After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

At the end of March, as soon as it got light, the village loudspeaker in Heishan Village would blare out the loudspeaker.

"Attention everyone! Attention everyone! Tomorrow is a joyous occasion! Every household must sweep up the cow dung in front of their door and make sure the latrine covers are firmly secured. If any guest steps on any of their property, I'll deduct six months' worth of work points!"

Wang Laocai's voice crackled and popped from the loudspeaker, startling the sparrows resting in the trees, which then scattered and flew into the air.

Today, Heishan Village is like celebrating the New Year. From one end of the village to the other, every household has pasted newly cut red paper on their doorframes. Although most of them are painted by themselves using soot from the bottom of a pot mixed with red clay, it still looks very festive from a distance.

On the Qingyun River, the brand-new stone arch bridge gleamed with a bluish-gray light in the morning glow.

Ma Zhigang squatted beside the stone pier at the bridgehead, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, holding a measuring tape in his hand, bending over to take the last set of data on the bridge surface.

Behind him stood two young men from Heishan Village, one holding a marker pole, the other using a pencil stub to make up numbers in a notebook.

"The deviation is 0.3 millimeters, which is acceptable."

Ma Zhigang stood up, stuffed the measuring tape into his pocket, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and turned around to pat the stone tablet on the bridge railing that still had the red cloth on it.

"Thirty-two days, the best job I've ever done in my life."

In the Ye family's courtyard, white smoke began to billow from the chimney before dawn.

Wearing a blue floral apron, Ye's mother squatted in front of the stove, flipping the fried dough. A pot of lard sizzled as it heated, and the golden dough, after being flipped a couple of times, puffed up into plump little balls.

Liu Fen came in from outside carrying a basket of red dates and placed it on the cutting board: "Auntie, the dates are washed. Do you think there's enough filling?"

Without even looking up, Ye's mother used her chopsticks to stir the cakes in the oil pan: "That's enough, that's enough. Keep an eye on the steamed buns in that steamer over there, don't let them overcook."

Liu Fen responded, lifted the lid of the steamer and peeked inside. Steam hit her face, and she fanned herself with her apron. "Auntie, let me tell you, these steamed buns are so white, they look even better than the ones sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."

Ye's mother smiled but didn't reply.

Suddenly, a series of noisy footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, followed by the shrill shouts of several children.

"The jeeps are here! The jeeps are here!"

Ye's mother paused, her chopsticks still in her hand.

Liu Fen rushed to the courtyard gate before her, tiptoed and peered towards the village entrance. When she turned back, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "They're here! They're the army's green jeeps!"

As the military-green Beijing Jeep turned from the county road onto the dirt road at the village entrance, its wheels rolled over a half-dried mud pit, splashing up a cloud of yellow mud.

Gu Zheng held the steering wheel with one hand, the car window was half open, and the early morning wind from the mountains blew in, blowing the stray hairs on his forehead backward.

The back seat was crammed full, with two large cardboard boxes stacked together, their openings revealing colorful candy wrappers and two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes wrapped in red paper. Next to them were three bottles of Fenjiu liquor and a bag full of pastries brought back from Beijing.

Ye Zhen sat in the passenger seat with a military green canvas bag on her lap.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, seven or eight naked children swarmed around it, peering through the windows with their eyes darting around.

Gu Zheng opened the car door and stepped out with his long legs.

He wasn't wearing his military uniform today; he was wearing a dark gray coarse cloth jacket with the buttons undone, revealing a white shirt underneath, with one button loosely undone at the collar.

"Uncle, uncle, is this car for war?" A little girl with a high ponytail tugged at Gu Zheng's clothes and looked up to ask.

Gu Zheng squatted down, took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket, and put three candies into the little girl's hand.

"They don't fight wars, they just sell sugar."

The little girl's eyes lit up, and she clutched the candy, turning and running away, shouting, "Candy! Candy! White Rabbit candy!"

In a flash, more than a dozen children surrounded them, chattering and reaching out their hands.

Gu Zheng didn't hesitate and pulled out a whole bag of White Rabbit candies from the back seat.

"Line up, line up, three per person, whoever grabs them will get none."

The children were in complete chaos. Gu Zheng was being pulled by the sleeve and shaken from side to side. He was scolding them, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Ye Zhen got out of the passenger seat, patted the dust off the hem of her coat, stood by the car and watched this scene, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Hurried footsteps came from the courtyard gate.

Ye Cheng jogged out, wearing a brand new white Dacron shirt tucked into navy blue Dacron pants, with a black leather belt around his waist, and his hair was neatly combed with water.

He ran up to Ye Zhen, rubbed his hands on the seams of his pants, and grinned sheepishly.

"Zhenzhen, brother-in-law, you've arrived."

