Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2844 Blind Date

"It's you..." With the question of whether someone had discovered his little secret, Tan Shuangxi awkwardly greeted Yang Zhaodi who was sitting across the table. Both of them still remembered the conversation on the street in Dongmen City more than a month ago.

"I didn't expect it either. Fourth Aunt didn't tell me." Yang Zhaodi's head was almost buried under the table. Her hands were nervously pulling at her braids, and her words were full of embarrassment.

For a girl, is there anything more shameful than going to meet a man who may become her future husband with an unspeakable secret, and it happens that this man knows this secret?

Tan Shuangxi looked at her. Yang Zhaodi had dressed up deliberately today. She didn't wear the indigo work clothes, but a blue dress with white floral patterns. This kind of Song-style women's clothing has become popular in Linhai. But Yang Zhaodi's tall figure is not common among local women, and she looks different. The dark blue that Tan Shuangxi had never seen before set off her fairer face than the local girls. Her thick black hair was braided into a big braid. The red hairband tied on the braid swayed with Yang Zhaodi's movements, attracting Tan Shuangxi's eyes to follow.

The introducer, called Fourth Aunt, said with a smile: "Since you two know each other, I don't need to introduce you two any more. You can just chat first." Then she made up an excuse and left her seat.

It was still a while before noon, and there were almost no people in this popular teahouse. To break the awkward atmosphere, Tan Shuangxi picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for Yang Zhaodi, explaining, "I just got off work today and was supposed to go home, but the battalion headquarters took care of me and asked me to go on a blind date. I said I was not a local, so I didn't know it was you."

Without the outsiders around, Yang Zhaodi looked better. She picked up the teacup and took a sip. Still not daring to meet Tan Shuangxi's gaze, she lowered her head and looked at the teacup in her hand and said, "The steel plant is sending some people to Foshan, including my mother. She wants me to find a husband before she leaves, and it would be best if I could get married, so that she can rest assured."

"Your mother is doing this for your own good, so why didn't you tell her about Brother Li?" Tan Shuangxi thought that since there were no outsiders here, it would be better to just make things clear to avoid wasting more time later if there were any ambiguities.

"I told my mother, but she disagreed, saying that I don't know if Brother Li can do heavy work after being injured, and he has no relatives here. If I marry him, I will have to take care of a disabled person." Yang Zhaodi's eyes gradually turned red. "Then I refused to go on a blind date, and she beat me, saying that I was disobedient..." As she spoke, a tear fell from her eye socket, soaking the front of her clothes. Tan Shuangxi's heart seemed to be like a raindrop falling on a calm surface of water, with strange ripples.

"The Senate advocates freedom of love and marriage, and no one, including parents, may interfere." Tan Shuangxi said righteously, but suddenly realized that his voice was too loud, so he quickly lowered his voice, "Don't worry about this matter, the Senate can make the decision for you."

Hearing this, Yang Zhaodi felt even more wronged, and tears kept falling like beads from a broken string. She choked a little and said, "The Senate? How can the Senate care about these trivial matters! When my mother beat me, Paijia just came to persuade me to be obedient, saying that she was doing it for my own good."

  "This, this..." Tan Shuangxi felt a little embarrassed. He thought that the elders were all busy with various things, so how could they take care of such a small matter!

Seeing Yang Zhaodi's tearful appearance, the waiter in the teahouse kept looking over here. Tan Shuangxi couldn't sit still. He reached behind the towel tied to his shoulder bag with his right hand, but he didn't feel anything. Today he was wearing casual clothes, and all his usual belongings were gone. Just when he was at a loss, the bamboo clip brought a steaming white towel to Tan Shuangxi. He looked up and saw that the waiter was looking at him. He thought to himself that this waiter was really considerate! He quickly thanked him and took the towel and handed it over.

Yang Zhaodi wiped her eyes with a towel, covered her face to calm herself down, and finally raised her head to show a tearful smile. Tan Shuangxi felt that he was hit by a Minié bullet, and it was a little difficult to breathe for a while.

"How about I talk to your mother for you? Otherwise, you and Brother Li are in a romantic relationship, so you can write a letter to the Political Department of the General Staff to appeal, and the army will definitely take care of it. Besides, the policy of the Senate is freedom of love and freedom of marriage, and no one can violate it. You can like whoever you like, and your mother has no right to interfere." Tan Shuangxi carefully put forward his suggestion.

Yang Zhaodi gave a bitter smile, with bitterness and grievance hanging in the corners of her eyes: "It's none of my mother's business now. A few days ago, Xiao Li's comrade-in-arms wrote to me, saying that he had an affair with a nurse in the hospital. I got beaten for nothing."

This unexpected turn surprised Tan Shuangxi. He felt sympathy and a little bit of joy. His eyes followed Yang Zhaodi's tears falling from her cheeks to her chest, wetting her clothes, which made Tan Shuangxi feel more agitated.

