When Xiao Wu brought lunch over, several soldiers followed behind him.
They were all extremely excited to see Cheng Baichuan. Those who were more emotional even had red-rimmed eyes.
Li Wanqing took the child to another room to eat, leaving the space to them.
By the time the group had finished talking, Li Wanqing was playing with the child in the courtyard.
A group of soldiers around her age stood in formation and saluted her in unison.
“Hello, Sister-in-law!”
“……Hello, everyone!”
Li Wanqing appeared calm on the surface as she greeted them, but she was secretly a little excited.
After experiencing this kind of greeting several times, she had gradually gotten used to it.
She even found it rather heartwarming!
Nuo Nuo stayed close to her mother, her round eyes curiously studying the people in front of her.
Her adorable and slightly shy appearance instantly won over a group of tough soldiers.
Every one of them wanted to play with the child, but they were also afraid of frightening her.
Only Xiao Wu, who had already become familiar with Nuo Nuo, had earned the little girl’s special favor.
The others looked at him with undisguised envy, jealousy, and resentment.
They had only been there for a short while when Cheng Baichuan’s old comrades arrived.
The moment they saw the little girl, the usually loud-voiced men deliberately lowered their voices.
“Old Cheng! You really are a lucky man!”
Shao Wenzhao looked at Nuo Nuo with undisguised envy.
He already had three sons and had dreamed of having a daughter.
A few years ago, Old Liang had a daughter, and he had been envious ever since.
He had never expected that Old Cheng, who had been unconscious for nearly two years, would quietly end up with a daughter too.
And this daughter was beautiful!
Shao Wenzhao bumped Cheng Baichuan on the shoulder and whispered, “Old Cheng, we’re such good friends. How about letting your daughter marry one of my sons?”
“I’ve got three boys. Take your pick!”
Cheng Baichuan rolled his eyes at him.
“If you dare say that again, you’re not allowed to see my daughter anymore.”
He had only just gotten his daughter back. He hadn’t even gotten enough time to spoil her yet!
And now someone had already come knocking to steal her away?
Shao Wenzhao shamelessly grinned and didn’t dare say another word.
But he had already made up his mind to have his wife bring their sons over frequently.
Whoever could win the beauty’s heart would be the one with the real skills!
“When is Old Liang coming back?” Cheng Baichuan asked.
The four of them had been comrades who had fought side by side for years. He had heard that Old Liang had been away on a mission for more than half a month.
“Not sure. It should be soon.”
Shao Wenzhao’s expression became serious.
“After all, his wife is due to give birth next month.”
If he couldn’t make it back in time, Old Liang was going to have a very rough time.
Old Liang’s wife was a pampered city girl. Whenever something didn’t go her way, she would make a scene.
These past two days, Old Liang’s mother had come from the countryside to take care of her daughter-in-law. The sounds of things being smashed and arguments could be heard throughout the family housing compound every day.
“Old Liang really brought this on himself. He insisted on marrying a capitalist’s daughter back then. Now he’s not only being passed over for promotions, but his family is a complete mess too.”
Shao Wenzhao sighed.
Cheng Baichuan frowned slightly.
“I remember Xiao Feng wasn’t like this before, was she?”
Shao Wenzhao sighed.
“Who knows? She’s seemed like a completely different person over the past six months.”
Shao Wenzhao glanced at Li Wanqing before leaning close to Cheng Baichuan’s ear and whispering,
“I suspect it has something to do with Qin Qianqian.”
Although he thought Qin Qianqian was quite well-liked and probably wasn’t the kind of person who would deliberately interfere in someone else’s marriage, the timing was simply too suspicious.
Feng Weiwei hadn’t changed early or late. She had gradually changed only after the two of them started interacting.
It was hard not to suspect something!
Cheng Baichuan raised an eyebrow.
Why was this woman involved everywhere he turned?
Shao Wenzhao kindly reminded him, “You’d better tell your wife to stay away from that woman in the future.”
Cheng Baichuan: ……
Too late for that warning. They had already met!
