Chapter 20

The adults were silent, and the crying children also became quiet.

Jiang Nian dropped a piece of tofu on the table with a plop, and her eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

What happened?

Wasn't Lu Yu inviting his comrades to dinner today? How did he bring her up?

Captain Song raised his head and glared at Feng Mei with a fierce face: "What are you trying to do with matchmaking, you tiger woman? Hurry up and eat your meal!"

Last time, she wanted to matchmake for Deputy Colonel Lu's sister-in-law, but he scolded her a few words. I thought she had stopped, but she brought it up again in front of so many people today, and she wanted to match Deputy Colonel Lu's sister-in-law with his cousin? !

Not to mention that Deputy Colonel Lu's sister-in-law is a widow, just look at his cousin's character. Is he someone who can stay content after marriage? Thinking about running to the battlefield at the border all day long, it's not that he cursed his cousin. What if Deputy Regiment Commander Lu's sister-in-law really married Song Bai, what if one day...

Regiment Commander Song held his breath and glared at Feng Mei again: "Eat your meal!"

Feng Mei:...

"Just eat, why are you so fierce?"

Feng Mei muttered, lowered her head and poked the pig blood with chopsticks, then leaned over and asked Jiang Nian: "What do you think? Song Bai was transferred to the military division last year, and now he is also a deputy regiment commander. He is quite capable."

Xu Yan also agreed: "Captain Song... Oh, no, now he should be called Deputy Regiment Commander Song. He looks quite handsome."

Jiang Nian:...

She smiled awkwardly but politely: "Sister-in-law Feng, thank you for your kindness. I am not planning my own affairs at the moment. It’s better to decide on Lu Yu’s life-long events first. I’d rather wait until three years later. "

Feng Mei heard this and sighed: "That's okay. "

At this moment, she also felt a little anxious. After all, her husband had just died not long ago. Thinking of this, she quietly glanced at Lu Yu over there. He tilted his head to talk to Old Song, with a cold face that showed no emotion or anger.

When Kang Xiu listened to Feng Mei's words, she thought that her sister in the country had not gotten married this year. If she could tell it to Captain Song's cousin, then her sister would be the deputy leader's wife, and she would be the deputy leader's sister-in-law.

Thinking of this, she secretly glanced at Feng Mei, planning to find an opportunity to talk to Feng Mei some other time.

So Kang Xiu ate the rice with big mouthfuls, stuffing any meat into her mouth. Her family could only eat meat a few times a year, so she was not greedy. Besides, the rice cooked by this widow was really delicious. She turned to He Hua at the table with the children and said, "Watch your brother and give him more meat."

After saying that, she glared at He Hua.

He Hua clenched her chopsticks and nodded obediently, "I know."

With his mother's words, He Shu went even further, ordering He Hua to pick up this piece of meat and that piece of meat for him. In the end, He Hua didn't eat much, but He Shu's belly was bulging.

Feng Mei glanced at Kang Xiu and didn't bother to care about such a woman.

Jiang Nian turned to look at He Hua. The little girl sat there quietly eating the leftovers on the plate, with a dull look on her face. In this era, families that favored boys over girls were very common.

After dinner, Captain Song and his men left.

When Jiang Nian was cleaning up the dishes, she felt Lu Yu's gaze passing over her.

She picked up a pile of bowls, and suddenly a pair of slender hands appeared in front of her.

"Let me do it."

Lu Yu took the bowl and looked at Jiang Nian. Seeing her wiping the table with a rag, he hesitated for a while and said, "Sister-

in-law." Jiang Nian paused and looked up at him: "Hmm?"

There was a table between Lu Yu and her. He was facing the light. Jiang Nian squinted her eyes because of the sun. When she found that it didn't work, she raised her hand to cover her forehead to block the sun and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Yu pursed his lips and his eyes stayed on Jiang Nian's cheek for a few seconds. Then he looked away and said, "You don't have to rush to get married. I can support you."

After that, he left with the bowl in his arms.

Jiang Nian: ???

Who said she was in a hurry? !

Jiang Nian clenched the rag, gnashed his teeth in anger, and wiped the tabletop until it was shiny as if to vent his anger. At noon

,

the aroma of the meal from Vice Tuan Lu's family was so fragrant that everyone in the family compound could smell it.

Zheng Hong held her son Lu Zhijun's hand, trying not to smell the smell, and took a piece of peach cake from the cabinet and gave it to Lu Zhijun: "We don't want to eat their meat, we eat peach cake."

Lu Zhijun curled his lips, and for the first time he felt that peach cake was not fragrant.

He threw the peach cake on the ground in a temper, snorted: "I don't want to eat peach cake!"

Then he ran out.

"You little bastard, if you dare, never eat it again!"

