Chapter 6
Lu Yu: …
Jiang Nian, who was still visiting the supply and marketing cooperative in the 1970s: …
Jiang Nian lowered her head for a moment and whispered, “You misunderstood, I’m his sister-in-law.”
The supply and marketing clerk pulled the corner of his mouth awkwardly. He didn’t even think about the relationship between the sister-in-law and the brother-in-law. He thought they were a couple. She had been in the supply and marketing cooperative for several years, but this was the first time she saw the brother-in-law and the sister-in-law come to buy things together.
Lu Yu picked up the things and saw a set of clothes hanging on the wall, a short-sleeved shirt with a pink base and white flowers and light gray pants. Thinking that Jiang Nian only brought a small cloth bag and a few patched clothes, he said to the supply and marketing clerk, “Pack that set of clothes too.”
The supply and marketing clerk was stunned for a moment, and seeing that Lu Yu was serious, he quickly went to get the clothes and packed them up.
On the way back, Jiang Nian tugged at the corner of his clothes and whispered, "You don't have to buy me clothes, I have clothes to wear."
Lu Yu said, "You don't have to bear the burden, I still have some left from my own salary."
Jiang Nian walked behind Lu Yu, looked up at the tall back of the man, and couldn't help sighing in his heart.
——What a good man, but it's a pity that he is just a paper man in a book.
When passing by the state-owned food station and vegetable station, Lu Yu cut another two pounds of meat and bought a few vegetables.
This time, he bought a lot of things. Lu Yu carried a lot. Jiang Nian wanted to help carry some things, but he refused. It took a long time for the two to walk back to the family building.
The sun fell from the branches, and the red clouds fell on half of the sky.
Jiang Nian saw two people standing in front of her. The man was wearing a military green uniform. Although it was only a side view, she still recognized him. He was her neighbor, Xu Yan's husband Liu Qiang. The woman was wearing a short-sleeved shirt with a yellow background and flower petals, light linen straight pants, and two braids. One hand was holding Liu Qiang's left arm and lifting his left foot. The expression on her face was a little painful.
Needless to say, the person who could be so close to Liu Qiang must be Zheng Hong.
Lu Yu walked over and looked at Zheng Hong expressionlessly. When Zheng Hong met Lu Yu's deep dark and cold eyes, the painful expression on her face intensified: "Deputy Captain Lu, I sprained my foot. I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself."
She spoke softly with a deliberately coquettish tone.
Lu Yu shifted his gaze from her face to Liu Qiang, his low voice a little cold: "Captain Song is looking for you, and asked you to go over now."
Liu Qiang was stunned for a moment: "I just came back from Captain Song, why does he want me to do anything?"
There was a reminder in Lu Yu's eyes that only Liu Qiang could understand: "Go ask Captain Song yourself."
Liu Qiang reacted abruptly: "Oh, I'll go over now."
After he finished speaking, he pulled his arm out of Zheng Hong's palm. Zheng Hong suddenly lost her support and fell forward unexpectedly. In order not to fall, she had to step on the ground with her left foot to support her body.
Lu Yu glanced at Zheng Hong's left foot: "Comrade Zheng Hong, if you can't walk, I'll let the female soldiers from the health center come over."
Zheng Hong shook her head quickly and smiled: "No, I'll walk back slowly by myself."
She saw Jiang Nian standing next to Lu Yu, with a poor and sour look of a country girl. The news that Deputy Regiment Lu brought the wife of Battalion Commander Xu to the family building had spread. She also knew the identity of this woman, but she still pretended to be confused: "Deputy Regiment Lu, this is your... newly married wife?"
Lu Yu's face turned cold: "I asked for bereavement leave, not wedding leave."
Jiang Nian applauded Lu Yu in her heart - good job!
Zheng Hong: ...
She thought Lu Yu would explain it in a friendly manner, but she didn't expect him to be so ruthless.
Deputy Commander Lu and Lu Guosheng had a good relationship. He didn't tell her how familiar they were before, but he would nod every time they met. But a few days ago, he suddenly seemed to have changed into a different person. Whenever he saw her, he would just walk away. She didn't know how she had offended him.
She went home and asked Lu Guosheng indirectly, but Lu Guosheng said that he and Lu Yu had always been like that.
Zheng Hong squeezed out a smile awkwardly: "I'm sorry, Deputy Commander Lu, I misunderstood. It's getting late, so I'll go back first. The children are waiting for me to cook at home."
After that, she limped back.
Jiang Nian glanced at Zheng Hong who was walking away, then lowered her head and followed Lu Yu back to the courtyard.
