Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Deputy Regiment Commander Niu seriously suspected that the Political Commissar was angry and said, "Commander, just arrange it like this."

Geng Zhiye wrote "Niu Dayong" on it without saying anything: "I'll tell the chief of staff later. I'll burn this form." After burning it, he looked at his watch and said, "It's time for lunch. I'm going home. How are you going to deal with it?"

Deputy Captain Niu urged Geng Zhiye to drive back.

Geng Zhiye: "Just drive a three-wheeled motorcycle. You need to fill out a form if you want to use a transport truck."

"I open?"

Geng Zhiye nodded without hesitation.

Niu Dayong put his arm around his shoulders and walked out: "To be honest, the commander is the most straightforward. Some people are always nagging. My wife is more straightforward than him." He turned around and looked at Political Commissar Liao, "Let's go together?"

Political Commissar Liao said angrily: "I dare not!"

"See, there are so many problems even when riding a three-wheeled motorcycle. No wonder he is appointed as the political commissar. The chief is worthy of being the chief. Everyone across the sea knows what he is suitable for."

Political Commissar Liao rolled his eyes and saw the burnt-out work schedule in the ashtray - some people can't blame anyone for being sold out.

Deputy Captain Niu touched his itchy ear and said, "The only bad thing about the island is that there are mosquitoes in January and in May. Damn, it's like poking a mosquito nest." He jumped on the motorcycle and said, "Captain, hold on tight!"

"I believe in your skills." Geng Zhiye squatted down because he felt the carriage was dirty.

Deputy Regiment Commander Niu chuckled and said, "I'm not bragging. I can fly planes, ships, and tanks. If we were a Marine Corps, I could be the deputy commander."

Geng Zhiye: "Not the head of the group? When did you become so unambitious?"

"Isn't it you?" Niu Dayong used to be dissatisfied - the new recruit who hadn't even grown out yet was superior to him. Once during a mission, Geng Zhiye dared to fool people with only three words of bird language. Even though Niu Dayong was not afraid of death, he was still scared and broke into a cold sweat when he knew the truth afterwards.

Niu Dayong parked the car in front of Geng Zhiye's house and saw the shape of the pocket when he got out of the car: "Another letter from home?"

"Yesterday it was my mother-in-law, today it's my home." Geng Zhiye took it out and showed it to him: "My sister wrote this."

When Niu Dayong saw the word "Geng", he went home and told his wife that the commander was a straightforward person.

Ye Fan was washing his hands in the courtyard. When he heard Geng Zhiye's words, he asked, "Xiao Qin's letter? Is there anything wrong?"

"I haven't seen it yet." Geng Zhiye walked into the yard while unpacking it. After seeing the contents clearly, he could hear his sister's gloating laughter thousands of miles away. "Take a look." He handed it over and sighed.

Ye Fan was very curious and read it word by word.

During the first few days when Chen Xiaohui arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, the director and the cashier, for Ye Fan's sake, reassured her that she didn't need to worry and should just adapt herself first, as the tasks assigned to her would be simple.

But Chen Xiaohui forgot that starting over was not about changing her mindset, and she took on all the responsibilities, saying that she could do it.

After Ye Fan left, the director and the cashier thought she had adapted well enough and handed all the account books to her.

Chen Xiaohui had never worked as an accountant in her previous life. She had been out of school for many years in this life. Apart from Chinese, politics and history, which were discussed in daily life, she had left everything else to her teachers. Suddenly, she felt dizzy looking at the dense numbers. Some payments were settled monthly, some were settled half a month, and some were settled quarterly. The things she stole from the agricultural and sideline product purchasing station were recorded separately so that they could be checked by the higher authorities when someone reported her.

Before, Chen Xiaohui told Ye Fan in front of the cashier that the accounts of the supply and marketing cooperative were simple for her, and she was too embarrassed to ask the cashier if she didn't understand because she wanted to save face. She thought she had reminded Geng Zhiqin not to rush into marriage, and there was some affection between them, so she went to Geng Zhiqin for advice.

