Tang Huihui: "Okay. Go ahead and say it."
Battalion Commander Kong thought for a moment and said, "Tell Lihua that she doesn't need to worry about the house. I'll build it for her, and once it's finished, the three of them can move in."
"No. Pear Blossom won't live in the house you build. Besides, this is a military region, and all the land belongs to the military. Only the plot next to Commander Jin's house is unused. If you build a house there, Pear Blossom will have to build a house outside the military region."
Battalion Commander Kong understood immediately: "Lihua wants a house of her own?"
"Um."
"I understand. Auntie, then I'll help her secretly."
"If you really want to help, then go ahead. But you absolutely mustn't let Pear Blossom know, and you mustn't let your mother know either."
“I know. Thank you, Auntie.”
"What are you thanking me for? Being a soldier isn't easy. I just hope you all have happy families."
Looking at other people's mothers and thinking of his own, Battalion Commander Kong felt a pang of sadness. "I will. Auntie, don't worry. Auntie, I'm going back now."
"Um."
The next day, after finishing breakfast, Zhou Lihua went to borrow land from her superior.
A little while later, Zhou Lihua returned.
Tang Huihui: "Did the boss agree?"
Zhou Lihua nodded happily: "I agree."
Tang Huihui: "I knew it, the leader would definitely agree."
Xiaoman looked at Tang Huihui. "Lihua, what did the leader ask you?"
"They didn't ask anything. They just said the land was lent to me, not allocated to me."
Xiaoman glanced at Tang Huihui again. Tang Huihui turned her face away and said, "Well, I'll go see what Naonao and Tengteng are doing."
After Tang Huihui left, Xiaoman smiled and said, "Since the leader has agreed, then go ahead and build it."
"Um."
Because the land was borrowed, the house was built rather simply. It was completed quickly.
After the house was built, Lao Shang picked an auspicious day for Zhou Lihua.
On the day of the move, Battalion Commander Kong arrived early in the morning.
Zhou Lihua didn't want Battalion Commander Kong to help her move, but as soon as he arrived, Tang Huihui assigned him tasks. Lanlan and Yanyan were both happy to see Battalion Commander Kong, so Zhou Lihua didn't know what to say.
Xiaoman smiled as she looked at Battalion Commander Kong and Tang Huihui.
At noon, Lao Guo cooked a delicious meal for everyone at Zhou Lihua's house.
When the eldest, second, and third sons learned that Zhou Lihua had moved to a new house, they were dumbfounded.
Grandma Kong was dumbfounded.
A few days ago, she wanted to introduce a potential partner to Battalion Commander Kong, but he clearly told her that he would not divorce Zhou Lihua. She tried to persuade him for several days, but he wouldn't budge. When she pressed him, he threatened her, saying that if he divorced Zhou Lihua, his superiors would think he was heartless and wouldn't give him important positions.
Since she couldn't divorce Zhou Lihua, Old Lady Kong wanted Zhou Lihua to come back. But Zhou Lihua went into the mountains with Xiaoman the very next day, and after returning, she was extremely busy. Old Lady Kong searched for Zhou Lihua several times but couldn't find her.
Now that Zhou Lihua has moved directly to the new house, Grandma Kong is completely bewildered. After Zhou Lihua left, she not only had to cook, but also do laundry and clean the house.
Ten days later, Old Lady Kong couldn't take it anymore. She told Battalion Commander Kong that she wanted to go back to her hometown. Battalion Commander Kong wouldn't let her go, saying that if she left, there would be no one to cook for her eldest, second, and third sons.
Another ten days or so passed, and Grandma Kong couldn't take it anymore and insisted on leaving. Battalion Commander Kong then called over his eldest, second, and third sons: "Your grandmother is going back. Are you going back to your hometown with her or staying here?"
His words surprised everyone.
Grandma Kong: "Why are they coming back with me?"
The third son said, "Dad, I'm not going back."
Second son: "Dad, we still have to go to school."
