Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

For the officers coming from inland, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals were very plentiful.

The headquarters Geng Zhiye mentioned was not far from Hengshan Island, so there was no shortage of seafood. After a few meals of bland soup, a table of seafood would make the mouth bitter, which was a small matter. It was very likely that the people at the headquarters would vomit.

Ye Fan: "You are bad."

"Running in the wind and waves is very exhausting, but we have to train, otherwise Chiang Kai-shek's today will be our tomorrow. We can't train people to be exhausted - when they return home after retirement, their families will be exhausted. Lao Niu, Lao Liao and I, as well as the kitchen team, will find ways to replenish everyone's body. If the headquarters finds out, wouldn't it be a waste of time?"

Ye Fan: "Can the headquarters steal the pigs you raise?"

"Of course the commander-in-chief felt embarrassed. When the ship returned to the port after patrol, everyone on the ship said they wanted to drink some hot broth. The kitchen staff came to our kitchen staff and wiped their tears. Who would have the nerve to let them go back empty-handed?" Geng Zhiye couldn't help but shake his head. "Since you know you can't bear it, why not let them find out from the beginning?"

Ye Fan was very curious: "Political Commissar Liao and the Chief of Staff also agree?"

"At first I disagreed, as I felt embarrassed to do so. I said they were the political commissar and chief of staff of Hengshan Island, their own soldiers were starving, yet they wanted to help others. It was simply too much to save face!"

Ye Fan: "Aren't they the ones who are suffering?"

Geng Zhiye nodded: "Yes. The vegetable market often slaughters pigs, their spouses buy meat, and they are full. But what about the more than a thousand spouses who are not on the island, or even single people?" After saying so much, he couldn't help but complain, "Typical example of a full man not knowing the hunger of a hungry man!"

Ye Fan held his face with both hands: "Just fool around and don't get angry. You'll become ugly if you get angry."

Geng Zhiye smiled: "Isn't it ugly now?"

"It's darker than before." Ye Fan touched his short flat head. "The pigpen is so big, and there's such a big vegetable field. The people at the headquarters are not blind, right?"

Geng Zhiye: "I'm sure you haven't been near a military base, otherwise you would have found that the pigpen is far away from the dormitory and training ground, like something from a production team."

Ye Fan understood the rules but had never been there: "Why build it so far?"

"Pig manure stinks. When the sea breeze blows in the summer, the stench spreads ten miles away, not just far away. The army stinks every day, how can we stand it." Geng Zhiye has been to the company dormitory. Because there are so many people living there, even if the shoes and socks are clean, the room still stinks. Geng Zhiye couldn't help but think of the years he spent in the military academy, "not to mention that the dormitory is filled with the smell of stinky feet all year round."

Ye Fan: "The smell of sweat from daily exercise?"

Geng Zhiye nodded: "The shoes are not comfortable to wear. But they are much better than before. Seeing the bumper harvest of fishermen on the island this year, our treatment will definitely get better and better."

"Yes." Ye Fan leaned against him after being tired of standing. "The people are actively producing, and they have money in their hands and are willing to spend it. Factories process more and pay more taxes. The government has money, and the defense budget will definitely increase significantly."

Geng Zhiye touched her face, which was icy cold: "Go back to the house?"

Ye Fan: "What time is it?"

Geng Zhiye raised his watch and looked at it in the dim light. "It's half past seven."

"Wait a little longer." Ye Fan rubbed his eyes, "What time do you go to bed in the army?"

Geng Zhiye: "I go to bed when the lights-out whistle sounds, otherwise I won't have the energy to deal with emergencies during the day."

"Who's on duty when you come back tonight?"

Geng Zhiye deliberately said: "I can't tell you."

Ye Fan chuckled, "I know this even if you don't tell me. I saw Political Commissar Liao chatting with someone at the gate in the evening. He wasn't in a hurry because Zhuang Qiuyue didn't cook. It's probably because he didn't have to go back to the army so it's okay to eat later. Captain Niu and the Chief of Staff? I just don't know which of them is at the beach and which one is in the army duty room."

"Keep guessing?"