Geng Zhiqin didn't know that Chen Xiaohui had come back, nor did she know Chen Xiaohui's mental journey. She said in the letter that Chen Xiaohui was overestimating her own abilities, pretending to be rich, etc. If it wasn't for my sister-in-law, I wouldn't teach her.

I also said a few words in the middle: my sister-in-law never taught me step by step, and I took out time to teach her, but Chen Xiaohui didn't appreciate it. She deserves to be busy like a dog.

Seeing this, Ye Fan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Has the letter been sent?"

Geng Zhiye shook his head, "I was going to come back at noon and send the letter, but I received Xiaoqin's letter before noon." He took out a letter from his jacket pocket, "Keep it for trolling. Write an urgent letter to my mother-in-law, and then write a letter to Xiaoqin." Seeing the letter in Ye Fan's hand, he couldn't help but say, "I saw that letter yesterday and I also felt that she didn't need to be so cold."

Ye Fan: "I can't blame my mom for having such doubts. Who would have thought that Chen Xiaohui's so-called mastery was to understand nine out of ten things."

Ye Fan couldn't sleep well at night because of this - she was worried that Tao Chunlan and Chen Xiaohui would fight, and Chen Xiaohui would be too naive and hit her too hard, so when she woke up, she found that she was motherless.

Geng Zhiye has a switch in his subconscious mind. When he is on duty, the slightest movement can wake him up. Being at home is like returning to a safe harbor. When he wakes up in the morning and sees that Ye Fan's eyes are dark, he realizes that she did not sleep well.

"You play with Dabao and Erbao in the yard while I cook."

Dabao reminded loudly: "Dad, make a big lobster."

The middle-aged female comrade who had just reached the corner of Geng's house and was about to cross the alley between Liao's and Geng's house suddenly stopped, listened carefully, and asked Geng Zhiye: "Did Dad buy it this morning?"

"Yeah. Mom is too cowardly to kill."

Ye Fan rolled his eyes.

Geng Dabao immediately laughed out loud with joy.

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but remind him when he saw this: "Dabao, your mother's patience is limited."

"Dad, let me light the fire!" Dabao hurriedly ran to his father.

Geng Zhiye picked him up and said, "Let's go."

The female comrade turned around and walked back, stopped at the door of her house, hesitated for a moment and walked north. A few dozen meters north, she saw a row of tiled houses built of stone and paused again. The female comrade resolutely walked towards the clean courtyard outside the door: "Xiaotian, are you home?"

Tian Xiaofeng came out of the vegetable field holding a bunch of amaranth and asked, "Who is it?"

"I, don't remember?" The female comrade pointed at herself, "I saw it a few days ago."

Tian Xiaofeng had an impression: "You are Gaoying——"

"Don't let anyone hear us." The female comrade interrupted in a low voice, "Let's talk inside."

Tian Xiaofeng was preparing to cook and had no time to chat with her: "It's not convenient, the children are at home. What's the matter? Sister Liu."

"You are absolutely right." The woman's surname was Liu and her given name was "Qing". Liu Qing shared the latest battle situation with her mysteriously: "Captain Geng's lover Ye Fan still thinks of herself as a young lady."

Tian Xiaofeng subconsciously looked around and saw no one around: "Let's talk in the kitchen." She pulled Liu Qing's hand and asked impatiently: "Did I ask you for a favor?"

"I don't bother to talk to me. I'm with the sister-in-law of the political commissar, the sister-in-law of the chief of staff, and today I'm collecting firewood in the mountains with the sister-in-law of Captain Niu—"

Tian Xiaofeng exclaimed softly, "She picked up firewood? Does she know what kind of firewood is good to burn? Don't let it be like a few days ago when the chimney was filled with thick smoke, and those who didn't know would think it was on fire."

Liu Qing curled her lips and sneered, "She knows nothing! Speaking of that day, I also thought there was a fire somewhere, and I was so scared that I ran away. When I came out to take a look, my goodness, the young lady was so smart."

"From what you say, you're being smart again?"

