Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

The next day, Ye Fan woke up to the bright day, and Dabao's voice came from outside, "Sister, come quickly, sister, look." Ye Fan rubbed his eyes to wake up, dressed neatly and came out, "Dabao, where is your dad?"

"Dad went to buy groceries. Mom, your butt is exposed to the sun." Dabao pointed at his own little face, almost saying it out loud to show how shameful he was.

Ye Fan raised his hand, and the two children ran out smiling.

Less than a kilometer away from the beach, Ye Fan hurriedly stopped them: "Don't go out." Although the fence could not stop them, at least they didn't have to worry about being hit by the reckless boys outside or the occasional passing car.

"Know it."

Ye Fan: "Have you two washed your faces?"

Dabao pulled his sister back to the yard: "Dad said to take a shower with Mom."

Ye Fan didn't know when Geng Zhiye left, so naturally he didn't know when he would come back. Seeing the calcium milk biscuits on the table, he decided to boil some water and make some biscuits for the two children to eat.

Ye Fan had never used a clay pot in this life. She had seen it in her previous life, when she ate clay pot chicken. But she took a look when Geng Zhiye was boiling water yesterday. He put the rice stalks in first, and Ye Fan also grabbed a handful and put them in. He struck a match, and the rice stalks quickly burned. Ye Fan was satisfied. The clay pot was not very troublesome.

Ye Fan stuffed a few pieces of wood in the pot and went to wash her face and brush her teeth. However, when she came back, there was no flame under the pot. Ye Fan couldn't believe it, so she grabbed a handful of straw and stuffed it in. Thick smoke came out, choking her to the point of tears.

"Mom, there's so much smoke!" Dabao, who was playing with his sister outside, ran in and covered his nose and eyes. "Mom, are you lighting a fire? Dad said to wait until he comes back."

"We are short of something - cough -" Ye Fan opened the window, "I don't know when your dad will be back, you go out first, mom will be back in a while."

Dabao covered his mouth and nose and shouted, "Dad said you can't. Mom, what are you doing? Come out!"

"Brother!" Erbao ran in. Dabao saw his sister crying and said, "Mom, I don't care about you anymore!"

Ye Fan saw that the smoke in the kitchen had died down: "Take my sister out first, and mom will boil some water."

"You're just being stubborn!" Dabao stamped his feet in anger, grabbed his sister and ran out. Still worried, he turned back and threatened: "I'm going to tell Dad!"

Ye Fan said without even raising his head: "Go ahead. I don't believe I can't handle it!" He stuffed a handful of straw under the pot and blew it: "Pah!" His face was covered with dust, and he quickly covered his mouth and nose, "Is this pot against me?"

Dabao took his sister to the eaves outside the living room door and stared at the kitchen for a while, then sighed helplessly, "Why is the pot against you?" You still say that your father is stubborn, you are the cooked duck. Dabao didn't waste words with her, let go of his sister and ran out. Erbao followed him out subconsciously: "Brother, wait for me."

"I'm looking for daddy." Dabao held his sister's shoulders, "Brother will be back soon."

Erbao looked at the smoke coming out and felt uneasy: "I'm with my brother."

"Brother, run." Dabao turned and ran. When he got to the fenced yard, he almost bumped into someone and was forced to stop. A little girl who was about the same height as his cousin Geng Huihui said, "Sister, where is the vegetable market?"

"Are you going to the vegetable market?" the little girl couldn't help asking, "Are you Uncle Geng's child? Where is Uncle Geng?"

Dabao: "My dad is at the market. I'm looking for him. My mom wants to burn the house down."

The little girl subconsciously looked up and saw thick smoke coming out of the chimney. "Is it on fire?"

Dabao shook his head: "If Dad doesn't come back, it will catch fire." There was one more thing Dabao didn't say: fire is a small matter, but if Mom chokes herself to death is a big matter.

"Well, I know where the vegetable market is. I'll go there. You two, you are not allowed to come out or go in. Wait here." The little girl said while running and looking back.

Geng Zhiye was just about to go buy rice and oil when he saw his political commissar's daughter chasing after him like a wolf. He grabbed her and said, "Watch the road!"

"Uncle Geng? Come on, go home, your house is——"

"Don't be in a hurry. Speak slowly."

"Your house is on fire."

"On fire?" Geng Zhiye's face suddenly changed: "Ye Fanfan! Tell her to wait until I come back..." He didn't care about the political commissar's daughter and rushed home at the speed of chasing the enemy. Neighbors on both sides were at the gate of his fenced yard. When they saw him, they asked in a flurry: "Captain Geng, you are not home? Why is there so much smoke? There is much less now. It was like a fire just now."

"Dad!" Dabao rushed over, "Come quickly, Mom is inside."

Erbao chased after her: "Mom is not obedient! Beat her!"

"Why are you taking this opportunity to make trouble?" Geng Zhiye saw that the house was not on fire and the two children were fine, and his heart slowly relaxed. "Wait for daddy here."

Dabao grabbed his father. Geng Zhiye couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"Things." Dabao pointed to the basket in his hand.

Geng Zhiye looked down and put down the basket: "I didn't forget. Watch it. Your mother must be embarrassed to come out."

