Lu Xinran’s eyes narrowed slightly when she heard this. Picking a fight between them right off the bat? Did she think Lu Xinran couldn’t tell what she was trying to do?
She was clearly another unpleasant person. No wonder the two other military wives had rolled their eyes when they saw her earlier.
Before Lu Xinran could say anything, Zhou Meifang immediately fired back.
“Hu Lijuan, what nonsense are you talking about? Colonel Li just got himself a wife, and you’re already here trying to drive a wedge between them. What exactly are you up to?”
The smile disappeared from Hu Lijuan’s face, as though Zhou Meifang had hit a sore spot. Embarrassed and angry, she snapped, “Zhou Meifang, don’t slander me! I was obviously just giving her a kind warning. The girl herself hasn’t even said anything, so why are you making such a fuss?”
Xu Aihua sneered.
“Where was Lao Zhou wrong? Don’t think you can blame Yanfeng just because your younger sister got scared away back then!”
“Go on, go on. Xinran has just arrived, so don’t stand here arguing and bringing bad luck!”
Hu Lijuan knew she couldn’t win against the two of them.
“Hmph! If you don’t listen to me, you’ll suffer sooner or later!”
In the end, Hu Lijuan could only leave awkwardly.
Lu Xinran showed little emotion on her face.
As far as they were concerned, she was probably just some innocent, naive little sweetheart.
Xu Aihua was worried that Lu Xinran might overthink things, so she quickly reassured her.
“Xinran, don’t listen to her nonsense.”
“She used to try to introduce her younger sister to Yanfeng. Later, I heard the girl ran away in fright before they even formally met. Then she went around telling everyone that Yanfeng was scary.”
“Now that she sees Yanfeng has a wife, she’s just being sour.”
“Actually, Yanfeng only looks a little fierce. He’s a very good man.”
Xu Aihua thought to herself that Colonel Li had finally managed to get himself a wife. They absolutely could not let the poor girl get scared away again.
Her husband, Lao Feng, was about the same age as Li Yanfeng, only two years older. They already had two sons, and their eldest was ten years old.
Lu Xinran smiled.
“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I know what kind of person Yanfeng is. He isn’t fierce at all, and I’m not afraid of him one bit.”
The wives who had been standing at the doorway watching the commotion heard her words and immediately started laughing among themselves.
“Not afraid? Just wait until he hits her, then she’ll be scared! She’ll have plenty of crying to do!”
“That city girl doesn’t know her place.”
“Let’s see how long she can last. Maybe she’ll run away in a few days.”
Their comments also reached Lu Xinran’s ears. She couldn’t understand why these women seemed to have such a strong grudge against Li Yanfeng.
Could it be that all of them had younger sisters who had been scared away by him?
“What are you gossiping about out here? You’ve even brought your gossip right to someone else’s doorstep! Shoo, shoo, go!” Zhou Meifang immediately drove the women away.
Everyone in the family compound knew that Zhou Meifang had a fiery temper, and no one dared provoke her.
“Xinran, don’t mind those women!” Xu Aihua said. “They have nothing better to do all day, so they gather together and gossip.”
Lu Xinran smiled indifferently.
“Don’t worry, Sister-in-law. I won’t take it to heart.”
“That’s more like it. You two don’t cook tonight. Have Yanfeng bring you over to our place for dinner and get acquainted with the family.”
Lu Xinran was about to decline when Li Yanfeng came out of the house.
Xu Aihua immediately said to him, “Yanfeng, bring Xinran over to our place for dinner tonight!”
“You’ve just moved in, so you probably haven’t bought everything you need yet. Don’t bother yourselves with cooking.”
Li Yanfeng looked at Lu Xinran and saw that she had no intention of refusing.
“Sure. We’ll come over later.”
“How are things going in your house? Want us to help you tidy up?” Xu Aihua was genuinely warm-hearted.
At that moment, Lu Xinran said, “No need, Sister-in-law. Yanfeng and I can handle it.”
