Chapter 3: Arrival

After lunch, the supply ship docked at Sanlin Military Port.

Holding Mingming with her left hand and Ruirui with her right, Lin Wei stepped off the supply ship. The first thing she saw wasn’t the blue sea and sky, but the large warship docked in the distance and the young soldiers training vigorously below the pier.

From the waist down, they were submerged in the sea, their bare torsos shining bronze under the sunlight.

Hmm, very pleasing to the eyes.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get to look for long before Zong Shao, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere, blocked her view.

As she slowed her pace, Zong Shao also slowed down his walking speed. After a few attempts, Lin Wei glanced at him.

He still had that expressionless look on his face. After noticing her gaze, he slightly turned his head and said in a faint tone, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Wei quickly shook her head. “Nothing, nothing.” She averted her gaze and continued walking ahead.

Just as they were about to leave the military port, a young soldier dressed in a sailor shirt approached them and saluted Zong Shao, saying, “Vice Battalion Commander.”

Zong Shao had been promoted to Vice Battalion Commander after earning a merit in the sea battle earlier this year. After his rank was upgraded, he had sent Lin Wei a letter, asking her to come along with the military.

However, due to his busy schedule in the first half of the year, he hadn’t been able to find time to go back and bring her and the children along. He also didn’t feel comfortable with Lin Wei bringing the children alone—mainly because the journey was long, and the train would be crowded, making it difficult for her to manage.

So, the delay stretched all the way until mid-June.

Zong Shao thought about it, then put down his luggage and returned the salute. He introduced the soldier to Lin Wei, saying, “This is Comrade Liu Wei, my assigned orderly.” He then pointed at her and said, “This is your sister-in-law, Lin Wei.”

Lin Wei smiled and greeted him, “Hello, Comrade Liu.”

Liu Wei quickly responded, “No, no, you can just call me Xiao Liu.” Afterward, he lowered his head and looked at the two boys. “These must be your sons, right? They really look alike!”

Mingming, who was quite sociable, didn’t wait for his father to introduce him. He spoke up, “Hello, Uncle Liu. My name is Mingming, and this is my brother, Rui Rui. We’re twins, that’s why we look alike.”

After hearing Mingming’s long introduction, Liu Wei was surprised and asked, “How old is Mingming this year?”

Mingming puffed out his chest proudly and said, “Three years and four months old! Mom said once we turn three, we’re big kids!”

The brothers were a bit taller than children their age, and Liu Wei had initially thought they were already over four years old. However, he was surprised to learn they were still under three and a half. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Mingming is really impressive!”

Before joining the army, his nephew had been four or almost five, but he remembered his nephew wasn’t as articulate, nor were his words as clear as Mingming’s.

No wonder he’s the son of the Vice Battalion Commander!

Seeing Liu Wei’s admiring look, Zong Shao felt a bit confused but didn’t say anything. He simply picked up his luggage and said, “Let’s go.”

Liu Wei finally remembered the main task and quickly took the woven bag from Zong Shao’s hands, saying, “I’ll take it, I’ll take it. The car is parked over there.” He then walked towards the military jeep parked by the roadside.

…

Although the brothers had been on ferries, trains, and supply ships during the journey, they were both excited when they saw the military jeep. Mingming, especially, couldn’t sit still after getting into the car. He touched everything, looked all around, constantly moving.

The road from the dock to the residential area wasn’t smooth, occasionally hitting some small stones, causing the jeep to lurch forward.

At one point, Mingming was kneeling on the back seat with his back turned, holding onto the seat back while looking out the back window. When the jeep jolted, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning back, and his head hit the backrest of the front seat with a loud thud.

Luckily, Lin Wei reacted quickly and grabbed Mingming’s clothes, pulling him into her arms. Otherwise, not only would he have bumped his head, but he would have fallen into the gap between the seats.

Zong Shao, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned his head to look and asked, “Did you hit your head?”

Mingming, rubbing the back of his head, muttered, “Mm.” His voice sounded a bit pitiful.

However, as a father, Zong Shao showed no signs of sympathy. He simply said, “Serves you right.”

Lin Wei chuckled upon hearing this.