Zheng Hong cursed angrily, squatted down quickly, picked up the peach cake, patted the dirt on it, and took two bites herself, but the peach cake had one taste, and the meat aroma was another taste. She also felt that the peach cake in her mouth was a little hard to swallow.

Now she regretted not going with Lu Guosheng.

Zheng Hong finished a peach cake without any appetite, went out to find Lu Zhijun, and saw two people coming out of Deputy Tuan Lieutenant General Lu's house. One of them was Feng Mei, and she recognized the other after looking for a while.

It turned out to be Xu Yan?

After not seeing her for a few days, Xu Yan seemed to have changed into a completely different person. Not only was she dressed up beautifully, but her skin was also whiter than hers. She usually looked like a grouchy woman, but now she was like a grown-up girl, chatting and laughing with Feng Mei.

Zheng Hong touched her face, feeling as if a bottle of vinegar had been overturned in her heart.

"Lu Zhijun!"

Zheng Hong yelled at Lu Zhijun who was playing with a few children under the shade of a tree. This yell also attracted Feng Mei and Xu Yan to look over. Xu Yan saw Zheng Hong running over with a dark face, and grabbed Lu Zhijun's arm and dragged him back home, cursing as she walked: "Who gave you the courage to go against your mother? You were made into that state just for a few pieces of meat, you are such a loser."

Xu Yan's face was not good when she saw Zheng Hong, especially when she thought of the mess between Liu Qiang and Zheng Hong in the past two years, her heart was even more upset.

She and Mrs. Feng could tell that Zheng Hong was making indirect accusations. Mrs. Feng was the first to be unhappy and shouted at Zheng Hong, "You are just saying that the grapes are sour because you can't eat them. The meat cooked by Jiang Nian is really delicious. You said that your son is useless because he is stuffed with meat. That's because you didn't see your man stuffing meat into his mouth with chopsticks. Why don't you say that your man is useless?"

Zheng Hong's face flushed with anger, but she didn't say anything back. She dragged the crying Lu Zhijun home with her slammed door. Xu

