She could feel her parents’ anticipation before she went home. She watched as the military car slowly returned to her line of sight. She watched as Jiang Lei stuck half his head out of the car and waved at her.
“Dad, Mom!” Jiang Yao jumped and waved at Jiang Lei like a three-year-old child. “Jiang Lei!”
The car stopped in the open space. Jiang Lei was the first to jump out of the car and ran all the way to Jiang Yao. Then, he stood in front of Jiang Yao and raised his hand to pat the ball on Jiang Yao’s hat; he smiled and said, “You changed into a new hat and scarf? Last time, it was pink. This time, it’s so red. They all look good! My sister will look good in anything!”
“Xingzhi bought them.” Jiang Yao did not know where Lu Xingzhi got those things. Anyway, he brought them home on New Year’s Eve; he said he bought them for her for the New Year. Red was a festive color.
Other people’s wives wore red cotton-padded jackets during the New Year, but Jiang Yao wore a red hat, scarf, and gloves. Compared to the pink one, Jiang Yao liked the red one better, so she gladly accepted it. She wore it on the first day of the New Year.
“Ah, so that’s how the barracks look like.” After she got out of the car, Mrs. Jiang walked beside Mr. and Mrs. Lu. Then, she turned around and said to Mr. Jiang, “The snow here is beautiful. It’s not like the south. Even if it snows, it’s only white on the mountain top. We can’t see such a beautiful snowy scene in our village.”
It had started snowing in Tianjin a few days ago, and it was getting heavier in the past few days. One could say it was as white as snow. Therefore, the southerners were shocked by the snowy scenes in Tianjin.
When Jiang Yao went to Tianjin during the winter vacation, she hoped it would be a snowy day. However, when it snowed, Lu Xingzhi stopped her from going out. He was afraid that it would be too cold for her.
Of course, he was terrified that the child in her stomach would get cold.
However, there was no child in her stomach yet. Lu Xingzhi thought that his child might come at any time, so he had to keep an eye on her at all times.
Lu Xingzhi and Jiang Yao were the only two people in the tiny house. So, the couple thought that their home was very spacious. However, when the Lu and Jiang families came, the house became very crowded.
When Lu Xiaoxiao entered the house, she hated the things in it. One moment, she despised the simple furniture, and the next moment, she disliked the tiny house. Then, she turned around and prompted Jiang Yao. “If he asks you to live in the army again, don’t foolishly agree to live in a place like this next time.”
“You silly girl.” Second Uncle Lu raised his hand and patted Lu Xiaoxiao’s head. “If you think like that, I’m afraid that Father will have to support you for the rest of your life. Most likely, you won’t be able to get married.”
“You’ll probably get a refund even if you get married,” Jiang Lei added from the side.
Lu Xiaoxiao glared and snorted. Since there were elders around, she did not quarrel with Jiang Lei. She would compromise for the sake of her sister-in-law’s family.
Even though it was the New Year, Lu Xingzhi was still relatively busy and needed to be on duty. Therefore, Jiang Yao spent the entire afternoon bringing her family around the barracks. Mrs. Lin and Mrs. Yang called her away to the final rehearsal before dinner, and the guests from the two families were transferred to Zhou Junmin’s hands.
Jiang Yao followed Mrs. Lin into the auditorium and saw a group of female soldiers from the Arts and Craft Regiment who were almost ready. All of them were giggling and laughing. When they saw another person enter, they greeted them.
Jiang Yao did not know how to put on her makeup, but she had to put some on if she wanted to go on stage. She resigned herself to her fate and allowed a few female soldiers to help her with that.
