Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Chu Guangming was choked by his own saliva and looked at Dabao helplessly.

Dabao patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's better to spend money to avoid disaster. Just think of that twenty dollars as helping you avoid disaster."

At this point, Chu Guangming could only comfort himself like this, "But I still want to thank you and Erbao. Oh, and Brother Sen Sen."

Geng Sensen was lying on the Luohan bed, raising his hand, saying, "It's just a small matter, you're welcome."

Erbao asked: "Brother, shall we go to our new home this afternoon?"

"What are you looking at?" Dabao was puzzled. "Isn't it still under renovation?"

Erbao: "See if there is a suspended ceiling."

Dabao shook his head. "It's too early. Mom said to move the things in the main house and the back room out first, check the walls and roof, and if there are cracks in the walls, take the tiles off, tear down the walls and rebuild them. Anyway, it's a big project and we won't be done this summer."

Geng Sensen crossed his legs and asked, "Is there a room for me?"

The decoration renderings were drawn by Erbao, so she knows them best: “They are all there.”

Geng Sensen sat up to make sure his grandmother was not in the room, and asked quietly, "Where is my aunt?"

Dabao thought he was useless and rolled his eyes at him, pretending he didn't hear anything. Erbao nodded, "Yes. But it won't be so convenient for my uncle to rest there in the future."

Geng Huihui was there too. She glanced back and said, "We're not going to move after we move out. Aunt Ginkgo's stationery store is close to here, so we're going to stay here forever."

The stationery store run by Yu Yinxing's husband can be lived in, but it is inconvenient to cook with the inventory. Yu Yinxing is also worried about fire, and the stationery store does not attract thieves, so there is no need for people to live there. So the couple simply continue to live in the house that Yu Wentao gave to Ye Fan.

Chu Guangming asked: "Is it far from here?"

Dabao: "Our school is south. If you don't want to come back, talk to my mom and give her one dollar so you can eat at my house on Sunday."

Chu Guangming felt a warm current in his heart, burning his eyes. "What can one dollar do? You really don't take Aunt Ye's money seriously."

Dabao: "It's enough to buy steamed buns. Vegetables are not worth much."

Geng Sensen got out of bed: "Your aunt gave me the money."

Chu Guangming instinctively wanted to ask when, and how it was possible. When he saw Geng Huihui, he suddenly realized: "Aunt Feng He?"

Geng Huihui nodded, and subconsciously turned her head when she heard footsteps. She froze and then stood up: "Benben!"

Geng Benben, who was tanned black, came in with his luggage. Dabao was stunned, Erbao was dumbfounded, and Sensen was stunned. Geng Benben glanced at his brothers and sisters, wondering what happened.

Chu Guangming asked in disbelief: "Why are you so dark and thin?"

Dabao came to his senses and stood up, blinking hard: "Are you digging coal or burning charcoal?"

Geng Benben threw down his luggage and punched him in the chest: "You are the one who burns charcoal and digs coal!"

"Then why are you like this?" Dabao was confused. "Aren't you an officer? Why are you working harder than a conscript?"

Erbao wanted to cry: "Brother Benben, is someone bullying you? Tell me, and I will tell Dad to transfer you back."

"No!" Geng Benben almost cried when he saw his sister was upset. He turned his back to hold back the tears in his eyes, opened the refrigerator, and concealed his discomfort, "Is there any popsicles?"

Geng Sen Sen suddenly realized that he must be thirsty after the long journey: "Yes, there is soda. I'll get you some." He ran to the kitchen, where there was a bucket of water that he had collected in the morning and a few bottles of soda on ice.

Geng Huihui went to get the watermelon. Chu Guangming was not familiar with him, but he often heard Dabao and Erbao mention him. And because Benben was Chu Fenghe's son, he was his cousin, so he asked, "Do you want some cucumbers and tomatoes?" Without waiting for Benben to answer, he went out to pick tomatoes and cucumbers. The melons planted in the corner of the wall were fragrant, and he picked another white cantaloupe.

Erbao poured water for Benben, and Dabao wet a towel and asked him to wipe it.

Seeing this, Geng Benben wanted to cry again, so he spoke loudly to cover up his discomfort: "I only have one stomach!"

Chu Guangming said: "Eat slowly!"

Geng Benben thanked him and asked casually, "What were you talking about just now? I didn't even notice you when I entered the courtyard."

Dabao first answered that his mother had bought a courtyard house with three entrances and was renovating it, and would move in next year. Then he said that if Benben was curious, he would take him to have a look.

