After buying their things, the two went back to the car. They saw some military wives already sitting inside, eating the cornbread they'd brought from home. Zhao Qinghuai greeted them, opened the front door, put the things inside, checked the time, and said:

"It's almost noon, shall we go eat?"

Lin Ying was also a little hungry, so she nodded. She had bought almost everything she needed, and now that there was a military wife sitting in the car, she didn't have to worry about losing anything. She smiled at the military wife who was eating cornbread as a greeting, and then followed Zhao Qinghuai to the state-run restaurant.

This was Lin Ying's first time in such a place, and since she didn't intend to ask, she simply asked Zhao Qinghuai to buy food.

After a while, Zhao Qinghuai came over: "I've already bought the food, here are the tickets. I just remembered there's something else I haven't bought yet, I'll ask you to get it when someone calls you. Don't wait for me, just eat first."

Lin Ying nodded, indicating that he didn't need to worry.

Not long after Zhao Qinghuai left, the waiter called out. Lin Ying hurried over, gave the ticket to the waiter, and brought the dishes over in three trips. She also had to get her own bowls and chopsticks.

Lin Ying didn't eat first, but waited for Zhao Qinghuai to come back before eating together.

Fortunately, the state-run restaurant was bustling with customers, but not so crowded that they needed to give up their seats. About half an hour later, Zhao Qinghuai came in carrying a basket on her back. She remembered that the baskets at home were always filled with things, but this one was clearly new. It was obvious that this person had bought it temporarily to carry things.

Although Lin Ying was curious about what he had bought, he clearly didn't want her to see what he had bought, so she stopped being curious.

After finishing their meal, the two returned to their parking spot together.

From a distance, Lin Ying could see that several people were already sitting in the car, and a few others were looking inside through the windows.

The two walked over, and Zhao Qinghuai said with a smile, "Everyone's here so early?"

Seeing Zhao Qinghuai and Lin Ying, some who were initially feeling guilty quickly climbed into the car and pretended not to know anything, while others, with thick skin, directly asked:

"Commander Zhao, you've bought quite a lot of things, it must have cost a lot of money."

Zhao Qinghuai's gaze was so intense that the person was about to go in and see what was going on as soon as he opened the door, but he didn't dare to open it.

"We just moved here not long ago, and we're lacking everything. You know, even a broken home can be worth a fortune. These things may seem insignificant, but we can't afford not to buy them."

He talked a lot but didn't specify what he bought, but the general idea was that he bought things for daily life.

The old woman wasn't giving up and asked again, "I saw that you bought grain in that bag? Why did you buy so much?"

Zhao Qinghuai wasn't embarrassed at all: "I have a big appetite, I'm not an old lady. How about I open the door and let you look at each item one by one? Then I'll explain to you why we bought these?"

Although Zhao Qinghuai was young, he held a high official position. Hearing him say this, the old woman knew he was displeased, and quickly smiled apologetically:

"No need, no need. Oh dear, it's getting late, I'll wait in the car first." After saying that, she went to the back and got into the car.

The military dependents on the bus, who had just been craning their necks to look this way, realized what was happening and quickly pulled their necks back, not daring to utter a sound. However, rumors circulated in the family compound that Lin Ying was the daughter of a capitalist, spending money extravagantly and clearly not knowing how to manage a household.

Lin Ying didn't interact much with these people, so she naturally didn't know about these rumors. It was only later, when things escalated to the point that higher authorities sent people to investigate.

Of course, Lin Ying was unaware of all this at the moment. She just kept from laughing as she looked at Zhao Qinghuai's serious expression and the reactions of the people in the car.

Although the bus was supposed to depart at 3 PM, everyone arrived in the car before 2 PM because they had finished their own business. Zhao Qinghuai simply drove back.

The car stopped at the entrance of the family compound. After everyone got off, Zhao Qinghuai drove directly to their house.

He wouldn't let Lin Ying carry the things out of the car; instead, he made three trips to carry everything back himself. Then he went to return the car.

Seeing that it was still early, Lin Ying washed the clothes she had bought and washed the shoes as well. She didn't like the smell of new clothes and shoes; clothes could be worn out, but they couldn't have any strange odor.

When Zhao Qinghuai returned, he saw that Lin Ying had just finished washing the shoes and was hanging them on a wooden board in the sun to dry.

Seeing that Lin Ying had finished getting ready, Zhao Qinghuai pulled her back to her room.

Lin Ying raised an eyebrow. They wouldn't let her see the things they bought before, but now they're letting her see them?

Zhao Qinghuai pulled Lin Ying back to the room and took out the things he had bought, one by one, which were wrapped in supply and marketing cooperative packaging paper.

Zhao Qinghuai opened the first paper package, inside was white polyester fabric with a floral pattern.

Zhao Qinghuai chuckled and said, "I asked around, but they didn't have any ready-made clothes in your size, so I bought some fabric instead. Commissar Wang's wife knows how to sew, so I'll trouble her to make some for you. I'll talk to her about it."

As he spoke, he took out another paper package and opened it, revealing black polyester fabric inside: "These are for you to make pants! There's also a pair of shoes. I checked the size of the work shoes you bought, and the ones I bought are the same size, so they'll definitely fit you."

As he spoke, he took out the shoes again.

She could tell that Zhao Qinghuai wanted to do everything he could to make her life better.

To be honest, despite having the memories of her youngest son and knowing from the contents of that book how unfriendly society is to her, Lin Ying is incredibly fortunate to have a safe haven now.

However, the vast difference in material wealth is not something Lin Ying can accept simply by understanding the current state of society.

It was her grandfather's upbringing that taught her to love herself and respect others. Her current life was not caused by Zhao Qinghuai, and even the fact that she can live a stable life now is thanks to Zhao Qinghuai. The money she spends is also from Zhao Qinghuai.

She had no reason to lose her temper with him, nor any reason to continue acting like a spoiled princess. So, she forced herself to face reality and adapt to her current life.

After seeing Zhao Qinghuai take out another box containing a women's watch, he chuckled and explained, "Hehe, I didn't let you see it before because I was worried you wouldn't like it and would want to return it. This is how things are here. I'll buy you a better one when I go to a big city."

Lin Ying was completely moved. The supply and marketing cooperative only had so many items, and the variety was pitifully small. Lin Ying had worn all sorts of shoes, so naturally she didn't find the styles in the cooperative appealing.

So, in her opinion, work boots were ugly and no different from other styles of shoes, but they were something he had prepared for her with great care.

Putting aside her past interactions with Zhao Qinghuai, she has only spent two days with her now.

For the past two days, as long as he was around, she didn't have to do laundry, cook, or do any housework. He even noticed when she had trouble keeping track of the time. How could she not feel his care for her?