Ye Zhen didn't rush to exchange pleasantries; her gaze swept downwards and landed on Ye Cheng's right leg.

"Take a few steps."

Ye Cheng paused for a moment, took two steps forward and then two steps back.

Ye Zhen squatted down and pressed twice on his knees and ankles through his trouser legs.

"Do you feel any soreness or tightness?"

"No, not at all." Ye Cheng quickly shook his head. "I worked every day last month and didn't feel uncomfortable at all."

Ye Zhen stood up and nodded.

"good."

Ye Cheng chuckled twice and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

After Gu Zheng finished distributing the candy, he walked over in a few steps and slapped Ye Cheng on the shoulder.

"Brother, you'll be the groom tomorrow. This shirt is nice. I brought you a tie; I'll teach you how to tie it later."

"A tie?" Ye Cheng scratched his head. "What's that?"

"It's a strip of cloth tied around the neck; it's a common practice for weddings in the city."

Ye Cheng's face immediately turned red: "I don't know how to do that thing, don't embarrass yourself."

"What's so embarrassing? Your brother-in-law tied it for you himself, I guarantee it'll look good."

A series of hurried footsteps came from the dirt road in the distance. Ma Zhigang jogged over from the other side of the bridge, his shoes covered in mud, his chest heaving like a bellows.

"Old Gu, sister-in-law!"

He rushed over, not even wiping his sweat, grabbed Gu Zheng's arm and pulled him towards the river.

"Come on, let's go see the bridge! Let me tell you, the joints of that last arch are absolutely gorgeous, the curve is exactly the same as the one I drew on the blueprints!"

Gu Zheng was pulled to the side by him, but couldn't break free. He turned around and raised his chin at Ye Zhen.

"Honey, let me go check it out first."

Ye Zhen waved to him, then turned and walked into the courtyard with Ye Cheng.

On the riverbank, Ma Zhigang led Gu Zheng all the way to the bridge.

The setting sun cast a warm, golden glow over the stone arch bridge, making the three large characters "Lianxin Bridge" (Bridge of Connected Hearts) appear and disappear under the red cloth. The three large, semi-circular arches were reflected on the shimmering surface of the Qingyun River, forming a series of full moons that symbolize completeness.

The bridge surface is paved with polished stone slabs, and the railings on both sides are also made of granite, simple and sturdy.

Ma Zhigang squatted down next to the bridge pier and patted the stone with his hand: "Look at this joint. This is called dry masonry. You can't even stuff a piece of paper between the stones."

Gu Zheng put his hands in his pockets and stood at the bridgehead looking towards the opposite bank.

Red lanterns were also hung on the houses in Dahe Village, in strings and strings.

"Old Ma, you've built a beautiful bridge."

"Absolutely." Ma Zhigang patted his chest, grinning smugly. "Let me tell you, when the bride and groom cross this bridge tomorrow, that'll be real style."

At night, the kerosene lamp in the main room of the Ye family's house was lit up brightly.

The family sat around the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), with fried cakes and stewed cured meat and cabbage laid out on the table, steaming hot.

Gu Zheng took out a thick red envelope from his military uniform pocket and pushed it in front of Ye Cheng.

"Big brother, tomorrow is your special day. This is a small token of our appreciation from Zhenzhen and me."

Ye Cheng pulled his hands back as his face turned bright red: "No, no, you've given me enough."

Ye Zhen slapped the red envelope into his hand: "Take it."

Ye Cheng clutched the red envelope, his lips moved, and after a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Zhenzhen, your older brother is useless; all he knows is how to smash rocks."

"What's wrong with smashing rocks?" Ye Zhen picked up her enamel mug and took a sip of water. "The rocks you smashed could have built the best skyscraper in the country."

Ye Cheng's eyes welled up with tears, and he quickly lowered his head to eat the fried cake.

Mother Ye wiped her eyes and patted Gu Zheng's hand repeatedly, saying, "Little Gu, I'm sorry to have to live in this dilapidated house with us."

"Mom, how can this be called a dilapidated house?" Gu Zheng called her "Mom" smoothly, his face full of sincerity. "When I was on the front line, we couldn't even stretch our legs out in the foxhole. Being able to sleep on a kang (heated brick bed) was a luxury."

Father Ye brought over the bowl: "Drink some wine."

Gu Zheng took the enamel bowl, tilted his head back and took a swig, gasping for breath from the spiciness.

Ye Zhen glanced at him: "Drink less, you still have to put on a show tomorrow."

"Don't worry." Gu Zheng wiped his mouth with his sleeve, leaned close to Ye Zhen's ear and whispered, "I've already arranged everything for Big Brother's appearance tomorrow."

Ye Zhen glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions.