Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 151 Being Forced into Training

Jingyan clicked her tongue in amazement: "How many years has it been since you got married? You've never been drunk. That takes a lot of self-discipline."

He Zhijun actually did the math quite seriously: "It's been about forty years. My uncle is already over sixty years old. If I remember correctly, he'll be sixty-two soon."

Jing Yan thought for a moment, then asked with some doubt: "Don't military leaders need to retire? How can someone who's 62 still hold a position in the military region?"

He Zhijun flicked her nose and laughed, "What are you thinking? Of course he needs to retire. You can't expect someone to die of old age. Uncle's situation is special. No one went to the Northwest to take over his position before, so he hasn't retired yet. Now Uncle has been brought back to retire. He's getting old, it's time for him to enjoy his retirement."

However, if he retires in the Northwest, his pension can only be received there. My uncle wants to return to my grandmother's side, since she's already 78 years old. He doesn't want to be unable to fulfill his filial duties to her in her final years, so he's been delaying the retirement process.

Now that he's finally been transferred back, he's waiting for the military to assign him a position. Once his rank is finalized, he can apply for retirement. After the retirement approval, he can receive his pension here and be allocated cadre-level housing. It would be difficult for him to return to the military headquarters; we don't lack division-level leaders here, but it would just be a nominal position for retirement processing, which would be much easier.

Jing Yan understood the gist of it. In short, if she was transferred back, she wouldn't get any power, but she could get money. "Then Uncle will probably stay in Haishi, right?"

He Zhijun nodded: "With the connections that Grandpa and Grandma made before, those people are already in high positions. It's not difficult to do this just to show filial piety. There's a high probability that we can place the connections in Haishi, but not on Changxing Island. Uncle will have to come to our house to see Grandma later. Jingyan, you don't think it's troublesome, do you?"

Jingyan shook her head: "What are you thinking? It's good that my uncle and his family come over often. Although Grandma hasn't said anything, I know she's always been thinking about my uncle. Now that they're back, Grandma can relax. I also want the house to be more lively."

Besides, everyone in our family is easy to get along with. Look how good Ci'en is; she doesn't find taking care of Zhizhi at all. That little girl is usually so demanding. I'm so happy someone has taken over her care; I even want to leave her on the island to study.”

He Zhijun couldn't help but chuckle: "Uncle and Aunt brought back a few grandsons this time, probably to study. We can leave the other three to them. It shouldn't be difficult for us to get Ci'en over. The teaching level on the island is not bad, and there are combat classes like military boxing, which is better than schools outside."

"If Uncle also wants to keep the other three, do you think it will be easy to enroll them?" Jingyan asked.

He Zhijun shook his head: "No, my uncle doesn't want his grandson to join the military. He has been in the army for so many years and knows that the country is not as peaceful and tranquil as it seems. Many battles are fought in secret. You may not know how dangerous that is, but I have heard about it. My two older brothers can't leave the military, and he won't let his grandson follow that path."

Jingyan frowned: "Alright then, we'll ask Uncle and Ci'en tomorrow. If Ci'en is willing to stay here, we'll transfer him to another school. He'll be in his final year of junior high when school starts, and we don't know if he can keep up with the curriculum here."

He Zhijun reassured him, "Don't worry, if he's under pressure in his studies, I'm here for him. Tutoring him is a piece of cake."

Upon hearing this, Jingyan snuggled closer to him and said, "How about I go to Xinhua Bookstore tomorrow and buy him a set of textbooks for the third year of junior high school? You can give him some extra lessons in advance, okay? Anyway, you're all on holiday now, so you're just killing time."

He Zhijun patted her shoulder: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Jingyan slept soundly until dawn, but was awakened by the sound of tambourines outside the door. She rubbed her eyes and looked out the window. The sky through the gap in the curtains was just beginning to brighten, and the sun hadn't risen yet. What was going on so early? She remembered that this place used to be very quiet, with only small residential buildings, and the buildings weren't close to each other, so it wouldn't disturb the neighbors.

However, now that she was awake, she was no longer sleepy. Jingyan got up, dressed, washed up, and opened the door with a basin in her hand. She was shocked by the scene in the yard. Her uncle was holding a small whip and standing at the gate with a serious expression. A row of children were standing on the road outside the open gate, and even Zhizhi was practicing horse stance.