Ye Fan couldn't stand the thick smoke in the kitchen, so he thought of waiting for Geng Zhiye with his two children in the yard. But when he got to the living room, he saw several women and children outside through the window. Ye Fan hesitated for a moment, and the neighbors all arrived.

Hearing Geng Zhiye's words, Ye Fan waited for him to come in and kicked him. Geng Zhiye instinctively blocked it, grabbed a thin leg, and reacted: "Is it comfortable to hide in the house? You are dying to save face and suffering in life!"

Ye Fan raised her hand to hit him, and Geng Zhiye let go of her legs and grabbed her hand: "Stop it. What's going on?"

"I met a ghost."

Geng Zhiye choked and said, "Nonsense! The kitchen staff, the logistics staff, and the fishermen on the island, several thousand men, are so energetic, what kind of ghost dares to make trouble on the island." As he said this, he walked to the kitchen and squinted his eyes subconsciously, "Don't you know how to open the window?"

"opened!"

Geng Zhiye squinted his eyes and looked over: "Why is there still smoke when it's on?" He squatted in front of the stove and suddenly felt dizzy, "How much did you put in?" He quickly pulled out the wooden stick.

There was air under the pot, and the rice straw was no longer dry and without fire. Geng Zhiye put it in all at once. The rice straw caught fire. He put a piece of wood in, and then put two more rice straws in a row. The wood sticks caught fire, and he put another piece of wood in. "It's done."

Ye Fan couldn't believe it: "So fast?"

Geng Zhiye said helplessly: "See for yourself."

Ye Fan tilted his head and saw that the wooden stick was indeed on fire: "This pot doesn't suit me!"

“…Is it possible that you don’t know how to use it?”

"I also light the rice stalks first and then put the firewood! If you don't believe me, ask Dabao."

Geng Zhiye opened his mouth and said, "Dabao is only four years old! Don't say anything about Dabao. Didn't Dabao tell you to wait for me to come back?"

"Making a fire is not a big deal. Do I need you to teach me step by step?" Ye Fan rolled his eyes at him.

Geng Zhiye wanted to ask how you could be so excited that you looked like you were on fire: "Have you learned it now?"

"You didn't teach me!" Ye Fan blurted out.

Geng Zhiye choked up and said, "Be reasonable. Dabao and Erbao are still waiting outside. I won't argue with you."

Ye Fan was a little embarrassed when he said it, but seeing this, he said confidently: "There's nothing wrong with burning the stove. You have the nerve to say that everything is ready."

Geng Zhiye stopped, turned around and looked at her with his hands on his hips, looking angry and amused. Ye Fan felt uncomfortable being looked at and whispered, "Tell me more."

"Don't put so much rice straw in at once. Also, don't put so much wood. Wood is too damp and the bottom of the pot is filled up. It would be strange if smoke doesn't come out."

Ye Fan couldn't help but ask loudly, "Then why didn't you tell me? Geng Zhiye, did you do this on purpose?"

"Don't make trouble for no reason. What were you doing when I was making the fire yesterday? You had a cold face, how could I dare to say anything?" Geng Zhiye looked helpless.

Ye Fan pretended to be impatient: "Call Dabao and Erbao in quickly."

There was no smoke in the room, and Geng Zhiye was worried that the stick would fall off halfway through the fire, and the bottom of the pot would be smashed by Ye Fan, so he didn't dare to put the wood in: "Watch the firewood."

"It's broken!" Ye Fan hurried to the kitchen.

Geng Zhiye's heart suddenly rose to his throat: "What happened again?"

"I seem to have picked up the ladle and put it down again, forgetting to scoop out water."

Geng Zhiye hurriedly walked past her, lifted the lid of the pot, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes." Ye Fan shook his head, "I was confused from sleeping. You should have woken me up earlier."

Geng Zhiye was speechless.

"Be a good role model for Dabao and Erbao." Reaching out to wipe the dust off her nose, Ye Fan dodged backwards. Geng Zhiye laughed angrily, "Can I still hit you?" He pressed her head with one hand, "Light a fire and smoke your face with dust, you can do it!"

"Dad, are you okay?"

Dabao's voice came in, and Geng Zhiye walked out in two or three steps: "It's okay, go in." He went to the gate of the yard and explained to the neighbors, "The rice straw and firewood are too damp, Ye Fan wanted to dry the wood, but was worried that if he left it outside, it would touch Dabao and Erbao, so he dried it inside."

The girl who went to call Geng Ye couldn't help but ask, "Has Aunt Ye never burned a fire?"

"There's no firewood in the city, we all burn coal." Geng Zhiye thanked the little girl and said, "It's okay, let's go."

The commissar's wife asked, "Did you forget to pump the bellows?"

Ye Fan didn't know what a bellows was. Besides, you don't need to pull a bellows to boil two buckets of water. Geng Zhiye nodded: "I was too busy to take care of it." He carried the basket and prepared to go back to the house. Seeing this, everyone said goodbye, but he didn't move a step.

Geng Zhiye pretended not to see it and went in with his basket. Smoke came out of the chimney, and the neighbors thought it was boring, so they left in twos and threes.

Ye Fan came out of the kitchen and looked out the window: "Are they all gone? Did I become famous in one battle?"

