After a night on the train, Lian Qiao looked utterly exhausted, more like a refugee than someone coming to visit family.
She stood at the bus stop, asked several people for directions, and transferred buses a few times before finally arriving at the entrance of the military compound.
The sentry on duty first checked Lian Qiao’s ID card and border pass before speaking.
“There’s a guardhouse at the intersection ahead. Go there and call someone to come pick you up.”
“Thank you.”
Lian Qiao had never been to a military compound before and hadn’t expected it to be so complicated.
She walked to the guardhouse at the intersection, dialed the number, and waited quietly.
Soon, a soldier hurried over under the blazing sun.
He was around twenty-five or twenty-six, not very tall, with a dark complexion and a smile that revealed two rows of gleaming white teeth.
“Why didn’t you call earlier so we could pick you up? Your sister just finished her postpartum confinement and has been waiting for you at home. Last time you called and said you weren’t coming, she kept talking about you.”
Lian Qiao gave a shy smile. “I thought about it and couldn’t bear to be away from my sister, so I rushed over.”
With her luggage now in Li Guozheng’s hands, Lian Qiao had the leisure to look around.
The path beneath her feet was made of gravel, flanked by rows of red-brick bungalows. Clotheslines hung in front of the doors, dripping with wet laundry.
The sounds of training drifted over from behind the low walls, suggesting the barracks were on the other side.
After walking for a while, Li Guozheng stopped in front of a house and led her inside.
The house wasn’t large. The entrance led directly into a small kitchen, and beyond another door was the main room.
Her cousin was lying sideways on the bed, nursing her baby. When she turned and saw Lian Qiao’s face, she broke into a smile.
“You silly girl! You didn’t even call ahead.”
Li Guozheng placed the luggage on the table and said with a smile, “I’ll go to the cafeteria and get a few more dishes.”
With that, he turned and left like a gust of wind.
It felt like a lifetime had passed since Lian Qiao last saw her cousin, and she choked up a little.
Her cousin was still young, with smooth, long hair, and the marks of time had yet to leave their traces on her face.
“Sis.”
Yang Chunmei’s eyes also reddened at her call. Having just finished her postpartum confinement, she radiated maternal love and felt deeply for her unfortunate cousin.
She wanted Lian Qiao to leave that home. With a mother, there was a home; with a stepmother, there was a stepfather—what kind of good life could a child left behind expect?
But Lian Qiao was stubborn and refused to move. She had even heard that Lian Qiao was about to get married, so why had she suddenly come running over?
“Qiao’er, my mom said you were getting married. How come…”
Lian Qiao pinched the cheek of the tender baby, whose mouth was still stained with milk, and explained nonchalantly.
“It’s nothing. It fell through. I just got the divorce certificate and came straight to you.”
“What?” Yang Chunmei was stunned by the news, her eyes wide. “What exactly happened?”
Lian Qiao didn’t hide anything. She recounted the whole story of catching her husband cheating, and of course, she also mentioned how she had ruined Zhao Hongbin’s job and sold off the newlywed’s belongings. But Yang Chunmei still gritted her teeth in anger.
“That scoundrel! And your father is no good either!”
There was nothing but resentment toward Lian Hai in the family. Not even a week after her aunt’s passing, her uncle had brought a new woman into the house.
What kind of person would do such a thing?
Originally, the maternal family had urged Lian Qiao to leave, but she refused. Everyone knew she just wanted him to support her—it was his responsibility.
That responsibility shouldn’t have fallen on the shoulders of her late mother’s family.
Yang Chunmei patted Lian Qiao’s hand. “Then don’t go back. Stay here with me and settle in.”
Lian Qiao nestled against her cousin, who smelled of milk, with a smile. “Sis, I’m just going to cling to you.”
She truly wanted to rely on this sister. Since childhood, this sister had always brought her whatever good things she had. It was only because Yang Chunmei had married far away and they lived apart that they gradually grew distant.
In this lifetime, the only people she wanted to repay were her cousin and her family.
