The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 574 Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog!!!
Li Aiguo took his son and then picked up Daya.

After kissing each side, he looked at his lover again, "Shufen, you've worked hard on the way. I've packed up the house. Let's go to the family compound now."

Wang Shufen was about to agree when she remembered the two girls behind her.

After looking back, she quickly moved closer to Li Aiguo and whispered something.

"Boss, these two are the family members of your First Battalion Commander Liu Wu and Second Battalion Commander Chen Guotao..."

Li Aiguo said with a smile: "Okay, I will take the two family members to the regiment first, you go to the family compound first, Xiao Gao, lead the way for your sister-in-law."

After settling his family, Li Aiguo looked at Li Qinglan and Zhu Haimei.

Well, one is dressed like a young lady, and the other is like an urban beauty, both are very elegant.

After thinking for a while, he realized that this was not the place to handle things, so he turned around and said to the soldier, "Xiao Zhang, go call the commanders of the first and second battalions to the reception room and tell them that their families have arrived and ask them to come quickly."

Then, Li Aiguo led the two of them to the reception room of the regiment headquarters.

He asked the two to sit wherever they wanted and enthusiastically poured them each a cup of hot water.

Li Qinglan exchanged pleasantries with him, picked up the cup and began to drink in small sips. She had been in the cold wind on the military vehicle for half an hour and had not yet recovered.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Li Aiguo. I am the political commissar of our regiment. I am in charge of all matters related to the daily life of the regiment."

"From now on, if your family has any difficulties in life, you can come to me... hehe..."

This was her husband's immediate superior, so Li Qinglan and the others quickly responded politely, "Thank you for your concern, we will."

Li Aiguo smiled and waved his hand, saying in a gentle tone: "Don't be so polite, we are all family. The family members in the group are usually very united and take care of each other. You will get familiar with each other slowly."

He paused and continued, "By the way, the group has family activities every week. You can participate more often and make some new friends. If you need any help, just ask."

Li Qinglan nodded and said gratefully: "Thank you, Political Commissar. We are new here and don't understand many things. It's great to have your care."

After a while, Liu Wu hurriedly ran in, followed by an officer with thick eyebrows and big eyes. Both of them had beads of sweat on their foreheads, and it was obvious that they had jogged all the way here.

When Liu Wu heard that his sweetheart had joined the army, he was naturally very excited.

Especially for Liu Wu, who had just entered the marriage palace, it was really "one day without seeing, like three years apart"! The longing for his wife in his heart seemed to be lengthening every moment, and it seemed particularly precious.

"Political Commissar!" As soon as the two men entered the door, they immediately saluted Political Commissar Li with a standard military salute, their expressions revealing their respect and reverence for their superiors.

Upon seeing this, Political Commissar Li couldn't help but laugh and teased, "Hey, you two, you are really impatient, right? Hahaha..." His laughter was full of kindness and cordiality, and he was obviously happy for the newlyweds.

Liu Wu felt a little embarrassed by what he said. He subconsciously touched the back of his head and a simple smile appeared on his face: "Hehehe... yes, I am a little anxious indeed!" His words revealed his deep longing and expectation for his wife.

Seeing this, Political Commissar Li waved his hand and said with a smile: "Okay, you silly boy! Take your wife back home quickly and don't dawdle here!" His words revealed his concern and understanding for his subordinates, and he was also sincerely happy for the newlyweds.

After saying that, Political Commissar Li turned and left. He also wanted to go home quickly to be with his wife and children and enjoy their reunion time.

"You're here?" Liu Wu grabbed Li Qinglan's hand as if no one was around, his eyes full of doting.

Li Qinglan saw that there were other people around, and suddenly she felt a little embarrassed, her cheeks flushed. She gently pulled her hand back and whispered in a low voice: "Brother Wu, there are people watching here!"

Seeing this, Zhu Haimei couldn't help but sneer, with a hint of jealousy in her eyes. She felt indignant in her heart that Li Qinglan was not only much younger than her, but also had outstanding looks and elegant temperament. It was obvious that she came from a wealthy family.

Second Battalion Commander Chen Guotao noticed something was wrong and asked with concern, "Hai Mei, what's wrong with you?"

Zhu Haimei quickly adjusted her mood, forced out a smile and said, "Lao Chen, I'm fine, let's go home quickly!"

Zhu Haimei took Chen Haitao's arm, turned around and walked out the door, but her steps seemed a little hurried.

