I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

The next day, before the reveille sounded in the military family compound, Luo Meiyun gently woke Qiaoqiao up.

"Mom, what time is it? I'll get up and make breakfast right away."

Qiaoqiao jumped out of bed; she had gone to bed too late last night and was fast asleep.

Luo Meiyun didn't urge Qiaoqiao. Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed, looked at Zhou Wenhui, and touched his face. Zhou Wenhui thought it was Qiaoqiao, licked his lips, and fell asleep again.

Qiaoqiao got dressed and quickly went to light the coal stove. After a while, Luo Meiyun came out of the house, and Zhou Zhonghai, who was guarding outside the door, went in.

Luo Meiyun went to the kitchen and pulled Qiaoqiao, who was starting the fire, and said, "Qiaoqiao, we're not eating breakfast. Mom and Dad are going back to the military base."

"No, weren't you leaving this afternoon? There's still so much pig's head meat left to eat," Qiaoqiao asked, puzzled.

"Military orders are like mountains, Mom and Dad have to leave immediately. Qiaoqiao, here, this is Mom and Dad's savings account, there's five hundred yuan in it. Give it to your brother, he needs money to make Wenhui a prosthetic leg."

"Mom, no need, I have money."

"Listen to me, take it. This is all the money your parents have in savings, plus a little over a hundred yuan in meal tickets, which are in the drawer."

Luo Meiyun then took out a fixed deposit book and handed it to Qiaoqiao, saying, "This is Wenhui's hero's subsidy, three thousand yuan. Mom deposited it in a five-year fixed deposit account, and it will be available in two more years. Qiaoqiao, save this money for when you have a baby."

"Mom, what are you doing? This money is useless to me. You keep it. It's still too early to have a baby."

Luo Meiyun stuffed two bankbooks into Qiaoqiao's hands and said with a smile, "Mom is often away from home, so you'll be in charge from now on. But we're not well-off, so I'm sorry. Qiaoqiao, can you promise Mom you won't tell Wenhui?"

"Mom, what's wrong with you today? How could I possibly be capable of managing a household?"

"Mom can handle the surgery, but you're much better at managing the household than Mom. Qiaoqiao, Wenhui loves you, Mom can tell." Luo Meiyun smiled, leaving Qiaoqiao at a loss for words.

After checking on his son, Zhou Zhonghai came out, gave Qiaoqiao a military salute, and solemnly said, "Qiaoqiao, I'm entrusting this to you."

Qiaoqiao took two steps back, stammering, "Dad, what are you doing?"

Luo Meiyun slapped Zhou Zhonghai: "You've scared the child."

Zhou Zhonghai chuckled: "Qiaoqiao, I could tell last night that you and Wenhui are getting along well. Dad got excited. Okay, okay, Mom and I are off. The car is waiting outside."

"Dad, Mom, I'm taking a box of pork head meat with me."

"No need, the military canteen has it."

"Mom, the cafeteria is the cafeteria, and home is home. Take one box with you."

"Okay, okay, take one box."

Qiaoqiao cut the best part of the pig's snout into a whole box to make herself feel better.

"Okay, Mom and Dad will be back in a few days."

Luo Meiyun and Zhou Zhonghai went out, and Qiaoqiao saw them off at the gate. Today, it wasn't the young soldier from yesterday who came to pick up their parents, but Liu Songming.

"Qiaoqiao, good morning." Liu Songming greeted her happily.

"Hello, Brother Songming."

Qiaoqiao really wanted to ask Liu Songming why he came to pick people up so early today.

She dared not ask; even if she did, Liu Songming wouldn't tell her anything about matters concerning the military.

"Go back and get some more sleep." Luo Meiyun released Qiaoqiao's hand and smiled gently.

The car drove away, and Qiaoqiao felt a little sad and uneasy.

Qiaoqiao couldn't sleep either. After changing the coal, she sat in the kitchen in a daze.

She didn't know how much time had passed when the reveille sounded. Qiaoqiao snapped out of her daze and saw that the water on the coal stove had boiled. She quickly poured it into the thermos.

I filled a kettle with cold water and put it on the coal stove. After thinking about it, I decided not to make breakfast and would go to the cafeteria to buy it instead.

She opened the drawer and found a pile of coupons. Qiaoqiao carefully sorted through them and found ten jin of meat coupons, five cloth coupons, and meal and vegetable coupons.

How many tickets do my parents actually receive in a month?

