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That day, on her way home from work, Li Xia encountered an old madam.
The old madam grabbed her arm and asked, “You’re Master Li from the private cooking window at the military family cafeteria, right? I just went to the cafeteria looking for you, but you had already gotten off work. Luckily, I managed to catch you.”
Li Xia had never seen this old madam before and guessed that she had come to order a private-cooking meal at the cafeteria. However, it was already after work hours.
She said, “Old Madam, how can I help you? If you’d like to order from the private-cooking menu, you’ll need to come earlier tomorrow. The cafeteria is already closed for the day.”
The old madam waved her hand dismissively and said, “Oh, it’s not about that. My daughter is getting married soon—she’s marrying into the army. I’d like to ask you to help prepare the banquet on her wedding day, which is this Sunday.”
The old madam’s surname was Tian. Two months ago, at a social gathering organized by the authorities, her daughter took a liking to a battalion commander from the army.
After spending two months together, the young couple felt things were going well and decided to get married.
Old Madam Tian had recently heard people praising Master Li from the private-cooking window, saying her cooking skills were exceptional. That gave her the idea to ask Li Xia to help prepare the banquet for her daughter’s wedding.
“Old Madam, I’m not available that day. You should find someone else,” Li Xia refused without a second thought.
The smile on Old Madam Tian’s face stiffened for a moment before she quickly explained, “Master Li, I’m not asking you to do it for free—I’ll pay you. Five yuan!”
She held up five fingers, her voice rising slightly as she said five yuan, as if she were being especially generous.
It was clear she thought five yuan was already a generous offer, but Li Xia paid her no mind and simply refused.
Indeed, in an era where the average monthly salary was only thirty or forty yuan, offering five yuan for a banquet was considered quite generous.
But Li Xia didn’t care about the money. She shook her head and explained, “Old Madam, it’s really not about the money. I truly have something important to do that day. Even if you offered me fifty yuan, I still wouldn’t be able to go.”
She genuinely had no time—there was something very important she had to take care of that day.
However, Old Madam Tian was clearly displeased by her words. Her expression turned cold, and her tone grew sharp.
“So, five yuan isn’t enough for you? You’re saying even fifty yuan wouldn’t make you go? What a big attitude you’ve got! Do you want five hundred instead? That day is a Sunday—no one has to work. What could you possibly have to do? Just admit you don’t want to go instead of making up excuses!”
Faced with Old Madam Tian’s rudeness, Li Xia’s smile faded.
She understood that some people were like this—when asking for a favor, they were all pleasant and polite. But the moment they were refused, they would turn sour. She just hadn’t expected to run into one today.
They were strangers to each other—since Old Madam Tian was rude to her, Li Xia saw no reason to be polite in return.
Everyone had a temper.
Li Xia’s expression turned cold as well. She pressed her lips together and said, “Even if you really offered me five hundred yuan, I wouldn’t go if I didn’t want to. Just because you have nothing to do on Sunday doesn’t mean others are free as well. Old Madam, we don’t even know each other, yet you have the nerve to ask me for a favor. I, on the other hand, have the right to refuse. Not only do I actually have something important that day, but even if I didn’t, I would still turn you down if I didn’t want to go. I don’t owe you anything, and you have no right to shout at me like this.”
Old Madam Tian felt that this young girl in front of her was truly ungrateful.
Her son-in-law was a battalion commander—if this young girl had any sense, she’d try to curry favor. If she pleased her, she might even ask her son-in-law to find the girl a good match. Maybe she could marry a company commander or a platoon leader. Wouldn’t becoming an officer’s wife be much better than working in a cafeteria?
“You dare talk to me like that? Do you even know who my son-in-law is?” Old Madam Tian placed her hands on her hips, looking as if she was not to be messed with.
“If you were smart, you wouldn’t speak to me this way. If I’m in a good mood, I might even introduce you to an officer. Then you’d soar like a phoenix and wouldn’t have to work in the cafeteria—you could become an officer’s wife instead.”
Li Xia was speechless at this ridiculous talk. She scoffed and said, “Why should I care who your son-in-law is? Even if a division commander came, he wouldn’t be able to force me to do something I don’t want to do. Besides, I’m already married. I don’t need you to introduce me to anyone, and I don’t see anything wrong with working in the cafeteria.”
With that, Li Xia couldn’t be bothered to argue with this rude old woman. She ignored her as she pointed a trembling finger at her, sputtering, “You… you…” but unable to finish a sentence.
Then, she turned and left.
…
Back home, Gu Weicheng was painting the walls.
Li Xia had mentioned before that she wanted to repaint the house, and Gu Weicheng had remembered. After getting his hands on some paint, he had spent the last two days working on it.
That was also why he hadn’t picked up Li Xia from work today. In the past few days, he had always gone to meet her and walk home together.
Gu Weicheng worked both efficiently and neatly. In just two days, more than half of the walls had been repainted.
Now, only the secondary bedroom remained unfinished.
An An was a little helper, running back and forth—handing brushes to his father one moment, and fetching water for him the next.
When Gu Weicheng saw Li Xia return, he said to her, “Today, my deputy battalion commander, Li, told me he’s getting married. They’re holding the wedding banquet this Sunday and invited our whole family to attend. Do you want to go? If you don’t feel like it, I can go alone.”
Li Xia couldn’t help but recall the Old Madam she had encountered on her way home.
Could it be that the son-in-law she had been bragging about was none other than Deputy Battalion Commander Li?
Li Xia was momentarily speechless. Given how smug Old Madam Tian had been at the time, she had assumed her daughter’s husband was some high-ranking leader.
Turns out he was just a deputy battalion commander?
It wasn’t that Li Xia looked down on deputy battalion commanders—after all, every soldier earned their rank through merit and dedication, and they were all worthy of respect. Someone like Gu Weicheng, who had become a regimental commander before the age of thirty, was an extremely rare case.
She was simply baffled by Old Madam Tian’s attitude. Just because her daughter had married an officer, she now looked down on others and even tried to use her so-called influence to pressure Li Xia into doing something she didn’t want to. What kind of person was that?
Li Xia recounted her encounter with Old Madam Tian to Gu Weicheng and asked, “Could Old Madam Tian be Deputy Battalion Commander Li’s mother-in-law?”