Shen Yueliang’s gaze paused slightly before she looked away.
Judging from his attitude that day, she figured this officer probably wasn’t particularly eager to see her either.
Then she would just pretend not to know him. As for the other man, she genuinely didn’t know him, so her attention settled on Yang Chunjiang. More specifically, on the fish hanging from Yang Chunjiang’s hands.
She had been in this world for some time now. She had eaten meat and chicken.
But she hadn’t eaten fish.
There were fish in the river, but while they could be caught, her family consisted of three women. He Erhong did nothing, Lin Qinfen was always busy, and although Shen Yueliang knew many things, catching fish definitely wasn’t one of them.
So now, seeing those two large, plump silver carp—
Several dishes instantly flashed through her mind: chopped chili fish head, pickled cabbage fish, fish head tofu soup…
Oh no.
The more she thought about it, the hungrier she became.
“Little Sister Shen is here too?” Yang Chunjiang carried the fish over to show off to his wife first. Then his eyes shifted and landed on Shen Yueliang, and he greeted her with a smile.
His voice snapped Shen Yueliang out of her daze.
She had been staring at the fish the whole time. Now that she had been addressed directly, she naturally looked at Yang Chunjiang.
“Company Commander Yang.”
Yang Chunjiang nodded and carried the fish over to Su Qiuyun.
No one found this strange.
Yang Chunjiang wasn’t particularly handsome and was older than the others. Women with good conditions thought he was too rough around the edges, while those with poorer conditions weren’t to his liking.
Eventually, he had resigned himself to an arranged marriage with a girl from his hometown.
Then someone introduced Su Qiuyun to him.
He had fallen for her at first sight and originally thought there was no chance of bringing her home as his wife.
Who would have thought Su Qiuyun would actually agree?
A rough man like him had married a gentle, water-like wife, so naturally he doted on her in every way possible.
Su Qiuyun didn’t immediately take the fish. Instead, she introduced the others to Shen Yueliang.
“You’ve met Battalion Commander Ji before. The one beside him is Qin Zhihang.”
Shen Yueliang used the same method as always.
“Hello, comrades.”
Qin Zhihang’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled.
“Hello, hello. Welcome. Come visit often in the future.”
Shen Yueliang smiled back.
She could tell that Yang Chunjiang, Ji Yanchuan, and Qin Zhihang were very close friends.
But their personalities were completely different.
“Alright, alright. Now that everyone knows each other, that’s enough. We’ve nearly finished preparing the dishes. You men go clean the fish. Leave this kind of work to the men instead of us women!”
As a woman herself, Ding Shuhui was perfectly happy to cook.
But killing fish?
She wanted no part of it.
With men around, they should naturally handle bloody jobs like that. Otherwise, what was the point of dividing men and women?
Shen Yueliang felt an itch of anticipation.
Not because she wanted to kill fish.
Because she was craving it.
“Sister-in-law, how are you planning to cook the fish?”
Ding Shuhui exchanged a glance with Su Qiuyun.
“Fish head soup. Then we’ll cut the fish meat into chunks and braise it.”
After thinking for a moment, Shen Yueliang asked,
“May I ask something? Can everyone here eat spicy food?”
Everyone looked at one another and nodded.
Only Ji Yanchuan remained silent.
However, Qin Zhihang answered on his behalf.
“He can’t handle spicy food.”
That didn’t surprise Shen Yueliang.
Su Qiuyun had mentioned before that this officer came from Beijing. People there generally preferred milder flavors.
Still, it didn’t really matter.
“There are two fish. How about this? Cook one the way you planned, and let me try something with the other one?”
Such large, fat fish weren’t easy to catch.
To be honest, she loved spicy food.
Before seeing the fish, she had been fine.
Now that she had seen them, her head was filled with chopped chili fish head and pickled cabbage fish.
She was practically drooling.
“Of course! Go ahead and make whatever you want. We’ll all have a taste.”
While they were talking, Yang Chunjiang had already carried the fish toward the kitchen.
Shen Yueliang quickly called out,
“Company Commander Yang, after cleaning the fish, leave one whole fish aside. I’ll handle the rest later.”
Fish heads needed to be split open.
Fish meat needed to be sliced into thin fillets.
If those steps weren’t done properly, both dishes would be ruined.
After giving her instructions, Shen Yueliang relaxed and turned to ask Su Qiuyun whether they had chili peppers and pickled vegetables.
Behind the family quarters there were small vegetable plots.
Common vegetables were usually grown by the families themselves.
Fresh chilies were readily available, both red and green.
There wasn’t any pickled cabbage at Su Qiuyun’s home, but other military wives in the compound made their own. Su Qiuyun said she could exchange for some.
There were also bean sprouts and tofu skin sheets.
With those ingredients, the pickled cabbage fish would be perfect.
Shen Yueliang and Su Qiuyun went off together to gather the ingredients.
They also brought back some Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies.
When they returned, they saw Yang Chunjiang riding a bicycle in circles.
“Wife, come here. Sister-in-law happens to have a bicycle. Didn’t you say you wanted to learn? I’ll teach you.”
Su Qiuyun didn’t know how to ride.
She wanted to learn but was afraid of falling.
With so many people watching, embarrassing herself would be awkward.
“We’re cooking. Maybe next time.”
“I’ll handle the cooking. Since Yang Chunjiang is free, you should learn now. Nobody’s going to laugh at you. When I was learning, I fell several times too. But once you know how to ride, it’s really convenient.”
Ding Shuhui had learned to ride long ago.
Shen Yueliang looked at the bicycle.
A Phoenix-brand bicycle.
A classic twenty-eight-inch model.
Ignoring the bicycle coupon requirement, it still cost one hundred and seventy yuan.
Mm.
Definitely not something she could afford right now.
“Autumn Cloud Sister, go learn. It’s really convenient once you know how.”
With everyone encouraging her, Su Qiuyun knew refusing further would be inappropriate.
Shen Yueliang took the vegetables from her hands and stopped looking at the bicycle.
She couldn’t bear to buy one yet.
The more she looked, the more she wanted one.
Better not to look at all.
With that self-defeating thought in mind, she reminded herself that while bicycles were out of reach for now, fish certainly wasn’t.
Carrying the pickled vegetables and seasonings into the kitchen—
She immediately spotted a tall figure inside.
No wonder she hadn’t seen him outside earlier.
He had been in the kitchen all along.
Holding the vegetables, Shen Yueliang suddenly wasn’t sure whether she should walk in.
The fish had already been cleaned.
Ji Yanchuan held a knife in one hand, skillfully cutting off the fish head before slicing the fish meat into sections.
Hearing footsteps, he assumed it was Ding Shuhui or Su Qiuyun and paid little attention.
Only when the footsteps stopped at the doorway instead of coming farther inside did he realize something.
His hand paused.
Before he could speak, Shen Yueliang spoke first.
“You go ahead. I’ll come in after you’re finished.”
Although it was a separate courtyard house, the kitchen itself wasn’t large.
At over six feet tall, Ji Yanchuan’s mere presence made the space feel cramped and narrow.
There was no point in squeezing in beside him.
She turned to leave.
Then she heard his voice behind her.
“I’m done.”
Setting down the knife, Ji Yanchuan wiped his hands and walked out.
Seeing this, Shen Yueliang stepped aside to let him pass.
At the same time, she lowered her head and fiddled with the vegetables in her hands.