianzhou and bought him two bottles of fermented bean curd.
Mother He didn't know what to say: "You are such a child who misses your family. You are worried about them when you go out. You bought so many things and brought them back. They are enough for the family to eat for a long time. I will give you the money later."
He Susu agreed with a smile. She thought that she could keep the money and buy things for her family later.
Just as she expected, He's mother said, "This pork jerky is hard to come by. You can always carry it with you and eat it when you're hungry. You can also take half with you to the troops."
He Susu took her arm and said coquettishly, "Mom, I bought this pork jerky especially for you to eat. I thought that pork would be hard to buy later, and you can eat this pork jerky to add some oil and meat to it."
"We have run out of meat at home, and we still have the meat coupons your third brother sent back. We can get by if we eat frugally. This pork jerky is good. It would be great if we could share this delicious food together." He's mother insisted.
She looked at the pork jerky just now, and the aroma of meat was so strong that it was made from good pork.
He Susu then said, "If we want to bring anything, we can just bring one pound to eat. We have a lot of things to bring, and it will be inconvenient if it's too heavy."
Seeing her daughter agree, He's mother also took a step back and said, "That's fine."
Several children were thinking about the milk lumps, so He's mother simply took them out and gave one to each of them.
They got milk lumps and gathered in the yard to eat them, enjoying them with a sizzling sound.
Dabao sighed: "It's a pity that we have to go to the army, otherwise we can continue to eat milk lumps at home."
Erbao repeated in a serious manner: "What a pity, what a pity."
Guifang made a suggestion: "If you like it, just tell grandma and let her take your portion to the army, right?"
Dabao and Erbao's eyes suddenly lit up. They swallowed the milk lumps that they had been chewing and holding in their mouths for a while, then stood up and ran to their milkman to beg for more milk lumps.
How could He's mother resist the spoiled behavior of her two most beloved grandsons? She had originally wanted to give them some milk lumps, so she immediately agreed.
She thought she would give half of the pound to Dabao and the others to take back, but Dabao and Erbao were honest and only wanted their own share: "Leave the rest for your brothers and sisters, and you should also eat more milk."
"Yeah, as long as we have enough to eat, our parents said we can't be greedy."
He's mother was very pleased to hear this, secretly sighing that the third daughter-in-law had taught the children well, so she agreed. She divided the milk lumps between Dabao and Erbao, and stuffed a few more in, saying, "This is for your mother and sister-in-law."
Dabao and Erbao happily took the bag and promised to take it intact to the army to eat.
He Susu found time to visit her eldest sister in the county town and told her that she was going to live in the army with her third sister-in-law for a while.
He Xiuxiu was reluctant to leave her younger sister, but she also knew that it would be difficult for Su Yu to travel alone with two children, and it would be better to have her younger sister's help.
I don't know if it was a telepathic connection, but I immediately thought the same thing as He's mother. With my younger sister's looks and education, maybe she could find a suitable partner in my third brother's army. That would be perfect.
The two sisters chatted for a long time before reluctantly parting.
In a blink of an eye, it was the day they had agreed to go to the army. Su Yu and He Susu had almost packed their things and put everything they needed to take into woven sacks.
Su Yu went to her mother's house specially and rode a bicycle back. That day, Brother He and Brother He asked for leave in the morning. They rode their bicycles to take He Susu, Su Yu and the two children to the city railway station. They carried their luggage on their backs, and the woven sacks were not too big but they could still be carried.
When they arrived at the train station, there was a lot of people. Brother He and Brother He parked the car, helped carry people's things to the platform.
Brother He said, "Sister-in-law, little sister, be careful on the road and keep an eye on Dabao and Erbao."
Su Yu nodded: "Okay, thank you uncle, you have worked hard. You can just park your bike directly in front of my mother's house. My mother is at home."
Brother He smiled and agreed.
He Erge also told Xiaomei: "Xiaomei, be careful on the road, and listen to Lao San when you get there. If you are not used to living there, send a message home and take the train back, and I will pick you up when the time comes."
He Susu smiled and agreed: "Don't worry, second brother, I will write to you or call you later."
The train whistled into the station. Su Yu and He Susu put on their bags and carried the sacks. They took Dabao and Erbao by the hand and waved goodbye: "Goodbye, big brother!"
The eldest and second brothers waved goodbye, "Goodbye, sister-in-law!"
He Susu and her group got on the train. There were many people sitting in the carriage. They found the corresponding seats according to the information on their tickets and sat down. They only felt relieved after putting their belongings away.
Dabao and Erbao found everything around them new and interesting, but they also knew that they had to listen to their mother and aunt in such occasions, so they sat in their seats obediently and just looked around.
