Early the next morning, their planned trip to the General’s Temple had to be postponed.
The house simply lacked too many necessities.
Aside from one bed and a few chairs, they didn’t even have a proper wardrobe. Their clothes were still piled inside woven sacks.
More importantly, Tangtang had barely been able to turn over on the tiny bed the night before. They needed to buy the little girl a real children’s bed.
“Let’s go to the supply cooperative first.”
Qin Zhan drove the army jeep over early that morning.
Lin Wan had no objections.
She also wanted to see what a shopping center from this era looked like.
Besides, she still had several hundred yuan she’d quietly taken from the Lin family before leaving, and she was looking for a chance to spend it.
The supply cooperative near the military compound was the largest in the area.
It was a three-story building. Although the exterior walls were weathered and peeling, the inside was packed with people.
The first floor sold food and daily necessities.
The second floor specialized in fabric and clothing.
The third floor carried furniture, appliances, and hardware.
As soon as they walked in, they were greeted by the mixed scents of soy sauce, vinegar, and Snow Cream skin moisturizer.
The place was so crowded it felt like a bustling marketplace.
“Stay close.”
Holding Tangtang in one arm, Qin Zhan naturally reached out his other hand toward Lin Wan.
She blinked.
[What? He wants to hold hands?]
[Isn’t this a little embarrassing in public?]
[Though… his hand does look big and reassuring. Long fingers, broad palm…]
[Ah, whatever. Better than getting separated and having them call my name over the loudspeaker.]
Lin Wan slipped her hand into his.
His hand was dry, warm, and rough with a thin layer of calluses.
The touch made her heart itch ever so slightly.
The corner of Qin Zhan’s lips lifted almost imperceptibly as he tightened his grip around her soft little hand.
“Let’s buy the bed first.”
The three of them headed straight to the third floor.
The furniture section wasn’t nearly as crowded.
Several old-fashioned wooden beds and large double-door wardrobes with attached mirrors were on display.
“Comrade, we’d like that four-foot bed and that double-door wardrobe.”
Qin Zhan pointed toward the furniture in the corner.
The saleswoman, a middle-aged woman chatting while cracking sunflower seeds, didn’t even bother looking up.
“That bed’s already reserved.”
“The wardrobe’s out of stock.”
“If you want one, come back next month.”
Her attitude was as cold as ice.
That was simply how employees in state-owned stores behaved in those days.
There was no shortage of customers.
Buy it if you wanted.
Leave if you didn’t.
Lin Wan frowned.
[Next month? By then the lilies will have withered.]
[That bed doesn’t even have a reservation tag on it.]
[She’s obviously saving it for an acquaintance.]
She activated the system’s scanning function.
[Scan complete.]
[The bed hasn’t been reserved.]
[However, there’s a pack of Dashiqian cigarettes hidden beneath the bed frame.]
[Oh? So this is her personal hiding spot.]
Lin Wan let go of Qin Zhan’s hand and walked over with a bright smile.
“Ma’am, if the bed’s reserved…”
“…does that mean the pack of cigarettes underneath it is reserved too?”
The saleswoman’s expression changed instantly.
The sunflower seeds slipped from her hand.
“W-What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Nonsense?”
Lin Wan bent down and reached underneath.
A brand-new unopened pack of cigarettes emerged in her hand.
She casually waved it in the air.
“The supply cooperative has rules, doesn’t it?”
“Employees aren’t allowed to use public property to store personal belongings.”
“And they’re certainly not supposed to reserve scarce merchandise for friends and relatives.”
“If your manager found out…”
The woman’s face turned green.
Back then, a government job was an iron rice bowl.
If someone reported her, she could lose it.
“Oh, little sister!”
“It’s all a misunderstanding!”
She immediately plastered on a smile and hurried around the counter.
“I accidentally dropped those cigarettes under there!”
“And that bed…”
“The customer who reserved it just canceled!”
“You want it, right? It’s in stock! We’ll move it immediately!”
“And the wardrobe—we still have brand-new ones in storage!”
“I’ll have someone bring one over right away!”
Watching the scene unfold, Qin Zhan’s eyes flashed with amusement.
This woman really knew how to avoid being taken advantage of.
After purchasing the furniture, the three of them wandered into the hardware section.
The area was piled high with discarded machine parts and clearance items.
Tangtang’s eyes immediately locked onto them.
