Xie Zhongming politely added another sentence, afraid that this topic might offend Comrade Qiao.
“Comrade Qiao, I do not mean anything else. If your husband also wants to find work in the city, I can help ask around and see if there is something suitable for him.”
The military district cafeteria sometimes lacked a cook, and the logistics department would occasionally be short of people for miscellaneous tasks.
If Comrade Qiao had only come to the house to work as a nanny, helping her husband find a job would allow the couple to see each other often, and it would also let the two children see their father frequently.
For him, it was only a small favor.
Besides, if Comrade Qiao truly had a suspicious background, he might be able to learn more information from her.
After all, it was impossible to conclude that Comrade Qiao was a spy based only on the information they currently had.
His calm yet slightly sharp gaze fell on Qiao Xingyue as he cautiously observed her subtle reactions.
Huang Guilan, who stood nearby, thought to herself, why was Fourth Son so unusually enthusiastic today?
She was just about to ask Comrade Xiao Qiao what her husband did for a living, and whether he needed help finding work in the city so the young couple could meet more often.
Fourth Son seemed to read her mind exactly.
Huang Guilan could not help but echo him, saying, “Yes, Comrade Xiao Qiao, what does your husband do? Does he want to come with you to work in the residential compound?”
Qiao Xingyue answered crisply, “Thank you Aunt Lan and Comrade Xie for your kindness, but there is no need. Not long after my husband married me, he sacrificed himself for the country.”
Mentioning her husband made Qiao Xingyue feel somewhat absurd.
That man was truly unlucky.
He had only gone to Chadian Village on a mission and ended up being set up by Chubby’s wife’s mother. One bowl of sweet potato porridge led to her and that platoon leader sleeping together, forcing him to marry her unwillingly.
Not long after that, he sacrificed himself for the country.
Truly ill fated.
This news weighed heavily on Huang Guilan’s chest. When she looked at Comrade Xiao Qiao and the two children, her heart ached even more.
No wonder the two children looked so pitiful. It turned out they had lost their father long ago.
It seemed that in the future, she would need to take extra care of Comrade Xiao Qiao and the two children.
Hearing this, regardless of whether it was true or not, Xie Zhongming felt apologetic. “I am sorry. I should not have asked.”
“It is fine. I have long been used to raising two children by myself.” She said it lightly, never mentioning those hardships in front of others.
Seeing the faint and almost imperceptible bitter smile at the corner of her lips, Xie Zhongming inexplicably regretted asking such an abrupt question.
After nightfall, Qiao Xingyue washed Grandma’s face and soaked her feet, then gave her a full body massage and finally checked her pulse.
Grandma’s hemiplegia was not caused by muscle atrophy, but by poor circulation of qi and blood. Qiao Xingyue was fairly confident that she could help regulate Grandma’s body.
However, she could not speak too definitively.
“Commander, Aunt Lan, for the next few days I will first massage Grandma’s body. If you trust me, after a few days I can try acupuncture.”
Privately, Xie Jiang went to Xie Zhongming’s room. “Fourth Son, Comrade Xiao Qiao performed surgery on you in Shantang Village. How do you think her medical skills are? Can she perform acupuncture on Grandma?”
Xie Zhongming pressed his thin lips together.
In his mind appeared the scene of Comrade Qiao swiftly and accurately inserting needles into his arm when he stubbornly refused to let anyone remove his pants during surgery. The technique had been fast, precise, and ruthless.
With one needle, his arm had gone numb and weak, unable to move.
This Comrade Qiao clearly had real skills.
“Let Comrade Qiao try.”
“She is so young. What if she harms your grandmother?”
“She should not.”
Xie Jiang was a filial son and dared not joke about the old lady’s safety.
“I think Comrade Xiao Qiao is still quite young. Letting her do daily care and massages for Grandma is fine, but acupuncture should be dropped. If she brings it up again, help your father decline politely.”
“Dad, we really can let Comrade Qiao try.”
“It is not that Dad does not trust Comrade Xiao Qiao’s medical skills. Your grandmother is old and cannot endure too much.”
As he spoke, Commander Xie changed the topic. “Fourth Son, is your injury serious? Does it affect that aspect?”
“It took dozens of stitches.”
“What? Why is it so serious?”
“…”
“Fourth Son, you must not end the family line. You and Chubby’s wife have not had children yet.”
At the mention of Chubby’s wife, Xie Zhongming’s expression darkened.
“Dad, I will never have children with my chubby wife in this lifetime.”
He would not let Chubby’s wife come to the residential compound to accompany the army, and judging by things, Chubby’s wife might not want to come either.
Perhaps Chubby’s wife’s mother only valued the living expenses he sent home every month.
