Chapter 8

In addition to the local specialty, Su Ting also bought two skewers of candied hawthorn and a box of egg cakes.

The egg cakes were from an old, established brand, and the shop was conveniently located next to the State-Owned Restaurant where she had just eaten. After finishing her meal, she stepped outside, and a fresh batch of egg cakes had just been made. The sweet, fragrant aroma quickly filled the air, sparking her appetite.

However, she had just eaten, and despite the temptation, the craving soon faded, leaving her feeling full and not particularly hungry. As she walked a few meters away, she thought of He Yan. She had come out to eat and drink, and it didn’t feel right not to bring him anything. So, she turned around and bought a box of egg cakes for him.

After buying the egg cakes, she saw a stall selling candied hawthorn next door and decided to buy two skewers. The local specialty, the “tu sun dong.” was something she picked up incidentally, mainly to amuse the child.

Over the past few days, Su Ting had gotten to know He Yan’s personality a little better. If she had to use a popular term from the future to describe him, it would definitely be “tsundere.”

If one word wasn’t enough, and a short phrase was required, it would be “speaks harshly but is upright at heart.”

But no matter how tsundere or contradictory he was, it was clear that he was a child who had been spoiled while growing up—innocent and kind, unlike the cold-hearted, ruthless “dragon hero” characters in novels.

The original owner had really brought this upon herself!

While thinking this, Su Ting bit into the sugar coating of the hawthorn with a crunch. She turned her head to look at the little boy next to her, who was munching on the candied hawthorn, and asked: “Is it good?”

“Yes, it’s good.”

“Is the tu sun dong as good as the candied hawthorn?”

He Yan made a pained face. “…” He couldn’t eat any more candied hawthorn.

Su Ting laughed loudly and reached out to rub his head hard. “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore.”

He Yan ducked to the right, covering his head. “Men’s heads can’t be touched!”

“What will happen if I touch it?”

He Yan couldn’t come up with an answer and hesitated, muttering: “Just… you can’t touch it.”

“Then I’ll touch it. You’re eating things I bought for you, and you won’t even let me touch your head? You’ve got some nerve.” Su Ting said, and then grabbed a handful of his hair.

It’s said that when someone feeds you, you should be grateful. Looking at the bright red candied hawthorn in her hand, He Yan had no choice but to swallow his complaints. He thought to himself that once he finished eating, he would definitely not let her touch his head again!

But after finishing the candied hawthorn, there was still the egg cake, and after the egg cake, there were the oranges, sunflower seeds, and peanuts she had bought a few days ago.

Forget it, if she wanted to touch his head, then let her.

—

In the following days, Su Ting spent her time studying the comic books she had bought.

The comic book style from this era was much more diverse than Su Ting had imagined. Some were realistic, some were expressive, with the former being very detailed and the latter capturing the essence of characters with just a few strokes. There were also cartoonish characters.

The layout was typically one illustration paired with one block of text, and the text was written in third-person, which made it quite different from modern-day comics.

However, there were exceptions. One of the comic books Su Ting had bought included a piece with first-person dialogue bubbles in the frames, making it feel closer to the comics popular in later years.

Su Ting flipped through the “comic book magazines” she had purchased and discovered that they rarely featured serialized stories. Each issue was typically just one story, whether serialized or standalone, and the length of each issue ranged from twenty to forty panels, occupying about two to three pages.

The stories were all sorts of genres—both ancient and modern—and many were adaptations of Aesop’s fables. Regardless of the setting, the values conveyed in the stories were all positive.

Although it seemed like Su Ting had bought a lot of comic books, each issue was only about twenty pages, including the cover. With dozens of magazines, she finished flipping through them all in one afternoon.

But simply flipping through wasn’t enough. To get her submissions accepted, she still had to refine her understanding of the drawing styles and story structures. She already had some ideas for the latter, but the former still required practice.

She cut the thin A4 paper she bought in half, then bound them with a needle and thread to create a simple sketchbook. Every day, she would carry the sketchbook around, holding a pencil and drawing scenes she liked whenever she saw them.

But the one she drew the most was He Yan, as they spent the most time together.

He Yan was also very willing to be her model. The boy had a strong desire to perform, but that was only at first. After seeing a few of the sketches Su Ting had drawn of him, he stopped agreeing to pose.

In the drawings, he looked too ugly!

To smooth things over, Su Ting hurriedly drew a set of chibi-style illustrations of little He Yan and gave them to him. She explained that the previous sketches were just due to her drawing style and that it wasn’t his fault that they looked bad.

Seeing how sincere Su Ting’s apology was, He Yan reluctantly decided to forgive her and reached out to open the chibi set she gave him.

He shouldn’t have looked, but once he did, he became even angrier. “I don’t act cutesy! I don’t cry! And I definitely don’t do that ‘selling meng’ thing! I don’t make such weird expressions!”

The chibi set had six pictures, each with a theme of He Yan eating, sleeping, doing homework, acting cutesy, selling “meng.” and crying.

The first three pictures were fine, but the last three pictures greatly displeased He Yan.

Su Ting, noticing his reaction, was surprised. “You know so many characters?”

He Yan felt like he was being bullied, his face puffing up like a pufferfish in anger.