Yan snorted coldly, and she and Feng Mei took their children home. Jiang Nian woke up from a nap and heard footsteps outside, so she walked out of the house in her cloth shoes and saw Lu Yu carrying a bucket of water and walking towards the kitchen. The originally messy yard was cleaned up by him. The sound of water splashing came from the kitchen. Lu Yu came out with a bucket and said to Jiang Nian who was standing outside the door, "Sister-in-law, I've filled the jar with water." He put the bucket by the well and continued, "I'll clean the toilet and sweep the yard later, and then go to my comrade's sister-in-law's place to get some watermelons. If you want to eat them, just cut them up." "I've also told Zhu Jun to come and fill the jar with water every few days. If you need anything, you can find Sister-in-law Feng and Sister-in-law Xu. I'll treat them to a meal when I come back." Jiang Nian leaned against the door frame and listened to Lu Yu arranging and handling things one by one. She felt that he was really a good man. He could protect the country in big matters and take good care of his family in small matters. She felt that if anyone could marry Lu Yu, it would be worth it. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but think of the heroine Sun Ying in the hospital. The current plot was completely contrary to the plot in the book, and it was completely off track. She didn't know who Lu Yu would marry in the future, and who Sun Ying would marry? But these had nothing to do with her. Lu Yu filled the bucket with water, and didn't see Jiang Nian talking. He looked up and saw her leaning against the door frame and staring at the ground in a daze. The afternoon sun penetrated the branches and fell on Jiang Nian. She pursed her lips, her eyebrows seemed to be worried, and her gray clothes were patched. She wore the same few clothes every time. She had never worn the clothes I bought for her last time. "Sister-in-law?" Lu Yu called out. Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, then she came back to her senses, looked up at Lu Yu, and nodded hurriedly: "I heard everything." Lu Yu frowned slightly, nodded, and went to the stove with the bucket. After coming out, he went straight out of the yard. The yard was cleaned and the water in the stove was filled. Jiang Nian sat on the small bench under the tree bored, fanning herself with a round fan. In a blink of an eye, it was time for dinner. They had finished the lunch they had made at noon. It was no exaggeration to say that even the bottom of the plate was clean. Jiang Nian planned to make some spicy pork noodles in the evening. Lu Yu ate a lot of the mixed sauce noodles I made last time, so he probably liked noodles more. Noodles need to be strong, so you need to put less water when kneading the noodles. After kneading the noodles, you need to rub them out one by one and apply oil on them. Finally, pull them into thin noodles and you can put them in the pot. Cut the meat and then the chili peppers. Heat the oil in a pot and pour the meat into the pot first. When it is almost done, pour the ginger and chili peppers in. Finally, smash a few cloves of garlic and it is ready to be served. After taking the dishes out of the pot, Jiang Nian poured water into the pot, waited for the water to boil, then pulled the noodles one by one and put them into the pot, and prepared an enamel basin of cold water for use. When the meal was ready, Lu Yu also came back. Jiang Nian washed his hands and turned to look outside the kitchen door. Lu Yu was holding a snakeskin bag in his left hand, which contained several large watermelons, and a bag of flour and a small bag of rice in his right hand, as well as a cloth bag. Seeing that both of his hands were full, Jiang Nian felt very tired, but Lu Yu did not look tired at all. He put the watermelon under the shade of the tree and walked into the house carrying other things. Lu Yu put the flour and rice into the cupboard, turned around and handed the cloth bag in his hand to Jiang Nian: "Sister-in-law, I bought you a pair of shoes according to your shoe size. Go and try them on. If they don't fit, keep them for now. I'll go and change them early tomorrow morning." Jiang Nian reached out to take the cloth bag in front of her, raised her head to look at Lu Yu's handsome face under the light, and a warm current flowed through her heart. She hugged the cloth bag tightly and said with a smile: "Thank you." Lu Yu met Jiang Nian's smiling eyes , looked away unnaturally, her voice a little hoarse: "We are all family, no need to thank me." Jiang Nian lowered her head and smiled, saying: "I made spicy pork noodles, you eat first." Lu Yu nodded: "Yes." Jiang Nian returned to the house and took out shoes from the cloth bag. They were old-fashioned light orange sandals, which matched the clothes that Lu Yu bought for her before. This set of clothes was very old-fashioned in the new century, but it was quite beautiful in this era. She took out the clothes that Lu Yu bought for her from the closet and put them on, and then put on the light orange sandals, untied her hair and draped it over her shoulders, walked to the mirror hanging on the wall, and looked at the people inside. During the time she followed Lu Yu to the army, she ate well and slept well. Her cheeks were no longer sunken and her face was moist. She smiled at the mirror. The person in the mirror had her hair down and wore a shirt. Her lips were red and her teeth were white. She looked exactly like her in the new century. "Sister-in-law." Lu Yu walked to the door with an enamel bowl in his hand and looked at Jiang Nian in the room: "The meal is ready..." He stopped talking. His eyes fell on Jiang Nian, and the warm yellow light reflected the surprise that flashed through his eyes. Jiang Nian saw Lu Yu suddenly appear, her heart skipped a beat, she pursed her lips lightly, tugged at the corner of her clothes with her fingers, slowly turned around and looked at Lu Yu, trying to "change herself" as much as possible, and asked shyly: "Is it good-looking?" Lu Yu looked away: "Good-looking." As if afraid that she didn't believe him, he repeated it again: "Very good-looking." After that, he turned around with the enamel bowl and sat on the bench in the yard, picked up a big chopstick of noodles and ate it, thinking of what Sister Feng said at noon today that she wanted to introduce Sister-in-law to Song Bai. He took another mouthful of noodles, and his lowered black eyes were somewhat meaningful. Jiang Nian changed her clothes and came out of the room, sat opposite Lu Yu, looked at the noodles that had been mixed, picked up the chopsticks and started eating. After dinner, Lu Yu went to pack the clothes he would take away tomorrow. Jiang Nian went to the kitchen to wash the pots and bowls, and kneaded some dough to let it ferment. She planned to get up early tomorrow to steam some buns for Lu Yu to eat on the road. She specially kept some of the meat she bought today. Lu Yu would be gone for more than two months this time, and no one knew what he would do. She guessed that the military region must have assigned him some mission. Jiang Nian boiled the bath water, and Lu Yu poured it out after taking a bath. She knew that she had to get up early the next morning, so she went to bed early. As a result, when she woke up, it was already dawn. If she hadn't been woken up by the urge to pee, she didn't know how long she would sleep...

Jiang Nian quickly got up and went to the toilet. When she went to the well to wash up, she saw Lu Yu kneading dough in the kitchen. She wiped her hands and walked into the kitchen. Seeing that Lu Yu was going to make steamed buns, she stopped him: "I don't make steamed buns."

Lu Yu raised his eyes: "Huh?"

Jiang Nian took out the pork that had been sprinkled with salt from the basin and put it on the chopping board. She also took out a few scallions and some vegetables, and said: "Make steamed buns and dumplings. When they are ready, you can take some with you to eat on the road."

There is a saying that goes, dumplings on the bus and noodles when you get off. Lu Yu let him have dumplings before leaving.

Lu Yu felt warm inside. He watched Jiang Nian pick up a knife to chop the meat stuffing. He took the knife from her hand. His fingers inevitably touched Jiang Nian's palm. A very faint and easily ignored numbness spread from his fingertips to his heart.

