"No! Absolutely not!"
When the old lady heard Qin Baoguo suggest that Qin Huai join the army, she immediately exploded in anger and slapped Qin Baoguo to vent her frustration. "You child, it's one thing to make me angry, but you even encouraged your brother to join the army with you. Do you want to make this old woman live too long and just want to drive me to my death?"
Qin Baoguo looked completely innocent after being beaten.
He just happened to remember this, so he brought it up, but he forgot that what his grandmother was most afraid of was that her family members would join the army again, because her grandfather, father, and uncle had all died on the battlefield.
The old man is too old to withstand such a blow!
Thinking of this, Qin Baoguo immediately shut his mouth, but in his heart he felt that Qin Huai was a good candidate to join the army.
Qiao Qiqi felt the same way. She had heard Wang Guihua say that when the village was recruiting soldiers, she saw Qin Huai watching from afar. Although he didn't say anything or show anything, Wang Guihua could still tell that Qin Huai really wanted to join the army.
Wang Guihua felt very guilty, knowing that her family had dragged Qin Huai down.
That evening, back in the room that the old lady had asked Aunt Zhou to vacate for her and Qin Huai a few days earlier, Qiao Qiqi couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to join the army?"
Qin Huai paused in her act of spreading the quilt, then resumed her actions a second later, "I don't want to."
But Qiao Qiqi saw through it; he thought!
Qiao Qiqi walked over, pulled the blanket from his hand, and said readily, "If you want to join the army, then go for it. I'll talk to Grandma. And don't worry about your parents. Things have improved in recent years, and I'm here at home. Are you worried or what?"
"I'm not worried." Qin Huai quickly denied it, afraid that Qiao Qiqi would misunderstand. Meeting her clear gaze, he said somewhat sadly, "How can I entrust such a large family to a woman like you?"
"What's wrong with women? Do you look down on women? Don't forget, I earn more money than you!"
Qin Huai frowned, "That's not what I meant..."
"I don't care what you mean, all I know is that a real man should stand tall and upright, not be all fussy and indecisive. Besides, do you really want to farm in the countryside for the rest of your life? What kind of future can you have then?"
Qiao Qiqi knew Qin Huai's thoughts. His biggest worries were Qin Baojun and Wang Guihua, as well as his younger brother Qin Guodong.
“Isn’t all you’ve ever wanted to do to ease the burden on your family? Farming can only earn you about 20 yuan a month, even if you work yourself to death. But I’ve heard that the military allowance is much higher, especially for married people like you. You get more than 40 yuan a month, which is more than double what you earn from farming.”
Qin Huai certainly knew about this. When the village was recruiting soldiers, although he didn't get close, he heard everything he needed to know.
But that's not all he cares about. He also worries that after he leaves, there won't be a young, able-bodied person in the family, and no one will be there to help him if anything happens.
Qin Huai shared his thoughts, and Qiao Qiqi immediately smiled, "Isn't there Zhang Qing? If I need anything, I can just ask him for help."
Qin Huai had forgotten about Zhang Qing. Seeing that Qiao Qiqi had already thought it through, he realized that this might not be the first time she had thought about this, and he was immediately moved.
The two talked until late at night. After Qiao Qiqi dispelled Qin Huai's doubts one by one, she told the Qin family about her and Qin Huai's decision the next day.
All eyes immediately turned to the old lady.
The old lady silently put down her chopsticks and had Aunt Zhou help her upstairs.
“Grandma…” Qiao Qiqi looked at the old lady’s dejected figure and was about to follow her, but Qin Baoguo stopped her.
"Grandma actually understands that the men of the Qin family are all courageous. Out of a sense of national righteousness, she will not stop them, but out of the love of an elder for the younger generation, she cannot help but be afraid."
Qin Huai felt a pang of guilt. After a moment of silence, he made a decision without hesitation: "If Grandma doesn't agree, then I won't go."
Although Qiao Qiqi really wanted Qin Huai to fulfill his dream, she would agree with Qin Huai's decision if it meant making the old lady sad and upset.
The old lady stayed upstairs until dinner time before coming down. Qiao Qiqi was really worried and wanted to go in and persuade her, but Aunt Zhou said that the old lady wouldn't see anyone and stopped her at the door.
If they hadn't really hurt the old lady's feelings this time, she would never have refused to see anyone.
Even when Qin Huai and Qin Baoguo went upstairs, the old lady still refused to see anyone.
The group could only wait anxiously downstairs. Fortunately, the old lady finally appeared at dinner time.
Although it had only been an afternoon, the old lady's hair looked noticeably whiter than before.
Seeing this, all three were somewhat shocked, "Grandma..."
The old lady walked to the sofa and sat down. Meeting the pitying gazes of the group, she finally sighed deeply. "It's me, an old woman, who isn't as open-minded as you young people. Fine, do whatever you want. I agree."
"Grandma, I'm not going to join the army." Qin Huai was heartbroken to see how much the old lady was doing for him, so he dared not go against her wishes.
But this time it was the old lady's turn to be angry. "Every man in my Qin family is a pillar of society, how can you be so indecisive? I said I'm going, so I'm going! Isn't the registration deadline fast approaching? You'll go with Baoguo to register tomorrow!"
Qin Baoguo, having grown up by the old lady's side, knew that she had come to her senses, but he gave her a heads-up beforehand, "Let me make it clear beforehand that I can only take you to the registration office, but everything else after that is up to you. I will absolutely not help you."
Qin Huai hadn't intended to ask Qin Baoguo for help, so upon hearing his words, he immediately said arrogantly, "Don't worry, even if you wanted to help, I wouldn't let you, little brother."
Qin Baoguo's lips twitched.
The most frustrating thing for him recently was that although he looked older than Qin Huai, when Qin Huai returned from his family reunion and they calculated their ages, they discovered that Qin Huai was actually a few months older than him.
Qin Baoguo originally thought he was the older brother, but it turned out he was the younger brother.
Despite this, Qin Baoguo never called his brother "brother" except when comforting the old lady. However, Qin Huai noticed this and started calling him "brother" whenever he had the chance, making Qin Baoguo's scalp tingle, but he was helpless to stop it.
That's how it was decided that I would join the army.
It's just registration, not admission yet.
But Qiao Qiqi believed in her man and that he was absolutely fine.
So after signing up, she started taking Qin Huai to the department store to buy clothes. The weather was about to get cold, so she only needed to prepare one set of autumn clothes for the outside. Qin Baoguo said that they would wear military uniforms in the army, so they didn't need to prepare many outer clothes, but they should prepare several sets of inner clothes.
The training was tough, and men tend to sweat a lot, so their clothes would probably be soaked through several sets of sweat every day.
To prevent Qin Huai from feeling uncomfortable in wet clothes, Qiao Qiqi bought him five sets of shirts and trousers, and of course, five pairs of underwear as well.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