"What do you think?" Geng Zhiye took out the things, "Wash their faces and brush their teeth, soak some biscuits to cushion their hunger, I'll go buy some rice and oil."

Ye Fan said awkwardly, "I just wanted to boil some water to soak their biscuits."

"Mother--"

Ye Fan interrupted: "Geng Dabao, you've been scolding me and I haven't settled the score with you yet, what else do you want to say?"

"Sister, let's go to the yard and throw sandbags." Dabao picked up the sandbag on the ground and pulled his sister out.

Geng Zhiye couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Go buy some rice!"

Geng Zhiye suppressed his laughter and said, "The thermos has never been used. Use hot water to scald it before rinsing it."

"Am I stupid?"

Geng Zhiye thought he was quite silly sometimes. Before Ye Fan could notice, he went out again with the basket.

The political commissar's children were playing outside the door. The little girl Liao Miaomiao, who came to look for Geng Zhiye, asked in disbelief, "Uncle Geng, are you still going to the vegetable market?"

It seems that Ye Fanfan is really famous. Geng Zhiye wanted to laugh for some reason: "I have to go. I haven't bought rice and oil yet. Dabao and Erbao are too young. Please help me keep an eye on them and don't let them go to the beach."

Liao Miaomiao said seriously: "Don't worry, Uncle Geng, I will take good care of my two brothers."

"Dabao is the younger brother, and Erbao is the younger sister."

Liao Miaomiao exclaimed, and leaned over the fence to look into the yard: "But they look a lot alike."

"You and your brother are alike." Geng Zhiye reminded helplessly.

Liao Miaomiao couldn't help but say, "I'm stupid." She shouted inside, "Big brother Dabao, Second sister Erbao, come out and play."

Before, Liao Miaomiao helped to call Geng Zhiye, and now Geng Zhiye asked Liao Miaomiao to watch Dabao and Erbao. Dabao analyzed it in his little head and thought that the little sister was a good person and he could play with her. Dabao pulled his sister out and asked, "What are you playing?"

Liao Miaomiao was stunned by the question. In her impression, it was good enough for such a young child not to make a fuss. She said she was playing, but in fact she was ready to watch her little brother and sister play by themselves.

"Can you throw sandbags?" Dabao asked, looking up.

Liao Miaomiao looked at Dabao's three-head body and hesitated to speak. Wouldn't a sandbag really knock him flying? "Yes. Do you want to throw it or should I?"

Dabao: "Erbao and I are on the same side, who are you on?"

Twelve-year-old Liao Miaomiao let her eight-year-old brother go, leaving her six-year-old sister behind: "Sister Erbao is not strong enough to throw far, how about you two throw it?"

Erbao was not convinced: "I can!"

Dabao glared at his silly sister and asked, "Wouldn't it be better to have more people?"

"I didn't say you can't." Dabao pulled his sister, "Where are we going?"

Miaomiao drew a line with a stone: "It's right here." After drawing it, she asked, "You go first or me?"

Dabao stretched out his hand: "Rock, paper, scissors."

Liao Miaomiao's younger brothers and sisters didn't want to play with the little one. When they heard this, they looked at each other and thought that the little one was really good at throwing sandbags.

Not only did the little guy know how to play, he also could fake a shot. Although he lost the rock-paper-scissors game, he defeated the two Liao sisters in two moves. This was the first time that Miaomiao's brother had won so easily since he started playing sandbag throwing.

Liao Miaomiao picked up the sandbag and stood outside the line, completely confused. She wanted to say to Geng Dabao, "You are cheating." But Dabao was four years old, two years younger than her youngest sister. He was not old enough to go to preschool and could only go to daycare.

Liao Miaomiao didn’t want to admit it but couldn’t help but say, “Dabao, you are as smart as Uncle Geng.”

"I'm as smart as Ye Fanfan, my grandma said so."

It was at this moment! The sandbag in Liao Miaomiao's hand flew towards Dabao. Dabao, a little smart guy, quickly hid behind his sister, and the sandbag fell to the ground with a thud. Her sister picked it up and complained: "Don't throw sandbags while talking."

Liao Miaomiao wanted to say that she did it on purpose, but who would have thought that the little brat was not easy to fool: "Who is Ye Fanfan?"

"My mom." Dabao said without turning his head.

Liao Miaomiao guessed it, but still deliberately asked: "Who are you talking about?"

"My mom!" Dabao dodged the sandbag and ran to Liao Xiaomei's side before turning around. "My mom's name is Ye Fan."

Erbao said loudly: "You're still calling me Fanfan."

Ye Fan filled the thermos with water and prepared to call the two children in to wash their faces, brush their teeth and eat biscuits. When she heard this at the door, she moved to the window and saw the two children busy throwing sandbags, so she washed her face and brushed her teeth first.

Geng Zhiye was worried that Ye Fan would show off again, so he bought rice and a pound of rapeseed oil in a salt water bottle and rushed home. When he saw Dabao and Erbao at the door, he told them to continue playing and called them when the meal was ready.

Dabao threw down the sandbag: "I'm hungry."

"No cookies?"

Dabao nodded: "Mom didn't call us. Dad, Ye Fanfan must be angry."

