Li Weimin and his teammates were in the city on business today. As they were about to head back, he suddenly heard someone shouting "Stop thief!" nearby. Li Weimin's expression changed, and he shot towards the direction of the cry like an arrow.
Seeing the two men rushing towards her, Zhang Xue yelped in fright and crouched down, covering her head.
However, the expected pain never came. Suddenly, two thuds echoed, followed by two muffled groans. Zhang Xue cautiously looked up and saw the two men who had been charging at her now lying on the ground in agony.
Not far away, a figure in military green swiftly moved towards the man who had snatched her bag. The thief turned to run, but the green figure was faster. With a firm grip on the man's collar, he yanked him down, slamming him onto the ground.
All the actions were executed in one fluid motion, leaving Zhang Xue momentarily stunned.
"Comrade, this is your bag, isn't it?" Li Weimin picked up the bag from the ground and asked, only to find her staring blankly at him, without a reply.
Li Weimin frowned, then thought it was understandable. She was already quite brave; an ordinary girl would likely have been crying, not just stunned.
"Comrade?" Li Weimin called out again, his voice softer than before.
"Oh, it's my bag." Looking at the young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes, Zhang Xue finally reacted. She quickly took the bag, her cheeks slightly flushed, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
"Just now..." Thank you.
"Weimin, the car is almost here!" A teammate caught up at the alley entrance and, seeing that he had handled the situation, urged him to hurry.
"Coming." Li Weimin replied, turned, and ran quickly towards them.
Watching the receding figure with a wistful gaze, Zhang Xue opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words she wanted to say.
Carrying the bag back to the train station entrance, she was fortunate that the person had been kind enough to wait and keep an eye on her bag. After thanking him repeatedly, Zhang Xue finally boarded the bus with her belongings.
...
Knowing that Rui Rui was about to start first grade, Zhao Qiuyue had sewn him a schoolbag early on. Seeing them return, she took it out to show Rui Rui.
"You're so thoughtful. You even sewed a five-pointed star on it?" Chen Lishu looked at the military green schoolbag she produced. Besides the star, it also had a badge of a great leader. The workmanship was no less than any bag sold outside.
"Thank you, Aunt Xiaoyue. I really like it. I can carry it to school when it starts," Rui Rui said, touching the five-pointed star with great fondness.
Marrying a factory worker in the 1950s, a poor farmer in the 1960s, a soldier in the 1970s, a degree holder in the 1980s, and a foreigner in the 1990s. Nowadays, soldiers are highly admired. Both men and women alike take pride in wearing a military uniform. Anyone dressed in military green is sure to be the most beautiful person around.
Even without the uniform, backpacks, canteens, and the like are certainly best in military green. Furthermore, Rui Rui, being a child from the military dependents' area, had a special fondness for military green.
As they were chatting, a knock at the door was heard. Chen Lishu got up and, seeing it was Zhang Xue, asked curiously, "Why are you back so early?"
Zhang Xue pushed past her, put her bag down on a chair, greeted Rui Rui and Zhao Qiuyue, and then turned to Chen Lishu with a pout, saying dejectedly, "Lishu, it's over. What am I going to do?"
She then recounted how her bag was snatched at the train station and how she was rescued.
"...I've been thinking about it all the way here. When he gave me my bag back, I was so engrossed in looking at him that I must have been incredibly awkward. It's over. My romance hasn't even begun, and it's already ended. I must have been out of my mind. If I had stopped him to ask for his name or contact information, that would have been something."
Zhang Xue held Chen Lishu's hand, seeking comfort, only to be ruthlessly brought back to reality by the latter's words: "From what you said, he's around your age. Maybe he's already married and has kids who can buy soy sauce."
Zhang Xue was twenty-six this year. If she hadn't been studying, she would have been married long ago at this age.
"Impossible," Zhang Xue said with certainty, releasing Chen Lishu's hand. "My intuition tells me he's definitely not married."
Chen Lishu smiled. "Alright, he's not married, and you don't even know his name. It's pointless to think about it. Let's think about what to eat tonight."
Zhang Xue immediately chimed in, "I want to eat meat. How about fried meatballs? I'm not going back to school for the next couple of days. My heart is heavy, and I need to vent here."
Hearing her, Rui Rui kindly reminded her, "Aunt Xiaoxue, my mom says we need a balanced diet of meat and vegetables and shouldn't be picky eaters."
Zhang Xue sighed helplessly at Rui Rui. "My eldest son, this is my only little pleasure. And now my uncle-in-law is out of the picture. Little Aunt Xue will have to rely on you for old age support."
"You just keep talking nonsense."
Chen Lishu said, then turned to Zhao Qiuyue. "Later, you buy some meat and some radishes. We'll make fried meatballs tonight."
...
Meanwhile, Lu Chengming and Lin Xiaohui finally rented a small room of about ten square meters in a dormitory building. Three households shared one kitchen, and over ten households shared a water room and a bathroom. Although the conditions were not good, the price was cheap, only four yuan a month.
"I have to work and take care of the child every day. Can't you even cook a meal when you get back?" Lin Xiaohui returned with the baby and, upon opening the door, saw Lu Chengming lying in bed asleep. She was instantly furious.
After moving out, Lu's mother no longer helped with childcare. Lin Xiaohui had to bring the child to work herself but still had to pay a portion of the childcare fee.
Lu Chengming got up from the bed impatiently when he heard the noise. The iron frame bed creaked with his movement, making him even more irritable.
"Do you think you're the only one who's tired? I've also been pushing coal all day!"
"Pushing coal, who can you blame? You brought it all on yourself. You quit a good job. Do you think I don't know why you went in? Are you still not over that bitch Zhao Hong?"
Lin Xiaohui placed the child on a stool beside her and looked at the cramped, oppressive room. It was nothing like she had imagined when she got married. She had thought marrying a city dweller would lead to a good life, but it turned out to be worse than living in the military dependents' area.
She suddenly felt a pang of regret. If she had known Lu Chengming was so useless, she should have listened to her sister and brother-in-law and gone with Li Weimin. Perhaps they would have been allocated a house by now.
His anger flashed in Lu Chengming's eyes as Lin Xiaohui exposed him without mercy. Just as he was about to speak, the child on the stool became restless and fell to the ground, crying out in pain.
With Lin Xiaohui's relentless accusations on one side and the crying child on the other, Lu Chengming was fed up with everything around him. He grabbed his clothes, stood up, walked past Lin Xiaohui, slammed the door shut, and left without looking back.