Chapter 34: Ah!

After dinner at Lin Wei’s house, Liu Dan, Zhao Li, and the others came over—all wanting to find out what had happened that afternoon.

Actually, the situation was more or less as the rumors described, so Lin Wei didn’t need to repeat much. She just added some details about what happened at the time and casually mentioned that during dinner, Zhou Jianhai had gone to talk to Zhao Feng.

Zhao Li asked curiously, “Do you know what they talked about?”

“I was a bit far away and couldn’t hear very clearly,” Lin Wei recalled. “But it sounded like Instructor Zhou said that if Deputy Commander Zhao and his wife had a problem, they should take it out on him and not his family.”

Yang Yi asked in confusion, “Deputy Commander Zhao has a problem with Instructor Zhou? Wasn’t it Gao Xiulian who caused the trouble this time?”

Zhao Li said mysteriously, “Whether or not Zhao has issues with Zhou isn’t certain, but Gao Xiulian definitely has a problem with Xiangyun. And after this incident, she’s definitely holding a grudge against Bamei too.”

“Then why did Instructor Zhou say that?” Yang Yi asked.

Liu Dan pondered, “I think it was to force Deputy Commander Zhao to take a firmer hand with Gao Xiulian.”

Actually, everyone had a decent impression of Gao Xiulian before. First, she lived far away and didn’t interact much. Second, she tended to size people up—Zhao Li’s husband held a high position, and Liu Dan worked at the military family placement office. Gao Xiulian was more polite when dealing with them than with others.

But after that incident where she badmouthed people behind their backs, everyone’s opinion of her plummeted.

Arguments between neighbors were normal—it’s not like making friends, where relationships are voluntary. Whether or not personalities click is purely a matter of luck. Still, no matter how much you dislike someone, very few would go complain behind their back—after all, you still have to interact later.

But Gao Xiulian? She went behind others’ backs to stir trouble, which showed how petty and vindictive she really was.

Even though it was Lin Wei who argued with Gao Xiulian, Chen Bamei had been the trigger. Given how narrow-minded Gao Xiulian was, she’d surely hold a grudge against both her and Deng Xiangyun.

The problem was, Xiangyun and Bamei were at a disadvantage—one had a questionable political background, and the other wasn’t a military spouse. That made them easy targets for someone like Gao Xiulian. To protect them, Zhou Jianhai had to redirect the women’s conflict and make it appear as a dispute between himself and Zhao Feng.

In other words, if Gao Xiulian kept giving Xiangyun and Bamei trouble, Zhou Jianhai would treat it as Zhao Feng being deliberately antagonistic toward him.

Although Zhao Feng outranked Zhou Jianhai, he was only a deputy regiment commander. If Zhou really decided to go head-to-head with him, Zhao Feng wouldn’t come out unscathed.

As for his career prospects—if Zhao Feng lacked ambition, maybe he’d let things slide. But if he wanted to move up, he’d have no choice but to rein in Gao Xiulian.

Did Zhao Feng have ambition?

Of course he did. Otherwise, how could a poorly educated rural soldier with no strong connections have climbed so high?

After listening to Liu Dan and Zhao Li’s analysis, Yang Yi remained skeptical: “Can Deputy Commander Zhao even control Gao Xiulian?”

“He might not be able to control her forever, but even short-term control is better than nothing. At least she probably won’t act up again anytime soon,” Zhao Li said. Then she turned to Lin Wei. “But your house is just across the lane from theirs, so be extra cautious.”

Lin Wei smiled and said, “I’m already being cautious. I have a clear conscience—if it comes to another argument, I’m not afraid of her.”

“Exactly! Our Sister Lin’s combat skills are top-notch!” Zhao Li sighed dramatically, “Too bad I found out about the incident too late, or I would’ve gone to see your glorious moment in action.”

Lin Wei couldn’t take the teasing anymore. “Alright, that’s enough!”

Just then, Zong Shao came out of the bathroom after bathing the kids. Hearing her say that, he asked, “What’s enough?”

Lin Wei quickly replied, “Nothing, you go do your thing. Don’t mind us.”

