Meng Yao only looked toward the jeep after hearing that name.
She had heard of it before.
He was the son of Doctor Xu, someone she deeply admired. Back in Beijing, she had heard many stories about him. In short, he was an exceptionally outstanding person. After hearing so much about him, it was only natural for her to become curious.
However, from her angle, she couldn’t clearly see inside the vehicle.
Then the door opened.
A tall, straight-backed man stepped out, dressed neatly in a military uniform that made him look especially imposing.
He strode over, his gaze briefly sweeping across her face before he bent down and picked up one of her bags.
Perhaps because his presence was too intimidating, Meng Yao instinctively felt nervous.
She didn’t even get a good look at his face.
“Don’t be afraid. He’s always like this. Once you get to know him better, you’ll understand. He only looks cold, but he’s actually a very good person.”
Ding Shuhui noticed the young woman’s nervousness and patted her arm reassuringly.
At the same time, she shot Ji Yanchuan a glare.
Even now, she still had to put in a good word for him.
Pretending not to notice, Ji Yanchuan loaded the luggage into the jeep.
Ding Shuhui didn’t expect him to say anything anyway.
She took Meng Yao by the arm and helped her into the vehicle.
During the drive to the military base, it was mostly Ding Shuhui doing the talking.
Once they arrived, Ji Yanchuan remained as taciturn as ever. He parked the jeep, pulled out the key, and immediately left.
He had originally been scheduled for training that day.
Political Commissar Song had assigned him this errand, and now that it was finished, he needed to return to training.
Watching him walk away without another word, Ding Shuhui nearly rolled her eyes.
The situation was already this obvious.
Was the man blind?
Fortunately, the young woman had no idea what Doctor Xu was thinking.
Otherwise, how embarrassing would that have been?
“Come on. I’ll take you to your dormitory first and help you get settled. After that, I’ll show you around.”
Meng Yao didn’t think much of it.
Smiling, she replied,
“Okay. Thank you, Sister-in-law.”
Although they hadn’t known each other long, Ding Shuhui already had a favorable impression of her.
Naturally, she took Meng Yao around to familiarize her with the surroundings.
Meanwhile, Ji Yanchuan returned to the training grounds.
He had only been away a short time.
Just as he arrived, he saw Qin Zhihang sparring with some of the new recruits.
After watching for a while, his hands started itching.
Unable to resist, he joined in.
The outcome was predictable.
Throughout the entire morning training session, Ji Yanchuan single-handedly defeated more than a dozen men.
In the end, Qin Zhihang and Yang Chunjiang had to work together, attacking from both front and back, before they finally managed to pin him down.
“Alright, alright. Leave some dignity for everyone else. If you keep training like this, you’re going to scare all the recruits away.”
Ji Yanchuan stopped while he was ahead.
At noon, the three men ate lunch together in the mess hall.
Afterward came a brief lunch break.
Taking the opportunity, Yang Chunjiang extended an invitation.
“This Sunday is our day off. You two come over to my house for a meal. My wife specifically told me neither of you is allowed to be absent. No need to bring anything—just show up.”
Qin Zhihang loved this kind of gathering.
“Sounds good. Count me in.”
The two of them then looked toward Ji Yanchuan.
Meeting their expectant stares, Ji Yanchuan couldn’t help laughing.
“It’s not like I said I wasn’t going.”
Meanwhile, Shen Yueliang had already arrived in the county town.
A county town in a remote area in 1975 wasn’t exactly prosperous.
Even the people walking along the streets dressed very plainly.
There were more bicycles than in the countryside, but not enough to be considered common.
Most people were still walking, just like her.
As for clothing, the colors remained largely the same: army green, gray, blue, black, and white.
Compared to a few years earlier, restrictions had loosened somewhat.
Occasionally, she could spot young women wearing brighter colors.
The trend of dacron clothing had even reached this remote little county town.
None of that really mattered to her, though.
When she made clothes for others, she only earned labor fees.
People brought their own fabric and paid her for the tailoring.
After taking a quick look around, she still hadn’t found the legendary black market.
The original owner had been an especially law-abiding person and had never considered such things.
Shen Yueliang wasn’t in a hurry.
Her first stop was the supply and marketing cooperative.
Inside, a row of counters mercilessly separated customers from the merchandise.
