Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

After Ye Fan drove away, Geng Huihui heard that Erbao was going to the store, so she went with him. Geng Benben also wanted to go, but Geng Huihui refused: "You are tanned and have a short flat head. If you don't know, you might think you just came out of that place."

Chu Fenghe was resting on the weekend and was also at Ye Fan's house. Upon hearing this, he said, "Benben, we're not going. You can go to the store with your mother later and she will buy you something."

"No!" Geng Benben refused loudly, "It's hard to take him that far!"

Chu Fenghe: "Leave it for you to eat on the way. Xiao Ming will definitely buy it for me. Do you want to eat his food along the way? Oh, you are not a child anymore, there is a suitable one over there-"

"Mom, I don't want to quarrel with you." Geng Benben interrupted.

Yu Wentao said: "Boys don't have to worry. If you have the ability, you can find a good one at the age of 30."

Geng Benben nodded: "Yes. My uncle is almost fifty years old, and there are still lesbians twenty years younger than him who are still attacking him."

Geng Laoer was not interested in the family affairs and was about to go to the study room in the back to study Dabao's computer. Hearing this, he suddenly stopped and said, "Benben, which uncle are you?"

Geng Benben's heart skipped a beat. How could he have forgotten that the most conservative person in his family was also here? "I was joking."

"Who told you that?" Geng Zhihui stared at his son.

Geng Huihui pulled Erbao and ran quickly.

Geng Benben raised his chin towards Erbao. Geng Zhihui shouted "Geng Jingjing", but Geng Jingjing was deaf and ran out of the house. Geng Benben also wanted to run away, but Yu Wentao grabbed him and asked him to explain clearly.

Geng Zhihui couldn't help but ask: "You don't know either?"

Aunt Yu was annoyed: "I don't know anything! Benben, tell me now!"

Benben heard what Erbao said, the complete version, without any exaggeration or rumours. So Geng Zhihui and Yu Wentao were very satisfied with Geng Zhiye's performance when they heard that Geng Zhiye asked Ye Fan to deal with it as soon as he found something wrong.

Yu Wentao felt relieved: "No wonder your aunt loves to go to the army so much in recent years."

Chu Fenghe cursed: "These people have nothing better to do! Just because Ye Fan doesn't have time to go to the army, they spread rumors that the couple's relationship is not good, and support people rushing to become mistresses. They don't even care about the aunties in the neighborhood committee!"

Geng Zhihui told him to lower his voice: "They are all soldiers. Considering how hard they have been training——"

"Don't have a professional filter." Chu Fenghe interrupted, "You said that your colleagues at work only know how to do research, so how come some people are still messing around with female students?"

Geng Zhihui was speechless, and spoke as if he was one of them: "Well, there are all kinds of birds in the forest. Besides, I am the leader and I can't keep an eye on them all the time."

When Geng Benben saw that there was nothing he had to do, he quietly retreated to the corridor, then immediately turned around and ran back to the backyard.

Having said that, citizens have had a lot of spare money in the past two years, and some of it has been spent on enjoying life. Ye Fan saw a flower shop but didn't pay much attention to it. It was only after she drove past that she remembered something and was glad that she could turn around in time on the road.

However, she didn't expect that when she arrived at the army, people could enter but the cars had to be parked outside, which disrupted her plan.

Ye Fan could only wait for the guard to report to Geng Zhiye.

Ten minutes later, a car came out, and the driver was Geng Zhiye. Geng Zhiye got out of the car and laughed: "Boss Ye, why are you parking such a nice car outside? Why don't you go in? Don't you want to go in?"

Ye Fan raised his hand and hit him.

The guard turned his face away and smiled secretly when he saw this.

Geng Zhiye held Ye Fan's hand and asked the guard to bring the registration book. He would register the outside vehicles himself. Then Geng Zhiye pointed at his own car and said, "Ask someone to drive in. I'll go and see what the difference is between Boss Ye's luxury car and ours."

Ye Fan's car was more spacious than Geng Zhiye's jeep. After driving about ten meters, Geng Zhiye asked Ye Fan to stop, saying that Boss Ye had worked hard all the way and he was his driver.

