The Sweet Stepmother and Her Cute Cubs

On their return trip, Han Cheng, this time, did not take the co-pilot seat but sat in the back row with Su Xiaoxiao. 

Seeing Su Xiaoxiao crying, he took out his handkerchief to wipe her tears.

His deceased wife was a comrade who was arranged by the organization to be his partner. 

She is a military doctor with a strong personality and is stronger than most men. 

Han Cheng has never seen her cry from when he first met her until she left the world. She has a strong working ability. Their relationship is more like a  comrade-in-arms. 

They are outstanding in their respective jobs, but their family and marriage lives are a mess.

Coming into contact with a delicate and charming female comrade is a first for Han Cheng. 

He didn’t have any idea of how to comfort her, but tried anyway:

“Don’t cry. I will bring the children back with you, and let them meet your family. Or after we settle down, you can ask your mother and Xiaobao to come and live with us for a while. “

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine later.”

Han Cheng didn’t say anything more, but took something out of his pocket and put it on Su Xiaoxiao’s wrist.

Su Xiaoxiao lifted her eyes and looked up. She was surprised and bent her eyes: “Watch? Where did you get this watch?”

Watches are not cheap at this time. By its name, “Four Big Things “, you have to have money and tickets to buy them. Besides, this is an imported watch, which means, it is more expensive than the ones you can buy here because it requires an exchange for a foreign bill. [1]

“This is also part of the dowry.” Han Cheng said briefly. 

He was relieved to see Su Xiaoxiao stop crying and thought buying the watch was worth it.

Zhao Xianfeng, who was driving the vehicle, glanced at the rearview mirror and said: “Sister-in-law, the ticket for exchanging it for a foreign bill was mine. He bought the watch with my help, so I should take my credit. “

Han Cheng had previously introduced Zhao Xianfeng to Su Xiaoxiao.

Su Xiaoxiao smiled at Zhao Xianfeng and said, “Thank you, Comrade Zhao.”

Zhao Xianfeng smiled, “You’re welcome.”

“Aren’t we going to the station?” Su Xiaoxiao noticed that they had already passed the station and the car still hadn’t stopped yet.

Han Cheng said, “We will go to the city to pick up the children and drive directly back to the army camp.”

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t ask Zhao Xianfeng where he came from and assumed that he was from the county seat. 

After thinking about it, the expressway was not developed at this time, and many places were not opened. It takes four or five hours to drive from Sujia Village to the city on the national highway. Wouldn’t it take a long time to drive across provinces?

Su Xiaoxiao: “How long will it take? Isn’t it good to take the train?”

Han Cheng shook his head. “There are too many people on the train. It’s inconvenient to take two children with us. It takes about ten hours to arrive there.”

Su Xiaoxiao: “Then, does Comrade Zhao still have to drive the car back?”

Zhao Xianfeng smiled: “Sister-in-law, I’m in the same army camp as Han Cheng. This guy asked me to drive for ten hours to pick up the two of you. Aren’t I a good man?”

Han Cheng gave him a warning glance in the rearview mirror: “You talk too much, drive your car well.”

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t know what to say: “Comrade Zhao, you’ve worked hard. It’s unnecessary to do these troublesome things. I don’t care about these formalities and faces. “

Zhao Xianfeng shook his head: “No trouble, no trouble. It’s not easy for this guy to beg me once. I can’t help but make him owe me a favor.”

Su Xiaoxiao noticed that Zhao Xianfeng’s eyes were bloodshot. It was due to fatigue from driving for a long time.

“Isn’t it hard to drive for so long?”

The first thing Su Xiaoxiao did when she became an adult was pass her driving school test and get her driver’s license. It can be said that she has more driving experience than they do. However, the original owner, Su Xiaoxiao, didn’t know how to drive.

Su Xiaoxiao originally wanted to drive the vehicle for them for a while, but after thinking and remembering that driving is said to be one of the professions with the highest income with a small number of employees and is considered to be a rare type of job, she didn’t insist on helping them anymore. 

In addition, there is no GPS navigation at this time, so she doesn’t even know how to get to their destination.

Zhao Xianfeng was struggling: “It’s alright, I will let Han Cheng drive us when we get out of the county.”

The county is not big. Before going on the national highway, Han Cheng asked Zhao Xianfeng to stop his car.

Han Cheng asked Su Xiaoxiao to sit in the front with him and make room for Zhao Xianfeng.

There are not many cars these days. They are the only ones running along the national highway.

Han Cheng was not in a hurry and drove the car steadily.

Zhao Xianfeng slept soundly in the back seat. 

Han Cheng and Su Xiaoxiao didn’t talk much to avoid hindering his rest.

They were silent all the way.

Four hours later, the car stopped steadily in front of the family compound of the municipal military region.

Su Xiaoxiao walked to the back of the car, divided the things her mother prepared, and made plans to let Han Cheng take them.

Han Cheng shook his head and said, “No, I will go up to pick up the children myself and come down soon.”
Su Xiaoxiao’s blinked: Does that mean, she didn’t have to greet the elders?

After Han Cheng left, the now energetic Zhao Xianfeng, who was sleeping in the back seat, said, “Did Han Cheng not tell you about his life experience?”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “He said a little, but he was not very detailed.”

Zhao Xianfeng said: “From the day Han Cheng’s father died on the battlefield, he decided to be a military doctor. He was ready to go to the battlefield to save people at any time. You don’t need to care about his so-called teacher’s wife. When his teacher took Han Cheng home, his teacher’s wife didn’t care much about Han Cheng. She only did it for the face and didn’t do anything like raise Han Cheng. If it weren’t for the sake of his dead teacher, Han Cheng wouldn’t have sent his children here. 
Han Cheng gave her most of his monthly salary, but that woman doesn’t know how to raise the children at all. 
When Han Cheng went on vacation, he didn’t tell anyone that he would bring his children back to the army, nor did he mention marrying a wife. On his vacation, he came back with his wife, whom he married from the countryside, and the children, whom he hurriedly picked up to take away, I don’t think it will turn out good for him.”

Su Xiaoxiao was not aware of the cause and effect, nor did she know what to say.

Zhao Xianfeng thought of something, and hurriedly added: “Sorry, sister-in-law, I didn’t say that you were bad, it’s just…”

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, “It’s okay, I understand.”

Zhao Xianfeng was worried, “Sister-in-law, I am not saying that female comrades in the countryside are bad, but there are too many female comrades in the army who like Han Cheng…”

Su Xiaoxiao looked at him with her head tilted.

Zhao Xianfeng hurriedly shut his mouth.

Shit, I’ve made so many mistakes.

Su Xiaoxiao smiled: “Comrade Zhao, you don’t need to explain, I don’t mind.”

While they were talking, Han Cheng was already walking down the stairs, carrying a child in his left hand and a little boy walking a little unnaturally in his right hand. 

An aunt in her early fifties came after him, dragging two children in her hands.

“Hey, Han Cheng, stop! You can’t leave without making your words clear!”
Han Cheng walked forward without stopping.

Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes moved to the child in Han Cheng’s hands.

She was stunned at this sight.

References

References↑1The Four Big Things is a term originally applied to the four symbols of material success in China from the 1950s until the 1970s and is now used to refer to any visible marker of newfound affluence.  The original list was: A sewing machine; A bicycle; a wristwatch, generally from the Shanghai Watch Company; a radio receiver, usually Red Star or Red Lantern brand.