The sales clerks all held genuine iron-rice-bowl jobs.
If a family had a daughter working at the cooperative, matchmakers would practically wear down their doorstep.
Since she had quite a few things to buy, Shen Yueliang didn’t push her way forward.
When it was finally her turn, she rattled off her list in one breath.
“One box of colored pencils, some paper, two meters of velvet cloth, five rolls of gold thread, a package of matches, two tins of clam-shell oil, and a tin of malted milk.”
Since making a trip here wasn’t easy, she figured she might as well buy everything at once.
The round-faced sales clerk didn’t even look at her.
She simply began retrieving items from the shelves one by one.
When the woman had a moment free, Shen Yueliang asked,
“Comrade, may I ask something? If I wanted to buy a bicycle, roughly how much would one cost?”
The clerk had just placed the colored pencils on the counter.
Hearing the question, she raised her eyes and looked Shen Yueliang over.
“If you can’t afford one, don’t ask.”
Shen Yueliang: “…”
Now she had truly experienced it.
The power of an iron-rice-bowl job in this era was no joke.
If she had any backbone, she should turn around and leave right now.
Well…
She really wasn’t that stubborn.
There genuinely wasn’t another place to buy these things.
Although there was a cooperative in town, it was much smaller and didn’t stock such a complete selection.
Items like velvet cloth and gold thread simply couldn’t be found in the rural stores.
Having hit a wall, she wasn’t exactly angry.
She just couldn’t be bothered talking anymore.
She watched as the clerk placed each item onto the counter.
The velvet cloth came last.
It was stored on a high shelf.
The sales clerk reached up for it.
Suddenly—
Riiip!
Oh boy.
Shen Yueliang knew that sound.
Someone’s clothes had torn.
Sure enough, the clerk stared at the half-finger-length tear in her sleeve.
Looking at the damage, her lips trembled with anger.
“There’s a nail sticking out of the shelf! Didn’t any of you see it?”
“We honestly didn’t know. If we had, wouldn’t we have said something?”
another sales clerk replied.
“What am I supposed to do? My aunt introduced me to someone. She told me to meet him right after work. I specifically wore this outfit for today.”
The round-faced clerk was on the verge of tears.
The key point was that her blind date was a doctor.
She was extremely satisfied with his qualifications and didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
Shen Yueliang examined the tear.
The damage wasn’t serious.
She was confident she could repair it.
But then she remembered the woman’s attitude earlier…
The round-faced clerk was nearly crying from anxiety.
Her coworkers also tried offering suggestions.
“The tear isn’t too bad. It should be fixable. But none of us know how to mend clothes. If we ruin it, that’ll be even worse.”
The blouse was a plain, nearly white color.
If the repair wasn’t done well, the stitching would be even more obvious.
“Then what do I do?”
The round-faced clerk burst into tears.
She looked ready to quit working altogether.
Seeing her own purchases piled on the counter, Shen Yueliang couldn’t help thinking again that this woman’s professional skills were truly lacking.
“Ring up my items first. I’m a tailor. I can make clothes, and I can fix that sleeve too.”
“You?”
The woman stared at her through tear-filled eyes.
“You’re definitely pretty enough, but you don’t look like someone who can sew.”
Shen Yueliang desperately wanted to say:
What does being pretty have to do with sewing?
“If you don’t believe me, then ring up my purchases and go find someone else.”
If she hadn’t heard the woman mention the blind date, she wouldn’t have spoken up in the first place.
She simply felt that since the woman was so nervous about the meeting, she must be very satisfied with the prospective match.
Helping her out could be considered a good deed.
If the woman didn’t appreciate it, then forget it.
The round-faced clerk looked at her, then at the torn sleeve clenched in her hand.
Her brows twisted into a knot.
“Well, it’s already torn anyway. I’ll let you try. If you fix it, I’ll sell you a bicycle.”
Shen Yueliang glanced at her.
“I don’t have a bicycle coupon.”
The woman froze.
Her expression practically said:
Then why were you asking about bicycles?
For a moment, Shen Yueliang thought she might be seeing things.
The girl’s blank expression was actually kind of cute.
No.
That had to be an illusion.
“Forget the bicycle. I’ll buy one when I get a coupon. If I repair your clothes, just introduce customers to me when they need clothes made.”