He coughed lightly, held the knife handle tightly, and said, "I'll chop it."

Jiang Nian nodded gently, "Then I'll pick the vegetables."

Lu Yu chopped the meat stuffing very quickly. It was done in a short while. Jiang Nian also made dumplings very quickly. She put the dumplings in a pot first for Lu Yu to eat first, and then continued to make buns. Finally, she put the buns into the steamer one by one and stuffed a lot of firewood into the stove.

She also ate a few dumplings, put down the bowl and went back to the house, opened the cupboard, took out a handful of candies and chocolates, walked to the shade of the tree in the yard, put the candies and chocolates on the table, and saw Lu Yu looking up at her.

Jiang Nian whispered: "Pretend it and eat it on the way."

Fearing that he would refuse, she added: "I have more."

Lu Yu picked up the dumpling soup and took a big sip. There was a little imperceptible tenderness in his deep voice: "Thank you, sister-in-law."

He grabbed the candies and chocolates and said to Jiang Nian: "Whatever you want to eat, go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy it. Don't save money. I'm almost there . I'll be back in two months."

Jiang Nian nodded gently: "Yes."

After the steamed buns cooled down, Jiang Nian cooked ten eggs, and then packed ten buns and ten eggs for Lu Yu in a clean cloth bag. She knew that Lu Yu had a big appetite, and now he would sit on the train for a whole day. These ten buns and eggs were enough for him to last a day on the train.

When Lu Yu left, he carried a large military green bag with replacement military uniforms and food. He walked out of the gate, walked for a while, looked back, and found that Jiang Nian was still standing outside the door watching him go.

This scene seemed to go back to the morning of heavy snow two years ago.

He left home, and when he looked back after walking a long way, his sister-in-law was standing outside the door, watching him go.

After two years, the memories came flooding back again.

Lu Yu's eyes were warm, and he waved to Jiang Nian: "Sister-in-law, I'll be back soon."

The horn sounded, which was very encouraging.

Jiang Nian gradually retracted his gaze, turned back to the yard, and looked at the yard that was still the same. Everything was still the same, but he felt that something was missing.

After washing the pots and bowls, Jiang Nian turned over the land in the corner of the west wall, and waited for the market in the next village tomorrow, and then went to buy some seedlings to plant.

"Xu Yan!"

Liu Qiang's angry voice came from the next yard. Jiang Nian was squatting by the well washing his hands. After hearing it, he hurriedly stood up and ran to the wall. He picked up a wooden block and put it under his feet. He stepped on the wooden block and lay on the wall, quietly sticking his head out to look.

In the yard, Liu Jianye was standing at the door of the kitchen holding Liu Jianwu's hand. Liu Jianwu's

eyes showed fear. Liu Jianye squeezed his hand and whispered, "Brother is here, don't be afraid." Liu Jianwu's eyes were filled with tears. He raised his head and looked at Liu Jianye pitifully. He sniffed and asked, "Brother, when will Dad and Mom stop quarreling?"

They obviously haven't quarreled for many days, why are they quarreling again today?

Liu Jianye pursed his lips, watching his mother quietly sitting on a bench sewing shoe soles, and his father standing under the shade of a tree, glaring at his mother angrily, as if he was going to rush over and hit her the next moment.

He hated his father and Aunt Zheng.

"Speak!"

Liu Qiang snatched the shoe sole from Xu Yan's hand, his chest shaking with anger. Xu Yan, on the contrary, remained calm in the face of his anger, as if he had punched a cotton ball, making her feel uncomfortable.

During this period of time, Xu Yan seemed to have changed. In the past, she could not stop talking about Zheng Hong. She either scolded him and Zheng Hong for being a pair of bastards or scolded him for chasing Zheng Hong like a dog seeing shit. After Zheng Hong read the apology letter at the training ground, Xu Yan also slowly changed.

She became...

as if she was quiet.

Since this period of time, she never mentioned Zheng Hong in front of him again, and she no longer quarreled with him for no reason. She dressed herself up beautifully every day and was willing to spend money to buy vanishing cream. Not only that, in his eyes at first, he felt that Xu Yan was very good like this. She was quiet and did not quarrel or make trouble, and she could live a stable life.

But she stopped quarreling and just ignored him.

During this time, when I returned home, I saw Xu Yan speaking softly to the children and smilingly to Vice Colonel Lu's sister-in-law, but she treated him coldly. Seeing

Xu Yan just looked up and looked at him coldly, she stretched out her hand to him and said, "Give me back the soles."

Liu Qiang: ...

He frowned, pinched the soles with his fingers, and under Xu Yan's cold eyes, he handed the soles to her in a frustrated manner, and his tone softened a little: "Yan Yan, what's wrong with you?"