He Zhijun and He Zhicheng were also there, practicing boxing. This was the first time Jingyan had ever seen He Zhijun practice martial arts. Her uncle's stern expression was directed at He Zhijun: "Xiaojun, you've been too lax these past few years. You've only been away from the army for a few years, and your physical strength and agility have already declined to this extent? You're not even as good as the worst soldier under my command."

He Zhijun lowered his head in despair, and He Zhicheng asked timidly, "Uncle, is it possible that Xiaojun has always been physically weak?"

The eldest uncle glared at him and said, "You still dare to speak? Xiao Jun is no longer a soldier, so it's understandable that he almost fell behind. But what about you? You're a battalion commander, and this is all you've got? Compared to your two older brothers, you're not even 30% as good as them."

He Zhicheng...

Auntie, who had been watching from the side, couldn't help but speak up: "How can this be the same? The Northwest was quite unstable before, and our two children had real combat experience. Zhicheng's military region is only at the reserve level. How strong do you expect a child who has never been on the battlefield to be?"

He Zhicheng... Aunt, you'd be better off not saying anything. Saying it makes you feel even more incompetent.

Jingyan poured the water from the basin into the vegetable garden, then stood inside the gate with the empty basin, watching her husband suffer. She didn't feel sorry for him, but rather found it somewhat amusing. Her uncle lashed out with his whip: "Your arm is at the wrong height, too high. It's limp. Have you not eaten?"

The two poor brothers had to be wary of their uncle's whip while they were fighting, and their foreheads were covered in sweat in the dead of winter.

Jingyan watched for a while, but still retained some conscience. She turned around and ran back into the house to find He Jiaoxu on the third floor. When she got to the door, she carefully knocked: "Dad, are you up?"

He Jiaoxu's voice rang out: "Come in."

Jingyan opened the door a crack and peeked in. She saw He Jiaoxu standing at the window looking out the door. Jingyan breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the door open, and went in: "Dad, is Uncle's training a bit too harsh?"

He Jiaoxu's eyes never left the door, but he replied, "The kids are fine. Your uncle knows what he's doing. Didn't you see your aunt is there too? She's watching the children. As for Zhicheng and Zhijun, you don't need to worry. A few lashes won't hurt them. They're fine. I usually can't bring myself to discipline them, so it's good that your uncle is here to teach them a lesson."

"Dad, do you want to go down and take a look?" Jing Yan tilted her head and looked at He Jiaoxu's profile.

He Jiaoxu finally turned to look at her, pointed to himself, and said, "Do I look stupid?"

Jing Yan shook her head in a daze.

“If I go down now, I’ll just be handing myself over to your uncle for training. I’ll be retiring in a little over six months. If your uncle catches me, he’ll definitely test my physical strength. I’m old and my arms and legs aren’t strong enough to withstand any more strain. I’m not like him, a born soldier.” He Jiaoxu spoke with such confidence and conviction that Jing Yan was completely baffled.

A soft laugh rang out behind them. Jingyan turned around and saw Cui Hongru sitting on the edge of the bed in the room, looking at them. "Jingyan, don't try to persuade your dad to go and rescue Zhijun. He won't go and get himself abused. You and Zhijun have been away all these years, so you don't know, but your uncle came back to visit relatives the year you got married."

That time, we stayed home for ten days. Your dad was disciplined by your eldest uncle for eight days, and he only escaped a lot of trouble for the other two days when he came to visit your grandma. I still remember the look on your dad's face when your eldest uncle left; it was like he was seeing off a plague god.

This time, he'd rather lose his son than stand up for you. But judging from your uncle's current demeanor, he probably doesn't intend to embarrass your father in front of his grandchildren, which is why he dares to hide here and watch.

Jingyan felt that her previous positive perception of her father-in-law's seriousness had cracked. What kind of person was he? She looked at He Jiaoxu again, and to her surprise, He Jiaoxu didn't refute her at all. Feeling that she had no chance of redemption, she said to the two of them, "Well, Mom and Dad, I'll go out first. I'll go outside and take a look. Oh, and I should also bring some safflower oil."

Watching Jing Yan run off, He Jiaoxu glared at Cui Hongru: "Don't you know how to give me any face in front of your daughter-in-law?"

Cui Hongru chuckled: "Are you sure you want to save face? With Jingyan's temper, if she saves you face, she'll pester you to go down and help Zhijun out of this predicament. Are you sure you want to go down?"