Erbao added: "My brother and mom have agreed that the back room belongs to us. There are ten rooms in the back room, two rooms with one door. Sister Huihui, my brother, and brother Sen Sen each have two rooms, and the remaining two are a study and a game room. You can live with your brother when you come back, and brother Lei Lei can live with brother Sen Sen when he comes back occasionally."

Geng Benben was surprised: "Has it been arranged?"

Erbao nodded: "There is a Luohan bed in the study, and Chu Guangming sleeps in the study."

Seeing that Erbao didn't even ask for his opinion and didn't treat him as an outsider, Chu Guangming was angry and amused: "Thank you for thinking of me."

Erbao nodded: "Grandma and my dad and mom live in the main house, and the side rooms are reserved for my aunt, second mom and eldest mom."

BenBen asked: "Cooking?"

Erbao: "Apses. There are apses on both ends of the main house. There are also apses on the south side of the wing. There is no main house in the courtyard at the entrance, but there are apses on the east and west sides. There are also a few rooms on both sides of the main entrance corridor. My mother said to clean up two rooms as guest rooms, and the rest as storage and utility rooms. The apses on the south side of the wing were converted into a bathroom. Because we have a large family, we built two toilets and a shower room."

Geng Benben was surprised: "There's also a toilet?"

Erbao nodded: "Mom said we'll live here for many years. If the government doesn't demolish our house, we might stay here forever. Of course, we have to do it all at once."

After hearing how convenient it was, Chu Guangming was full of expectations for Ye Fan's new home.

Geng Benben said: "I will decorate my house like this in the future."

Dabao: "You want to go back to the capital?"

Geng Benben was stumped by the question, then smiled bitterly and scratched his head: "Forget it. Who knows, I may be able to come back in another life."

Dabao: "I haven't told you how you became like this."

Geng Benben didn't dare to say anything and could only lower his head and stare at the popsicle in his hand.

Dabao stood up: "Is my little brother back?"

"I say, I say!" Zhang Xiaodi and Geng Benben were assigned to the same unit, but because they were in different companies, they could take vacation together. They were together last year, and they are still together this year. I just met Aunt Li in the alley, and Aunt Li even joked: "You two are so good friends."

Geng Benben took the last bite of the popsicle, swallowed it, coughed, hesitated for a moment, and saw Dabao was about to go out to find his younger brother, so he quickly said: "We are not in the south now, but in the Northwest Military Region. Not long after we arrived there, there was a military operation, and the leaders above wanted to train us, and we also wanted to broaden our horizons, so we - took part in it."

Dabao frowned and asked, "What do you mean by participating? Did you two go to the battlefield?"

"Keep your voice down!" Geng Benben looked outside in a hurry, "Don't let grandma hear you!"

Dabao was so angry that he pointed at him, gritted his teeth, and said angrily: "You - you are really not afraid of death!"

"That's right. Why would you join the army if you're afraid of death?"

Dabao choked.

Chu Guangming first persuaded Dabao to calm down, and then said: "Now wars are all small-scale conflicts--"

Dabao couldn't help but say: "That would kill people too!"

Erbao nodded: "Not broadcasting the news does not mean that life is peaceful."

Well, one person can’t beat two people, so Chu Guangming shut up.

Geng Huihui slapped her brother on the head. Geng Benben covered his head reflexively: "Sister, I've worked so hard, and you still——"

"What else?" Geng Huihui pointed at him, "I'll tell my parents later."

Geng Benben: "Do you think Dad's job isn't dangerous? A little carelessness could cause an earthquake."

Geng Huihui didn't bother to argue with him: "Tell me clearly, what earthquake?"

Dabao: "Of course it's the vibration caused by the explosion of the weapon."

Geng Huihui breathed a sigh of relief: "In this case, it's because they didn't work seriously. They deserved to be killed in the accident." Fortunately, she thought there was an earthquake where her father was.

Chu Guangming thought to himself, Sister Huihui is really bold. So we can't blame Benben for being so bold, maybe he learned it from her.

Geng Benben added: "Don't tell my uncle and aunt either."

Dabao shook his head: "Impossible!"

"But it's useless even if they know it." Geng Benben said.

Dabao: "That's not necessarily true. During the two sessions next year, my dad will meet officers from the Northwest Army and chat with them. Even if they don't promote you out of turn, the army leaders won't let you suffer any injustice."

"What kind of injustice can I suffer?" Geng Benben wanted to laugh, "My younger brother and I both graduated from official military academies. As the saying goes, don't judge by the monk, judge by the Buddha. If the army bullies us, we have to see whether our teachers and principals agree or not."