Eldest son: "Dad, I don't want to go back."
Battalion Commander Kong looked at the eldest, second, and third sons: "You've driven your mother away, and I don't plan to remarry. If you stay here, who will cook for you? Who will wash your clothes?"
Grandma Kong said, "They're better off here than in the countryside." If they went back with her, she would have to take care of them.
The second son glanced at Battalion Commander Kong. They had called Old Lady Kong over, but Battalion Commander Kong hadn't said anything. He had assumed Battalion Commander Kong didn't want to discipline them in front of Old Lady Kong. It turned out, Battalion Commander Kong had already planned how to deal with them. They had finally escaped the countryside and certainly didn't want to go back. "Dad, we're grown up now, we can take care of ourselves."
The eldest son was filled with regret. After all that trouble, he hadn't gained anything good, and now he'd have to take care of himself. "Dad, we can take care of ourselves."
Battalion Commander Kong glanced at the third brother.
The third son didn't want to cook or do his own laundry, but he especially didn't want to go back to his hometown with Grandma Kong. "Dad, I can take care of myself."
Battalion Commander Kong didn't necessarily want them to go back to the countryside; he just wanted them to know that if they did something wrong, they had to bear the consequences. Since they all said they could take care of themselves, Battalion Commander Kong didn't say anything more: "Alright then. You can stay here."
After the children left, Grandma Kong said she would be leaving tomorrow.
Battalion Commander Kong: "Wait a little longer, I'll send you back in a few days."
"No need to see us off, we can go back ourselves."
Battalion Commander Kong looked at Old Lady Kong: "Do you think Kong Dafu is reliable?"
Grandma Kong fell silent.
"You're old and young, and you haven't been out much. I'll take you back when I have time."
"Oh well."
"Then you can teach the eldest, second, and third sons how to cook these next few days."
Grandma Kong looked at Battalion Commander Kong: "Zhou Lihua really doesn't care about the eldest, second, and third sons anymore? The eldest, second, and third sons are sons."
Battalion Commander Kong remembered the snacks Lanlan and Yanyan had left for him: "Sons and daughters are not important, what matters is whether they are filial or not."
Grandma Kong pursed her lips: "How can it not be important?"
Battalion Commander Kong didn't want to argue with Old Lady Kong about this. "Mother, you should think about how to teach the eldest, second, and third sons. If they can't take care of themselves, I'll have to send them back to our hometown."
Half a month later, Battalion Commander Kong finally sent Grandma Kong back home. After returning, Battalion Commander Kong stayed at home for a while before leaving again.
After Battalion Commander Kong left, the third son's wife asked her son what he had eaten, what he had been doing, and how things were outside. Upon learning that Old Lady Kong and Kong Dafu had abandoned Xiangzi, the third son's wife had a huge fight with them. After the fight, she demanded a division of the family property, which Old Lady Kong vehemently refused. Eventually, the village officials were alerted. After much persuasion from the village officials, the third son's wife finally stopped demanding a division of the family property.
However, from then on, Grandma Kong could no longer command her third son's wife.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Naonao and Tengteng are three years old.
In the past two years, Xiaoman went back and delivered two more truckloads of food. Compared to the first time, these two trips brought less grain and more dried wild vegetables and dried meat.
After Nao Nao and Tengteng turned one and a half, they often asked Tang Huihui to take them out to play. After they turned two, they dared to go out to play on their own. When they were two and a half, they had taken in all the children in the military region who were not yet in school.
Nao Nao and Tengteng were brushing Xiao Hei's fur in the yard. A little boy of about five or six years old ran in: "Nao Nao, Tengteng, who's the boss today?"
Nao Nao: "It's me. What's wrong?"
The little boy blinked: "Are you Naonao or Tengteng?"
"It's me, Nao Nao. What's wrong?"
"Commander Nao Nao, those sixth-grade kids want to fight us."
Nao Nao turned around and shouted into the house, "Grandma, Mom, those sixth-grade kids want to fight us, so we're going out."
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