“Jiaojiao, make yourself at home here. After all, sooner or later you’ll be part of our Lu family. No one will gossip just because you’re staying here. Stay here and keep Auntie company. Once the marriage report is approved, we’ll immediately arrange for you and Yunshan to get married.”
Shen Jiaojiao looked shyly at Lu Yunshan and replied in a soft, deliberately sweet voice, “I’ll do whatever you and Uncle say.”
Hearing this, Madam Lu’s smile widened even more. “That’s a good girl.”
Meanwhile, at Sister-in-law Wang’s home, Shen Qingqing had also settled in.
Sister-in-law Wang was cheerful and warm-hearted, and in no time at all, she and Shen Qingqing were already getting along like old friends.
After they finished eating, Sister-in-law Wang pulled Shen Qingqing down to sit with her. Almost everyone living in this compound was a military family. And wherever there were people, there would inevitably be gossip—especially in a family compound where women made up the majority.
Naturally, dealing with people was unavoidable, but not everyone was as easygoing as Sister-in-law Wang.
“Xiao Shen, I heard you’re from Yuncheng. Yuncheng is a good place. Things are a little difficult here, but it’s not as bad as you might imagine. Most importantly, we can live together with our husbands and have someone to look after us. That’s much better than getting married and staying back home alone, only seeing your husband a few times a year. Don’t you think?”
As she spoke, Sister-in-law Wang secretly watched Shen Qingqing’s reaction.
Haicheng was far from Yuncheng, and the climate was completely different. She wondered whether this new young wife would be able to endure it.
After all, once they had stayed here for a while, quite a few new wives found the conditions too difficult to bear. Some would start shouting about wanting to go home after only a few days.
She was worried about Xiao Shen in particular. The girl’s skin looked delicate, and she was rather slender. Life here was nowhere near as convenient as it was in the cities. Thunderstorms were frequent, and daily life was inconvenient. Once they came to the island, they couldn’t simply leave whenever they wanted.
Still, she sincerely hoped Xiao Shen would stay.
Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou was a good man, and he was already twenty-five this year, well past the age when most men would get married. So Sister-in-law Wang practically wanted to tell Shen Qingqing everything she knew, hoping she would settle down here.
“I heard from Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou that you haven’t finished buying all the furniture yet, right? That’s perfect. I happen to know someone who does some carpentry work. If you need anything, I’ll take you over to ask him later. If we can get the furniture ordered early, we’d better do it early. Carpentry isn’t something that can be finished in just a few days.”
Shen Qingqing had been worrying about exactly that.
There weren’t many places on the island where one could buy furniture, so hearing Sister-in-law Wang say this was like someone putting a pillow under her head just when she was sleepy.
She was genuinely grateful and quickly agreed.
Seeing that she had agreed, Sister-in-law Wang continued chattering away, telling her about the places on the island where they could buy things.
Grain, vegetables, cooking oil, and other staples could be purchased with money and ration coupons from the supply office in the logistics department. But supplies were limited while demand was high, so there was no guarantee they’d get what they wanted every time.
As for other daily necessities, they could also be exchanged with industrial coupons.
Shen Qingqing already knew all of this, but having someone explain everything to her so carefully still made her feel touched.
After covering the most important aspects of food, clothing, housing, and transportation, Sister-in-law Wang asked in a somewhat worried tone, “Xiao Shen, you probably don’t know this yet, but us women who follow our husbands here have to work too. Some of the logistical duties are assigned to us. After all, women hold up half the sky. The men go out on missions to protect the country, so we can’t just sit around doing nothing, right?
“It’s just that the work isn’t exactly easy. I’m worried you might not be able to handle it. But we do get paid for working, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
Afraid that Shen Qingqing might change her mind and want to leave, Sister-in-law Wang quickly added, “That’s one good thing about being here. Two people earning wages is always better than one. Don’t you think? If you were outside, how many people would fight tooth and nail for a job like this? Things are a little hard here, but if you work well, you can still earn twenty or thirty yuan a month.”
Shen Qingqing naturally knew all of this, but she cooperatively nodded. “I understand, Sister-in-law. Don’t worry, I’m not afraid of hard work.”
Zhou Yuanzheng and Lu Yunshan’s marriage reports were submitted at the same time.
However, because of the special nature of the military—especially since one of them was a deputy regiment commander and the other a deputy battalion commander—the organization would send people to carefully investigate and verify their identities before approving the reports.
As a result, Shen Qingqing and Shen Jiaojiao would still have to wait a while before their marriages could officially take place.
Shen Qingqing got along very well with Sister-in-law Wang.
Sister-in-law Wang was cheerful and warm-hearted, and she was more than happy to have someone around her own age to keep her company. Shen Qingqing was gentle, modest, and hardworking, so Sister-in-law Wang naturally liked her.
