Starting a new chapter in life

Dong Haibo walked up to Gong Qijia and patted his head impatiently: "You brat, you blurt out everything. Doesn't your dad have any dignity?"

Gong Qijia stuck out her tongue at him and ran to Chen Xinyue's side: "Mom, Dad is pressing my head down, I'm not going to grow taller."

The adults were amused by him. He grilled a bunch of skewers, leaving the ones for Gong Qi's family to eat without chili, while sprinkling a layer of chili on everyone else's. The three men put the liquor bottle at their feet, holding a skewer in one hand and a liquor glass in the other, eating and drinking with great enjoyment.

After finishing the barbecue, everyone helped clean up, putting the iron skewers back into the bucket and carrying them to the kitchen. The other utensils were also put back in their places, and the charcoal ash in front of the backyard gate was swept away. Then Chen Xinyue's family prepared to go home.

Jingyan took a piece of kraft paper and placed it in the basket where they had brought the gifts. She then picked out six strings of candied hawthorns from the storeroom and put them in. She turned around and handed them to Chen Xinyue: "Take these back for the children to eat."

Chen Xinyue didn't stand on ceremony and casually took it, saying, "Then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

Gong Haibo also expressed his gratitude: "The meal was very sumptuous today, thank you for your hospitality. We will visit each other often in the future."

After seeing them off, He Zhijun locked the gate and went back to the kitchen to clean the iron skewers. Battalion Commander Gao went to the barn and brought back a basket of coal to boil some hot water. In the dead of winter, no matter how warm the house was, you couldn't wash dishes with cold water. Seeing that the two of them worked together very well, Jing Yan didn't interfere much. She poured water from the thermos, washed herself, and went to sleep. She was really tired today.

Holiday days are leisurely. After the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Battalion Commander Gao insisted on returning to the barracks. He Zhijun thought that the New Year was almost over, so if he wanted to go back, let him go. He would just bring him back for meals whenever he wanted.

So He Zhijun escorted Battalion Commander Gao back. Of course, he also packed some fried radish meatballs, fried dough twists, peanuts and other snacks for him to take back and eat. But when he returned, he brought back a money order.

Jing Yan took the remittance slip and checked the date. It was sent from Yangzhou before the Lunar New Year. Because He Zhijun had gone home and hadn't been in the army, she hadn't received the remittance slip. As for the amount, it was three hundred again.

“Zhijun, our families gave us a betrothal gift when we got married, and they also gave us a resettlement fee when we moved here. So what about this money?” Jingyan felt that this money was a bit too much to handle.

He Zhijun didn't know what to do either. "Let's go to the post office tomorrow and call my mother's workplace to ask."

"Doesn't your mother's hospital take a holiday during the Spring Festival? We don't officially start work until after the Lantern Festival. There are only a few people on duty during the Spring Festival."

"Even during the Spring Festival, hospitals in Yangzhou only have intermittent holidays; they don't give all staff a break. By the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, they've already returned to normal. Let's go there early tomorrow; she shouldn't be too busy then and can answer the phone."

The next morning, Jingyan and He Zhijun dressed warmly and trudged through the deep snow to the post office. The post office telephone window was open, but no one came to make a call. These days, telephone charges were exorbitant, billed by the minute. Generally, no one wanted to waste money on such a trivial matter unless it was life-threatening. Well, even if it was life-threatening, most people would still choose telegram over telephone.

Moreover, apart from government agencies and other public institutions, ordinary households simply didn't qualify for telephones, so telephone penetration was very low. When He Zhijun said he wanted to make a call, everyone in the post office looked at him.

At this moment, he was undoubtedly the center of attention, if not the focus of everyone's gaze. Even someone as oblivious as him couldn't withstand the barrage of stares. After receiving permission, he hurriedly rushed to the phone, leaving all the gazes behind, adopting an ostrich mentality of "if I can't see it, I don't know it."

After calming down, the call finally connected to Yangshi Military Hospital after several transfers. I told the operator that I was looking for head nurse Cui Hongru and asked her to call her back in ten minutes. Then the call was disconnected. I didn't get to say anything to the person in question; three minutes had passed.

Jingyan watched the time on her watch, feeling a real pang of heartache. She only had a little over a hundred yuan left, which was already running out. She was already considering whether to postpone buying a bicycle. She didn't receive her grain rations very often, and carrying them home herself wouldn't be a problem. She had been living too comfortably and didn't seem to want to endure even a little hardship. No, this kind of thinking was unacceptable. For the first time, Jingyan reflected on her extravagant spending.

