After returning from Rong City, Su Ting became busy. Every day she was either queuing or on her way to queue.

What queue?

Of course it’s the team buying food and meat!

It seems that there are quite a lot of grain stations these days, at least one in each area. In reality, it is lucky for a grain station to be open for half a month each month, as there is often no grain to sell.

The granaries on the island are relatively good. They can basically meet the supply of coarse grains, which are available anytime you go. But the same cannot be said about fine grains, which are usually only sold temporarily for a few days at the end of the month.

In fact, the grain should have been sold at the beginning of the month, and the grain coupons were also issued at the beginning of the month, but in order to ensure the lives of residents, the authorities would issue grain coupons and sell grain in advance every month, so at the end of each month, there would be long queues outside the grain stations.

Just queue up, the trouble is that the daily supply of fine grains is limited and will be sold out while stocks last.

Su Ting had no experience at first, so she slept until she woke up naturally before buying food. The result was obvious: she didn't even see a trace of polished rice that day.

The next day, she asked He Dongchuan to knock on the door to wake her up. She went there two hours early, but it was of no use. There was already a long line outside the grain station. She waited in line for several hours and finally waited for the grain station to open. She followed the crowd rushing in to buy grain, but the refined rice and fine noodles were sold out before her turn.

The third day... On the third day, Su Ting simply didn't sleep. She waited until three in the morning and went out with a stool to queue.

But as soon as she walked out of the yard, He Dongchuan chased after her.

At three o'clock in the morning, the family yard was pitch black. Only the crescent moon overhead cast a little moonlight, through which one could barely see the surrounding scene.

Apart from being dark, the family yard was exceptionally quiet. There was no human voice or frog croaking. The only sound was the whistling wind blowing in from the sea.

When Su Ting heard footsteps behind her, scenes from horror movies she had seen before emerged in her mind. She unconsciously tensed her body and walked forward with her head down. Even if someone called her name from behind, she didn't dare to look back and even ran away.

But before she ran two steps, a hand was on her shoulder. Su Ting's eyes widened, and her scream got stuck in her throat. Just as she was about to shout out, she heard a familiar voice: "Why are you running?"

The high-pitched scream turned into a soft "Ah?"

The person in front of him was not some monster or demon, but He Dongchuan.

Su Ting let out a sigh: "Why did you come out?"

"I heard the door open, and I came out and saw you were not in the room." He Dongchuan explained and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Queueing up to buy food."

"Now?"

Su Ting hummed twice: "I went there at around five o'clock yesterday, and there was already a long line at the door. I'm going there at three o'clock today. I don't believe I won't be able to buy rice!"

Seeing her angry look, He Dongchuan said, "If you can't buy it, then you can't buy it. If not, I'll find a way."

Su Ting looked at He Dongchuan with sparkling eyes and asked in a low voice, "What can you do?" Should we buy it on the black market? But he was a soldier... He hurriedly asked, "Will it be unsafe?"

He Dongchuan did not answer the first question, but just said, "No."

Su Ting did not ask further. She thought that since He Dongchuan didn't say anything, this channel should not be very formal. As for whether it was really safe, his answer might be to comfort her.

"Then I'd better go and queue up. It's always good to buy more rice." It also saves him from taking risks, Su Ting thought to herself, and said to He Dongchuan who was about to follow him out, "You go back. You have to go to the camp tomorrow. I can queue up by myself."

This is also the reason why she didn't mention this to He Dongchuan. If she stayed up late, she could still catch up on some sleep during the day tomorrow, but He Dongchuan couldn't do that because he had important things to do.

He Dongchuan did not refuse, but just said: "I'll take you there."

"Need not……"

Before Su Ting finished her words, He Dongchuan said, "When I tapped your shoulder just now, you shivered."

All right!

She was very scared, but could she be blamed? Who would walk alone in the dark and suddenly be tapped on the shoulder without shivering?

Thinking that it was still a long way to the grain station and He Dongchuan was so insistent, Su Ting stopped trying to show off and nodded, saying, "Okay then."

The two walked out side by side.

I have to say, with one more person around me, my sense of security does increase.

Su Ting no longer hunched her shoulders, and the horror movie was no longer playing in her mind. She relaxed completely and began to daydream.

On a night like this, the two of them were walking in the middle of the house, enjoying the sea breeze. The scene was so romantic just thinking about it.

Apparently Su Ting was not the only one who had wild thoughts. Not long after she left, her hands were held by the people next to her.