As long as he sent the money on time, Chubby’s wife and her mother had never mentioned coming to accompany the army.
In this lifetime, he would never have that kind of relationship with her again.
He would just mail money to Chadian Village every month and compensate Chubby’s wife for life in this way.
If Chubby’s wife could not endure living apart and proposed divorce, he would agree at any time and would also compensate her with a sum of money.
But he would never have children with her.
…
In Grandma’s room, Qiao Xingyue had already been massaging her for half an hour.
When she massaged Grandma’s left leg, An’an and Ningning followed along, massaging their great grandmother’s right leg.
Qiao Xingyue kept moving her hands while also asking Aunt Lan about some basic conditions.
“Aunt Lan, how long has Grandma been paralyzed?”
“About half a year.”
“What caused the paralysis? Has she had a cerebral infarction, encephalitis, or any other trauma?”
“No.”
“Does Grandma have any other underlying illnesses?”
“Comrade Xiao Qiao, what is an underlying illness?”
“High blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.”
“No.” Huang Guilan shook her head.
Qiao Xingyue nodded thoughtfully. “Alright. Later I will help regulate Grandma’s body.”
Grandma’s hemiplegia combined with facial paralysis looked quite serious, but since it was not caused by cerebral infarction or encephalitis, it was only temporary. Moreover, Grandma had no underlying illnesses, so acupuncture treatment had a high chance of recovery.
She tucked Grandma in.
“Gi girl, thank you.” Grandma’s mouth was crooked and her speech was unclear, yet her face was full of kind smiles.
She then looked at An’an and Ningning.
How could these two little girls be so beautiful?
Xie family Grandma was seventy six years old and named Chen Suying. She had participated in the revolution in her early years and, like Huang Guilan, had always hoped to have a daughter, but ended up giving birth to seven sons.
Among her great grandchildren, every one of them was also a boy, not a single girl.
Looking at An’an and Ningning, the old lady liked them more and more. If only these two girls were her great granddaughters.
“An’an, Ningning, stay here and chat with Great Grandma for a while. Mommy will go tidy up.”
After Qiao Xingyue left, Great Grandma looked at the two children and called Huang Guilan. “A Lan, look, do the two girls’ eyes look like, like Zhongming when he was little?”
Because of facial paralysis, Great Grandma’s mouth was crooked and her speech was unclear.
But Huang Guilan understood everything. “Mom, these two children clearly look exactly like Comrade Xiao Qiao. How could they look like our Zhongming? You just want great granddaughters too much. If our family really had such well behaved girls, I would laugh myself awake even in my dreams.”
Still, upon closer inspection, among the two children, An’an’s lively and clever eyes did resemble Fourth Son’s when he was young.
The more she looked, the more familiar and close they felt.
After leaving Grandma’s room, Qiao Xingyue saw Xie Zhongming bringing a basin of water and placing it on the washstand in the main hall, washing his face and neck.
He was strong and scrubbed carefully.
After washing, he fetched another basin of clean water and splashed it onto his face.
Water droplets clung to his firm hair tips and brow bones, then slid down his sharply contoured cheeks, making him look more spirited and neat than ever.
Only after he wrung out the towel did Qiao Xingyue call out, “Comrade Xie.”
Xie Zhongming raised his eyes. “Comrade Qiao, you should also go to bed early.”
As he spoke, he carried the enamel basin to the toilet and poured the water into the storage barrel, saving it for flushing later.
In the residential compound, soldiers without high enough rank were only assigned single room dormitories and did not have private kitchens or toilets. Cooking required going to the communal kitchen, washing clothes meant going to the washroom, bathing required the public bathhouse, and using the toilet meant the public dry latrine.
But families like Commander Xie’s were different. They lived in a two story courtyard with five rooms upstairs and downstairs, plus a kitchen and bathroom. There was also a yard outside the main hall for planting flowers and vegetables, which was very convenient.
When Xie Zhongming returned after pouring out the water, Qiao Xingyue asked directly, “Comrade Xie, how is your injury now? Do you need me to take another look?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed a thin layer of red quietly spreading over Xie Zhongming’s ears.
This male comrade was still just as conservative and shy.
“Thank you, no need.” His hand gripping the enamel basin tightened.
Knowing he was thin skinned, Qiao Xingyue did not press further and only kindly reminded him, “Comrade Xie, I remember today should be the eighth day after your surgery. You can have the stitches removed tomorrow, or at the latest within these two days. Do not delay it too long.”
“Alright, thank you Comrade Qiao. I will go to the health department tomorrow.”
Even if he went to the health department tomorrow, Xie Zhongming would definitely find a male doctor.
Qiao Xingyue asked one more question. “Comrade Xie, the wound has not become infected these past few days, right?”
In fact, Xie Zhongming’s wound had already become infected.