Ye Fan rolled his eyes at him and said, "I'd rather die of poverty!"

"I can't die. Good days are just beginning." Geng Zhiye sat on it and fumbled around for a few minutes, full of envy: "When will we have the money to buy a car like this?"

Ye Fan: "It will happen in the future. You never thought that one day you would be able to eat white rice and white flour every day."

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but think of the years he spent on the island. He only had rice for one meal a day, because he was in the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River. The rest of the time he had coarse grains, or only a little coarse grains. When he was hungry, he ate seafood. Sometimes he ate too much, and the freshly caught seafood tasted bitter because there was no oil in his stomach.

Now that I have enough fat in my stomach, even seafood that is not so fresh tastes fresh and delicious.

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but hold Ye Fan's hand: "When I'm with you, I never have to worry about what to do if the sky falls."

"Just do what you have to do." Ye Fan said subconsciously.

Geng Zhiye laughed: "If someone else asked me, what should we do? Some would say that we must die together as a family. That sounds unlucky."

Ye Fan turned to him and said, "You know others so well?"

Geng Zhiye suddenly felt that he had stepped on a pit instead of a brake. "Don't set a trap for me. There's no one around. I can watch TV. There's TV in the cafeteria. Besides, you can't have heard it from others, right?"

Ye Fan smiled and asked back: "Did I say anything? Look how anxious you are."

Geng Zhiye: "How can I not be anxious since it's so rare for you to come here?"

"Just joke about it." Ye Fan suddenly thought of something that delayed her because of the guards, and she immediately turned around after Geng Zhiye stopped the car.

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but ask when he saw this: "What are you taking? Wait until you get off the car..." There was a bouquet of flowers in front of him. They were not eye-catching red roses, but beautiful and fragrant lilies.

Geng Zhiye was stunned, looking confused.

Ye Fan stuffed his arms into his arms: "Today is the Chinese Valentine's Day!"

Geng Zhiye instinctively caught it, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say, "No, no, shouldn't I take you there?"

"Who said you have to be the only one to send me off?"

Geng Zhiye blurted out: "I am a man."

"I drove all the way from the city and brought you a bunch of lilies, and that's all you want to tell me?"

Geng Zhiye immediately realized that now was not the time to worry about who should send whom off: "Ye Fanfan is very thoughtful." He reached out and hugged her into his arms, "Although I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say, fortunately I still remembered one sentence, thank you, my wife!"

"No?"

Geng Zhiye kissed her on the cheek.

Ye Fan pushed him away, but Geng Zhiye instinctively hugged him tightly: "Yes, yes, yes."

"Say!"

Geng Zhiye opened his mouth and said, "Well, it's a little hot!"

"Aren't you usually very poor?"

Geng Zhiye: "Being poor is because you don't put your heart into it."

Ye Fan pinched his waist: "So you always treated me perfunctorily before, right?"

"I was wrong, wife, daughter-in-law, please let go, spare my life, you you you are my beloved Ye Fanfan!"

Tsk!
The couple was startled by the sudden sound and hurriedly let go. They were glad that they had unbuckled their seat belts, otherwise they might have hit something with such a big movement.

Geng Zhiye and Ye Fan looked outside at the same time. The person was on Geng Zhiye's side. Ye Fan caught a glimpse of the person coming and saw that it was Geng Zhiye's staff officer. He seriously suspected that he was an old bachelor who couldn't bear to see the couple living in harmony, so he made the noise deliberately.

Coincidentally, Geng Zhiye also thought so, and he pushed open the car door and asked bluntly: "Envy? If you are envious, then go ahead! Fanfan, let's go." The chief of staff rubbed the goose bumps on his arms, looking unbearable: "Still vexed? Commander Geng, how old are you? Think of yourself as a young man."

Geng Zhiye frowned slightly. How could he be so ignorant? "When a person gets old, his heart will also get old. The average life expectancy is less than 69 years old. If you don't die by then, I will personally send you to the crematorium."

"Hey, hey, hey, why are you in such a hurry?"

Geng Zhiye asked back: "If you are not in a hurry, why are you saying 'hey hey'?"

