Starting a new chapter in life

After Sister Liu and He Zhijun left, Jingyan said, "Fourth Sister, there's work to be done. I'll start a fire in the east room. Once it's warmer, you can come and clean. I'll put the kang mat on first."

"Carry the kang mat to the main room. I'll wipe it down first, then lay it out later. Don't just wipe the surface; the back must also be clean. You're so careless with your work," Jinghuan scolded her sister with a smile.

Jingyan didn't refute, but carried the kang mat that was standing in the corner on her shoulder and went back to the main room. Jinghuan shook her head and helplessly followed her younger sister.

The kang mat was placed on the brick floor of the main room. "Sister, you wash the kang mat, I'll go to the other room to start a fire first."

"Come back as soon as you start the fire. Once it's heated up, wipe down the furniture, lay out the kang mat, and then sweep the floor. Otherwise, wiping the furniture will make the floor dirty again," Jinghuan instructed. She knew that if she didn't remind her, her younger sister would definitely sweep the floor. For her sister, cleaning the house meant taking off the quilt covers and sweeping the floor; nothing else was considered cleaning.

"I understand, Fourth Sister. I'm just going to start the fire. I'll come back and help you once I've got it going."

Jinghuan first mopped the brick floor again, filled a basin with warm water, and started wiping the kang mat with a rag. Just as she started wiping, Jingyan came in. "Sister, the fire is lit. Let's wipe it together. I'll carry it over when we're done."

Working together is quick. After cleaning, Jingyan carried the mat directly to the east room, threw it onto the earthen bed, and the two sisters spread it out together. Then Jinghuan wiped the surface of the mat again. Jingyan saw that the water in the pot was boiling and prepared to go get the well.

"Jingyan, clean the water tank before you start working on the well. The water in the tank is for drinking, so we can't be careless."

"Ah? Oh, I see, Fourth Sister." Jingyan added some cold water to the pot before moving the water vat in the corner outside to wash it. This way, the wastewater could be poured directly into the yard. Although it would freeze, no one would step on it or slip.

After washing the vat and moving it back to the east room, Jinghuan had just cleaned the kang mat and casually checked the water vat. "Hmm, it's clean." But when she looked up and saw Jingyan's red hands, she couldn't help but scold her, "Couldn't you have used some hot water? Look how frozen your hands are."

"It's alright, it's alright, it won't be long, I'll warm up in a bit. I'll wear gloves to pump the well later, I won't get cold." Jing Yan casually rubbed her hands on her body, not really caring.

Jinghuan sighed helplessly and watched as Jingyan put on her gloves. She poured the hot water from the pot into a bucket, and Jingyan came out of the inner room, picked up the bucket, and went to the well in the yard to pump water. Jinghuan continued tidying up the house, while Jingyan filled the water vat. By noon, the vat was full. Jingyan put the lid on, cooked some sweet potato porridge, and stir-fried some shredded potatoes. That was her makeshift meal.

After He Zhijun left, he asked Sister Liu, "Comrade Zhang doesn't have a boyfriend, right? Battalion Commander Gao asked me before, and she didn't have one then."

"Battalion Commander Gao? Ah, you were the one who said you wanted to introduce Jingyan to someone last time? But Xiao He, it's not that Sister Liu is trying to discourage you, but Jingyan might not be willing to marry someone so far away. If our unit were to stay here long-term, it would be fine, since soldiers are quite competitive in the local area."

But we all know that in two years at most we'll be leaving to support local development. Your rank isn't high enough to allow your family to accompany you. What will happen to Jingyan then? She's capable, beautiful, and won't have trouble finding a husband locally.

“Sister Liu, I’ve inquired. Our next stop is the Great Northern Wilderness, which is near a village. If Comrade Zhang and I are a good match, she can rent a place with a local villager there and work as a temporary worker in the canteen. She’s already familiar with the place, so wouldn’t it be better if we were together?” He Zhijun revealed his plan.

Sister Liu looked at him carefully and solemnly: "Did your parents come here this time just to find a match?"

He Zhijun nodded: "Indeed, they wanted to stay in Hongxing Village so they could get to know her better. But it would be even more convenient to live next to her now. My parents are satisfied, so I'm going to confront her and try to settle down with her when our unit relocates."

"Fine, you decide your own affairs, but I won't offer you any help," Sister Liu stated firmly.

