Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"The nurse is called Zhou Yaoyao, and her family is from the commune. Her father works at the towel factory, and her mother works in the commune canteen. She has a younger brother and a younger sister, both still in school—whether they're in junior high or grade school, I don't know," Shen Banyue said with a smile on the dirt road outside the commune.

Shen Guoqing felt his face grow hot under the little girl's gaze. He made a show of ruffling her hair, only making his embarrassment more apparent. "What's a kid like you doing nosing into such things?"

Shen Banyue gave him a sidelong look. "I thought someone might want to know, so I just asked casually."

"Someone" touched the tip of his nose and didn't say a word.

Wang Guizhi shook her head with a chuckle. "You kids are really something—wise beyond your years."

Before leaving the health clinic, Nurse Zhou had given her a few instructions about the medication. In that short time, these three kids—well, mainly Xiao Yue and Lin Mian—had managed to ask another nurse about Nurse Zhou's personal situation. Who knows how they managed it, but they actually got the information.

Her own son was perfectly fine, of course, but his circumstances really couldn't compare to Nurse Zhou's. Not only did she have a job herself, but both her parents had state jobs. As the old saying goes, "Matches should be of equal social standing." With her conditions, she would naturally look for a partner who also had a job.

Wang Guizhi didn't say much more. This went without saying; Shen Guoqing understood it himself. Instead, she asked Liao Chengze when he was returning to the army.

Liao Chengze had bought quite a few things from the supply and marketing cooperative, filling a net bag to the brim. He had roughly understood the gist of the earlier conversation between Shen Banyue and Shen Guoqing. He didn't comment, but gave Shen Guoqing a thoughtful, appraising look before saying, "I originally took two months of home leave. With nothing left for me to do here now, I plan to cancel my leave and report back next week."

Over the past few years, every time he tried to take leave to come home, something always came up at the last minute. This time, he had intended to use all his accumulated leave to spend time properly with his daughter and mother... Now, of course, there was no need to stay any longer.

Shen Banyue had a pretty good impression of Liao Chengze. Strictly speaking, she had been part of the military in her previous life. The steely, military-honed demeanor about him felt very familiar and congenial to her.

At the same time, she felt he'd had such a raw deal and couldn't help sounding him out—what was he still doing hanging around at home?

After something like this happened, shouldn't he have left Fengshan Brigade and returned to his unit long ago?

Liao Chengze imitated Shen Guoqing and ruffled Shen Banyue's hair. "You little girl really are something." Meeting Xiao Dizi's curious gaze, he couldn't resist giving the little kid's head a rub too before answering, "I've sent quite a bit of money and ration coupons home over the years. I need to settle accounts with them and, while I'm at it, divide the household." He didn't brush off the question just because it came from a child.

Shen Banyue frowned and ran her fingers through her hair a few times.

These people, always taking advantage of their height to mess up her hair. Her hair was thick and fluffy, and her hair-styling skills were rather lacking, so her usual ponytail was already a tousled mess. After their ruffling, it was definitely even more disheveled.

Seeing her like this, Liao Chengze chuckled. A moment later, he sighed and said in a lowered voice, almost as if talking to himself, "I have to give them a hard time, otherwise I won't be able to get this anger out of my system."

Shen Banyue glanced at him and patted the back of his hand—this was due to height limitations; she couldn't reach his shoulder—saying with an air of profound wisdom, "As the old saying goes, 'When you hit rock bottom, the only way is up.' Things will get better in the future."

Liao Chengze was taken aback, then laughed. "Alright, I'll take your kind words."

Shen Banyue: "Of course you should."

Actually, she was still a bit curious about how he was giving his family a hard time, but obviously, asking further wouldn't be appropriate.

As they talked, they reached a fork in the road. Liao Chengze shoved the net bag into Lin Mian's hands, saying, "Everything in here is for you kids. Since there are seven of you together, share it."

The net bag was quite heavy; Lin Mian almost couldn't hold it. Shen Banyue simply took it over and said straightforwardly, "Thank you, Uncle Liao."

Xiao Dizi immediately followed with a sweet smile, saying in a milky voice, "Thank you, Uncle Wiao!"

Liao Chengze smiled. "You're welcome."

