"Go home!" She was determined to find Old Feng and Comrade Old Yan to have a heart-to-heart talk.
Having finally come across a man who had stirred her heart, she couldn’t let someone else dig him away just like that.
Yan Huan packed up and left, Xiaomei finished her apple and took a look at the knitting Yan Huan had left behind, her head nearly doubled in size: "Ancestors above, your yarn is all tangled into a net, how on earth did you knit this!"
The military district compound.
Yan Huan, carrying her bag, walked along the path lined with green pines, heading towards the small two-story building at the end--her home.
As soon as she entered, without even having time to shout "Mom and Dad," she heard Old Feng complaining to Comrade Old Yan, "Old Yan, are you ever going to take charge of your children? Neither son nor daughter is getting married! An old son, an old maid! Not one of them is giving any peace of mind!"
Old Yan put down the newspaper in his hands, picked up the teacup, blew on it, took a sip, and said, "How am I supposed to take charge? Your son and daughter are both full of their own ideas! Aren’t their tempers just like yours?"
Old Feng, who was picking chives, slammed them down on the table upon hearing this: "Yan Luquan, what’s wrong with my temper? Wasn’t I a well-bred young lady when I married you? Gentle as a ripple in water! It’s all because I married you, you big oaf, that I became this way, erupting like a volcano!"
Seeing his wife get angry, Yan Luquan hurriedly stood up to massage and pat Feng Yuzhi’s shoulders: "Angry again? Look at that temper of yours, you’re really like a powder keg! Just a few words and you’re at me! Calm down, calm down! I’ll straighten out our unworthy children once they’re back!"
No sooner had Yan Luquan finished speaking than Yan Huan walked in, bag in hand, delivering her sardonic remark: "Comrade Old Yan! Look at you, scared of your wife! Aren’t you afraid that’ll rub off on your son? What’s with Old Feng? Has she grown three heads and six arms, or sprouted a blue face and fangs? You’re really embarrassing our People’s Liberation Army!"
Hearing his daughter speak , Yan Luquan let go of Feng Yuzhi and took off the sole of his shoe to go after Yan Huan: "Nobody stop me today, I’m going to give her a good lesson."
Frightened by Yan Luquan charging at her, Yan Huan quickly ran upstairs: "Old Feng Comrade, aren’t you going to manage your husband!"
"All kinds of nonsense you’re spouting! As soon as you come back, the house can’t be quiet! You’re clearly just trying to stir the pot, happy to see us fight!" Feng Yuzhi walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted up, "Get yourself together and come straight down, let’s discuss your arranged marriage with Old Ning’s son!"
Yan Huan changed her clothes and came downstairs, seeing Feng Yuzhi preparing the filling for dumplings, she couldn’t help but complain, "I come back and it’s chives again, Mom, look, I’m turning green with all the chives I eat!"
"You and your complaints!" Feng Yuzhi said while chopping meat, "I’ll make you some with Chinese cabbage later."
"Mom! You’re the best." Yan Huan hugged Feng Yuzhi and kissed her on the cheek, then shifted the conversation to what mattered, "Mom, did you just mention arranging a marriage with Uncle Ning’s son? But Ning Bo has passed away, what do you expect me to do?"
"Are you really that naïve, or are you pretending to be dumb for me?" Feng Yuzhi glared at her daughter, "The disgraceful thing you did in the army, your father came back and told me all about it! So tell me, have you fallen for Qin Jian?"
"Well played, Old Feng! Your ears sure do reach far! No, wait, it’s not your ears, it’s Old Yan’s mouth that’s loose!"
"Enough with the nonsense! What’s your plan for this situation?" Feng Yuzhi stopped what she was doing to look at Yan Huan, "I think Qin Jian is quite good. He’s a fine young prospect, so young and already made staff officer! He’ll certainly have a bright future! He might be a few years older than you, but an older man will take good care of you! If an old girl like you marries him, you won’t be at a disadvantage!"