Zong Shao said “Oh,” and went to collect the laundry.

Zhao Li watched this and suddenly burst into giggles. Not only her, but Liu Dan and Yang Yi also smiled, making Lin Wei confused. “What are you all laughing at?”

That only made them laugh harder—especially Zhao Li.

Lin Wei had no choice but to say again, “Seriously, that’s enough. Spill it. No more riddles.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you.” Zhao Li tried to stop laughing. “I was just thinking—even though I missed your glorious battle with Gao Xiulian, I did get to see how commanding you are in front of Deputy Company Commander Zong…” Then she mimicked Lin Wei: “‘You go do your thing, don’t mind us.’” Then she mimicked Zong Shao: “‘Oh.’”

After imitating them, Zhao Li couldn’t stop laughing and joked, “Comrade Lin Wei, you’ve truly mastered the art of husband management!”

Lin Wei was speechless. “Your humor is seriously low-level.”

“It’s the contrast,” Liu Dan pointed out.

Zhao Li agreed. “Exactly! Before you joined him in the army, I’d seen Deputy Company Commander Zong a few times. Handsome guy, but way too serious. I used to think, ‘Man, his wife must be under a lot of pressure!’”

Lin Wei couldn’t help laughing. “It’s not as bad as you say.”

Zhao Li joked again: “But after meeting you, I stopped worrying. You’re the kind of woman who can shut up even the unreasonable Gao Xiulian—dealing with a logical guy like Zong is a piece of cake!”

“Are you ever going to stop?” Lin Wei pretended to be mad.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” Zhao Li raised her hands in surrender and said seriously, “But before seeing it with my own eyes, I never imagined your Old Zong would be like that in front of his wife.”

Lin Wei replied, “Isn’t that normal? Your Old Meng acts the same way in front of you as he does outside?”

Zhao Li thought about it, then shook her head. “Actually… no.”

“Then doesn’t that—”

Before she could finish, Zhao Li ground her teeth and said, “In front of me, he’s way more annoying than outside!”

…

By the time Liu Dan and the others arrived, it was already late. They still had chores to do at home, so after clearing up the situation, they each headed back.

Before leaving, Liu Dan remembered their Sunday trip to the county to buy materials and asked, “Are we going in the morning or afternoon?”

Lin Wei said, “I’m fine either way—whatever works for you guys.”

“Same here. But are we going to eat in the county or come back after shopping?” Yang Yi asked.

Since they’d only mentioned going to buy hat-making materials, none of them had considered that. So everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to decide.

Zhao Li, always the one to stir things up, said, “We could eat there. There’s even a cinema in the county. I heard a new movie just came out. If we have time, we could catch it before heading back.”

Liu Dan hesitated. “But if we eat and watch a movie in the county, what about the kids?”

Zhao Li immediately said, “Let your husbands handle it. Even if they can’t cook fancy dishes, they can at least boil noodles. Worst case, just make some porridge—it’s only one meal, how bad could it be?” Then she asked Lin Wei what she thought.

“I’m fine with it.” After all, even when she was home, Zong Shao would cook at least one meal on Sundays. The kids were used to it.

Yang Yi added, “No problem on my end either.”

Seeing everyone was up for some extra fun, Liu Dan nodded. “Alright then. But shouldn’t we ask Xiangyun and Bamei too?”

“That’s easy—we can just ask them on the way,” Zhao Li said. “So, our Sunday schedule is now shopping plus movie and meal, right?”

Lin Wei reminded, “The main goal is still buying materials—we need to check both the supply cooperative and the hardware store.”

Yang Yi agreed. “Exactly. That’s the priority. By the way, should we eat first and then watch the movie, or the other way around?”

The order mattered: if they watched the movie first, they’d have to leave early and might get home around 1 or 2 p.m. If they ate first and then watched the movie, they could sleep in and come back later.

Zhao Li thought for a moment and said, “Let’s ask Xiangyun and the others for their opinion first. We still have a whole day tomorrow, so finalizing the plan tomorrow night won’t be too late. In case any of you have a change in schedule, we can still make adjustments in time.”