She struggled slightly and looked up to the right.

He Dongchuan also turned his head slightly towards her and said in a low voice: "It's night time now, no one is watching us."

Su Ting immediately thought of the time when she was caught flying a kite in Rong City Park. Her cheeks felt slightly hot and she stopped struggling with her hands. She let him change the hand-holding posture to interlocking their fingers.

The road to the monastery was not long. At Su Ting's normal pace, it would take two or three minutes to walk out, but it took them a full five minutes.

Walking to the open space at the gate, looking at the light bulbs hanging on the gate of the family compound and the soldiers standing guard surrounded by the orange light, Su Ting came to her senses, shook off He Dongchuan's hand and said, "There's someone."

He Dongchuan nodded, reluctantly let go of her hand, and walked forward side by side with her.

Standing guard is a very boring time, especially standing guard at night, boring and sleepy, very tiring. But the soldier on guard dare not relax, carrying a gun and observing the surroundings vigilantly, so he soon saw the two people coming side by side.

I'm so confused.

Where are they going side by side late at night?

The guard saluted He Dongchuan. Although he didn't ask any questions, his face was full of doubts.

To avoid misunderstanding, He Dongchuan took the initiative to explain: "We went to queue up to buy food."

“Want to line up now?”

"I'm afraid if it's too late there will be a long queue."

The guard nodded to show that he understood: "Thank you for your hard work."

After passing the guard booth, when the two bodies disappeared into the darkness again, He Dongchuan held Su Ting's hand again.

This time Su Ting did not struggle, but just whispered: "We'll be at the food station soon." Implying that it's time for you to go back.

He Dongchuan looked around and said, "Aren't you afraid of being here alone?"

Su Ting looked at the dark streets in front and behind her and felt a little scared. However, she wanted to blame He Dongchuan: "I thought it was okay... It's all your fault for scaring me."

He Dongchuan asked in a low voice: "Then I will stay with you for a while longer, as an apology, okay?"

Although she verbally pushed the responsibility onto He Dongchuan, Su Ting was not really unreasonable. She shook her head and said, "Forget it. We don't know how long we have to wait. You should go back and catch up on your sleep."

"I can also catch up on my sleep here," said He Dongchuan.

Su Ting raised her eyes: "How do you make up for it?"

He Dongchuan turned around, leaned against the door of the grain station with his hands folded across his chest, closed his eyes and said, "Stand and make up for it."

Su Ting was immediately excited: "Can you fall asleep while standing?"

"Yes, but I can't sleep well."

"You won't fall?"

“I haven’t fallen.”

Su Ting gave a thumbs up: "You are awesome."

He Dongchuan opened his eyes, lowered his head and asked, "Can I stay here with you now?"

Su Ting turned away and didn't look at him. She pretended to be indifferent and said, "If you want to accompany me, then go ahead. You will be sleepy tomorrow anyway, and it will delay your work."

He Dongchuan chuckled and emphasized, "I won't feel sleepy."

Is this the point?

Su Ting muttered in her heart, attributing his answer to the strange vanity of men, glanced at him sideways and said, "Go to bed quickly!"

"Um."

The waiting process was very boring, but with He Dongchuan standing here, Su Ting did not feel afraid and could still think about all kinds of things in her mind.

For a moment, she wondered if he was really asleep or just resting his eyes. If she pushed him now, would he fall? But because she was worried that he was really asleep and that she would push him and make him fall, she just thought about it in her mind.

I wondered if the first wave of people lining up early would be surprised when they saw them. Would He Dongchuan open his eyes before they arrived, or would he wake up only when they got close to him?

Su Ting didn't think about it for long. Just after four o'clock, there was movement at the guard post.

There was more than one person, several military wives came together.

He Dongchuan also opened his eyes before they arrived, put down his hands, straightened his chest and raised his head, standing straight.

The military wives who came over were all surprised when they saw them: "When did you get here?"

"It's been a while." Su Ting said with a smile.

"You young people are energetic and can get up," said the military wife with short hair.

Su Ting thought, "How can I get up? I didn't sleep all night. You guys who can get up early forced me to do that!" But she said nothing, just raised the corners of her lips and smiled at people.

The military wife in the red and blue plaid shirt nudged the short-haired military wife with her arm and joked, "Didn't you see that Captain He is here too? When a husband and wife are of one mind, they can accomplish anything!"

The wives of the soldiers all laughed at this. The wife with short hair asked curiously, "Is Captain He also lining up?"