"You two just sit there and don't run around. If anything happens, call your mother or me. Do you understand?" He Susu instructed.
Dabao and Erbao nodded obediently: "Aunt, we got it."
Su Yu also took a breath, finally able to take a break. The sack was placed in the middle of the seat, and the package was placed under the seat, so that the feet could feel it at any time, and if someone wanted to steal something without paying attention, they could find it in time.
It was He Susu's first time to take a train, but she didn't have any new thoughts, nor did she say that she was not used to it and wanted to vomit. She just woke up a little early in the morning and was not used to it. She sat leaning against the back of the chair for a while, and gradually she fell asleep because she felt sleepy.
When she woke up again, the train compartment was filled with all kinds of smells. It was lunchtime, and many customers took out their own food to eat, and the train attendants pushed carts to sell food. Even though there were all kinds of delicious food, the smell became unpleasant when mixed together in the same closed compartment.
It took He Susu a long time to finally adapt.
Su Yu saw her wake up and asked, "Are you awake? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?"
He Susu wasn't really hungry, but since it was time to eat, they might as well eat together, so she nodded: "Let's eat first."
Just now, Dabao and Erbao were shouting that they were hungry.
"Okay." Su Yu took out two aluminum lunch boxes from the package. They were the chive lunch boxes that her mother-in-law had specially made for her in the morning. They were golden and crispy, and each one was wrapped in oil paper so you could pick it up directly. They were still hot.
He Susu took one and started eating. The leek dumplings had a crispy crust, and the leek and egg fillings were even more fragrant with the addition of minced meat. They were also juicy and not dry at all.
It is a blessing to be able to eat such delicious leek dumplings on the train.
Dabao and Erbao were chewing on the food with a loud crunching sound, and they were eating it non-stop, obviously they liked it very much.
Su Yu quickly finished half of the leek box and exclaimed: "Mom's cooking skills are really good. This leek box is really delicious."
He Susu nodded in agreement: "Mom's cooking skills are indeed good."
The chive dumplings smelled so delicious that people in the seats in front and behind them all felt greedy. Then they looked at the dry steamed buns in their hands, which didn’t smell so good even though they were made of white flour. They could only force themselves to eat them despite the aroma.
After eating, Dabao and Erbao felt sleepy and fell asleep immediately. After Su Yu packed up her things, she also closed her eyes and took a nap. However, He Susu had gotten enough sleep earlier and was not sleepy at this moment, but she still kept her eyes closed.
Perhaps because it was time to go to bed, there were fewer voices talking in the carriage, and it gradually became quiet, which was much more comfortable.
When He Susu was bored, she would open the shopping system to look at the various items inside. If she wanted to exchange something, she would click on the corresponding picture column of the product, and a yellow star would light up, which meant she had marked it. The next time she wanted to exchange something, she could easily find it by simply looking at the items she had marked.
Time passed quickly. After a five-hour train ride, we arrived at three in the afternoon.
Even though Dabao and Erbao were very excited about taking the train at first, they felt bored after being forced to sit in their seats for five hours. They were very happy now.
He Susu and Su Yu carried the packages and sacks on their backs and checked again and again to make sure nothing was left behind. Only then did they stand up when the train pulled into the platform, holding Dabao and Erbao's hands and following the crowd to get off the train.
As soon as she got off the train, He Susu subconsciously looked towards the platform and saw her third brother in an olive green military uniform. She quickly waved and shouted, "Third brother, we are here!"
Dabao and Erbao were still relatively short, and there were adults all around them, who kept shouting, "Where's my dad? Where's my dad?"
He Lianzhou heard his younger sister's voice, looked in the direction of the voice, and quickly waved his hand to indicate that he heard it. He looked suspicious, and when he met Su Yu's soft eyes, his heart couldn't help but soften, and he hurried over to answer.
"It's good to be here." He Lianzhou walked over and met his wife first, saying with a smile. He took a woven sack from Su Yu and looked at He Susu, "Little sister, you've worked hard."
He knew that his younger sister came along to help his wife look after the eldest and second babies.
He Susu shook her head and said, "It's all a small matter, Third Brother, you don't have to be polite. I'll rely on you and Third Sister-in-law to take care of me for the next few days."
"It's nothing." He Lianzhou said with a smile. He reached out to take the sack that his little sister was carrying. Because both of his hands were carrying things, he could only smile and say to his son who rushed over to hug his legs, "Dad can't free his hands now, I'll hug you when I get home."
The eldest and second child are also very obedient and respond nicely.