The others nodded and said, “Alright, we’ll talk about it tomorrow night then.”

With that settled, Lin Wei walked them out. After watching them leave, she turned back inside and gathered the enamel cups they had used, then brought them out to the outdoor sink to wash them.

By the time she returned to the house, Zong Shao had also finished showering and stepped out of the bathroom. He had washed his hair today. Though he kept it in a crew cut, the roots were still damp, so he was drying it with a towel as he came out.

Seeing Lin Wei come in holding the enamel cups, he walked over to help and asked, “They’ve all gone?”

“They have.” Lin Wei walked over to the dresser and placed the enamel cups inside one by one, then said, “Oh, right, we agreed to go to the county on Sunday, remember?”

Zong Shao looked puzzled. “Didn’t you already mention that before?”

“What I said before was just to buy materials for making hats. We’d go there, shop, and come back — maybe an hour or two.”

Zong Shao raised his eyebrows. “And now?”

“We discussed it and decided to go see a movie, and have lunch in the county too. So we’ll probably be out most of the day.” Lin Wei turned to look at him and said seriously, “So, you’ll be in charge of Mingming and Ruirui on Sunday.”

Zong Shao had no problem looking after the kids. What he wanted to say was, “We haven’t gone to see a movie together yet.”

Back when Lin Wei first arrived on the island, the two of them had said they’d go to a movie — originally planned for the Sunday they bought the electric fan. But it turned out the theater’s equipment malfunctioned that day, all showings were canceled, and they didn’t know when things would be back to normal.

After that, every Sunday they got busy with other things. Then Zong Shao went to sea for nearly half a month. So in the end, the two of them never did get to see a movie together.

And now, someone else was going before him.

Because Zong Shao’s face didn’t show much emotion and he spoke in a calm tone, Lin Wei didn’t notice anything at first and casually replied, “It was just bad timing, wasn’t it? If you still want to go, we can do it next Sunday—wait!” She turned to look at him. “You… don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

“No.”

Zong Shao denied it outright and very graciously said, “You guys go and have fun. I’ll take good care of Mingming and Ruirui.”

“Really not jealous?” Lin Wei looked at him suspiciously.

Zong Shao maintained a serious face and shook his head again. “Really not.”

Lin Wei looked disappointed. “Alright then, if you’re really not jealous, forget it. I was going to comfort you if you were.” After saying that, she began gathering her clothes to go take a shower.

But she only got a couple of steps before Zong Shao grabbed her. “How were you planning to comfort me?”

Lin Wei looked puzzled. “Didn’t you say you weren’t jealous?”

Zong Shao kept a straight face as he replied, “I wasn’t — just now. But thinking about it more, I am a little jealous. Your first movie outing since coming to the island, and it’s not with me.”

“Oh.” Lin Wei reached out to pat the short, stiff bristles of his crew cut. “Be good, A-Shao. Next time, I’ll go to the movies with you, okay?”

Zong Shao’s throat moved slightly. “Not okay.”

Lin Wei’s hand paused, but before she could pull it back, Zong Shao wrapped her in an embrace. “You have to make it up to me.”

As he spoke in a low voice, his warm lips landed beside hers.

Realizing what he was about to do, Lin Wei quickly backed away. “The front door is still open.”

But Zong Shao didn’t care about that. He stepped closer, trapping her between the dresser and himself, and calmly said, “It’s fine. No one’s going to come by this late.”

Their house was located deep within the family housing area, and people rarely passed by their door. Anyone who came would either be looking for Zong Shao or Lin Wei — but at this hour, everyone was getting ready for bed. No one would show up in the dark.

When she thought about it, what he said kind of made sense?

Lin Wei was caught up in her thoughts as she tilted her head back to accept his kiss—until a startled voice rang out—

“Ah!”

Lin Wei immediately pushed Zong Shao away and looked toward the source of the sound—only to see Mingming standing at the staircase, both hands dramatically covering his eyes.

Lin Wei: “…” If you’re going to cover your eyes, then cover them. Why are your fingers spread open like that?