Dabao suddenly realized: "Yes. The principal of your school must have been on the battlefield and have soldiers all over the world, right?"

Geng Sensen nodded: "Because there are few officers willing to go there, it is not as prosperous as the south, and the climate and environment are not as good as the south, so my younger brother and I get more subsidies than before. It is impossible for the higher-ups to ask an officer to stay in one place for more than ten years. We may be transferred back to the capital before we are thirty years old."

Dabao was happy for him when he heard that, but when he thought about how he dared to go to the battlefield, he became angry: "Brother Benben, aren't you afraid that grandma will beat you to death if she finds out?"

"If you don't tell me, how would grandma know where to go?" Geng Benben said.

Chu Guangming was puzzled: "From what you said, the military operation will only last a few months?"

Dabao shook his head. "He said he was transferred there last year and participated in a military operation, but he didn't say when. If he arrived there in May, went to the battlefield around September, and just came back not long ago, the time in between is more than half a year, which is not short."

Geng Benben was shocked: "How did you know?"

"I got it right?"

Geng Benben: “The exact time is a little off.”

Dabao: "I'm not from your army, so it's strange that I can guess accurately. Want to know how I know? It was reported once in the news. Although it only reported the departure time, your uncle mentioned the return time once, so I calculated that it would only be about half a year."

Geng Benben was speechless. No wonder the commander did not allow him to reveal information related to the army. Geng Benben once thought that the commander was too cautious. If Dabao could infer it from just a few words, then wouldn't a spy who specializes in this line of work be able to infer it exactly?

Geng Benben: "Stop! Erbao, Erbao, how did you do in the exam?"

"I'm still worried about you."

Geng Benben: "Have you filled out your application? What are you going to study?"

"The School of International Relations." Erbao said.

BenBen was shocked: "Which school?"

"I want to be a diplomat!" Erbao said.

Geng Benben felt like he didn't recognize her anymore.

Erbao smiled and said, "Guess what Chu Guangming studies." "Which school?" Geng Benben asked.

Chu Guangming glanced at Dabao.

Geng Benben: "Either he is his direct junior or he is a computer science major."

Now it was Chu Guangming's turn to be unbelievable.

Benben proudly broke the melon and asked Erbao if he wanted one. Erbao took it and asked how he guessed it. Benben told the truth: "It's a feeling. Because there was a student in our family who went to a normal school, so our relatives and neighbors wanted to apply for a normal school. Guangming often comes here and goes to the same school as Dabao. The major he studies must be related to our family or Dabao."

Chu Guangming nodded: "I originally wanted to be Aunt Ye's junior, but I was worried about being rejected, so I chose Dabao's school to be safe. Although the score of Aviation University is also high, it is not as extreme as that of Beijing University."

"Be steady." Geng Benben said this in a very old-fashioned way. Geng Sensen couldn't help but chuckle. Geng Benben turned his head to see what he was laughing at. Geng Sensen saw that he was busy eating, so he said, "Nothing."

Geng Benben asked: "Where's grandma?"

Erbao was very surprised: "Not under a tree on the roadside?"

Geng Benben shook his head.

Erbao: "Then let's go to the park. My little cousin doesn't like to stay indoors. It's too hot outside and the roadside is too noisy. Grandma pushes her to the park when she wants some quiet time."

"My aunt's daughter?" Geng Benben asked.

Erbao nodded. Geng Benben stood up and said, "Which park is it? I'll go check it out."

Geng Huihui grabbed him and looked outside. Seeing no one coming in, she said that her aunt had changed.

Last year, Geng Benben felt that the atmosphere was not right as soon as he got home. At that time, Geng Benben asked Dabao, he rarely came back, and his aunt didn't come to see him.

Dabao couldn't explain it clearly. Geng Benben asked his sister, and Geng Huihui told him frankly that she made her aunt cry on the day of her wedding. Since then, her aunt didn't like to come back.

Geng Benben: "It's been so long and you're still angry?"

Geng Huihui shrugged nonchalantly: "At the wedding banquet, I sat with my aunt. My aunt might have seen me talking to my aunt and thought that my aunt was on my side. She might even suspect that my aunt instigated me to deliberately anger her. It's normal for a family to not want to come back when there are two people she hates."

"Then just throw the little cousin to grandma?" Geng Benben frowned. Doesn't the little cousin have a mouth? If she has doubts in her heart, won't she ask?

Geng Huihui: "Grandma sends it over every evening. If she knew you were coming back, she would definitely ask you to take care of the baby herself."

Geng Benben hoped that his grandmother would not have to work so hard, and immediately said, "I'll go find my grandmother."

Dabao went with him.