Liu Qing shook her head, "She probably wouldn't dare. Speaking of her, we have to admit it. She was born into the Ye family and has enjoyed many years of happiness. In the end, she even met a good man like Captain Geng. Guess what I saw when I passed by her house just now? She was playing with her daughter in the yard, her son was making a fire, and Captain Geng was cooking. From what her son said, the dishes were also bought by Captain Geng. This is the first time I know that Captain Geng can cook."

"You just found out? Captain Geng is the one who cooks at home."

Liu Qing couldn't help but ask: "What is she doing?"

"Wonderful wontons are waiting to be eaten. One time, when I passed by her house, I saw Geng Tuan coming out of the kitchen with a dish in one hand and a steamed bun in the other, and she was shouting, 'Fanfan, it's time to eat.'" Tian Xiaofeng rubbed the goose bumps on her body, "Oh my God, if you don't know, you would think that Captain Geng has three children, and the eldest daughter is called Fanfan."

Liu Qing was shocked: "So nice to her?"

“Human patience is limited.”

Liu Qing thought what a coincidence: "Captain Geng also said this. But he was talking about his son."

"Although I have only seen that child a few times, I can tell from his eyes that he is not an easy person to deal with. He is exactly like his mother. He must be naughty."

Liu Qing was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

"Captain Geng is not made of iron. How many years can he survive by buying groceries and cooking every day? She has been here for a few years and her relationship with the Ye family has faded. Captain Geng can't stand her, and the former father-in-law and mother-in-law don't want to help the fake son-in-law. If Captain Geng doesn't divorce her, I will take her last name!"

Liu Qing: "What do you need the Ye family's help for? Isn't Captain Geng's father an old revolutionary?"

"He retired early. I heard it's been ten years. His status is very important in Ningbo. There are so many marshals and lieutenant generals in the capital, who knows who he is. This island is so far away from the headquarters, if no one reminds him, he will have to retire when he reaches the age."

Liu Qing's expression changed slightly: "Then my family——"

"You have Deputy Regiment Commander Niu above you. Who can compare with him in terms of military achievements? I don't know what the head of the headquarters is thinking. He shed the most blood but was suppressed by someone several years younger than him." Tian Xiaofeng shook her head, "These days, Xiren is everywhere and Xue Chai is rampant."

"What do you mean?"

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Tian Xiaofeng's face. She couldn't explain it. She heard someone say it when she went ashore to buy things: "Don't worry about what it means. Just wait and see. Without the Ye family, they will all show their true colors."

Liu Qing looked at her and asked, "Aren't you worried about your lover?"

"He's a driver. He'll be a driver wherever he goes, just like here." Tian Xiaofeng wanted to worry, but it was not her turn to make decisions in her family. "I hope he can be transferred to civilian work tomorrow. I've had enough of this godforsaken place. If I want to buy a box of vanishing cream made in Shencheng, I have to go ashore."

Liu Qing: "You can't get used to it, how can the young lady get used to it?"

Tian Xiaofeng: "She has to get used to it even if she is not used to it. Otherwise, go back to Shencheng? I would never go back to that broken home with parents like that, let alone her being used to a good life."

Liu Qing nodded: "I heard they are having lobster today."

"Lobster?" Big lobsters are rare and expensive. Tian Xiaofeng was reluctant to buy one during Chinese New Year and other festivals. "But lobsters are not right either. The locals don't eat them."

Liu Qing was walking at the time: "Maybe it was a big shrimp, I heard it wrong."

"You must have heard it wrong. Captain Geng earns more than us men, but he wouldn't let her treat him so badly."

Captain Geng really didn't want Ye Fan to waste it because she didn't know how to cook. The two big lobsters were bought by Captain Geng. They were more expensive than red shrimps, but they were not so expensive that they could not be eaten.

Geng Zhiye went to the kitchen and asked his son whether he wanted rice or steamed buns.

Dabao: "Mom said lobster goes well with vermicelli."

"Your mother can't cook, but she knows how to eat. Sorry, we don't have vermicelli at home. We don't have any thick or thin vermicelli in the market. Steamed rice, tofu stewed with lobster, you and your sister can eat it."

Dabao shook his head: "I don't want to eat tofu."

"Then you eat shrimp. Is shrimp delicious?"