"Ye Fanfan was not angry at first, but she got angry because you called her Ye Fanfan. Since you haven't eaten yet, just bear with it for a while. Dad bought tofu fish and clams before. We can eat the clams at noon. I'll make the tofu fish now." Geng Zhiye said and went into the house.

Liao Miaomiao couldn't help but ask: "Dabao, Uncle Geng can cook?"

"I think so." During these days in the capital, Dabao often saw his father in the kitchen. "Let's continue."

Liao Miaomiao: "You're not hungry again?"

"Mom didn't ask us to eat cookies, and she didn't give us any when we got home." Dabao picked up the sandbag, "My mom is the cruelest. Grandma and grandma love me and Erbao the most." He paused to take a breath, and then said, "My aunt and aunt also love us."

Geng Zhiye handed the basket to Ye Fan, then rolled up his sleeves to collect the fish: "Did you hear that?"

"This isn't the first time the little bastard has said this. I'm used to it." Ye Fan said.

Geng Zhiye saw that the two boxes of calcium milk biscuits were still unopened, just like before he left: "You haven't eaten either? Just eat something to fill your stomach, it won't be that fast. We still have to buy a stove to dry clothes for Dabao and Erbao. They like to play and their clothes get dirty easily, and they don't have that many changes of clothes."

"Just wash it at night."

Geng Zhiye pulled the head off the tofu fish: "The plum rain season is coming. It will rain non-stop."

“There are also on the island?”

Geng Zhiye: "It's not far from the shore. The rain over there can fall here."

Ye Fan poured two buckets of water into the vegetable washing basin: "I didn't forget to buy a basin."

"It's impossible to buy tables, chairs and benches from the shore and transport them here. We have to trouble the furniture factory and fishermen. I asked the fishermen on the island to make them. They should be ready. I have firewood, and I bought rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. I also brought pancreas and Meijiajing from home. What else do I need?"

Ye Fan looked towards the living room, then at the empty kitchen: "There is no smell of life at all." He saw that there was still one bucket of water left out of the two buckets he had carried in the morning, "Why don't you pour it into the jar?"

The child was too young, so Geng Zhiye didn't sleep much day or night. Although no one wants children these days, there is no guarantee that families who can't have children won't take risks. Geng Zhiye was very tired. He didn't want to move after brushing the jar yesterday: "I didn't brush it."

Ye Fan held up a pot scrubber and said, "People in the Northeast use this to sweep the kang, right?"

"People in the Northeast use sorghum. No one grows sorghum here, so it's different." Geng Zhiye said, "Let me do it."

Ye Fan ignored him, as if he had three heads and six arms: "Even though I have never used such a big tank, I know how to clean it."

She quickly cleaned the inside and outside, but how to pour out the water in the jar was a problem. Geng Zhiye wiped his hands, glanced at her helplessly, and turned the jar over. Ye Fan was shocked: "So rough?"

"How else can you get the water out from underneath and rinse it again?" Geng Zhiye poured the water into the bucket. "Let's buy another bucket for the water to wash the pot some other day."

Ye Fan poured the remaining half bucket of water into the jar, and both buckets were empty.

In his previous life, Ye Fan's hometown was a small town with no mountains or sea. When he grew up, he went to the capital to study and work. In this life, he was in the capital as soon as he opened his eyes. He had never seen a live tofu fish in his two lives, let alone processed it. "I don't know how to cook this fish. You can cook the porridge and fish. I'll fetch water."

But you have never carried water before. Geng Zhiye couldn't help but say: "Wait for me——"

Ye Fan interrupted: "I can! If I can't use a shoulder pole, I can carry it by hand. If I can't carry two buckets, can I carry two half buckets?"

Just don't try to be too aggressive.

Mr. Geng Zhiye made a fire with wood burning. He washed rice and cooked porridge. Then he opened the soy sauce bottle, washed the onions, ginger and garlic, and prepared to boil the porridge before using a small pot to braise the tofu and fish - Geng's family had two pots, one large and one small, on the earthen stove. The big pot was used to cook porridge, and the small pot was used to stir-fry vegetables.

Little did he know that Ye Fan felt regretful as soon as he left the house - he hadn't used a well in his two lives and didn't remember to ask Geng Zhiye where the well was.

Think about where the woman carrying water came from yesterday, and where Ye Fan is going with the shoulder pole and bucket.

God helps those who work hard, and Ye Fan found the well after wandering for a few minutes.

The well was muddy from the people carrying water back and forth. Mud could fall in at any time. Ye Fan was skeptical. Could the water be drunk? Would it give me diarrhea after boiling it? Ye Fan put down his shoulder pole and bucket, slowly moved to the well and looked inside. It was so clear that he could see people clearly, so it should be fine.

"Who? What are you doing?"

Who is it? Howling early in the morning. Ye Fan looked up and saw a young woman walking towards her from a distance, pointing at her: "I'm talking about you! Who are you? What are you looking at if not fetching water?"

"I--" Ye Fan subconsciously lowered his head. His body was unstable and he reflexively exerted force with his feet. Suddenly, his feet slipped, and with a plop, he disappeared from the spot.

The woman who came over was startled. Seeing the two buckets, she realized something: "Hurry, hurry up, someone fell into the well, hurry up-" "Who jumped into the well?" A middle-aged woman carrying a bucket ran over from a distance, "Who jumped into the well?"