His gaze lingered on Xiao Dizi's fair, tender little face for a while. Wang Guizhi, watching from the side, sighed inwardly and extended an invitation: "Since you're not leaving until next week, if you have time in the next few days, come over to our place for a visit. I see these kids all like you quite a bit."

Liao Chengze agreed readily: "Alright, then I'll definitely come over in a couple of days."

__

With the trip to the commune and the clinic, plus walking slowly on the way back, by the time they returned to the village, it was almost dark.

Xiao Zhuzi and the other kids had been taking their baskets to dig for bamboo shoots behind the cowshed as soon as school let out recently. Today, however, they were all squatting under the big camphor tree, playing with pebbles while waiting for them.

Finally seeing them return, the little boys cheered and rushed up, chattering and asking what Shen Banyue and the others had bought. It had been agreed beforehand that they would bring back some treats from the commune for them.

Shen Guoqing ruffled Xiao Jie's head. "We'll look when we get home, when we get home! Aren't you guys hungry? I'm starving."

Xiao Wei smiled shyly and said, "An auntie just gave us a piece of flatbread a little while ago."

The aunties and older sisters who had been under the big camphor tree had long gone home to cook. After the kids described her for a while, Wang Guizhi and Shen Guoqing finally matched the kind auntie who had given them the flatbread to a person—it was Auntie Xu, who lived next door to Old Liu the pot mender.

Leading the group of children home, as soon as they entered the courtyard, Shen Guoqing let out an "Oh!"

Smoke curled from the chimney on the kitchen roof, and the aroma of vegetable rice wafted through the yard. He put down his things and leaned in to look inside the kitchen. Well, his father had actually already started cooking.

The old man usually didn't bother with cooking.

Of course, in the past, besides his mother, there was also Hu Huaihua to handle the cooking, so it never fell to his "esteemed self" to do it.

They had brought braised pork and some leftover dishes back from the commune, which went perfectly with the vegetable rice.

Seeing the braised pork, the kids erupted into another chorus of "Wow!" Xiao Shitou even said, "I've never eaten this well in my life! Lately, we've been able to eat fish and meat often!"

Wang Guizhi was delighted and said offhandedly, "You've got a long life ahead of you. You'll definitely get to eat even more fish and meat in the future."

Xiao Shitou nodded seriously. "As long as we follow Sister Yue, we'll get to eat lots and lots of fish and meat."

This sentiment resonated with Xiao Jie, Xiao Wei, and Xiao Zhuzi. The three little rascals nodded emphatically and chorused in unison: "Follow Sister Yue, and you'll have fish, meat, and even wine!"

Shen Banyue: "..."

No need to ask; that line was definitely learned from that little rascal Zhao Xuehai.

Shen Guoqing couldn't help but tease: "Fish and meat, fine, but where's the wine coming from?"

The three little rascals chorused once more: "We'll have it in the future!"

Shen Banyue: "..."

It's so hard to learn good things, but picking up bad habits happens in a flash.

Soon, however, the kids were too busy eating to keep up the banter, each one slurping down their food noisily.

After the meal, while Xiao Jie and Xiao Wei took the bowls and plates to wash, Wang Guizhi pulled Xiao Zhuzi in front of her and asked, "Last time, when the police uncle asked you what the commune and brigade were called, how did you answer?"

Xiao Zhuzi blinked and said, "Mountains, all mountains."

Wang Guizhi nodded and asked patiently, "Is the commune called Jishan Commune, and the brigade called Shuangshan Brigade?" There are countless brigades across the country with names containing "mountain" or something similar. Just in this Jishan Commune, there are said to be several brigades with names like "Something Mountain."

When taking the statement, the police officer had been completely baffled by Xiao Zhuzi's answer. It wasn't until they checked Jishan Commune's Shuangshan Brigade that they had a sudden realization—of course they were all "mountains": the commune was "Auspicious Mountain," and the brigade was "Two Mountains." All mountains.

Xiao Zhuzi tilted his head and thought for a moment, looking uncertain, but still nodded. "Seems like it."

Wang Guizhi breathed an inward sigh of relief and asked, "Then what's your full name? What is it?"

Xiao Zhuzi answered: "All, Quan, wood wood, Bin."

Wang Guizhi: "..."

Shen Banyue, who was eavesdropping openly and without shame: "..."

