Zhao Yunzhi turned her head and saw Su Yiyi’s reddened eyes, immediately startled. “Oh dear, why are you about to cry? Did Mom do something wrong?”
Su Yiyi looked at her mother-in-law, who was both anxious and cautious, and quickly shook her head. “Mom, I’m fine. I’m just a little moved. It’s been a long time since someone cared about me like this.”
She was telling the truth, but Zhao Yunzhi misunderstood and her face darkened at once. “Did Zhanyang bully you? That brat—tonight I’ll definitely teach him a lesson.”
At that moment, Gu Zhanyang, who was training, suddenly sneezed. He Kun, standing nearby, looked at him curiously. “Old Gu, you’re not catching a cold, are you?”
“Shouldn’t be…” Gu Zhanyang frowned.
His body was always in great condition—he rarely got sick—so it shouldn’t be…
“Tsk, then someone must be talking about you. I heard your mom came over? Why didn’t you take leave? You’re really okay with your mom and your wife being alone together?”
Gu Zhanyang paused for a moment. “It should be fine.”
He Kun looked at him as if seeing something new. “What, you think your wife has really changed?”
Gu Zhanyang ignored him and continued running.
…
“Mom, no, Zhanyang hasn’t bullied me.”
When mentioning Gu Zhanyang, Su Yiyi’s expression turned a little awkward. If it came to bullying, it was hard to say who bullied whom. At the very least, since she followed him to the army after marriage, he had never treated her poorly.
Only then did Zhao Yunzhi relax. “If Gu Zhanyang ever makes you feel wronged, you must tell Mom. There’s nothing that can’t be resolved.”
Having lived for so many years, Zhao Yunzhi could already sense that the relationship between her son and daughter-in-law was a bit subtle, even from just a simple morning interaction. She didn’t say it outright, but she still wanted to probe a little.
Su Yiyi nodded.
Both sides of the family were actually quite good and sincerely hoped she and Gu Zhanyang could live well together. But marriage wasn’t something she alone could decide.
Without feelings, separation was inevitable. Although in Su Yiyi’s eyes, Gu Zhanyang was indeed an outstanding man, in her previous life she had already reached a level where she had seen many high-quality men—he wasn’t enough for her to shamelessly pursue him.
Since Gu Zhanyang had slept here last night, there wasn’t much to tidy up in his room. Su Yiyi asked Zhao Yunzhi to go rest. Now that her mother-in-law had come, she had to think of a way to prepare something nice for lunch.
But the ingredients laid out at home were already quite limited, so she definitely needed to go out.
“Mom, you rest at home. I’ll go buy some groceries.”
Zhao Yunzhi immediately frowned. “It’s freezing outside, and the roads are hard to walk. Just eat something simple at home—no need to go through all that trouble.”
Su Yiyi gave her a reassuring look. “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll be careful. It’s not my first time going out. Just wait for me at home.”
Zhao Yunzhi hesitated several times, afraid that saying too much might make her daughter-in-law think she was being overbearing. After all, in the past, Su Yiyi never spoke to her this gently. This time, her attitude had already improved a lot.
But Zhao Yunzhi still couldn’t help worrying—what if saying too much made her revert to how she used to be…
The fact that Su Yiyi informed her before going out was already a big improvement—she never used to.
“Alright then, be careful.”
Zhao Yunzhi still reminded her worriedly.
“I know, Mom. Just rest at home and wait for me.”
Su Yiyi slung a basket over her back and went out. Wrapped in a thick cotton coat, she waddled through the snow like a clumsy bear. She deeply missed down jackets and thermal wear—they were light and warm.
As she reached the gate, the young soldier who had escorted Zhao Yunzhi earlier greeted her, “Sister-in-law, heading out?”
Su Yiyi nodded. “Yes, my mom just arrived, so I’m going to buy some groceries.”
“Sis… sister… wait for me!”
Before he even finished speaking, a voice came from behind—it was Huang Qiaoyu.
Su Yiyi looked at her curiously. Huang Qiaoyu had three children at home and her husband wasn’t around, so why was she also carrying a basket and coming out?
Just as she was thinking that, Huang Qiaoyu had already walked up to her. “Sister, are you going to buy groceries?”
Su Yiyi nodded. “Sister-in-law, are you going too?”
Huang Qiaoyu quickly replied, “Yes, yes. I asked another sister-in-law to keep an eye on the kids. Xiaohai has recovered, so he can look after his younger siblings.”
Truthfully, Su Yiyi didn’t really want to go out with someone else—it would make it harder for her to take things out of her space. But seeing Huang Qiaoyu like this, she clearly wanted companionship.
It was understandable. In such freezing weather, everyone preferred to have someone to go out with. In the end, Su Yiyi didn’t refuse and decided to play it by ear.
Besides, even if she couldn’t take things out of her space, it wasn’t a big deal. She could still buy things from the supply and marketing cooperative—it would just cost some coupons.
She still had some of the coupons Gu Zhanyang gave her, and since they were military-issued, she had priority in purchasing. Thinking this, Su Yiyi smiled. “Alright, let’s go together.”
Huang Qiaoyu had been a bit nervous when she followed along, unsure if Su Yiyi would agree since she used to be a loner. Hearing her say this, she immediately brightened up, and the two of them walked out of the compound together.
The young soldier watched the two sisters-in-law leave and recalled the rumors he had heard before. He curled his lips. Who said Captain Gu’s wife was hard to get along with? She seemed perfectly nice—gentle when she spoke and pretty too. Probably just jealousy…
“Hey, sister, you don’t know—Xiaohai was really sick this time. I haven’t even had time to prepare for the New Year yet. It’s almost here, so I thought I’d make a trip.”
“At first, I wanted to see if any other sisters-in-law were going so I could have company, but most of them had already prepared, or weren’t planning to go yet. Then I saw you going out and thought I’d try my luck following you.”
She had seemed quiet and reserved before, but now Huang Qiaoyu was quite talkative.
Su Yiyi smiled. “Yeah, but with so many people preparing for the New Year now, we’ll probably have to check out the black market instead.”