Chapter 45

Lu Yu said, "I asked about Zhu Jun for you. He doesn't have a partner. I didn't tell him about Zhang Xiao. Wait until you're sure before telling him."

Jiang Nian smiled and said, "Okay."

Then the people in Xiuzhuang looked at Jiang Nian and laughed foolishly while holding the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Ge Mei asked, "What were you talking about so happily?"

Lu Xiaojing and Zhai Peipei were also looking at her, both with smiles on their faces. Jiang Nian pursed her lips and smiled, "We talked about something good."

She didn't say what it was, thinking that she would tell it when she and Zhang Xiao were alone, in case things didn't go smoothly and Zhang Xiao was upset. Ge Mei noticed the look in Jiang Nian's eyes when he looked at Zhang Xiao, and guessed something in her heart, so she said, "Take all the food to the dormitory and go to the cafeteria to get food. If it's too late, there will be no food in the cafeteria."

Qu Hua was in the dormitory, and Zhai Peipei got two meals and went back to the dormitory first. After this incident, all the workers in the cotton mill knew about Lu Xiaojing, and she didn't want to eat in the cafeteria anymore. She would go back to the dormitory after getting food, which was just right for Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao.

The two of them sat face to face. Jiang Nian took a bite of the corn cake that was a bit abrasive to the teeth, then swallowed it with a mouthful of porridge: "Zhang Xiao, do you remember what I mentioned to you last time, that I would find a partner for you in the army?"

Zhang Xiao was stunned for a moment: "Of course I remember."

Jiang Nian smiled and said: "There is such a person right now."

Seeing Zhang Xiao biting his chopsticks a little embarrassedly, Jiang Nian smiled: "He is a soldier in Lu Yu's regiment. It seems that he was promoted to squad leader two years ago. He is handsome and has good character. If you think he is okay, wait for Lu Yu to come over at the end of the month and bring him with you so you two can meet him?"

Zhang Xiao lowered his head and nodded gently: "Yeah."

Jiang Nian pursed his lips to hold back his laughter and thought Zhang Xiao was extremely cute.

After dinner, they returned to the dormitory. Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao distributed the food sent by the director of the cotton weaving factory

to everyone. Some people took care of Qu Hua and gave her some extra milk candies and brown sugar, asking her to drink some brown sugar water to replenish her body. Six days had passed since the incident between Qu Hua and Chen Peng. The next morning, Zhai Peipei told Jiang Nian that she would accompany him to the Public Security Bureau to inquire about the child's situation after work at noon. However, before noon, someone from the Public Security Bureau came and said that the child had been found.

Jiang Nian and Zhai Peipei took Qu Hua to the Public Security Bureau to claim the child.

After going to the Public Security Bureau, Jiang Nian found many couples. Before entering the gate, they heard a lot of crying. They hurried in. Qu Hua found the two daughters at a glance and cried while holding them.

Qu Hua's eldest daughter was only two years old, and the youngest daughter was only one year old. They couldn't walk well yet. The two children were held in Qu Hua's arms, crying while calling for their mother. There were more than ten children inside, both boys and girls, and the youngest was still in swaddling clothes.

The public security comrade said: "According to the information about the seller provided by Chen Peng's mother, we have tracked several cities and found a place where children are bought and sold. All the children are here. You can identify your own children."

These parents who came to the public security bureau had reported the case before. Basically, they claimed their children, but two couples did not find their children. The public security comrade said: "You go back first. We will continue to investigate the children's affairs. We will not let any criminal who buys and sells children go!"

Jiang Nian watched the two couples supporting each other and crying as they left, and she felt a little uncomfortable.

No matter what era, there are always hateful people who sell people.

It was lunchtime when they returned to Xiuzhuang. Zhai Peipei and Qu Hua were in the dormitory with their two children. Zhang Xiao, Jiang Nian, and Lu Xiaojing prepared lunch for them. When they returned to the dormitory, Ge Mei came over and gave each of Qu Hua's two children a red envelope. She asked Zhai Peipei, "What are you going to do with Qu Hua and the two children?"

The verdict on Chen Peng and his mother had already been handed down. Zhai Peipei said, "I will settle the divorce between Qu Hua and Chen Peng, and then send the three of them back to the countryside to live. I, as a man, will stay at home." "My son and daughter-in-law are all here, so they can be taken care of."

Her family knew about Qu Hua's situation, but they were too far away from here, and it was the beginning of spring, so the brigade was very busy, so they couldn't spare the time to come. Her husband asked the village teacher to write a letter and sent it to her, saying that her son and daughter-in-law also accepted Qu Hua to bring the child back, and wait in the countryside to look for a suitable old and honest man to marry. If Qu Hua didn't want to marry again, she could support the three of them.