So much for Xiao Zhuzi not giving a clear idea of his full name. Wasn't he stating it clearly? "All" for Quan, "Bin" with two woods. The only thing was he omitted two "de" particles. Plus, the surname Quan is so rare that the person recording probably never even considered it, thinking he was just being unclear and talking nonsense.

Then again, you can't really blame the person who wrote that down. After all, if you just took that sentence out of context, anyone hearing it would probably think the kid was talking nonsense.

So they really did find his family after all.

Wang Guizhi gave his head a pat. "Alright, our Xiao Zhuzi is really amazing. Off you go to play." She didn't mention finding his family yet since the people hadn't arrived. Who knows how it'll actually turn out? Telling him now would just make the child anxious needlessly. If something went wrong in the meantime, it might even get his hopes up for nothing.

She told them to go play, but instead, the children dug out the bamboo shoots they had gathered after school at noon from a corner, brought out a few small stools, sat in a circle, and started peeling them seriously.

Xiao Zhuzi, a true child of the bamboo hills, was a pro at digging up shoots even at his age. Lately, the group of children had been digging up quite a few shoots here and there. Each day's haul, aside from keeping a few fresh ones to eat, was peeled, blanched in water, and set out to dry.

Would you believe it, they had already dried a small basketful of bamboo shoots.

Even Shen Banyue had recently added "catching wild boar" as her third plan, right after catching rabbits and eels. Every time she saw these dried bamboo shoots, she couldn't help but miss the taste of stewed dried bamboo shoots with cured meat... Even now, the memory of that bowl of the old orphanage director's specialty still warmed her with its savory smell.

As the little ones were peeling the bamboo shoots, they suddenly fished out a bundle of wild vegetable leaves from the bottom of the basket. Xiao Shitou exclaimed "Oh no!", slapped his own bald forehead, and cried out, "I forgot about this!"

The others leaned in to look.

Xiao Shitou carefully peeled back the outer layers of wild vegetable leaves, revealing a small handful of bright red wild berries inside. Perhaps because some time had passed, they were slightly wilted.

"The bespectacled uncle from the cowshed gave them to me. I forgot about them." Xiao Shitou scratched his head, then cautiously glanced at Wang Guizhi, looking a bit guilty. It wasn't that he'd forgotten; he remembered Wang Guizhi's warning not to get too close to people.

Wang Guizhi leaned over for a look but didn't say anything. She just said, "They'll be too wilted to eat by tomorrow. Hurry up and share them."

The children broke into happy grins. These wild berries were very sweet.

It was still early, and the courtyard gate was half-open. Auntie Liu knocked twice and then pushed right in, quickly walking over to Wang Guizhi. She grabbed a small stool and plopped down.

"I went home and told my sister-in-law about what happened today. She said she'll have a good talk with folks in the brigade later." Auntie Liu sighed and said earnestly, "Guizhi, today's incident is on me. I apologize to you and Guoqing."

Wang Guizhi waved it off. "This isn't your fault. You've been married out for so many years, it's no wonder you don't know some things."

Auntie Liu slapped her thigh. "Exactly! Heck, even my sister-in-law's family didn't know, and we're practically related! Before, everyone just said Liu Dandan was pretty, educated, and careful in her work. We truly didn't know she had such high standards. Her family had only been talking about finding her a match, but they never actually settled on meeting anyone."

"They'd say they were looking, then turn around and say she was too young. People in the brigade originally thought it was the mother who was anxious and the father who was reluctant to let her go. Now, looking back, it wasn't reluctance at all. Clearly, they were dissatisfied with the conditions of the people introduced before."

Today's incident must have really rattled Auntie Liu. As soon as she sat down, she started chattering a mile a minute, her words filled with regret.

Shen Banyue shot a look at Wang Guizhi. Some things were hard for an adult to say, but a kid had no such filter.

"Grandma Liu, we ran into that older sister again later at the clinic. Someone introduced her to Doctor Ma there."

"What?!"

Auntie Liu's voice nearly cracked, her face a picture of shock and disbelief.

"But she wanted to be a nurse. She argued with the person who brought her and the nurse at the clinic, and then she left with her mother."

Shen Banyue very kindly described the whole story from beginning to end, making sure to serve the second-hand gossip clearly and completely.

