Chapter 42: Let her remarry?
Ruan Anan rode the "big iron donkey" smoothly through the streets and alleys of Min City.
Supply and marketing cooperatives, department stores, none of them are left out.
The "black market" in Min City is very different from the secretive one in Hai City.
It's more like a semi-public market, bustling with people coming and going.
I haven't seen any messy things like black-on-black things happening.
This made Ruan Anan feel much more at ease.
She has a very clear goal, specializing in daily necessities!
Once you get to Nansha Island, it’s harder to get out than to climb to the sky.
These things are what Han Xin wanted his soldiers to have, the more the better!
A lot of fabrics of various colors were also torn off.
Although she herself can't sew, are those skilled sisters-in-law in the military district's family compound vegetarians?
When the time comes, you can spend some money or exchange something with them and ask them to help you make some new clothes. That would be great.
On the way, she even went back to the guesthouse and asked the enthusiastic military wife at the front desk to give Xu Yancheng a message to prevent him from worrying.
How could she know that Xu Yancheng, this "silent man", had been following her closely?
Seeing his wife thrive in the black market, he finally felt relieved.
After quietly returning to the first floor of the guesthouse, he sat on a bench waiting like a door god.
When Ruan Anan rode her bike back, the sun was almost below the sea level.
Her forehead was sweaty and a few strands of hair stuck to her temples.
Xu Yancheng's heart softened when he saw this, and he silently handed over his washed-white handkerchief: "Have you bought everything?"
Ruan Anan raised her chin proudly, "All ready! Once we head to the dock, we can just pull it onto the boat!"
"Why don't you go upstairs and rest?"
"Waiting for you." Xu Yancheng said briefly, paused, and then added as if remembering something, "It's time for dinner. I'll take you to dinner. Min City specialties."
"Okay!" Ruan Anan agreed readily, turned around and ran upstairs, "I'll go call Sister Ruoyun!"
Xu Yancheng: "..."
The military wife at the front desk couldn't stand it any longer. She stopped sewing the soles of the shoes she was sewing and said angrily, "Hey, Captain! You... you rented this mouth, why are you in such a hurry to return it? Can't you just say, 'An An, I want to have a meal with you two'? Why are you beating around the bush?"
Xu Yancheng's ears felt a little hot. He pursed his lips and humbly asked for advice: "Is this... too direct?"
He was used to being straightforward in the army, but he always felt awkward no matter what he said to his wife.
"Direct? Beating around the bush is useless!"
The military wife rolled her eyes and said, "What do women want? Isn't it just to be the apple of a man's eye and have that special care? Look at what you say to your wife, there are even fewer words you say to me! If you don't say it, if you don't express it, how will she know that you care about her? Just guess?"
Xu Yancheng was silent.
He really didn't have a good conversation with An An.
The main thing... is that I'm embarrassed!
A grown man of over 1.80 meters, who is not afraid of bullets and gunfire, is as shy as a little boy in front of his own wife.
It's embarrassing to tell anyone about it!
No, I have to change! I have to talk to my wife more from now on!
After Xu Yancheng reflected deeply on himself, he led Ruan Anan and Gao Ruoyun into a small old restaurant in Min City nearby.
The store is full of local flavor and sells authentic local food.
The three of them ordered three bowls of steaming meat dumplings, a plate of golden and fragrant oyster omelet, half a shiny and tempting ginger duck, and a bowl of chewy beef balls.
Xu Yancheng even specially ordered a bowl of sweet peanut milk for each of the two female comrades.
"Mmm! Smells good! Really smells good!"
Ruan Anan took a bite of the meatball, and the delicious juice burst in her mouth. She was so satisfied that her eyes narrowed into crescents.
"These meatballs are so springy, smooth, and tender! They taste just like the ones I ate when I was a kid!"
Xu Yancheng looked at her eating with such sweetness that his eyes were so gentle that tears could drip from his eyes: "Indeed, when you were a child, you loved eating the meatballs made by Aunt Ruan the most."
There was a note of nostalgia in his tone.
Ruan Anan suddenly stopped biting the meatball.
Yes! How could she, a native northerner, like to eat this?
The one who loves to eat this... is the original owner.
Could it be that she not only inherited the original owner's memory fragments, but also took over the oral desire?
But... never mind, as long as it tastes good!
Gao Ruoyun, who was standing next to him, also held up a small bowl and sipped hot soup. She sighed, "Ah, finally I can have a proper meal! I really couldn't eat or sleep well those few days on the train. If I hadn't 'scraped' that thousand yuan from Zhu Yaoyao to keep him afloat, I'm afraid I would have died halfway through!"