Although they didn't know which park Yu Wentao was in, they were still talking. They asked the neighbors on the roadside and the two brothers went to the South Park. Yu Wentao burst into tears when she saw that her grandson, whom she had raised, looked like a ghost. She then sent her granddaughter back and asked Geng Zhiqin to take care of her by himself. She also told Geng Zhiqin not to disturb her before Benben left.

After returning from Geng Zhiqin's house, Yu Wentao went to the vegetable market and bought a chicken, a fish, and a piece of meat.

At half past six, Yu Wentao started cooking. She cooked chicken with mushrooms, squirrel fish, braised pork, and prepared a few vegetarian dishes and a bowl of egg custard. The table was full and it was not ready until eight o'clock. Geng Benben didn't know which one to eat first.

Yu Wentao picked up a chicken leg, a few pieces of braised pork, and a piece of fish for him, piling his bowl high. Ye Fan couldn't stand it any longer: "How can he eat?"

Yu Wentao said, "Eat slowly."

Geng Benben had to eat slowly, otherwise the meat on the rice would fall off. Even though Geng Benben repeatedly said he was full, Yu Wentao still served him food, and he ended up eating too much.

Geng Benben had to lean on the wall when he wanted to go out to wipe his sweat.

Worried that grandma would ask him to drink again, Geng Benben wiped off the sweat from eating and went out. At the entrance of the alley, he saw Zhang Xiaodi coming from the west. Geng Benben was curious: "Are you at Xiaoming's house?"

Zhang Xiaodi nodded: "I went to my brother's house in the afternoon. My sister-in-law asked my brother to close the shop early and go to her house for dinner in the evening."

"Are they all gone?" Geng Benben glanced in the direction of Zhang's house. The yard was dark and obviously no one was there.

The younger brother nodded: "My sister is helping my sister-in-law clean up, and my brother-in-law and father are talking to my brother about the house."

Geng Benben was confused.

Zhang Xiaodi thought that Ye Fan’s house belonged to Ye Fan, and there was no question of giving it to someone or not. There was no need for Ye Fan’s family to talk about this specifically, and Benben might not know about it yet, so he said that he heard that the house was going to be demolished.

Geng Benben sighed: "Your second brother wants to have a separate room?"

Zhang Xiaodi nodded: "Brother-in-law said that second brother came to him a few days ago and said that the house brother-in-law is living in now is his."

"So what does your brother-in-law say?"

Zhang Xiaodi sneered, "What can a person with a different surname like my brother-in-law say? Of course he can't say anything! Maybe it's better to be close than to be far away. My father thinks it should be given to my second brother. I just said that I have the final say over my house. My second brother's household registration has been moved out, so he won't be included no matter how it is divided. If my mother dares to give her share to my second brother, he will have to take care of her alone when she gets old. My father was very angry. My eldest brother was worried that he would faint from anger, so he asked me to come back first."

Dabao came out after he finished speaking. Unfortunately, Dabao heard the second half of the story: "Little brother, don't be angry. My mother said it won't happen so soon. When the demolition day comes, maybe your parents will be gone."

Zhang Xiaodi just came back today and didn’t know the details: “Not recently?”

Dabao shook his head. "The higher-ups are planning to designate our area as a development zone, and then there are rumors that this area will be demolished. Even if they are demolished, they will start with the wasteland in the north. It will be easier to plan if they are connected into a whole area. It's hard to say when it will come to our area. Otherwise, my mom wouldn't have asked the renovation team to take their time."

Geng Benben explained on behalf of Dabao that his aunt had bought another house south of Dabao's school, which was still being renovated. It was more spacious and brighter than the current house.

Zhang Xiaodi was surprised: "Not even a stroke of the pen?"

Dabao nodded: "I haven't heard that the street office is strictly checking the household registration. I guess it's not distributed based on the number of people. The housing subsidy may be distributed based on the size of the house."

Zhang Xiaodi: "Then why is my second brother so anxious?"

Dabao: "Make a fuss sooner rather than later. If you make a fuss for too long, you will have no choice but to compromise. Then won't he have a share?"

"Dream on!" said Zhang Xiaodi coldly.

Dabao said, "You are an adult and the head of the household. Your father can't carry you and add your second brother to the group. No matter how high he jumps, it will be in vain."

Zhang Xiaodi felt relieved, thanked Dabao, and asked Benben where they were going to play tomorrow.

Chu Guangming will tutor the younger brother of Dabao's schoolmate tomorrow. Dabao thought that he was still thinking about the twenty yuan, so he took the opportunity to ask Benben and his younger brother if they wanted to catch the thief.

