âMom, I donât need more clothes. Letâs exchange it to other tickets.â
Su Qinghe felt that she had enough clothes to wear. At this age, she could not wear colourful clothes, and the style of dresses was simple. There was no need to buy so much. She was not a person who was concerned with her image anyway.
Her passerby A image was very good. Very safe.
Gao Xiulan refused. She held the basket tighter and said, âHow could that be? My baby has to dress well and have new clothes. If our family were more capable, mom would make a new dress for you every month, so that people would be jealous of you. My daughter wears the best clothes and eats the best food. Who says that children without fathers have to be pitiful?â
Su Qinghe felt emotional when she heard this. She reached out to hold Gao Xiulanâs arm, âMom, youâre so good to me.â
âThatâs right! You are motherâs life, ah. When your father left, I was so sad. However, when I was pregnant with you, I felt that I could go on in the future.â
Su Qinghe said, âI know. Thatâs why mom named me Qinghe because you thought there was hope. There would be green seedlings in the fields and a bountiful harvest.â When the original owner was a child, she often listened to her motherâs stories, so she thought she was the hope of the whole familyâŠ
âThatâs right. Your name is so nice, it flashed into motherâs head so I chose this for you. Meanwhile, your elder brothersâ names were chosen by other people. Who let us be a martyrâs family, huh?â Gao Xiulan said proudly.
Su Qinghe appreciated her motherâs spirit, always being able to think of bad things positively. For example, her husband died while she was pregnant. She thought of the unborn child as her hope and not another burden. When her husband died, Gao Xiulan was still able to call him a martyr and was proud of it.
This kind of attitude was worth emulating. Say, despite being thrown into a barren period, at least she was with an occasionally stingy and generous system brother.
When they arrived at a county town, the workers should already be working, but there were still many people on the streets. They seemed to be idle women and children who had nothing to do at home.
âMom, whatâs the situation in town today?â
Gao Xiulan also didnât know, âWho knows what theyâre planning? I just wish they donât delay our business.â
âAttention, host. There are soldiers coming and going in front of you. The host can choose a partner from them.â A mechanical voice suddenly rang in her head.
Su Qinghe: ââŠâ Donât make it sound like Iâm an emperor choosing a concubine. Whatâs the point of choosing someone now? She was only sixteen! She was still one of the countryâs precious seedlings.
Several military trucks were moving across the street. The trucks were also tied with red silk and large red flowers. At first glance, they seem to be recruiting people.
No cloth was covering the top of the truck, and the soldiers huddled together in the truck had a big red flower in their chest. This caused a lot of people in the street to watch in excitement.
It turns out that, today, they were holding a ceremony to send off the recruits to enlist. These trucks filled with young men were on their way to major military bases, and some might even be there to go to the frontlines and guard the border.
Gao Xiulan also took her daughter to watch at the side. She was looking straight at their military uniforms, âQingmiaoâer, look at that material, it seems to be very sturdy.â
Su Qinghe did not pay attention to what her mother said. Her eyes were focused like laser lights on the people in the car.
At this time, military uniforms were still designed simply. However, it was still a uniform after all ah. If an average person wore it, the uniform could still increase their beauty points by three.
Su Qinghe looked at them seriously. En. Very sturdy. That other one, en. Very handsome. Then that one, although heâs dark, at least he looks buffâŠ
Aiyo, theyâre all excellent. All very good. Unfortunately, she can only take a look at them. She cannot have any other thoughts right now.
Suddenly, in the last truck, she saw a soldier brother leaning against the edge with his mouth pursed. His face was very pure and elegant. It was totally different from the heroic appearances of the other soldier brothers. Su Qinghe looked at him longer. As if sensing Su Qinghe looking at him, the man looked at her too.
A silly little girl.
She doesnât know how to stand or sit properly [1].
[1] not standing or sitting properly â a phrase used to describe someone behaving improperly.
They withdrew their eyes from each other.
The trucks soon drove past them. Gao Xiulan was watching it with great interest. When she saw that her daughter was still looking, she urged her daughter to leave, âDaughter, let me tell you, you might see these soldiers as honourable, but itâs difficult to be their wives, ah. Your husband will always be gone, so you have to handle everything on your own.â
Su Qinghe thought her words made sense; she even agreed with them. But what can she do? There was no way out, ah. This was her major mission⊠A fatal one, ah.
To her surprise, Gao Xiulanâs next sentence was, âHowever, if you want a soldier as your husband, I will still support you. If heâs not at home then you can live at your maternal home. Let me and your brothers take care of you. Itâs just like your life before marriage ah. Very good.â
Su Qinghe: ââŠâ
After the last military truck left the county town and the people could not see them anymore, everyone finally calmed down.
