Lu Zhengchuan had just put down her luggage. He was about to grab a broom to tidy up and send Xiao Li on his way when he heard her. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her, his gaze stern and imposing.
Far from being intimidated, Su Wan met his gaze and continued with her demands. "I want to eat steamed egg custard. And it’d be best to have one meat dish and one vegetable dish. No steamed buns, I want white rice."
Lu Zhengchuan was clearly taken aback. He frowned instinctively. "The mess hall might not have steamed egg custard."
"It’s such a small request, and you can’t even say yes?"
Su Wan promptly lay down on the bed with her back to him, making it clear she was sulking.
Lu Zhengchuan stared at her back. Remembering she was still angry with him, he pressed his lips together and, in the end, turned to leave.
"Alright."
When she heard his footsteps fading away, Su Wan rolled over. She watched his back as he left, touching her chin in surprise.
’He didn’t lose his temper?’ Unable to figure it out, Su Wan simply stopped thinking about it and closed her eyes to rest.
She wasn’t sure how long she had slept. When she woke, she heard the sound of people talking outside the house.
Su Wan rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to spend money on a watch, and there wasn’t a clock on the wall in the bedroom of their house in the family quarters. She had no idea what time it was.
Stepping out of the bedroom, Su Wan immediately saw two women stopped in front of her house with a bicycle.
Su Wan walked straight over. After watching for a moment, she got the gist of the situation. "Did your bike chain break?"
"And you are?" The two women nodded while looking at Su Wan.
Suddenly, the woman in the blue work uniform recognized her, her eyes widening. "You’re Battalion Commander Lu’s wife, Su Wan?"
"That’s right." Judging by their clothes, Su Wan guessed they must be other wives from the family quarters.
"I’m Wang Mei, Battalion Commander Zhao’s wife, and this is Zhang Ru, Master Ji’s wife." Wang Mei said, sizing Su Wan up with a curious gaze as she made the introductions.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you both." Su Wan took the initiative to greet them with a nod.
Zhang Ru gave a dignified smile. "Wanwan, you’ve just arrived at the base. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, feel free to ask me. Your Sister-in-law Wang here is very resourceful too."
’The commander’s wife is so considerate. It seems the discipline on base is actually quite good. In my dream, they didn’t do anything to help me, but that was probably because everything in the village happened so quickly the military didn’t have time to intervene.’
’It’s a shame the dream ended abruptly after I died. I have no idea how the military ultimately reacted to my death.’
"Thank you for your concern. I will."
"Do you two need a hand with that?" Su Wan was keen on building a good relationship with them.
"Wanwan, you know how to fix a broken chain with a chain tool?" Zhang Ru looked completely surprised.
"Yes, I do."
Su Wan crouched down and took the chain tool from Zhang Ru. The bike chain in front of her had simply snapped without being badly bent. She aligned the two ends, threaded the chain pin through the aligned holes, and then used the chain tool to drive the pin securely into place.
"Sister-in-law Zhang, this is just a temporary fix for an emergency. It’ll last longer if you replace this link and pin, so don’t forget to get it changed."
Once she finished the repair, Su Wan stood up.
"Wow, Wanwan, you’re incredible! It’s really fixed!" Wang Mei exclaimed, pleasantly surprised as she pushed the repaired bicycle forward.
Seeing that Su Wan’s hands were covered in black grease, Zhang Ru quickly pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it into her hand.
"Here, Wanwan, wipe your hands. Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, Sister-in-law Wang and I would have been late to pick up our children."
Su Wan accepted it with natural grace.
"It’s no trouble at all. Just a small thing," Su Wan said, waving her hand dismissively.
"Well, we’ll be off to get the kids then. Let’s get together again when we have some free time." After bidding her a warm farewell, Zhang Ru got on the bike and rode away with Wang Mei on the back.
Sitting on the back of the bike, Wang Mei couldn’t resist turning back for another look at Su Wan heading into her house.