She, too, had traveled thousands of miles to follow her husband to the island and didn’t know many people there. Now that she and Shen Qingqing were neighbors, she couldn’t wait for Shen Qingqing to get married so that the two of them could keep each other company.
After all, the men’s missions had no fixed schedule. They might be gone for half a month at the shortest, or several months at the longest. Being sent out on a mission without even having time to send a message was completely normal.
Staying home alone inevitably made a person feel lonely.
Two young unmarried women had recently arrived at the island’s military base. Apparently, they were going to marry Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou and Deputy Battalion Commander Lu, respectively.
This attracted quite a bit of attention.
After all, men like Zhou Yuanzheng and Lu Yunshan—young, capable, and good-looking—were highly sought after.
In those days, military men were extremely popular. If the two of them hadn’t already been engaged, the matchmakers would probably have worn a path to their doors long ago.
So once people heard that their fiancées had arrived on the island, many were eager to see what kind of women had managed to marry these two men.
At the well where people fetched water, groups of women gathered in twos and threes.
Although there were water rooms in the family compound, the island’s unpredictable climate and incomplete facilities meant there wasn’t always water every day. More often than not, the women had to go to the well to fetch it.
As a result, the well had also become a center for sharing information.
If anything happened in someone’s household, it wouldn’t take more than a day for the news to spread across the entire island.
The women gathered together, cracking sunflower seeds as they gossiped.
“Have you heard? The fiancées of Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou and Deputy Battalion Commander Lu are actually sisters. I wonder whose daughters they are. They’re so lucky to be marrying such good men.”
“Who says they aren’t? A few years ago, I even wanted to introduce my younger sister from my mother’s side to those two men. Who knew they were already engaged? What a shame.”
Another woman chimed in, “Exactly. Even my husband said the same thing.”
“Last time my younger sister came here from our hometown, she somehow ran into Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou. When she came back, she kept asking us about him. I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we could become relatives with Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou? He’s handsome and capable, and marrying him would mean becoming the regiment commander’s wife someday. Unfortunately, he rejected her outright without even meeting her. Sigh…”
The women around her immediately showed looks of disdain.
Who didn’t know that those two men were excellent choices for husbands?
But you still had to know whether you were good enough for them.
Her younger sister was big and burly, hadn’t even gone to school, and yet she’d had the nerve to try to arrange a marriage with Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou and Deputy Battalion Commander Lu.
Still, it really was a pity.
Who wouldn’t want to introduce their younger sister to those two men? Their salaries were high, they never had to worry about going hungry, and their family circumstances were good.
“I wonder what kind of good fortune those two sisters had. They actually managed to marry the two of them,” someone said sourly.
“Ah, I suppose anyone who can marry them probably isn’t too bad themselves,” another woman sighed.
What a pity she hadn’t been lucky enough to have such an opportunity. If she could become related to either of those two men by marriage, perhaps her own husband’s career would have a little more security too.
“That might not be true,” someone suddenly interrupted.
“What do you mean?”
The women immediately became interested.
“What do you mean, ‘that might not be true’? Sister-in-law Chen, do you know something?”
Sister-in-law Chen mischievously narrowed her eyes, then casually grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the woman beside her before leisurely saying, “I’m telling you, I’ve already seen Deputy Battalion Commander Lu’s fiancée…”
As she spoke, she curled her lips disdainfully.
“She’s nothing special. Nothing worth getting excited about.”
Sister-in-law Chen’s movements had been so natural that the woman whose sunflower seeds she’d grabbed darkened in the face.
But knowing that Sister-in-law Chen was the best-informed person on the island, and wanting to hear what had happened, she didn’t bother arguing and hurriedly asked, “How is she? Is she pretty?”
“Pretty, yes, but…”
She lowered her voice slightly.
“Her conduct isn’t proper.”
“What?”
Someone exclaimed in shock.
Sister-in-law Chen jumped and glared fiercely at her.
“What are you shouting for? Do you want the whole island to hear us?”
Everyone seemed to have learned some earth-shattering news and couldn’t care less about anything else. They hurriedly asked, “What do you mean by ‘her conduct isn’t proper’?”
“Their marriage reports were only submitted recently, and they haven’t even been approved yet. You all know that, right?
“But I heard that Lu Yunshan’s fiancée moved into the Lu family’s home even before they were married. Tsk, tsk. She’s really shameless. What kind of unmarried girl throws herself at a man like that?”
“What? They moved in together before getting married? Do they sleep in the same room, or do they sleep separately?”
Sister-in-law Chen gave an ambiguous, malicious smile.
“How would outsiders know that? But just think about it—Deputy Battalion Commander Lu is already twenty-five…”