Qu Hua and the child would live in the dormitory temporarily, and Zhai Peipei would send them back after the divorce was settled in a few days.

At night, Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao shared one bed, while Zhai Peipei and Qu Hua shared another, leaving one bed for the two children to sleep on. Now Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao's sleeping postures were not good, and they were afraid of bumping into the children, so they said they would exchange beds with Lu Xiaojing and the two children.

Several people teased the children for a while, and each of them stuffed two candies into the children's pockets. Zhang Xiao peeled oranges and fed them to the two children. Jiang Nian also took one. Watching the youngest daughter smacking her lips while eating the orange, she thought of their father who was worse than a beast, and touched the child's head with heartache.

The older girl looked at Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiaoxiao and said in a milky voice, "Good."

The younger girl nodded as well. She was not very good at speaking yet, and she made babbling sounds. Zhai Peipei and Qu Hua's eyes turned red. If Jiang Nian had not taken them to the police in time, they would not have known when they would be able to see the children again.

The two children fell asleep after playing for a while. The dormitory atmosphere was particularly good tonight. Zhai Peipei was not as cold as usual, and she talked a lot with them. Lu Xiaojing also reconciled with Zhai Peipei.

The few of them chatted until midnight before going to bed.

For more than a month, Lu Xiaojing had not paid attention to the sleeping postures of Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao, until the second half of the night, when the two of them slept like they were fighting, either they pressed against the wall, tightly together, or they squeezed her, almost squeezing her off the bed. What

was even worse was that Jiang Nian slept sideways with one leg on her and Zhang Xiao's stomachs, and Zhang Xiao was not much better, with one arm on her neck, almost suffocating her.

Lu Xiaojing got up angrily and slept on the children's bed. She saw the eldest girl open her eyes in a daze and whispered to her, "Auntie will sleep with you two."

She doubted that if she slept with Jiang Nian and the others again, she would not be able to see the sun tomorrow.

The next morning, when Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao woke up, they found that they each had a bed, and Lu Xiaojing was squeezed together with the two children. Seeing that they were awake, Lu Xiaojing opened her eyes and stared at them, with dark circles under her eyes: "Did you two fight with dogs last night? You were so busy."

Jiang Nian:...

Zhang Xiao:...

The two smiled embarrassedly, and several of them got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. Qu Hua and the children stayed in the dormitory. They all went to the state-owned embroidery shop. Lu Xiaojing embroidered quietly. She still asked Jiang Nian and Zhai Peipei for advice on some needlework techniques.

At lunchtime, after Lu Xiaojing and Zhai Peipei left, Jiang Nian called Lu Yu and told him that Zhang Xiao agreed to meet Zhu Jun. Lu Yu promised her that he would bring Zhu Jun with him when he came at the end of the month.

A few days passed in a blink of an eye. Qu Hua and Chen Peng's divorce was also completed. Jiang Nian's embroidery was also finished. She embroidered quickly and finished it ten days ahead of schedule. Zhai Peipei asked for leave to send Qu Hua and the two children back to their hometown. Jiang Nian and Lu Xiaojing sent them to the train.

Because Zhai Peipei was not there, and she had to finish her embroidery in time, Jiang Nian imitated Sister Zhai's needlework to embroider. Ge Meihui came every day to take a look and embroider some small embroidery. Most of the time, she was running around outside, either looking at silk threads and embroidery fabrics, or meeting clients to discuss embroidery.

On this day, a man came to the state-owned embroidery shop. The man was wearing a uniform white shirt with a military green jacket on the outside. He was tall, with short, neat hair, and was particularly handsome, especially with his upright figure, looking a bit like a soldier.

The man walked in with a small cloth bag in his hand. He saw Zhang Xiao and asked, "Excuse me, is Jiang Nian here?"

Zhang Xiao nodded quickly, "Yes."

Jiang Nian also heard the voice outside from the compartment and felt it was familiar. When Zhang Xiao called her, she got up and walked out. When she opened the compartment door, she saw Song Bai standing inside. She was stunned for a moment: "Deputy Captain Song, why are you here?"

This is also a deputy captain? !

Zhang Xiao was a little shocked. She thought it was great that Jiang Nian's brother-in-law became a deputy captain at such a young age. She didn't expect that there was another deputy captain of the same age as Deputy Captain Lu. Lu Xiaojing also heard the noise. She leaned against the door of the compartment, opened the curtain and looked at Song Bai, with a flash of surprise in her eyes.

