Heading out on a mission in the dead of winter, Cheng Su felt sorry for Qi Taiguo, even for herself, but sentiment aside, there was still preparation to be done.
So there she was, Cheng Su had taken half a day off to pack clothes and luggage for Qi Taiguo, all while muttering to herself.
"It’s already November, the north wind howls, it’s certainly cold enough to snow once you get there," Cheng Su said, as she opened the closet and rummaged through the winter clothes.
"No need to pack much, just a few sets of underwear to change into, we will be wearing our uniforms," Qi Taiguo followed behind her, saying.
"We might not need the overcoat, but surely we must bring warm thermal underwear and sweaters, and thick socks," Cheng Su replied without turning around.
"No need, your husband has a lot of inner heat."
Cheng Su snorted, rummaged through the clothes, and couldn’t find a single heavy sweater. She couldn’t help but ask, "How come you don’t have any thick sweaters? Haven’t you worn any over the past years?"
Finally, she found a piece, but it was an old wool vest, likely several years old, somewhat worn out and looking ill-fitting.
Qi Taiguo was lying on the bed watching her busy herself, his hands behind his head, and said, "I haven’t worn these in years." He then thought of the spouses of his comrades in the compound who would sit on stools and knit sweaters when they had nothing better to do and suggested, "How about you knit one for me?"
Cheng Su was taken aback and then somewhat sheepishly said, "Well, I don’t know how to knit sweaters."
Qi Taiguo was startled. Wasn’t it just a couple of years ago that she had knitted him a scarf? Unfortunately, he had thrown it away. He was about to ask when he stopped short, carefully asking, "You don’t know how to knit scarves either?"
"No, it’s so complicated, not something I can do," Cheng Su replied without a second thought.
She answered with such finality that Qi Taiguo’s eyes narrowed as he said, "That can’t be right, you knitted a scarf for me a couple of years ago, with your own hands."
Cheng Su froze, looked over and asked, "Did I?" Her memory raced through her mind. Did something like that happen? Hold on, it seemed there was an incident like that when the original Cheng Su learned to knit from her classmates at school.
Just as she was about to respond, Qi Taiguo feigned indifference and said, "Maybe I remembered wrong, anyway, I never wore such things." However, inside he felt doubtful; he remembered seeing her excitedly bringing the unfinished scarf to him, her hands skillfully moving.
Cheng Su chuckled awkwardly, turned her face away and said, "I think I will go out and buy a wool sweater for you." She didn’t notice Qi Taiguo’s thoughtful expression.
She was about to leave when Qi Taiguo grabbed her, saying, "Don’t be busy, we’d better spend this time talking. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back from this trip. Don’t you miss me?"
Cheng Su was pulled onto the bed by him and said, "Stop it, aren’t we supposed to leave after dinner? There are still some things I haven’t prepared. It’s too cold, and we should also prepare some medicine."
"No need, there will be...," Qi Taiguo’s voice trailed off.
"There will be what?" Cheng Su asked, turning her body towards him.
"Nothing, I mean the troop will have preparations," Qi Taiguo said with a smile.
In fact, what he wanted to say was that a military doctor and nurse would be accompanying them on this mission.
He found it strange to consider this; after all, they weren’t going to war, so why would a military doctor be following? That’s why he thought it was quite baffling when Chiang Qing said they would be fighting side by side. If it were a combat mission, then having a military doctor on hand was normal, but this was just a task. Why would she be joining in?
Regimental Commander Mai had explained that it wasn’t about fighting side by side; rather, Chiang Qing and her team were coincidentally going to that area for study and exchange. They would join the journey and if necessary, provide assistance and treatment for the wounded on the mission.
Absurd!
Qi Taiguo set aside his thoughts about Chiang Qing and just enjoyed a warm embrace with his wife.