Chapter 20...

Chapter Twenty

The painting that Yao Anhui gave to Lu Yuanqing was a decision she made after thinking about it for a long time.

Because this is not ancient times, men can give many things as gifts. Valuable gifts include jade rings, jade pendants, jade crowns and other jewelry, as well as handmade embroidered items such as handkerchiefs and money bags. However, many of these things are no longer used now, and because of this chaotic era, many things are not even used.

Therefore, Yao Anhui hesitated for a long time before giving a painting, and this painting was not her own, nor was it a portrait of Lu Yuanqing, but a blueprint for her vision of the future.

A tree, a house, a couple working the fields and weaving, children laughing and playing—these elements combine to create a beautiful and warm picture, allowing anyone who sees it to feel the happiness within.

She learned painting after becoming a "favored concubine," so Yao Anhui's painting skills were not outstanding. However, Lu Yuanqing treasured this painting very much. He carefully kept it in his wardrobe and didn't take it out even when his comrades complained. He wanted to keep it as a keepsake.

This painting was done by Yao Anhui last night, and it represents Yao Anhui's true thoughts. She wants a home, one or two children, and a husband who respects and accompanies her.

However, for Lu Yuanqing, who had automatically developed a love-struck mind, this meant that Yao Anhui was full of affection for him, which moved him deeply.

Look at the simple thatched hut in this painting. Yao Anhui was willing to endure hardship with him. Yao Anhui, whose painting skills were average and who only had pennies to spend on paintings, could only produce such a result.

There are two children in this painting. Yao Anhui was willing to have two children with him. She really loves me! Yao Anhui: Her husband comes after the children in her life.

Lu Yuanqing: Those few strokes on the drawing paper are all filled with her deep affection for me!!! ^_^

Yao Anhui: My abilities are limited, so let's leave it at that.

…………

Yao Anhui is undoubtedly someone who knows how to enjoy life. She is not short of money. Yao Ruifeng only has one daughter. She made numerous meritorious contributions in the army and received a lot of bonuses. She also received a retirement allowance. Later, she sacrificed her life to save someone and received a pension. All of this money was left to her by her mother. Yao Anhui has more than a thousand yuan in her hands. If her mother hadn't been in poor health, she would have had even more money.

Lu Yuanqing gave her quite a lot of money, more than two thousand yuan. She didn't know how he saved it up. Yao Anhui knew that newly enlisted soldiers only received 6 yuan a month. Even though Lu Yuanqing's salary increased to 99 yuan a month after becoming a battalion commander, he had only been a battalion commander for a few years.

However, money makes things easier, especially since Lu Yuanqing had thoughtfully prepared a lot of various tickets and certificates, which immediately piqued Yao Anhui's interest in decorating her new home.

How can a woman live without a large wardrobe?

Yao Anhui bought two directly.

Speaking of this, we have to mention Hua Fangling again. Yao Anhui always felt that there was something off about Hua Fangling, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

It's not that Hua Fangling is a bad person; on the contrary, Yao Anhui could sense that Hua Fangling had great goodwill towards her. Even though they had only just met, she always felt that Hua Fangling valued her very much.

For example, Hua Fangling was always very enthusiastic towards her. To an ordinary person, this might seem like a warm and generous personality. However, Yao Anhui was an extremely perceptive person, and she could always easily see through a person's true nature.

Others may describe Hua Fangling as warm, kind, and generous, but Yao Anhui knows that's just a facade. Hua Fangling is only kind and generous to those she truly respects; others will only receive her superficial warmth.

With a personality like that, it's actually quite difficult to truly gain her approval and get into her heart, yet this very person openly shows her favoritism.

Through observation, Yao Anhui also discovered that Hua Fangling was a person who was obsessed with good looks (she even used the term "obsessed with good looks" herself). She was more patient with good-looking people.

But as mentioned earlier, Hua Fangling is very guarded. Even if the other person is very good-looking, Hua Fangling will be enthusiastic and patient when facing them, but this is only on the surface.

But Hua Fangling treated her differently, completely regarding her as one of her own. Yao Anhui was genuinely curious: why would someone with such strong defenses so easily bring her under her wing?

That's right, Hua Fangling did include Yao Anhui in her protection circle.

This is what Yao Anhui found most jarring.

Yao Anhui had previously learned about the chaos of those days, where buying things privately was not allowed. If caught, the punishment would be labor reform, or worse, the loss of her family's jobs.

Therefore, even though Yao Anhui knew about the black market, she never considered going there. She was extremely cautious by nature, and she would never put herself in danger without absolute certainty.

So Yao Anhui made a list of everything the family needed, buying the small items one by one, while larger items like furniture would be bought from the city whenever Lu Yuanqing had time.

However, since her house was next door to Hua Fangling's, Hua Fangling often came over to chat, help out, and fill in any gaps in her plans. When she saw the list Yao Anhui had made, she volunteered to help, saying that she knew people who could buy high-quality and stylish furniture, and that she also had access to rice and flour.

Therefore, Hua Fangling even took Yao Anhui to her house to see her wardrobe. Indeed, Yao Anhui really liked Hua Fangling's wardrobe.

The wardrobes Yao Anhui had seen at the supply and marketing cooperative before were all small, with two doors and drawers inside. But Hua Fangling's wardrobe was much larger. Although the style was simple and there were no fancy carvings or patterns, it still looked simple and beautiful.

Hua Fangling's wardrobe is really big, the size of a wall. It is divided into three layers: top, middle and bottom. The top layer can hold thick items such as quilts. The middle layer has individual cabinets for clothes, and there is also a large space inside where clothes can be hung directly. At the bottom, there are rows of drawers, which seem to be able to hold a lot of things.

Yao Anhui had never seen a wardrobe like this before, but that didn't stop her from wanting it. Yao Anhui thought that no woman could resist such a large wardrobe, right?

Therefore, Yao Anhui did not hesitate to ask Hua Fangling to buy two for her, one for each bedroom, since she would have children in the future.

There's also rice, flour, and cooking oil. Hua Fangling's family's rice is better than others', and their flour is whiter. Most importantly, they have oil. With each person receiving 1.5 jin of oil per month, Hua Fangling's family actually has several barrels of it, including peanut oil and soybean oil.

But then came the part that made Yao Anhui most suspicious: Hua Fangling said that the carpenter who had made furniture for her before happened to have some finished products at home. Three days after Yao Anhui decided to ask her for help, two large wardrobes were delivered to the gate of the military region.

This made it impossible for Yao Anhui not to suspect anything. Yao Anhui was certain that Hua Fangling definitely had a problem.

Yao Anhui quickly understood why Hua Fangling treated her so differently.

A note from the author:

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