The couple enjoyed their meal immensely. The other two passengers could only swallow their saliva as they watched. Ye Qinglan had no intention of sharing her food with strangers. In these times, food was even more valuable than money, especially when today’s meal included both meat and vegetables.
“Wife, supplies near the coast aren’t very plentiful. Should we buy some things?” Zhou Beihan asked quietly.
“Yes. We’ll definitely need to buy some things at first. After that, leave it to me,” Ye Qinglan whispered back.
Before long, Ye Qinglan had finished eating, while Zhou Beihan continued devouring the food until every dish was empty. The other two passengers were completely stunned.
“Comrade, you really have a huge appetite. You’re definitely a champion eater,” one of the young men exclaimed.
“He’s a soldier. Soldiers naturally eat a lot,” Ye Qinglan explained.
The two young men immediately looked at Zhou Beihan with admiration. Soldiers were highly respected these days, so they became much more polite.
When Zhou Beihan got up to wash the lunch boxes, the two young men followed him, saying they also wanted to fetch some hot water.
With the compartment temporarily empty, Ye Qinglan took out a wet wipe, cleaned her mouth, carefully wiped each finger, and then continued knitting the sweater.
She could only estimate the size. Zhou Beihan had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and an excellent physique. She had even measured him with her hands before. His firm chest muscles had felt especially nice to touch.
Stop. I can’t keep thinking like this.
I’ll be able to touch him all I want once we’re home. A woman should stay reserved. Men like that more.
Meanwhile, if Zhou Beihan could hear her thoughts, he would have disagreed completely.
Wife, you don’t need to be so reserved. Men actually like women who are passionate. It’s much more enjoyable when you’re uninhibited in bed.
That afternoon, a middle-aged couple entered the compartment opposite them.
At first glance, they looked like factory leaders. Both wore Zhongshan suits, carried fountain pens in their breast pockets, and their luggage was printed with the name of their factory.
No one spoke.
Zhou Beihan climbed onto the middle bunk and soon fell asleep.
The others gradually drifted off as well.
Only Ye Qinglan remained awake, quietly knitting.
Occasionally, vendors walked through the aisle shouting,
“Beer! Soft drinks! Mineral water! Peanuts! Melon seeds! Tea eggs!”
Hearing the familiar cries gave Ye Qinglan a strong sense of nostalgia.
The air inside the carriage was stuffy and unpleasant, though the open windows let in enough breeze to make it bearable.
Zhou Beihan, however, slept soundly.
He had truly been exhausted these past few days, handling nearly every detail of their wedding himself.
He didn’t wake up until evening.
By then, Ye Qinglan had already made considerable progress on the sweater.
Seeing it, Zhou Beihan couldn’t stop grinning.
“Wife, are you knitting that sweater for me?” he asked.
“Of course. I noticed your sweaters are already worn out, so I wanted to knit you two new ones. I’ll also make you two pairs of wool pants. The seaside should be very cold in winter. Don’t you wear long wool underwear?” Ye Qinglan asked curiously.
“I’m a man. I’m not afraid of the cold. I’ve never worn them before,” Zhou Beihan replied.
Most of the time, he wore military uniforms. He only owned two or three sets of regular clothes to change into.
“Anyone can feel cold. It doesn’t matter much while you’re young, but when you get older and develop chronic joint pain from the cold, you’ll regret it,” Ye Qinglan scolded.
Zhou Beihan rubbed his nose awkwardly.
His wife was only looking out for him.
Knowing someone cared about him warmed his heart.
He quickly prepared a cup of milk powder for her.
The middle-aged couple across from them left the compartment, apparently heading to the dining car for dinner.
The two young men asked them to keep an eye on their luggage before following the couple to eat.
Taking advantage of the empty compartment, Ye Qinglan took out several delicious dishes:
Spicy beef, Four Happiness meatballs, pickled fish stew, and steamed white rice.
The couple hurried through their meal.
After finishing, they cleaned everything thoroughly and even sprayed a little air freshener to reduce the smell of the food.
When the other four passengers returned, Ye Qinglan went to fetch hot water to wash up, with Zhou Beihan following closely behind to protect her.