Xu Yan was wrong. Zheng Hong was the one who was eating from the bowl but looking at the pot. Liu Qiang was just a confused central air conditioner who didn't know how to avoid suspicion.
The two walked to the front and met Liu Qiang hiding behind a tree. Liu Qiang glanced behind them and saw that Zheng Hong did not follow. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Lu Yu: "Fortunately you sent me away, otherwise my wife would have quarreled with me again if she saw it."
Lu Yu glanced at him and said: "Don't blame Xu Yan for quarreling with you, it's you who don't know how to avoid suspicion." Liu Qiang
walked home with the two of them and sighed: "Isn't this the difference between Captain Lu and us? He has to go out to lead the troops every now and then, and he doesn't come back for ten days or half a month. Zheng Hong said that she knew me here, so she wanted to ask me for help when she had something to do. Back and forth... , I can't refuse."
Lu Yu looked at Liu Qiang coldly, his voice deeper than before: "She has been with the army for two years. She doesn't know anyone around her? Why does Zheng Hong ask you for help every time? Don't you know it?"
When they reached the door of the house, he continued: "Captain Liu, you have to pay attention to the impact of some things. Don't forget your identity. Don't let family disputes affect the honor of the group and let the political commissar talk to you."
Liu Qiang stretched out his hand and rubbed his face: "Okay, I got it."
Jiang Nian didn't know if Liu Qiang heard it. Seeing him turn around and go back to the next yard, she and Lu Yu also opened the gate and walked in.
Lu Yu went to the stove room first, put away the rice, flour, grain and oil, and finally took out a box of milk candy, peach cakes and canned food and put them on the table in Jiang Nian's room. Jiang Nian followed him in and her eyes stayed on the three foods for a while.
In the 1970s, milk candy was a very precious snack, and peach cakes and canned food were not easy to buy. When she was a child, she heard her grandmother talk about her era, saying that it was very good for the children in the family to eat a bottle of canned food and a box of milk candy a year.
Lu Yu turned around and saw Jiang Nian staring at the snacks on the table. Knowing that she had never touched these in the countryside, he took out an iron box from his pocket and put it on the table: "This is the salary and bills I have saved in the past few years. When I get my salary this month, I will give it to my sister-in-law. I also keep some for myself."
Jiang Nian was stunned.
He wants to hand over his salary? ?
Before she could respond, Lu Yu went out and said, "I'm going to make dinner."
Jiang Nian had the plot of the book in her mind. She knew that when Lu Yu was the battalion commander, his monthly salary was 35 yuan, and he would send 25 yuan home every month. He was promoted to deputy regiment commander just two months ago, and his monthly salary is 52 yuan now. He sent 80 yuan to the original owner in the past two months, and he only kept 24 yuan. It can be said that most of Lu Yu's salary in these years was sent home.
But every time he sent back the money, it was taken away by Jiang's mother and Jiang Guo before the original owner received it, leaving her only a little food to fill the stomach of the original owner and Xu Cheng.
Lu Yu left home for eight years to serve in the army. He only came back once because his old man passed away, so he didn't know what kind of life the original owner and her husband lived at home.
She opened the iron box, which contained a lot of bills, including grain coupons, cloth coupons, meat coupons, cotton coupons, sugar coupons, industrial coupons and several other types of bills, especially industrial coupons and cloth coupons. She
counted the money again, all in small change, a total of 130 yuan.
"Deputy Colonel Lu, are you home?"
A woman's loud voice came from outside.
Lu Yu came out of the kitchen with his head down. He had two buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned and was wearing military pants. His handsome features looked even more profound and upright under the bright light of the warm yellow bulb. He saw Feng Mei, the family member of Captain Yan who lived next door, and asked with a smile, "Why is your sister-in-law here?"
"Old Song knew that you brought your sister-in-law here. He was afraid that you came too hastily and didn't prepare anything, so he asked me to make more dinner and send it to you."
Feng Mei put the plates and bowls in her hands on the wooden table in the yard and asked Lu Yu, "Where is your sister-in-law?"
"Then thank you, sister-in-law and Captain Song." Lu Yu pointed to the first room on the east side: "She's in the room."
Feng Mei rubbed her hands on her apron and said with a smile, "I'll go see her."
She walked to the door of the room and looked inside. The room was pitch black and she couldn't see anyone clearly. She only vaguely saw someone sitting by the bed. She said in a familiar voice, "Why don't you turn on the light?"
She walked in and pulled the light cord. With a click, the dark room lit up instantly, and she could see the person sitting by the bed. He looked the same as when she saw him at noon, with his head drooping, a gauze wrapped around his head, and his hands tugging at the corners of his clothes. He looked embarrassed and uneasy.