He Zhijun nodded, just as they arrived at the main gate of the military base: "Then I'll go to the county guesthouse first to talk to my parents about renting a house. Tomorrow, we'll go directly to Comrade Zhang's house. After they've settled in, I'll go back to the military base."

Sister Liu nodded and went straight into the military compound, while He Zhijun turned and headed towards the county town.

"Mom and Dad, I've found a place to rent. It's the Zhang family's house that I've been looking at. There are only two sisters living in the main house, and there are two empty rooms on the east and west sides. I've decided to reserve the two rooms in the east room for you, and we can move in tomorrow."

"Oh, why did you book directly with her?" Cui Hongru asked, somewhat surprised.

“When I went to the logistics department to inquire, I ran into Sister Liu from the canteen. When Sister Liu heard that you were coming to stay for a while, she recommended her place. I thought it was fate, so I went to take a look. Although the house was made of adobe, it was still very nice and the room was big, so I decided to stay there.”

"Wow, it seems we really are destined to meet. What time would be suitable for us to go tomorrow?"

"Around noon, the sisters said they would clean up the house today, and we can check out tomorrow morning."

"We still need to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy bedding and such tomorrow, let's leave early." Cui Hongru thought things through.

"Yes, she has bedding at home, and said you can use it if you don't mind. The sheets and duvet covers are all clean," He Zhijun added.

"Now that you've had close contact with her, do you still think she's the one you've chosen?" Cui Hongru asked again.

He Zhijun remembered something, his face turning slightly red: "She looks even better up close, though her feet are a bit big, but she's really tall, 1.72 meters, while I'm only 1.78 meters."

“Of course, tall people have bigger hands and feet. Otherwise, someone that tall with small feet wouldn’t be able to support themselves. But you only care about a girl’s face, which makes me very uneasy. What if you regret it later? That girl will suffer a lot.” Cui Hongru was somewhat worried.

Mr. He was quite open-minded: "No, no matter what he takes a fancy to, once Xiaojun likes it, he won't regret it. It's a military marriage. If he dares to be unfaithful, the army can punish him. We don't need to worry about that. The only question is whether the girl will like our son."

He Zhijun...

The next day, the He couple and He Zhijun went to Hongxing Village. When they arrived at Zhang's house, just as they were about to knock on the door, they saw her son push the door open. And surprisingly, the door actually opened.

"Comrade Zhang Jingyan, this is He Zhijun. I've brought my parents with me," He Zhijun called out from the courtyard.

Hearing the sound, Jinghuan and Jingyan put on their cotton-padded coats and came out. Jingyan smiled and said, "Comrade He is here. Auntie, Uncle, your room is over here." The two sisters went to greet him in the east room, and when they opened the door, a wave of heat hit them.

"This room is so warm," Cui Hongru exclaimed. "Although the guesthouse in the county is not cold, it's not as warm as this one."

Jing Yan smiled and said, "There's a boiler over there. As long as it's not cold, it's fine. In ordinary people's homes, there's a heated kang bed and a heated wall. Lighting a fire warms the whole house. Uncle and Aunt are not from the north, are they? Otherwise, they wouldn't find this warmth so precious."

“That’s right, we’re from Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. There’s not much snow there in winter, and freezing temperatures are rare,” Cui Hongru added.

Jingyan led the person into the east room: "The kitchen is right by the entrance. When my family was larger, the stove here was specifically for boiling water, since we needed to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed), so each room had its own kitchen. We'll bring you some bowls and chopsticks later, so you can cook for yourself."

The two inner rooms on either side are all ready. Please see how you'd like to stay, and how many beddings you'd like. We have some spare sheets and blankets; my fourth sister washed and put them away, so they're not dirty. You can use them if you don't mind.

Upon entering the inner room, a kang (a heated brick bed) took up half of the room, leaving the couple dumbfounded: "How come the bed is so big? How long is it?" Cui Hongru touched the kang mat with her hand, "It's so warm, how big must the bedding be?"

Jing Yan laughed upon hearing this: "The rooms in my house are all about the same size. This room is about thirteen or fourteen meters long, and the kang (heated brick bed) is also about thirteen or fourteen meters long. The bedding isn't very big. The kangs here are about two meters wide, and the mattresses are also two meters wide. At night, with two mattresses laid out, three or four people can sleep. The quilts are the same size as the mattresses, so there's plenty of room to sleep."