Dabao still couldn't tell the difference between lobsters, crayfish, and red shrimps, but he knew that everything his mother cooked with water tasted good: "Dad, light the fire."

Geng Zhiye put down the bulging sack and felt it was very light: "Isn't it rice stalks inside?"

"Aunt Guihua gave me some leaves. She said leaves are good to burn. Dad, Aunt Guihua is also very nice."

Geng Zhiye: "She speaks loudly as if she is arguing with someone, but she is actually a nice person."

Ye Fan came in holding his daughter: "Dabao, I'm burning?"

"I'm burning!" Dabao raised his finger and pointed at his father, "Learn from dad. Don't be lazy!"

Ye Fan: "You don't even chat with me, why should I listen to you?"

"But I don't want to speak foreign languages. I'm not a foreigner."

Ye Fan nodded: "Next time when we go to the Friendship Store, don't ask me what's written on the box or whether it tastes good or not. I won't tell you even if you ask me."

"You are cheating!"

"Will you learn or not?"

Dabao made a calculation in his mind: learning foreign languages ​​would be useful to him, and if his mother learned to cook, he and his sister would enjoy the delicious food: "If you learn, I will learn too."

Ye Fan put his daughter on the ground. Dabao patted the small stool beside him, and Erbao went over.

Geng Zhiye asked Ye Fan to try it first while he washed the rice.

Ye Fan stepped back subconsciously. Geng Zhiye covered the pot and grabbed her back: "Why are you hiding? Can I eat you?"

"But what if it pinches me?" Ye Fan had never touched a live lobster in his life, including a crayfish.

Geng Zhiye: "Just listen to me, I won't."

"Some other day?"

Geng Zhiye turned his head and saw Ye Fan’s face darkening; “Then——”

"Ye Fanfan is a coward." Dabao glared at his father, refusing to be soft-hearted. "Ye Fanfan, don't let me look down on you!"

Ye was annoyed. Geng Dabao could remember everything she said even just once. With such a poor memory, he still wanted to play every day. "Don't imitate my way of speaking."

Dabao stood up and shouted, "Ye Fanfan, you coward! Ye Fanfan, I look down on you! I want everyone to hear it!"

Liu Qing, who was passing by Geng's house and was about to go home to cook, stopped for a moment. How uncultured.

Liao Miaomiao, who was across the alley, couldn't help but say, "Dabao is going to get beaten."

Political Commissar Liao, who had just arrived home, said, "No. He is just as poor as his father. When others are anxious and angry, he is still in the mood to make people cough. Dabao doesn't make principled mistakes. Even if he keeps yelling "Ye Ye Ye" every day, your Aunt Ye won't beat him."

Zhuang Qiuyue agreed, "They look like they don't care about their age, but they are actually very obedient. This morning, when I told Dabao and Erbao to stay home, they stayed at home and played obediently. Erbao is only two years old." She looked at Liao Miaomiao, "You are three or four years old and you still ask me to hold you while you sleep. Dabao and Erbao each have their own quilt and sleep by themselves. I don't know how they were taught."

Ye Fan was a mother for the first time and didn't know how to raise a child, so she let him do whatever he wanted. Even if he rolled in the mud, Geng Dabao didn't mind the dirt, and Ye Fan could just pretend not to see it. Unconsciously, he developed his current personality.

Ye Fanming glared at his son: "Provocation doesn't work on me."

"Erbao, watch the fire, I'll do it!" Dabao rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Ye Fan hurriedly stopped him: "I-I can't learn it yet! My hands are not as big as a lobster, what is there to learn? Go light a fire!"

Dabao sat back and looked at Ye Fan with a smile.

Ye Annoyed him: "If I get hurt, you can just wait to eat rice with soy sauce."

Geng Zhiye: "Hurry up."

Ye Fan took a deep breath, as if he was going to the battlefield.

Geng Zhiye was so tired that he put his hands on his hips: "Would you like two taels of Maotai to give you courage?" "Who are you looking down on?" Ye Fan picked up the knife and signaled Geng Zhiye to speak. Geng Zhiye didn't dare to let her do it herself right away, so he taught her how to bleed first.