Feng Mei felt a little distressed when she thought of her experience, and her tone was also caring: "Deputy Colonel Lu's sister-in-law, I am the daughter-in-law of Colonel Song next door. I am older than you, you can just call me Sister-in-law Feng, if you have anything you don't understand in the future, come to me, I will tell you everything I know."
Jiang Nian's eyes were a little uncomfortable from the bright light.
She blinked, and after her eyes adapted to the light, she slowly raised her head and looked at Feng Mei sitting on the bench beside the bed. She was the woman who greeted Lu Yu at noon today. The plot in the book also mentioned Colonel Song and Feng Mei. Before the male protagonist was promoted and left, Colonel Song and his wife took good care of the male protagonist, and would call the male protagonist over for dinner every now and then. You have to know that food was quite scarce in that era.
Later, the hero was promoted and transferred away. Not long after, Captain Song was also promoted and transferred away. Later, the book mentioned that the hero and the heroine went back to visit Captain Song, only to find out that Captain Song was on an inspection trip to Donggou County when he happened to encounter a once-in-a-century earthquake in Donggou County. He was crushed to death under the house, leaving Feng Mei and two boys at home.
Thinking of Captain Song's experience, Jiang Nian's mind moved.
But she didn't intend to interfere with the plot. What she wanted to do most now was to find a way to go back.
Jiang Nian smiled with her lips pursed, her voice was soft and low: "Hello, sister-in-law Feng, my name is Jiang Nian."
Jiang Nian raised her head and Feng Mei saw her face. She was fair and clean, with curved eyebrows. When she smiled, her eyes were shining. She looked really beautiful. Feng Mei was stunned. After meeting Deputy Regiment Lu at noon, she and Kang Xiu talked about Deputy Regiment Lu's sister-in-law. She lowered her head and didn't know what she looked like. Kang Xiu said that she must be ugly. She was also very curious in her heart.
I didn't expect that at this moment, she was not ugly at all, she was so beautiful!
If she was placed in the whole family building, you really can't find one or two military wives who are more beautiful than Deputy Regiment Lu's sister-in-law. No wonder Deputy Regiment Lu wanted to bring his sister-in-law to the army. If she, a widow, was left at home, no one would be at ease.
Feng Mei rubbed her hands on her legs and praised her openly: "Oh, you are so pretty."
She smiled and continued: "We are all neighbors. We will meet each other in the future. You don't have to be estranged from us, and don't keep your head down. It's not good for your neck."
Facing such an enthusiastic military wife, Jiang Nian wanted to keep her head down and pretend to be silent, but she couldn't do it.
She nodded: "Thank you, sister-in-law Feng."
"What are you thanking me for? What is there to thank me for? I didn't do anything." Feng Mei looked at Jiang Nian and remembered that she came here for one more thing: "By the way, didn't Deputy Colonel Lu apply for this small courtyard? Each small courtyard will have a private plot of land. You can buy some vegetable seeds and grow whatever you want to eat. You don't have to spend money to buy them outside. So, I'll take you there to have a look after dinner tomorrow morning."
Jiang Nian smiled: "Thank you, sister-in-law Feng."
Feng Mei patted her lap and said with a smile, "Look at you, you keep saying thank you, it's become strange."
Jiang Nian: ...
Feng Mei walked out of the house and saw Lu Yu carrying the hot white steamed buns and placing them on the wooden table in the yard. She smiled at him, "Deputy Commander Lu, I'll go over."
Lu Yu nodded, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
Feng Mei: ...
She stroked her hair with a smile.
This uncle and sister-in-law are indeed from the same family. They love to say thank you all the time, which makes her embarrassed.
Feng Mei returned home. Her two sons were playing in the house. She went into the house and saw Song Xiangdong leaning against the bed reading a newspaper. So she sat over and pushed his legs: "Old Song, guess what Deputy Colonel Lu's sister-in-law looks like?"
Song Zhiwei glanced down at the contents of the newspaper and snorted and laughed: "Why would a grown man like me guess what someone does?"
"I saw her when I was delivering food just now. She's so pretty, so clean and white. She doesn't look like she came from the countryside at all." Feng Mei patted Song Zhiwei on the leg again and said, "I think she's still young. It's not a good idea for her to go alone. You should pay more attention to the team. If you meet a good guy, remember to keep him for the wife of Deputy Regiment Commander Lu."
Song Zhiwei kicked Feng Mei lightly on the waist and glared at her, "You tiger woman, you're so eager to matchmake for her just because her husband died. Be careful that Lu Yu will get angry with you."