The young woman subconsciously wanted to explain, I thought I had met the legendary bad female spy and yelled at her, but I didn't expect that she accidentally fell down. When she fell down, I saw that there were two buckets behind her, she really came to fetch water.

"Yes, yes, I saw someone jump into the well, and I didn't know him."

The middle-aged woman looked up and said, "Oh my God - isn't this Captain Geng's lover? Quick, quick, find something, Captain Geng's lover, don't panic, don't panic, just float up like swimming, I'll find something to pull you up." As she spoke, she looked behind her, but there were only two carrying poles behind her, "You, go find a rope."

"I didn't push her down. I wasn't at the well when you came. You have to take charge of it for me," the young woman said, grabbing her arm.

The middle-aged woman pulled her away and said, "Why are you still talking about this at this hour? I—I can't pull it alone, hurry up and call someone to find a rope!"

"Oh, okay, I'll call for help! Come quickly, Captain Geng's lover has jumped into the well, hurry up and save her!"

Liao Miaomiao was about to feint two shots before throwing the sandbag out, when she faintly heard "Captain Geng". "Brother, Dabao, how many Captain Gengs do we have here?"

Captain Geng stuffed the firewood in and came out to see where Ye Fan had gone to fetch water: "There is only one regiment on the island."

"Then why are some people shouting that Captain Geng jumped into the well. Uncle Geng, are you Sun Wukong?" Liao Miaomiao teased.

Geng Zhiye smiled: "Say..." His smile froze, and he remembered something: "Dabao, has your mother not come over yet?"

Liao Miaomiao: "Aunt Ye went to fetch water - Water? It's broken! Uncle Geng -"

"Don't follow me! Look at Dabao and Erbao." Geng Zhiye yelled and ran to the well. He saw many women, but not Ye Fan. Geng Zhiye's knees went weak. It couldn't be her! Geng Zhiye stumbled in and asked, "Who's in the well?"

The middle-aged woman who had been comforting Ye Fan by the well grabbed his shirt and said, "Captain Geng? You—you can't jump. What if you hit her with such a heavy weight? Rope, here's a rope. Let it down and tell her to hold on to it and come up."

"She still has strength?" Geng Zhiye regained his senses and quickly tied the rope around his waist. "Hold on and let me go down. I'll pull her up."

The middle-aged woman suddenly woke up from her dream: "Yes, yes, let's pull together, back, back, the well is too slippery. Which loser spilled half of the bucket of water!"

"Sister-in-law, hurry up!" Geng Zhiye couldn't wait and slid down the well, "Fanfan, don't worry, I'll be down and hold on for a while. A while, a while, you see, I didn't lie to you." He fell beside her and quickly pulled her into his arms.

Ye Fan's cold body touched the warmth, and he couldn't help but burst into tears: "I don't want to die, I haven't lived enough..."

"No, no, the well is not deep, you won't die, don't scare yourself, I'm here." Geng Zhiye felt distressed, and heard from his stepmother and mother-in-law that his daughter, Ye Fan, was very strong and didn't shed a tear when she gave birth to Dabao and Erbao. While Geng Zhiye comforted her, he freed one hand and quietly tied the rope he had specially left to Ye Fan, "I said that there is enough yang energy here, you are fine, no ghost dares to take your soul." Pulling the rope, the middle-aged woman at the well received the signal: "Okay, pull quickly, let's pull the person up together."

A dozen women worked together to pull the man up in a few seconds. For Ye Fan, it was like reincarnation. Seeing the vast sky, he was completely stunned. Geng Zhiye hurriedly thanked him and carried Ye Fan home.

"Captain Geng, wait a minute, how can we use the well water?"

one of the women helping to pull the ropes asked loudly.

Geng Zhiye was furious, but he suppressed the urge to curse and turned around and said, "Bring the buckets from home. Two buckets per person will dry up the well."

The middle-aged woman who called for help tried to smooth things over: "Yes, all the water in the well has been pumped up. The water coming out of the spring below is cleaner than before. Everyone go home and get a bucket first."

The woman couldn't help but ask again: "Where should I put the water I just fetched this morning?"

Geng Zhiye said unhappily, "Watering vegetables and washing clothes, what's wrong with that?"

"Hey, Captain Geng, what's your temper? Don't think that—"

Geng Zhiye’s patience ran out: “This is just my temper! If you don’t want to stay here, ask your wife to apply for a transfer!” He hugged Ye Fan and left.

The woman wanted to say something again, but the middle-aged woman grabbed her and said, "What's wrong with you today? Didn't you see that Captain Geng's lover is soaked? If you keep pestering me, I'll suspect you did it on purpose."

"I did it on purpose!" Geng Zhiye was furious. The woman was afraid and didn't dare to speak loudly, but her voice was loud enough for everyone around her to hear. "You really think you are a young lady. You jumped into the well as soon as you got here."

The middle-aged woman couldn't help asking: "Isn't it? I heard that Captain Geng's father-in-law is very good in the capital——"

"She was before, but not now. You can't tell at first glance that Captain Geng's wife is not the Ye family's biological daughter. A few days ago, my wife went ashore to pick up food. It was said that more than 20 years ago, Captain Geng's father-in-law and mother-in-law were on duty in Shencheng... The Chen family also said that they were busy with work and accidentally took the wrong child. They were just fooling a three-year-old child. Captain Geng's wife has the surname Ye. Her biological parents did such a despicable thing that the real eldest daughter of the Ye family stayed in the countryside for seven years. She still had the nerve to stay in the Ye family. Bah!" The woman spat in the direction where Geng Zhiye and Ye Fan disappeared.