"I was just kidding you. Are you serious?"

Ye Fan couldn't help but think of the time when Geng Zhiye was given a gift by a female actress from the art troupe. The chief of staff should be like this now. At that time, Geng Zhiye could only "deny it to death", otherwise there would definitely be messy rumors.

Now Ye Fan was curious about how Geng Zhiye would refute him. Geng Zhiye said, "I was joking. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

The Chief of Staff opened his mouth and said, “I—I’m not serious!”

"I didn't take it seriously." Geng Zhiye said with a smile, "Am I that incapable of taking a joke? We have known each other for so many years, don't you know what kind of person I am?"

Since they will have to work together in the future, the Chief of Staff couldn't say he didn't understand and could only laugh dryly.

Ye Fan took the opportunity to say, "Geng Zhiye, it's too hot here. If you two want to chat, find a shady place to chat."

Geng Zhiye said, "Your sister-in-law is tired. I'll take her back to the dormitory first." After that, he walked around the front of the car and walked towards Ye Fan.

Ye Fan said "see you later" to the chief of staff and followed him upstairs. When they got to the dormitory, they didn't have to worry about being heard. Ye Fan asked, "It was just a joke, why are you so anxious?"

Geng Zhiye wanted to complain about who you were on the same side with, but seeing Ye Fanzhen was really curious, as if he was not like his usual self, he said, "I've wanted to say this for a long time. He used to tease me like this a lot. After so many times, I couldn't help but suspect that he was being sarcastic under the guise of joking. It's just that I was too embarrassed to make a fuss before."

"Then how can you feel comfortable doing this today? You are not doing it on purpose for me to see, right?" Ye Fan asked.

Geng Zhiye shook his head: "If I'm not transferred this year, I won't be able to last three years. I'm not bragging, I'm good at both literature and martial arts, and I joined the party early, so the army will definitely not ask me to transfer. But the higher you go, the fewer positions there are. I estimate that the chief of staff will most likely transfer. From now on, we'll be on different paths and never have anything to do with each other. There's no need for me to endure it any longer."

"If he is transferred to a logistics or military industrial unit, we can still meet him, right?"

Geng Zhiye: "It's okay as long as we meet each other every day. Besides, when he is transferred, he won't know where I will be transferred to, so how can he make things difficult for me?"

"Will that cause you trouble later?"

Geng Zhiye: "If something happens here, we can't escape. There's no one to support his family, and he needs this salary more than I do." He paused, "In fact, it's also because he's the only one here today. If there were other people, I definitely couldn't leave them speechless, otherwise-"

"Will you be isolated? No, they are so old, don't they know that having more good colleagues means having fewer enemies?"

Geng Zhiye said: "I know, so he teased me in a joking tone instead of showing disgust directly. He just didn't expect that I would turn hostile."

Ye Fan: "You said before that the girls from the art troupe were looking for you. They were joking. I thought they were just watching the fun."

Geng Zhiye nodded: "Some people just wanted to watch the fun, some thought it was rare and couldn't help but talk too much, some thought being pursued by a little girl was worth showing off and there was no need for me to hide it, and some were just envious and jealous. I didn't pay close attention to what anyone was thinking. Because at that time, I really thought that if I passed the things on to the guard, she would be embarrassed and would not come again."

"You said he wouldn't tell the political commissar when he saw him later, so I said one thing and saw how anxious the division commander was."

Geng Zhiye: "He might add that the commander is afraid of his wife."

Ye Fan looked at him and asked, "Don't you feel embarrassed?"

"He's not afraid. He's about to retire and still single. It's more shameful to not have a wife than to be afraid of one."

Ye Fan smiled: "Yes, yes!"

"Let's not talk about them." Geng Zhiye went to wash his hands: "Are you thirsty?"

Ye Fan: "I'll do it myself. It's not my first time here. I had planned that if I saw you when I entered the courtyard, I would get out of the car and take out the flowers. If you weren't there, I would sneak the flowers to the dormitory as a surprise for you. I didn't expect to be blocked outside the door first, and then I met a tactless person."

Geng Zhiye said, “If someone else saw us in the car, no matter what we were doing, they would be too embarrassed to move forward rashly.”

