Chen Ya’nan giggled, cheerfully going off to wash up in the bathroom. As she went, she mumbled vaguely to He Zhilan, "Auntie He, why does Uncle He want to divorce you? Everything was fine, and many people in the military guess that you are the one who cheated on Uncle He, giving him a green hat. Uncle He is really something, it’s just a hat, what does the color matter? Why would he divorce you over the color of a hat?"
Over there, He Zhilan was taking a sip of warm water that the political officer’s wife had poured for her. Hearing Chen Ya’nan’s words, she spit the water out, narrowly missing spraying it on the political officer’s wife’s face.
"What nonsense is this child talking! Some people in the army just love to gossip. We’ll have old Chen talk to them sometime!" The political officer’s wife was terribly embarrassed. She had no idea when Chen Ya’nan had heard such a thing. As for the child, she did not understand what a green hat meant and thought it was just a hat of green color. "Zhilan, the kid just doesn’t understand, you shouldn’t take it to heart."
"It’s okay, sister-in-law, I was just really surprised." He Zhilan shook her head. She didn’t blame the child - Chen Ya’nan, for starting such a topic. Even though she felt unsettled about it, she wouldn’t take it out on Chen Ya’nan. It was not as if the Chen Family were the ones talking nonsense.
"What does she know? I don’t understand why a green hat is something to be angry enough about that it leads to divorce. I just know that Uncle He and Auntie He’s divorce is Uncle He’s fault. I thought Uncle He was my idol! I didn’t expect, even idols can have their faults!" Chen Ya’nan rinsed her mouth, her words much clearer now. "Sister Zhilan, don’t be sad. I tell you, I’ll introduce you to a husband someday!"
"You little child!" Now the political officer’s wife was both laughing and crying. "Wash your face! Why do you have so much to say? Why are you meddling in adult affairs?"
"What do you mean I can’t interfere? Sister Zhilan is just a few years older than me. In my eyes, she’s like a big sister. How can I not intervene in my sister’s affairs? I’m really going to meddle in this!" Chen Ya’nan tossed her towel over her shoulder, looking ridiculous as she did so. She continued, "Sister Zhilan, my current high school head teacher is a great guy. He’s a few years older than you and teaches math. But he’s good at teaching every subject. During study hall, many students in our class ask him questions from other subjects, and he can always answer them! He’s really the god of our class."
Apparently, she felt that this ’god’ would be perfect for He Zhilan. As a result, Chen Ya’nan was very enthusiastic about it. She walked out of the bathroom, saying, "I’ll go get a photo of him to show you. It’s a photo I took when our school had a cultural festival at the beginning of the year. He’s really handsome! And has a good temper. No matter how disruptive our class gets, he never uses a cane to discipline us like other teachers do, and certainly never hits anyone."
"You, come back here!" Now the political officer’s wife was really having a headache over her daughter. Which girl would be so concerned about someone else’s marriage?
In the end, Chen Ya’nan was dragged back to the bathroom by the political commissioner’s wife to continue washing her face. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and gave He Zhilan a helpless smile, "This child, she truly gives us no peace! Oh, by the way, I knew you were coming this weekend, so I prepared some things yesterday. We are going to make dumplings for lunch today, and we will ask old Chen to bring He Teng too! Do you know how to roll out dumpling dough?"