The gentleness of Liu Wu towards Li Qinglan kept appearing in her mind, and the fire of jealousy in her heart grew stronger and stronger.

She couldn't help but glance back, only to see Liu Wu still looking at Li Qinglan affectionately, as if they were the only two people left in the world.

"Hai Mei, you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?" Chen Haitao noticed something was wrong with her and asked with concern.

Zhu Haimei forced a smile and shook her head, saying, "Maybe I'm a little tired. I'll just go back and take a rest."

Chen Haitao nodded, but felt a little uneasy in his heart.

He knew that Zhu Haimei was always outspoken, but today she was acting out of character, and was obviously worried. But he didn't ask any more questions, and just quietly quickened his pace.

On the other side, Li Qinglan felt a little embarrassed by Liu Wu's gaze, so she gently pushed him and whispered, "Brother Wu, don't be like this. It's not good for others to see you."

Liu Wu didn't care. He still held her hand and said with a smile, "What are you afraid of? You are mine. Anyone who sees you will have to recognize you."

"Let's go home!"

In this way, Li Qinglan began her many years of military life.

As June approached, the temperature approached 6 degrees. Every day when entering and leaving the camp, Li Qinglan would see the motionless gate guards.

These "big kids" who were only a few years older than Li Qinglan's brother, all had dark skin, serious expressions, and loud voices: "Hello, sister-in-law."

Even though Li Qinglan only said "thank you", she couldn't help but want to pat them on the shoulders and say to them, "Young man, you've worked hard. Are you hot? Are you tired? Come on, sister-in-law will buy you some ice cream."

The first summer Li Qinglan came here with the army, she wanted to buy ice cream for the soldiers on guard.

Before buying, Li Qinglan asked Liu Wu first, and Liu Wu said: "This is not good, we have discipline, you are disrupting public affairs."

Of course Li Qinglan would not listen to what her partner said.

So Li Qinglan bought it. She was careful before buying it, in case the man refused to accept it. The ice cream would melt during the pushing and shoving, so Li Qinglan bought an iced drink instead.

What happened? The guard at the gate politely but firmly rejected her in a loud voice that could be heard within a 100-meter radius: "Thank you, sister-in-law. I appreciate your kindness. We have discipline requirements."

Li Qinglan had no choice but to leave the gate with regret, feeling guilty for having made a mistake.

It turns out that she still has to listen to her partner.

There is a supply and marketing cooperative at the military camp, which started a "group purchase" of vegetables to facilitate the lives of family members.

The vegetables that the families "collected" were delivered to the camp gate by the supply and marketing cooperative. As the weather was getting hotter, the vegetables would wilt if left in the sun for a while.

However, because "group buying" is so convenient, many family members still buy groceries through "group buying" every day.

Later, Li Qinglan noticed that sometimes, the vegetables purchased in groups would be placed under a big tree inside the camp gate.

Because they are protected from direct sunlight, vegetables placed under trees will be much fresher.

Who put these vegetables under the big tree inside the camp gate?
Since the people from the supply and marketing cooperative could not enter the camp gate, it would have to be done by the soldiers at the gate.

On a hot summer day, Li Qinglan felt a cool feeling in her heart when she took the vegetables placed under the shade of a tree and looked up at the soldiers standing guard diligently in the sentry box.

This is a group of careful soldiers. Among the family members who participated in the group purchase, there is a high probability that there will not be their family members, and there are very few friends they know. They don't need to do this extra thing, but he is still willing to think more and take a few more steps for Li Qinglan and this group of strangers.

Such a caring young soldier has done something heartwarming and memorable in the most ordinary position.

This incident reminded Li Qinglan of another soldier.

When she first came here, she often went for walks.

When you pass by the camp gate, you will hear a soldier shouting "Hello, sister-in-law" in a loud voice.

When she was called "Hello, sister-in-law" for the first time, Li Qinglan was even a little surprised, because the voice was so loud and powerful that it made her feel valued and treated with courtesy.

Later, Li Qinglan discovered that this soldier's voice was so loud, powerful and resounding when communicating with everyone.

This loud voice truly demonstrates the best style of an army and is truly the best portrayal of a "civilized and mighty army."

Shortly after arriving at the base, Li Qinglan was assigned to work in the base hospital because she was in the medical system.

When the soldiers in the hospital learned that the beautiful and kind sister in front of them was actually the lover of the battalion commander Liu Wu, they respected her even more.

