âHeâs at his grandmotherâs house. He didnât know you guys were coming today, so he went to his grandmotherâs house to play. When Old Lin is done with his business, he will go and pick Xiaowei up on his way back,â Mrs Lin explained. âI just called my mother to tell Xiao Wei that youâre here. Xiao Wei was so anxious that he wanted his grandmother to send him home immediately. He couldnât wait for even a moment. It was his grandmother who persuaded him to stay.â
âYes, this child is persistent.â Jiang Yao smiled happily as she changed into a pair of slippers. When Mrs Lin was about to close the door, she said hurriedly, âMrs Lin, I saw a big bag in front of your house when we came in. It seemed full. Should we bring it in?â
âA big bag? Iâm home. Why would I leave something at the door?â Mrs Lin was stunned; then, she stuck her head out to take a look. âOh, there is something here.â
As she spoke, Mrs Lin bent down and opened the bag to take a look. âOh! Itâs a bag of vegetables.â
âThereâs a note inside; see what it says.â Lu Xingzhiâs sharp eyes saw a piece of paper in the middle of the bag.
Mrs Lin took the paper out of the bag. When she saw it, she shook her head helplessly. âThe battalion commanderâs family sent this. They say that they have a lot of vegetables and they canât finish them. So they sent some here so that Old Lin and I donât have to spend more on vegetables.â
Mrs Lin stood up and said, âSome of these look quite unique; something we canât find in our local market. They canât be grown in the north right now. Go in and wait for me; Iâll go and return these vegetables. Itâs not easy to accept things from that family.â
Mrs Link did not want to accept those vegetables, so she sent the bag back while the vegetables were still fresh.
Jiang Yao followed Lu Xingzhi into the Lin familyâs living room and sat on the sofa. Lu Xingzhi poured Jiang Yao a cup of hot tea and said, âItâs obvious that it was the battalion commanderâs mother who did that.â
âFawning over the boss,â Jiang Yao concluded. âShe knew that someone was home, but she didnât knock. Instead, she left it at the door. She knew that Mrs Lin would not accept it. And she put a note in the bag. She was afraid that Mrs Lin would accept it but not know who sent it.â
Mrs Lin came back very quickly. When she was back, she was not in a good mood; she repeatedly sighed when she went through the door.
âWhen you go back later, if the battalion commanderâs mother gave you a hard time, donât endure it unnecessarily. You can just scold her back,â Mrs Lin said. âThe battalion commander and his wife are good people, but his mother is too difficult.â
Mrs Lin did not say anything else. If anyone in the unit could live across Lu Xingzhiâs unit, who would not be anxious to think of a way to build a good relationship with his family?
The battalion commander was a straightforward man. He was not the kind of person who would play games. He was devoted to the army wholeheartedly. He was not the kind of person who was full of twists and turns. Lu Xingzhi did not expect the battalion commanderâs mother to behave like a different person when she moved in with her son.
The battalion commanderâs mother came to the army and lived opposite Lu Xingzhi. When she heard that Lu Xingzhi was only a company commander, she treated him like her sonâs subordinate.
Mrs Lin had heard some things too. Once, the toilet in the battalion commanderâs unit was blocked. The man was home, but his mother had called for Lu Xingzhiâs help. Lu Xingzhi thought that the womanâs son was not home, so he went to help. The two men saw each other in the battalion commanderâs house, and the battalion commander was embarrassed when he learned that Lu Xingzhi was there for the problem with his toilet.