At the mention of this, Su Yiyi’s expression turned a little unnatural.
From the original owner’s memories, there wasn’t much food at home. After all, every meal had been brought back by someone Gu Zhenyang asked for help—she ate without worry, so why would she bother cooking?
But she couldn’t say that.
Anyway, Gu Zhenyang rarely came back. If she quietly took some things out, he wouldn’t notice.
Moreover, he was someone who respected privacy. He generally wouldn’t enter her room. There was also a wardrobe in the original owner’s room, locked, and he had never tried to check what was inside.
“Mom, wait a moment—I’ll go get it!”
Su Yiyi hurried into the room. When Niu Guihua reached the doorway, she only saw her daughter rummaging through the wardrobe.
It was an old-fashioned standing cabinet with a flip-open door, quite tall. From that angle, Niu Guihua couldn’t see what was inside at all.
Su Yiyi wasn’t someone who would let herself suffer. While it looked like she was searching for things, she was actually using the cabinet as cover to stash items inside.
She took out quite a lot—things that could be stored, without packaging, and wouldn’t look out of place in this era.
After all, the Su family occasionally gave her money, and although the original owner always complained that Gu Zhenyang didn’t give her any, he actually gave her ten yuan every month. It was just that she spent it all within a few days, then continued to complain. In her mind, he should have handed over his entire allowance.
Seeing that she hadn’t found anything after a while, Niu Guihua grew impatient.
“Move aside. You’ve only just woken up—aren’t you afraid you’ll faint again, bending over like that?”
Hearing this, Su Yiyi stood up. “The cabinet’s a bit deep—I can’t reach well. You take a look, Mom.”
Niu Guihua didn’t think much of it. But the moment she saw the contents inside, her eyes widened in shock.
“Th-this… this is way too much, isn’t it?”
Inside were all kinds of goods—egg cakes, fruit candies, white sugar, brown sugar, powdered milk, cured meat, sausages, even fabric… and rice and white flour too.
It was the first time she had seen so many high-quality supplies piled into one cabinet.
She quickly grabbed the cured meat and sausages, sniffing them to make sure they hadn’t spoiled. Only then did she let out a breath of relief.
“You silly girl! Is this how you store things? Don’t be fooled by the cold weather—the heated kang keeps the room warm. Keeping cured meat in the cabinet like this will make it spoil! You’re lucky it hasn’t gone bad. From now on, hang them up. And rice and flour should be kept somewhere dry, or they’ll get moldy.”
There were other things she didn’t even bother pointing out. The smell of cured meat had already seeped into the fabric. This foolish girl really didn’t know how to take care of things.
Su Yiyi had only been focused on putting items into the cabinet earlier. She just wanted her mother to see that her daughter was living well, so the family could feel at ease and return home. She hadn’t thought about whether it was reasonable to store everything together.
But then again… for the original owner, doing something like this was perfectly in character.
As Niu Guihua carried out the items that needed to be hung or rearranged, her perception of her daughter’s life began to change.
This was their first time visiting the military compound. Their home was far away, and there was always work in the production team. Especially since Su Jianguo was the team leader, he couldn’t leave easily. This trip had only happened because of the emergency.
Previously, Su Yiyi’s letters had always described her life as miserable. But looking now—where was the hardship?
And after yesterday’s argument, Niu Guihua had overheard quite a bit from others.
Most people said her daughter was ungrateful—how could she scold such a good son-in-law like Gu Zhenyang?
She had also heard that he arranged for meals to be brought back for her every day.
Now, seeing all the things in her daughter’s cabinet, she realized—he must have been giving her money too. Although the Su family gave some, they had many mouths to feed, and the children needed schooling. They could only provide a limited amount.
That meant most of this had to come from Gu Zhenyang.
Thinking back to how she had pointed at him and scolded him yesterday, she suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
Luckily, there was still time to make things right.
This morning, her son-in-law would bring everyone over for breakfast. She decided to prepare a proper meal and find a chance to apologize—hoping he wouldn’t take it too much to heart.
With that thought, Niu Guihua became much more meticulous while cooking.
Watching her mother go from distracted to suddenly fired up—as if making breakfast were some sacred task—Su Yiyi couldn’t help but find it amusing.
Now that these supplies had been “legitimized,” she could take things out later without arousing suspicion.
The cabinet key had always been worn around the original owner’s neck, close to her chest. Gu Zhenyang couldn’t access it, and even during the time she was unconscious, he definitely wouldn’t have opened it.
That man wished to avoid any contact with her—there was no way he would touch her personal belongings.
Wrapping herself in a military overcoat, Su Yiyi stepped outside again. No matter what, she needed some fresh air—otherwise, she might start “molding” before the food did.
Military coats from this era were truly thick. This one had been issued to Gu Zhenyang during a mission, and he had brought it back for the original owner. She had planned to send it to that educated youth she liked, but before she could, she heard he had found a partner.
Thinking about it now, Su Yiyi felt lucky.
This coat was incredibly valuable. Cotton was scarce—money alone couldn’t guarantee you could buy one. Wearing it in freezing weather kept you warm, and it could even double as a blanket.
If it had gone to that pretty boy, it would have been a huge loss.
Su Jianguo also came out of the room. Seeing his daughter standing by the door watching the snow, he didn’t disturb her, even though he didn’t understand what was so interesting about it. Instead, he turned toward the kitchen to help his wife.
The heavy snowfall that others found ordinary was actually quite special to Su Yiyi.
In her previous life, she had lived in the south. Snow had been rare in her childhood. Even though she had traveled and seen snow as an adult, watching it fall right in her own courtyard was a completely different experience.
When Gu Zhenyang arrived with the rest of the Su family, this was the scene they saw—
Su Yiyi wrapped in a military coat, her expression calm and gentle, completely different from her usual sharp and aggressive demeanor.
Her breath formed white mist in the cold air, slightly obscuring her face.
But one thing was undeniable—
No matter how difficult her personality was, her beauty stood out. In the entire military compound, no one’s wife could compare to her.
At the beginning, Gu Zhenyang had been the envy of many.
But over time, the tone changed.
People began to sympathize with him instead—for having such a troublesome wife, to the point that having a home made little difference from being single.