Li Qinglan had just come to join the army and felt very fresh. During the day, there were few soldiers but many family members in the compound, more men than women, and more children than adults!
Although their families accompany the troops, soldiers like Liu Wu cannot go home every day. Most of the people guarding the compound are just a guard platoon.

To put it bluntly, they are a group of female soldiers and boy scouts guarding the old camp.

If there are only mothers in the large courtyard and the noise of children chattering, this place becomes the world of the children in the courtyard.

Dig wild vegetables and pick mushrooms in spring, catch cicadas and grasshoppers in summer, pick ground melons and peanuts in autumn, make snowmen and have snowball fights in winter
Li Qinglan felt that life here was not bad, except that she felt upset sometimes.

She didn't know how she had offended Zhu Haimei, and this elder sister always had a hard time with her.

Zhu Haimei is almost 30 this year. She has been married to Chen Haitao for five years, but the number of times they have met can be counted on one's fingers, not to mention the issue of having children. Her mother-in-law has talked about this issue countless times.

In previous correspondence, Chen Haitao said that he couldn’t go home because of something going on in the army, which made his mother-in-law worried.

It just so happened that last year Chen Haitao was promoted to battalion commander and could bring his family with him. Without discussing it with Chen Haitao, the mother-in-law let Zhu Haimei go on a long journey alone to join the army.

Zhu Haimei's sudden arrival, without going through the formalities for accompanying the army, made Chen Haitao a little flustered for a while... Fortunately, he was settled down later.

All in all, Zhu Haimei has been living in the army for more than half a year. During this period of time, Zhu Haimei and Chen Guotao have had no idea how many quarrels they have had.

The reason for the quarrel was very simple. The main reason was the issue of having children, but Li Qinglan also had some concern.

Zhu Haimei was jealous of Li Qinglan. As luck would have it, when Zhu Haimei returned to her hometown to handle the formalities, Chen Guotao was seriously injured while on a mission, and it was nurse Li Qinglan who was responsible for taking care of him.

At that time, Chen Guotao was lying on the hospital bed thanks to Li Qinglan's care, and as a result, some gossip spread.

But after all, we are in the army, with strict discipline, and these things are only spread by a few gossiping rural women in the family compound.

When Zhu Haimei heard about this, she was angry and panicked. In fact, she had always had a sense of crisis.

In fact, before they got married, Chen Guotao had a date who was a clerk at the town's grain station. Although she didn't know how they broke up, she went to see the girl. She was fair-skinned and wore a floral dress, which was very pretty. Now there is also the pretty Li Qinglan...

However, Zhu Haimei still has a clear mind about this matter. Li Qinglan has a boyfriend, and he is no worse than her Chen Guotao.

He also knew that this was in the army, so even though he was angry, he did not dare to have a big quarrel with Chen Guotao. He just questioned Chen Guotao a few questions and then started a cold war.

Li Qinglan, who didn't understand what was going on, heard Zhu Haimei and her husband arguing again, and kindly tried to persuade them.

But it would have been better if she didn't try to persuade Zhu Haimei. Zhu Haimei got even angrier with her, so she sarcastically mocked Li Qinglan for "meddling in other people's business!"

This makes Li Qinglan feel very wronged!
Li Qinglan was choked by Zhu Haimei's words and was speechless for a moment. She felt wronged and helpless. She had good intentions, but she didn't expect that it would intensify the conflict.

She stood there, her face a little pale, her fingers unconsciously twisted together, wondering how to respond.

Finally, Li Qinglan just sighed softly and whispered: "Sister Zhu, I really want to..., I don't mean anything else. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."

Zhu Haimei snorted coldly and turned her head away, her tone still sharp: "Persuading reconciliation? I think you are here to watch the fun! You don't have to worry about our family affairs." Although her voice was not loud, every word was like a knife, piercing Li Qinglan's heart.

Li Qinglan bit her lower lip, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

She knew that saying anything more would be useless, so she simply stopped talking and turned away.

After returning to her home, Li Qinglan sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window in a daze, feeling mixed emotions.

She didn't understand why she had such a misunderstanding when she had such good intentions.

On the other side, Chen Guotao also noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

He walked into the room and saw Zhu Haimei sitting beside the bed with a gloomy face, so he walked over and asked softly: "Haimei, what happened between you and Li Qinglan? I heard you talking just now."

Zhu Haimei raised her eyes and glanced at him, her tone still cold: "Nothing, I just think she is meddling in my business."