Ten minutes later, He Zhijun dialed the number again. After several transfers, he was finally connected to Yangzhou Military Hospital. The call was answered immediately, and Cui Hongru's voice came from the other end: "Is this Zhijun? Is something wrong that you're calling about?"

Cui Hongru asked somewhat urgently. There was no other way; only her youngest son was out there, and at this time, the only person she could think of who had come from the Great Northern Wilderness was him.

He Zhijun quickly replied, "Nothing happened. I just received the remittance slip today and I don't understand why they suddenly transferred money to me, so I thought I'd ask. Writing a letter is too slow, a phone call is faster."

Hearing this, Cui Hongru finally felt relieved, and her tone returned to calm: "Oh, you're asking about that? This money wasn't given by us. It's from your uncle, the one in the Northwest Military Region. We haven't seen him for several years. This year, his family finally had a vacation and could come back to visit."

He came to visit before the Lunar New Year and heard that you had just gotten married. He felt it was a pity he missed your wedding. He had given two hundred yuan as a wedding gift when your older brother got married, and he couldn't leave without giving something for your wedding, so he left three hundred yuan for me to send to you.

"Mom, isn't this a bit inappropriate? I remember their children are all married already. How are we going to return this gift later? Should we just return it?" He Zhijun said helplessly.

Cui Hongru said, "No need. When his child got married, your father also gave a gift of money, which was quite a lot at that time. We didn't gain any advantage from these social interactions. Keep the money you're given to you. Jingyan hasn't been working since you got married. She's been moving and buying property. Your money must be running out, right? You're not the kind of person who can save money."

Tell Jingyan to eat and drink as she pleases. As long as you two aren't suffering over there, money is money, and our family won't lack your allowance. Your father and I have also saved some money for you two brothers. Tell her not to worry. If she needs more money, just write to us. Don't be shy.

Okay, now that you've asked, hang up. Phone calls are ridiculously expensive; you could buy two pounds of meat with that money. Just write back often to let us know how you're doing. Your dad and I are doing fine, don't worry. That's all.

The phone slammed down as soon as she finished speaking, leaving He Zhijun standing there dumbfounded, holding the receiver, looking somewhat lost. Jing Yan, seeing his expression, went over to him with concern: "What's wrong? What did Mom say?"

He Zhijun realized what was happening, quickly hung up the phone, and asked the window, "Comrade, how much is it in total?"

The man glanced at the phone timer: "Three minutes the first time, ten minutes the second time, 52 cents in total."

Jingyan opened her wallet, handed over the money, and after receiving the receipt, He Zhijun pulled her to the counter with the remittance slip to withdraw the money, explaining the source of the money to her as they walked.

Knowing that it was given by his uncle and that it had been formally acknowledged by his parents, Jingyan didn't say anything. However, when he handed over the money, she asked, "Should we get some local specialties or something and send them to your uncle?"

"Whether to send it or not, I'll ask my mom. My brother and I aren't very close to my uncle's kids because we live too far away. Since we're not together, our relationship isn't very deep. But my dad and uncle are close, so even if we have something good, we'll let my parents handle it. We younger generation don't need to get involved."

On the way back, Jingyan discussed with him: "I was originally thinking of buying a bicycle, but today I suddenly felt that I shouldn't have. Why don't we just not buy it? The commute to work is short, and we can walk. There's really no need to get one. It won't be easy to take it with us when we leave."

He Zhijun looked at her in surprise: "Why don't you buy it? Putting aside whether it's convenient for you to commute to and from work, just take the monthly grain rations, which weigh sixty or seventy pounds. Carrying that all the way is not easy. On the days when you collect your grain rations, I can't go home to help you at all. Having a bicycle would save a lot of effort. We still have to buy this. We can't skimp on it."

“But Mom said we’ll only be here for three years at most. If we leave, it won’t be easy to take care of the family, and it might not be easy to resell them. I really don’t think it’s necessary,” Jingyan said, still trying her best to persuade her.

“That’s three years from now. If all else fails, we can use the railway. I was originally thinking of taking this dressing table we bought with us, and adding a bicycle wouldn’t be a problem either,” He Zhijun said, explaining his plans. Jing Yan’s eyes widened. “Is this what family differences are like? I’m thinking about how to save money, and you’re thinking about how to live well.”

He Zhijun patted her head: "Sweetie, it's not shameful to live off your parents. If we have the means, we can't waste it. Wasting is shameful."