Ye Fan added: "Unless there is something urgent. If it's not urgent, I will definitely stay quietly by the side and wait for you to find me."

"Yes! The other day the political commissar's wife and children came over, and I went over to say hello when they saw me." Geng Zhiye said, "Otherwise, wouldn't that be intentionally disturbing the couple's time together? We are different from most people. We spend very little time with our families, and every minute and every second of the rare time we see each other is precious." Speaking of this, he was very confused: "How can someone over fifty not understand such a simple truth?"

Ye Fan said casually: "If he understands, he won't divorce his wife."

Geng Zhiye suddenly realized that it was a pity that he had always thought that his parents had a big problem and forced his wife to flee from his home. But his parents needed his salary. If he came forward and scolded his parents, and threatened to make trouble for him and not get a penny from him, his parents would definitely not dare to embarrass his wife. If his parents were unreasonable and more shameless than each other, he would not be afraid. If he wanted to sever ties with his parents, the army would not blame him for being unfilial and might even send someone to help him.

After thinking this through, Geng Zhiye wondered, "Why did I only see it clearly today?"

Ye Fan said: "You think that your comrades are all great and righteous because they are not afraid of sacrifice."

"No, I believed his one-sided story about his divorce."

Ye Fan: "It's not your fault. If he really believed that, and he was very sure when he told you that it was because his parents were not getting along with his ex-wife, it's normal for you to believe it. Don't blame yourself."

"I'll listen to you." Geng Zhiye didn't want to waste his time on others.

Geng Zhiye had just sat down when he heard footsteps. He couldn't help but look at Ye Fan: "He won't complain to the political commissar. Political commissar, can you talk to me?"

"Not really." Ye Fan went out and saw three young officers. He asked hurriedly, "What happened?"

The three of them shouted in unison: "Sister-in-law!"

Ye Fan was surprised: "Looking for me?"

One of them looked downstairs and asked impatiently: "The Chief of Staff said that car is yours?"

Ye Fan did not answer but asked: "You all know how to drive?"

"Of course!" the three said in unison. Then one person explained in detail: "If we don't know how to drive, and we encounter unexpected situations during the exercise, we can only wait for the opponent to come up and take us down."

Ye Fan went back to the room to see Geng Zhiye. Geng Zhiye threw something in his pocket to him. Ye Fan caught it steadily: "Leave some oil for me."

The three of them were stunned for a moment. They didn't expect her to be so easy to talk to. Then they came to their senses and said loudly, "Thank you, sister-in-law!" and ran downstairs with the car keys.

However, Ye Fan's car still ran out of gas.

Fortunately, Ye Fan was not leaving today, so they bought a barrel of oil the next day and filled the car with it. They drove it until not a drop was left. After adding the remaining oil in the barrel, they dared not touch it again, for fear that Ye Fan would leave when they ran out of oil.

A few days after Ye Fan returned from the army, he went to the Capital Hotel for a banquet.

Qian Xiaoru told her father that Ye Fan was very powerful and had been to Hong Kong City. Qian's father thought she was like the female agents in the movies in recent years, who were decisive and efficient in everything they did.

Wei Jianshe said he would go out to pick her up. Qian's father was unusually nervous and asked Qian Xiaoru if her clothes fit her well.

The eldest sister-in-law of the Qian family said, "Isn't he just a businessman?"

Qian's father glared at her: "Don't talk for a while!" He explained to his wife and son, "His wife is a division commander. Even though the army was not very regular before liberation, it was as difficult for ordinary people to see the wife of a division commander as it was for ordinary people to see the county magistrate. Xiaoru also said that her father was a general. Such people were considered famous ladies in the past. Even if she is easy to talk to, she still has some rules."

Ye Fan had her hair tied up low today. She didn't wear the solemn black or flamboyant red. She wore plain clothes, looking gentle, virtuous and easy to get along with. Because she didn't wear high heels and was a little shorter than Qian's father, she gave people a very friendly feeling. Qian's father looked at his son-in-law and thought, "A lesbian who is suitable for family and family is doing business like this? I must be mistaken."

(End of this chapter)