Ye Fan: "I didn't go to Sister Liu's house today, otherwise I might have guessed it right."

"Comrade Liu Guihua doesn't know either."

Ye Fan shook his head: "I'll ask her if Captain Niu brought his military coat."

Is it not as warm on the seaside ship as in the duty room? Geng Zhiye was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Fortunately, you are a family member of our army."

Ye Fan rested his forehead against his shoulder and laughed: "It's warm in the cabin, right?"

"It's warm in the north, but cold in the south, Ye Fanfan." Geng Zhiye looked at the dark dome, "I don't want to stay indoors every winter. I feel like the people under me are annoying me. Why don't they sit in the office and hang out every day?"

Ye Fan stopped laughing and said, "I don't know if you are sunbathing?"

Geng Zhiye: "I didn't say that. It's just a good opportunity to scare them so that they won't become careless after the training."

"father!"

Erbao's voice came over, Geng Zhiye looked up, Erbao ran over from Wan Siqin's door. Geng Zhiye was surprised: "It was pitch black, how did she know it was me?"

"I heard your voice, didn't I?" Ye Fan said, and then he shouted to Er Bao, "I'm here. What are you doing?"

Geng Zhiye let go of Ye Fan, and the next second Erbao came up to him and shouted, "Mom!"

Ye Fan asked: "Don't want to play anymore?"

Erbao handed the hat and gloves to Ye Fan: "Brother, don't help me."

Ye Fan laughed: "How can you play if your brother helps you get things? Go back slowly."

Erbao waved her little hand and ran two or three steps away from her mother. Ye Fan sighed, "She's not afraid of falling."

Geng Zhiye: "You're wearing thick clothes so it won't hurt if you fall. Go over and take a look."

Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye did not stop outside Wan Siqin's house. Instead, they slowly walked to the intersection leading to the vegetable market and then slowly came back, then asked the two children to go home, wash up and go to bed.

Probably tired from playing, after Geng Zhiye changed the coal briquettes and closed the door, he went to his children's room to see if they were asleep. The two kids were sleeping soundly.

The next morning, another pig was slaughtered at the market, and Ye Fan went to buy pork. In the evening, Geng Zhiye came back to make pork with preserved vegetables, and Ye Fan steamed rice. The rice was mixed with the fat but not greasy meat, and the preserved vegetables soaked in lard and tasted great. Dabao ate so much that he burped.

Dabao put down his bowl and chopsticks and ran to Ye Fan, holding her hand: "Mom, touch my belly."

Ye Fan was confused: "What's wrong?"

"Full."

Ye Fan was speechless but wanted to laugh: "Dabao will definitely grow as tall as daddy in the future."

Dabao turned around, leaned against Ye Fan, and raised his chin to his father: "Taller than you!"

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that childish?"

"I'm a child, what's wrong with being childish?" Dabao sat back on his little stool and saw his sister stuffing rice into her mouth one grain at a time. "Erbao, don't eat if you don't want to."

Erbao looked at his mother pitifully and said, "Mom, I have too much rice."

"Did mom tell you to eat first and then add more if you're not full?" Ye Fan reluctantly brought it over. Geng Zhiye, who was sitting next to her, took it and poured it into his own bowl. Ye Fan stared at her daughter, "Don't do it again!"

Erbao nodded obediently: "Mom, I want to drink water."

Ye Fan gave her his cup. Erbao only took two sips, put down the cup and went out to play.

Dabao put a hat and scarf on his sister, but Erbao didn't want to wear them because they were in the way, and muttered, "Brother is so annoying." Ye Fan coughed lightly, and the little girl was startled. As if she was worried that Ye Fan would hit her, she pulled her brother and ran out.

Ye Fan was too lazy to remind her to slow down. He would behave himself if she got hurt from the fall.

Considering the high daytime temperature on the island, Ye Fan cleaned up the kitchen and marinated the meat she bought today with salt - she used the fat left over from yesterday to make oil.

Today when Ye Fan was buying meat, the staff at the vegetable market said that too many pigs were slaughtered this year and the production teams were running out of stock, so the director decided to slaughter another pig on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, and two more on the 15th day of the first lunar month after the New Year.