Jingyan looked at him again and gave him a thumbs up: "You're awesome!"

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, He Zhijun returned to his unit early in the morning. Jingyan was alone at home and became lazy and unwilling to cook again. She cut some pork, chopped it up, and made pork sauce with dried chili peppers, soy sauce, and other ingredients. Usually, she would just cook some noodles and mix them with some pork sauce to make a meal.

Occasionally, on a particularly productive day—when I'm craving something—I'll take a few bones, scoop out two heads of pickled cabbage from the jar, and stew a big pot of pickled cabbage and pork ribs. Add a side of hot and sour shredded potatoes, and two dishes with rice make a very satisfying meal.

If we hadn't run out of soybean paste at home, we could have made even more kinds of lazy meals. Sometimes I'd see the leftover hot pot base in the kitchen and crave hot pot, but unfortunately, my knife skills are really bad, and I can't slice lamb well. I'm thinking of asking He Zhijun to slice more lamb when he comes back, so I can eat it whenever I want, how free that would be.

Before she knew it, it was the end of February. One day, Jingyan suddenly had a whim and made some lamb bone and radish soup. She made dumplings with sauerkraut and pork filling. After eating her fill, she threw the remaining uncooked dumplings into the flour jar in the storeroom. As for the lamb soup, she put it on the fire to simmer, planning to cook lamb soup noodles in the evening.

Just as she finished tidying up, the doorbell rang. When she got to the front door, she saw He Chunni, whose face was red from the cold. She quickly opened the door and welcomed her in: "Sister He, what brings you here at this hour? Is something the matter?" She didn't see the cart that He Chunni always brought, so she guessed that she probably wasn't here to sell anything.

He Chunni was pulled into the house, and the warm temperature helped her warm up in no time: "Hey girl, do you have any hot water for me? I want to drink some to warm myself up."

Jingyan was about to pour some water when she suddenly remembered that there was still mutton soup simmering in the kitchen. She asked, "Sister He, I just made some mutton bone soup today. It's still warming up on the stove. Let me serve you some. There are ginger slices in it, which will help you get rid of the cold."

He Chunni was a little embarrassed: "This is not appropriate. I'll just drink water. You can keep the mutton soup; it's quite a precious thing."

Jingyan understood her thoughts, as she herself had once calculated her days in the same way. She said, "It's just a little soup, it's just a matter of adding two more bowls of water. You wait."

He went to the kitchen, took a large bowl, ladled in several large spoonfuls of soup, added three or four slices of mutton, a piece of mutton bone, and a few pieces of radish. He took a pair of chopsticks and went back to the living room, placed the bowl and chopsticks on the living room table, and said to He Chunni, "Sister He, come, have some hot soup to warm up."

Seeing that He Chunni hadn't moved, he went up to her, pulled her over, and made her sit on the stool: "Oh, don't be so polite with me. We've dealt with each other more than once or twice. Why are you being so formal? Didn't you say you'd take me mushroom picking in the mountains during the Spring and Autumn Period? It's just a bowl of soup. Are you going to refuse me?"

He Chunni was drawn in by the aroma of the mutton soup, and finally picked up the bowl and took a sip. A surge of heat rushed into her lungs, she shivered, and most of the chill in her body dissipated.

While eating, she explained her purpose to Jingyan: "Originally, I didn't want to come this time. It's just that our team leader's mother hasn't been in good health since winter. Her three children are all very filial and have been very attentive to finding medical treatment, but no matter how filial they are, they can't do without enough money. Just a couple of days ago, they ran out of medicine."

His second younger brother used to be stationed on the border in Jilin. A few years ago, he transferred back and started working at the municipal public security bureau. This time, his mother's illness became too serious, so he took out the old ginseng he had brought back from there and wanted to sell it.

But these days, people are lucky to have enough to eat and drink. Who can afford such expensive medicinal herbs? Yes, there are families who aren't short of money, but we're just ordinary folks who don't know any. The whole company is trying to find a solution, but after two days of searching, we haven't found anyone willing to pay. Everyone thinks it's too expensive. I'm at my wit's end. I was thinking that your neighbor seems to be well-off, so I was wondering if you could ask him if he'd like to buy them.

"Did you bring anything with you? How many do you have, and what price are you looking to sell them for?"

He Chunni quickly took out the wooden box she had been carrying. When she opened it, three ginseng roots were tied to the velvet inside the box. They were crooked and didn't look very big.