After it split open again in Shantang Village, he rested for less than four days before joining the final stage of the mine rescue work, exerting a lot of physical effort. Combined with the poor sanitary conditions in the village, infection was quite normal.
If he told Comrade Qiao that it was infected.
Would she not make him take off his pants again?
Just thinking about taking off his pants in front of her made his palms sweat.
At that moment, the tungsten filament light above the main hall flickered a few times.
The light alternated between bright and dim.
Aside from the heat at the tips of his ears, Xie Zhongming’s expression did not change. He responded in a deep voice, “It is not infected. Comrade Qiao, I am going back to my room. You should also rest early.”
…
After finishing her tasks, Qiao Xingyue led An’an and Ningning back to their room.
Aunt Lan said that the sheets and bedding on the bunk bed had been changed by Comrade Xie.
Everything was army green.
The quilt was folded into a neat tofu block shape, and the sheets were laid without a single wrinkle.
An’an and Ningning slept on the lower bunk, each with a small pillow. The cotton filling inside the pillows had also been stuffed in by Xie Zhongming, soft and warm.
An’an suddenly felt her nose sting. She poked her small head out and looked up at Qiao Xingyue on the upper bunk. “Mom, Dad was also a soldier. Did he serve here before?”
“Dad was in the Kun City Military District, not in Jincheng.”
“I thought Dad used to serve here.”
An’an gazed at the moonlit night outside the window. Her soft and sticky voice suddenly lowered.
Even the night seemed to be dyed with deep sadness by An’an’s low mood. She had thought that her father had once stayed here, that she could look at the same moon under the same sky as he once had.
Qiao Xingyue leaned her head out from the upper bunk and looked at An’an and Ningning. “No matter where Dad served before, he will always be watching An’an and Ningning from the sky, always protecting you.”
She just did not know that man’s name.
Otherwise, she could have asked around at Commander Xie’s home. Perhaps with Commander Xie’s connections, she could even find out how An’an and Ningning’s father had sacrificed himself.
Maybe she could even apply for some compensation money or benefits for the children as martyrs’ dependents.
Unfortunately, she truly did not know the children’s father’s name.
She only knew that he was a platoon leader.
After An’an and Ningning fell asleep, Qiao Xingyue stopped thinking about the children’s father.
Right now, she needed to firmly keep this job so she could support the two children and have a chance to treat Ningning’s illness.
But then she thought of the calm yet guarded and suspicious look Comrade Xie had given her when she came to work as a nanny at the Xie house.
What exactly was he suspecting?
No matter what Comrade Xie was suspecting, she hoped it would not cause her to lose this job.
The next day, in order to get familiar with her work as the Xie family’s nanny more quickly, Qiao Xingyue got up early to make breakfast. She steamed buns with shredded potato filling and pickled cabbage filling, and cooked a pot of porridge.
While she was making cold mixed pickled vegetables, Huang Guilan walked into the kitchen. “Comrade Xiao Qiao, you are up so early.”
Qiao Xingyue turned back. “Aunt Lan, perfect timing. There are some family matters I would like to understand better.”
Yesterday, she learned that Commander Xie was originally from the Sichuan Chongqing area, while Aunt Lan was from the south. One liked spicy food, and the other could not eat spicy food.
She put down the pickled vegetables and asked, “Aunt Lan, what are the living habits of you, the Commander, Grandma, and Comrade Xie? Any preferences or taboos? I will pay more attention in the future.”
As she spoke, she took out a small notebook she had cut into a square shape herself and stitched together with needle and thread, ready to record things as she listened.
Huang Guilan thought for a moment. “There is nothing special. Your Uncle Xie likes spicy food, I cannot eat it. Also, Zhongming and I are both allergic to peanuts, so just avoid peanuts.”
Qiao Xingyue’s hand recording the notes stopped.
She froze for a moment.
Why was it such a coincidence?
Both Aunt Lan and Comrade Xie were allergic to peanuts?
Her eldest daughter An’an was also allergic to peanuts.
Thinking of the peanut allergy shared by herself and Fourth Son, Huang Guilan sighed. “Sigh. Comrade Xiao Qiao, you know, peanut allergy is really troublesome. Those symptoms are terrifying.”
How could Qiao Xingyue not know how serious a peanut allergy could be?
If it was severe and rescue was not timely, it could be fatal.
When An’an was a little over two years old, she had turned away for just a moment and someone fed An’an a peanut. Within five minutes, she developed an allergic reaction. By the time she reached the hospital, her whole body was swollen, and her throat had swollen shut, causing suffocation. She nearly did not survive.
That incident had terrified Qiao Xingyue.
She said to Huang Guilan, “Aunt Lan, what a coincidence. My An’an…”