Ye Fan calculated the time and found out that his sister-in-law couldn't eat fresh pork during the time she was on the island, so he went to buy meat on the 29th. He chopped it into minced meat, saved some for making dumplings in the evening, and used some for steamed meat buns.

Dabao and Erbao like to eat meat buns very much. When they heard that their aunt was coming over in a few days, Dabao and Erbao each took two and asked their mother to keep them for their aunt.

Ye Fan smiled and joked: "If your aunt doesn't prepare some New Year's money, it would be unfair to you two for being so filial."

"My aunt is not married yet." Dabao was ignorant before he was five years old. When he saw his grandparents giving out New Year's money, he asked his aunt why she didn't give him any. Yu Wentao gave Geng Zhiqin a few dollars and asked her nephews and nieces to give one each. In recent years, I don't know who told me that unmarried people don't need to give New Year's money to their juniors. Last year, Geng Zhiqin came to Ye Fan's house to prepare for the exam. When he saw Dabao and Erbao, he took out the New Year's money. The brother and sister said like little adults, "Aunt, keep it for buying review materials."

Ye Fan was thankful that the cold current had moved southwards in the past few days, and the accumulated water near the water well had formed a thin layer of ice when he woke up in the morning. Unfortunately, the ice melted before Ye Fan could make breakfast. However, it was cold in the house, so Ye Fan was not worried that the meat buns would go bad.

On the morning of the third day of the New Year, the sun came out. Ye Fan took out the quilt from the guest room to dry in the sun, and threw Dabao and Erbao's cotton shoes into the yard to be exposed to the sun. Just as he was about to make the bed for his sister-in-law, Su Yuncheng arrived.

Su Yuncheng was carrying something in his hand, and there was a man following behind him. The man was in his forties or fifties, with a reserved look and short stature. He looked a bit like Su Yuncheng. Ye Fan thought for a moment and realized that this was his father. Ye Fan smiled and said, "Come in."

Su Yuncheng, who was outside the fence gate, went in immediately, then stopped and looked back when he remembered something, as if he was worried that his father had not caught up.

Ye Fan went into the room and poured two glasses of water and asked the two to sit down. Su Yuncheng's father said in a panic, "You're welcome, Accountant Ye, come over--come--"

"Happy New Year!" Ye Fan interrupted with a smile, "It's cold, warm your hands." He handed him the enamel pot and saw the meat and fish that Su Yuncheng put on the coffee table, "What do you bring when you come?"

The New Year is not an ordinary time, and Su Yuncheng would feel embarrassed to visit without bringing something.

Actually, people on the island don’t visit relatives during the Spring Festival. Or, it’s different from visiting relatives in the north. They just call close relatives together for a meal. Today they go to your house, tomorrow they go to his house. Su Yuncheng heard from his classmates that when people in the north visit relatives, they bring apples or brown sugar or white sugar. Some bring honey three-knife and honey horn honey. But there are no apples, honey three-knife and honey horn honey on the island, so Su Yuncheng decided to bring a piece of meat and a fish.

Su Yuncheng smiled and said, "It should be."

His father nodded: "Didn't Accountant Ye say that Yuncheng could go back to work if he didn't pass the exam? Yuncheng definitely can't review."

"Actually, I lied to him." Ye Fan told the truth.

The father and son were shocked.

Ye Fan nodded: "I originally thought that if he didn't pass the exam, he would go to the vegetable market to help out." He asked Su Yuncheng's father, "Have you heard about it? Setting up a stall in the vegetable market to do business with people from outside the island?"

The father and son nodded. Because Su Yuncheng's mother dug bamboo shoots and his father caught fish, they often asked neighbors to take the brigade's tractor to the vegetable market.

Ye Fan added: "I asked Su Yuanhang, he said there are more than three universities in Hangzhou, he will look for which school and which major has the lowest score, if Su Yuncheng is not sure, then he can apply to that school, he can get in if he performs normally."

