Chapter 10: The Big Shopping Trip

“Why did you accept Sister Zhao’s basket?” Lin Momo asked, confused. In this era, wasn’t it common not to accept things from others? Didn’t people even have to bring their own grain when dining at relatives’ homes?

“Zhao Zhigang’s family is different, and the army isn’t the same as regular households,” Cheng Jinghao explained.

“Zhao Zhigang is my partner. We’ve been through life-and-death situations together. What’s one basket? Back then, I even gave all my sugar coupons to their two kids,” he said, referring to the original owner of the body.

“But from now on, my sugar coupons are all yours,” Cheng Jinghao added with a smirk.

“I prefer candy,” Lin Momo replied, though she couldn’t hide her happiness.

“Hop on. The supply and marketing cooperative is a bit further away, in the village,” Cheng Jinghao said, moving the cushion from the bike’s back seat to the front bar.

“The front?” Lin Momo looked at him in shock.

Even in the modern day, if two people weren’t close, no one would sit on the front bar of a bicycle—let alone in this era.

“With the basket on your back, how else would you ride? And after we buy things, can you even carry them all?” Cheng Jinghao didn’t give her a chance to argue. With one swift motion, he scooped her up and set her on the front bar.

“…” Lin Momo sat sideways, her cheeks flushed red. Other than her time with Cheng Jinghao before they turned 18, she had never been this physically close to a guy before.

Cheng Jinghao got on the bicycle and looked down at the girl in his arms, feeling unusually pleased.

“If you don’t hold on, aren’t you afraid I’ll drop you like I did when we were kids?”

“Oh.” Lin Momo quickly grabbed the sides of his coat.

The road was bumpy, and the ride was rough. Lin Momo kept bumping into Cheng Jinghao’s chest. She could feel his body’s heat, which made her face turn even redder.

Cheng Jinghao wasn’t having an easy time either. In his previous life, he realized he liked Lin Momo when he was seventeen.

He had planned to confess after high school graduation, but he was urgently drafted into the military.

After that, they barely saw each other. He was often on missions and could be in danger at any moment, so he didn’t want to hold her back.

Though he always had strong self-control, he’d been single for 28 years. Now, the girl he’d liked for so long was in his arms—of course he had a reaction.

There was no one on the road between the military zone and the village entrance at this time of day.

Once they arrived at the village entrance, Cheng Jinghao got off the bicycle and lifted Lin Momo down.

“I could’ve gotten off myself,” Lin Momo muttered, her face still red.

“Guess I was being extra.”

“You…” Lin Momo shot him a glare. He might as well have teased her like he used to when they were kids—saying her legs were too short to reach the ground.

“Come on, I’ll take you around the supply and marketing cooperative.” Cheng Jinghao grabbed her small hand and led the way.

“Captain Cheng, mind your public image,” Lin Momo said, shaking his hand off.

Cheng Jinghao smiled but said nothing, walking beside her while pushing the bike.

“The plateau region in Tibet has fewer than 150 non-snowy days per year. People have to race against time daily to grow enough crops.”

“Although the southern part of Tibet doesn’t get as much snow, it rains a lot. That also affects the harvest. Most of the villagers here can’t even grow enough food for themselves.”

“When it rains, everyone puts out any kind of bucket or basin they can find to collect water,” Cheng Jinghao explained as they walked.

Though they knew that even boiled rainwater wasn’t really safe to drink, in this era—and under such conditions—who had the luxury to care?

Cheng Jinghao led Lin Momo to the supply and marketing cooperative. She reached into her small shoulder bag and pulled out some ration coupons.

“These are close to expiring. Let’s use them all,” she said. Some were from her space (dimensional supermarket), and some were given by Cheng Jinghao or the Lin family. They were national-level coupons.

“Whatever you say,” Cheng Jinghao smiled and nodded.

Holding the coupons, Lin Momo browsed through the goods behind the counter, picking what she wanted.