“Big Sister… I want that.”
She pointed toward an inconspicuous black box buried among a pile of rusty scrap metal.
It looked like the shell of a broken radio covered in dust.
The salesman glanced over.
“That’s junk.”
“A broken transformer.”
“Take it away for fifty cents.”
Qin Zhan reached for his wallet.
But Lin Wan stopped him.
[Wait.]
[System Notification: High-precision aviation-grade aluminum casing. Contains rare-metal electrical contacts.]
[An imported radar component that was mistakenly sold as scrap?]
[Maybe old Soviet equipment?]
[If someone repaired this thing, it could probably intercept signals halfway around the world.]
Lin Wan crouched down and pretended to rummage through the junk.
“This is basically just a metal shell.”
“Fifty cents is too much.”
“Throw in that roll of copper wire and the broken soldering iron next to it.”
“I’ll give you one yuan for the whole pile.”
The salesman couldn’t have been happier to clear out the clutter.
“Deal! Deal! Take it all!”
Lin Wan happily paid.
[Jackpot!]
[This isn’t junk.]
[It’s the foundation of future black technology!]
[Tangtang really has an incredible eye!]
Just as they were about to leave, a mocking voice came from behind them.
“Well, if it isn’t Captain Qin.”
“What happened?”
“Can’t afford life in Courtyard No. 1 anymore?”
“Now you’re dragging your wife and kid here to pick through trash?”
Qin Zhan turned around.
A man wearing a Zhongshan suit with slicked-back hair stood there.
Beside him was a heavily made-up woman.
The man was Zhao Gang, deputy regiment commander of the neighboring Second Regiment.
He happened to be Battalion Commander Wang—the rumored love interest of Su Rou’s—direct superior, and he had always been at odds with Qin Zhan.
The woman beside him was Li Yan, another beauty from the performing arts troupe and Su Rou’s close friend.
Looking at the dirty black box in Lin Wan’s hands, Li Yan covered her nose and burst into laughter.
“Oh my.”
“Country girls really are different.”
“They treat garbage like treasure.”
“Captain Qin, if you’re short on money, just ask.”
“I’m sure Deputy Commander Zhao wouldn’t mind lending you some.”
Lin Wan stood up and dusted off her hands.
[Great… two more volunteers lining up to get humiliated.]
[Does this supply cooperative have terrible feng shui or something?]
[Why do idiots keep showing up?]
She casually looked Zhao Gang up and down.
[Deputy Commander Zhao looks respectable enough…]
[So why does there seem to be a green glow over his head?]
[System Notification: His little sweetheart Li Yan accepted a gold ring from Battalion Commander Wang yesterday.]
[Wow… what a messy circle.]
Lin Wan smiled.
A perfectly harmless smile.
“Deputy Commander Zhao, right?”
“I don’t know whether this junk is treasure.”
“But the gold ring on Comrade Li Yan’s finger certainly looks valuable.”
“I’m just curious…”
“Did you buy it for her…”
“…or did Battalion Commander Wang?”
The entire store fell silent.
Zhao Gang’s face instantly turned the color of pig liver.
Li Yan was so startled that she hid her hand behind her back.
“Y-You’re talking nonsense!”
“Nonsense?”
Lin Wan shrugged.
“I think there’s an engraving inside the ring.”
“Why don’t you take it off and let everyone have a look?”
“If I remember correctly…”
“…doesn’t it have the character ‘Wang’ engraved inside?”
Immediately, every bystander turned to stare at Li Yan’s hand.
There was no way she dared remove the ring.
With a terrified scream, she shoved through the crowd and fled.
Seeing her reaction, Zhao Gang understood everything.
A huge green hat—the Chinese symbol for being cheated on—had just been placed squarely on his head in front of everyone.
He shot Qin Zhan a venomous glare before chasing after Li Yan.
“Li Yan!”
“Get back here!”
Another farce had ended with Lin Wan emerging as the clear victor.
Qin Zhan watched the pair disappear in utter embarrassment before looking at the calm, composed woman beside him.
For the first time, he found himself thinking…
Marrying a wife like her wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
At the very least…
Life would never be boring.
“Let’s go home.”
Qin Zhan took the large bag of “junk” from Lin Wan’s hands.
His voice carried a trace of affection that even he himself hadn’t noticed.
“We’ll let Tangtang figure out what this treasure can actually do once we get back.”