Chapter 554 - 0554: Sprouting of Spring Heart 2_1
Upon hearing Gao Yuzhu’s words, Wu Heng and Sang Hong’s heads bobbed nonstop like chicks pecking grains.
"I remember when the country asked them what they wished for, they only replied with a wish to get married," Sang Hong, who was the cleverest among them, said. He loved reading books and was full of street-smarts. He knew about many reports from the nearby military area, "Actually, we have wishes too. Our wish is to get a wife so that we don’t remain single forever."
What he referred to happened several years ago, related to the placement of prostitutes at the beginning of the republic.
Early after the founding of the country, the state shut down many brothels in Shanghai and many other parts of the country, including the capital. As the majority of the prostitutes had sexually transmitted diseases, the state provided a billion worth of imported penicillin for their treatment. After their recovery, people were appointed to reform them— to discard their unhealthy habits— and engage them in regular work.
During the major constructions in the Northwest military area, most of the soldiers were single. Those most were between twenty and forty years old. When the state asked about their wishes, their only desire was to get married.
The country conscripted about eight or nine thousand female high school students from the leaders’ hometown and also conscripted some from Shanghai and other places.
Even widows weren’t rejected.
Despite all this, the number of women still couldn’t match the number of bachelors in the army. Hence, a significant portion of the reformed prostitutes was allocated to the bachelors of the Northwest Military Area, where they permanently resided.
"Commissar, when things calm down, could you speak to the Commander about this issue? It’s not just Commander Su’s single status problem that needs to be solved, but also ours," said Gao Yuzhu, who could no longer contain his desire, "Commissar, I am turning twenty-eight after the New Year; I am not eighteen, but twenty-eight. By now, I could have already fathered several children!"
Lu Jiang laughed and mocked him: "Several children? Are you even human? You sound like a sow giving birth to piglets."