“Half a jin of brown sugar, half a jin of rock sugar, three jin of White Rabbit milk candy, one jin of fruit sugar, five jin of dried noodles, two packs of malted milk powder, two packs of milk powder, two jin of sponge cake, one jin of glutinous rice sticks, one jin of lobster crisps, one jin of twisted fried dough sticks…”

As Lin Momo read out the list, she pouted. “Why do I still have so many ration coupons?”

The shop clerk and several nearby military family members looked at her in astonishment. Although the supply and marketing cooperative was located in a village, the customers were mostly soldiers and their families.

“Take your time. No rush,” Cheng Jinghao said softly beside her.

“Okay.” Lin Momo looked up and gave him a sweet smile, then lowered her head again to organize the tickets.

“Four bars of scented soap, two bars of laundry soap, two tins of face cream, two tins of hair pomade, two boxes of batteries, one flashlight…”

“And canned fruit — two hawthorn, two orange…”

“Do we still need to buy a thermos and basins? My mom and sister-in-law gave me tickets, but I think you already bought them?” Lin Momo looked up and asked.

“Are the tickets still valid?”

“They’re long-term tickets,” Lin Momo replied without lifting her head, still fiddling with the coupons.

“Then no need to buy more.”

“Okay, and two packs of Da Qianmen cigarettes.” Cheng Jinghao had smoked before — Lin Momo knew this.

All the other military spouses nearby turned to look again — buying cigarettes by the carton was rare in this era.

“These are long-term grain and meat coupons — here, for you,” Lin Momo said, stuffing the tickets into Cheng Jinghao’s hands.

The surrounding onlookers were even more astonished — what kind of family had long-term grain and meat ration coupons?

“They were exchanged when we got married,” Lin Momo said with a smile to those around them.

Only then did everyone nod in understanding. So that’s how it was — probably her family didn’t want their daughter to suffer out here and prepared extra for her.

Once Lin Momo finished paying with both money and tickets, Cheng Jinghao packed the items into the basket one by one.

He pushed the bicycle while walking side by side with Lin Momo.

“I’ll go to the army’s livestock area later to trade for eggs and vegetables. Locals in the Tibetan region don’t eat eggs,” Cheng Jinghao explained.

“Okay.” Lin Momo nodded. She had learned about this when she traveled before — Tibetans didn’t commonly eat eggs until after the Reform and Opening Up.

When they returned to the military housing courtyard, Lin Momo started putting everything away while Cheng Jinghao took the money and tickets to the livestock area.

After tidying up, Lin Momo opened the kitchen door. It was very clean inside, with two stoves and two pots — standard equipment provided by the army for military families when the houses were built.

“…” They had forgotten to buy seasonings — could she get some from her mall?

When Cheng Jinghao returned, Lin Momo shared this concern with him.

“It’s fine — just a few small things. No one’s going to scrutinize that carefully. Who’s to say I didn’t prepare them beforehand?” Cheng Jinghao said, patting her head.

“Don’t treat me like your pet,” Lin Momo swatted his hand away.

“Go rest on the kang for a bit. I’ll head up the mountain to get some firewood,” Cheng Jinghao said, bringing in grain, eggs, vegetables, and potatoes from the courtyard.

“I exchanged some food from the mess hall. I’ll go to the grain depot tomorrow to get more. If you’re not used to this…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but Lin Momo understood.

“I saw that the shed next door is already full of firewood — no need to go again.”

“It’s fine. Better to stock up. You always say you’re afraid of the cold, and the weather’s dry these days — perfect for firewood.”

“You still need a place to store it though,” she pointed out — the shed was already full.

“There are still a few empty rooms, aren’t there?” Cheng Jinghao said, picking up a sickle as he headed out.

“Geez, this guy…” Lin Momo ignored him and swapped out the seasoning packaging, placing them neatly in the kitchen cabinet.

Noticing there were no bowls or chopsticks in the kitchen, she pulled out the most basic and low-quality set from her mall’s supermarket.