Chapter 47 Buying Pots and Pans
All three of them were startled by the sudden sound.
The curtain was suddenly flung open with a "whoosh," and two children, covered in mud like monkeys, rushed in.
"Mom! Mom! Look what we caught!"
The leader was a little boy of seven or eight years old, with only his bright eyes shining on his dark face. He and his sister, who looked to be five or six years old, were carrying a large, still lively fish. The fish was thicker than the little girl's arm, and when it flicked its tail, it splashed mud all over the ground.
The two children, with smug smiles on their faces, proudly presented the fish to Li Chunyan like a treasure.
"Mom! It's a grouper! And it's huge!"
The smile on Li Chunyan's face froze instantly when she saw their soaked trouser legs and mud-covered bodies, and then turned ashen at a visible speed.
The atmosphere in the room plummeted to freezing point once again.
"Lu Hongbing! Lu Ailing!"
Li Chunyan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of impending doom.
She slowly stood up, her gaze shifting from the lively fish to the two children's wet, salty hair.
"You guys went to the beach again?!"
The little boy, Lu Hongbing, shrank back, still trying to argue: "No, no, Mom, we were just picking up seashells on the beach. The fish was washed ashore by the waves..."
"You dare lie!" Li Chunyan was so angry that she grabbed a feather duster from the corner of the wall and rushed over in a few steps. "How many times have I told you! Don't go near that sea! Did you just ignore me?!"
"Wow—" The little girl, Lu Ailing, burst into tears on the spot. The two children dropped the fish and ran outside.
Li Chunyan chased after him with a feather duster, causing chaos in the yard.
"Stop right there! I'll break your legs today!"
Seeing this, Xu Caixia quickly pulled back the astonished Su Yue and explained in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, don't let Chunyan's gentle demeanor fool you. She's really ruthless when it comes to children going into the sea. You don't know, just last month, two boys from the neighboring camp sneaked off to play at the beach, and one wave came and they were gone... When they were pulled out, their families were devastated. Since then, in the entire residential compound, if any family's child dares to go near that wild sea, the mothers go crazy."
Su Yue's heart sank upon hearing this, and when she looked at the woman chasing after the child in the yard, her eyes showed a hint of understanding.
Soon, Li Chunyan picked up the two children, one in each hand, and threw them into the corner.
"Stand still! Stand against the wall! Don't move unless I tell you to!"
Her chest heaved with anger as she pointed at the two children with their heads hanging low. "You two, each of you write a two-thousand-word self-criticism! If you don't hand it in before dinner tonight, neither of you will eat!"
The two children stood there sobbing, not daring to utter a sound.
After disciplining the child, Li Chunyan returned, panting heavily. When she saw Su Yue, she forced an apologetic smile: "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry you had to see this."
"Sister-in-law, it's alright." Su Yue shook her head.
The two little ones who were standing in the corner as punishment secretly raised their heads and curiously looked at Su Yue with their bright black eyes.
“Sister…” Lu Ailing said timidly, “You are so beautiful.”
Lu Hongbing, the older brother, nodded in agreement: "She's even prettier than our school's teachers."
Su Yue was amused by them, thinking that although the two children were naughty, they had a sweet tongue. She took out two White Rabbit milk candies from her cloth bag and secretly handed them to Li Chunyan when she wasn't looking.
"Eat quickly, don't let your mother see."
The two children's eyes lit up, and they quickly unwrapped the candy and stuffed it into their mouths, their cheeks puffed out, giving Su Yue a sweet smile.
Li Chunyan looked at the grouper still thrashing about on the ground, sighed, and said to the two children, "After you've finished standing in the corner as punishment, clean this fish and take it to your Uncle Gu and Aunt Su Yue! Consider it a housewarming gift for them!"
Accompanied by two military wives, Su Yue marched in a large group towards the military service center.
Although the furniture has been delivered, we still need to buy our own pots, pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
The saleswoman at the service store was a woman in her forties. When she saw the order form that Su Yue handed over, her eyes twitched.
"Comrade, are you sure you want this much?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Su Yue nodded.
"Fifty catties of high-gluten flour, fifty catties of rice, ten catties of noodles, ten catties of fatty pork, five packets of sea salt, two bottles of soy sauce, two bottles of vinegar, five catties each of white sugar and brown sugar, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon... one snowflake iron pot, five enamel basins, four washcloths, two thermos flasks..." The salesperson read until her throat was dry, and there was still a long list.
Xu Caixia and Li Chunyan, who were standing nearby, were also astonished. They thought to themselves that this sister-in-law seemed quiet and unassuming, but she was quite good at managing her finances. She had prepared all the family's wealth at once.
When it came time to pay, Su Yue handed over the money and receipt, but Xu Caixia and Li Chunyan whispered a few words to the salesperson and insisted on paying for a pot and a brand-new washboard.
"Sister-in-law, this is our wedding gift to you and Beichen!" Xu Caixia patted her chest, not allowing Su Yue to refuse. "From now on, Beichen will wash your clothes! Men need to be toughened up!"
Li Chunyan smiled and stuffed a thermos into Su Yue's arms: "That's right! Sister-in-law, your hands aren't meant for rough work."
Su Yue felt a warm glow in her heart and accepted it without further hesitation.
"Then thank you both, sisters-in-law."
The three of them carried large and small bags, and the two enthusiastic military wives led Su Yue around the family compound.
“Sister-in-law, look, that’s the service center over there, we just went there. The two-story building in front is a daycare center. If you and Beichen have a child, you can send him there during the day, it’ll save you a lot of trouble,” Xu Caixia said, pointing to the distance.
Li Chunyan added, "The nursery is right next to a school for employees' children, with grades from elementary to junior high. The teachers in our military region are just as good as those in the city."
As Su Yue looked around, she discovered that although the military compound was small, it was fully equipped, practically an independent little society with excellent living facilities.
The three chatted and laughed, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the entrance of the military hospital.
The hospital is a three-story white building. Doctors and nurses in white coats are coming and going at the entrance, as well as many military dependents who come to see a doctor.
"The conditions at our military hospital are among the best in the entire Hainan Island," Xu Caixia said with considerable pride.
Su Yue nodded, about to speak, when her gaze suddenly froze.
Just then, a group of nurses walked out of the hospital gate, surrounding a woman walking in the middle, seemingly discussing some medical case.
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