The next day, just as dawn broke, after breakfast, the two headed to the market. They had barely reached the entrance when Ruan Ruan heard someone calling Huo Haocheng's name.
"Battalion Commander Huo, what would you like to buy today?" an elderly man in patched clothes called out to Huo Haocheng affectionately.
"Uncle Li, I brought my wife to buy some groceries today." Huo Haocheng led Ruan Ruan to the old man, whose name was Li Dacheng. He was from a nearby village. One night, he slipped and fell while walking home at night, injuring his leg. Huo Haocheng, who had just returned from a mission, saw him and took him to the hospital. Huo Haocheng also helped notify his family. Therefore, the old man was very grateful to Huo Haocheng.
"I have vegetables here. Take a look and take whatever you like." When Uncle Li heard that Huo Haocheng had brought his wife, he looked at Ruan Ruan behind him and thought, "My God, Battalion Commander Huo's wife is so beautiful, like a fairy."
"Uncle Li, weigh it and see how much there is. We'll take it all." Ruan Ruan saw that the persimmons, eggplants, green beans, and vegetables in Uncle Li's basket were all things she wanted to buy. It didn't matter where she bought them; if she bought them, the old man could go home sooner.
"Girl, I have quite a lot of vegetables here, are you going to take them all?" Uncle Li thought that Ruan Ruan was giving her special treatment because of Huo Haocheng. If she bought so many vegetables, they would go bad if she couldn't finish them.
"Uncle Li, Haocheng's comrades are coming over for dinner tonight, so don't worry, they'll all finish their food," Ruan Ruan explained, understanding the old man's meaning.
"Oh, as long as it's finished, there are more than 20 jin here, let's say 20 jin, it's two cents a jin, just give me 4 mao," Uncle Li said to Huo Haocheng.
Afterwards, Huo Haocheng bent down and picked all the vegetables from the carrying pole into his basket. Ruan Ruan took out 50 cents and gave it to Uncle Li. She could tell that the vegetables weighed more than that. But since the old man had said so, she didn't want to take advantage of him, so she gave him an extra 10 cents. She gave him the money and left, not giving them a chance to say another word.
The two arrived at the butcher shop, but all the fatty meat had been bought. Ruan Ruan glanced at it.
"Uncle, how much are your pork belly, lean meat, and this pig's head?" Ruan Ruan didn't want to ask about each item individually, so she asked for a package price.
"You want this pig's head? Girl, there's not much oil in it!" The butcher was also encountering someone selling pig's heads for the first time, and it was a young girl at that. He recognized Huo Haocheng who was following behind. "Commander Huo, aren't you going to stop me?"
"Brother Yuan, this is my wife. Our family listens to her," Huo Haocheng said to the pig butcher. The pig butcher's real name was Yuan Ming. He was not old, but he was burly and gave people a feeling of not being easy to mess with because of his pig-slaughtering skills.
"Oh, so it's your sister-in-law. Hey, you should have said so earlier. Consider this a gift from your brother Yuan. Sister-in-law, what do you need?" Upon hearing Huo Haocheng's introduction, Yuan Ming turned around, packed the pig's head, and tossed it to Huo Haocheng.
"Brother Yuan, this won't do. We can't take a single needle or thread from you. Besides, we still need to buy meat. How much is it? We'll pay for it all at once. Oh, and this big bone too." Seeing Yuan Ming's actions, Ruan Ruan knew Huo Haocheng wouldn't really take the pig's head for free, so she simply paid for everything else they needed.
"Sister-in-law, this meat weighs five jin, and it's 6 mao per jin. I'll give you the bones, and the pig's head is on me. Give me 4 yuan in total." Yuan Ming knew that soldiers couldn't take things from ordinary people for free, and he didn't want to cause trouble for Huo Haocheng, so he accepted one yuan.
After paying, Ruan Ruan glanced at the market, which she could see in a few glances, bought some fruit, and the two went back.
"Looks like we need to find some time to buy a bicycle." Seeing Huo Haocheng carrying so much stuff and having to walk so far, it's really inconvenient without a vehicle.
"Then let's see when we have time off, and go together." Huo Haocheng was thinking that with a bicycle, he could take Ruan Ruan out to play in the surrounding area when he had time off.
Are you tired? Do you want to rest for a bit before you go on?
"I'm not tired. It's not that heavy. We run with 50 kilograms on our backs during training. Are you tired?" Huo Haocheng looked at Ruan Ruan. She was worried about Ruan Ruan, who usually didn't like to go out, because she had followed him for such a long distance today.
"It's alright, not too tiring. Let's keep going."
When the two returned home, Ruan Ruan immediately poured herself and Huo Haocheng a large glass of water. After drinking it, she exclaimed, "Finally, I'm alive again!"
After finishing his drink, Huo Haocheng said, "My bad, I forgot to bring water when I left."
Normally, Huo Haocheng could walk a few kilometers in 20 minutes, and the round trip plus shopping time would take less than an hour. But he forgot that Ruan Ruan had come with him today, and the round trip plus grocery shopping time took more than three hours. It seems he needs to buy a bicycle as soon as possible.
"You rest for a bit, I'll go get the vegetables," Huo Haocheng said, carrying the basket on his back towards the laundry area.
At noon, the two of them simply cooked a dish and ate it. After lunch, Ruan Ruan went to rest, while Huo Haocheng cooked the pig's head and meat and then went to the military headquarters. He had only asked for leave in the morning, as he had things to arrange in the afternoon.
After resting, Ruan Ruan began preparing the dishes, first stewing the pork bones and radishes, and then washing the rest.
"Ruan Ruan, Ruan Meizi, are you home?" Wang Xia, feeling it was about time, brought Aunt Xie Lianhua over.
"Sister, I'm here, I'm here," Ruan Ruan said, shaking the water off her hands as she heard Wang Xia's voice. She ran to open the door.
"Sister, Auntie, come in quickly!" Ruan Ruan thought that only Wang Xia had come first, but she didn't expect there to be an older woman behind her, so she was a little stunned.
"Young lady, this is Aunt Xie, Commander Feng's wife," Wang Xia introduced the two. "Auntie, this is Battalion Commander Huo's wife, Ruan Ruan. Isn't she beautiful?"
"Auntie, hello, I'm Ruan Ruan," Ruan Ruan said politely to Xie Lianhua.
"She's a pretty girl. No wonder Hao Cheng is so obsessed with her." Xie Lianhua thought Ruan Ruan was too beautiful the moment she saw her. If she were her own daughter, she would spoil her every day. She could also understand why Huo Hao Cheng was in such a hurry to go back and get married. What if someone snatched her away if he didn't go back soon?
"Auntie, Sister, come on in, don't stand here," Ruan Ruan said, feeling a little embarrassed by their direct stares.
"Yes, yes, let's go in."
"Auntie, sister, please have some water first. Thank you for coming to help me." Ruan Ruan poured a glass of water for the two of them and added some sugar.
"The water here, just like you, makes me feel so sweet."
"If you like it, Auntie, please come often."
"Alright, we've had the water, let's get started," Xie Lianhua said, heading towards the kitchen.
"If there's anything we can help you with, just let us know," Wang Xia said, following closely behind into the kitchen.
"I'm washing the vegetables right now, so could you please help me with the vegetables, Aunt and Sister? I'll braise this pig's head meat first." Huo Haocheng had cleaned and cut the meat, so Ruan Ruan only needed to do the cooking.
After that, Ruan Ruan was in charge of cooking the dishes that took longer to prepare, while Wang Xia and Aunt Xie were in charge of washing and chopping the vegetables.
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