Ye Fan dismembered the first lobster, and Geng Zhiye stepped back, allowing her to kill the second one with a quick knife.

After placing two lobsters in the basin, Ye Fan couldn't help but say, "Don't look at how many there are. The more you eat, the hungrier you get."

Geng Zhiye nodded: "You have nothing to lose. When will you go find the commune secretary and ask the kitchen squad leader to go with you?"

"What to buy?" Ye Fan prepared onions and ginger.

Geng Zhiye: “Two pigs.”

"Two?" Ye Fan was surprised. "There are one or two thousand people. Can each person get one piece?"

Geng Zhiye shook his head: "Eat the bones and drain the water, and save the meat for stewing."

"Is the military budget so tight?"

Geng Zhiye: "I'm not that nervous. But now that I've spent the money, what are we going to have for the Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year's Eve?"

“What if we cooperate with the commune?”

Geng Zhiye: “We can’t do business.”

Ye Fan knew that it was not possible now, but it was possible in the decade around 1990: "Win-win cooperation?"

“We won’t take a single needle or thread from the masses!”

Ye Fan: "Let me think about it. By the way, is it far from our home?"

"His home is far from here, seven or eight miles away by mountain road. The supply and marketing cooperative is four or five miles away. He usually goes to the supply and marketing cooperative. He also goes to the vegetable market occasionally."

Geng's house is close to the agricultural and sideline products market, less than a mile away. Ye Fan wanted to say something, but when he turned around and saw Dabao with a resentful look on his face, he laughed and said, "Let's cook first."

Geng Zhiye taught Ye Fan to first add the scallions and ginger to stir-fry, then add the shrimp heads, shrimp shells, shrimp claws, then the shrimp meat, and finally add water, stew it into a white soup and add the tofu.

Ye Fan looked at the tofu and asked, "Did you buy old tofu?"

Geng Zhiye nodded: "It tastes good when it absorbs all the soup." Seeing that the oil in the salt water bottle was almost gone, he said, "Let's buy some fatty pork when the oil is gone."

“There are no meat tickets.”

Geng Zhiye: "Purchase is limited to each household. You should go early."

"Our family of four only has half a pound of oil a month?"

Geng Zhiye: "Buy rapeseed oil during the dog days. Otherwise, you will be boiling lard in the house by then?"

Ye Fan shook her head subconsciously. Geng Zhiye glanced at her helplessly and pulled the two children up: "Go wash your hands with Daddy."

Dabao saw that there was still firewood under the pot: "Is the rice cooked?"

"The tofu needs to be stewed for a while. Let your mother watch the fire." Geng Zhiye pulled the children outside, patted the dust off their bodies, and Dabao and Erbao closed their eyes together. Seeing this, Geng Zhiye couldn't help but want to laugh, "Okay. Dabao, Erbao, do you want to go to the toilet?"

Ye Fan smelled the fragrance of rice, stuffed the firewood in and came out: "I'll take Erbao with me."

Dabao: "Mom, I can go by myself."

Ye Fan pulled one of them with each hand: "Darling, let's go."

Dabao waved his hand: "Darling, don't miss me."

Geng Zhiye pretended not to hear and went to the kitchen to stuff two handfuls of leaves under the two pots. When he smelled the aroma of the rice crust, he went to pull the table.

Geng Zhiye served the dishes and rice only after he heard the voices of the mother and her two children getting closer.

Geng Zhiye broke the rice crust into small pieces and asked Dabao and Erbao if they wanted to eat them.

Dabao tasted a piece of shrimp, and when his teeth were tired, he decided to eat rice. Ye Fan scooped two spoonfuls of shrimp meat and a spoonful of soup and asked Dabao to mix them together.

"Mom, I can eat tofu too." Dabao pushed the bowl back.

Ye Fan picked up a piece for him and said, "There's a lot of water in the tofu, go slowly."

Erbao opened his eyes wide and looked at his father.

Geng Zhiye smiled and took her bowl: "One spoonful of soup, two spoonfuls of meat, and a piece of tofu, just like your brother. Eat slowly."