He Jiaoxu... "Forget it, if we lose face, we lose face. Anyway, she's our own daughter-in-law, so we won't embarrass ourselves in front of outsiders."

Training ended before breakfast. The children were alright; they were flexible, and although the horse stance was tiring, they hadn't reached their limits. They could even take a break when they got tired. The poor ones were the brothers He Zhicheng and He Zhijun. By the time training ended, He Zhijun practically had to be dragged and carried back by Jing Yan.

He Zhicheng wasn't as lucky as He Zhijun. Zhou Jie was too short to support him, and in the end, his uncle couldn't stand it anymore, so he grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back into the house, throwing her onto the sofa with a look of disgust.

"Is this all? A battalion commander? No wonder he's almost forty and still stuck at the battalion level. A bad soldier makes a bad army. If you're such a bad battalion commander, it seems your soldiers aren't much better. If they go to the battlefield, they'll just be a hindrance."

He Zhicheng felt utterly humiliated, but he couldn't refute it. Compared to his uncle, who was over sixty, he was indeed too incompetent.

Jingyan kept her word. After breakfast that day, too lazy to listen to He Zhijun's whining and complaints about being tired and in pain, she took He Ci'en directly to Xinhua Bookstore. Upon entering the bookstore, He Ci'en was pleasantly surprised to see the huge bookstore with its shelves upon shelves of books: "Auntie, can I stay here a little longer?"

Jingyan looked at the boy, who was not much shorter than her, and smiled kindly: "Of course you can. Don't rush to read. Take a look around first. If you find something you really like, pick it out. If it's not in our study, we'll buy it and read it slowly at home."

He Ci'en hesitated for a moment: "Ah, buy it? It's very expensive. I read a wide variety of books, so buying them all would be too much."

Jingyan patted his shoulder. Hmm, the young boy is quite sturdy. "It's okay. After you finish reading, your younger siblings can read it too. If they don't understand something when they want to read it, they can ask you. You can choose whatever you like. Auntie will go and buy you a set of junior high school books. You can preview them during the holidays. There's only one year left until the high school entrance exam, and academic subjects are still very important."

He Ci'en replied with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Auntie."

Jingyan and He Ci'en parted ways. She went to find textbooks and asked the salesperson. The salesperson rummaged through a pile of books and soon managed to find a set and hand it to Jingyan. Jingyan was amazed by the salesperson's professionalism. How could they find the books so accurately from such a messy arrangement? Their professional skills were truly outstanding.

"Comrade, can I leave these books here for now? My nephew is still choosing other books, which might take a while. Can I pay for them together after he's finished?" Jing Yan said, pointing in He Ci'en's direction.

The sales clerk glanced at the customer, nodded, and put the stack of books under the counter: "Let me know when you come back later, and I'll put them away for you so you won't lose them later."

Jing Yan thanked him and began browsing the bookstore. She hadn't originally intended to buy anything, just wanted to wander around, but unexpectedly, she found a book that interested her—a cookbook.

She knew her own cooking skills were lacking; she wasn't naturally gifted. But that didn't mean she lacked the desire to improve. So, she was excited when she saw a recipe, even if the instructions were overly simplistic—things like "appropriate amount of salt," "almost done," or "half-cooked"...

The lack of quantifiable descriptions left Jingyan completely bewildered. Her hopes were high, but she felt uncertain. At least the recipes described were complete. As for the rest, she had Sister Wang at home. With anticipation for her culinary skills, she picked up two cookbooks filled with her favorite dishes.

Having chosen what she wanted, she wandered around and found He Ci'en. She was astonished to find a stack of books at He Ci'en's feet, and he was standing there flipping through an opened sample book, looking very serious.

Jingyan didn't disturb him. She squatted down and looked through the books he had chosen. There were books on astronomy, and she noticed the publication date was 1980. Then she flipped through the books and found some on history, such as "Stories of Pre-Qin History", "Stories of Song and Yuan History", and "Five Thousand Years of Chinese History". Jingyan was puzzled. Did this child have such a wide range of interests?

He Ci'en was a child who could easily concentrate. Even though Jing Yan was so close to him, he didn't notice her. He was engrossed in his book. Jing Yan leaned against the bookshelf, casually flipping through the cookbook in her hand, patiently waiting for him. He picked out two more books from the bookshelf, turned around and saw Jing Yan, and said shyly, "Auntie, I've made my choices."