"Sister-in-law Zhang, that Su Wan isn’t anything like the rumors, is she? Weren’t people saying she was spoiled and foolish?" Wang Mei couldn’t help but gossip. "She even knows how to fix a bicycle!"
Zhang Ru smiled. "That’s why I always say you can’t trust gossip."
"I really thought she’d be some spoiled, ill-mannered, and willful girl from the countryside." Wang Mei recalled Su Wan’s appearance and demeanor, then shook her head. "She doesn’t seem like that at all. In fact, I’d say she seems like an educated woman."
"So, have you finally changed your opinion of her?"
Wang Mei said, "I have to go tell the other women in the compound. I can’t be the only one this shocked."
Meanwhile, Su Wan had already put the encounter with the two women out of her mind. In the kitchen, she found steamed egg custard warming in a pot, a bowl of rice, and an aluminum lunch box containing stir-fried green beans with pork and another of stir-fried cucumber.
She was starving, so she dug in and quickly ate her fill.
Just as Su Wan finished her meal, Xiao Li arrived.
He was carrying two thermoses in his hands.
"Ma’am, you’re awake? This is hot water. The Battalion Commander went to report to Master Ji about his mission and won’t be back for a little while. If you need anything, just let me know."
Su Wan thanked him and took out some peanut brittle.
"Here, Xiao Li, have some. I made it myself. It’s a little something sweet."
Xiao Li felt too awkward to accept and tried to refuse.
Su Wan said, "Since I just got here, I don’t know where to buy groceries. I need to host Battalion Commander Wang and his family for dinner tonight, and I was wondering if you could help me buy some meat, vegetables, and rice."
"Ma’am, that’s no problem at all! I’ll go right now. What do you need me to buy?" Xiao Li eagerly patted his chest, accepting the task.
Su Wan pulled her wallet from her pocket. "For now, just get some seasonal vegetables, two pounds of pork belly, and ten pounds of rice."
"Here’s money and ration coupons. Take some extra, just in case it’s not enough." She handed him a ten-yuan note and several coupons.
Xiao Li looked at the coupons in surprise. "Ma’am, why are you using national grain coupons instead of military ones?"
"This is what Lu Zhengchuan sent back home. I brought along all the ones I hadn’t used." Su Wan couldn’t use all the coupons herself, so she would usually go to the black market to exchange any that were close to expiring for cash.
’Even though Lu Zhengchuan’s heart belongs to someone else, he certainly gives me a lot of money and coupons. It lets me live a much better life than I could on my own.’
"That’s odd," Xiao Li said casually. "The Battalion Commander never exchanges his military grain coupons for national ones. He even explained why once. He said that since your home county has a military grain supply depot, it’s more convenient for you to get grain there. There’s no need to switch to national coupons. Sometimes you can’t even buy things at the co-op with national coupons, but the military ones are much more useful."
Hearing this, Su Wan couldn’t help but glance down at the national grain coupons in her hand. She was positive they were the ones Lu Zhengchuan had sent her.
’Why would Lu Zhengchuan exchange the more valuable military coupons for national ones?’
’Was it so he could give them to Zheng Zhizhi in secret?’
’If I remember correctly, Zheng Zhizhi has been living much better these last few months. It seems she can even afford to drink malted milk now.’
Su Wan asked, "Does Lu Zhengchuan always mail his letters home from the base?"
’Mailing letters from off-base would mean they aren’t inspected. It would be an easy way for him to contact Zheng Zhizhi.’
"Not always. The Battalion Commander is away on long-term missions a lot. For convenience, he probably just mails them from the post office in the nearest town," Xiao Li said, scratching his head. He seemed confused about why she was asking such a mundane question.
’So it seems he really might be secretly contacting Zheng Zhizhi.’
"I was just curious. I thought maybe he needed to buy something off-base that required national coupons, so he exchanged them for convenience," Su Wan said, offering an excuse for Lu Zhengchuan.
Xiao Li bought it. He added, as if looking for praise on his commander’s behalf, "Ma’am, the Battalion Commander even bought a ladies’ watch at the county co-op last time. How come I’ve never seen you wear it?"