Hu Hongying didn’t want anyone to know about that embarrassing incident from the past. She quickly denied it.
“I don’t know him.”
“Isn’t your older sister the regiment commander’s wife? You live in the same family compound. How could you not know him?”
Xiao Zhao was quite the gossip herself, and there was a faint, knowing smile at the corners of her lips.
“I said I don’t know him. Hurry up and get back to work!”
Hu Hongying was becoming flustered and angry.
Xiao Zhao ignored her. Instead, she walked to the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative and watched the couple leave.
“But you know, that female comrade actually looks quite well-matched with that officer.”
“Are you done yet? It’s working hours. Stop slacking off.”
Hu Hongying suddenly became angry.
Whether it was because she was jealous of Lu Xinran or because Li Yanfeng had completely ignored her, she simply felt extremely uncomfortable.
Xiao Zhao rolled her eyes at her.
“Did you eat a firecracker or something? Did I offend you? What’s wrong with you?”
She went off to take care of something else.
Just then, another military wife came over and asked, “Little Hu, don’t be angry. Tell us again when you think we’ll get another shipment of scarce goods! We’re all waiting to use them!”
“It’s so windy around here. We can’t go without some good face cream.”
“That’s right, that’s right. If you get any good stuff, you can’t keep it to yourself. We’re counting on you for our faces!”
“Exactly! Whoever made you angry, just tell us. We’ll get even with them for you!”
The military wives were all trying to flatter her.
Hu Hongying’s mood instantly improved.
She suddenly realized something.
As long as Lu Xinran continued living in the family compound, there would definitely come a day when she needed to buy something and would have to come begging her.
Hmph. She refused to believe that she wouldn’t be able to get the upper hand over her then.
She would just wait for that day!
Thinking about it, she suddenly became rather proud of herself.
“All right, all right. When we get some scarce goods in a few days, I’ll let you know.”
The others became especially excited when they heard her say that.
Li Yanfeng drove Lu Xinran back to the family compound.
After this shopping trip to the supply and marketing cooperative, they now had everything they needed for the house.
Since they had driven, they got home quickly, and it was still fairly early.
There were still one or two hours before dinner.
As soon as Li Yanfeng got home, he started working. He carried everything inside and put it away, focusing mainly on the kitchen supplies.
Lu Xinran helped him tidy up.
Li Yanfeng also remembered to explain a few things to her.
“We burn firewood here. Tomorrow I’ll get some firewood and teach you how to start the fire.”
“Okay.”
Li Xinran agreed.
Li Yanfeng noticed that her eyes were bright, as if she were looking forward to it.
“Is there anything else we’re missing at home?”
“Mm. We’ll see later if there’s anything else we need.”
Lu Xinran answered gently.
Standing at the kitchen doorway, Lu Xinran looked at the empty courtyard. She was already eager to get started.
She desperately wanted to share her idea with Li Yanfeng, but she didn’t dare make it too obvious.
“Yanfeng, our courtyard is pretty big. Can we fence off a piece of it and grow vegetables?”
She looked at Li Yanfeng and asked seriously.
A flash of surprise immediately crossed Li Yanfeng’s eyes at her suggestion.
“You know how to grow vegetables?”
He found it a little hard to believe. She didn’t look like someone who knew how to farm.
“I do. I used to live overseas with my parents, and we had a small vegetable garden in our yard.”
Lu Xinran spoke softly.
After saying that, she lowered her eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
Li Yanfeng remembered what she had told him about her family when she first arrived.
“You said that day that your parents were framed and then sent away for labor?”
“Mm. Our whole family had only been back in China for three months. We hadn’t done anything wrong. They were completely innocent. It was a disaster that fell on them for no reason.”
Lu Xinran sighed softly.
Li Yanfeng’s expression became stern. He realized that he really didn’t like seeing her frown.
“They were sent to Harbin in the Northeast?”
“Yes. I heard Lu Manling’s mother, Zhao Cuilv, say that it was her hometown. You’re from the same place as her, right?”
Li Yanfeng neither confirmed nor denied it.
“She and I are indeed from the same production brigade.”
“You don’t have to worry too much. I’ll send my older brother a telegram and tell him about it.”
Li Yanfeng believed her. Her eyes were simply too clear and open for him to think she was lying.
“Thank you, Yanfeng. I believe that one day my parents will be cleared of all charges.”
Her voice was filled with determination.
“You’re welcome. They’re talented people the country needs. Since they came back wanting to serve the country, they shouldn’t be treated this way.”
Li Yanfeng’s words were like a reassurance that settled her heart. She felt much more at ease.
“If you want to grow vegetables, go ahead. Tomorrow I’ll have someone bring some soil over. We’ll also put up a fence around the garden.”
“Okay.”
Lu Xinran felt that he was a very dependable man.
Once she planted the vegetables, there would be plenty of things she could do.
And they wouldn’t have to keep going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy vegetables. They could have fresh vegetables whenever they wanted.
After putting everything they had bought away, the house was finally fully stocked and increasingly began to feel like a home.
“Let’s go back and rest for a while. You’re tired, aren’t you?”
Li Yanfeng looked at her. Her cheeks were flushed, and his voice softened unconsciously.
“I’m okay.”
Li Yanfeng handed her his military canteen.
“Have some water.”
“Okay.”
Lu Xinran wasn’t actually thirsty. She had just drunk some spiritual spring water, and she also had her own metal canteen with her.
“Tonight, we’ll borrow some firewood from Sister-in-law Xu and bring it back. We can use it to boil water first.”
“Mm.”
The winds here were still strong in March, and the temperature dropped quite low at night. By five-thirty, it was already getting dark.
Li Yanfeng and Lu Xinran rested for a while before he said, “Let’s go to Sister-in-law Xu’s house for dinner.”
“After we eat, we’ll come back early and rest. You’ve been to so many places today. You must be tired.”
Li Yanfeng spoke softly, always making an effort to keep his voice gentle when talking to her.
“Mm.”
In the evening, every household was busy cooking. Wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen chimneys as the two of them walked side by side.
Li Yanfeng asked quietly, “It’s still very cold here. It won’t start warming up until May. Did you bring enough thick clothes?”
“I did. When I returned to China, it was winter, so most of the clothes I brought are winter clothes.”
“At your age, were you studying or working overseas?”
Li Yanfeng only now realized how little he knew about her.
“I just graduated from university.”
“You graduated from university at twenty-one?”
“Mm. I skipped grades in both middle school and high school.”
She answered honestly. Both of her parents were highly educated, and she had inherited their intelligence.
Now she possessed both the original Lu Xinran’s intelligence and her own knowledge and experience from a later era.
Li Yanfeng nodded. Her demeanor was so different from ordinary people’s. So she was a highly educated intellectual after all.
“What did you study?”
“Medicine, like my mother. I also studied a few other things.”
So she was a doctor.
“What kind of illnesses can you treat?”
Li Yanfeng asked thoughtfully.
“Respiratory medicine. Colds, fevers, coughs, things like that.”
The two of them chatted all the way there, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Xu Aihua’s house.
Lu Xinran suddenly stopped walking.
She felt there was one more important thing she needed to make clear to Li Yanfeng.