Then he looked at Jiang Nian's back and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It's really annoying to compare yourself to others.

"My sister-in-law asked me to bring you something."

Song Bai walked up and handed her a small cloth bag. Looking at Jiang Nian's fair and beautiful face, he felt that Xu Cheng was really blessed in his previous life to marry such a beautiful wife who could embroider.

"Thank you."

Jiang Nian took the small cloth bag and was a little surprised that it was sent by Feng Mei.

She looked up at Song Bai. Song Bai and Lu Yu were about the same height. Every time she looked up at Lu Yu, she felt like taking a few steps back, or she would feel uncomfortable tilting her neck: "Why did you come to the city?"

Song Bai said: "It's about the last batch of nests. I came to take notes. I don't need to come here anymore."

"Oh."

Jiang Nian held up the small cloth bag and said: "Would you like to sit down and drink some water?"

Although the weather is not that cold now, it is not warm enough to sweat. However, Song Bai has some sweat on his forehead, and the collar of his white shirt is unbuttoned twice, revealing his protruding Adam's apple and two protruding collarbones.

She suddenly thought of the second day of the Chinese New Year when she went ice skating with Feng Mei and saw Song Bai's abdominal muscles.

Jiang Nian turned away awkwardly. It was quite interesting.

Song Bai wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Okay, I'm thirsty too. I'll give you some water to drink. After I finish drinking, I'll leave and catch the afternoon bus."

Zhang Xiao heard this, went to the table to get the thermos, poured a glass of water for Song Bai and sat back at the counter. Song Bai had his back to Lu Xiaojing and didn't see Lu Xiaojing winking at Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian: ...

She said to Song Bai, "You drink some water first. I'll go to the cubicle to get something."

The hot water in the thermos was very hot, and Song Bai couldn't get it into his mouth: "Okay."

After Jiang Nian approached the cubicle, he asked Zhang Xiao, "Is there any cool water?"

Zhang Xiao was stunned for a moment: "Yes."

There was a faucet in the state-owned embroidery shop, right in the corner of the wall. There was a pool made of bricks under the faucet. Zhang Xiao pointed: "There."

Song Bai walked over and turned on the faucet, bent his back, tilted his head and drank the cold water "gulp". After quenching his thirst, he turned on the faucet and felt that it was much faster than hot water. Zhang Xiao was stunned and speechless in surprise.

Jiang Nian came out of the cubicle and saw this scene. He blinked and asked, "Aren't you cold?"

Song Bai smiled and said, "No."

Jiang Nian: ...

That's right. If you are cold, why would you go swimming in winter?

"Sister-in-law, you seem to have lost some weight."

Song Bai remembered that when he met Jiang Nian during the Chinese New Year, she was not so thin, so he said, "No wonder Lu Yu takes leave every now and then to see you. You have to buy more delicious food to make up for it." Jiang

Nian: ???

What do you mean?

Lu Yu came to the city twice. Was it for business?

It was almost time, Song Bai said, "Sister-in-law, I'll go back first."

"Okay."

Jiang Nian sent Song Bai to the door of Xiu Manor and looked at the tall man's back: "Drive slowly on the way."

Song Bai turned around and waved his hand. He looked at Jiang Nian who was holding the door handle with both hands and watching him go. He smiled and said, "Go back, sister-in-law."

After that, he turned around and ran away.

Zhang Xiao asked curiously, "Sister Jiang, who is that?"

Jiang Nian said, "Lu Yu's comrade-in-arms, the brother-in-law of my sister-in-law next door."

Lu Xiaojing walked to the counter and touched Jiang Nian's arm with her elbow, "You haven't told me just now, what do you think of this Song Bai?"

Jiang Nian: ...

Just now Lu Xiaojing asked her to go into the compartment, and she thought something was wrong. Unexpectedly, she was asking her if she had any feelings for Song Bai, and then asked her if she had any feelings for Lu Yu. Jiang Nian was confused and said something in a bad mood and came out.

At this time, Lu Xiaojing was still talking about this matter, and said helplessly: "No, no, no, no, Lu Yu and Song Bai are here with me, and they are all my late husband's comrades-in-arms."

Lu Xiaojing: ...

She raised her hand and poked Jiang Nian's forehead, and said to Zhang Xiao: "Look at her, there are so many excellent men around her, but she doesn't know how to cherish them."

Jiang Nian: ...

Not wanting to dwell on this topic anymore, she opened the small cloth bag and wanted to see what Feng Mei brought her.

Lu Xiaojing and Zhang Xiao also stretched their heads to look, and there was a can of pickled vegetables and chili sauce in the small cloth bag, as well as a small bag of chocolates.