“Wife, just sleep peacefully tonight. I’ll stay awake and keep watch,” Zhou Beihan said.
“It’s fine. We don’t have any valuables. You don’t need to stay awake. You should sleep too,” Ye Qinglan muttered softly.
Remembering his wife’s space, Zhou Beihan nodded.
Now that he had married her, he no longer had anything to worry about.
Fortunately, nothing else happened during the journey.
The six passengers never became particularly close, but they traveled peacefully together until they arrived in Jiang Province.
Surprisingly, they all got off at the same station.
After stepping off the train, Ye Qinglan looked at the station sign.
It read Lianyungang, formerly known as Xinhailian City.
“Facing Lian Island, backed by Yuntai Mountain.”
She hadn’t seen the train tickets beforehand and had assumed they were going to Yancheng or Nantong.
She hadn’t expected their destination to be Lianyungang.
The train station was old and shabby.
Following Zhou Beihan, she walked out onto the streets.
There were still no skyscrapers here.
The tallest buildings were only five or six stories high.
Most of them were the People’s Bank, the post office, the state-owned restaurant, the cinema, the department store, and the assembly hall.
There were also pharmaceutical factories, power plants, transformer factories, chemical plants, cotton textile mills, hemp mills, machine tool factories, and many others.
The streets also had oil mills, pharmacies, guesthouses, supply and marketing cooperatives, grocery stores, and grain stations.
“Wife, let’s eat first, then go to the department store. Later I’ll call the army and have someone drive over to pick us up,” Zhou Beihan said. He had already planned everything.
“Alright. I’m still unfamiliar with this place. I’ll explore more after I get used to it,” Ye Qinglan replied.
She had noticed a pharmacy and was already thinking about selling some ginseng in exchange for cash and ration coupons.
The couple first went to a state-owned restaurant.
Since they were on the coast, seafood was plentiful.
Ye Qinglan ordered squid and lobster.
Zhou Beihan added a stone grouper, a bowl of wonton soup, and steamed rice.
“Beihan, when I have time, I’ll go collecting seafood along the shore. I’ll bring it home and cook it myself. My seafood dishes are absolutely amazing,” Ye Qinglan said with a smile.
“Wife, don’t go out during winter or when it’s raining. Seafood is cheap enough to buy. There’s no need to go gathering it every day,” Zhou Beihan said worriedly.
“You don’t understand. Gathering seafood isn’t just about eating it. It’s fun. It’s an experience,” Ye Qinglan replied.
She had always loved watching videos of people gathering seafood on the shore.
In her previous life, she had been too busy to ever experience it herself.
Now she finally had the chance.
“Alright. As long as you’re happy.”
Zhou Beihan assumed she would only go a few times.
He had no idea that later on, she would even go gathering seafood at night.
After lunch, the couple went to the department store.
They bought pots, bowls, kitchen utensils, seasonings, biscuits, pastries, and fruit.
Afterward, they stopped by the grain station and bought fifty jin each of rice and flour.
They didn’t buy anything else because Ye Qinglan already had everything they needed inside her space.
While Zhou Beihan went to the post office to make a phone call, Ye Qinglan bought another ten jin of freshly pressed rapeseed oil, which smelled wonderfully fragrant.
Finally, she also purchased dried seaweed, kelp, dried shrimp, and other dried foods.
About half an hour later, a military jeep pulled up by the roadside.
The driver got out and saluted them.
“Captain Zhou, Sister-in-law, hello. My name is Wang Bing. I’m Commander Lin’s orderly. I’ve come to take you back to the military base.”
After speaking, he opened the trunk and began loading their belongings.
“Wife, get in first and sit in the back,” Zhou Beihan said as he opened the car door.
Ye Qinglan smiled and climbed into the jeep.
After walking around all day, she was truly exhausted and was finally able to sit down and rest.
The drive from the city to the military base took about half an hour.
Normally, family members could ride the military supply trucks, which came into the city every day to purchase vegetables.
There was also a public bus stop outside the military base, although the fare was expensive, so few people used it.
Next to the base was a small village.
The countryside held a market once every month, and many military families went there to buy fresh produce.