Xu Yan took the insole, lowered her head and continued to sew the soles, and said indifferently: "Isn't it just what you want if I don't quarrel or make trouble?"

This sentence made Liu Qiang speechless.

Liu Qiang wanted to say something, but it was getting late and he had to hurry back to the team, so he said, "I'll come back for lunch at noon."

Then he strode away.

After Liu Qiang left, Liu Jianwu dared to raise his hand to wipe his tears, crying, "Mom."

Xu Yan put down her insole, walked over, rubbed her younger son's face, and said with a smile, "Jianwu is a little man. If he bleeds but doesn't cry, he's not a man if he cries."

"Mom."

Liu Jianye looked at the tears in his mother's eyes, and said, "When I grow up, I will take you away from here."

Xu Yan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at her eldest son Liu Jianye, who was only six years old, and touched his head distressedly, "Silly son, Mom is fine."

"Xu Yan--"

A clear and pleasant voice came from the wall, and the three of them, mother and son, turned their heads to look over.

Jiang Nian waved to Liu Jianye and Liu Jianwu, looked at Xu Yan, and hooked his finger at her. Xu Yan saw a little head popping out of the wall, and the gloomy mood that had just been caused by Liu Qiang's anger was relieved a little. She said to Liu Jianye: "There are two pieces of peach cakes in the cabinet in my mother's room. You can take your brother to eat them."

Liu Jianye nodded, took Liu Jianwu's hand and left.

Xu Yan ran over, stepped on the wooden block, and lay on the wall to talk to Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian asked: "If Liu Qiang gives in to you tonight and coaxes you with sweet words, will you be soft-hearted?"

Xu Yan was stunned for a moment, and was a little distracted by the four words "sweet words" said by Jiang Nian.

How long has

it been? It seems that Liu Qiang hasn't coaxed her for two years. Before Zheng Hong came, she and Liu Qiang didn't have a particularly good relationship, but their life was quite enjoyable. But in the past two years, apart from quarreling with Liu Qiang, she was treated coldly by him.

Thinking of the pain she had endured in the past two years, Xu Yan gritted her teeth and shook her head at Jiang Nian: "Even if he talks to the sky, I won't be soft-hearted."

Jiang Nian smiled.

Not bad, not bad, ambitious. The ground in the yard was almost dried

.

Jiang Nian got up early the next morning, ate a few bites casually, and went to the market to buy vegetable seedlings.

Feng Mei's parents' home was very busy these days, so she took the children home. She had been gone for almost a week, and she estimated that she would be able to come back after finishing the work in the fields.

Jiang Nian carried a basket and went to the market to select some vegetable seedlings. On the way back, she met Zheng Hong and Kang Xiu who were walking together. Zheng Hong held her child's hand, and Kang Xiu only brought He Shu out.

The two were talking and laughing. When she saw Jiang Nian coming towards her, Zheng Hong's face suddenly turned cold. She wanted to go up and tear the widow's face. She apologized to her but she still refused to let it go. It made their family spend several dollars to buy good things for her.

She eats better now than before, which must be because of the food they sent!

Moreover, on the way to the market just now, Kang Xiu told her about the dinner at Deputy Commander Lu's house that day. Feng Mei wanted to introduce Jiang Nian to Song Bai, the cousin of Commander Song. Song Bai is now the deputy commander of the military division. He has good looks and status.

She is a widow and still wants to marry Deputy Commander Song?

Is she dreaming?

Kang Xiu hesitated for a moment, and when she saw the seedlings in her basket, she took the initiative to greet Jiang Nian: "Sister-in-law of Deputy Commander Lu, are you out to buy seedlings?"

As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person, Jiang Nian nodded and said, "Yes."

Without saying anything more, he passed them and went back.

Kang Xiu looked back at Jiang Nian and said to Zheng Hong: "Look at her, she looks so high and mighty. Isn't she the sister-in-law of the deputy regiment commander? What's so great about her?"

Zheng Hong sneered and mocked: "Of course she is proud. Didn't you say that Sister-in-law Feng wants to marry Deputy Regiment Commander Song to her? She is going to marry Deputy Regiment Commander Song as his wife. How can she be interested in you, a mere company commander's wife?"

Kang Xiu didn't say anything, but she agreed with Zheng Hong in her heart.

Jiang Nian, who had not walked a few steps, turned around and looked at the two gossipers who were mocking her with their words, and there was some coldness in her eyes.

Kang Xiu didn't dare to say anything, and Zheng Hong must have been holding her breath in her heart.

This widow is really good at acting. She fell into her hands last time, which made her become a joke in the mouths of the military wives in the family compound. So she straightened her chest and said, "What are you looking at?!"