Mingming had bumped his head and didn’t get any comfort from his father. He already felt quite wronged, and now, hearing his mother’s triumphant laughter, he was on the verge of tears.

However, he didn’t cry. Instead, he turned his head and nuzzled into his mother’s arms, rubbing the back of his head and pouting, “It hurts, Mama, rub it.”

Lin Wei snorted lightly, “Now you know it hurts.”

Although she said that, she still reached out and gently rubbed Mingming’s head. There was no bump, so it didn’t seem to be a big deal.

Thinking this, Lin Wei turned her head to look outside.

Something didn’t seem right as she looked out, so she asked, “Isn’t the residential area by the seaside?”

“It is by the sea.”

“Then…”

Lin Wei stretched her neck and looked outside, but all she could see was fields—fields, and more fields. “Why can’t I see the sea outside? And why do I feel like we’re moving further inland?”

Zong Shao also glanced outside and said, “You’re mistaken. This road we’re on runs parallel to the sea. Do you remember when we left the dock, we made a turn? We’re coming from that turn.”

Lin Wei recalled the route they had taken earlier and suddenly understood, “So that’s how it is.”

Zong Shao responded with an “Mm,” then glanced at the young man in the driver’s seat and reminded him, “Focus on driving.”

Liu Wei, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, immediately straightened up and shouted, “Yes! Vice Battalion Commander!”

…

Meanwhile, in one of the buildings in the family quarters, someone was talking about them.

The first to mention them was a military wife wearing a floral shirt. She asked while adjusting her shoe sole, “I heard Vice Battalion Commander Zong has been home for a while. He should be arriving soon, right?”

The woman in the blue jacket sitting next to her replied, “He should be here soon. Vice Battalion Commander Zong is from Hu Province, so he should’ve been home for a few days. About half a month, I think. But why are you asking?”

The woman in the floral shirt smiled and said, “I heard Vice Battalion Commander Zong has a set of twins. I’ve never seen twins before, so I’m wondering if their kids look alike.”

The woman in the blue jacket thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t seen any either, but I’ve heard that twins tend to be better-looking than average people.”

At this, the woman in the white shirt sitting across from them scoffed and said, “Who says twins are always better-looking? They’re just like anyone else, with one nose and two eyes. What’s so special about them?”

She then said to the military wife in the blue jacket, “If you ask me, don’t believe everything you hear. A child’s looks depend on genetics. If the parents aren’t good-looking, it doesn’t matter if they have triplets or quadruplets, they won’t look great. But if the parents are good-looking, even if they don’t have twins, their kids will still look good. Just like my three kids—aren’t they all so handsome?”

The other two military wives: “……”

The woman who said this was named Gao Xiulian. To be fair, she wasn’t unattractive.

Although she wasn’t tall—about 1.6 meters—she had an average build, neither too thin nor too heavy. Her features weren’t particularly striking, but there was nothing to complain about either.

In short, she had an ordinary appearance.

Her husband was similar—neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin. Among the many officers’ families in the neighborhood, his looks didn’t rank at the very bottom, but he certainly wasn’t at the top either.

Of course, there are cases where parents have ordinary looks, but their children turn out to be particularly charming. However, Gao Xiulian’s children didn’t fall into this category—her three siblings all had average looks.

In short, Gao Xiulian’s three children had nothing to do with the word “handsome.”

Therefore, after Gao Xiulian confidently said this, the other two fell silent.

But it was clear that Gao Xiulian had great confidence in her family’s looks and didn’t think there was anything wrong with what she said. Noticing the lack of agreement, she specifically asked, “Do you think I’m wrong?”

The two women were left speechless.

However, Gao Xiulian’s husband, Zhao Feng, had a high rank—he was a deputy regiment commander—and, coincidentally, he was the direct superior of the husband of the military wife in the blue jacket. So, during their interactions, the wife in the blue jacket would often, intentionally or unintentionally, flatter Gao Xiulian.

“Therefore, although she felt speechless inside, she still agreed on the surface with a sentence: ‘That’s true.’

The Blue Jacket military wife had her reservations, but the military wife in the floral shirt didn’t care so much. Her husband wasn’t one of Zhao Feng’s subordinates, so she couldn’t be bothered to flatter Gao Xiulian.

