Chapter 50, Family Compound
The health center Xie Wei mentioned was the first building on the left side of the square. It looked quite large, with two floors and four rooms on each floor. Behind the health center, there were two floors housing a supply and marketing cooperative and a vegetable market, each occupying four rooms, with the first floor leading directly to the second floor.
The guesthouse was located just beyond the supply and marketing cooperative.
The guesthouse looked more impressive than the previous two buildings. It not only had a courtyard in front of the door, but also three floors, with about ten rooms on each floor. The entrance was tall and spacious, and inside was a fairly large lobby with tables, chairs and benches on one side and a front desk for check-in on the other.
There were two girls in green military uniforms talking at the front desk. They were much more enthusiastic than He Xiaoli when they saw people come in. They quickly completed the registration and check-in procedures for Lin Qingqing and then led them to their room.
The room was on the first floor, right in the middle, with windows at both the front and back, making it very bright and airy. Besides that, the room was fully furnished, and the mattress on the bed was very thick, but because it was summer, there was also a cooling mat on top of the mattress, making it even more comfortable than home.
After the receptionist left, Lin Qingqing lay down on the bed, feeling the coolness beneath her. She turned to Xie Wei and said, "This mat is nice."
Xie Wei put down his things, walked to the bedside and sat down. He thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative later. If they have any, we'll buy one to put on the bed."
"Okay." Lin Qingqing nodded and got up to pack her things.
Actually, there's not much to pack. Just take out daily necessities like toothbrushes and towels. You can take out other things when you need them. After all, you're only staying for a few days, so there's no need to leave things scattered everywhere.
After tidying up, it was almost lunchtime, so Xie Wei took Lin Qingqing to eat.
They went to a state-run restaurant, which wasn't far away, just across the square. When they arrived, Xie Wei said, "There's also a large canteen in the family compound where you can get food with ration coupons." Then, remembering something, he asked, "Did you keep all the coupons I gave you before?" After they got married, he had given Lin Qingqing all his savings and ration coupons from over the years.
"I've put it away," Lin Qingqing said.
"You can use your food coupons to eat at the canteen or restaurant during this period. Once the house is approved, you can cook at home or eat at the canteen if you want."
As they were talking, they arrived at the restaurant. After going inside, the two of them discussed and ordered one meat dish and one vegetable dish. Then Lin Qingqing took the ticket, paid, and found a table to sit down.
After sitting down, Xie Wei brought up the matter of Lin Qingqing changing her household registration again.
At that time, urban household registration was highly sought after, and it was extremely difficult for ordinary rural people to change their registration to urban status. However, the military could help military dependents obtain urban household registration.
The issue is about household registration. The benefits of changing household registration are obvious. First, people with urban household registration receive a grain ration. After changing her registration, Lin Qingqing will receive a grain ration book and more than 20 jin of grain ration per month.
In addition to grain, daily necessities such as oil, salt, sugar, eggs, soap, and matches were also supplied in rations.
Of course, these are not free; you have to pay for them.
So, relocating to the military doesn't mean everything will be fine once you transfer your household registration. If you want a good life, either the man in the military earns a high salary, or you need to find a job so that two people in the family can earn a salary.
Xie Wei is telling Lin Qingqing these things now because he is going back to his team tomorrow. Although he can go home every other day at his level, Lin Qingqing has to handle the matters herself, so he has to tell her what needs to be told.
The food was served as he was speaking.
The dishes were stir-fried green peppers with pork and stir-fried potato slices, which looked quite delicious and the portions were very generous. The rice was served in an aluminum bowl with a ladle on top, and Xie Wei used it to serve Lin Qingqing a bowl of rice.
Lin Qingqing picked up a potato slice, tasted it; it was powdery but not bad. She nodded and said, "This restaurant is pretty good."
"Are you used to the food?" Xie Wei asked.
Lin Qingqing nodded: "It's not much different from cooking in our hometown... well, the only difference is that we use more oil and salt."
Xie Wei smiled, feeling much relieved: "As long as you're used to the food, then you can eat here for the next few days." Although eating at a state-run restaurant is a bit more expensive than in the canteen, he has plenty of food coupons and money, and he's happy to let Lin Qingqing pay.
Xie Wei was willing to spend money, but Lin Qingqing was a bit stingy. She shook her head and said, "No, I have to go and try the cafeteria food again."
Lin Qingqing said she wanted to try the cafeteria, and Xie Wei didn't object. As long as she was happy, that was fine with him. He said, "Then I'll take you to the cafeteria tonight."
"Mm." Lin Qingqing nodded with a smile.
After dinner, the two went to the vegetable market and the supply and marketing cooperative before returning to the guesthouse.
Needless to say, the market sells everything related to food. Since their house wasn't ready yet, they couldn't cook for themselves, so they walked around for a bit and then left empty-handed.
The supply and marketing cooperatives had a wide variety of goods, from firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea to clothing, electrical appliances, and bicycles.
Lin Qingqing bought two basins. She had just checked and the guesthouse didn't provide basins or buckets. But even if they did, Lin Qingqing wouldn't dare use things that had been used by countless people; she felt more at ease buying new ones herself.
Xie Wei bought two packs of food, saying they were for Lin Qingqing to eat when she had nothing to do.
Besides these, they didn't buy anything else. Like I said, it's hard to store anything you buy before the house is ready, and you'll have to move it again later, which is a hassle!
...
The military provides officers with two types of housing: row houses and detached houses.
The row houses consist of four units, each with two bedrooms and a living room, and all four share a large courtyard. Detached houses, as the name suggests, have their own entrance and courtyard, and usually have more rooms; however, they are less common and are generally in high demand.
Although there is a default rule that officers at the regimental level and above have priority to reside in detached houses, there is no guarantee that you can get one due to the high demand and limited supply.
