Shen Ruanruan admitted that seeing him like this made her a little excited.
She felt kind of perverted.
Pulling herself back to reality, she said,
“Alright, alright, I promise you. Let’s hurry inside and buy our stuff, okay?”
She excitedly headed inside, so she didn’t notice the thoughtful look in the man’s eyes.
Besides liking his body, it seemed she also had a weakness for him softening and giving in.
…
The supply cooperative in town naturally couldn’t compare to the department stores in the capital.
But this trip was mainly for buying household necessities, so the selection was still pretty complete.
After making one round, Lu Mingye had already carried several loads back to the car. The staff at the supply cooperative kept glancing at the two of them. Arriving in a military jeep was eye-catching enough already, not to mention buying such a huge pile of things.
Standing in front of the fabric counter, Shen Ruanruan somehow understood the look in the saleswoman’s eyes.
“A’Ye, do we need to buy red cloth for the wedding?”
Weddings were supposed to be full of red decorations, so red cloth should definitely be needed. Lu Mingye nodded.
“Buy it.”
Only after saying it did he realize something.
What had she just called him?
A’Ye?
…
This woman really flirted with him every second of the day.
Shen Ruanruan: ? Wasn’t she just calling his name? How was that flirting?
“Oh right, remember to get some fabric too. Our house doesn’t have curtains.”
Lu Mingye emphasized the reminder.
Shen Ruanruan paused while holding the red cloth, recalling last night’s embarrassing moment. A trace of embarrassment flashed across her face. After the saleswoman finished cutting the red cloth, she carefully selected several more pieces of pale-colored fabric with tiny floral patterns.
The east and west rooms both needed curtains, and since she wasn’t sure where else they might need fabric, she figured they might as well buy extra now instead of making another trip later.
Fortunately, Lu Mingye had anticipated the wedding and exchanged back all the fabric coupons he’d traded away over the years. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even have enough.
Even knowing the two were preparing for marriage, nobody in town could match this level of spending.
Lu Mingye didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
It was just that, looking at those floral-patterned fabrics, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Those were only curtains. Once they got married and started sleeping in the same bed, would the bedsheets and quilt covers all become floral too?
He imagined himself lying in a sea of tiny flowers and couldn’t stop a shiver from running through him.
But could he bear to refuse her?
Probably not.
Shen Ruanruan had no idea what the man was imagining. After finishing the purchase, she remembered to ask for his opinion symbolically.
Naturally, the man had absolutely no objections.
From then on, she stopped asking altogether. If she liked something and had the coupons for it, she bought it.
At noon, the two ate at the state-owned restaurant before continuing their shopping in the afternoon.
The jeep belonged to the military. It had only been borrowed because they had a lot of wedding-related things to buy. Normally, it would be inconvenient to borrow it often, which meant they needed a bicycle.
“The bicycle coupon…”
Shen Ruanruan searched through their things and really found one.
“A’Ye, let’s go buy a bicycle.”
“Okay.”
The same answer again.
She really couldn’t be bothered asking anymore and walked straight to the bicycle counter.
“Hello, I’d like to look at bicycles.”
The saleswoman had noticed them since morning. Seeing them buy such a massive amount of goods, she had even bet with the others about whether they’d come to her counter. After all, bicycles counted as major purchases, and very few people bought them regularly.
Now that they’d actually come, she enthusiastically introduced them one by one.
“This Phoenix brand one is the 28-inch Model 18 with full chain cover. It’s 188 yuan. There’s also a 26-inch women’s model, but we don’t have it here.
“The Yongjiu brand, Model 51, is 179 yuan. The reinforced Model 52 is 181.
“The Flying Pigeon brand only has one model, the 62, for 176 yuan.
“And there’s also the Dongfanghong brand. It’s the cheapest at 135 yuan, and locals buy this one the most.”
At this time, salespeople earned fixed salaries. There was no commission no matter how much they sold, so she spoke honestly instead of pushing the expensive options.
“Can the women’s model be ordered in?”
Before Shen Ruanruan could continue looking, Lu Mingye asked first.
The saleswoman froze briefly before shaking her head.
“If you want a women’s bicycle, you’d have to go to the city. We already don’t sell many bicycles here as it is. If we stocked women’s models too, they definitely wouldn’t sell.”
After all, how many people these days were willing to buy one for a woman?
Still, she hadn’t expected this fierce-looking man to spoil his wife so much.
Then again, if he didn’t spoil her, with how much this young woman had spent today, he probably would’ve run away long ago.
Lu Mingye silently remembered the matter. Turning his head, he noticed Shen Ruanruan staring at him.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, he cleared his throat.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Nothing.”
She smiled and shook her head.
“I don’t understand these things. Which one do you think we should buy?”
Lu Mingye pointed at the Phoenix bicycle.
“Then we’ll take this one.”
As Shen Ruanruan took out the money and coupons, she secretly grumbled in her heart. Was this man some kind of tapeworm living in her stomach? How did he know this was the exact one she wanted?
One look at her expression and the man knew what she was thinking.
Actually, she’d never noticed it herself: whenever she couldn’t decide whether something looked good or bad, she always picked the most expensive one.
That confidence came from the love Shen Father and Shen Mother had given her.
In the future, he hoped he could become that confidence for her.
Now that the bicycle was bought too, the sky outside was already getting dark. It would take more than an hour to get back, so the two prepared to head home.
…
This time, Shen Ruanruan drove all the way to their front door.
There hadn’t been many people around when they left that morning, so hardly anyone saw them. Even though the sentries knew Shen Ruanruan had been driving, they wouldn’t gossip about it.
So the people in the family quarters genuinely had no idea she could drive.
Which meant that when they saw Shen Ruanruan stepping out of the driver’s seat, everyone was dumbfounded.
“…I-I’m not seeing things, am I?”
One military wife was picking vegetables nearby. Seeing the scene, she dropped the vegetables in her hands without even noticing.
“You’re not seeing things. It really was Sister Shen driving.”
The one speaking was Sister Cao, her eyes practically glowing as she looked at Shen Ruanruan.
Yesterday, the moment they first met, she already felt this young woman wasn’t ordinary.
And today proved it completely.
These days, not to mention women who could drive—there weren’t even that many people who knew how to drive at all.
Her own husband, Old Chen, had spent ages learning to drive in the military, and even then, he didn’t drive as steadily as Sister Shen.
“Sister Shen? You mean Deputy Regiment Commander Lu’s wife? I heard Deputy Regiment Commander Lu didn’t leave yesterday. So this little girl is really staying? Geez… she looks so soft and delicate. She’s not scared of Deputy Regiment Commander Lu’s fierce face?”
“Well, nobody heard any crying yesterday, so I guess the girl’s pretty brave. Otherwise how could they live together in the future?”
Their speculation left Sister Cao speechless.
“That’s enough from all of you. Xiao Lu just looks a little fierce and talks less. Is that really such a big deal? Besides, Sister Shen only looks delicate. Who knows what she’s actually like? Personally, I think once those two start living together, it’s hard to say who’ll really be in charge.”
Yesterday, when they talked, hadn’t Xiao Lu been trailing behind Sister Shen obediently like a little puppy…
Sister Cao had a feeling life in the family quarters was about to become very entertaining.
The others understood what she meant, but nobody took it seriously.
With Deputy Regiment Commander Lu’s personality, he probably wasn’t even afraid of his parents or his superiors.
How could he possibly be afraid of this soft little wife?
Impossible.
—— Author’s Note ——
Oh no. Suddenly the author wants to see Lu Mingye cry…