Everyone was stunned.

The middle-aged woman was the first to come to her senses: "Don't talk nonsense about this kind of thing."

"Everyone in the capital's military knows that my sister-in-law's husband's brother is serving in the army in the capital. The Ye family never thought of hiding it. Otherwise, how could she be willing to come from the capital to our island where no one lives, no one lays eggs, and no one comes to the shore?"

That makes sense!

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The young woman breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ye Fan falling down, and stroked her chest as if she had survived a disaster: "No wonder she jumped into the well. If I were to become the daughter of an ordinary worker from a young lady, I wouldn't be able to bear it either."

But the Geng family has two children, one is four years old and the other is two years old. What will she do if the children die? The middle-aged woman felt sorry and said, "Let's fetch water first."

"Still picking?"

Someone screamed.

The middle-aged woman was shocked: "The water in the jar is all gone, don't you still have to pick it up?"

"I - she made the well water dirty, so if anyone wants to pick it up, let that fake young lady do it."

The middle-aged woman wanted to say that it was her parents who "took the wrong child" and had nothing to do with Captain Geng's wife: "You go and tell Captain Geng. If you don't dare, go home and get a bucket." Seeing the woman who first saw Ye Fan jump into the well go home, "Don't you want the bucket?"

"I'll go home and get a bucket." The young woman turned around and saw the bucket by the well, her face changed slightly, "That—"

The middle-aged woman remembered: "This is not yours. The shoulder pole looks freshly made. I know your shoulder pole. Whose bucket is it?"

No one answered.

Someone thought carefully and said, "The bucket was here when we got here, right?"

The middle-aged woman thought carefully and said, "This is - Ye Fan's?" She looked at the woman who said Ye Fan was not the daughter of the Ye family, "Why did she take the bucket and the carrying pole when she wanted to jump into the well?"

The woman was stunned: "How would I know? You said she was going to jump into the well, so I came over to help pull her out. I didn't even see clearly whether the fake young lady was black or white."

The middle-aged woman looked for the young woman, and she left in a hurry. The middle-aged woman rushed over and grabbed her: "Did you push the person down? You said at the beginning that someone fell into the well, not jumped into the well? Don't try to run, come with me to Geng's house."

Everyone exclaimed, "Impossible? No way?"

"Then how do you explain that the bucket and the carrying pole are here? I didn't expect you to be such a person." The middle-aged woman was extremely angry. "You are a little girl, and you are so cruel. Come with me!" Relying on her strength as a farmer, she twisted her arms and dragged her to Geng's house.

At Geng's house, Geng Zhiye wrapped Ye Fan's long hair with a dry towel and tucked him into the quilt before changing his clothes.

Ye Fan stood up subconsciously. Seeing this, Geng Zhiye put on his clothes and sat back down: "Ye Fanfan, where is your usual courage?"

"And you said I was almost dying..."

The moment she fell, Ye Fan really thought she was going to die. Her hands and feet went weak. It was those words saying that she jumped into the well instead of falling into it that brought her back to her senses. If she died like this, others would misunderstand her and might even say that she was a coward and was afraid to face the fact that she was not the daughter of the Ye family.

Geng Zhiye hugged her and patted her back: "Your body is so cold. If you don't drink something hot to warm yourself up, you'll be sick before the afternoon."

Dabao pulled Erbao in and said, "Dad, what happened to Mom?"

"Mom is fine." Geng Zhiye didn't tell the truth for fear of scaring the children: "The porridge in the pot is ready. Dad will serve you some porridge right away."

Liao Miaomiao didn't know what happened and didn't dare to go near the bedroom. Hearing this, she walked to the door in two or three steps: "Uncle Geng, I will help my younger brother and sister to serve porridge."

"No, the pot lid is hot." Geng Zhiye whispered in Ye Fan's ear: "If Dabao and Erbao knew you were digging into the well, they would laugh at you every day."

Ye Fan pushed him away: "I don't want to jump into the well."

"I know. You can't bear to leave me."

Ye Fan was so angry that he glared at him. He was still talking nonsense at this time: "The edge of the well was too slippery. A woman didn't know what I was thinking. She probably suspected that I spit in the well and yelled at me. I accidentally lost my footing and fell in. There must be traces of my slippery shoes on the edge of the well."

"I remember now. I was wondering which kid was so naughty as to make a slippery mark on the edge of the well."

Geng Zhiye turned around subconsciously when he heard the familiar voice, and immediately stood up when he saw who it was: "Sister-in-law, it's all thanks to you just now."

The middle-aged woman was Liu Guihua, the lover of the deputy head of the regiment. She dragged the young woman into the bedroom and said, "That's her! She doesn't do her job, but spends all day thinking about catching spies. How can there be so many spies for you to catch?"

Geng Zhiye looked at Ye Fan. Is it her?

Ye Fan nodded speechlessly, he actually mistook her for an enemy spy.