In her previous life, lying on her sickbed, barely alive, her cousin had come crying to see her. She would always remember her sister’s tears falling on her hand, burning with a heart-wrenching pain.
The two chatted, losing track of time, until Li Guozheng entered the room carrying a lunchbox.
“You two eat. I still have things to do. I’ll stay at the dormitory tonight, so you sisters can have a good chat.”
Before Lian Qiao could refuse, he was gone again like a gust of wind.
“Brother-in-law runs really fast…”
“Ah, he’s just a man of few words, but he’s honest and reliable.”
Lian Qiao could see that this man treated her cousin well.
Marrying someone like him and living such a life was peaceful and happy.
But the practical difficulty was that her cousin’s home was really small.
When the table against the wall was unfolded, the tiny main room was completely filled.
On the table were several steamed buns, a box of white rice, pork stewed with vermicelli, beef with potatoes, fried ribbonfish, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
It looked like a hearty meal.
But Yang Chunmei had little appetite. She was tired of the canteen food, but being in her postpartum month, with her mother-in-law having passed away early and Li Guozheng too busy to be seen all day, she could only make do like this.
Usually, they didn’t dare to eat such lavish meals with meat and fish. Li Guozheng would only order one meat dish for her to eat, while he stuck to vegetarian dishes.
With her mind preoccupied, Lian Qiao ate hastily and then cleaned up.
“Leave it. Wait for your brother-in-law to come back and take care of it. You’ve been on the train all night—go get some sleep right away.”
Yang Chunmei moved the baby further inside, making room on one side of the bed.
Lian Qiao was truly exhausted. Although having her brother-in-law sleep in the dormitory all the time wasn’t a long-term solution, for now, she could only make do and figure things out later.
She was eventually woken from her sleep by the baby’s cries.
Yang Chunmei lifted her clothes to breastfeed the wailing, hungry baby. Only a candle was lit in the room.
Lian Qiao suddenly realized how long she had slept.
“Sis, why didn’t you wake me? Have you eaten? I’ll go heat up the food.”
“It’s warming on the stove. I’ve eaten. Your brother-in-law came back and heated it for me. Eat your fill and then go back to sleep.”
Lian Qiao opened her luggage bag nearby and pulled out several packets of milk powder.
“Worried you might not have enough milk, I just bought some milk powder. I heard it’s very filling, so you can get a full night’s sleep.”
She had bought these at a high price from the auntie at the small shop. Together with the baby bottle, it had cost about thirty yuan—equivalent to an ordinary person’s monthly salary.
Yang Chunmei felt a pang at the expense. “You silly girl, spending so much money. Let me give you the money.”
As she spoke, she started to get up to fetch the money but was gently pushed back by Lian Qiao.
“Sis, with me here, brother-in-law can only stay in the dormitory. I’m causing you so much trouble. I’m already grateful you haven’t kicked me out.”
“Nonsense! You can stay for a lifetime if you want.”
This was sincere, but considering reality, Yang Chunmei knew it wasn’t a long-term solution, so she cautiously asked,
“How about I introduce you to someone? That way, you can also marry into this compound, and we can stay together for life. Life in this compound is stable and secure—much better than elsewhere.”
The divorce is finalized, and it doesn’t stop her from marrying again. Three-legged frogs might be hard to find, but two-legged men—there are plenty of them in the compound.
Back then, inviting her to visit was meant to set her up with someone. Although the process was a bit bumpy, Lian Qiao still came.
But now that Lian Qiao is divorced, her good looks don’t count for much anymore. She can’t pick and choose as freely as before.
Lian Qiao really wanted to tell her that in a few years, with inflation, even though military salaries would rise, their purchasing power would decline. This kind of stability would be precarious in the tide of the times.
“Get married?”
Her cousin’s words jolted her awake.
Yang Chunmei thought she was still grieving and tried to console her.
“Are you still thinking about him? A man like that isn’t worth it.”
Lian Qiao knew her cousin had misunderstood. “Sis, find me a match! The sooner, the better!”