There were many people on the platform, and as they walked out, He Susu felt a lot more relaxed as she didn't have to carry the sack, so she simply helped hold Erbao's hand to avoid being dispersed by the crowd.
After leaving the station, He Lianzhou explained: "We have to walk a distance. Every tenth day of every month, the army will have a bus to the county town, and people in the family compound can take the bus to the county town to buy things. The bus will also stop by the station, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, so that people from the army can take the train and pick people up."
He Susu understood that they were going to take this car back to the army.
Fortunately, after walking for a while, a military vehicle came by. He Lianzhou went over to say hello and took them in the car.
The soldier driving the car recognized He Lianzhou and greeted her with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you are here. Brother Zhou is very happy. The two kids are also very cute."
Dabao and Erbao were not afraid of strangers. They shouted "Hello, uncle" with a smile, and then curiously observed the car they were sitting in.
Su Yu smiled and greeted the other party. She would live in the army in the future, and she would have to take a ride out to buy things frequently, so she naturally had to build a good relationship.
He Susu remained silent. It was her first time riding in a car and she felt a little uncomfortable, so she looked out the window to try to relieve the discomfort.
The bus went around the station and headed for the fixed boarding point in the county town. More and more military wives got on the bus, and the bus became lively.
He Susu looked outside and saw that there was a supply and marketing cooperative not far from the boarding point, which would be convenient for her to buy things in the future. It was a pity that it only came once every ten days, so the military wives on the bus were carrying a lot of things.
The sisters-in-law were also sharp-eyed. They immediately spotted the new faces and greeted them with a smile: "Did you just come here to join the army?"
Su Yu smiled and nodded: "Yes, I just brought the child here today."
He Lianzhou explained: "Sister-in-law, we live on the third floor of Building 5 in the second family quarters. We have just been allocated a house. My wife and children are here, and my younger sister is here to help. Please take care of us in the future."
He Susu sat aside and smiled, indicating that she was listening.
When the sisters-in-law heard this, they immediately laughed and said, "You're welcome. We in the family compound are supposed to take care of each other. If you need anything in the future, feel free to tell me."
A slightly plump sister-in-law took the initiative to say, "I live in Building 5 of the Second Family Quarters, on the second floor below yours. If you have any questions, feel free to come down and ask me."
"Okay, then thank you in advance, sister-in-law." Su Yu said with a smile.
On the way, she mainly interacted with these sisters-in-law and learned a lot about the family compound.
After the car drove out of the county town and passed a mountain road, it took about twenty minutes to arrive at the gate of the military area. The soldiers in charge of the garrison checked it briefly and let it pass.
He Susu and others are new here, and since He Lianzhou had declared themselves in advance, they only need to simply register their information.
Ride your bike directly to the family compound and let passengers get off at each parking spot in the family area.
When they arrived at the second family quarters, He Susu and others picked up their belongings and got off the car, heading towards Building No. 5.
He Lianzhou explained on the way: "The family compound here is a building. The family compound was allocated in the early years. It is a one-story building connected to the courtyard at the door, but only the family members who followed the army earlier and the officers with higher ranks can be allocated."
"We have a building with a separate toilet and kitchen. The house isn't very big but it can be divided into three rooms. I simply cleaned it up and bought some furniture to move in. It should be pretty good to live in."
Su Yu smiled and said, "It's great that we can be allocated a house. The buildings here look very good and are also quite new."
He Lianzhou: “They were all built a few years ago.”
The eldest and second child looked around the place where they would live in the future. They would silently note down any interesting places they saw so that they could come and play there later.
He Susu didn't have so many thoughts. She just thought that she would only stay for a short period of time and just looked at it like she was looking at the scenery.
Soon they arrived at the bottom of Building No. 5 and went up to the third floor. There were four rooms on each floor, and He Lianzhou was assigned the one on the left side, near the corridor.
After unlocking the door and entering, Dabao and Erbao immediately rushed in and looked around, and Su Yu also looked around.
He Susu was no exception. Although the living room was small, it was furnished with chairs and a coffee table. The dining area was on the right side of the hall. The round dining table could seat five or six people and was right in front of the kitchen door. Next to the kitchen was a room, followed by a toilet, and then two rooms.
What’s rare is that there is a balcony outside the living room, so you can see everything downstairs and it’s also convenient for drying clothes.
He Lianzhou led his younger sister to the room next to the kitchen: "Little sister, this is the room you live in. I made a simple wardrobe, and I also made a desk for you to write articles. Just tell me if you need anything else."
He Susu looked at the room. It was neither big nor small. She could move around in it by herself. It was basically the same as the room at home.
She smiled and nodded: "Very good."
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