Erbao was grinning with joy as he received the same treatment as his brother.

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but say, "When you become as smart as your brother, Dad will be relieved."

"What is Dad worried about?" Dabao asked.

Geng Zhiye: "I'm worried that bad guys will deceive your sister."

What if I were like Chen Xiaohui?

Dabao sat up straight: "Don't worry, Dad, I will protect my sister."

When Geng Zhiye saw the lobster meat on his face, he thought to himself, "We have a long way to go before you protect us. Your mother and I have a heavy responsibility."

"Let's eat first." Geng Zhiye wiped the stuff off his face.

After dinner, Ye Fan gave Geng Zhiye a pair of scissors. Geng Zhiye had no choice but to cut off half of her hair.

With his head lightened, Ye Fan hummed a lullaby and went to the study to get paper and pen to write two letters to the capital. The contents of the letters were similar, both of which comforted the two and then said that Chen Xiaohui acted like that because she was timid.

Geng Zhiye was more cautious than Ye Fan. He went to the office to change the envelope and changed the recipient to Ye Fan's sister-in-law. Li Mingyue was careful and saw that the envelope was handed over by her to Geng Zhiqin and Tao Chunlan, so she must have personally delivered the letter to the two of them.

This was indeed the case. Half a month later, when Li Mingyue was on her day off, she took the opportunity when Chen Xiaohui went back to her room to give the letter to Tao Chunlan.

Tao Chunlan read the letter with mixed feelings and handed it to Li Mingyue. Li Mingyue took it with great surprise, wondering why she was giving the letter from her sister-in-law.

Although Li Mingyue is not an accountant, she knows how to report expenses and how to deal with the leaders who come to inspect. At lunch, Li Mingyue asked her if she had any problems at home since she was not at home these days. Tao Chunlan said no. Li Mingyue asked Chen Xiaohui if she had any difficulties at work, and she could ask her. Even if she could not help, she could still give some advice.

Chen Xiaohui was stubborn in her previous life and didn't learn to speak differently to different people. She wanted to ask Li Mingyue for advice, but Li Mingyue looked down on Chen Xiaohui in her previous life, and because of this, Chen Xiaohui swallowed the words back.

Li Mingyue pretended not to see her and hesitated to speak, smiling indifferently and urging her to eat more. In the afternoon, she delivered a letter to Geng Zhiqin and asked Geng Zhiqin to help Chen Xiaohui.

Geng Zhiqin rolled his eyes: "She is twenty-five, not thirty-five."

Li Mingyue: "Although I still cannot understand some of her actions, but seeing how steady she is these days, she must want to live a good life. Just help her, and call her sister-in-law later--"

"Sister-in-law belongs to me!"

Li Mingyue thought that her last name was Ye, "We'll go to the Friendship Store some other time, and you can pick whatever you want to eat or use?"

"That's more like it." Geng Zhiqin suddenly remembered something, "Chen Xiaohui asked me if I had high school textbooks. She knew that my sister-in-law gave me the textbooks. She—she went to high school and didn't need them, and she didn't like to take advantage. What does that mean?"

Li Mingyue: "Didn't you say anything else?"

"She told me I was only 20 before, probably because she thought I was young and ignorant and easy to be deceived, and told me to wait a few years before looking for a partner." Geng Zhiqin was annoyed when he talked about this. "The tone was more like my mother than my mother. Having one mother was annoying enough, and here comes another one!"

Li Mingyue held her hand and comforted her: "I know what you mean. You don't take her feelings seriously. If she really cares about you, she wants to use textbooks to hold you back. You can't persuade you to read classics these days."

Geng Zhiqin read the letter from his sister-in-law and said, "Maybe. I don't know how my sister-in-law and Dabao and Erbao are doing. We traveled from the north to the south, from a place far from the sea to an island, and we don't know anyone there. I'm really worried. I want to go over and take a look."

Li Mingyue: "Fanfan never regrets the decisions he makes. He has no burden in his heart and can quickly get used to anywhere."

There is one thing that Li Mingyue didn't realize, Ye Fan is the type of person who will take another turn if this road doesn't work.

