Xu Hanli was a little unhappy to hear this address. "Sister-in-law, I've come to pick you up to go back to the army! We'll be seeing each other all the time from now on. Does it feel a bit formal for you to call me Comrade Xu?"
Xu Ruantang was truly unable to accept it; hearing "sister-in-law" repeatedly gave her a headache.
"Comrade Xu, I'm only twenty, but you keep calling me 'sister-in-law,' I feel like I'm as old as Chen Ji!"
Hearing the commotion, Chen Ji came out of the courtyard: "..."
Xu Hanli suppressed a laugh, "That won't do. You have to follow Old Chen's seniority and call him that. You'll have to get used to it sooner or later. When you go back, even more people will call you 'sister-in-law'."
The old man's face darkened. "There are things I've packed inside the house, Hanli. Could you please turn them over to the car?"
Xu Hanli smiled and said, "Okay."
"Shall we leave now?"
Why are you packing things so quickly? Aunt Wang was just saying she was going to cook.
Chen Ji nodded. "Well, what do you think? Is Aunt Wang willing to go?"
Xu Ruantang nodded vigorously, her face beaming with a bright smile: "I'm willing! Your godmother agreed without even hesitating!"
Then she looked at Chen Ji with a pained expression, "My godmother also said that I shouldn't cook anymore, because my cooking is inedible. Chen Ji, is my cooking really that bad?"
Chen Jike never said that he ate every meal clean!
Her eyes were full of expectation, and Chen Ji couldn't bear it, so he said somewhat awkwardly, "No."
His answer was ambiguous, but Xu Ruantang didn't mind. "Shall we go after lunch?"
"No, go tell Aunt Wang that she doesn't need to cook anymore. She can eat at a state-run restaurant in the city later."
Xu Hanli traveled a long way to pick them up, so he should treat them to a good meal.
Xu Ruantang jogged away, saying, "Then I'll go find my godmother and tell her not to cook!"
Watching her departing figure, Chen Ji paused, then turned to the baby in his arms and asked, "Baby, is Daddy really old?"
Xiao Bao didn't understand what "old" meant. When she heard the word "father," she thought of what Xu Ruantang had taught her.
So, with all her might, she called out in a childish voice, "Big!"
To Chen Ji, "big" simply meant "old".
Aunt Wang recovered quickly, probably because mood really has a big impact on a person; she happily packed her things.
They wanted to bring all the rice, flour, and oil from home, but Xu Hanli said the car couldn't hold it all, so they gave up.
Aunt Wang took the things she couldn't fit into the bag to the village and sold them at a low price to women she was on good terms with.
When everyone heard that she was going to the city with the Chen couple to enjoy a better life, they were all filled with mixed emotions. Some were envious, some were happy for her, and since Aunt Wang was well-liked in the village, most people comforted her.
Xu Ruantang also went to the backyard to check on her vegetables, which had only sprouted small seedlings.
Soon, with Xu Hanli's help, the four adults and one child set off quickly.
A green military jeep drove all the way from the end of the village, with Aunt Wang still sitting in the passenger seat, carrying more and more things in her arms.
Villagers gave her homemade red bean buns, sesame candy, and even freshly picked green vegetables and cucumbers. The most common thing they said to her was, "Take good care of yourself, live well, your good fortune is yet to come!"
Even Xu Ruantang, sitting in the back seat, had her lap stuffed with food...
Xiao Bao picked up a red bean bun and stuffed it into her mouth. Neither she nor Chen Ji reacted before it was already in their mouths.
You can't even snatch it from them; those little hands are stronger than an adult's.
She has no teeth, and after grinding it for a while without being able to bite it off, she casually threw it aside, leaving the others both amused and exasperated.
The car stopped in front of the state-run restaurant, and the four adults and one child went inside and sat down.
Xu Hanli wanted Xu Ruantang to order food from Aunt Wang, but Xu Ruantang, considering him a guest, let him order.
Chen Ji asked for hot water and mixed it with cooled boiled water to make formula for Xiao Bao.
"Then we'll have stir-fried liver tips and braised pork intestines!"
Xu Hanli had just ordered two meat dishes when Chen Ji spoke up: "Change them to boiled beef and steamed fish."
Chen Ji immediately ordered two meat dishes, and Xu Hanli, looking miserable, thought, "Why should I let him order anything?" He simply threw the menu at Chen Ji and went to play with Xiao Bao.
Chen Ji didn't stand on ceremony with him and ordered another soup and two vegetarian dishes.
When Chen Ji was announcing the names of the dishes, Xu Ruantang couldn't help but glance at him a couple more times. She hadn't expected that Chen Ji's tastes were quite similar to hers.
She didn't even touch the stir-fried liver and pork intestines that Xu Hanli had just ordered.
She only likes to eat fish, can eat a little beef, but won't touch lamb, and she almost never likes to eat animal offal.
While others need meat with every meal, she needs vegetables with every meal.
If every meal consists of meat, she feels as uncomfortable as if she has no food at all.
Before transmigrating into the book, she went on a trip with her friends. In one of the cities they visited, almost everything was meat, which nearly made her depressed.
After finishing their meal, they continued on their journey.
On the way, Xu Ruantang asked Chen Ji how long it would take to drive there, and Chen Ji said about five hours.
In those days, there were no highways, so Chen Ji and Xu Hanli would switch drivers every one or two hours.
Finally, before dark, they arrived at the military compound.
There were soldiers standing guard in front of the compound gate. They got out of the car and walked over, while Xu Hanli drove, so they had to go through another gate.
So the three adults and one child got off the bus. Chen Ji was carrying things, Aunt Wang insisted on holding the baby, and Xu Ruantang looked around empty-handed.
Chen Ji said the troops were in Beijing, but she didn't think so.
However, once inside, Xu Ruantang felt a sense of reality. There were quite a few three- or four-story buildings here, which were probably office buildings.
After walking for a long time, they finally entered a large courtyard, where each household had a separate two-story house with its own yard. Xu Hanli ran over from a distance and quickly took the things from Chen Ji's hands.
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