Gu Beiting glanced at Mu Youyou, who was still looking out the window, and could only nod slightly with reddened ears.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, the older couple stopped teasing them.
Feeling bored, Mu Youyou closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, letting her consciousness enter the space.
Over the past half month, the crops and fruits from the farming space had already brought in nearly 20,000 yuan in income.
A few days ago, the marketplace notified her that after upgrading, it could unlock trading with other dimensions. However, upgrading from level one to level two required 100,000 yuan.
Although the upgrade money could also be converted into points for Caicai, it meant they had to work even harder to earn.
“Caicai, what kind of person is Gu Beiting?”
“Gu Beiting, male, 27 years old, currently serving in the Eastern Military Region as a battalion commander. In 1972, he was awarded the title of the strongest soldier in the country. He has received two first-class merits, two second-class merits, and three third-class merits. He is devoted to the nation and the people, with a proud, cold, and upright personality,” Caicai transmitted the information.
Mu Youyou opened her eyes and looked at the man beside her, who was resting with his eyes closed. Someone like him—she had only seen such people on TV before.
Sensing her gaze, Gu Beiting opened his eyes and looked at her. Caught in the act, Mu Youyou blushed awkwardly.
“Well… it’s dinner time. Are you hungry? I made some meat pancakes,” she said, taking out an oil paper package from her bag. Inside were four pancakes. She kept one and handed the rest to him.
“Thank you.” Gu Beiting took one and bit into it, his eyes flickering slightly.
Even though it was cold, it tasted very good—better than anything he had eaten before. Combined with the lunch earlier, it was clear Mu Youyou’s cooking skills were excellent, even better than those of state-run restaurants.
He glanced at her curiously. As the only child of the Mu family, she was said to have been well cared for growing up. It was rare for someone like her to have such cooking skills.
“What’s wrong? Not good?” Mu Youyou asked.
“It’s good,” he replied.
For the rest of the journey, they didn’t speak.
By the time the train arrived in Qingdao—called Qing City in this era—it was already 8 PM. (The trains were slow.)
“We’ll stay at a guesthouse tonight and return to the military district tomorrow,” Gu Beiting said. It was too late for transport, and he hadn’t arranged a pickup.
“Alright.” Mu Youyou nodded.
They arrived at a guesthouse. Gu Beiting handed over his identification and their marriage certificate.
“Two rooms,” he said.
“A married couple booking two rooms?” the clerk muttered, handing over two keys.
The rooms were adjacent. After helping her carry her luggage inside, Gu Beiting returned to his own room.
After locking the door, Mu Youyou immediately entered the space. She just wanted a bath. Although the train wasn’t as bad as described in novels, the seats were too hard, and her body ached.
“Caicai, can I sleep in the space tonight?” she asked after bathing, lying weakly on the bed.
“Fine, just this once,” Caicai agreed, pouring her a cup of spirit spring water.
“I knew you were the best!” After drinking it, Mu Youyou felt completely refreshed.
“Wake me up tomorrow,” she said before drifting off to sleep.
The next morning, Caicai sensed that Gu Beiting next door was already awake and woke her up.
After washing up and leaving the space, Gu Beiting knocked on her door.
“I brought breakfast,” he said, handing her a pancake wrap with shredded potatoes.
“Thank you.” She accepted it.
“I’ll go back first. We’ll leave in half an hour,” he said before returning to his room.
“So cold,” Mu Youyou muttered as she closed the door—unaware he hadn’t fully shut his door and had heard her.
“?”
Half an hour later, after another half-hour ride, they arrived at the Eastern Military Region.
Gu Beiting brought her directly to the military family compound. Their assigned house was a small courtyard. He opened the gate—it was clean and already tidied. There was a well in the yard and a bicycle parked nearby.
There was a main hall, three main rooms, a storage room, a kitchen, and a toilet. In the back was a bathing area.
“I’ll take this room,” Gu Beiting said, pointing to the first room on the east side.
“I’ll take this one,” Mu Youyou said, pointing to the room opposite his. It was next to the storage room—she didn’t want to be right beside him.
“Alright.” He placed her luggage and bedding inside, then took out a key, twenty yuan, and some grain and meat coupons, placing them on the table before leaving.
After tidying up her room, Mu Youyou took out the bankbook and coupons from the Gu family’s bride price and went outside.
Gu Beiting was in the yard chopping firewood. Since the house had only just been assigned, there wasn’t much firewood prepared.
Standing at the doorway, Mu Youyou watched him. With his sleeves rolled up, his strong forearms were exposed. She unconsciously swallowed.
“Um… can you come inside for a moment?”
He had already noticed her presence and followed her in after setting down the axe.
“This is for you.” She handed him the bankbook and coupons.
He didn’t take them, just looked at her.
“This was given by your family when we got married. Since we’ve already made things clear, I can’t accept it,” she said, grabbing his hand to place them into it.
“You’re the one at a disadvantage. Keep it,” he said, pulling his hand back. If they divorced in the future, she would need money.
“I didn’t earn it, so I won’t take it.” She forced it into his hand and smiled.
Seeing her insistence, he didn’t argue further, thinking he would compensate her later if they divorced.
“Do we have any food at home? I want to cook lunch,” Mu Youyou asked.
“No. I’ll go buy some,” he replied. He usually ate at the military canteen.
“I’ll go with you. I also need to buy some ingredients and get familiar with the place,” she said with a smile. She needed to learn the area to better swap items from the marketplace.
“Alright.” He nodded.
Gu Beiting pushed the bicycle as they walked out of the courtyard.
“Battalion Commander Gu, you’re back!” A woman in her thirties stood at the neighboring yard.
“Sister-in-law,” Gu Beiting greeted her.
“Oh, Commander Gu, this must be your wife—she’s really beautiful,” the woman said with a smile.
“This is the wife of Deputy Battalion Commander Cui from our unit,” Gu Beiting introduced.