“As a woman yourself, you keep talking about crawling into a man’s bed and ruining my reputation—are you trying to force me to jump into the sea?” Su Jinhui snapped back sharply.
Liu Ruolan was startled. She wished the woman in front of her would disappear, but if something really happened, wouldn’t that make her a murderer?
She pointed at Su Jinhui in a panic and threatened, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming! If you have any sense, you’d go back to where you came from. In any case, Brother Li’an will never marry you!”
“Originally, although we do have an engagement, marriage freedom is being advocated now, so there was still room to negotiate. But since you slandered my reputation in public, only Yan Li’an marrying me can restore my innocence. Speaking of which, I should be thanking you.” Su Jinhui enunciated every word firmly, each one striking straight at the other woman’s heart.
Liu Ruolan’s eyes instantly reddened, her face full of unwillingness. “Impossible! Impossible!”
“Whether it’s true or not, why don’t you go ask Yan Li’an yourself?” Su Jinhui tossed out the words and strode away.
She had originally been worried that her words wouldn’t reach Yan Li’an’s ears. Now that Liu Ruolan was involved, she could finally rest easy.
Not only did this cut off Yan Li’an’s idea of introducing her to someone else, it also pushed him onto moral high ground and forced him to give a response—truly killing two birds with one stone.
In high spirits, Su Jinhui headed straight to the supply cooperative to buy fresh ingredients. She tightly clutched the grain coupons in her hand, feeling a surge of excitement. Not only could she witness the high-tech world of 2076, she even had the chance to browse a shop from the 1970s.
On the gray brick-and-tile wall, right above the entrance, bold red characters read “Supply Cooperative,” with “Develop the Economy” on the left and “Guarantee Supply” on the right.
She had asked around and learned this was the only supply cooperative on the island, yet there were very few people at the entrance.
Striding in, Su Jinhui happened to see a middle-aged man with his trouser legs rolled halfway up, holding the hand of a little girl. The man had originally only intended to buy soy sauce, but the girl timidly pointed at a jar of fruit candies behind the glass counter.
The man pinched the wrinkled grain coupons in his hand and smiled awkwardly. “Second Girl, be good. When Dad catches some fish, I’ll trade it for candy for you. Just wait a little longer, a little longer.”
The girl nodded obediently, though her small frame looked unmistakably forlorn.
“Give her three pieces of candy—put it on my tab,” Su Jinhui said as she walked over.
The moment she spoke, Second Girl looked up at her in delight.
The man waved his hands. “No, no, she’s just greedy. How could we let you buy—”
“I’m buying it for the child. It’s no trouble,” Su Jinhui said, waving it off as she picked three different flavors and placed them into the girl’s thin little palm.
“Uncle Liu, here’s your soy sauce,” the clerk said, setting a wrapped block of solid soy sauce on the counter.
Su Jinhui looked at it in confusion. “Soy sauce?”
“That’s right. This is soy sauce. Miss, a block this small can be diluted into a jin of liquid! Every household uses it for cooking. Want one?” the clerk explained familiarly.
Su Jinhui found it novel and immediately decided to buy one. On the counter stood a small blackboard with six characters written on it: Fresh Fish Sold Out Today.
“Is fresh fish only available on Wednesdays? Is there any fish today?” Su Jinhui asked unwillingly.
The clerk wiped the counter with a rag. “That’s right. We’re on an island. Most fresh fish are in the hands of fishermen. We can’t抢 their livelihoods, can we? So on ordinary days we only supply cured salted fish. Fresh fish is only available on Wednesdays.”
With fresh fish sold out, there were hardly any leafy vegetables for sale, and pork was even more scarce. Without ingredients, how was she supposed to show off her skills?
Strictly speaking, even making a simple home-cooked meal was a problem.
Second Girl raised her little hand high. “Big sister, my family has fish!”
“Yes, yes—freshly caught fish,” the man echoed right after.
“Alright, then I’ll trade for your family’s fish,” Su Jinhui said. By “trade,” she naturally meant exchanging grain coupons. Private commerce at sea wasn’t allowed yet, and she didn’t want to say anything wrong and bring trouble to the father and daughter.
The two of them refused to take the grain coupons at first, but she gave them no chance to react—she tossed down the coupons, grabbed the ribbonfish, and ran off.
By then, her words had already reached Yan Li’an’s ears.
Yan Li’an subconsciously walked to his desk and opened the drawer. A letter from Haicheng lay conspicuously inside.
The sender was none other than Su Jinhui.
Every line of the letter dripped with contempt, viciously humiliating him. It called him a toad lusting after a swan and even declared that she would rather jump into the sea than marry him.
Yet now, the very person who claimed she would have to jump into the sea if he didn’t marry her was her. The drastic contrast left Yan Li’an genuinely unable to read her character.
He put the letter away into the inner pocket of his uniform and headed home.
As soon as he entered the compound, he smelled the enticing aroma of food. The closer he got to his door, the stronger the fragrance became.
Pushing the door open, he saw Su Jinhui busy at the stove.
She turned around, and their eyes met. “The food will be ready soon. Please wait a bit.”
Yan Li’an rolled up his sleeves and walked over. “Anything I can help with?”
“Then ladle out the porridge and let it cool,” Su Jinhui instructed without turning her head.
Sweet potato porridge paired with steamed ribbonfish and a small plate of pickled radish—this was the meal she had carefully prepared.
“On the island, only fish and shrimp are cheap. Everything else—flour, sugar, pork—is practically robbery. And the only seasonings are salt, soy sauce, and ginger. It completely limits my room to perform,” Su Jinhui said sincerely.
Out of professional habit as a doctor, she couldn’t help evaluating the meal on the table. The carbohydrates and protein were acceptable, but dietary fiber was completely lacking.
Yan Li’an nodded and smiled with satisfaction. “It’s already very good.”
He had assumed Su Jinhui was a pampered young lady who never touched household chores, yet the woman before him complained not at all and even had good cooking skills—she truly made him see her in a new light.
“What do you think about the engagement?” Su Jinhui asked bluntly.
Yan Li’an solemnly took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to her without saying a word, a trace of scrutiny flashing in his eyes.
Su Jinhui was baffled. So formal—had he even written a special letter just to reject the marriage?
She skimmed through it, only for her brows to knit tightly. The signature at the end of the letter was actually her own name!
She searched through the original owner’s memories in her mind and was certain it was not written by her.
The person behind it had to be either Su Lanqiao or Su Jin. They wanted to sabotage the engagement, but the method of writing a letter was rather crude.
Meeting Yan Li’an’s gaze, Su Jinhui felt no ripples in her heart.
After all, her current identity was that of a capitalist undergoing reeducation through labor. Being able to marry Yan Li’an was the best way out at present—at the very least, it could protect her safety for a time.
Yan Li’an was a soldier; his profession carried a risk level of ten stars, with the constant possibility of losing his life.
What’s more, according to the original plot, he wasn’t destined to live much longer anyway…