Shen Yitang remembered now—in her previous life, shortly after she had arrived as a military spouse, a new family had moved in next door.
The husband was the commander of the Second Regiment, surnamed Liao, named Liao Mingcheng, and his wife was called Jiang Shuying.
The couple had been quite warm and friendly. At first, Jiang Shuying, hoping to foster good neighborly relations, had even brought over homemade food several times—steamed buns, dumplings, and the like.
But back then, Shen Yitang had had no heart for socializing with anyone.
After Jiang Shuying had been met with her lukewarm attitude a few times, she had tactfully stopped coming over.
In this life, Shen Yitang decided to make Jiang Shuying her social breakthrough.
Just as she was wondering how best to strike up a conversation in a way that felt natural rather than forced, a young woman stepped out of the house. She wore the kind of slanted-front homespun cotton jacket common among rural farm women, with an apron tied around her waist and a headscarf wrapped over her hair.
It was Jiang Shuying, no mistake.
Shen Yitang forced a faint smile onto her face, only to see Jiang Shuying staring at her in astonishment, her eyes brimming with admiration.
Right—today she was wearing the dress she used to wear back home as an unmarried young lady, along with white lambskin high heels, and her wavy long hair was half tied up at the back of her head, fastened with a sparkling crystal hair clip.
On this island, her outfit clashed terribly with the surroundings.
Jiang Shuying walked up to Shen Yitang and suddenly seemed a bit flustered. She raised a hand to smooth her hair, then wiped her hands vigorously on her apron several times: "You… you are?"
Shen Yitang smiled and said, "I live next door. My name is Shen Yitang, and my husband's surname is Gu. Have you just moved in?"
Jiang Shuying was delighted: "So you're Regiment Commander Gu's wife! I've heard our Old Liao mention you both—no wonder…"
What her Old Liao had said was that Gu's woman was a capitalist's pampered daughter who dressed up all flashy and seductive every day, did nothing at all, and just waited for Gu to wait on her hand and foot.
She had almost let it slip. Embarrassed, she gave an apologetic little laugh: "You look absolutely lovely in that outfit. You see, we've only just moved in, and the place is a complete mess, so I won't invite you in for tea just yet—once we've tidied up, we'll have you over."
Shen Yitang raised the basket in her hand: "I was just about to go grocery shopping. Would you like to come along to the service center and pick up some things?"
This was perfect—she could ask for advice on what needed to be bought, because going on her own, she truly had no idea where to start!
Jiang Shuying was pleasantly surprised: "Yes, yes! I'm new here and don't know a thing, so it's great that you can show me around."
Shen Yitang steeled herself: "Actually, I haven't been here long myself, and I'm not familiar with much either. Let's just go take a look together!"
A grubby little boy, covered in dirt from rolling around on the ground, came running over: "Ma, where are you going? I want to come too!"
"Shoo, shoo, don't cause trouble—go find your father!"
Suppressing the urge to cringe, Shen Yitang said, "Is this your son? He's adorable."
Good heavens, she really didn't like children—especially dirty, mischievous ones like this.
Jiang Shuying's eyes sparkled with a smile: "Isn't he just? A little rascal who gives me no peace. Let's go—don't worry about him."
She turned and called out loudly: "Old Liao! I'm heading to the service center with Little Sister Shen from next door. You tidy up around the house and keep an eye on the little brat."
Regiment Commander Liao poked his head out and acknowledged with a grunt, then nodded at Shen Yitang by way of greeting.
Shen Yitang glanced at Regiment Commander Liao and, in that moment, gained a real sense of what it meant that Gu Huaizheng was the youngest regimental-level cadre.
Her Gu Huaizheng really was young and promising!
Even though he was tanned like a black egg, he was still a glossy, smooth black egg—far better looking than those other black eggs covered in wrinkles.
Jiang Shuying quickly realized that she shouldn't count on this capitalist's daughter to help her get familiar with the military district.
It would already be a miracle if she could manage to lead her to the service center without getting lost.
But watching her stare with those big, bewildered eyes, understanding nothing, and timidly asking questions left and right—she was just so adorable!
She wasn't anything like Old Liao had described—proud, cold, and aloof, ignoring everyone!
She was clearly adorable, wasn't she? So adorable that Jiang Shuying almost wanted to reach out and pinch her cheeks.
And it wasn't like she did nothing at all—she was even thinking about cooking for her man!
She just didn't know how.
So what if she didn't know how? Her family had the means, and now she was willing to learn, wasn't she?
Jiang Shuying patiently helped Shen Yitang buy rice, flour, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, as well as meat and vegetables.
"Goodness, you have to spend money just to buy vegetables to eat. I think our yard is pretty big—when we get back, we should plant vegetables all over it. Then whenever we want to eat, we can just pick them. No need to waste money on such things."
Jiang Shuying felt that spending money on buying vegetables was a complete waste.
Shen Yitang: "Uh…" The ground in her yard was paved with stone slabs, with only a ring of flower beds bordered by bricks along the courtyard walls.
Gu Huaizheng had said they were for her to plant flowers in.
Jiang Shuying slapped her forehead: "Ah, I'm running my mouth again. You don't know how to plant, do you? No worries, I'll teach you."
Shen Yitang could only smile and say, "Sure, we'll see!"
They had bought quite a lot of things, and it was thanks to Jiang Shuying's help that they managed to carry everything home.
As soon as she stepped into the yard, Jiang Shuying's eyes lit up again: "Good heavens, your yard is way too clean!"
"But since it's all paved like this, you can't plant vegetables. What a shame."
Stepping onto the gravel path: "This path is laid well. Sure enough, you city folks have a different eye for things. You lay paths, and others lay paths too—but how come the ones others lay never look as nice as yours!"
"When we get back, I'll have our Old Liao lay one too. That way, on rainy days we won't track mud into the house."
"But our yard can't be paved like this—we still need to plant vegetables!"
Shen Yitang could only keep smiling the whole time.
She had initially worried about how to get along with these military wives from the countryside!
Fortunately, Jiang Shuying was a chatterbox herself, so she didn't need to put in much effort.
Jiang Shuying helped carry the purchased items into the kitchen. Seeing how empty it was—clearly never used for cooking—she couldn't help but worry: "Do you know how to cook?"
Shen Yitang blushed: "I've never done it before. I was thinking of learning to try!"
"You can't possibly learn that in such a short time!"
A thought struck Shen Yitang: "Sister-in-law Shuying, your family just moved in, so your kitchen probably isn't set up yet. Why don't you stay for lunch here today?"
Then she added with slight embarrassment: "But I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to do the cooking. That way I can learn along the way too."
Jiang Shuying agreed generously: "That works! Once our place is all set up, I'll invite you and Regiment Commander Gu over for a meal."
And so, when Gu Huaizheng came back at noon, he was shocked to discover that smoke was curling up from his kitchen chimney.
And from the kitchen came the sound of women chatting and laughing.
He was so taken aback that he stepped inside, then suspiciously backed out again, taking a careful look around—surely he hadn't walked into the wrong place, had he?