The next afternoon, I didn't encounter the thief, but I met the aunt who was robbed. The aunt asked Erbao what his name was and where his home was. Dabao raised his hand and pulled his sister behind him.

The aunt was speechless but wanted to laugh: "I am not a kidnapper."

"Then you can ask me."

The aunt was about to ask when the bus arrived. The aunt got on the bus. The sun sets at seven o'clock, and it is not yet five o'clock. Dabao wants to wait a little longer. So the bus drove away, and the others stayed at different places, leaving Erbao alone.

There were few buses these days, and the next one was still half an hour away. Erbao was tired of standing, so she squatted on the ground. When she got up, she saw someone coming out of the alley opposite. He looked like an honest person, so Erbao couldn't plan to "fish". But she wanted to finish her business early and go home to take a shower. She pretended to look around to see if there was a bus, and took out a few yuan from her pocket, as if to find change for the bus.

Erbao laughed at himself in his heart. He was so anxious that he wanted to try everything. A gust of wind blew and the money in his hand disappeared. Erbao was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and shouted, "Brother!"

Dabao had noticed it and immediately ran towards Erbao. The little hooligan hurriedly ran towards the residential area.

Brother Zhang walked out of the alley slowly and reached out to grab the little hooligan.

Chu Guangming's students couldn't concentrate at first, but after getting through the toughest few days, they now ask questions on their own initiative. Although Chu Guangming thought that the first-year students knew everything, he still patiently explained it to them despite receiving their money.

The student's brother kept shaking his head and wanted to scold his brother for being stupid several times, but he swallowed his words because Chu Guangming was there. The questioning dragged on for more than half an hour. The student's brother found that the class was about to be delayed, so he asked Chu Guangming to go back and he would explain the questions to his brother. His brother was frightened and hurriedly hid in his room.

Chu Guangming persuaded the student's brother to be patient, and delayed for a while, so that Chu Guangming appeared when the police came. Chu Guangming pointed at the person being held down by the police and screamed: "It's him!"

The policeman was startled, stopped, turned around, and looked confused.

Dabao grabbed Chu Guangming and said, "Don't be impatient. Talk slowly. Did he steal your money?"

Chu Guangming nodded: "It's him!"

Dabao pulled him to the police: "Were you wondering why it was us again? Because he robbed my friend of his hard-earned money. I've been here just to keep an eye on this guy." He got angry as he spoke, "He has no parents and he has to support himself. He finally earned some money and you still rob him. I'll kick you to death--"

"Dabao!" Benben hurriedly hugged him.

The police advised, "Little comrade, don't be impulsive!" He slapped the little hooligan on the head, "Who would rob anyone?!"

The little gangster opened his mouth: "But he looks like-"

Dabao interrupted: "My clothes!"

The little gangster was shocked, as if he couldn't believe that he was wrong.

Dabao: "What he wears from head to toe are mine. Can't you see that I'm half a head taller than him?"

The little gangster saw it, but he didn't expect it. He hesitated for a moment, his face full of shame: "Brother, I'm sorry. I-I used that money. I don't have the money to pay you back. In the future, if someone robs you, just report my name-"

The police slapped him on the head again: "Robbery is not enough, you also want to form a gang to engage in ***?"

Geng Benben wanted to laugh: "It's time for us to go home. You guys should go back too."

The police officer was a veteran. As soon as he saw Geng Benben's short flat head and dark skin, he knew he was a comrade-in-arms. He politely told Chu Guangming that he must call the police if he encountered a similar incident again. Although the chances of finding the person were slim, what if he happened to find him?

Chu Guangming nodded and bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

After the police left, Dabao hooked his arm around his neck and asked, "Are you happy now?"

Chu Guangming nodded.

Dabao rolled his eyes at him and said, "Look at how stingy you are."

Chu Guangming can now face this kind of teasing calmly. In the past, he couldn't help but reflect on whether he was really stingy: "Thank you, Dabao."

"Call me brother!"

Chu Guangming kicked him.

Dabao ran to the platform.

Erbao chased after him: "Brother, wait for me!"

Zhang the Younger Brother sighed and shook his head, looking very mature: "Benben, your aunt and uncle taught Dabao and Erbao very well."

BenBen: "I'm not bad either."

Zhang Xiaodi cursed at him with a smile and hit him with his elbow.

However, no one expected that this matter would not end there. On the first weekend of August, Chu Guangming was eating cucumbers at Ye Fan's house when Aunt Li ran in: "Dabao, Erbao, come out quickly, someone sent you two a banner!"

(End of this chapter)