Chapter 109 A Cunning Man!

It was almost 3 p.m., and if they went to the city now, they would be back very late at night, so the family went directly to the town.

Jianghui Town is commonly referred to as a town by locals, but due to its large population and the presence of a large military region, it enjoys preferential treatment in politics, economy, and culture. A branch of the city's department store has also been established here, so there is also a department store here, though smaller and with fewer items than the city's, but it still has a full range of essential goods. People from Qin Suisui's compound usually come here to buy whatever they need.

There's more than enough money to buy a dress.

Upon entering the department store, Pei Jiuyan led Qin Suisui and Zanzan straight to the fabric counter on the second floor.

Qiongtan Island is hot all year round, so most of the fabrics sold here are summer fabrics. Behind the counter, there are several rows of ready-made clothes hanging on the wall, including women's dresses, short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and skirts.

The sales clerk was very enthusiastic. As soon as they came in, she stared at the ready-made clothes on the wall and hurriedly introduced them with a smile: "You guys have a good eye. These are ready-made clothes that arrived this morning. The dresses and skirts were all transferred from Guangzhou. There are only a few of them!"

Qin Suisui looked at the dresses on the wall and thought they were all quite pretty. She immediately spotted the dark blue overall dress on the wall, paired with a white shirt. The whole outfit looked youthful and energetic, and overall dresses are also called work dresses, so both the color and style are always a safe bet.

Pei Jiuyan, however, took a liking to the reddish-brown dress next to her. He thought Qin Suisui had fair skin and a bright appearance, so she would definitely look good in it. Of course, the most important reason was that he knew Qin Suisui had always liked brightly colored dresses, but since coming to Qiongtan Island, she had always worn extremely understated white, gray, and blue clothes. He always felt that he had made her "lose her color" and wanted to "dye it back."

Moreover, brownish-red, also known as rust red, symbolizes "revolutionary passion" and is a color that will never go wrong.

The two dresses, excluding the cloth coupons, required 14.5 yuan in cash, which was well within the budget. In the end, Pei Jiuyan simply made the decision and bought both dresses.

Qin Suisui was a little embarrassed. At home, she had been saying "no, no" to the purchase, but she ended up buying two!

Pei Jiuyan saw through her thoughts. While the sales clerk was helping to pack the clothes, he bent down and whispered in her ear, "I'm your man. I earn money for you to spend."

At those words, Qin Suisui's face immediately turned bright red. She awkwardly pushed him, but couldn't budge him, so she took a step to the side herself.

Zan Zan looked up at her parents' sweet expression and couldn't help but cover her mouth with her little black hand and giggle.

Qin Suisui looked down slightly and saw that Zanzan's shorts had another hole, so she decided to buy Zanzan a pair of shorts and sandals. The child was young and crawled and rolled on the ground all day long, which wore out his pants and shoes the most.

After buying things for the mother and son, I went downstairs to the grocery store and bought some snacks that they liked.

Qin Suisui looked at Pei Jiuyan carrying several large bags, all for her and Zanzan. He hadn't bought anything for himself. She secretly squeezed his hand: "Aren't you going to buy something?"

Pei Jiuyan chuckled: "I lack nothing, and I have plenty of clothes. The army issues several sets of clothes a year, so you don't need to worry."

Qin Suisui thought of the piece of military green fabric that she and her mother-in-law had fought over in Beijing, and decided to take it to Aunt Wu to make her a set of clothes.

After leaving the department store, it was almost lunchtime, so the three of them headed straight for a state-run restaurant.

The dishes at the state-run restaurant in town are very local. The main dishes are braised mackerel, poached chicken, and stir-fried shredded pork with pickled bamboo shoots. Qin Suisui didn't like poached chicken, so Pei Jiuyan ordered a braised mackerel and a stir-fried shredded pork with pickled bamboo shoots. The staple food was chicken rice, which is rice cooked with chicken oil.

Qin Suisui didn't have much of an appetite, but this stir-fried pork with pickled bamboo shoots was particularly appetizing, and she ate without even looking up. Seeing that she liked it, Pei Jiuyan smiled and said, "I remember Uncle Lin picked a lot of tender bamboo shoots in the spring and pickled them. If you like them, I'll go back and exchange some with him later, and I'll make them for you every day."

Qin Suisui looked up at him: "Wouldn't that be inappropriate? Why don't you go dig up some bamboo shoots yourself?"

"The pickled bamboo shoots we're eating now are probably made from yellow bamboo shoots, which are crisp and refreshing. But yellow bamboo shoots are only available from April to June. Now it's the end of August, and we only have bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots aren't as tender as yellow bamboo shoots, but they're still delicious when cooked properly. If you want to pick some, tomorrow is the weekend, and I'll take you there."

Zan Zan raised his hand from the side: "Mom and Dad, I want to go too! I can dig bamboo shoots too!"

Qin Suisui nodded with a smile: "Okay, let's go as a family!"

The journey to town wasn't far, and since it was a private trip, Pei Jiuyan usually wouldn't request a car, so they came by bicycle.

Zan Zan was held and sat on the crossbar in front of the bicycle, while Qin Sui Sui sat behind her. The things they had bought were hung on the handlebars. Facing the evening breeze and the setting sun, the family happily discussed their bamboo shoot digging trip for the next day.

Qin Suisui and Zanzan were both very excited, especially Zanzan. This family trip to the mountains to dig bamboo shoots was no different from going on a spring outing. Moreover, his father was too busy with work, so he rarely went out with his parents at the same time!

He happily swung his dark little feet, humming an unknown nursery rhyme in front of him.

