"Sister Mei, are you home?" Jiang Xuan found the No. 4 courtyard and knocked on the gate.

"Jiang Xuan, come in. I'll leave as soon as I finish hanging these clothes up. Don't rush, the shuttle bus is still half an hour away."

Zhou Dongmei hadn't left yet; she was hanging clothes to dry in the yard when she heard Jiang Xuan's voice and called out loudly.

"I thought the shuttle bus had left. Sister Mei, you go ahead with your work. My sister is still at our house. I'll wait for you at the door."

"OK."

Zhou Dongmei came out quickly, adjusting the hem of her shirt as she walked.

This shirt was made by her in her hometown. The tailor there was terrible; the clothes he made were never smooth.

"Jiang Xuan, let's go." Zhou Dongmei looked at Lu Xiaomei and asked uncertainly, "Is this your own sister?"

The two are completely different styles.

Her hair is all messed up, it's really hard to stand looking at.

Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "No, she's my younger sister."

"Oh, that's my sister-in-law, she's really pretty."

Lu Xiaomei smiled sweetly, "You must be Sister Mei, hello."

"Why."

Passing by courtyard number three, Zhou Dongmei introduced to Jiang Xuan: "This courtyard is also inhabited by military families. The man is a platoon leader, and the woman's name is Wang Xiuli. She has three sons."

"The man next door seems to work at a machinery factory, and the woman's name is Liu Hongxia. She just gave birth to a baby girl."

"Their houses are just like ours, with two bedrooms."

"There's also a military family in Compound No. 1, but that woman doesn't socialize much."

Jiang Xuan laughed and said, "Sister Mei, you're amazing! You've only been here a few days and you already know so much."

"Hey, summer days are long, and there's not much to do after dinner, so everyone comes out to cool off. Why don't we just chat together and find out?"

“Hey, I’ve noticed something,” Zhou Dongmei suddenly said.

"What's the problem?"

"Among these military dependents, your family is the only one allocated a three-bedroom apartment," Zhou Dongmei said mysteriously. "Does your husband have some connections?"

Jiang Xuan quickly said, "It has nothing to do with me. I'm a platoon leader, just like my brother Liu in your family. It's probably because we have two children."

"Wang Xiuli's family has three sons, so why weren't they allocated a big house?"

Lu Xiaomei said, "You said you have three sons. Three sons can definitely sleep together. My brother has a son and a daughter. They can't sleep together when they get older, can they?"

Zhou Dongmei laughed heartily and pointed to Jiang Xuan's belly, "That's true, and you'll have to have more children in the future."

Jiang Xuan blushed instantly.

They chatted for a while at the entrance of the courtyard, and then a large shuttle bus drove up.

Zhou Dongmei waved, and the shuttle bus stopped.

The driver leaned out of the car window. "Going to the market?"

"Yes, Master."

"Get in the car."

This shuttle bus is a welfare vehicle for the residential compound, and there is no fare, so the bus is always full.

Before the driver could even ask, Zhou Dongmei pulled Jiang Xuan aside and introduced her, "This is Platoon Leader Lu's family."

She then pointed to Lu Xiaomei, "This is his sister."

The news that Lu Shengye suddenly had a wife had already spread far and wide. The driver, who came into contact with many people every day, naturally knew about it as well.

When Jiang Xuan and the others got on the bus, all the seats in the front were already full, and there were only four seats left in the last row, so they sat down.

Wang Yuying and Zhang Qiuqin, who lived in the family compound, were also on the bus, sitting in the front.

They started whispering to each other as soon as they saw Jiang Xuan.

"My God, she doesn't forget to dress up while shopping, and she's even buying things. Is she going to seduce some random guy?"

"Never mind, I won't say anything more. It wouldn't be good if someone overheard."

“When I dropped Fanfan off just now, I saw that we were all very friendly and asked her to make a dress for my daughter. Good heavens, she refused me outright. It's just sewing a tattered piece of clothing, why make such a fuss? Besides, I think her dress is just so-so, nowhere near as good as Master Zhang’s.”

Zhou Dongmei shouted from behind, "Driver, what time will your car be back later?"

"12:30. Just wait at the usual place."

"Master, this is Platoon Leader Lu's first time going to the market. She has a lot of things to buy, so could you please save her some space later?"

"no problem."

*

Gu Ning Market.

The market is located in the center of Gu Ning District, not far from the military region. About half an hour later, the bus stopped.

The buildings on both sides of the street are mostly gray bricks with red roofs, which stand out in the sunlight.

The streets were bustling with people.

Lu Xiaomei explained, "Sister Xuanxuan, this is the most bustling street in Guning District, called Xiguan Road. There's even a night market here at night."

Zhou Dongmei became interested, "What kind of things are sold at the night market?"

"Mainly clothes and snacks."

"There's no shuttle bus at night, otherwise we could come and take a look. By the way, Jiang Xuan, didn't you want to buy a cabinet? There are some over there."

Jiang Xuan nodded, "Then let's go take a look."

The furniture market is located at the end of Xiguan Road.

There is a wide variety of furniture here, and the styles are quite nice; they even have spring mattresses.

Jiang Xuan chose a round dining table and chairs, a combination cabinet of wardrobe and bookcase, a Chinese-style sofa and matching coffee table, and six stools.

Zhou Dongmei stared in disbelief, "Oh my girl, you're buying so much?"

Jiang Xuan feigned a troubled expression and said, "I was thinking of buying a dining table and chairs first so that the child would have a place to eat, and then we could add other things later. But my husband said that it's not easy to come all this way, so if we're going to buy anything, we should buy it all. He even went to borrow money yesterday."

When she said the words "my man," Jiang Xuan was so awkward that she almost bit her tongue.

Zhou Dongmei laughed and said, "Your man really knows how to take care of you."

She pulled Jiang Xuan aside and whispered, "But how much will this cost?"

Jiang Xuan also said in a low voice, "I don't know either. Sister Mei, can you help me bargain later?"

"OK."

Lu Xiaomei said, "It's okay, Xuanxuan-jie. If you don't have enough money, I'll lend it to you. I brought money with me today too."

Lu Xiaomei is not short of money. Lu Pei'an would give her money during holidays, and unlike other parents who would give her a few cents, he would give her two or three yuan every time.

Her grandfather, maternal grandparents, aunt, and brother also give her money.

However, she usually spends money lavishly, and has already spent most of it, so now she only has about 50 yuan left.

The furniture shop owner was a middle-aged man wearing a navy blue Zhongshan suit.

Seeing that Jiang Xuan was buying so much furniture at once, they didn't even bother to entertain the other women who were picking out furniture, focusing all their attention on Jiang Xuan and her group.

"This is our best-selling item, and we're all sold out. The one you're looking at was just delivered yesterday."

"You've chosen solid wood furniture, so you can rest assured about the quality."

Jiang Xuan nodded, "Okay, master, could you please calculate the total cost of all this furniture?"