Su Ci thought to herself, It’s hard to go from luxury to frugality, but easy to go from frugality to luxury—the ancients were not lying.
Although life had been comfortable so far, on the third morning after arriving in the 1970s, Su Ci faced her first major crisis.
Back pain.
The Lu family’s bed was a standard military hardboard bed, with only a thin cotton mat on top.
The original owner had a weak body, and Su Ci had spent her previous life used to sleeping on a mattress. After two nights on this bed, she felt as if her bones were scattering, and even the slightest movement made them crack and pop.
Early in the morning, Lu Si had just shifted himself into his wheelchair when he saw the guest room door open.
Su Ci, sporting two big dark circles under her eyes and holding her waist, floated out like a limp shrimp.
“Good… morning,” she weakly greeted, collapsing into a chair, too drained even to make her favorite breakfast.
Lu Si frowned. “Are you sick?”
Though his tone remained stiff, a trace of barely perceptible worry flickered in his deep eyes.
“Worse than being sick.” Su Ci rested her head on the table, looking at him plaintively. “Commander Lu, is our bed made of granite? Last night felt less like sleeping and more like being tortured.”
Lu Si: “…”
“Military beds are hard to be good for the spine,” he explained stiffly. “You’re just too delicate.”
“I am delicate!” Su Ci straightened her posture and pouted dramatically, her almond-shaped eyes glistening as if she had suffered a great injustice. “I don’t care. I want a soft bed. I want a mattress like a cloud! Otherwise, I can’t sleep well. If I can’t sleep, I can’t cook well. If I can’t cook, you’ll go hungry.”
That was a naked threat.
Lu Si scowled. “This is a military family compound, not a capitalist mansion. Where would a soft mattress come from?”
At that time, everyone slept on straw or thick cotton, and cotton required ration tickets. Su Ci had just arrived—there weren’t that many tickets.
“I don’t care. You’re the commander; you must have a way.” Su Ci buried her face in her arms and started fake-crying. “Waaah, my life is so miserable. I married here and have to sleep on a rock—my waist is about to break…”
Listening to her fake crying that made a lot of noise but produced nothing, Lu Si’s temple vein twitched.
“Shut up.”
Su Ci instantly went silent, peeking at him with one eye.
Lu Si took a deep breath, turned his wheelchair toward the door, and said, “Eat breakfast yourself. I’m going out for a while.”
“You’re not eating?”
“I’m full of anger!”
And with that, Lu Si was gone for the whole day.
Su Ci didn’t stay idle either. She rummaged through the house, found some discarded army green canvas, and cut up some of Lu Si’s old shirts, moving things around while humming a tune.
By evening, a military-green Liberation truck rumbled to a stop at the gate.
Su Ci ran out and saw a few young soldiers in uniform unloading things from the truck.
It was a huge roll of golden-yellow, highly elastic, high-density industrial foam!
In this era, such foam was rare, usually used for car seats or packing delicate instruments.
Lu Si sat in his wheelchair nearby, giving instructions: “Be careful, don’t scratch it.”
When he turned, he saw Su Ci at the gate, her mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.
“This… this is for me?” Su Ci ran over, pressing the thick foam—it bounced back perfectly!
Lu Si turned his face away, ears slightly red, but his voice remained cold: “A comrade works at a car factory. This is leftover material. Worthless. Might as well bring it back for you to use.”
“Leftover material?” The young soldier carrying foam scratched his head sheepishly. “Commander, didn’t you trade two good packs of cigarettes with Director Zhang for this? You even said it was because the madam’s back is bad…”
“Ahem! Mind your own business!” Lu Si glared fiercely at the soldier.
The soldier shrank back, clutching the foam, and rushed inside.
Watching Lu Si’s furious-yet-embarrassed expression, Su Ci’s heart soared with delight.
This man’s words were harder than iron, but his heart softer than cotton.
She crouched in front of him, smiling brightly, staring into his eyes. “Commander Lu, so you really care about me? Even the ‘leftover material’ you picked the best for me?”
Lu Si snorted coldly, maneuvering the wheelchair to leave. “I’m afraid you’ll use back pain as an excuse to slack off later.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Commander Lu, so farsighted,” Su Ci said, standing up and pushing him inside in the sunset. “As repayment, tonight I’ll make you braised lion’s head meatballs!”
That night, Su Ci wrapped the foam in canvas and laid it on the bed. When she lay down, she let out a contented sigh.
Although it didn’t compare to a modern mattress, in this era, it was practically presidential-suite level luxury.
And Lu Si, hearing Su Ci’s happy humming from the next room, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth into the faintest smile.
She was a bit delicate.
But if a little effort could keep her quiet and happy, it was worth it.