The next day, Fan Hua was awakened by the army's wake-up call. She opened her eyes and looked around blankly. It took her a long time to realize that she had come to join the army. Looking next to her, she saw that Zhao Yilu had already gotten up and the bed was cold.
When Fan Hua heard the door open, she got up, put on her clothes and went out to see what was going on. She happened to see Zhao Yilu coming back with some food in a lunch box.
"Wife, I put breakfast on the table. Since you are awake, eat it while it is hot. I have to go to the army for training.
By the way, because I was just promoted to company commander and I have taken a few days off, I plan to have lunch with my brothers in the company at the army cafeteria today and I won't be back. You and Aunt Chu can take the children around to get familiar with the area during the day." Zhao Yilu said as he put breakfast on the table.
Fan Hua nodded, "Okay, go and get busy, don't worry about us!"
Zhao smiled and walked up to kiss Fan Hua on the forehead, then turned around and hurried back to the troops.
Not long after Zhao Yilu left, Captain Jiang's wife Zhang Jihong came with her one-and-a-half-year-old son.
Fan Hua hurriedly welcomed the person in. This was the wife of her husband's direct supervisor, so she had to be polite to her!
"Mrs. Zhang, please come in and sit down!" Fan Hua said enthusiastically.
Zhang Jihong didn't hesitate and followed Fan Hua into the house with a smile. After entering the house, she saw Yuanyuan and Xiaoxiao playing in the living room, so she put down her youngest son who was only half a year older than Yuanxiao and his sister, and said, "Erbao, go play with your brothers and sisters!"
Seeing the children walk over and join Yuanxiao's siblings, she turned around and smiled, "If it weren't for the fact that one of these two children looked like Captain Zhao and the other looked like you, I really wouldn't believe that you two would die at such a young age. You still look like a little girl, not like a mother at all!"
Fan Hua poured a glass of water for Zhang Jihong and handed it to her before smiling and saying, "I heard that the eldest child of Zhang's family is already eight years old. Zhang's family looks very young too. She doesn't look like someone who has an eight-year-old child!"
Zhang Jihong's face immediately lit up with smiles when she heard Fan Hua's praise. "I'm already 31, not young anymore, I can't compare to you girls! I'm so happy that you've moved in, your two kids are about the same age as my kids, they can play together often in the future!"
When Fan Hua heard the child's name, she was stunned for a moment. The name "Jiang Hu" was easy to remember, so she couldn't help but say, "Yes, we can let them play together often in the future. Sister Zhang, is your second child named Jiang Hu? What's the name of your first child?"
Zhang Jihong's face was full of smiles when she mentioned the names of her two children. "My eldest is named Jiang He, and my second is named Jiang Hu. Actually, I want my third child to be a little bigger than Jiang Hu. I have already thought of a name for him, Jiang Hai..."
Zhang Jihong's tone was a little more melancholy when she said this, "But this year, the authorities have suddenly tightened the family planning policy. I don't know if I can have a third child in the future!"
Fan Hua thought to herself, since the 1980s, family planning has only become more and more stringent, and your family’s rivers, lakes, and seas may not be able to meet up!
But he still comforted her, "Who can say for sure about this policy? But Zhang, you already have two children, both boys, so they can keep each other company. It's already good enough, whether you can have a third child or not!"
Zhang Jihong sighed softly, "Oh, it's all my fault that I waited more than six years to get pregnant with my second child. If the age difference between the second child and the first child was smaller, we would have all the rivers, lakes and seas in our family by now!"
After saying that, she immediately changed the subject, "Sister Fan, let's not talk about this for now. I came to see you today because I have something else to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Fan Hua immediately sat up straight, her face becoming more serious, "Sister Zhang, please speak!"
Zhang Jihong took a sip of water before continuing, "There are many comrades in our team who want to go back home to visit their families during the Spring Festival, so the Spring Festival is usually a simple one. On the contrary, the Lantern Festival will be very lively! In addition to inviting cultural and art soldiers to perform on stage, the wives of the soldiers in each battalion will also have to put on a show."
"Originally, there were only two wives in our battalion, Zhao Xiaoyan and I. Captain Wang is not married yet, so there are too few of us. We planned to sing "The East is Red" with the wives of the third battalion, which would be considered showing our faces. But I think it's cowardly to always follow the wives of the other battalions. Now that you're here, I'm thinking that the wives of the first battalion should just put on a separate show. With your pretty face, even if we just go up and do a few Yangko dances, we'll definitely get warm applause from the soldiers!"
Fan Hua was stunned at first. Could she say that she would rather sing "The East is Red" with the wives of soldiers from other battalions? She really didn't want to worry about these things, nor did she want to be too prominent!
Last time at Yangcheng University, she lost control and accidentally became the center of attention. After that, wherever she went, people looked at her admiringly and eagerly, so it was difficult for her to keep a low profile.
"Mrs. Zhang, I actually think it's not bad to sing this song together with everyone. This will also show that we military wives are united and friendly. What do you think?" Fan Hua asked tentatively.
Zhang Jihong immediately shook her head. "Sister Fan, you don't know that our regiment has to perform ten programs every year, which symbolizes perfection! It is a mandatory requirement that the wives of the three battalions perform one program each, and the other seven programs are performed by the art soldiers in the regiment.
Originally, I was planning to bring Xiaoyan to sing with the Third Battalion, and ask the political commissar's daughter Zhou Xue to perform an extra program for us. She happens to be in the art troupe, so it's not difficult for her to perform an extra program. But now that you're here, there are three of us, and it won't be good to ask for other battalion's programs. In addition..."
She looked at Fan Hua, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Also, I'm telling you something in secret, don't be angry, it's the political commissar's daughter Zhou Xue who saw your company commander Zhao once at the commendation ceremony for his meritorious service. Later, she heard that Zhao was promoted to company commander at the age of 21, and was noticed by the leader. She thought that since he was so young, he must not be married yet... so she fell in love with him."
"During the New Year, she asked her mother, the political commissar's wife, Shen Qiumei, to come to me to inquire about Xiao Zhao's situation, hoping that I would act as a matchmaker for them.
I stayed at home all day and didn't know much about the soldiers' situation, so I promised her that I would ask her when my husband Jiang came back. After asking my husband Jiang, I found out that Xiao Zhao was married, so I rejected the political commissar's wife, but it was a bit awkward. So if we don't perform, we can only let Zhou Xue help with this program. I am more familiar with the art soldier in the regiment..."
After hearing what Zhang Jihong said, Fan Hua immediately thought of the girl in military uniform and double braids on the first day she moved in. No wonder she felt that the girl's eyes were so unfriendly at the time. So that's how it was!
Since it was his brother Lu's bad love affair, then of course she, as the queen, would be responsible for nipping it in the bud!
So Fan Hua immediately changed her previous indifferent attitude and said firmly: "Mrs. Zhang, thank you for telling me this. This time, our camp will perform a separate show and will definitely not embarrass our camp!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