On the way to the cafeteria, Xie Wei said, "I'll ask tomorrow if there are any detached houses available. If not, we'll stay in a row house for now, and move there when there are more houses available."
A detached house is certainly better than a row house, but since it's a house allocated by the military, it's good enough to have a place to live. Lin Qingqing thought that there were only two of them, Xie Wei, so two rooms would be enough, and they could even leave one room as a study. So she nodded and said, "Okay."
As the two were talking, they arrived at the cafeteria.
The canteen is located in the living area, occupying a separate row of buildings. The entire interior is open, making it long and spacious. There are eight windows facing the entrance, but only four are open, probably because there are long queues at each window in the evenings.
Not knowing what dishes were available, the two looked at each window one by one. Surprisingly, although there weren't many windows, there was a wide variety of food, catering to both northern and southern tastes.
In the north, people eat a lot of steamed buns, mantou (steamed bread), and noodles. There's one window that specializes in selling steamed buns and mantou, another window that sells noodles with meat sauce, and two other windows that sell rice. One side has a light flavor, with stir-fried vegetables and braised meat, while the other side has a sour and spicy flavor, with sour and spicy shredded potatoes and spicy chicken.
Lin Qingqing looked at the food and said to Xie Wei, "The cafeteria food looks pretty good."
A woman nearby overheard Lin Qingqing's words and asked, "Young lady, are you new to the army?"
Lin Qingqing looked puzzled: "Huh?" She shouldn't have "new here" written on her face, right?
"It's almost the end of the month, so the food in the cafeteria is naturally good, but there won't be as many meat dishes available after the beginning of the month," the older woman explained. "People who have lived here for a while know this, which is why I said you're new here."
"Oh, I see." Lin Qingqing suddenly understood, thanked Xie Wei, and went to the back to queue.
They lined up at the window with the spicier flavors. There were only two dishes in total, and not much to choose from. They were only served according to the amount of food two people could eat.
After getting her food and finding a seat, Lin Qingqing first tried a bite of the hot and sour shredded potatoes. The potatoes weren't as crisp as she'd had in her previous life, and while they were spicy, they weren't sour enough; overall, they were just average. She tried another bite...
The spicy chicken was probably made without deep-frying before stir-frying because they didn't use enough oil. So it's more like spicy stir-fried chicken pieces than spicy chicken, but it tastes better than shredded potatoes.
Overall, the cafeteria chefs' skills weren't as good as those in state-run restaurants, but when Lin Qingqing paid for her food and got her receipt, she noticed that the cafeteria portions weren't any smaller than those in state-run restaurants, yet the prices were much cheaper. So she thought it would be better to eat in the cafeteria from now on.
Although Xie Wei has a high salary and a lot of savings, and they are not short of money at the moment, Lin Qingqing is still uneasy until the job is settled, so it is better to save some money.
As Lin Qingqing was thinking, she heard someone call out "Commander Xie". She looked up and saw a young woman with shoulder-length short hair and no bangs. She was wearing a white polyester shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and dark trousers. She looked very simple, but her attitude was very warm: "I said I thought it looked like you when I came in, and when I came over, it really is you. This must be your sister-in-law?"
Xie Wei nodded and pointed to Lin Qingqing, introducing her as "my wife, Lin Qingqing." He then pointed to the middle-aged woman and said, "She is the wife of our regiment's deputy commander, surnamed Zhang."
Hearing her call her "sister-in-law," Lin Qingqing knew that her husband was probably older than Xie Wei, so she smiled and said, "Hello, sister-in-law."
Zhang Yuping responded crisply, put the lunchbox on the table, sat down next to Lin Qingqing, and asked, "I heard from my husband that you went home to get married. So... you only came today?"
"Yes, I just arrived today," Xie Wei nodded.
"Oh, what a coincidence!" Zhang Yuping said with a smile, then asked, "Did you just get the house approved? Is there anything we can help you with?"
"I'll go back to the team tomorrow to submit my application, and it'll probably take a few days for it to be approved."
Remembering that the house application needed a marriage certificate to be approved, Zhang Yuping looked at Lin Qingqing and asked, "The house won't be approved for a few more days, so where will my sister-in-law stay for a while?"
“I’m staying at a guesthouse,” Lin Qingqing replied.
“Oh dear, guesthouses aren’t so comfortable,” Zhang Yuping said warmly, finding them both expensive and inconvenient. “How about this, sister-in-law, if you don’t mind, you can stay at our house. Anyway, Lao Sun doesn’t come back often. I’ll squeeze in with my son and daughter and give you their room.”
Lin Qingqing glanced at Xie Wei and said, "This... is too troublesome."
Xie Wei first thanked him, then said, "The room at the guesthouse has already been booked, and it's not easy to cancel it."
Hearing that it was difficult to get a refund, Zhang Yuping said, "You're in such a hurry! You brought your wife here without even asking us first. It's so comfortable staying at home."
Ah. If it's not easy to cancel the lease, then forget it. But if the new place isn't available, don't renew the lease. We already have other places to live.
"Thank you, sister-in-law," Xie Wei said.
"Don't mention it," Zhang Yuping said, seeing that they were still eating and remembering that her own child hadn't eaten dinner yet. "Well then, I'll be going now."
After Zhang Yuping left, Lin Qingqing said to Xie Wei, "The families of military personnel in your area are all very welcoming."
Xie Wei smiled and said, "From now on, you are also a member of the military dependents."
"You mean I should be more enthusiastic towards people too?" Lin Qingqing asked, swallowing the food in her mouth.
Xie Wei shook his head, gesturing for Lin Qingqing to move forward a little, then leaned closer to her, his voice low and deep: "It's enough that you're enthusiastic towards me."
Author's Note: Second update
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