Chapter 12: A Cut of Plum

Even though Han Chao had said he would come back, the next day, he didn’t return. Instead, he sent an orderly to deliver a message: there had been some trouble in the new recruits’ camp, and Chen Yufeng would have to wait until he finished dealing with it before he could take her shopping.

Though it was her first time in the city, she had run a business back in town—there was no way she wouldn’t be able to go out on her own.

Although she had just arrived in the city, she had great ambitions—she wanted to establish herself here and eventually bring both her mother-in-law and her own mother to live with her. To achieve that, she had to step out and explore on her own.

However, taking both Mimi and Tiantian with her on her first trip outside worried her—she was afraid she might lose them in the crowd.

Yet, leaving them at home wasn’t reassuring either, especially in the chaotic atmosphere of the 1990s city.

Just then, she noticed Mimi and Tiantian leaning against the wall, listening intently to the music coming from next door. Seeing that Sister-in-law Bao was home, she asked, “Sister-in-law Bao, will you be staying home all day today?”

Sister-in-law Bao replied, “The military district’s TV station is broadcasting four episodes of A Spray of Plum Blossoms in a row today. I took the day off just to enjoy it.”

Chen Yufeng had heard of televisions before, and A Spray of Plum Blossoms was said to be an excellent drama.

Seeing how eager the two little girls looked, she decided to bring over some flower pastries she had brought from home and said with a smile, “Sister-in-law Bao, I need to go to the market. Could I leave these two girls with you to watch some TV?”

“Of course.” Sister-in-law Bao caught a whiff of the delightful fragrance coming from the bag of pastries Chen Yufeng was carrying. When she took a closer look, she was surprised. “What kind of pastry is this? It smells amazing!”

“These are flower pastries baked by my mother-in-law. The flavor is truly unique—try one.”

Sister-in-law Bao took one, and the moment it touched her tongue, she let out a satisfied hum. “So crispy!” Then, as she reached the filling, she added, “So fragrant, so sweet!”

At this time, transportation was still underdeveloped, and logistics were inconvenient. Flower pastries were a specialty of Yunnan, something that people in the capital had never tasted before. One pastry wasn’t enough for Sister-in-law Bao—she immediately reached for a second.

And so, Mimi and Tiantian stayed at her house to watch TV.

Logically speaking, if Chen Yufeng just needed to buy things, she should have gone to the military district’s store.

Located in the family quarters of the regimental compound, the military store had everything—clothing, cosmetics, hardware, and groceries.

However, when she reached the gate of the family quarters, she instead asked the security guard, “Where is the Daqingshan Wholesale Market?”

“Right over there,” the guard pointed.

Chen Yufeng turned her head and saw that just across the street, opposite the military district, was a massive wholesale market. The sign read: Daqingshan Wholesale Market.

As a rural woman visiting the city for the first time, Chen Yufeng was completely stunned by the sight of such prosperity.

According to the novel, this very market had been rented out from the military district by her father, Chen Fanshi.

The book also mentioned that through this market, Chen Fanshi earned a net profit of 60,000 yuan a year.

At the time, Chen Yufeng had been puzzled. After all, a soldier’s monthly stipend—like Han Chao’s—was only 70 yuan. She had scrimped and saved for seven years to accumulate 3,800 yuan. How could Chen Fanshi be making Han Chao’s seven years’ worth of earnings in just half a month?

It wasn’t until she stepped into the market that she finally understood.

This place was enormous. In the countryside, even buying a radio at a supply and marketing cooperative required ration tickets and personal connections. But here, shelves were neatly stacked with all kinds of radios.

Televisions, even rarer at the time—something many had only heard of but never seen—were piled up in rows, high and low.

Clothing, curtains, undergarments, vegetables, pastries—everything was sold here.

Since it was a wholesale market, prices were exceptionally low. For example, children’s underwear—three sets for just five yuan, and she could even pick the ones she liked.

Back in her town, she had always sewn her own undergarments and underwear to save money. She had rarely bought any. But seeing how cheap everything was, she immediately decided to stock up.

Of course, she hadn’t forgotten that now that she was in the capital, she needed to find a business opportunity.

After all, both her mother-in-law and her own mother were waiting for her back home.

She wandered around the market for a long time and soon felt hungry.

That was when she noticed a long line in front of a bun shop. Many people were queueing up to buy buns, so she squeezed in and bought two.

But the moment she took a bite, she nearly spat it out.

The dough was over-fermented, making the bun’s skin sour. Too much baking soda had been added, preventing the dough from rising properly, leaving it both sour and tough. The filling had an odd stench, suggesting the meat had been left out too long. Heavy seasoning had been used to mask the bad smell—though fragrant at first, it quickly became nauseating.

After walking through the market, Chen Yufeng suddenly felt more confident.