Chen Guotao frowned, feeling somewhat helpless.

He knew Zhu Haimei's temper, but Li Qinglan was innocent after all, and such a misunderstanding should not have happened.

He sighed, sat down next to Zhu Haimei, and said softly, "Haimei, Qinglan means well, don't take it too seriously. Liu Wu and I are comrades-in-arms, and it won't be good if we have a falling out."

Zhu Haimei was silent for a while, seeming to be reflecting on her previous words and actions.

Although she was still a little unhappy, she had to admit that she might have overreacted.

Zhu Haimei actually knew that Li Qinglan was innocent, she was just unhappy, so she nodded: "I understand, I'll be more careful next time."

Liu Wu had no idea about all this, and Li Qinglan didn't want him to be affected by these bad things in life.

"Ding-a-ling, jingle-a-ling!"

The phone rang suddenly, breaking the silence in the room.

Li Qinglan was startled awake and quickly reached out to pick up the receiver: "Hello?"

"Qinglan, are you off work?" The gentle and concerned voice of mother-in-law Gan Ning came from the other end of the line.

Gan Ning cares about Li Qinglan even more than her own biological mother.

Hearing her mother-in-law's familiar voice, Li Qinglan's nose felt sore and her eyes instantly moistened: "Mom, I... I just got home."

Gan Ning was keenly aware of the difference, her brows slightly furrowed, her tone full of worry: "Qinglan? Why does your voice sound a little off? Are you feeling unwell?"

Feeling her mother-in-law's care, Li Qinglan could no longer hold back her tears, which flowed down her cheeks. She raised her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes, trying to make her voice sound calm: "Mom, I'm fine, don't worry."

Gan Ning was worried and continued to ask: "Did Liu Wu bully you? Qinglan, don't put yourself in a difficult position. Tell mom if you have anything to say. I'll show you how to deal with him..."

When Li Qinglan heard her mother-in-law mention her husband Liu Wu, she felt even more wronged. She took a deep breath, suppressed her sobs, and said softly, "Mom, it's really okay. I'm just a little tired from work. I'll be fine after a rest."

Gan Ning was silent for a moment, obviously not completely believing her words.

She sighed, and her tone became softer: "Qinglan, Mom knows that you are a strong-willed child, but you can't handle the family affairs alone.

If Liu Wu dares to let you suffer any injustice, I will be the first to disagree. Remember, this is always your home, and mom will always stand by you. "

Li Qinglan's tears welled up again and she held the receiver tightly, as if she could draw strength from her mother-in-law's voice.

She responded softly: "Thank you, Mom. I feel much more at ease with you around."

"Okay, by the way, your dad wants to talk to you, please wait a moment..." Gan Ning said as he gently covered the microphone with his hand and raised his voice towards the study, "Lao Liu, Lao Liu, come here quickly and talk to Qinglan too!"

In the study, Liu Zhiye was concentrating on reading the documents. Hearing the shout, he sighed helplessly and muttered softly: "This old woman, why don't you just chat with her for a few minutes? Why did you have to call me..."

Despite this, he put down the documents in his hand, took off his glasses, and walked out of the study quickly. A kind smile instantly appeared on his face, and he said gently: "Qinglan, how have you been recently?"

Li Qinglan heard her father's voice and quickly responded, "Dad, I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you and mom!"

Liu Zhiye smiled lovingly, with concern in his tone: “Silly child, we are a family, there is no need to be so polite.

By the way, is your work going well over there? If there is anything that is not going well, tell me and I will help you put in a call and see if you can change your environment. "

Li Qinglan felt warm in her heart and replied with a smile: "Dad, don't worry, my work is going well and my boss thinks highly of me. I don't need to trouble you for the time being.

As for you and mom, the weather has turned cold recently, please take care of your health and don't work too hard."

Liu Zhiye nodded and said with relief: "It's good that you are sensible. Your mother and I are in good health, so you don't have to worry about us.

As for you, you should take good care of yourself over there. Come home when you have time, your mother always misses you."

Gan Ning interrupted and said, “Yes, Qinglan, your father is right.

You are a child who always takes on everything by yourself. You know our family well. If you have any difficulties, just tell us. Don’t keep it in your heart.”

Li Qinglan's eyes were moist, and she said softly, "I understand, Mom. I will be home soon... You should also take care of yourselves and don't let us worry."

(End of this chapter)