The couple exchanged a glance, and Mr. He said, "This is truly the first time I've ever seen anything like it. In our family, we all sleep in beds, and the largest beds are only about two meters wide, while the narrowest ones are less than a meter wide. This one is really quite impressive."

Jinghuan asked curiously, "Don't you need to burn firewood for warmth in winter?"

“Where we live, we can put a small stove inside to keep warm, and we have to leave the window slightly open when we sleep, otherwise we’re prone to charcoal poisoning,” Mr. He replied.

"Isn't it cold in the bed?" Jinghuan asked.

“We use an IV drip bottle wrapped in a cloth to hold hot water to warm the bed. It’s warmer outside than inside during the day,” Mr. He answered thoughtfully.

The couple sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), feeling the warmth beneath their bottoms, and couldn't help but exclaim, "So comfortable!"

Jing Yan smiled and said, "If you've worked all day and your back and waist are sore, you can sleep for a night and feel much better the next day. It's very relaxing. Since the fire is lit in the kitchen stove, there are no safety hazards. As long as you press down some coal ash at night, the heat can be maintained until the next morning. Here, as long as there is enough coal, it's very comfortable to hibernate in winter."

“Then we’d love to experience life here. By the way, can we eat with you? We can give you money for food and food coupons,” Cui Hongru asked.

Jingyan looked at Jinghuan and said, "My fourth sister does the cooking at my house, so you can ask her. I'll go and prepare the bedding for you. Two sets of bedding should be enough, right?"

Cui Hongru nodded quickly: "It's enough, it's enough. I didn't know the houses here were like this before. If I had known, one room would have been enough. But we've taken this house on the east side. Even if we don't use it, we still have to pay the rent. But we've never used a stove like this before, so we'll have to trouble you to teach us."

“No problem, my fourth sister can teach you. I’ll go get the bedding.” Jingyan went back to the main room and found two sets of bedding. She also took out a bed sheet from the wardrobe, picked it up casually, and went to the east room. She put the bedding on the kang (a heated brick bed). “Take a look at these and see if they’re okay. If you’re not satisfied with any of them, I’ll change them for you.”

The He couple were about to lay out the mattress when Jinghuan pulled Jingyan aside: "Auntie just said she'd eat three meals a day with us, give us thirty yuan a month for food, plus twenty jin of national grain coupons, ten jin of oil coupons, and ten jin of meat coupons. Little sister, this price is too high, can we accept it?"

Jingyan patted her hand: "Don't worry, I'll ask them about their requirements for food later. If they don't have such high requirements, twenty yuan a month is enough. Thirty yuan is the salary of a regular worker, which can support a family of three or four."

Watching the three of them lay out their mattresses, Jingyan reminded them, "Auntie, the head of the heated kang is the hottest part, so don't sleep there tonight, it'll be too hot. The mattress should be about half a meter away from the head of the kang." After saying that, she helped them move the mattress to the end of the kang.

"Uncle and Aunt, my fourth sister said you give me thirty yuan a month for food and provide ration coupons. Do you have any requirements for the food?"

He Jiaoxu asked with some confusion, "Three meals a day is fine, are there any other requirements?"

Jingyan thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, it's like this. A worker here only earns 32 yuan a month, which is enough to support a family of three. If things are tighter, it can support a family of five. At the price you gave, we can have a meat dish for lunch and dinner every day. If we just live a normal life and eat meat every three or four days, 20 yuan a month is enough."

Cui Hongru laughed: "Why are you so honest, child? Who would complain about having too much money? We're not picky eaters. Thirty yuan a month, any leftovers are your profit, right?"

Jingyan shook her head: "Life is much better now. The rent for this house is already quite expensive, but we can help you with the cooking, so charging a little more is understandable. But not the food. One thing at a time. Considering our living standards, charging you twenty yuan is already quite a lot. Besides, we also need the tickets you give us, because we are really short of tickets."

Jing Huan quickly took out a ten-yuan note from his hand and handed it to Cui Hongru.

Looking at the money in her hand, Cui Hongru smiled even more sincerely: "Okay, twenty yuan it is. We'll team up with you two sisters."

He Zhijun frowned: "Comrade Zhang, I remember that your village has a ration of coal for winter. Is your family's supply enough? If not, I can apply for some from the army's logistics department."

"No need, no need. I bought ten tons of coal from the military this year. That's enough for next year too," Jing Yan quickly refused.