CH 36

The journey was tiring but He Xiaoyun slept peacefully tonight. When she woke up, it was already bright, and the light came in through the small window near the corridor.

He Xiaoyun sat up while holding the quilt, after a few seconds of dazing, her consciousness gradually returned to normal, remembering where she was now.

Xiaoyun looked at the person next to her, Wei Yuanhang was still asleep, and Wei Jianwei had already gotten up and wasn't in the room. 

The door creaked and Wei Jianwei walked in. He had finished dressing, and he was holding hot water in one hand and two lunchboxes in the other.

He Xiaoyun was now completely awake, and quickly got up to clean up herself, "Is it very late?"

"It's not too late." Wei Jianwei answered.

In fact, after getting up in the morning, he had already gone to the camp to see how the new recruits were performing exercises. Then he had gone to the army canteen and came back with breakfast.

He Xiaoyun dug Wei Yuanhang out of the bed, she washed and dressed him, while Wei Jianwei laid out the breakfast he had brought back.

The child was still a little confused, without opening his eyes, he said to his mother: "Mom, I dreamt that we're going to find Dad..."

He Xiaoyun was amused, "We have found your Dad, are you still asleep?"

After washing his face, Wei Yuanhang woke up completely, hopping back and forth in his new "home". Taking a look here and there

For breakfast, they have white porridge and corn steamed buns with a few pickles.

He Xiaoyun learned about things last night. The bathroom here is shared. There's also a kitchen outside that can be used by everyone.

He Xiaoyun calculated that they had to cook food by themselves at noon.

"Is there a market nearby?" She asked Wei Jianwei.

"Yes," Wei Jianwei nodded, he stood up and took out a few things from the drawer, and gave it to her. The things included the account book, various tickets, and money, "The sister who came last night will accompany you later, I have something to do in the camp in the morning."

"You're busy with your matters, don't worry about me." He Xiaoyun flipped through the account book curiously, then remembered something and asked: "Is the sister you mentioned last night that sister?"

"Yes, her surname is Xu."

He Xiaoyun hurriedly said: "Oh, then I have to hurry up, I can't let other people wait for too long."

As soon as her voice fell, someone knocked on the door outside, "Sister, are you up?"

Wei Jianwei went to open the door, and He Xiaoyun also stood up.

"Old Wei is here? I thought you were in the camp and wanted to call your family to go to my place for breakfast."

The woman who came was about 30 years old, with short hair and a full smile. She looked very capable. She saw He Xiaoyun standing at the table, she walked a few steps and praised her at a glance. 

"This is your wife, right? She looks so beautiful! No wonder Old Wei devoted himself to business affairs and didn't even look at the beauties here. It turns out that there is such a beautiful wife in the family!"

He Xiaoyun smiled shyly, "Thanking sister Xu for the compliments. I came too late yesterday and didn't come to visit. I had eaten your meal for nothing."

"What are you so polite?" Xu Lanxiang waved her hand. "Your old Wei, Lao Wang, and Lao Lin are all brothers. In the future, our two families will live together, so why don’t we get closer? You’ve just arrived here, If there is anything you don’t understand, just ask me."

He Xiaoyun nodded, exchanged a few words with her, and then asked Wei Yuanhang to come.

Xu Lanxiang took out a piece of candy from her pocket, "You and Lao Wei look good, and your baby son is handsome. Isn't this Xiaoyuan? Come, I have candy here."

Wei Yuanhang looked at her, then at He Xiaoyun, when he saw his mother nod, he took it, "Thank you, auntie."

"Really good." Xu Lanxiang couldn't help but say, "My monkeys at home isn't these polite." (She meant her children)

Lanxiang had originally planned to ask He Xiaoyun to eat. Seeing that they were already eating, and there were still a few children in her family not eating, she made an appointment with He Xiaoyun to go out for a while and went back soon.

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After breakfast, Wei Jianwei had to return to the camp, he walked to the door, remembered something, and asked her: "I will come back from the cafeteria for lunch at noon, what do you want to eat?"

He Xiaoyun walked over and said with a smile: "I was just about to ask you. I will go to the market with sister Xu in a moment to buy some food and cook for ourselves. Can you come back to eat later? What do you want to eat?"

"You won't rest more?" Wei Jianwei asked.

"No," He Xiaoyun shook her head, and stretched out her hands and feet to show him, "I slept well last night, I feel energetic now."

Wei Jianwei conveniently said: "If you look at it, there are fewer people, so you can cook less."

"There are fewer people, but you two people have a lot of appetites." He Xiaoyun teased. (Xiaoyun meant Jianwei and Yuanhang)

Wei Jianwei also smiled.

"Then... will you come back early at noon?" He Xiaoyun was reluctant to give up.

Xiaoyun understands very well that this person will come back soon. There's really no need to be sticky to him, but after all, in a strange place, there's only one familiar person in front of her, so, inevitably, she was emotionally attached to him. 

"Yeah." Wei Jianwei nodded but did not step out, "If you're bored, you can walk around here but don't go too far. There's a bookstore not far from the market, and next door is a department store. Take a  tram back and forth—"

Before he could finish his explanation, someone interrupted with a smile: "I've been watching you two for a long time. If you continue to rant, the sun will be down. Old Wei, you can go to the camp with peace of mind. Your wife has me."

The two turned their heads at the same time and saw Xu Lanxiang standing at the door of the next room, they didn't know how much had she heard.

He Xiaoyun's face was a little red, and she quickly changed the subject with Wei Yuanhang: "Xiaoyuan, say goodbye to Dad."

Wei Yuanhang ran over, tilted his head, and waved, "Goodbye, Dad."

Wei Jianwei gave a hum, looked at the two of them again, nodded at Xu Lanxiang, and left.

