When Xu Ruantang opened her eyes again, she found herself sleeping in bed again!
As dawn broke and the bedding on the ground was put away, Chen Ji must have already left.
As Xu Ruantang went downstairs, she felt a little excited thinking about what Chen Ji had said yesterday about going away on business for two days.
That way she can sleep in bed openly at night without worrying about sleepwalking again!
You can also hold your sweet and soft baby and sleep together!
She just couldn't understand when she developed a sleepwalking problem.
When she couldn't figure something out, Xu Ruantang chose to let it go. Life was already hard enough; she shouldn't create more difficulties for herself.
After having breakfast, she started making small bread rolls and mung bean cakes as usual.
Today's task was large, and even with her strong physique, she was so exhausted from kneading the dough that she felt like losing her temper.
Thinking of the radio in Chen Ji's study, Xu Ruantang ran upstairs, carried it down, placed it in the kitchen, and turned it on.
Even without a cell phone, listening to the radio while working is fine! It's better than just toiling away at the job!
By the time all the bread and mung bean cakes were ready, it was almost lunchtime. My godmother returned, pushing a stroller with my little one.
When Xiao Bao saw Xu Ruantang, he kicked his legs excitedly and made cooing noises at her.
Xu Ruantang picked her up and the two played on the sofa for a while before she said to Aunt Wang, "Godmother, I'm going to deliver the return gift. What would you like to eat for lunch? I'll go buy groceries after I deliver it."
"No need to buy any. The weather is getting warmer now, and the vegetables we bring from home won't spoil." Aunt Wang took Xiaobao and said with a smile, "Go quickly, and come back for dinner after you're done."
Xu Ruantang delivered the goods to Aunt Liu's house first, and also borrowed Aunt Liu's foam box.
"Xiao Xu, I don't need this box either, so you can take it! It's not worth much, we're neighbors, don't be polite with me!" Aunt Liu saw her off with a smile, noticing how sweet and sensible she was.
Xu Ruantang carried the styrofoam boxes and delivered them to each household. At lunchtime, everyone was cooking, and almost every household she visited insisted that she stay for lunch, which Xu Ruantang declined. When she reached the last house in their courtyard, before she could even knock on the door, she heard angry shouts coming from inside.
"I'm talking to you, can't you hear me?!"
The woman's voice was filled with exasperation as she continued, "Don't you even see who I'm doing all this for? If it weren't for this family, would I be doing this? Hao Jianjun, what exactly do you mean?!"
Xu Ruantang's outstretched hand froze in mid-air. Just as she was about to retract it, the courtyard gate creaked open.
A man in military uniform stood inside the door. He was also taken aback when he saw her. The man had an honest appearance, and his face was full of helplessness.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Xu Ruantang knew she couldn't avoid it, so she could only pretend to have just arrived and said with a sweet smile, "Hello, I'm Chen Ji's wife. These are pastries I made myself, and I was thinking of sharing them with everyone."
Xu Ruantang took out a package of side dishes wrapped in oil paper, but before she could hand it to the man in front of her, footsteps approached.
"Commander Chen's wife, come in, come in. I went to look for you yesterday, but your aunt said you weren't home."
The woman smiled and introduced the man, saying, "My name is Zhang Li, and this is my husband, Hao Jianjun, the deputy commander of the Third Regiment."
"Hello, sister-in-law. Hello, Deputy Regiment Commander Hao. Please have a taste of this. I still need to deliver some to the other courtyard, so I won't keep it any longer."
Xu Ruantang handed the oil paper package to Zhang Li, feeling extremely embarrassed.
It's probably quite embarrassing for her to overhear a couple arguing behind closed doors at home!
Zhang Li grabbed Xu Ruantang's arm and led her past Hao Jianjun into the house, saying as she went, "Hey sister, what's the rush? Come in, sit down, and have a drink of water!"
Xu Ruantang then noticed that Zhang Li's lower abdomen was slightly protruding, indicating that she was probably newly pregnant.
"Go get the food! The two kids are still hungry!" Zhang Li shouted at Hao Jianjun in the yard, her tone very impatient.
Hao Jianjun said nothing and went straight out the door.
Zhang Li pulled Xu Ruantang down to sit, "Hey, how does your Commander Chen treat you? Is he as wooden as me? I bet you're just like me!"
Look at my husband, he's so quiet, you can't get a word out of him! It's driving me crazy!
Xu Ruantang: "......"
They seemed to have only met once, yet they were already so familiar with each other that they were complaining about each other's husbands.
Xu Ruantang chuckled: "Sister-in-law, they're just a bit reserved. Men who don't talk much are more reliable!"
She didn't know what to say, so she just rambled on for a bit. She couldn't very well sit down with Zhang Li and start cursing Chen Ji, could she? That would be too presumptuous!
"Ugh, what's with all this composure? He's infuriating! He doesn't say a word to anything I say!" Zhang Li was even more furious upon hearing this, and said with some agitation, "I can't even get into an argument with him. He only does what I ask him to do! He has no sense of responsibility whatsoever."
"Sister-in-law, are you pregnant?" Xu Ruantang asked.
Zhang Li's expression softened, and she nodded: "Yes, my family already has two girls. My mother-in-law said that we have to leave a lineage for the Hao family, and a boy is a must. I don't know if this baby will be a boy."
She touched her belly with a hint of worry.
Xu Ruantang didn't really understand this idea, but she didn't know what to say, so she made an excuse that her godmother was still waiting for her at home for dinner and said goodbye.
Before leaving the courtyard, Xu Ruantang saw Hao Jianjun carrying a lunchbox and walking home from afar, his face still showing no emotional fluctuation.
He and Zhang Li have such contrasting personalities; one is incredibly talkative, while the other is completely silent.
Xu Ruantang couldn't help but think of herself and Chen Ji; it seemed like that was the kind of couple outsiders perceived them to be...
Just after being discharged from the hospital, Xu Ruantang ran into a military wife; she had just delivered pastries to her home.
"Xiao Xu, haven't you finished delivering yet?"
Xu Ruantang shook her head, "No, sister-in-law, the delivery hasn't been made to the other courtyard yet."
The sister-in-law glanced behind her and said knowingly, "Was it Zhang Li who was holding you back and wouldn't let you leave? Sigh, if you ever need anything, just avoid her!"
She wasn't a bad person, just incredibly fond of complaining. People in the compound secretly called her Xianglin's Wife!
Her husband, Hao Jianjun, is a good-tempered man; he listens to her nagging all day without saying a word! It's true what they say, good men often meet bad women!
Xu Ruantang felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She could only smile and say goodbye to her sister-in-law.
In Xu Ruantang's mind, she always felt that loving someone was like growing a flower. If Hao Jianjun were truly good-tempered, Zhang Li wouldn't have to put up with any anger; he shouldn't have this kind of personality.
A person who is nurtured by love should have a stable and gentle temperament.
Xu Ruantang shook her head, banishing the jumbled thoughts from her mind, intending to finish delivering the items quickly and go home for dinner.
This is a six-story building with three households per floor. Xu Ruantang was worried that she wouldn't have enough things to bring, but fortunately, not every household was occupied.
When she reached the last two households, there were only three oil paper packages left in the styrofoam box. She knocked on one of the doors.
Before I could even speak, the smell in the room almost made me vomit!
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