novelraw Chapter 78 Tong Jiaming and his wife go to the army
Chapter 78 Tong Jiaming and his wife go to the army
Yu Han was born in December 1957, two years and four months younger than Linglong. She is now twelve and a half years old and quite tall, almost 1.6 meters. The current school system is five years of primary school, three years of junior high school, and three years of senior high school. Yu Han is indeed a bit young to be in the second year of junior high school at her age.
Linglong was born in August 1955. Because she was a twin and a little weaker when she was young, she started school a year later than other children, so she was only one grade behind Yuhan, who started school earlier. They are currently in the half-year of junior high school that they didn't finish, while Yuhan started a year earlier.
Liu Fengyi was initially reluctant to let Yuhan come along, but she insisted. However, her family was a little worried about leaving Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi, who were still attending primary school in town.
"Mom, let's run to school together with the other children in the village. Let the older girls ride the bicycles!" Yu-hsuan said sensibly.
"Do you have any companions?" Tong Jiahui knew that the girls in her family were being ostracized by all the other girls in the village.
"Yes, Lin Caiyun likes to play with us, and we walk with her." Yuqi and Lin Caiyun are both in first grade. She will be seven years old in July, and Lin Caiyun is more than a year older than her. If it weren't for her father's insistence on separating the family property, her grandmother wouldn't let her go to school and would have her stay home to do housework.
"There's not only Lin Caiyun, but also several boys, some around six or seven years old, and others around ten."
Yu Xuan was born in November 1959, and was ten and a half years old. Because she beat the village's leader boy to a pulp, all those brats became her little brothers.
Sometimes she would bribe her underlings with candy. If anyone knew the most gossip in the village, it was undoubtedly Xiao Liu Yuxuan. If Tong Yuheng wanted to know news about anyone in the village, she had to ask this little guy.
"Then you two should get along well with your friends and not fight," Tong Jiahui instructed them.
"Hehe, it's okay, Mom. They can't beat us in a fight!" Yuqi grinned, showing her two rows of white teeth, her smile innocent and adorable.
Yuling and Yulong's school arrangements weren't finished yet, and now it was almost time to plant rice seedlings, so they couldn't take leave for the next ten days or so. They went to work in the fields with their two older sisters and their mother.
This time, the rice planting team leader separated the female and male comrades into groups and assigned tasks to each group. Tong Yuheng did have a small rice planting machine in his spatial storage, but he didn't plan to take it out now.
Once it's taken out, it can't be taken back. Everyone will definitely borrow it, so who will take care of the land in her space? She's already tired enough working alone, so she should take care of herself first.
In the past two or three months, the output from the space has been enormous. Although the warehouse has storage compartments, it's almost half full. She wanted to dispose of the supplies, but this small county couldn't handle so much, so she decided to go back to Yan City.
After much thought, she set her sights on the flooded land in the village. If she could use the excuse of going to the Yanshi Agricultural Research Institute to get some improved seeds, would the village head be willing to give her a letter of introduction?
The flooded land in the Hetao region is exempt from grain taxes. As long as there are no major floods in the summer, even a poor harvest can still provide villagers with a considerable amount of extra grain. However, the rice seeds must be purchased by the village itself; the commune provides no subsidies. With over a hundred mu (approximately 6.7 hectares) of land, even if each mu requires five jin (approximately 2.5 kg) of seeds, it would still yield five to six hundred jin (approximately 250-300 kg).
But actually, she wouldn't need that much; a large portion of the land was to be planted with beans, corn, and sorghum. Even if she only planted a third, that would only be a little over a hundred pounds of seeds, which she could carry back!
Of course, she didn't need to carry it herself. The rice seeds in the space were irrigated with stream water containing spiritual spring water, and their color and taste were superior to the rice they were using now. She could just take out two sacks of rice.
Before she could even discuss the matter with the brigade leader, Li Chengsong arrived again. He hadn't come since he last brought his mother and Yuyao back.
When she came that time, she brought the parts she wanted, and of course, she also brought another gift: a khaki trench coat, the style of which clearly came from either Shanghai or Guangzhou.
By today's standards of aesthetics in the North, especially in this small village, this trench coat is still too trendy. The style is very elegant and won't go out of fashion even twenty years from now. Tong Yuheng liked it very much, but only tried it on at home before putting it away; wearing it here wouldn't be quite appropriate.
Li Chengsong brought good news this time: the higher-ups agreed to let Tong Jiaming and his wife go to the military to help repair a very important ship, which was a trophy obtained by their naval brethren during maritime defense.
With the information translated by Tong Jiahui, the skilled craftsmen had been working on how to repair it, but after so much effort, they hadn't made much progress. Therefore, it was perfectly normal for Tong Yuyao, a high school student, not to understand the wiring and machinery. Tong Yuheng didn't understand either; at most, she was familiar with various firearms and vehicles.
"If they go there, even though they won't be removed from the label of 'reactionary academic authority,' we will help them apply for recognition for their meritorious service."
The treatment in the military is the same as other engineering personnel, but the freedom of movement is relatively restricted. They cannot leave the military region, must abide by the local discipline, and their range of activities is relatively small.
"Would it be smaller than Chenjiatun?" Tong Yuheng asked hurriedly.
"How could that be? Of course it's much bigger than Chenjiatun. They can even go out to sea on a boat."
"Then go find them. You need to discuss this with them directly!" Tong Yuheng was very happy that his uncle and aunt would no longer be subjected to criticism and struggle sessions.
Their hats will eventually be removed, and their identities will be free sooner or later. Even if their sphere of activity is relatively smaller, being strictly monitored is much better than constantly worrying about being criticized, beaten, or scolded.
Li Chengsong went to the cowshed and told them about it. His aunt and uncle were indeed very excited upon hearing the news. They were willing to continue their research, whether it was building trains or warships; they would be more than happy to do so. However, this departure meant they wouldn't see their family again, and they didn't know how long it would be before they could see their father and son once more.
"You don't need to worry about that. Every six months, we'll bring your relatives over to visit." It's them visiting their relatives, not Tong Jiaming and the others coming back for vacation. Li Chengsong quickly explained that this was a "benefit" that their leaders had secured for the engineering and technical personnel.
"That's great! Now we have nothing to worry about and can start working anytime," Tong Jiaming said.
Li Chengsong saluted them, saying he was going to the county to complete the necessary procedures and would pick them up when he returned. He told them to pack their things and say goodbye to their families.
Under his father's cover, Tong Jiaming arrived at his sister's house through the tunnel. He was very excited and grateful for his sister and niece's help. His sister must have mentioned to the army many things he could help with while translating documents; otherwise, how would he have had this opportunity?