Even if she didn’t do anything else, she could rent a bun shop, bring Wang Guoguo and Zhou Yafang here, and with their expertise in making buns—especially Wang Guoguo’s Yunnan-style flaky buns—she was sure they would sell out in no time.

For now, she focused on buying underwear for the two children and picked up two pairs of underpants for herself as well.

Then, she noticed a shop with a few bras hanging on a wire rack outside. She hesitantly asked for the price.

“Eight yuan each,” the shopkeeper replied.

After some thought, Chen Yufeng bought two.

According to the novel, her past poverty had made her extremely frugal—she was unwilling to spend on food or clothing, refused to dress up, and didn’t care for the children’s appearance either. As a result, her daughters grew up with deep-seated insecurities.

Meanwhile, Han Chao, being quite handsome, attracted many admirers in the military district. Since their marriage had been arranged, some women even mocked her behind her back, calling her Han Chao’s yellow-faced wife.

With the rise in popularity of Taiwanese dramas like A Spray of Plum Blossoms, a new trend had emerged—women boldly pursuing love. Many believed she wasn’t good enough for Han Chao and even tried to provoke her.

Chen Yufeng refused to be that kind of person.

If she ran out of money, she could always earn more.

But she would buy the best and newest clothes for her children.

And she, too, would make sure to dress up.

After finishing her shopping, she regretted one thing—she had bought too much in one go. Carrying all the bags left her utterly exhausted.

As she entered the family quarters, she saw Mimi and Tiantian standing at the gate, waiting for her.

“Mommy, a grandpa came by just now,” Tiantian said first. “He was looking for you.”

Mimi eagerly chimed in, “And there was also a grandma! She gave us candy and said she was our grandma.”

It was obvious—the visitors were none other than Chen Fanshi and Zhang Yanli, the husband and wife.

Sister-in-law Bao also stepped out of her house and said, “Yufeng, your father came by earlier. He said he’s been busy lately and will come to see you in a few days.”

Chen Yufeng responded, “Okay.”

Bao Sao added, “He also left a message for you—he said that if Han Chao is still the same as before, with that temper of his and his habit of hitting people, then don’t meet him. Otherwise, he’ll have Han Chao’s epaulets removed!”

Because the antiques had been donated, Chen Fanshi was worried that Chen Yufeng might cause trouble upon arriving, so he wanted to explain the situation and persuade her to accept it.

Additionally, he and Zhang Yanli planned to strongly urge her to give Mimi away for adoption.

As for the warning about Han Chao, there was a rather ironic backstory behind it.

Years ago, when Chen Fanshi was leaving, he had staged a fake divorce and taken the antiques with him.

Both Han Chao and Wang Guoguo were aware of this, and Wang Guoguo strongly opposed it, saying that Chen Fanshi was just like the notorious Chen Shimei reborn—he had deceived Zhou Yafang to get the antiques and would never return once he left.

Zhou Yafang, however, trusted her husband completely and foolishly handed over the antiques to him.

On his way out of town, Chen Fanshi was unexpectedly stopped by Han Chao—and was beaten black and blue.

Back then, Han Chao was only nine years old. A nine-year-old boy managing to beat up a grown man? Who would believe it?

But Han Chao did it.

Of course, when he got home, Wang Guoguo gave him a good thrashing in return. Meanwhile, after arriving in Beijing, Chen Fanshi wrote letters informing the town mayor and town director of the incident, loudly proclaiming his disdain for Han Chao.

He claimed Han Chao was nothing but a brute who only knew how to use his fists—an ignorant, stubborn fool, a bully!

In her dreams, Chen Yufeng had indeed not brought Han Chao when she met Chen Fanshi, fearing that her husband might punch her father again. After all, if a soldier hit someone, he could be expelled from the military.

But the current Chen Yufeng understood Han Chao well—he no longer resorted to violence. And instinctively, she felt that while he might have been naive and stubborn as a child, he was now far more perceptive than she was.

This time, when Chen Fanshi came, she had to make sure Han Chao was present. Otherwise, she feared being deceived by her father again.

That night, Mimi had played too much while bathing in the public bathhouse and was the first to fall asleep.

Chen Yufeng was busy putting up curtains and making the beds with new sheets and covers.

The small bedroom had only a narrow one-meter-wide bed, which was Han Chao’s. The blanket was also small, and since she couldn’t find a suitable cover for it, she had sewn one herself and was in the middle of stitching it.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps—she knew immediately it was Han Chao.

Mimi didn’t like her father and always wished he would leave, but Tiantian adored him. She had been taught by Zhou Yafang what to say, so she dutifully repeated it now: “Daddy, Mimi is asleep. Hurry and make a baby brother with Mommy!”

The man’s footsteps halted abruptly, stopping dead in his tracks.

Dressed in his military uniform, tall and imposing, Han Chao stood there as if he had been struck by lightning.