Jiang Nian sneered, "Sister Feng wants to marry me to Deputy Commander Song, are you jealous?"

Zheng Hong was choked by what she said, and before she could reply, Jiang Nian spoke again to block her mouth: "Why don't you divorce Captain Lu, and then go to Sister Feng to match you up and marry you to Deputy Commander Song?" Jiang Nian

glanced at Zheng Hong, and the contempt in his eyes was not concealed at all: "Let's not talk about whether Sister Feng is willing or not, it mainly depends on whether Deputy Commander Song can like you."

After that, he left with a cold face.

Zheng Hong was stunned in the place, and didn't react until Jiang Nian walked away.

Jiang Nian had just abused her!

Her face immediately turned red with anger, and she pointed at Jiang Nian's back and cursed: "You are a deadly star, a widow who killed your father-in-law and your husband!"

There were many people gathering on the street. When the passers-by heard Zheng Hong scolding, they all frowned and looked over. Kang Xiu felt embarrassed, so she pulled her and whispered: "Don't scold her, everyone is looking at you."

Zheng Hong: ...

She stamped her feet in anger, took Lu Zhijun's hand and hurried away. Jiang Nian started to grow vegetables as soon as she returned home. She also bought pumpkins and sweet potatoes and planted them in the ground

.

When the pumpkins are ripe, they can be made into pumpkin cakes, pumpkin cakes, and steamed pumpkin rice.

It was already afternoon when she finished planting the vegetables. She cooked some vegetables for lunch and ate some. After taking a nap, it was already afternoon. She carried a bucket to water the seedlings. The vegetables in the private plot had already started to grow. She had watered them before Lu Yu left yesterday. She would go again in two days.

Without Lu Yu, the days passed in such a dull manner. Two days

later, Jiang Nian finished watering the vegetable plot in the yard and planned to go to water the private plot.

But she found something tricky.

She doesn't know how to fetch water...

Jiang Nian was just worrying about what to do when Zhu Jun's voice came from outside the door: "Sister-in-law."

Zhu Jun walked in and saw two buckets of water and a shoulder pole by the well. Without saying a word, he walked over and took the initiative to fetch water: "The deputy commander told me before he left that the vegetable plot should be watered every few days. Today is the right time. Sister-in-law, you go and do your work. I'll water the private plot."

This just solved Jiang Nian's worries.

It was getting dark, and she said to Zhu Jun, "Thank you, I'll go make dinner, and put it in an aluminum lunch box, and you can take it to the dormitory."

Zhu Jun picked up the shoulder pole and smiled, "I'll be polite then."

He was still savoring the meal that Vice Colonel Lu's sister-in-law made last time. He had never eaten such delicious food before, and thinking that he could eat it again today, he walked faster while carrying water.

Jiang Nian made dumpling soup and scallion cakes in the evening.

The light in the kitchen was on, and the petite figure of the woman was busy back and forth inside. The slender shadow was reflected on the ground, extending to the door of the kitchen.

Zhu Jun ran back and forth three times, and it was completely dark when he came back on the last trip.

He deliberately opened the gate as wide as possible so that the wives and comrades who occasionally passed by could see into the yard. This way, no one would spread gossip. After all, he stayed at Deputy Colonel Lu's house late at night. It was fine if Deputy Colonel Lu was at home, but if he was not at home, only his sister-in-law would be there.

It would not sound good if a man and a woman stayed at home with the gate closed.

Captain Liu came back from outside and passed by Lu Yu's house when he saw Zhu Jun standing by the well with a shoulder pole beside him and Jiang Nian cooking in the kitchen. Zhu Jun saw Captain Liu, stood at attention and shouted, "Captain Liu, you're back?"

Liu Qiang nodded and said, "Did you go to water the private plot?"

Zhu Jun smiled and said, "Yes, when Deputy Regiment Commander Lu left, he told me to help water the private plot more and not let the vegetable seedlings dry out."

Liu Qiang also smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Nian looked small and thin, not the type to carry water. He also thought about how Zheng Hong would ask him for help every now and then when Lu Guosheng was away, either to carry water for her own jar or to water the vegetables in her own plot. He just thought it was not easy for Zheng Hong to take care of the children, so he agreed. When

Liu Qiang returned home, he saw two children sitting on a bench in the yard. Xu Yan pumped two buckets of water from the well and carried them to the kitchen. He suddenly realized that he had been helping Zheng Hong carry water for the past two years, and it seemed that he had never touched his own water.

And Xu Yan never asked him for help.

Liu Qiang felt guilty, walked up to Xu Yan, took the bucket, and went straight to the kitchen to pour it into the jar. Xu Yan was stunned, surprised by Liu Qiang's sudden initiative to work.