Dabao thought his mother was being stubborn, but in fact, it was because Ye Fan had never used a clay stove and miscalculated. She had only seen dry wells, and she didn't expect the wells with water to be so muddy, so she lost her balance and fell in.

After stumbling a few times, Ye Fan was sure that the island was completely different from the places she had lived in before, so she treated her as an educated youth who had gone to the countryside.

Ye Fan often helped Tao Chunlan with farming, but the climate in the north was different from that in Jiangnan Island, so when Liu Guihua and Zhuang Qiuyue wanted to help her, she smiled and thanked them without hesitation. While the two were not paying attention, Ye Fan winked at his son and pointed to his bedroom.

Dabao frowned and looked at his mother, what did she mean?

Ye Fan looked at Zhuang Qiuyue and Liu Guihua again. Dabao ran into the house. Erbao didn't understand why, but he followed his brother. Even if he made a mistake, his mother would beat his brother first.

Seeing the eldest child opening the cabinet to take candy, the second child immediately became upset: "No, mom will hit you!"

"My mother told me to take it." Dabao took two, and then took two more when he thought of something.

Erbao doesn't allow his brother to go out: "Mom didn't say that."

"Then I'll put it in my pocket, and you ask mom. If she says you can't take the candy, I'll put it back secretly?"

You won't turn back until you hit the wall. Erbao looked at him deeply, and then shouted "Mom" when he got outside.

"What about brother?"

Erbao was shocked.

Dabao came out of the house holding his sister who sometimes looked like a monkey and sometimes like a pig, and said, "Mom, is that enough?" He spread out his little hands and gave her four candies.

Ye Fan gave one to Dabao, and one to Erbao. Dabao knew what to do next without her saying anything, and ran to Liu Guihua with two candies: "Auntie, have some candy."

Liu Guihua was embarrassed and said she would give it to Dabao. Dabao stuffed it into her hand without saying anything and ran towards Zhuang Qiuyue. Zhuang Qiuyue took it and said, "Thank you, Dabao."

Dabao shook his head: "You're welcome." He pulled Erbao back to the sunless eaves and sat down obediently.

Liu Guihua came out of Ye Fan's house and praised Dabao to Zhuang Qiuyue for being sensible. Zhuang Qiuyue knew that Dabao was sensible, so she was not surprised to see the sugar. She asked in surprise how Ye Fan could grow vegetables when he could not use a clay stove or fetch water.

The two of them helped to turn the soil and plant vegetables, but they never taught Ye Fan anything. They only reminded her that there was a lot of rain on the island and there was no need to water them specially.

Liu Guihua didn't understand why she was so bothered by this, so she said directly, "City people also need to eat vegetables. There's nothing strange about being able to grow vegetables."

"But her last name is Ye."

Liu Guihua: "Tian Xiaofeng and the other women talk about the eldest lady every day. Do you think so too? The Ye family is really a wealthy landlord. Ye Fan did nothing since he was a child, and the Ye family was already beaten down. You didn't tell Xiao Ye, did you?"

Zhuang Qiuyue: "Why am I saying such gossip? Am I deliberately causing trouble for others?"

Liu Guihua nodded repeatedly: "I also think that Tian Xiaofeng is eager for us to tell Ye Fan. She will be happy if Ye Fan is so angry that he can't sleep after knowing it."

Zhuang Qiuyue didn't think so much and was surprised to hear that an illiterate person could think of this. No wonder the couple never quarreled with Deputy Captain Niu, who had a bad temper.

Having said that, Ye Fan wasn't just talking nonsense when she told Geng Zhiye that she would talk to the commune secretary once she had thought it over.

Ye Fan asked Geng Zhiye to give ten yuan to the logistics department to refuel the three-wheeled motorcycle so that she could learn how to ride the three-wheeled motorcycle.

A three-wheeled vehicle is more stable than a human-powered tricycle. Ye Fan knows how to drive, so it shouldn't be difficult to learn. But mountain roads are not like the main roads of the city, and three legs and four wheels are definitely different. Ye Fan started from scratch.