  "I'm sorry to make you laugh." Yang Zhaodi wiped her tears and smiled bitterly, "My mother said she wouldn't let me go home until she saw I had a man, so I stayed in the dormitory on the farm and didn't go home. Then she came to the farm to teach me a lesson and persuaded the farm's fourth aunt to introduce me to blind dates every day. I have no interest at all - I really don't want to get married so early." She said with a look of boredom.

Tan Shuangxi was originally eager to try, but her mood of saying "I can do it too" suddenly waned. Seeing that she was crying so sadly for Brother Li just now, she suddenly changed her mind and said she didn't want to get married - women's hearts are like needles in the sea.

"I'm now taking the Type B diploma exam and I'm also attending a finance class at night school." Yang Zhaodi hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Tan Shuangxi, looking him in the eye for the first time today. "I think I can pass the exam. Really, since I started working on the farm and went to night school, I realized that there are many more interesting things in the world than getting married. For example, if we want to plant new crops on the farm, we'll take some soil to the laboratory for testing. Then the laboratory will tell us what fertilizer to add, and sometimes we have to add lime. But no matter what we plant, we get a good harvest. Isn't that strange... And the land is divided into acidic and alkaline. I secretly tasted it and it didn't taste sour. When Chief Wu found out, he laughed so hard..." When she said this, a light flashed in her eyes.

"With a Type B diploma, if you add an accounting certificate, it will be easy to find a job. I heard from the farm clerk that with this, it is not difficult to find a job as an accountant in any factory or big store. The income is much better than it is now. It is not tiring. I have seen the financial account books made by my mother, and they are simpler than those learned in the accounting class."

She became more and more excited as she spoke: "If I stay on the farm, the manager said that with this certificate I can go to the finance department or management department. I don't have to work in the fields every day. I will be a 'cadre'. If I am willing to be transferred to a farm in another county, I can be promoted quickly!"

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, full of longing. Leaving the topic of love behind, Yang Zhaodi began to talk more, and she talked endlessly about the interesting stories on the farm and in the night school, like a child going on a long journey for the first time. Tan Shuangxi looked at her excited expression and felt happy for her. Life is not just about Brother Li, there is a wider world. "...Brother Shuangxi, what diploma did you get? It must be a Class A, right?"

"Me? I didn't even pass the Class B diploma exam!" Tan Shuangxi shook his head helplessly, "I want to work hard during this vacation and pass the diploma exam so that I can become a reserve officer."

"What is a reserve officer?" Yang Zhaodi asked curiously.

"That is, once there is a vacancy in an officer position, you can fill it and become an officer."

"Oh, then I will be a real official." Yang Zhaodi was very happy, "Let's work hard together."

  Tan Shuangxi laughed. He liked Yang Zhaodi's innocent look. After taking a sip of tea, he felt empty in his stomach. Then he realized that it was almost lunch time. He asked:

"It's almost noon, let's eat something here to fill our stomachs."

"Ah."

Tan Shuangxi ordered two bowls of wontons. Yang Zhaodi then remembered that she had been talking all day, so she shyly turned the topic to Tan Shuangxi: "Brother Shuangxi, was your family also arranging a blind date for you?"

"I was arranged by the Political Department," Tan Shuangxi said. "I only found out about this when the clerk from the battalion headquarters sent me a letter."

“The team is quite caring.”

"Yes." Tan Shuangxi hesitated for a moment, "Actually, I don't want to get married soon."

"Oh? Why?" Yang Zhaodi suddenly became interested.

"Oh," Tan Shuangxi sighed and recounted everything that had happened during the period of delivering death notices since he came back: first he talked about Hu Weide and Tan Haonan's wife... and finally Li Anze's sister.

As he was talking, the waiter brought over two bowls of wontons, a "traditional" snack that has only recently become popular.

"I can't eat so much." Yang Zhaodi said as she scooped a few wontons from her bowl and put them into Tan Shuangxi's bowl.

This was a very intimate gesture, and Tan Shuangxi's heart moved again, but when he thought of what he had just said, his heart sank again.

He put a spoonful of chili in the bowl. This was a new habit he developed in the army. He felt that everything tasted better this way. He hesitated for a moment, thinking about how to express himself so that Yang Zhaodi would understand what he meant and avoid misunderstanding.

"After all, soldiers have to go to war. Even if the Fu Bo Army wins every battle, there will still be casualties. When the people welcomed our triumphant return, transport ships unloaded shiploads of wounded soldiers at Maniao. Not to mention those who never came back, they all became death notices. Once you are on the battlefield, there is no smoke. No matter who you are, no matter how great a hero you are, if you are hit by bullets or artillery shells, you will go to the gates of hell - most of the time you won't be able to come back."