Jiang Nian: ???

In her impression, Feng Mei is unlikely to be willing to buy such expensive chocolate.

Zhang Xiaoxiao said: "Sister Jiang, your sister-in-law next door is really nice to you."

Lu Xiaojing also nodded in agreement: "I think she is nice to you for a purpose? For example, she wants to introduce you to her brother-in-law?"

Jiang Nian: ...

Hehe.

Maybe Lu Xiaojing really guessed it. Zhai Peipei came back five days later

.

She seemed to have changed into a different person. She looked radiant and walked more briskly. It seemed that she had solved her daughter's problem and a stone in her heart fell to the ground.

She looked at the embroidery that Jiang Nian embroidered for her, and said: "You are really worthy of you. If I didn't look carefully, I would almost think I embroidered it myself."

Jiang Nian smiled.

With Zhai Peipei's arrival, Jiang Nian had nothing to do. Jiang Nian had been waiting in the embroidery shop for the past few days for Lu Yu to come at the end of the month. She also taught Lu Xiaojing a few needlework techniques. The two of them sat by the window, and the afternoon light reflected on Jiang Nian's face. Her skin was so white that you could see the short fluff on it.

Lu Xiaojing whispered, "Jiang Nian, thank you for not holding a grudge against me. Thank you."

Jiang Nian smiled and said, "You haven't done anything to harm the world or the law, so why should I hate you?" When

Lu Xiaojing heard her say this, she knew that she had let go of the previous matter. She pursed her lips, and after a while of feeling entangled in her heart, she still told her about the day when Lu Yu came to the embroidery shop and saw her trying to destroy Jiang Nian's embroidery.

Jiang Nian paused with the needle in her hand, and turned to look at Lu Xiaojing. Lu Xiaojing smiled guiltily, thinking that Jiang Nian was going to blame her, but she asked something else: "Has Lu Yu been here?"

Lu Xiaojing was stunned for a moment: "Yes."

Jiang Nian thought of the day when Lu Yu rushed to the cafeteria. He had never told her that Lu Xiaojing wanted to ruin her embroidery. Did Lu Yu also think that Lu Xiaojing was not really bad, so he felt there was no need to tell her?

When they got off work in the evening, after everyone had left, Ge Mei left Jiang Nian alone.

The two of them sat on a bench by the window. Ge Mei took out a letter packet from her bag, put it on the table and pushed it over, smiling, "This is the reward for this embroidery, one hundred yuan."

Jiang Nian was surprised, "So much?"

Ge Mei smiled, "The boss of Gangcheng will be here tomorrow. He will bring new embroidery this time. The fabrics in the embroidery shop are almost finished. I will go to the textile factory the day after tomorrow. Once this batch of fabrics and silk threads are finalized, you can take it back almost immediately."

Jiang Nian nodded, "Then I will wait for news from Sister Ge."

"It's getting late, go to the cafeteria to get some food."

Ge Mei stood up and glanced at Jiang Nian: "I'm sorry to say a few words, you are still young, you can't be a single forever, have you considered finding another one?" Jiang Nian

immediately shook his head: "I don't have that mind right now, I just want to do the embroidery work well."

Ge Mei: ...

Come on, this is probably the wishful thinking of Deputy Head Lu.

Since Jiang Nian didn't have that mind, Ge Mei didn't want to be annoying and took the initiative to be the matchmaker. When she left, she said: "If you want to get married, look at the people around you first."

Jiang Nian was absent-minded for a while after hearing what Ge Mei said.

She didn't understand why Ge Mei brought this up. She locked the door of the embroidery house and was still thinking about Ge Mei's words on the way to the canteen of the cotton weaving factory with her aluminum lunch box. Somehow she thought of that day. Ge Mei also kept her and asked some questions about Lu Yu, and said that inexplicable sentence again.

- Is Lu Yu your real brother-in-law? You have no relationship either in terms of family affection or law.

- If you want to get married, look at the people around you first.

These two sentences kept lingering in Jiang Nian's mind. When she walked to the canteen, Jiang Nian figured out that Ge Mei wanted to match her with Lu Yu? ?

? Crazy, right?

She just treated Lu Yu as Xu Cheng's younger brother and brother-in-law.

Let's not talk about what she thinks, just talk about Lu Yu, the hero of this book, who has all the highlights in one person . He became the deputy head of the group at a young age, and will continue to rise step by step in the future.

He has good looks, strategy and status. He must be crazy to fall in love with her, a widow.

And she is the wife of his elder brother and comrade-in-arms.