Su Ting had been through this before, so she was not embarrassed at all when being teased. She said calmly, "No, he sent me here. He was afraid that I would be scared here alone, so he stayed with me for a while." She turned to He Dongchuan and said, "There are people here now. You should go back and catch up on your sleep. I'll just wait in line here."

This time He Dongchuan did not refuse. He nodded and said, "Call me if you need anything."

"knew."

As soon as He Dongchuan left, several military wives started talking about him, all praising him, saying that he had a good character and knew how to love his wife. However, as they were praising him, the topic went off track and they began to insinuate whether Su Ting and He Dongchuan really slept in separate rooms.

Su Ting was calm at first, but when she heard the words "separate rooms", she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Ask a child how badly he can betray his parents?

She and He Dongchuan are examples.

Ever since He Yan played house outside and Yu Hongzhi spread the word, everyone in the hospital knew that she and He Dongchuan slept in separate rooms.

Although this is a conservative era, that is the depth of topics that married women can talk about on the surface.

When listening to others talking about these things, Su Ting wished they would talk more, but when the topic became about herself, she could only run away.

After so many times, those who are close to her know that she is shy and they no longer bring up this topic in front of her.

But the military wife who came to line up this time was not that familiar with Su Ting, and she loved gossip. But she had to buy food, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and lie with her eyes open: "No, where did you hear that? Oh, how can you believe what children say? Lao He and I are fine! Haha, haha..."

As a result, these women were still not satisfied and tried to ask He Dongchuan indirectly whether he could have sex with him several times a night.

Su Ting was reluctant to say anything at first, until they revealed her husband's secrets and promised not to tell anyone, then she bragged on He Dongchuan's behalf, "It's OK, we don't have sex often, only four or five days a week, four, five, six, seven times each time."

Crowd: …

After Su Ting showed off for a while, the conversation ended for the whole day. No one asked her for details. She turned around calmly, breathed a sigh of relief, and finally it was over.

After that, no one talked about late-night topics anymore, but only talked about gossip, such as whose child was beaten again, or which couple had a fight again.

As they chatted, the line became longer and the street became more lively. Men in military uniforms came out of their families' courtyards one after another. When they saw the group of military wives queuing up, those whose wives were present greeted them and then left, while those whose wives were not present walked around them consciously.

He Dongchuan also came to say hello to Su Ting, but did not go directly to the camp. Instead, he went to the cafeteria and bought two buns for Su Ting and a kettle of hot water to fill her stomach.

It was a very ordinary action, but it made the surrounding military wives envious.

Why aren’t men so considerate?

Not only did everyone envy her for a moment, He Yan also came over to ask Su Ting if she was hungry when he was at school. It was said that she ate two buns before leaving.

Not only men, but their children are not so considerate either, alas!

After elementary school, I waited in line for more than half an hour before I could get to work at the grain station.

As soon as the door of the grain station opened, Su Ting rushed to the counter first, took out the prepared tickets and money from her pocket, held them in her hand and extended them to the staff, and imitated the people around her to shout out the name of the rice she wanted to buy.

Maybe because she was the first one to rush in, or maybe because she shouted the loudest, the grain station staff was the first to take the money and receipt from her.

Count the money, check the tickets, and then weigh the rice.

Because they bought refined rice, the supply for three people combined was not much. Su Ting could carry a bundle in a sack by herself.

Well, it was still a bit difficult to carry it home, so I took two breaks in the middle. Later, I happened to meet Chen Shaomei, who helped me carry it back.

Buying food was not the end of the story. In the next few days, Su Ting queued up to buy meat.

Of course, what we bought was not pork. The supply of pork on the island was sufficient. It was available every day. If you lined up at 6 or 7 o'clock, you could usually buy some. Even if you went too late, you would still get the same price the next day. Anyway, each store had a limited supply of pork, and it was impossible to eat pork every day.

She queued up to buy beef.

At this time, beef and mutton are both good stuff. The price is not expensive, but mainly because they are hard to come by. A butcher shop may not sell them many times throughout the year.

The supply this time is not too bad, just about 50 kilograms, no tickets are needed, each person is limited to 2 kilograms, first come first served.

So the day before the beef was supplied, Su Ting still did not sleep all night and went to queue at three or four in the morning. There were many military wives who went to queue in the early morning like her that day.

There is no other way. It is not easy to eat something good these days. There is no shortage of all the delicious food. The quantity is small, so we can only limit the supply. When the supply is small, people will be greedy. When the supply is available, they will queue up overnight to buy it.