Of course, she wasn’t so lacking in social grace as to directly tell Gao Xiulian that she thought her children weren’t good-looking. Instead, she steered the topic back and said, ‘Even with genetics, with Deputy Regiment Commander Zong’s looks, their kids’ appearances shouldn’t be too bad.’

Zong Shao’s looks were among the best in the entire Sanlin base.

Even if Gao Xiulian’s filters were as deep as could be, she wouldn’t have said that Zong Shao was less good-looking than her husband. But the floral shirt military wife didn’t like hearing this, so she snorted coldly and said, ‘That may not be the case, who knows what Deputy Regiment Commander Zong’s wife looks like!’

The floral shirt military wife speculated, ‘Based on how warm Zong Shao is, his wife’s appearance shouldn’t be too bad.’

She was referring to Zong Shao’s work on the house. When the houses were assigned before, everyone just made do with what they had, so no one really thought much about it.”

“But after Zong Shao’s request for a house was approved, and they saw him painting walls, building a kitchen, and repairing the bathroom, the military wives in the family quarters started looking at their husbands differently.

They’re all men, so why is it that other people’s husbands are so considerate, making sure the house is in good shape before their wives arrive, while their own husbands, not only are they not painting walls or building houses, but some don’t even bother to clean until we get there?

People really make you jealous!

Because of Zong Shao’s efforts, all the military wives in the family quarters felt that he must really cherish his wife.

These days, life is rough. Women wash in tubs in their rooms, and men are even more casual—just a basin of water and they’re washing their bare chests in the yard. That’s why the houses in the family quarters didn’t have dedicated bathrooms.

As for the toilets, the newly built houses in the family quarters had them, but the older ones still had to use public restrooms outside.

They all thought, if it wasn’t for wanting his wife to live more comfortably, why would Zong Shao go through all this trouble to build a bathroom, install a toilet, and paint the walls? Just fixing the windows and painting a few white walls would have been enough.”

“Zong Shao is handsome and has a promising future, so what kind of woman can’t he find? The fact that his wife has him so fond of her means she must be quite good-looking.

It was fine when the woman in the floral shirt didn’t mention Zong Shao’s work on the kitchen and bathroom, but as soon as she did, Gao Xiulian’s expression darkened.

Although most of the military wives in the family quarters thought the row houses were a good deal, Gao Xiulian was in the minority. She preferred living in the old houses.

Firstly, the military wives living in the old houses were mostly those who had only come to join their husbands in recent years. Most of their husbands held lower ranks, usually at the battalion or deputy battalion level, while her husband was a deputy regimental commander.

Though the military maintains strict discipline, and she can’t use her husband’s higher rank to bully other military wives, in daily interactions, most of the wives treat her more politely because of her husband’s rank. Some, like the woman in the blue coat, even subtly flatter her.

Gao Xiulian really enjoyed this kind of flattery. Whenever this happened, she secretly felt pleased and was glad that she had come to join the military.

Secondly, while the old houses may not have the same amenities as the row houses, they were much bigger. Moreover, they lived in the largest house among the old ones, with a total of five rooms, and both the front and back yards were half again as large as those of the other houses!

Not only did the military wives in the row houses envy her, but even the wives living in the old houses were jealous of how much space Gao Xiulian’s family had.

However, after Zong Shao fixed things up, the advantages of Gao Xiulian’s house didn’t seem so impressive anymore.”

“Thinking about how everyone had spoken about the Zong family with envy recently, Gao Xiulian couldn’t help but say, ‘That’s not necessarily true. Maybe she has poor eyesight! Plus, she’s already planning to fix this and that before even moving in. She must be really delicate. She might not be able to handle life on our island.’

The more Gao Xiulian spoke, the more convinced she became, and her tone carried a bit more schadenfreude. ‘What if Zong Shao goes through all that trouble fixing up the house, and she can’t even last two months before wanting to go back? That would be a sight to see!’

Hearing this, the military wife in the blue coat didn’t react much, but the woman in the floral shirt covered her mouth in embarrassment.

It was so sour, extremely sour!”