Jiang Nian didn't understand why Ge Mei would think of this. She abandoned these thoughts, went back to the dormitory after having breakfast, and went to the embroidery house early the next morning. She saw that Ge Mei was dressed more formally today, and asked Zhang Xiao to clean the state-owned embroidery house carefully, and a leader would come to inspect it later.

It was almost noon when the leaders from the city came to inspect. Jiang Nian, Zhai Peipei, and Lu Xiaojing were embroidering in the cubicle. The leaders asked Ge Mei about the situation of the embroidery shop, and then talked about some other things, as well as the accounts that had to be submitted every month.

After the leaders left, the boss of Gangcheng also came.

Ge Mei was very busy all day and did not rest until the evening. The next morning, she went to the textile factory to look at the fabric for the embroidery design. This time, the fabric was the same as the one Jiang Nian had used before. She measured the size at the textile factory, memorized the size, and asked Jiang Nian which fabric was more suitable and better. After confirming the embroidery fabric, she went to the department store to look at the silk thread.

This time Ge Mei brought Jiang Nian with her, and Jiang Nian saw with her own eyes how Ge Mei used her mouth to negotiate prices with others, and how she placed orders for the goods.

Jiang Nian felt that if Ge Mei was born in the new century, she would definitely be a strong woman who could start a company independently, she was too strong.

It was already nine o'clock in the evening when they finished their work, and the canteen of the cotton mill had closed.

The two went to the state-owned hotel and ate a bowl of noodles each. On the way back, Ge Mei asked Jiang Nian: "What are your plans for the future?"

Jiang Nian looked at the crescent moon in the night sky: "I haven't thought about it carefully yet, but for now I'll focus on doing the embroidery work."

As for other things, there are no big plans. The main plans are after the reform, but it will take another nine years.

Ge Mei didn't know about these things. Not only she, but everyone didn't know. Nine years later, the first batch of people who went into the sea would basically become 10,000-yuan households like those in the 1980s. But that was nine years later, and it was still a long way off now. For now,

I just need to live a good life

.

Today is exactly the end of the month. Jiang Nian thought that Lu Yu and Zhu Jun would come over in the afternoon, so she stayed in bed for a while. After a while, there was a knock on the door. The old lady outside the dormitory shouted: "Jiang Nian, someone is looking for you. It's the handsome boy who sent meat buns to your dormitory last time."

Jiang Nian: ???

Why did Lu Yu come so early in the morning? !

"Here I am!"

She quickly climbed out of bed and put on her cotton coat. It was too late to braid her hair, so she combed her hair and tied it into a bun. She also wore the light orange cotton coat and light brown pants she brought this time. She lay on the window, lifted a corner of the curtain and took a look outside.

Outside the dormitory door, Lu Yu and Zhu Jun were talking about something. Zhu Jun was embarrassed and scratched his head.

It seemed that Lu Yu was very sharp as a soldier. Almost at the same time when Jiang Nian looked over, he also turned his head to look over here.

Jiang Nian was so scared that she let down the curtain, sat on the edge of the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. She came to her senses when she was putting on her shoes.

She didn't do anything wrong, so why was she hiding?

Jiang Nian walked out of the room with the enamel basin and waved to the people outside: "Wait a moment, I'll be there soon."

Lu Yu said: "No hurry."

Zhu Jun glanced at Lu Yu and didn't dare to talk back.

Deputy Colonel Lu said that there was no hurry now, and he went to the dormitory to wake him up in the middle of the night, borrowed a car from the military district and took him to the city? After driving for four hours, they arrived in the city at dawn. They first went to the state-owned embroidery shop. There was only one older female comrade in the shop. After asking, they found out that the elder sister-in-law was still sleeping in the dormitory.

Jiang Nian washed up and ran downstairs. She glanced at Zhu Jun beside Lu Yu and smiled, "Have you had breakfast?"

Zhu Jun shook his head, "Not yet."

Lu Yu looked at Jiang Nian's hair and couldn't help but look at it a few more times. She had the same hairstyle as the first time she went to the city. Her hair was tied behind her head, revealing her slender white neck. Her cheeks were thin and she looked thinner than two months ago.

Song Bai came back from the market a few days ago and told him that when he went to deliver something to his sister-in-law, he noticed that she had lost weight.

Lu Yu had also noticed it before.

He coughed lightly and his gaze fell on Jiang Nian's bright eyes: "What do you want to eat?"

Jiang Nian said: "Meat buns and milk."

She smiled and added: "I'll treat you."

Seeing the bright smile on her face, Lu Yu smiled and said: "Okay."