For example, Su Ting had no worries about food and drink in her previous life. When she felt lazy, she was not willing to go out to eat ready-made food, but would order takeout at home. After traveling through time, there was nothing to eat, and she was willing to queue up to stay up all night for her stuttering.

She is going backwards as she gets older.

However, although the process was hard, when she ate the tender and tasty beef, she felt it was all worth it.

What does it matter if she lives longer and then goes back? As long as she has food to eat, she is willing to endure ten days and nights!

…

After the military wives had rushed in to grab the beef, the month came to an end and the accountants of each unit became busy preparing to pay the employees' salaries.

Su Ting is currently unemployed, so her salary payment has nothing to do with her, but it has something to do with He Dongchuan.

He Dongchuan is a battalion-level officer with a monthly salary of 130 yuan. He also receives a subsidy for being stationed on the island. In addition, he has been on a mission this month, so his salary, allowance and subsidy add up to more than 160 yuan.

Along with wages, there were also various kinds of tickets. The most important ones were of course industrial tickets, and there were also some miscellaneous ones that were not counted as daily tickets.

He Dongchuan received his salary and tickets and returned to the office. He sorted them out as usual, handing in what needed to be handed in and putting away what needed to be put away. As for the less important tickets, such as cigarettes, he did not smoke, but he could put them away and give them to others later, as a favor.

Just as he had sorted out the bills, Deputy Battalion Commander Wu Chunping smelled the scent and came over to ask him for cigarettes.

He Dongchuan was very surprised: "The cigarette coupons were just distributed? How come you used them up so quickly?"

"You don't understand." Wu Chunping took out a cigarette box from his pocket, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, and said with a sad face, "Two days ago, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy cigarettes and happened to run into your sister-in-law. When I got home, she scolded me. She said that I just smoked all day long and didn't care about the family at all."

At this point, Wu Chunping raised his voice: "Don't I care about this family? She doesn't go out and ask around. There are so many households in the family compound. How many men hand in all their monthly wages and only receive five yuan for pocket money? Only me! Five yuan, I don't even dare to buy good cigarettes. Look, this pack of cigarettes is only 24 cents. I smoke ten packs a month and it's only two yuan and four. Even so, she is not happy to see me buying cigarettes."

Wu Chunping's words were very sad, but He Dongchuan said nothing to comfort him. This was mainly a matter between them, so he couldn't intervene too much. He just changed the subject and asked, "Does this have anything to do with your lack of cigarettes now?"

"Why is it okay?" Wu Chunping said as a matter of course, "Think about it, if I didn't go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy cigarettes, would I run into your sister-in-law? If your sister-in-law hadn't seen me buying cigarettes, would she have quarreled with me? I've thought about it. I'll take time to go to the supply and marketing cooperative these two days and buy a few more packs of cigarettes, enough for a month. Then I won't go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy cigarettes in the future. This way I won't run into your sister-in-law and cause a quarrel. Don't you think so?"

He Dongchuan: “…Yes.”

He finally saw that Old Wu was a coward and couldn't get up. He took out two tickets from the ticket list and handed them over, asking, "Have you always handed in your salary in full?"

"Of course not," Wu Chunping took the cigarettes and complained, "You don't know, the day after we had the party, she started asking me how much I had saved. I was young at the time, and I told her everything without paying attention. That night, all the money and bills were taken away. In the early years, she was in her hometown and didn't know how much I was paid, so I could still save some money. Since she came to follow the army, my life...can't be lived!"

He Dongchuan: “I see.”

Although their food and drink are taken care of by the army, and five dollars is not a small amount of pocket money, how many thirty-year-olds have no personal expenses at all?

During holidays, they would go for a walk in the city and have a meal with their good comrades. Those who smoked had to buy cigarettes, and he, who did not smoke, had to call home every month. Not to mention the high monthly expenses, it would cost more than ten or twenty yuan.

If this five yuan was purely for Wu Chunping to spend on himself, and could be reimbursed for his comrades' meals and temporary purchases for the home, it would be acceptable. But if it was not covered, then his life would be really miserable.

"Brother, you understand me." Wu Chunping patted He Dongchuan on the shoulder and sighed, "Let me tell you, when a couple lives together, the financial power must be in their hands. What's the saying? The one with money is the boss. When you hold the money, she is coaxing you. When you hand over the money, you are coaxing her. You didn't hand over all your savings, right?"