Qin Suisui suddenly remembered something, leaned her face against Pei Jiuyan's broad back and asked, "Pei Jiuyan, haven't you been out to sea for more than a week?"

Pei Jiuyan nodded: "The temperature has been unusually high during this period, and some of our brothers have fallen ill one after another. We have suspended our sea operations unless there is an urgent mission."

Qin Suisui frowned: "Has this never happened in previous years?"

Pei Jiuyan looked up at the sky: "No, it's never been this hot in previous years, even at the hottest times. The weather this year is very strange. There might be a super typhoon soon."

Speaking of typhoons, Qin Suisui recalled that night on the deserted island. Although she was hiding in her spatial dimension, the pitch-black night and the howling wind like a demon caused the trees on the island, which were thicker than a person, to bend and fall. For Qin Suisui, who grew up inland, that scene was unforgettable.

"Is it stronger than the last typhoon?"

Pei Jiuyan nodded: "The last typhoon was of average strength, but this one might be much stronger."

In short, Qin Suisui couldn't help but tightly grip Pei Jiuyan's shirt at the waist with both hands.

Knowing she was scared, Pei Jiuyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, super typhoons usually give advance warnings. We'll just stay home and not go out."

"How about we don't go bamboo shoot digging tomorrow?"

"It won't be that fast. Maybe we'll dig them up tomorrow and pickle them. We can eat them while staying at home during the typhoon."

Pei Jiuyan never expected that his words would come true just a few days later.

That evening, after returning home, Pei Jiuyan went to Uncle Lin's place first and traded several pounds of pickled bamboo shoots with cucumbers and tomatoes from his yard. Knowing that Qin Suisui wanted to eat them, Uncle Lin didn't hesitate and took a lot more, muttering, "Our inland kids are bound to be a little unaccustomed to this place when they first come here. The weather this year is also very strange. Don't let Suisui go hungry. You should take more back with you."

The next morning, Pei Jiuyan got up early to cook breakfast. He made a cold dish of pickled bamboo shoots and tomato and egg noodles. He also diced the cured meat and pickled bamboo shoots that Qin Suisui had left in the kitchen and cooked them with white rice to make a pot of pickled bamboo shoot and cured meat rice. He also fried a few small yellow croakers. This was his lunch to take out later.

After breakfast was prepared, Qin Suisui took Zanzan downstairs. Seeing the breakfast laid out on the table, Qin Suisui was already used to it; whenever Pei Jiuyan was home, he was usually the one who cooked. He only let her cook if she felt like it herself.

The bamboo grove where they are going to dig bamboo shoots today is on the mountain of Guangmingding Brigade, in the other direction of the medicinal herb garden.

This bamboo grove is a private forest belonging to the brigade. Except under special circumstances, the bamboo shoots produced here must be handed over to the collective. Under normal circumstances, they can be picked by team members and families of military personnel. However, if more are picked, money must be paid.

People usually prefer to pick yellow bamboo shoots, but the harvesting season for yellow bamboo shoots has already passed, so there aren't many people around. When they arrived, they hardly saw anyone.

It's much cooler up in the mountains than down in the valleys, and this bamboo forest is so lush and green that the perceived temperature drops by several degrees.

Pei Jiuyan pointed to the bamboo forest on the other side and showed it to her: "That's the collective bamboo forest of the brigade. The brigade organizes people to dig it up together. This is the private bamboo forest."

Qin Suisui had been to the mountain several times, but had never walked this way before, so she found it quite strange to see this bamboo forest. The bamboo there was mostly moso bamboo, which has thin, straight culms, while the base of the *Phyllostachys edulis* often swells like a Buddha's belly and is a darker color.

Right now, in the bamboo forest, between the bamboo stalks, many tender bamboo shoots are breaking through the soil, their delicate tips emerging. Some bamboo shoots have already grown out, small at the top and large at the bottom, thin at the top and thick at the bottom, plump and looking very cute.

"Wow, I didn't expect there to still be so many bamboo shoots here at the end of August." Qin Suisui exclaimed as she broke off a bamboo shoot that had just sprouted.

"Yes, there was a thunderstorm in the early morning, so there are more bamboo shoots emerging. However, bamboo shoots will only be available until September at the latest, and then it will be over soon." Pei Jiuyan's hands didn't stop moving as he was responsible for digging up the bamboo shoots that had just sprouted.

"Did it rain in the early morning? How come I didn't know?" Qin Suisui was a little confused.

Pei Jiuyan looked up and stared at her intently, his eyes filled with an ambiguous smile.

Qin Suisui instantly understood. She turned to look at Zanzan, who was still struggling with a large bamboo shoot. Seeing that he hadn't noticed her, she gave Pei Jiuyan a reproachful look and turned her back to concentrate on digging bamboo shoots.

Why didn't she know it was raining in the early morning? Because she was too tired and fell asleep!

Yesterday, after they finished eating at the state-run restaurant, it was only a little past six o'clock. The family took a walk on the beach for a while, then went home to shower and go to bed.

For a while, she had to give Chi Donglin acupuncture almost every other day, which was very taxing. Pei Jiuyan didn't want to touch her, so he took care of it himself in the toilet.

Yesterday, Qin Suisui felt bad seeing him sweating profusely from holding back his tears, and asked cheekily, "Do you want me to help you?" Now she's stuck helping him for most of the night. If it weren't for the fact that they still had to go up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots today, Pei Jiuyan probably wouldn't have let her go so soon.

Looking back now, that man definitely did it on purpose! He deliberately made me feel sorry for him!

She had never seen him look so pitiful last night when she was still weak!

What a cunning man!