“Xinran’s right. I already had a few soldiers help me. Most of the moving is done. I’m off today, and it’s still early. We can finish everything ourselves.”
Li Yanfeng’s expression remained impassive as he spoke.
His features made him look fierce, and when he said nothing, he looked even more intimidating. But everyone who knew him understood that he was actually a very good man.
“All right, then. We won’t bother you two.”
Xu Aihua and Zhou Meifang left, conveniently driving away all the gossiping women who had been gathered at the doorway as well.
It was already noon, which explained why they had all had time to come over and watch the commotion.
Several soldiers had already helped Li Yanfeng carry the larger pieces of furniture into the house before gradually leaving.
The bed frames still had to be put together themselves.
The transport trucks had already driven away.
The living room was still filled with all sorts of smaller pieces of furniture they had bought.
Lu Xinran had been chatting with the two military wives just now, so she hadn’t gone inside to help.
There was still plenty to do now that they had just moved into their new home.
She rolled up her sleeves and prepared to get to work arranging the house.
“What did the sisters-in-law say to you just now?” Li Yanfeng asked, pretending not to care.
He knew his reputation wasn’t very good. The wives in the family compound seemed to have quite a few opinions about him.
“Actually, it wasn’t anything much. They just told me a little about the family compound and said that if I ever ran into something I couldn’t handle, I could go to them for help.”
“Both Sister-in-law Zhou and Sister-in-law Xu are very nice. They’re both very warm-hearted.”
She spoke gently, explaining everything in a calm, unhurried manner.
She didn’t mention Hu Lijuan badmouthing him. There was no need.
Li Yanfeng nodded.
“They’re both good people. If I’m not home and there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask them.”
“Sister-in-law Xu’s house is just up ahead. I’ll take you there tonight. Sister-in-law Zhou lives farther away, around the middle section.”
“I understand.”
Lu Xinran took out the metal kettle and enamel cups and arranged them neatly.
There were no televisions yet, so they had bought a rectangular table for the middle of the living room. It looked a little like the TV cabinets of later generations.
The top could hold the kettle and cups, while the drawers underneath provided storage.
Then Lu Xinran went into the bedroom to take a look.
The bed frames had already been put in place, and the woven mats had been laid out.
It was early March, and the weather here was still somewhat cold.
They had already bought all the bedding they needed.
Two hours later, they finally finished tidying up their new home. At last, it looked a little more like a real home.
After finishing the rooms, they went into the kitchen to take a look.
The two iron pots had already been placed on the clay stove. The cupboard for the dishes was sitting on the floor.
The small dining table was set up, and the little stools were neatly stacked beside it.
The bowls and chopsticks had all been washed and put away. The family compound had a centralized tap-water supply.
However, water was scarce here, so water outages were common. Even when there was water, it was only supplied during certain hours.
That was why every household kept several buckets to collect and store water whenever the supply was turned on.
“Yanfeng, let’s buy another table for the kitchen to put the dish cabinet on. That way, we won’t have to bend over every time we take out a bowl.”
Lu Xinran asked for his opinion.
Whenever she talked things over with Li Yanfeng, she always treated it as a joint decision and cared about what he thought.
“Sure. Later, take a look around the house and make a list of anything else we’re missing. Whatever we need, I’ll go buy.”
“If you want to go shopping yourself, that’s fine too.”
“Then when you have time, could you take me to the supply and marketing cooperative to have a look?”
Lu Xinran asked again.
Since she was here now, she wanted to adapt to life here as quickly as possible.
“All right.”
“I’ll go to the family compound cafeteria and buy something for us to eat. We can rest for a while, then go take a look this afternoon?”
“If you think that’s too rushed, we can go tomorrow. I’m off tomorrow too.”
Li Yanfeng tried to speak as gently as possible whenever he talked to her.
He was afraid that if he spoke too loudly, he would scare her.
“Okay.”
After a moment of thought, Li Yanfeng suddenly changed his mind.
“Would you like to come with me to the family compound cafeteria and take a look?”