Xu Lanxiang also held a four or five-year-old boy in her arms and walked over with a smile: "I have never seen Lao Wei look like that. Today, you opened my eyes sister Xiaoyun. If I told Lao Wang about this, he won't believe it."

He Xiaoyun was slightly embarrassed, seeing the boy next to her, she asked: "Is this the youngest child of sister Xu?"

"Yes, there's an elder sister and an elder brother above him. They have all gone to school. I will send him away in two years and I will be free. Xiao Rong, why don't you introduce yourself?"

While the adults were talking, the two little guys had looked at each other for a long time. After a while, the older one spoke first, "My name is Wang Derong, who are you?"

"My name is Wei Yuanhang."

"Wei Yuan? Your name is really strange."

"It's Wei Yuanhang! My mother said it was... lofty ambitions! I will be a promising person in the future!" Wei Yuanhang puffed his chest. Although he neither knows what it means to be tall and ambitious nor does he understand what it means to be outstanding, it does not hinder his contempt for others.

"Oh..." Wang Derong scratched his head and didn't understand. "Then do you have a slingshot?"

"What slingshot?"

Now, it was Wang Derong's turn to puff up, "My father made it for me, and my brother knocked a bird off with a swish."

"Can you use it?" Wei Yuanhang hit the nail on the head.

"I...I don't know how to do it now, but I will be soon! You can borrow it to play."

As soon as the little kid heard it, he immediately put away the despised expression just now and talked with his new friend.

He Xiaoyun packed up, and Xu Lanxiang led the child out of the house.

As Wei Jianwei said, she has to take a tram to the market. The sky was dark yesterday, so she didn’t have time to look around. Today, He Xiaoyun felt that the excitement and prosperity of the capital are beyond comparison in the small county town of their hometown.

After getting out of the car, He Xiaoyun held Wei Yuanhang's hand tightly and explained that he could not run around. The child was already dazzled to see many things, if it weren't for being dragged away by his mother, he would have rushed to the crowd.

In the morning, there were many people and children outside. He Xiaoyun didn’t want to hang out. Under Xu Lanxiang’s guidance, she bought all the things she wanted, only food such as rice and noodles. Because it was too heavy, she only bought enough to eat in a few days.

Xu Lanxiang also bought some dishes and said to her on the way back: "There will be a market the day after tomorrow. The farmers in the suburbs will sell the vegetables they grow. They are fresher than the ones on the market. If you are interested, I will call you at that time."

"Okay, thanks to my sister Xu's help in the past two days, I will invite you to come home for dinner when we are settled." He Xiaoyun said.

This is not a polite remark. When Xioayun ate the meal delivered by Xu Lanxiang last night, she thought about it for a few days, and when she got used to it, she would find a time when everyone was free and invite Wei Jianwei’s good comrades and their family members to have dinner at home. It was to meet everyone officially.

"Then, I'll wait for a big meal." Xu Lanxiang didn't shy away and said with a smile.

Back home, He Xiaoyun put all the things she bought on the table. She bought a catty of meat, a fish, a few catties of vegetables, 20 eggs, and the essential oil, salt, sugar, rice, and noodles. 

Xiaoyun doesn’t know that firewood is so expensive here. Although she was happy to spend money, she also feels distressed. She used to spend less than a few cents a month in Qingshuihe, and the vegetables were grown by their family. 

The firewood was picked up on the mountain and everywhere. There's no need to waste money but now...

Of course, she didn’t eat fish and meat very much when she was at home. He Xiaoyun didn’t plan to be so extravagant in the future. She just thought that, after all, it’s the first meal she will be cooking here, the meaning is different, so she bought more.

Wei Jianwei gave her money in the morning, in addition to various tickets, there is three great unity. At this time, more than half of the tickets have been spent. Xiaoyun thought to herself that she didn't know how much Wei Jianwei's salary was, and she had to plan carefully in the future.

After calculating in a small account book in her heart, He Xiaoyun rolled up her sleeves and prepared to cook. Wang Derong ran over to play with Wei Yuanhang, and the two little guys were about to go downstairs.

As there are guards in the military's family area, He Xiaoyun doesn't worry about their safety, but still said a precaution: "Don't run too far. I will call you to eat later."

Wei Yuanhang responded and ran out, and started running wild in the corridor. In the past, his playmate was Yanyan, and the girl was gentle. Now that a boy of the same age has appeared, He Xiaoyun can already think of how the two will turn the sky in the future. (creates trouble)

<>

Xiaoyun familiarised herself with the kitchen for a while, groping to make two slices of meat and one vegetable, namely braised pork, stewed fish soup, fried rapeseed, and cooked a pot of rice.

Seeing that the time was almost up, thinking about whether to call the child back, Xu Lanxiang's voice next door rang: "Wang Derong-come back for dinner!"

He Xiaoyun listened attentively, and two voices soon came from the stairs, running and making noises. After a while, Wei Yuanhang sweated profusely and appeared in front of her.

"You're smart, if they go back to eat, you will also come back." He Xiaoyun said while wiping his sweat.

She just doesn’t know whether the big one will come back for dinner.

In the camp, when Wei Jianwei was about to leave, Lin Yuefei caught up from behind, "Old Wei, the cafeteria is over there, where are you going?"

Wei Jianwei glanced at him, "Going home for dinner."

In that glance, there was contempt.

Lin Yuefei was taken aback for a while before he realized that Wei's family members have already arrived! Only he was the one left with his family far away, and the only one left alone to eat in the cafeteria.

"Eh?" Wei Jianwei has gone far in just a few seconds, so Lin Yuefei had to shout from behind, "I'll go to your place!"

"My wife didn't make your meal."

"How can it be that there's no food for me? The deal is that I will eat less than three bowls, ok? Old Wei? Old Wei!"

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