In the morning, after getting up and finishing breakfast and cleaning up, Lin Qianyi secretly began taking food out of her space.
She couldn’t just let that guy keep randomly buying groceries anymore—he bought way too much without thinking.
She didn’t take much either: just a piece of pork belly and some cut sections of ribbonfish.
That was enough. If it wasn’t, there was still the cured meat Meng Junchuan had bought last time.
She also took out some eggs and vegetables, enough for two people for one day.
Lin Qianyi even felt a little like she was taking advantage of Meng Junchuan. She ate so well inside her space, but when he came over, she only let him eat fairly ordinary food.
Heh, but what could she do? She didn’t dare take too much out in the open.
Still, with his family background, he must have eaten good things since childhood anyway.
In this era, most people lacked food, but he definitely wasn’t short of it.
The residential compound of the machinery factory was very large, with many apartment buildings as well as some courtyard-style housing.
Lin Qianyi was glad she lived in this building, where most residents were engineers and technical staff with relatively good conditions.
She often cooked meat at home, and the smell drifting out wouldn’t cause any trouble—people here frequently cooked meat dishes.
If she lived in other buildings in the compound, it might be different. Even cooking meat occasionally could lead to neighbors asking all sorts of questions.
Meng Junchuan’s jeep slowly drove into the compound again. People were already quite calm about it now—on rest days, whenever a military jeep entered, it was obviously there to see Lin Qianyi.
As expected, the jeep slowly stopped in front of her building, at the familiar parking spot.
Then the tall, handsome young officer got out, opened the trunk, took out a military backpack, and walked briskly into the building.
The onlookers withdrew their envious gazes once again, sighing at Lin Qianyi’s luck.
Lin Qianyi opened the door, and her handsome boyfriend walked straight in carrying his bag.
Fortunately, this time he didn’t bring a bunch of random groceries. Lin Qianyi felt relieved—she had specifically reminded him about it on the phone yesterday.
Meng Junchuan sat on the sofa, put down his bag, and reached for the kettle to make tea, only to find the tea had already been brewed.
He put the kettle down and began taking things out of his backpack.
Lin Qianyi quickly realized she had relaxed too soon—he hadn’t stopped buying things; he had just changed what he bought.
One by one, Meng Junchuan took things out.
First came several pieces of fabric, then a dress that looked like a skirt.
Then silk scarves, handkerchiefs, hair clips and accessories. And then—oh—small round boxes of face cream, and bottles of unknown skincare products.
Lin Qianyi simply sat down beside him, curious to see what else he had bought.
She picked up a bottle and examined it—it was also a facial product, probably a slightly higher-end one. The small round box of cream was more common.
“You actually know how to buy these things?” she couldn’t help laughing.
“The saleswoman at the department store recommended them,” Meng Junchuan replied. “She said girls like these things.”
He didn’t understand at all. He had just said he wanted to buy something for his girlfriend, and the enthusiastic saleswoman had introduced a whole bunch—so he bought everything she suggested.
Lin Qianyi held back her laughter. That saleswoman had probably gone all out—hair clips, hair ties, elastic bands, everything a girl might use was likely included.
Looking at the accessories, they were probably considered pretty nice for girls nowadays, but to Lin Qianyi, they were still quite simple.
She opened the dress—it was a beautiful “blouson” style dress.
White base with light blue floral patterns, a white round collar, a white belt, and white trim on the sleeves. It was simple and elegant.
This guy actually had decent taste.
The fabrics were also very plain and elegant, not the bright reds, greens, and loud floral prints that were popular at the time.
“There just isn’t much to buy here. Nothing good to look at. We should go back to Beijing to shop—there’s even an overseas goods store there, with much more variety,” Meng Junchuan said, clearly dissatisfied with the local department store.
He wanted to buy more, but since they weren’t married yet, he knew she probably wouldn’t accept anything too expensive. He’d wait until later.
“That’s already more than enough,” Lin Qianyi said.
As they were only dating, she didn’t want to be overly polite and refuse repeatedly.
The items weren’t cheap, but they weren’t overly extravagant either, so she accepted them happily.
If she refused her boyfriend’s gifts, he would probably feel uncomfortable.
She could always make him something later, like a shirt, to return the favor.
She took the items into her room and put them away.
“Try the dried apricots and dried plums I made.”
She brought out a plate of fruit she had dried last time. They had turned out quite well and lasted much longer than fresh fruit.
Meng Junchuan picked one up and tasted it.
“Not bad. Sweet and sour, very chewy, even better than fresh fruit.”
He genuinely praised it.
“These were made from the apricots and plums you brought last time. I was afraid they’d spoil, so I dried them.”
Lin Qianyi also tried one. She didn’t like fresh fruit much, but these dried ones were really good.
Sweet and tangy, but not the harsh sourness of unripe fruit—more like a refreshing citrus-like flavor.
“Good. This way they can last longer too,” he said, even eating several despite not being a snack person.
“Let’s go watch a movie today. Do you want to go?” he asked.
“Sure,” she agreed, curious about what cinemas of this era were like.
After deciding, they didn’t waste time. Lin Qianyi went to change clothes and came out wearing a similar dress style she had made herself—plain colored, without a belt.
She braided her long hair into two plaits, looking fresh and charming.
As soon as she stepped out, she once again stunned Meng Junchuan.
His little girlfriend was just too beautiful—every time she appeared, she had a different style, all of them equally captivating. He just wanted to marry her quickly.
“Let’s go,” she said, snapping him out of his daze.
They locked the door and went downstairs.
As usual, they received warm greetings from neighbors. They were already used to it and responded with smiles.
They got into the car and slowly drove out of the machinery factory.
The county center wasn’t big—just a few streets—and Meng Junchuan easily found the cinema.
At the entrance, he parked the jeep.
Lin Qianyi looked at the cinema. It was quite simple—handmade posters on the wall, and movie schedules written on paper.
It was a rest day, so there were quite a lot of people.
Meng Junchuan went to queue for tickets while Lin Qianyi stood at the entrance, looking at the posters.
Her bright, beautiful appearance immediately attracted attention.
People couldn’t help but glance back at her again and again.