Why were so many left? What are they going to eat?

I got a one-yuan meal ticket. My brother rarely eats fried dough sticks, so I bought two extra today.

It was already daylight when Qiaoqiao went out and ran into Han Dan.

"Sister Han, didn't you stay at your parents' house for even a day?"

"No, Lin Jie is coming back."

"How are your aunt and uncle doing?"

"Great, Qiaoqiao, I heard your in-laws and Wenhui have all gone back to your parents' home?"

"Yes, my in-laws happened to be home for the holiday, so we went to Dashui Village together."

"That's great, your Wenhui is willing to go out now."

"Yes, your Lin Jie..."

"He's a good person too, my parents like him a lot." Han Dan's lips curled up.

"Want to go grocery shopping later? Let's go together."

"I'm not buying any more. I have a pig's head at home that I need to finish. It's hot, or it will spoil."

"Does your family still have pig's head meat?"

"No, it was a gift from someone to my father-in-law," Qiaoqiao said with an embarrassed smile.

As they talked, they arrived at the cafeteria. Qiaoqiao bought six fried dough sticks, a bucket of porridge, and two steamed buns.

She was worried that her brother wouldn't have enough fried dough sticks, so she bought two steamed buns to fill his stomach.

After buying breakfast, Qiaoqiao didn't wait for Han Dan and hurried home.

When they got home, both the older brother and Zhou Wenhui were awake. The older brother had already carried Zhou Wenhui to the bathroom.

"Time for breakfast! I bought a few extra fried dough sticks today."

Qiaoqiao went to get the bowls and chopsticks, and Zhou Wenhui said, "Mom and Dad aren't up yet?"

Qiaoqiao paused for a moment: "Mom and Dad went back to the military headquarters early this morning."

"So early in the morning?"

"Yes, they left before the reveille even sounded."

"What did your parents say to you?" Zhou Wenhui frowned.

"They didn't say anything, just that military orders are absolute and we must leave immediately."

Qiaoqiao hesitated, "Mom said not to tell Zhou Wenhui about the passbook. Should I tell him or not?"

Zhou Wenhui and Yang Zheng ate breakfast, each with a bowl of porridge and a fried dough stick.

"Wenhui, Mom, she...she gave me two bankbooks."

Qiaoqiao still said that the money belonged to Zhou Wenhui's parents, and he should know that.

Zhou Wenhui was stunned. He put down the fried dough stick and asked, "What else did they say?"

"There are also meal tickets and vegetable tickets, worth over a hundred yuan, which I left in the drawer."

"What else did my parents say?" Zhou Wenhui asked sternly.

"He didn't say anything, that's all. He told me not to tell you. Oh, and Dad gave me a military salute."

Qiaoqiao clutched the hem of her clothes, wondering what she had done wrong.

Zhou Wenhui put down the fried dough sticks, turned his wheelchair with both hands, and went to the telephone.

"Connect me to the Publicity Department's secretariat office," Zhou Wenhui said urgently.

The call connected quickly, and Zhou Wenhui said coldly, "Send a car to Commander Zhou's house. No car? Where is it? What is Director Tan doing at the military headquarters?"

"I don't know, we set off before dawn," a humble voice came from the microphone.

"I don't care, send me a car right now, from the union or the logistics department, it's fine."

Zhou Wenhui slammed down the phone, his face so cold it was frightening.

"Wenhui, what happened?" Qiaoqiao was terrified, and Yang Zheng asked.

"It's okay, the car will come with me when it arrives."

"Okay." Yang Zheng looked at Qiaoqiao, wondering to himself, what's wrong?

Soon, Yu Fu arrived at the door in a large truck and called out, "Director Zhou, the truck is here."

Yang Zheng carried Zhou Wenhui, and Qiaoqiao folded up the wheelchair and put it in the car.

"Director Zhou, all the cars in the compound have left, except for this grocery shopping vehicle. Where are you going?"

"Go to the military headquarters."

Qiaoqiao wanted to get on the bus too, but there weren't enough seats. There were only two seats in the front, so Yang Zheng squatted in the back of the truck.

"I'll go with you; I'll ride in the truck bed."

Zhou Wenhui pulled her back, forced a smile, and said, "Don't go, it's too bumpy. Yang Zheng and I will be back soon."

"Then come back soon."

"Um."

What is Zhou Wenhui going to the military headquarters for?

Should he look for his parents? But the military headquarters is so strict, can he even get in?