Su Yuncheng couldn't help but say, "Brother Yuanhang never said that." "I was afraid that you would perform poorly under pressure." Ye Fan was happy for him, "I didn't expect you to perform exceptionally well and do as well as Miaomiao."

Su Yuncheng also felt it was unreal when he estimated his scores, and was hesitant between Agricultural University and Hangzhou Normal University. At that time, Su Yuanhang had already gone on vacation, so he went to Su Yuanhang for advice. Su Yuanhang asked him whether he wanted to be a teacher or join the education department, or study crops and treat animals.

Su Yuncheng's parents hoped that they would have a scholar, but because he was illiterate, they dared not express their opinions, so they reminded him in a subtle way that teachers have winter and summer vacations. Su Yuncheng did not dare to apply for Hangzhou Normal University even after hearing about the holidays.

Last summer, there were three other candidates on the island besides Liao Miaomiao and Su Yuncheng. The three first went to Liao Miaomiao to confirm that she had applied to Hangzhou Normal University, and then went to Su Yuncheng. When they heard Su Yuncheng say that he doubted that he had done well in the exam, the three urged Su Yuncheng to apply to Hangzhou Normal University.

One of the three applied to the Agricultural University and was admitted, and he was the last one to get in. Su Yuncheng had applied to the Agricultural University, so he had no chance. The other two asked Su Yuanhang for advice. Su Yuanhang suggested two schools, a medical school and an engineering school. The medical school was for nursing, and the engineering school was for civil engineering. This was probably because those who wanted to be nurses all chose medical schools, and civil engineering was unpopular. It was also possible that both schools added a few majors last summer, and the admissions were insufficient, so the scores kept dropping. Both of them were admitted.

Even though Su Yuanhang had talked to Ye Fan about helping people fill out applications, Ye Fan was mentally prepared, but he was still surprised to hear that all five of them were admitted.

After hearing Ye Fan's words, Su Yuncheng felt like he was dreaming when thinking about the exams and filling out the application form: "Thank you. If you hadn't said that, I would have been nervous during the exam."

Ye Fan nodded: "I'll take it. Just this once?"

Su Yuncheng: "I wanted to come and thank you last summer. Brother Yuanhang said that you and Captain Geng went back to your hometown and it was unclear when you would be back. My father said to wait until my winter vacation to talk to you and wish you a happy new year."

Ye Fan: "We originally planned to stay a few more days. But the heat in the north is different from that on the island. The island is cool at night, while the weather in the north is hot and humid. We can't fall asleep until one or two in the morning. Dabao and Erbao had enough of it after a few days. When they got home, they said they would not go back unless it was summer vacation this year."

Dabao came out of the bedroom: "Mom, do you want to go back?"

Su Yuncheng and his son were shocked.

Ye Fan glared at him: "You are so rude!"

Dabao immediately called Su Yuncheng uncle and his father grandpa. Su Yuncheng's father smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay."

Su Yuncheng asked: "What are you doing in the house?"

Since Dabao and Erbao often went to the office to look for Ye Fan, Su Yuncheng and Su Duofu often went to the vegetable market to receive goods, and it was inevitable that they would run into Dabao. Dabao was very familiar with the two, so he said, "Go to sleep."

Su Yuncheng: "Sleeping in the morning? Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Ye Fan: "Don't listen to his nonsense. He complains about the strong wind outside and the coldness in the room, so he sits on the bed and reads a book and plays chess."

Su Yuncheng asked: "Playing chess? Erbao is also in the room?"

"Erbao is here." Erbao answered loudly.

Su Yuncheng couldn't help but laugh: "Erbao, don't come out, I'll leave in a while."

Ye Fan: "Anything else?"

Su Yuncheng nodded: "Let's go to the home of the teacher who tutors me."

Ye Fan stood up: "Let's go now. It's past ten o'clock."

The father and son didn't have a watch and didn't know the time, so they stood up immediately after hearing the words.

Ye Fan sent the two of them outside the door and saw a 28-bar truck parked by the fence. It looked like Su Yuanhang's car. There was also a bamboo basket on the car. Ye Fan suspected that there was a piece of meat and a fish inside. However, Ye Fan was more concerned about the car: "Is this Su Yuanhang's car?"