Ye Fan didn't rush into anything and didn't fall into trouble again.

After receiving the letter from the capital, Ye Fan had already learned how to catch crabs, fry hairtail and boil lard, and even dared to ride a three-wheeled motorcycle with two children for a ride. The ride was what others said. But Ye Fan paid for the gas, and Tian Xiaofeng, who hated her the most, could only complain that Ye Fan treated the army as her own, and did not dare to write a letter to complain.

After reading the letters from her mother and sister-in-law, Ye Fan decided that there was nothing important and no need to reply, so she carried her eldest and second child into the car.

At the end of June, all the primary and secondary schools on the island were on holiday. Miaomiao was playing under the eaves of her house with her younger brother and sister. When she heard some noise, she stood on tiptoe and saw Ye Fan going out. She asked, "Auntie Ye, are you going out again?"

Ye Fan took the opportunity to practice driving and familiarize himself with the roads to find out the situation on the island, except for the troops. Ye Fan knew the rules and did not approach them. Ye Fan thought the time was right: "Do you want to go? If you do, find a clean bag to put under the car. The car has been stepped on by Dabao and Erbao and it's dirty."

Dabao wanted to say it wasn’t dirty, but when he looked up and saw his shoe prints, he pretended not to hear his mother’s words: “Mom, are we going to the beach?”

Ye Fan: "You and your sister are too young, a wave will sweep you both away. Let's go again in the evening when Dad comes back. I'll hold Erbao and Dad can hold you."

Liao Miaomiao locked the door and ran over: "Where are we going?"

"We'll know in a moment." Ye Fan closed the gate to the courtyard. "Miao Miao, your mother isn't home?"

There were very few jobs on the island, and all military wives were out of work except for teachers and medical staff. In the morning, Zhuang Qiuyue saw a three-wheeled vehicle in the Geng family yard, and thought that Ye Fan was going out again, so she went to find Liu Guifang to do some work.

Miaomiao pointed to the back: "At Deputy Captain Niu's house. But my mother brought the key."

Ye Fan got in the car: "Let's go."

The weather was hot, and the supply and marketing cooperative had soda, so Ye Fan bought five bottles and asked if the secretary was there. The secretary was not there, so Ye Fan went to his house. When he arrived at the door of the secretary's house in Hengshan Commune, Ye Fan opened the soda and gave it to the five children: "Wait here."

The car stopped under the loquat tree outside the secretary's house, and Ye Fan was not worried that they would get heatstroke.

Ye Fan didn't know where the secretary's home was, so she asked all the way here. Liao Miaomiao knew who she was looking for, so she asked curiously, "Why is Aunt Ye looking for the secretary?"

"Tell me something." Ye Fan asked the person in charge of the agricultural and sideline products market where the secretary's office was, as she had something to discuss with him.

As expected, the person in charge mentioned Ye Fan to the secretary. The secretary saw Ye Fan's height, appearance and age and asked: "Are you Comrade Ye Fan, the wife of Captain Geng?"

Ye Fan nodded and said hello. The secretary asked her to sit down, poured her some water, and asked Ye Fan what he wanted to see her about.

The other person came straight to the point, and Ye Fan didn't try to be mysterious. He just said that there were still a lot of vacant mountain land on the island, and it would be a waste to just leave it there.

The secretary was stunned for a moment, feeling a little unhappy: "I am the secretary, how could I not know? We are lazy and don't want to plant."

Ye Fan choked for a moment, then smiled again: "You misunderstood. I didn't mean to blame you."

"Can you teach us?" The secretary still felt that the young lady from the city was the same as the educated youth who had been sent to work in the countryside on the island. Just because they had read a few books and knew a few words, they thought they were more knowledgeable than them.

Ye Fan wanted to leave immediately, but when she thought about how troublesome it would be for the army's kitchen crew to go out of the island to get supplies, she just pretended to hear two dogs barking: "There is no shortage of people on the island, and the fishermen are hardworking. They don't plant because there is no market. If you want the villagers to have a better life, come to me." After saying that, she stood up, drove out the door, and drove away without any delay.

(End of this chapter)