When the three of them passed by the state-owned embroidery mansion, Jiang Nian asked them to wait a moment and she opened the door and went in. At this time, Lu Xiaojing and Zhang Xiao had just arrived at the embroidery mansion. They both saw Lu Yu and Zhu Jun outside the embroidery mansion. Lu Xiaojing raised an eyebrow at Zhang Xiao: "Your blind date is here."

Zhang Xiao didn't dare to look at them, and embarrassedly asked Lu Xiaojing to stop talking.

Jiang Nian smiled and said, "Let's have breakfast together."

Zhang Xiao shook her head subconsciously: "I just ate in the cafeteria."

Lu Xiaojing said "Oh!" and pushed her out: "Don't be shy. It's not easy to meet a soldier who is not bad looking. If he runs away, you won't have anywhere to cry."

Zhang Xiao: ...

Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao walked out of the embroidery manor. Zhu Jun saw Zhang Xiao and introduced himself generously: "Hello, Comrade Zhang, my name is Zhu Jun."

Jiang Nian: ...

Good guy, you're just going to hit the nail on the head?

Zhang Xiao's face turned red, and she whispered, "Hello, my name is Zhang Xiao."

Lu Yu glanced at them, then his dark eyes paused on Jiang Nian for a few seconds: "Let's go."

Jiang Nian nodded: "Okay."

Zhai Peipei also ran out from outside, and she and Lu Xiaojing leaned on the window to watch the four people gradually walking away. Lu Xiaojing said, "Sister Zhai, look, look, these two couples are so well matched."

Zhai Peipei was stunned for a moment, turned her head and poked Lu Xiaojing's forehead: "Pooh, pooh, pooh, you can say that the man and Zhang Xiao are a good match, but you can't say that Deputy Commander Lu and Jiang Nian are a good match. They are uncle and sister-in-law." Lu Xiaojing

:???

No one told her that.

She asked in surprise: "Sister Zhai, when did you know?"

Zhai Peipei said: "I found out when I came out of the Public Security Bureau that day and had dinner with Deputy Commander Lu and Director Ge in the state-owned hotel."

If Zhang Xiao hadn't said it, she really wouldn't have known.

It turns out that Deputy Commander Lu and Jiang Nian are uncle and sister-in-law.

Lu Xiaojing shook her head with pity. No wonder Deputy Commander Lu was so good to Jiang Nian, buying her meat buns and snacks. It turns out that they are a family. The eldest brother died, and there was only the widowed sister-in-law left at home .

Shouldn't she be taken care of more? In the state-owned hotel, Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao sat in one row, and Lu Yu and Zhu Jun sat in another row. Zhang Xiao had already eaten the meat buns and milk for breakfast, so she wasn't too hungry. But when she saw the meat buns and milk, she still ate some despite holding her stomach. She drank a sip of milk, and looked up at Zhu Jun embarrassedly, and saw that he was eating the buns and drinking milk in big mouthfuls, and eating very quickly. Deputy Colonel Lu next to him was also eating quickly and efficiently. Jiang Nian seemed to have gotten used to their eating speed. When they were at the family compound, Lu Yu always finished eating before her. Zhu Jun noticed that Zhang Xiao was looking at him, and was almost choked by the milk. He tilted his head and coughed twice, his face red and his neck thick. Zhang Xiao hesitated for a moment before saying, "Slow down." Zhu Jun nodded quickly, "Yeah." Jiang Nian lowered his head, and the smile on the corner of his mouth could not be suppressed. It was obviously Zhu Jun and Zhang Xiao who were meeting each other, but she, an outsider, was so excited. "Sister-in-law." Lu Yu's voice came from the other side. Jiang Nian raised her head subconsciously. There were some milk stains on the corners of her lips, and the smile at the corners of her mouth had not yet subsided. The man's eyes swept over the milk stains on the corners of her lips, coughed lightly and looked away: "Concentrate on eating, don't bite." Jiang Nian: ... Zhu Jun: ... This meal was paid for by Jiang Nian, and she agreed to be the host. After dinner, Jiang Nian said: "Zhang Xiao, I will go back to the embroidery shop to check the embroidery made yesterday. You and Zhu Jun can take a walk first."

Lu Yu also said, "I'll go with you."

Then the two of them left.

Zhang Xiao didn't even have time to call Jiang Nian. Zhu Jun rubbed his head and asked Zhang Xiao, "Are you full?"

Zhang Xiao nodded gently, "I'm full."

The two of them walked on the side of the road, with enough space between them for two people to stand. Zhu Jun turned his head and looked at Zhang Xiao's slightly flushed face. He tried to move two steps towards her, keeping a certain distance. Zhang Xiao's body was a little tense, and she rubbed her fingers nervously, trying not to look at Zhu Jun next to her.