Su Yuncheng smiled uncomfortably: "Yes. Brother Yuanhang's cars are almost collective."

"No one rides it when he's not home, and it's just rusty." Ye Fan heard from Su Yuanhang that his father had a bicycle, but his wife and mother didn't know how to ride it. One of Su Yuanhang's brothers-in-law wanted it, but there would definitely be conflicts among his three brothers-in-law as to who should be given it and who should not. Su Yuanhang simply didn't give it to anyone.

Su Yuncheng nodded: "Brother Yuanhang said the same thing. He also said that if it breaks, I will help him fix it, and whoever wants to ride it can ride it."

"Go quickly." After the voice fell, Liao Miaomiao came out of the yard. Ye Fan couldn't help asking: "Yuncheng, you and Miaomiao are still classmates, right?"

Su Yuncheng shook his head: "We are in different majors. Her score is high, mine is low. But we came back together last year. Brother Yuanhang was busy at school, so he came back a few days later than us."

Liao Miaomiao came over and just heard the last two sentences: "And Niu Xiaoshan."

Ye Fan: "Did you meet by chance or did you make a special appointment?"

Liao Miaomiao smiled and said, "We made an appointment. How could it be such a coincidence?"

Su Yuncheng explained: "One weekend, I went to Su Causeway with my classmates and happened to meet Niu Xiaoshan. We chatted for a while and found that our holidays were about the same, so we agreed to buy tickets together."

"That's good. You don't have to worry about the road." Ye Fan said, "Go quickly."

Su Yuncheng asked his father to sit in the back while he rode. Seeing this, Ye Fan wanted to say that he could just jump on the bike. Seeing the small figure of Su's father, Ye Fan swallowed his words. As the father and son walked away, Ye Fan asked Liao Miaomiao if she had seen Su Yuncheng's mother.

Liao Miaomiao nodded. "Last year, I heard that he also applied to Hangzhou Normal University. When I received the admission letter, I thought of him and asked Xiaoshan to go with me to ask him if he passed. Because you and Uncle Geng said there were bad guys on the train, I wanted to go to school with him."

"Is his mother taller than his father?"

Liao Miaomiao nodded: "What's wrong?"

"It seems that Su Yuncheng is as tall as his mother."

Liao Miaomiao: "His sister, brother, and sister look like his father."

Ye Fan frowned: "He has so many brothers and sisters?"

Liao Miaomiao wanted to say, don't you know? You've been colleagues for several years. Suddenly thinking of something, Liao Miaomiao understood why she didn't know: "He has only one brother and one sister. His sister was adopted by his uncle, and later he got a live-in son-in-law."

"No wonder it doesn't match what I know. Is his sister married?"

Liao Miaomiao shook her head: "Originally his family was poor, so they planned to let his sister get married first, and the man would give some gifts, and then they would save some to find a wife for Su Yuncheng. It happened that the food factory was recruiting temporary workers that year, and the round trip was several yuan. Su Yuncheng had money and confidence, so he didn't allow his mother to do that."

Ye Fan guessed that Su Yuncheng's mother was the head of the family, because his father's timid appearance did not seem like the person who had the final say at home.

"and after?"

Liao Miaomiao: "As long as the food factory continues to run, his family will make money, and his mother will look down on ordinary families. Two years ago, Su Yuanhang was going to take the college entrance examination, and his mother - I am speechless when I talk about his mother, she told Su Yuncheng to study hard and marry his sister to Hangzhou in the future."

Ye Fan thought it was funny: "If you don't know, you would think Su Yuncheng went to Hangzhou to be an official."

"That's what Xiaoshan said. I also heard it from Xiaoshan. He went around with a few people from the Shanxi Brigade last summer, and he knew something about everyone's life on the island." Liao Miaomiao wanted to go to Ye Fan's house because she felt suffocated facing her mother at home these days. When she was about to say this, she couldn't help but widen her eyes.

Seeing this, Ye Fan looked behind her and suddenly opened her eyes wide. She didn't react until someone came to her: "Aren't the tickets for tomorrow's ticket due on the sixth day of the first lunar month?"

