Song Yuanhuan's military leave during the New Year was not long—just ten days, coinciding with the festive period. Although he wanted to use up all his saved leave at once, his superiors would not approve it, leaving Song Yuanhuan with no choice but to head back to Z City alone.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Song Yuanhuan hardly spent all day at home constantly accompanying Xu Xiuxiu. If there was something to be done in the Song Family home, Song Yuanhuan would actively lend a hand. In the afternoon, he went out and later returned home with seven or eight old hens and two fish, probably because he saw that his sister-in-law, Wang Qinghua, having recently gotten pregnant, had been drinking a lot of chicken soup. He feared that Xu Xiuxiu wasn't replenishing her body enough.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Song Yuanhuan started packing his luggage at home.