A dark-faced soldier brother was holding a sweet potato as he leaned against the side of the truck.
Sitting next to him was the handsome recruit that just looked at Su Qinghe. The other party heard this voice and snarled, âLi Xiaohui, are you looking for a fight?â
âHahaha, of course Iâm looking for a fight. See if you can beat me. Come, come, come. Iâll stand up and let you hit me.â Li Xiaohui laughed loudly.
Everyone in the compound knew that Gu Changâan, the third son of the Gu family, was cowardly. He was afraid of being tired and getting dirty. Gentle and delicate, not masculine at all. Anyway, he was supposed to attend school for his future, but it did not work out. His eyes were tired of reading. Thus, he threw away his books at home after finishing junior high school. The Gu familyâs old man was so angry that when he saw the people recruiting for the army, he immediately enlisted him and told him to go to the army.
Who knew what dogshit luck this guy had. He actually got selected without going through the backdoor. The reason for this was that Gu Changâan wasnât ugly⊠He heard one of the senior officers say that it was hard to look for those who were a bit nourished nowadays. Such talents should be recruited into the army. They had a good physical foundation, which means they could withstand hard training in the future.
For the first time, Li Xiaohui found out that having good looks also had its advantages.
âHey, Gu Changâan, why did you agree to go to the army? Werenât you unwilling to join?â
Gu Changâan leaned against the side of the truck, âAfter thinking about it, I decided to shed my blood for the motherland!â
Naturally, it was so that he could eat! His old man was determined not to support him!!
When the people around Gu Changâan heard his words, they looked at him excitedly. Comrade-in-arms, ah. What a high ideological awareness. A like-minded comrade-in-arms. Very good, ah!
Li Xiaohui didnât believe his nonsense. He sat down and pulled out his partnerâs photo.
He turned and said to Gu Changâan, âYou didnât even choose a partner before coming out here. It wonât be easy to find one in the future ah. When we come back, Iâll marry them and have a son.â
âIâll be devoting myself to the motherland, so I have no time to consider personal matters.â The point here is he doesnât want to try and find one to raise. He wants to find one that would raise him!
The others were touched by his words again. They came over to talk to Gu Changâan.
âHey, Comrade Changâan, which unit are you going to go to? Letâs keep in touch in the future. Just like you, we want to go to the borders and fight our enemies. We must learn from the old revolutionâââ
âCome, come, come. Letâs sing. Forward! Forward! Forward! Our army faces towards the sunâŠâ
ââŠWe are the sons of the workers and peasantsâŠ.â
Gu Changâan: ââŠâ I really want to go homeâŠ
Su Qinghe and Gao Xiulan stood at the black market for a while in the county town before finally exchanging their flour for tickets and money. The two ran away hurriedly as if they were rebels.
Gao Xiulan cheerfully went to the supply and marketing cooperative and got five meters of cotton for her daughter. This material can absorb sweat and is comfortable to wear on a hot day. The edges of the cloth can also be used to make undergarments.
Su Qinghe wanted to buy some for Gao Xiulan, too, âMom, please make one for yourself. I have enough clothes to wear. You know I have a lot of clothes.â
Gao Xiulanâs eyes reddened, âWhy is my Qingmiaoâer so filial? Even if mom doesnât wear it, sheâll be happy seeing you wear these clothes. I want to see my Qingmiaoâer dressed beautifully.â
Without saying another word, she stuffed the cloth for Su Qingheâs clothes inside the basket, âLetâs go home.â
Su Qinghe looked back at the supply and marketing cooperative. She knew that her mother was reluctant to buy cloth for herself⊠Forget it; sheâd better get the system; no, her dad, Comrade Su Dagen, to send some material.
Will her mother still not wear the fabric her dad gave her?
When they got home, the three Su brothers were already back from the fields. Gao Xiulan went to her room without showing what she had purchased to everyone else. Then, she came out with the fabric, âEldestâs wife, youâre good at sewing. Use this fabric to make a blouse for Qingmiaoâer to wear.â
Lin Shuhong looked at the cloth and then hurriedly wiped her hands before taking it from Gao Xiulan.
âThis fabric is really good.â I shouldnât be envious.
âDonât be jealous of what was gifted. In the future, when Qingmiaoâer doesnât want to wear these, you can have it. Youâll have one sooner or later.â
Everyone looked at the fabric more eagerly.
Yes, when younger sister doesnât want to wear it anymore, it will naturally go to them.
This dress must be made well.
Before it got too dark, Lin Shuhong started to work on the fabric. She used a lime pen to draw lines on the cloth. Ding Guihua was holding scissors next to her.
Su Qinghe watched them at the side, at a loss. This was more difficult than cooking!