Geng Zhiye: "You are from the market, so don't come here unless you have something to do. Although this is a family area, people sometimes drive here with documents. It will be bad for everyone if something goes wrong."

"But--"

Geng Zhiye interrupted: "Sister-in-law, please tell her parents."

"Okay!" Liu Guihua dragged the young woman out before she could even speak. "I was far away and heard it wrongly. How dare you take advantage of your mistake! Fortunately, Captain Geng is at home. If it were all women here today, who would go down and pull his lover up?"

Geng Zhiye discussed with Ye Fan: "Sister-in-law taught her a lesson, is this the case?"

Ye Fan nodded.

Geng Zhiye helped her lie down: "Miao Miao, is your father at home? Call your father over, I want to discuss something with him."

Liao Miaomiao took her brother and sister back to the next door, while Dabao, Erbao and Geng Zhiye went to the kitchen. The room suddenly became quiet, and Ye Fan felt scared again, just as he was seven years ago when he was reborn from the body of little Ye Fan.

Liao Miaomiao's mother was cooking in the house and didn't hear the noise outside. When Liao Miaomiao got home, she said the salesperson in the agricultural and sideline products market was a troublemaker. He didn't work properly, but came here to wander around and scared Aunt Ye into falling into the well.

Her mother was so scared that she almost mistook the bowl for a spoon and asked her what was going on.

Although Liao Miaomiao didn't see it, she saw Ye Fan carrying a bucket to fetch water, so she could guess roughly what happened. Seeing that her father was also curious, she told the story from the beginning, all the way to the time when Aunt Guihua dragged that woman to Geng's house, and Captain Geng didn't care and told her to come find her father.

The political commissar had a bad feeling and strode to Geng's house. Seeing only two children in the living room, he asked, "Where are your parents?"

Dabao: "In the bedroom. Dad is feeding Mom porridge. Uncle, please sit down."

The political commissar didn't know whether to tease Geng Zhiye, tease his wife, or praise the child for being sensible: "Is your mother okay?"

"It's okay." Dabao shook his head.

The political commissar frowned. The child's expression was too cold.

"Did you know that mom fell into the well?"

While washing his face, Geng Dabao couldn't help asking his parents what was wrong, why they didn't take off their shoes when playing in the water. Geng Zhiye said that Ye Fan accidentally fell into the water, and took the opportunity to remind Geng Dabao not to go near the well or the beach without his parents. However, Dabao had never seen a well, and subconsciously thought it was the same as a river, so he didn't take his father's advice to heart.

Hearing this, Dabao sighed first, stopped eating the porridge, put down the spoon, and looked helpless: "My mother likes to show off. My father didn't tell me, but I know it too. He must have said that he was carrying water."

"Geng Dabao——"

“Drink porridge!”

The voices of a woman and a man came out from the bedroom one after another. The political commissar wanted to laugh: "Your mother fell into the well, you don't seem surprised?"

"The house was almost set on fire in the morning. I told her to come out, but she was still stubborn. She's even more stubborn than a dead duck." Dabao was getting angrier and angrier. His mother didn't take care of herself. She didn't know how angry she was. Dabao stood up by the dining table and yelled towards his parents' bedroom: "Ye Fanfan, if you don't listen, I'll write a letter to grandma and ask her to punish you!"

Geng Zhiye came out with a bowl and a spoon: "Can you write a letter? You are so arrogant."

"I-I don't know how to find someone to write for me? Sister Miaomiao is as tall as Sister Huihui, she will definitely be able to write." Dabao stared at his father, "Can you please stop listening to everything Ye Fanfan says?"

Geng Zhiye flicked his forehead and said, "It's hard for me to even talk, and you want to teach me a lesson?"

"I'm going to tell grandpa!" Dabao shouted angrily.

Geng Zhiye lost his composure for a moment: "Son, let me make a deal. If you don't know, Dad will buy you one pound, no, two boxes of milk candy. Eat as much as you want."

Dabao's eyes rolled and he said, "High five!" He put down his little hand and touched his sister's shoulder, "Erbao, tell me, Dad didn't say he would buy it for you."

Erbao stuffed his mouth with porridge, puffed out his cheeks and nodded vigorously.

Geng Zhiye suddenly felt a black screen in front of his eyes.

The political commissar wanted to laugh again: "You have come to this day. But what do you want me to do?"

"That well is too dangerous. Ask the logistics department to get some stones to pad the surrounding area, and then raise the well mouth by at least 40 centimeters, and add a well cover. It's too unsanitary now."

The political commissar thought you were going to fill up the well: "There is no shortage of stones and trees here, so the well cover and stones are no problem. But how do we build it?"

"Use the bricks from my yard. Forget it, let's not make a calculation. Just count them as mine. I'll ask a fishing boat to take them back for me later."

Political Commissar: "Okay! But can't you just build a toilet board?"

"Is the typhoon coming?"

The political commissar subconsciously asked, "Is there a typhoon?"

"How fresh."

The political commissar ignored his challenge: "Is the typhoon strong? When?"

"In about a month. July or August."

The shed where spittoons were placed in the political commissar's house was made of wood chips. Upon hearing this, he could no longer sit still and immediately went to the army to find the idle logistics personnel.