Seeing Liu Qiang turning around and walking towards her, Xu Yan came to her senses, thinking of what Jiang Nian said to her, and walked away with a cold face.

Liu Qiang, who was rejected by others: ...

He went to the well to fetch water again, turned around and saw his eldest son staring at him blankly, and asked: "Why are you looking at your father like that?"

Liu Jianye pursed his lips, said nothing, and continued to play with Liu Jianwu.

Liu Qiang: …

Jiang

Nian finished cooking, put the dumpling soup into an aluminum lunch box, and packed four scallion cakes for Zhu Jun, and handed them to him in the yard: "The meal is ready, take it home and eat it."

Zhu Jun took the aluminum lunch box and smiled: "Thank you, sister-in-law."

Then he left.

After Zhu Jun left, Jiang Nian walked to the gate of the yard and was about to close it, and she saw a sneaky shadow running away in the dark night. She squinted her eyes and looked carefully, and found that the figure seemed to have seen somewhere before.

She didn't think much, closed the gate, went back to the bedroom, ate a meal, and went to sleep.

In a blink of an eye, Lu Yu had been gone for a month.

The vegetables in the field have grown a lot. Zhu Jun comes to fetch water every now and then to water his private plot. He always comes back from the team when it is almost dark. When he finishes fetching water, it is dark. Jiang Nian prepares dinner as usual and puts it in an aluminum lunch box for Zhu Jun to take back to the dormitory to eat.

After a long time, the comrades who live in the same dormitory with Zhu Jun feel like they are being tortured by the smell of the food. They

are very greedy.

Feng Mei's work at her mother's house is almost done. She came back from her mother's house with her children a few days ago. When she got home, she cooked several delicious meals for Captain Song to coax him. After all, she went to work for her mother's family. Although Old Song complained, he did not stop her.

Feng Mei was very happy, so she took good care of Captain Song these days.

After breakfast, Feng Mei came to the next yard, and as soon as she entered, she saw Jiang Nian watering the vegetable garden. It had been almost a month since she last saw him, and Feng Mei felt a rare sense of intimacy when she saw Jiang Nian at first glance.

"Jiang Nian, come here quickly, I want to tell you something."

Jiang Nian poured a bucket of water, looked up and saw Feng Mei waving at her with a gossipy smile, and immediately wanted to eat some watermelon, so she threw the bucket into the bucket, got up and walked over to sit next to Feng Mei, and asked curiously: "What's the matter?"

Don't blame her for being too anxious.

She was almost bored to death staying here every day, and being able to eat some watermelon was also a relief.

Before Aunt Feng could say anything, she started laughing and clapping her hands. When she calmed down, she said, "I came back at noon the day before yesterday, and someone came to see me in the afternoon. Can you guess who it was?"

Jiang Nian frowned, thought for a while, and shook his head.

Feng Mei snorted and laughed, "It's Kang Xiu. She wants to marry her own sister to Old Song's cousin Song Bai. Humph, she only thinks about beauty, but she doesn't see what kind of person her sister is. Her eyes are so big that she doesn't like this one and that one. Now she's an old maid."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Jiang Nian, "She came to find Kang Xiu before and lived in Kang Xiu's house for a month. She wanted to find a young battalion commander in the army to marry. Who do you think she fell in love with before?"

Jiang Nian guessed it in his heart, but still said tentatively, "Lu Yu?"

Feng Mei clapped her hands suddenly, "Oh, right!"

She couldn't help laughing, and tears came out of her eyes, "She doesn't even look at what she looks like. She's a toad wanting to eat swan meat."

Jiang Nian also wanted to laugh.

In fact, there is no mention of Kang Xiu and her family in the book, and she didn't take it to heart when she read it at that time. But after hearing Feng Mei say that, she remembered it.

Kang Xiu's sister is called Kang Nan. Three months before Lu Yu was promoted to deputy regiment commander, she came to the army to find Kang Xiu and lived in Kang Xiu's house. At that time, Lu Yu would occasionally go to the Song regiment commander's house for lunch. When he passed by Kang Xiu's house, he was seen by Kang Nan. Kang Nan fell in love with Lu Yu at first sight and pestered Kang Xiu to arrange a marriage for her.

Kang Nan said a lot of good things to Kang Xiu, and Kang Xiu got excited and took advantage of Lu Yu's lunch at the Song regiment commander's house at noon to run to the Song regiment commander's house to find Lu Yu and talk about this matter without telling her husband He Yong.

The result is obvious, he was driven out by Feng Mei.

Later, Kang Xiu went back, and her ending was not written in the book.

As for the character Song Bai, the author only mentioned that he was Lu Yu's comrade-in-arms. He only appeared twice in the book, once when he came to the military region on vacation to visit Captain Song, and once when Lu Yu was promoted and transferred to another place, he came to congratulate Lu Yu.

