The five members of the He family spent a peaceful and tranquil first night at the army reunion. On the second morning, He Teng was the first to wake up. He left the room and returned from the canteen with breakfast for the whole family. By the time he returned, He Zhilan was already awake, rolling from one side of the bed to the other in her pajamas, seemingly quite delighted with herself.
"What on earth are you doing? Once you wake up, you should go and wash up, then have breakfast." He Teng was at a loss for words. "You’re acting like a three-year-old, lazing around in bed ."
"I’m not lazing in bed! I’m trying to make sure every corner of brother’s bed is permeated with my scent." He Zhilan retorted, put on her shoes and hummed a tune as she opened the wardrobe. Originally, she just intended to take out her own clothes to wear, but was unexpectedly attracted to He Teng’s belongings. Among them, she spotted He Teng’s worn-out socks.
"Brother, your socks." He Zhilan held out a sock with a hole at the big toe from He Teng’s collection in the wardrobe, laughing, "Is it because the weather’s too hot that your toes need some air? Wow! It’s not just this one, there are quite a few ! Brother, aren’t you afraid of being ridiculed for wearing socks like these?"
"What’s there to laugh about?" He Teng walked over and directly took the sock from He Zhilan’s hand, urging her, "Hurry up and change your clothes!"
He Teng indeed saw nothing demeaning about wearing such socks. The army was full of single men, without wives, whose socks weren’t all in the best condition? Even if they knew how to sew, they were either without a needle and thread, or just too lazy to mend them. They would wear them as they were.
He Zhilan was whisked away by He Teng to the bathroom to get dressed. After washing and changing, she didn’t wait to have breakfast but ran across the hall to knock on the door. At this time, she knew for sure that the political commissar’s wife would’ve been up early.
"Dear sister, you’re up so early. Have you had breakfast?" Political Commissar Chen opened the door, assuming that He Zhilan was looking for He Dongxue, chuckled, "Dongxue and Ya’nan must’ve stayed up late last night. They’re both still asleep. If it’s nothing urgent, why don’t we let them continue to sleep?"
"I came to borrow a needle and thread from sister-in-law." He Zhilan made her intentions clear, and following Political Commissar Chen into his house, took the needle and thread and happily went back home with the sewing box.
He Teng heard the noise and emerged from the bathroom, glancing at the beaming He Zhilan, he asked, "Aren’t you having breakfast? What are you running around doing this early in the morning?"
"I went to borrow something from the political commissar’s wife!" Before He Teng could ask again, He Zhilan chirped, "I borrowed women’s things!" She then hid the items behind her back and ran into the room, closing the door behind her.
Understanding that it was women’s items, He Teng assumed it was something personal. Blushing, he didn’t follow her into the room, but she carried on behind the door for over ten minutes without emerging. He began to wonder what was going on and knocked on the door, "He Zhilan, hurry up and come out for breakfast once you’re done. Stop dawdling in there."
He Zhilan’s response followed from inside the room. As He Teng was about to turn around to get his father and brother, a sound emanated from the room, followed by He Zhilan’s screams. Worried, he quickly twisted the doorknob and entered as luckily, He Zhilan hadn’t locked it.
"What happened?" He Teng walked in and saw He Zhilan sitting barefoot on the floor in front of the wardrobe, clutching her foot. Her nose was scrunched up in pain, her eyes brimming with tears. Next to her sat an open box, and as soon as he peered into it, He Teng realized that it contained a needle and thread.