But even so, she could still feel her heart beating fast.

From childhood to adulthood, this was the first time that she walked side by side on the street with a man she had only met once. If it wasn't for the fact that the other party was introduced by Deputy Colonel Lu and Sister Jiang, she would not have the courage to come out.

Zhang Xiao was nervous, and Zhu Jun was also nervous. He felt that he could not walk anymore.

Moreover, it seemed that he was walking a little limply.

Zhang Xiao had worked in the state-owned embroidery shop for a year and a half. Although her observation of people was not as good as Ge Mei's, she had learned a little. She noticed that something was wrong with Zhu Jun next to her, so she tilted her head slightly to take a look and found that Zhu Jun was walking a little limply.

Zhang Xiao couldn't help laughing out loud.

Zhu Jun: ...

His face instantly turned red. He was afraid that Zhang Xiao would have a bad first impression of him, so he quickly explained: "I was just nervous. I usually walk normally."

Zhang Xiao pursed her lips and nodded: "Yeah."

After this little episode, both of them relaxed a lot. Although Zhu Jun was not so nervous, he still felt a little restrained. This was the first time he had walked and talked with a girl in his life. He would not have dared to think about it before.

The two walked for a long distance and finally stopped by the river.

Zhu Jun pointed at the river surface: "Look, the ice has melted."

Zhang Xiao held back her laughter and nodded: "Yeah, it's spring."

Zhu Jun scratched his head, took a deep breath, encouraged himself, and then said in one go: "What do you think of me?"

He turned around and looked at Zhang Xiao, standing straight and upright, not like a person to be seen, but like waiting for instructions from the leader.

Zhang Xiao was a little caught off guard, she blushed and looked at Zhu Jun, then looked at the river surface with embarrassment, and nodded her head slightly.

Zhu Jun suddenly broke into a grin and said, "Let me first introduce my family situation. I'm from the Fourth Brigade of Hongqi Commune, Yongkang County, Linfeng City. My parents are still alive, and I have two older sisters. I'm the third child. My two older sisters are married, so I'm the only one at home now."

After that he asked Zhang Xiao, "What about you?"

Zhang Xiao really didn't expect Zhu Jun to change so quickly.

She hesitated for a moment and introduced where she was from. Then she continued, "My parents are here. I have an older brother and a younger brother. I'm the second oldest. My older brother is married, and my younger brother just turned thirteen this year."

Jiang

Nian packed up all the things in the embroidery shop and put them into the big backpack that Lu Yu brought. She asked, "How did you get here?"

Lu Yu said, "I borrowed the military district's car."

After that, he picked up the heavy embroidery frame and walked out. Jiang Nian was a little surprised. After Lu Yu left, Lu Xiaojing smacked her lips and said, "Deputy Colonel Lu is really strong."

Her feet hurt a little when she kicked the embroidery frame that day.

Zhai Peipei also said: "This embroidery frame is too heavy, but it's okay if it's too heavy. When you embroider, you don't have to use a little strength to make the embroidery frame move with you."

Lu Xiaojing followed Jiang Nian out of the embroidery shop, looking at the military green military vehicle, her eyes were shining, and even the passers-by couldn't help but look at it a few more times. In this era, there were few cars on the street, let alone bicycles. If anyone had a bicycle, they would want to let the neighbors know. Not to

mention a military vehicle parked on the street.

You can tell at a glance that it is from the army, and its identity makes people respect and envy.

After everything was packed, Ge Mei just happened to come back from the textile factory, and Zhu Jun and Zhang Xiao also came back from the other end. With

more people, the embroidery house became lively.

But most of the topics still revolved around the reluctance to leave Jiang Nian. Zhai Peipei and Lu Xiaojing talked to Jiang Nian, and Ge Mei also gave Jiang Nian some instructions. Zhang Xiao came over and took Jiang Nian's hand, with red eyes: "Jiang Jie, if you have time when you go back, give us a call."

Jiang Nian smiled and said, "Okay."

In the two months here, she and Zhang Xiao were the closest. Although they had only known each other for two months, they felt that they were already good friends who could talk about anything.

She approached Zhang Xiao, and when others were talking, she whispered to Zhang Xiao: "What do you think of Zhu Jun?"

Zhang Xiao blushed, and glanced at Zhu Jun who was standing outside the embroidery house with Deputy Colonel Lu. Unexpectedly, she bumped into Zhu Jun's gaze. When their eyes met, Zhu Jun smiled. Zhang Xiao turned away embarrassedly and said to Jiang Nian: "I think he's good."