Before He Dongchuan could answer, Shi Cheng, the camp instructor who came to talk to him, said, "You are just listening to his nonsense! If a couple lives together and you are on guard against me and I am on guard against you, how can their relationship be good? How can their marriage last long?"

Wu Chunping didn't like what he heard: "What do you mean by be on guard?"

Shi Cheng asked back: "You have money in your hand, if your wife pleases you, you give her some sweet treats, if she doesn't please you, you ignore her, are you treating your wife well or raising a puppy?"

"You're going too far. I didn't say that if she doesn't come to coax me, I won't care about her." Wu Chunping said, and then he remembered, "Oh, that's not right. I have handed over my salary. Now I have to coax my wife. You said I was on guard against her. Then tell me, have you paid your salary?"

"Old He, did you see that? This guy is very cunning. He hands in his salary and has to file a report if he wants to spend money. Now he comes to you and tells you not to hand in your salary and wants to take control of the financial power. What does he want to do?" Shi Cheng pointed at Wu Chunping, "Old Wu, you are really evil!"

Wu Chunping slapped his hand away: "Get lost! I didn't mean that at all!"

Shi Cheng knew that he didn't mean it, and that he was just joking, so he didn't continue to talk about it. He just said to He Dongchuan: "If you want to live a good life with Comrade Su, tell her all your assets. As for the money, how much she puts in and how much you keep, discuss it together. Otherwise, if you don't tell her anything, people might think you are on guard against her."

Shi Cheng recalled something as he spoke: "Have you explained the family background to your brother and sister-in-law before?"

He Dongchuan shook his head: "No."

He had never had a heart-to-heart talk with Su Ting before he went on the mission. He only agreed that the living expenses would be tentatively set at 50 yuan, and she could ask him for more if she spent more than that. They would calculate the total bill at the end of the month, and he would give her living expenses based on the total bill next month.

Their relationship became much closer during this period, but Su Ting never asked him for living expenses, and it was not time to pay wages yet, so she continued to do as she had agreed before.

Before Wu Chunping came, he was also considering whether to hand over his salary savings, but he had not made up his mind.

Upon learning that He Dongchuan and Su Ting had agreed to give each other living expenses on a monthly basis, Shi Cheng asked with a sigh, "Didn't you think there was a problem between you two before?"

"What's the problem?"

"You've calculated it too clearly. Your relationship doesn't look like a couple, but more like a host and a nanny," Shi Cheng said, shaking his head. "No wonder you still sleep in separate rooms after getting married."

Wu Chunping looked gossipy and asked, "Do you really sleep in separate rooms?"

He Dongchuan's face darkened: "No."

Shi Cheng chuckled twice and said nothing until Wu Chunping left and he finished discussing business with He Dongchuan before asking, "Brother, tell me the truth, do you and Comrade Su have separate rooms at night?"

He Dongchuan leaned back in his office chair and looked up at him: "You've been quite free lately?"

"I'm concerned about you!" Shi Cheng stressed, "Look at you. You've been married to Comrade Su for a month, and you haven't slept together yet. How can I, as your brother, not worry? Tell me the truth, are you incapable of doing this?"

He Dongchuan glanced at him sideways, his eyes slightly cold.

"That means Comrade Su doesn't want to sleep with you." Shi Cheng guessed, ignoring the coldness in his eyes, "See, I was right, wasn't I?"

Shi Cheng was thick-skinned, and He Dongchuan couldn't do anything about him. He rubbed his brow helplessly and said, "We had some problems before, but we should be able to solve them soon."

He Dongchuan was vague about his answer, but as brothers for many years, Shi Cheng had a plan in mind: "When you go back, just follow what I told you and tell her about your family background. If there are any problems, let's discuss them properly. I tell you, women are soft-hearted, and you are not bad looking. If you show an attitude of living a good life with her, how can she not be soft-hearted?"

He Dongchuan nodded thoughtfully: "Okay."

Seeing that he listened to the advice, Shi Cheng continued to give him advice: "If it still doesn't work, just be thick-skinned. A virtuous woman is afraid of a clinging man. Just stay in her room and don't leave..."

"Wait." He Dongchuan interrupted him, "Are you sure this method will work? Will you not be beaten out?"

"You don't know how to read her expression? If she doesn't want to, you should leave immediately. If she blushes with more shame than anger, you know."

After saying that, Shi Cheng patted He Dongchuan on the shoulder and went out, leaving He Dongchuan frowning in thought.

He knows?

What should he know?