"They are quarreling, and it's quite fierce."

"This is the first time I've seen Captain Lu so angry."

"Let's go, let's go and see what's going on."

Outside the door, a military wife and her mother-in-law were walking towards the front of the family compound. From their conversation, it seemed that Captain Lu's family was quarreling. Feng Mei suddenly stood up and said to Jiang Nian, "Let's go and see!"

Some melons can be eaten.

Some melons cannot be eaten, otherwise you will get into trouble if you don't eat them.

Jiang Nian didn't go to touch the ground at this time, and said to Feng Mei: "Sister-in-law Feng, you go first, I'll water the ground."

Just as she finished her words, a head popped in from outside the door. Xu Yan looked at Jiang Nian with a smile, and then glanced at Feng Mei: "Zheng Hong and Captain Lu are arguing. Let's go over and see what's going on." Jiang

Nian: ...

Sister-in-law Feng also knew that Jiang Nian was so angry with Zheng Hong last time that he hit his head against the wall and tried to commit suicide, so He didn't force her to stay, and said to her, "Then you stay here, I'll tell you when I come back after watching the excitement."

Then he took Xu Yan away, and before she left, Xu Yan also said, "I'll tell you when I come back."

Jiang Nian: ...

After they left, Jiang Nian continued to water the vegetable garden, and after watering, she squeezed water from the well to wash the sheets and clothes, pounding her waist while washing. It was also a strenuous job to squeeze the water after washing.

When she was squeezing the water a little bit, Xu Yan came back first.

Xu Yan came over to help her roll the sheets. Jiang Nian didn't see Feng Mei, so she asked with a smile, "Where's Sister Feng?"

Xu Yan smiled and said, "She was sent home by Captain Song and scolded. He said that as the wife of the captain, she saw the military wife and her husband quarreling, but she didn't know how to persuade them to stop and do ideological work for Comrade Zheng Hong. Instead, she watched the excitement like everyone else."

Jiang Nian smiled.

This is Captain Song's style.

Xu Yan continued, "Guess why Zheng Hong and Captain Lu had a fight?"

After twisting the sheets, Jiang Nian put the sheets on the ropes and smoothed the wrinkled edges: "Just tell me the truth and don't keep us in suspense."

Xu Yan smiled proudly: "It was because Lu Zhijun was clamoring for chocolate and Zheng Hong refused to buy him any, so he rolled on the floor and said that his mother didn't give him money to spend, and she must have saved the money to buy herself new clothes so that she could divorce her father and marry Uncle Song beautifully."

Jiang Nian's hand that was slapping the sheets paused. She still remembered that time when Zheng Hong and Kang Xiu talked about her at the market, she scolded Zheng Hong.

Jiang Nian never expected that Lu Zhijun, who was so young, actually took her words to heart and stabbed Zheng Hong today.

Xu Yan continued, "Captain Song just came over and dispersed the people who were watching the excitement. He said to Captain Lu, "Do you believe the nonsense that children talk?" Then he scolded Captain Lu and Zheng Hong."

Xu Yan shook the clothes in the basin and helped Jiang Nian hang the clothes. Seeing that Jiang Nian lowered her head and didn't say anything, she thought she was sick and reached out to touch her forehead. Jiang Nian was startled by Xu Yan's sudden action and tilted her head back: "What's wrong?"

Xu Yan: ...

"What are you daydreaming about?"

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, and told Xu Yan about the trip to the market. Xu Yan's eyes widened, and she couldn't stop laughing: "So that's how it is! I was wondering why Lu Zhijun said Zheng Hong was going to marry Deputy Headman Song for no reason. To me, this is Zheng Hong's retribution!"

If you were to ask who Xu Yan hated the most, it would undoubtedly be Zheng Hong.

So when Zheng Hong was not living well, she felt comfortable as if she had let out a grudge.

After Xu Yan left, Jiang Nian swept the yard again.

She had a vague feeling in her heart that maybe Zheng Hong would hate her completely because of this incident.

But she was not afraid.

She had plenty of ways to deal with it.

Another month passed in the blink of an eye. Calculating the time, Lu Yu should be back soon.

Some of the vegetables planted in the private plot and the yard have almost grown. Jiang Nian picked a pumpkin and planned to make some pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin cakes in the evening. She kneaded the dough, steamed the pumpkin and crushed it, followed the steps step by step, and finally put the pumpkin cake into the pot and started steaming. The gate

of the yard was half open, and someone pushed the door open and walked in from outside.

Jiang Nian heard the footsteps, put the red enamel basin with half a basin of water in her hand on the pot lid to press it, turned around and glanced from the window, saw a touch of military green military uniform, and she walked out of the kitchen.