Auntie Liu went from initial shock to gradual numbness, finally sighing, "What kind of mess is this!"

Shen Guoqing had just brought water inside to wash up. As soon as he came out, Auntie Liu grabbed him. "Guoqing, I'm really sorry about today. Don't worry, Auntie will definitely find you a good match."

"Oh, right, about that girl from the towel factory, I asked around again on my way back. That girl made it very clear. She said she's also a temporary worker and doesn't care if a man is a worker or not, as long as he's hardworking and capable, and willing to live a good life. I think this girl is really quite good. How about I invite her over to our house to play sometime, and you can meet her then?"

Shen Guoqing was holding a basin of washing water. She tugged at him, making the water slosh. He said helplessly, "Auntie, maybe let's talk about this again in a little while."

Auntie Liu thought he was just hurt by Tian Cuiqin and her daughter. She quickly said, "Alright, in a little while is fine too. Auntie will keep looking. If there's a suitable one, I'll tell you."

After Auntie Liu left, the children finished washing up and went back to their rooms. Shen Dechang stopped Shen Guoqing, who was heading to the outhouse, in the yard. "Why didn't it work out? Did the girl think the betrothal gifts weren't enough?"

When Auntie Liu was here, Shen Dechang was too embarrassed to go listen closely. He sat far away and only vaguely heard something about "dissatisfied with the conditions." In his mind, their house was well-built, and his son earned plenty of work points. If they were dissatisfied with the conditions, it could only be about the betrothal gifts.

Shen Dechang frowned deeply. "If it really doesn't work, maybe we can borrow some from your second brother first?"

Shen Guoqing, desperate to relieve himself, said bluntly, "They're just like your precious eldest son and daughter-in-law, eyeing Second Brother's job and belongings!" With that, he rushed out of the courtyard gate without looking back.

Shen Dechang stood where he was, his lips moving slightly. In the end, he only sighed, hunched his back, and walked towards his own room.

In the following days, the group of children continued their routine of going to school. Finally, it was Sunday. Early in the morning, Shen Banyue got up, pulling Xiao Dizi along with her.

Finally, no school today. She had made plans with Shen Wendong and Zhao Xuehai to go to the back mountain to raid rabbit burrows.

After she, bleary-eyed and groggy, got herself and Xiao Dizi ready, quickly ate breakfast, and was about to head out with Lin Mian, a sharp "screech" suddenly sounded outside the courtyard gate. She peeked out, and her eyes instantly widened.

Outside the gate, Liao Chengze was riding the luxury vehicle of the time—a "28-inch bicycle"—and had just squeezed the brakes to a stop.

Seeing Shen Banyue peeking out, he smiled. "Xiao Yue."

Shen Banyue pulled the courtyard gate open wider. First, she greeted him, "Good morning, Uncle Liao." Then, with a puzzled look, she asked, "Why are you so early?"

Liao Chengze rubbed the tip of his nose, a bit embarrassed. "I'm used to getting up early for morning training in the army. I figured since I had nothing else to do, I might as well come over early."

He glanced at the basket in Shen Banyue's hand. "Are you heading out?"

Shen Banyue nodded. "We're going to the back mountain to get rabbits."

Liao Chengze smiled. "How about I go with you? Don't worry, Uncle will definitely catch a few rabbits for you today."

Lin Mian was the first to object to this "boast." "Sister Yue can catch rabbits by herself."

Xiao Jie and the others, who were up but planning to go behind the cowshed because they were obsessed with digging bamboo shoots, chimed in from the yard, "That's right! Sister Yue can definitely catch lots and lots of rabbits!"

"We're going to have so many rabbits to eat today!"

"Xiao Yue the Hero is the best!"

Liao Chengze glanced into the yard and smiled. "Quite lively."

He thought for a moment and jokingly proposed, "Then let's have a competition. Let's see who catches more game today. If you win, Uncle will give you a reward later."

Shen Banyue happily accepted the challenge. "Okay!"

Liao Chengze raised an eyebrow, teasing her. "But if you lose, Uncle will want a reward from you too. Don't cry when the time comes and you don't want to give it."

Shen Banyue smiled sweetly. "Uncle, you're the one who shouldn't cry."