Jiang Nian suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment. This was

the first time she had been a matchmaker since she was a child, and she helped.

After saying goodbye to the people from the embroidery house, Jiang Nian left reluctantly. Lu Yu opened the door of the co-pilot's car and asked Jiang Nian to sit there. Zhu Jun sat in the back corner, holding the heavy embroidery frame with both hands. He waved to Zhang Xiao through the car window and smiled with his big white teeth.

The car was driving on the street. When Jiang Nian turned his head to look at the street that was quickly disappearing, he suddenly felt that time had passed so quickly.

Two months had passed in the blink of an eye.

When the car drove out of the city, Jiang Nian put away his worries and turned his head to see Lu Yu driving. The man had one hand on the gear lever and the other hand on the steering wheel. His hands were long and well-proportioned, and looked very nice. Lu Yu looked at the road ahead and asked, "What's wrong?"

He lowered his eyes and glanced at his hands again, not understanding why his sister-in-law always stared at his hands.

Jiang Nian then realized that she had been staring at Lu Yu for a while. Zhu Jun in the back seat couldn't help laughing: "Sister-in-law, what are you staring at the deputy head's hands for?"

Jiang Nian looked at the windshield and shook her head: "I was just distracted."

She refused to admit that she was obsessed with Lu Yu's hands.

The car was quiet for a while. Jiang Nian watched the car driving at high speed and thought of her car in the New Century. It was not easy to get a driver's license. She had only driven the car for a year before it was passed. She still remembered the collapse when she took the second subject test.

The first time I failed when starting on a slope because I was too nervous. The second time I had a chance, I failed when reversing into a parking space. A month later, I calmed down and took the test again. Finally, I passed it in one go. I

still get nervous when I think about it now.

Lu Yu's voice rang out in the car: "How was the meeting today?"

Jiang Nian also pricked up his ears to listen.

Zhu Jun smiled and said, "We are both very satisfied with each other."

Lu Yu glanced at Zhu Jun through the rearview mirror in the car and said, "What are you going to do next? If you are satisfied with the girl, don't drag it out."

Zhu Jun nodded and said, "I plan to write a letter to my parents when I get home and tell them about Zhang Xiao. After a few days, I will take a leave and go to the city to find Zhang Xiao and ask about her situation. If Zhang Xiao is not satisfied, I will tell her the truth." "I think it's too fast. I will wait patiently."

Jiang Nian said casually, "What if she asks you to wait for two or three years?"

Zhu Jun was stunned for a moment. He really hadn't thought so far ahead. After thinking for a while, he said, "As long as she really thinks I'm good and is willing to stay with me, I'm fine with waiting for two or three years or three or four years."

Lu Yu tapped the steering wheel with his finger and tilted his head slightly to glance at Jiang Nian who was sitting in the passenger seat. Jiang

Nian was so focused on teasing Zhu Jun that she didn't notice Lu Yu's gaze. She tilted her head to look at the scenery outside the window and smiled.

It was already afternoon when they returned to the army.

Zhu Jun was the first to open the car door, took out the embroidery frame, and asked Lu Yu: "Deputy Director, where should I put this?"

Lu Yu said: "Give it to me."

He took the embroidery frame, went straight to Jiang Nian's room, and put it on the floor.

Zhu Jun went to pick up Jiang Nian's bedding, but unexpectedly, Lu Yu came out and took it away.

Zhu Jun: ...

The deputy director doesn't let him do any work?

Feng Mei ran over as soon as Jiang Nian got off the car. As soon as she saw Jiang Nian, she started to talk non-stop, wishing she could finish talking for the past two months at once. Jiang Nian held a small cloth bag in his hand, listened to Feng Mei's thirsty words, and smiled and said, "Has Xiangdong started school?"

Feng Mei said, "School has started a long time ago, and this time the teacher praised our Xiangdong, saying that he studies well and is obedient."

Speaking of Song Xiangdong, Feng Mei felt proud.

Her son was praised by the teacher for his good study, and she felt that she was a head higher than others when walking in the family courtyard.

Jiang Nian smiled and touched the small cloth bag in his hand: "Sister Feng, I received the chili sauce and pickled vegetables you asked Song Bai to bring, and I also received a small bag of chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

Feng Mei was stunned for a moment: "I only packed a jar of pickled vegetables and chili sauce for you, but didn't buy you chocolate. That thing is so expensive, how can I have so much..."

The words stopped abruptly, Feng Mei came back to her senses, and laughed: "It must be Song Bai who bought it for you!"

Lu Yu, who had just walked out of the yard, frowned and looked at the chocolate in Jiang Nian's hand.