Seeing this, Su Ting quickly backed off and comforted him: “Don’t you think these pictures are cute? They’re how I see little Yan. Don’t you like them? It took me an entire night to draw them.”

“Of course…”

Before he could finish his sentence, He Yan saw the sad expression on Su Ting’s face and quickly changed his tone: “I don’t… dislike them.”

Actually, upon closer inspection, the pictures weren’t bad at all. Of course, they would’ve been better without the last three. Acting cute, selling “meng.” and crying—it really ruined his image.

Taking the opportunity, Su Ting asked: “Then, can you stop being mad at me?”

“I wasn’t mad at you in the first place.” He just didn’t want to be her model anymore because she had drawn him too badly.

The next moment, He Yan heard Su Ting ask: “So, would you still be willing to model for me in the future?”

He Yan’s expression became conflicted.

“Ah, I just started learning to draw. The people I draw don’t look too good. If you don’t want to model for me, that’s okay…”

He Yan took a deep breath and said: “I’ll draw for you.”

“Huh? What?”

He Yan repeated in a muffled tone: “I said I’ll draw for you. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look good.” He figured, at worst, he’d just stop looking at her drawings in the future.

If he didn’t see them, he could pretend he didn’t know.

“Little Yan.”

He Yan looked up, about to ask: “What else?” but before he could speak, Su Ting had rubbed his head from front to back. By the time he finally escaped from her “claws.” ready to explode, he heard Su Ting say: “You’re really kind.”

He Yan’s fair face instantly flushed red. Hugging the drawings she gave him, he quickly retreated to the second bedroom.

That night, He Yan lay in bed with the light on, holding the sketch paper and looking at the chibi-style drawings Su Ting had made of him.

The version of him crying and acting cute really did seem quite adorable.

—

After calming He Yan down, Su Ting actually drew him less frequently. She also adjusted her drawing style, and the results were much better than before.

He Yan was very pleased.

Yes, in the end, he couldn’t resist his curiosity.

Despite having made up his mind not to look at her drawings anymore, after just two times, he couldn’t help himself and leaned over to take a peek.

Once he looked, He Yan realized she had improved a lot. At least now, the drawings didn’t hurt his eyes.

Su Ting sighed: “You really don’t understand art!”

After adjusting her drawing style, the place Su Ting visited most often was the playground near the family compound. There were many children there, whether they were lined up to swing on the swings or gathered together playing marbles, it was a delightful scene of children at play.

Sometimes, she also drew adults. The military wives living in the family compound were more than happy to be drawn by her, as long as she was willing to give them the finished drawings.

Su Ting, who had been struggling to find models, was more than happy to oblige and gladly agreed.

She had already figured out the stories she wanted to submit, and the drawing style was starting to feel right. The biggest challenge in front of her now was her unfamiliarity with this era.

Although she had most of the original owner’s memories, they felt more like they had been implanted in her mind. She was very aware that these weren’t her own experiences. Even though she was living in this era, there was still a layer of separation between her and the people around her.

Without truly integrating into this time, it was hard to draw stories that felt authentic to this era.

This was why she spent so much time at the playground. It was near the entrance and allowed her to observe a variety of people. Plus, while she sketched, she could engage in conversations with the military wives. Through their stories, she could learn more about the time period.

When not drawing, she would sometimes go for walks outside.

She had been to the beach twice, and had walked to the large residential area on the island three times, but most of the time, she was wandering around the street outside the family compound.

Among the shops outside, the one Su Ting visited most often was the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and the canteen, for one simple reason: the food was plentiful.

She went to the canteen regularly for all three meals, while her visits to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative were more random—just whenever she got a craving. For example, right now, after finishing a drawing, she suddenly felt her mouth had no taste. She closed her sketchbook and headed out of the family compound.

As a regular at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, the shop attendants were no longer surprised by her frequent visits to buy things. They didn’t even gossip about it anymore.

After all, even if they did talk about her, Su Ting would still eat and drink as she pleased, and her life wouldn’t change. It was them who grew more envious, more wistful with each discussion.

They were all military wives, so why did their lives differ so much?

—

Su Ting had no idea what the people at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative thought. Her mind was only on food. Not long after leaving the cooperative, she stopped, took a banana from the bunch she was holding, and broke off a piece.

To be honest, the fruit from this era was really good. The bananas she frequently bought had a particularly strong fragrance and were very sweet. Unlike the bananas she bought in later years, which often had little to no taste.

As she was thinking about it, she heard someone behind her call her name in a somewhat puzzled tone. Turning around, she saw a young man in a blue-gray naval uniform, with a scruffy beard, standing not far away.

When he saw her face, he quickened his steps, walking confidently toward her.

Although she could tell he was a soldier, and there were guards nearby, so he wouldn’t do anything reckless, his tall, imposing figure made her instinctively take a half-step back. She asked cautiously: “Who are you?”

The bearded man stopped, his tone neutral as he answered: “Your husband.”

Su Ting: “…”

It was really awkward.

If she had a phone on her right now, she’d definitely post on a forum asking: “What should I do if I ran into my husband who just returned from a business trip, but I didn’t recognize him? Waiting for answers, urgent!”