Still, considering the circumstances at the time, the two of them probably wouldn’t have many opportunities to interact.
Everyone knew Cheng Baichuan had only just returned and still had plenty of things to deal with, so they chatted for a little while before leaving.
Li Wanqing handed the child over to Cheng Baichuan, took her shopping list, and followed Xiao Wu to the military service station.
The military service station wasn’t far from the family housing compound, about a twenty-minute walk.
Its layout was similar to an ordinary town’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative, except that it specifically served military personnel and military families.
Li Wanqing took a quick look around. The selection was fairly comprehensive, no worse than the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives in the big cities, while the prices were more affordable.
When Li Wanqing and Xiao Wu arrived, the service station had just opened for the day.
One of the sales clerks inside was also an acquaintance of Xiao Wu.
“Xiao Zhao, this is Sister-in-law Cheng, Captain Cheng’s wife.”
Xiao Wu introduced her with a flushed face.
Li Wanqing: ……
She seemed to smell some juicy gossip.
The sales clerk called Xiao Zhao was pretty and delicate-looking, with a bright and capable air about her.
As for her relationship with Xiao Wu…
Li Wanqing had a feeling that this silly boy was the only one head over heels.
Xiao Zhao looked slightly surprised before breaking into a smile.
“Hello, Sister-in-law. You must have just moved into the family housing compound, right?”
Li Wanqing nodded.
“Yes. As soon as I moved in, I realized we were missing quite a few things, so I quickly asked Xiao Wu to bring me here.”
Xiao Zhao immediately became enthusiastic in her role as a sales clerk.
“Don’t worry, Sister-in-law. We have all kinds of things here.”
“Food, clothing, daily necessities—we have everything you’d find in the city. As long as it isn’t something especially large, you can buy it right away.”
“Xiao Zhao, I have a list here.”
Li Wanqing took out her shopping list.
“Could you check whether you can get everything on it?”
Xiao Zhao took the list.
After looking at it, she finally understood that Li Wanqing hadn’t been exaggerating when she said they were missing quite a few things.
“Sister-in-law, wait here for a moment. I’ll check everything.”
“Thank you.”
Li Wanqing didn’t bother being polite. There really were too many things, and Xiao Zhao was much more familiar with the stock than she was.
While they waited, quite a few people came in to buy things.
Because Xiao Wu was there, Li Wanqing also met several military wives.
Most of them were wives of Cheng Baichuan’s former comrades, so they were all very warm toward her.
Xiao Zhao worked quickly. In less than half an hour, she had found most of the things on Li Wanqing’s list.
“Sister-in-law, there are a few things the service station doesn’t currently have in stock. Once they arrive, I’ll set them aside for you.”
“Xiao Zhao, I really have to thank you. Without you, this list would have given me a huge headache.”
Li Wanqing checked the list and found that the missing items weren’t particularly urgent, except for the quilt.
“Xiao Zhao, how long will I have to wait for the quilt?”
Without a quilt, a family of three would have a hard time sleeping comfortably.
Xiao Zhao explained, “The quilts are made to order, so the service station usually doesn’t keep them in stock. You can buy cotton when it becomes available, then have the quilt maker next door make one for you.”
“If you need it urgently, it can be ready the next day.”
Li Wanqing: ……
That was careless of her!
“Does the service station have any cotton left right now?” Li Wanqing asked.
Xiao Zhao shook her head.
“Cotton is in high demand. Usually, as soon as a shipment arrives, it gets bought out. This year’s first batch was gone half a month ago. The second batch should arrive within the next day or two.”
Li Wanqing was anxious, but there was nothing she could do.
She could only ask Xiao Zhao to set aside thirty jin of cotton for her when the new shipment arrived.
October was almost here, and the mountains would gradually become colder. She also needed to prepare clothes for autumn and winter.
After walking only a short distance from the service station, Li Wanqing heard a familiar voice.
She followed the sound and saw Auntie Li standing anxiously in front of a pork stall, money clutched tightly in her hand.