Chapter 9: Arriving at the New Home

On the kang (a traditional heated brick bed), there were two red satin quilts. Even the pillowcases and bed sheets were red.

“These were prepared by Xu Zhengqing and the others—not me,” Cheng Jinghao quickly explained when he saw Lin Momo’s look.

“Figured they wouldn’t be from you.”

“Yeah,” Cheng Jinghao rubbed his nose sheepishly.

Back at the military base, Xu Zhengqing, who had just returned the car, suddenly sneezed several times in a row.

“I’ll go to the canteen and buy us some food. You rest a bit,” Cheng Jinghao said as he quickly left the room, picked up two meal boxes from the main hall, and rode off on his bicycle to the canteen.

Lin Momo touched the kang—it was rather hard. Having grown used to sleeping on spring mattresses, she found it uncomfortable.

The kang was big, so she took out two thick quilts from her space (i.e., the dimensional storage), laid them out, and placed the original bedding on top. She gave it a touch and nodded in satisfaction.

The room had a large kang, a desk, a wardrobe, and two storage chests placed on the bed.

Lin Momo opened her suitcase and began unpacking. Both suitcases were filled with clothes and daily necessities, which she sorted and arranged one by one.

By the time she was nearly done, Cheng Jinghao returned with two meal boxes.

“Momo, come eat,” Cheng Jinghao placed the boxes on the table in the main hall and called toward the room.

“Coming.” When Lin Momo came out, Cheng Jinghao was picking out the fatty meat from her box and replacing it with the lean meat from his.

“Didn’t you used to dislike fatty meat too?” Lin Momo sat down and looked at him.

“After joining the army, I started eating it,” Cheng Jinghao replied, pushing the meal box to her and handing over a pair of chopsticks.

“Hurry and eat before it gets cold.”

“Okay.” Lin Momo lowered her head and began eating.

“If you want to eat something better, you can go to the commissary inside the military zone. I’ll take you for a walk there later.”

“Most of the military families exchange food with the local villagers. Some of them grow vegetables in their backyard. In this region, veggies are scarce—we mostly get greens, potatoes, and chili peppers.”

“Every three days, a procurement truck goes into the city. If families want to buy meat, they either ride that truck or get meat dishes from the base canteen.”

As they ate, Cheng Jinghao explained the living conditions in the family housing area of the military zone.

Lin Momo blinked at Cheng Jinghao.

“I know you have a supermarket in your space. If you do go into the city, you could bring supplies out from there. There’s a procurement truck tomorrow—I’ll take you into town,” Cheng Jinghao offered.

“Okay,” Lin Momo nodded with a smile.

“I’m planning to grow some vegetables in the backyard. That way, if you take any from your space, you’ll have a good excuse.”

“I don’t know how to garden,” Lin Momo looked at him.

“You won’t need to. Tonight, I’ll get you a bucket of spiritual spring water to soak in. It’ll help improve your health,” Cheng Jinghao said, looking at her. He still remembered how frail she’d been since childhood.

“You’re so generous, Brother Hao.” Lin Momo gave him a thumbs-up, successfully making him laugh.

“I had someone help me buy two coal stoves—they should arrive in a few days, along with coal,” Cheng Jinghao added, then followed up with, “You’ll need to pay for them when they come.”

“You can even get coal and stoves out here?” Lin Momo looked at him—it didn’t seem easy.

“I pulled some strings,” Cheng Jinghao said simply. Every place had its own channels for supplies. He didn’t want to explain too much, worried her curiosity might get her into danger.

“Tomorrow when we go to the city, let’s order a sewing machine too,” Lin Momo said. She figured she could make clothes at home when there was nothing else to do.

“When did you learn to sew?” Cheng Jinghao looked at her. He clearly remembered she couldn’t even sew a button before.

“The original host knew how,” Lin Momo replied awkwardly with a laugh.

Cheng Jinghao nodded. That made sense now.

After dinner, Cheng Jinghao took the bowls to the courtyard to wash them. Due to the water shortage in the Tibetan region, he was very frugal with water — which made Lin Momo a bit anxious.

“Move aside,” Lin Momo pushed Cheng Jinghao away, then proudly pulled out a 10-liter bucket of water from her space and looked at him smugly.

Cheng Jinghao stared at her actions in surprise. Washing dishes with mineral water? That’s extravagant!

“For every bucket I use, I’ll replenish one,” Lin Momo said, looking at him with an expression that seemed to say, “Aren’t I amazing?”

“It works,” Cheng Jinghao smiled and poured the water into the water tank.

After emptying the bucket, Lin Momo tossed it into the trash bin of her spatial mall, where it automatically disappeared.

When Cheng Jinghao finished washing the dishes and came back inside, he found Lin Momo sitting on the bed, spacing out.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“I was thinking — if only I could run a water pipe from the mall’s tap to the Tibetan region, then we wouldn’t have to worry about water shortages,” Lin Momo said.

“You’re thinking too far ahead. Aren’t you afraid of being dissected for research?” Cheng Jinghao laughed.

“I was just imagining, hehe.” Lin Momo shut her mouth — her life was more important.

“Apart from me, don’t tell anyone about the mall. Not even your parents,” Cheng Jinghao gently stroked her hair and said softly.

“Mm, I know.” Lin Momo nodded.

Still, she felt like Cheng Jinghao was treating her like a child. She hadn’t even told her family about the mall. She had originally wanted to send some supplies to the Lin family but had held back.

After packing up, the two of them prepared to ride a bicycle to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Cheng Jinghao took an old cotton coat, cut it into a square, and tied it onto the back seat of the bike.

“This should make it more comfortable,” he said, patting the back seat.

“Cheng Jinghao, this is really just like when we were kids. We used to argue all the time, but you always took care of me,” Lin Momo said with a smile.

“I won’t argue with you anymore. From now on, I’ll only take care of you,” Cheng Jinghao replied seriously, looking into her eyes.

Lin Momo stared at him, feeling like something was off… but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Let’s go,” Cheng Jinghao said, pushing the bicycle out of the courtyard gate.

Their home was at the very end of a row of houses. Just as they stepped outside, a soldier in uniform from the neighboring yard appeared.

“Hey, Old Cheng, you’re back! Is this your wife?” the man greeted warmly.

“My wife, Lin Momo.”

“This is Zhao Zhigang, a political instructor — my partner,” Cheng Jinghao introduced.

“Hello, sister-in-law,” Zhao Zhigang smiled, then turned and shouted toward his yard, “Honey, Old Cheng’s wife is here!”

A woman in her early thirties came out of the yard, beaming.

“This is my wife, Li He.”

“Hello, sister-in-law. I’m Lin Momo,” Lin Momo said sweetly.

“Hi! We’re neighbors now. I’ll call you Momo from now on, okay?” Li He said with a smile.

“Sure,” Lin Momo nodded.

“Old Zhao, sister-in-law, I’m taking my wife to look around the supply cooperative. We’ll head out first,” Cheng Jinghao said.

“Wait a sec,” Li He called out and went back inside. When she returned, she was holding a bamboo basket.

“Take this — it’ll be handy when you’re shopping. Old Zhao made it himself,” Li He said, handing it to Lin Momo.

Lin Momo was about to politely decline, but Cheng Jinghao accepted it. “Thank you, sister-in-law.”

“No need to be polite. It’s nothing valuable,” Li He said with a wave of her hand.