Wan Ning carefully picked up the telephone, and the voice that had haunted his dreams rang out in his ear: “Hello, it’s me, Shen Qingran!”
Hearing that crisp voice, Wan Ning’s heart tightened.
“Ahem!”
“I’m Wan Ning!”
After he spoke, the two of them fell into a brief silence.
At this moment, the telephone operator beside them called out, “Regimental Commander Wan, the call time is limited!”
Wan Ning understood.
Because they were stationed on an island, external communication relied on only a few fixed telephone lines.
On ordinary days, aside from daily needs, they also had to reserve them for emergencies.
Wan Ning bit his lip.
“Well… I asked my mother to go propose. Did she go to your house to make the proposal?”
Shen Qingran had thought Wan Ning would say something else—she hadn’t expected this instead!
Shen Qingran smiled faintly. “She did.”
Immediately after, the youngest regimental commander said nervously, “Then… then… then did you agree?”
It was no wonder Wan Ning was nervous.
This little devil who had been a tyrant since childhood only ever acted like this when facing Shen Qingran!
It was really strange.
Even though he had grown up now, he still couldn’t help but feel nervous whenever he faced Shen Qingran.
“Take a guess?”
Shen Qingran deliberately teased Wan Ning.
Wan Ning didn’t dare say a word, afraid that if he said even one wrong thing, his future wife would run away!
That would truly be a terrible loss!
Shen Qingran could practically imagine Wan Ning’s flustered expression.
Over the phone, after hearing the operator urge them again,
Shen Qingran said, “Auntie already told me. I agreed.”
Wan Ning could hardly believe his ears!
The thing he had longed for so long had actually come true overnight!
It was real!
It was real!
For a moment, Wan Ning didn’t know what to say.
Shen Qingran said, “I’m going to buy the tickets. After I’ve bought them, I’ll send you a telegram.”
Wan Ning hurriedly replied, “Okay! Okay! Okay!”
“I’ll go pick you up!”
Shen Qingran nodded and then hung up the phone.
Listening to the “beep, beep, beep” in the receiver, Wan Ning put the phone down.
Xiao Chen looked at the regimental commander’s dazed expression and couldn’t help stepping forward.
“Commander, Commander, what’s wrong?”
Wan Ning turned around, flashing a full set of white teeth, and directly scooped Xiao Chen up in his arms.
“Hahaha, Xiao Chen—she agreed! She agreed!”
Xiao Chen panicked as the world spun around him.
“No—Commander, put me down quickly! People will misunderstand later!”
Immediately after, everyone on the island saw a figure waving wildly by the seaside like an unbridled wild horse.
The news that “Regimental Commander Wan has gone crazy” spread like wildfire.
……
On the other side, after Shen Qingran hung up the phone, she began preparing everything in advance.
Old Madam Shen and Nanny Zhang both looked at Shen Qingran after she ended the call.
When Shen Qingran came back to her senses and saw an old woman and a middle-aged woman staring at her, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
How had she turned into some kind of lucky charm?
“Hehe!”
Old Madam Shen and Nanny Zhang were both very happy seeing the young lady they had watched grow up.
Amidst the laughter, Shen Qingran awkwardly went out to prepare to buy things.
Once she finally left the house, Shen Qingran’s lips curved upward as she hummed a little tune.
Wan Ning was extremely efficient.
He had already communicated with his family the night before, arranging for Shen Qingran to come to his post, and the letter of introduction had been issued at lightning speed.
Shen Qingran first went to the neighborhood office to get all the necessary introduction letters sorted out.
Then she went straight to the purchasing station.
There was no other reason—once she went to the countryside, the future was uncertain, so it was better to prepare more.
Moreover, she heard that the place she was being sent to was an island.
So now, she needed to prepare as completely as possible everything that might be useful after going to the countryside.
For example, staple foods such as wheat, rice, millet, potatoes, and so on.
There were also vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, cucumbers, eggplants, pumpkins, chili peppers, scallions, ginger, kale, cotton, and more.
There were also fruit seeds like large white pears, apples, and watermelons.
As long as she could get her hands on them, Shen Qingran tried to prepare everything.
The space didn’t just contain medicinal herbs—if she planted lots of grain and vegetables as well, with so much land, there shouldn’t be any problem.
Thinking this way, Shen Qingran went straight out of the department store again.
Now it wasn’t just those things—there were many other items she needed to buy as well.
For example, quilts, bedsheets, necessary lamps, washbasins, and various bedding supplies.
As for cosmetics, there was Wanzi Qianhong Snowflake Cream, all kinds of others, and also Pechoin products.
The island would probably be very sunny in summer!
Then she thought about preparing several sets of men’s clothing for Wan Ning, and also went to get mosquito nets and cooling balm for herself.
After daily necessities came snacks.
For instance, girls’ favorites like White Rabbit milk candies, malted milk drink, milk powder, and preserved fruits.
All kinds of pastries—Daoxiangcun peach crisps, the Capital’s Eighteen Delicacies, and so on.
All of these were necessary.
Shen Qingran thought that since she was following the army to the countryside, she would inevitably meet many of Wan Ning’s colleagues and superiors.
If they got along well, these small gestures of goodwill were still needed.
After all, you don’t slap a smiling face.
In her previous life, when Shen Qingran had been a ghost, she had seen many ways high-ranking officials socialized—these exchanges of favors really did have their own unspoken rules.
In the department store, Shen Qingran practically became a VIP customer.
In the end, seeing that she had taken so many things, the manager even arranged for someone to help her.
At checkout, she used cash whenever possible, spending nearly three thousand yuan in total.
The young girl at the register was dumbfounded.
“Sister, you bought so many things!”
Shen Qingran smiled. Right now, she was more afraid of buying too little.
She would leave it at that for now—if she lacked anything later, she would deal with it then.
The helper placed the items in a corner.
After the person left, Shen Qingran directly put everything into her space.
These things were all in short supply at the moment.
Although she had obtained quite a lot of grain coupons, oil coupons, and various other vouchers when she ransacked the Shen family, she still had to spend them with some planning.
After all, she would still need to rely on these vouchers for quite some time.
After organizing herself, Shen Qingran came out of the space.
It was noon now, and the sun was blazing.
Shen Qingran first went to get her hair cut.
Her hair had been too long before, and going to the countryside meant minimizing trouble as much as possible.
After finishing these errands, she changed into an inconspicuous blue work uniform and decided to go eat something good.
She had been far too busy lately—it was time to pay respects to her stomach.
At this time, the capital’s streets still had old-fashioned trolleybuses with antennas.
In this season, girls wore all kinds of clothes, but the main colors were mostly blue and white, with very few wearing bright reds or purples.
Most people dressed quite plainly.
Shen Qingran walked near Dashilan and saw a Donglaishun restaurant, then went inside.
At this time, Donglaishun was already operating under public–private partnership.
The mutton slices were cut paper-thin.
Sesame paste and chive flower sauce were the main condiments.
As soon as Shen Qingran pushed the door open, a wave of heat rushed toward her.
The two people inside immediately caught Shen Qingran’s attention.