Geng Zhiqin said helplessly: "You ask her." Then he went back to the house carrying his bag as if he was at home.

Liao Miaomiao immediately followed: "Auntie Qin, are you tired? Why did you come so early? Did you take the sleeper to Hangzhou on New Year's Day and transfer to Ningbo this morning?"

Geng Zhiqin nodded, and felt no movement behind her. She turned around and saw her sister-in-law staring at Chen Xiaohui for an explanation. She couldn't help but gloat over her misfortune and shouted with a smile: "Dabao, Erbao, aunt is here."

Ye Fan sighed helplessly: "Go inside first! You'd better have a good reason!"

Chen Xiaohui took advantage of the fact that Ye Fan turned his back to her and curled her lips to complain in her heart, what a bad temper!
When Ye Fan came into the house, Geng Zhiqin was taking things out of his bag. Ye Fan took another look and smiled, "Dabao and Erbao love this the most."

Erbao tilted his head to take a look: "Rock sugar fried dough twist?"

Dabao immediately asked if he could open it and try it.

"I bought this for you two." Geng Zhiqin said as he opened a package.

Ye Fan poured the water from the enamel pot into the wash basin and explained to Geng Zhiqin and Chen Xiaohui: "Two guests came just now, but they didn't touch the cups."

Geng Zhiqin: "Then let's use this jar."

Ye Fan poured half a jar of boiled water: "Sit down and rest for a while." He poured half a cup of water for Chen Xiaohui, "Talk."

Chen Xiaohui washed her hands and sat down: "Let me drink some water."

Ye Fan: "You can avoid the first day, but you can't avoid the fifteenth."

Geng Zhiqin was watching the fun and didn't mind making things worse: "If you don't say it, I'll say it for you?" Without waiting for Chen Xiaohui to speak, "Aunt Tao asked her to go on a blind date."

Ye Fan couldn't help but ask: "That's it?"

Chen Xiaohui frowned slightly: "Is this a small matter? I finally got into college--" Suddenly she remembered that Ye Fan didn't know that she had memories of her past life, and couldn't understand her desire for college, "Even if we go on a blind date and get married, we have to wait until I graduate. If we go on a blind date now and have a child next year, I'll drop out of school?"

"Then you can tell mom."

Geng Zhiqin nodded, "She did. At the end of the year, she received another letter from someone in Shanghai, saying that they would introduce a college student to Chen Xiaohui and asked Chen Xiaohui to go meet him after the New Year. Chen Xiaohui said that she had to accompany Aunt Tao to your place. She was afraid that the Chen family would come looking for her, so she asked Aunt Tao to spend the New Year with your father at the Air Force compound, and asked your brother to accompany your sister-in-law back to her parents' home."

Ye Fan was speechless: "——You, you can't just refuse?"

"What should I do if they come to school to look for me?" Chen Xiaohui asked, "They have no shame, but I still have."

Ye Fanxin said, you are too proud, otherwise they would not dare to come to you again and again, "You got away with it this year, but what about next year?"

Chen Xiaohui shook her head: "Let's talk about it next year. By the way, do you have money? Lend me two hundred yuan."

"You are so polite!" Ye Fan said unhappily, "Isn't the school's subsidy enough for you?"

Chen Xiaohui: "A relative of my classmate is planning to go abroad, and if everything goes well, he will be able to go abroad this year. His family used to hide a lot of good things, and they are worried that they can't pass through customs, so they are going to sell them. Don't worry, I will buy one for you. No matter how much it costs you, I will return it to you in full."

Ye Fan rubbed his forehead and said, "You've only been in school for a few days, how many antiques do you know?"

"You'll never find it again." Chen Xiaohui heard a crunching sound and followed the sound to see Dabao eating. Her eyes lit up. "Dabao, this is the New Year's money that grandma and uncle gave you and Erbao." She took out a few red envelopes from her bag. "Do you and Erbao have a lot of New Year's money?"

Ye Fan quickly stopped him: "That's enough!"

(End of this chapter)