Ruan Anan picked up a piece of glossy ginger duck leg and placed it in her bowl. "Be content, my young lady! We're sitting in a sleeper berth! Once we get on the boat, drifting on the sea will be truly uncomfortable! Then you'll know what it means to be seasick to the point of doubting your life."
Gao Ruoyun became even more depressed upon hearing this, her chin resting on her hand as she weakly said, "I regret it now... is it too late? I could have been living a good life when I suddenly responded to the call and came to Nansha Island to 'support my ideals'! I'm just asking for trouble!"
"Oh right!" Gao Ruoyun suddenly remembered something and looked at Xu Yancheng, saying something with a hidden meaning in her voice, "Captain Xu, when we get to the island, don't let someone 'accidentally' plot against you again, okay? Our sister An An can't stand a second shock!"
"Gao Ruoyun, who do you think is plotting this?"
In the corner, a female voice with suppressed anger rang out.
The three of them looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zhu Yaoyao standing up angrily at a table not far away.
Gao Ruoyun looked her up and down without any hesitation and sneered, "Who should say that?"
Zhu Yaoyao's eyes widened: "Aren't you afraid of retribution for gossiping behind my back?!"
Gao Ruoyun didn't respond at all. Instead, she turned her attention to Xu Yancheng again. "Captain Xu, my uncle manages a lot of people on the island, and he has a lot of reliable and good guys under his command. If you can't even protect your own chastity and let someone take advantage of you... then I don't mind helping An An find a better one on the island and let her remarry!"
"Don't worry." Xu Yancheng didn't even raise his eyelids and said without thinking, "You won't have this chance."
He didn't argue with the little girl, and his tone was even gentle.
But those black eyes, as deep as a cold pond, were always fixed on Ruan Anan who was eating seriously.
Gao Ruoyun curled her lips and muttered softly: "Humph, men's words are deceiving! I'd be surprised if I believed you!"
"I don't want to eat anymore!"
Seeing that the three of them completely ignored him, Zhu Yaoyao threw the spoon into the bowl, stood up and was about to leave.
She couldn't stay in this place for a moment!
Gao Ruoyun looked at her as if she were a fool. "It's up to you whether you want to eat or not. Who's begging you for anything? Goodbye!"
"You!" Zhu Yaoyao was so angry that he was shaking all over.
"Wait!" Ruan Anan suddenly spoke and raised her hand to stop her.
Under Zhu Yaoyao's vigilant gaze, Ruan Anan took out a small white porcelain bottle from her small cloth bag and stuffed it into Zhu Yaoyao's hand without saying anything. "Here, I made this myself. It works pretty well."
Zhu Yaoyao held the cold little bottle, a look of suspicion and vigilance on his face: "Did you drug me?"
She didn't believe Ruan Anan was so kind!
"The sea is very humid, so wounds can easily become infected and fester. Don't blame others if your face gets rotten."
Ruan Anan withdrew her hand and continued to gnaw on her duck leg. Her tone was as calm as if she was saying that the weather was nice today. "I've given you the food. It's up to you whether you like to use it or not."
"Who knows what you are thinking?" Zhu Yaoyao is a military doctor and has some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine pharmacology.
She unscrewed the bottle cap and smelled it with extreme caution.
A cool and slightly bitter medicinal fragrance rushed straight to my forehead.
The main ingredients in it are indeed good for reducing swelling, promoting tissue regeneration, clearing away heat and detoxifying!
She was stunned, her face full of disbelief: "Really give it to me?"
How is this possible? Shouldn't Ruan Anan be hoping that she will be disfigured?
Ruan Anan didn't even raise her head, concentrating on the last bit of meat on the duck leg: "Don't want it? Then give it back to me."
"You wish!" Zhu Yaoyao subconsciously grasped the small porcelain bottle tightly in his palm, as if protecting some treasure, turned around and trotted out of the restaurant.
The back view revealed a sense of embarrassment and an inexplicable awkwardness.
Gao Ruoyun rolled her eyes towards the direction where Zhu Yaoyao disappeared and said, "An An, do you have any medicine for her brain? I think she needs that more!"
Ruan Anan sighed helplessly and put down the duck bones she had gnawed clean: "Why would I be angry with her? She's just a paper tiger!"
"You are so open-minded!"
"I hope you can maintain this open-minded attitude when you get to the island."
A trace of sympathy flashed in Gao Ruoyun's eyes.
Zhu Yaoyao is indeed nothing.
There is a plague god with stronger combat power and higher rank waiting for Ruan Anan on the island!
That's the real tough guy!
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