The two drivers and half of the kitchen staff were called by the political commissar to move bricks and cement, while he drove his three-wheeled motorcycle to find a carpenter to buy boards and haul stones. When he pulled a load of stuff over, both the drivers and the kitchen staff just watched.

Political Commissar: "Do you need me to teach you this job? Have you never practiced building roads through mountains and bridges over rivers? Do you have to be an engineer to do this?"

The squad leader looked behind him and whispered, "Those sisters-in-law won't let us move."

The commissar asked loudly, "Who said no?"

A female comrade walked over from the crowd not far away, and Liu Guihua blurted out "It's you again." This person was not an outsider either, but the lover of the old driver, Tian Xiaofeng.

"Political Commissar, I'm not the one causing trouble."

The political commissar thought that saying this was just a sign of trouble: "Go ahead."

"No one repaired the well for so long, and Ye Fan slipped and fell in, but you and Captain Geng made a big fuss to repair the well. The eldest lady's life is precious." Unfortunately, it was a lie. Tian Xiaofeng curled her lips, "Cement bricks don't fall from the sky. It's inappropriate to use the country's money to repair her well, right?"

The political commissar smiled.

Tian Xiaofeng was surprised: "What are you laughing at?"

The two drivers thought Tian Xiaofeng's husband was their master. Seeing this, they told her to go home and stop messing around here.

"Where am I blind?" Tian Xiaofeng waved at the other military wives, "Do you think no one has been repairing it?"

The kitchen squad leader had to go back and keep an eye on the lunch: "These cement and bricks were pulled from Captain Geng's house. Captain Geng kept them for building toilets. We are just taking advantage of the break to lend a hand. Is that not okay?"

"How, how could it be such a coincidence?" Tian Xiaofeng shook her head in disbelief, "Captain Geng, can he predict the future?"

The old squad leader shook his head: "Who knows. Maybe Captain Geng asked his wife to jump into the well, and then took the opportunity to repair the well and win people's hearts. Sister-in-law, is that what you think?"

"When did I think like this?" Tian Xiaofeng's face turned pale with anxiety.

The old squad leader: "You are sure that the bricks and cement belong to Captain Geng, so it is not too late to think so. According to your thinking, is there any other possibility?"

Tian Xiaofeng's face flushed: "What are you so proud of? This is just a shabby place. You can stay here for your whole life and no one will remember you."

The old squad leader pointed at her angrily and said, "Say it again!"

"Nice words never come out twice." Tian Xiaofeng twisted her waist, pouted, and walked away leisurely.

The old squad leader was so angry that he chased after them, but the political commissar stopped them with a shout of "Stop". Tian Xiaofeng looked back and went home triumphantly. The old squad leader was so angry that he said, "At worst, I can just quit my job!" But he was reluctant to say it, so he asked the two drivers, "Who is she?"

One of the drivers: "Her sister-in-law's sister-in-law's brother is the guard of a certain leader in the capital!"

"But, Captain Geng is the son-in-law of a certain Air Force chief! The one who fell into the well was his own daughter!" the old squad leader shouted.

Political Commissar: "Get to work!"

"no!"

He heard these two words right after the political commissar finished speaking. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in her thirties who looked unfamiliar. He had only been transferred here half a month earlier than Geng Zhiye, and he had been dispatching troops all the time, so he looked unfamiliar to everyone: "Don't you have anything to do?"

"I don't have a job. Can the political commissar arrange a job for me?"

The political commissar choked and said, "Tian Xiaofeng is so capable, ask her to arrange it for you."

"She hasn't got anything to do herself."

Political Commissar: "Go home and wash the dishes and clothes."

"The political commissar doesn't want to know why I said that, right? The chief's biological daughter is not called Ye Fan, her name is Chen Xiaohui. Why do you think Ye Fan came to the island? Her job was arranged by the Ye family. Since the Ye family's biological daughter came to her, of course she had to give up her job." Seeing a group of grown men with a bewildered look on their faces, the woman started talking about the incident of deliberately taking the wrong child 25 years ago.

The political commissar just wanted to laugh after hearing this: "I said that a relative of mine who is a guard and has gone through so many twists and turns, Tian Xiaofeng, doesn't have the guts to do that."

The old squad leader: "These women like to gossip when they have nothing to do. The political commissar——"

"The truth is one thing, and whether I believe it or not is another." There is only one possibility that could scare Geng Zhiye into promising to buy two kilograms of candy for his son. Both daughters of the Ye family want some. "Ignore them."

The woman didn’t see the effect she wanted and was disappointed: “Those involved are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see things more clearly.”

Everyone pretended not to hear.

After the stones were laid, the political commissar discovered a problem: if water was added right after the stones were laid, the cement would not dry. The political commissar led a few people to go door to door to remind those who did not have water at home to quickly fetch water.

Someone had left the Geng family's water bucket and shoulder pole in the yard. Geng Zhiye was reminded to fill the bucket and told the two children to take off their shoes and stand on either side of Ye Fan.

Dabao saw that she was listless and touched her head: "You're not sick. Mom, are you still trying to be strong?"

Erbao climbed onto his mother: "Mom, are you still being stubborn?"

Ye Fan wanted to throw the two children away: "Does your father have a grudge against me?"

(End of this chapter)