Chapter 7: Fu Wencheng

Ming Leyao went to the county town and changed her appearance. This time, she didn’t go to the textile factory but to the staff residential compound of the match factory. She met an elderly lady there, who, upon seeing what she had in her basket, was still very enthusiastic. She called over friends and neighbors to buy everything from her. Ming Leyao earned about eighty yuan, plus a dozen or so industrial coupons.

Carrying the empty basket, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative. She bought enamel basins, enamel jars, thermos flasks, bowls and chopsticks, kerosene lamps, candles, snowflake cream, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, jars, and a can of malted milk powder that didn’t require ration tickets. She bought one of everything, startling the store clerk who glared at her hard, fearing she might run off without paying. Only after seeing her pay in full did the clerk finally give her a big smile.

On the way back, she put some coarse grains, cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and a small piece of pork into her basket.

The advantage of living so remotely became apparent—she turned a corner as soon as she entered the village, avoiding any crowds, so no one would notice what she had bought.

After putting everything away at home and checking on the puppy, Ming Leyao took the malted milk powder and the sick note to Pang Jianyuan’s house.

“Uncle, I’m back.”

“That was fast.”

“Uncle, here’s the sick note. The hospital said I can rest for five days. Can I go back to work after five days?”

“Sure, whatever the hospital says, that’s what we’ll do.”

“And this malted milk powder, I bought it using the sick note. It’s for you.”

“No, no, malted milk powder is precious stuff. This can costs two yuan. You don’t have much money to begin with. Why waste it?”

“Uncle, you’re good to me, so I should know how to be grateful. Just think of it as your niece showing respect. Please accept it, so I won’t feel embarrassed asking for your help in the future.”

Ming Leyao’s words struck a chord with Pang Jianyuan. He had grown up with the Ming family’s third son, Ming Hua, and had been good brothers since childhood. When Ming Hua had trouble, he had cried at home in grief. Now, he helped the children of his old friend out of brotherly loyalty. Seeing that the child understood gratitude made him feel very reassured.

“Good child, good child. Uncle accepts it. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to come straight to me.”

“All right, uncle.”

Pang Jianyuan then reminded her of some matters regarding the Ming family’s old house.

“Uncle, don’t worry. If my grandmother shows up, I won’t go back. That whole red bean affair—staging a catch-in-the-act drama—has destroyed any good feelings. If she kicks me out at such a critical time, I’ve given up on her completely. I won’t be stubborn like before.”

“As long as you understand.”

“By the way, uncle, there’s one more thing. I want to get some cabinets, a cupboard, and some tables and stools. Does the brigade have any suitable ones?”

“Yes, yes. In the East Village, Old Wang is a craftsman. He still takes odd jobs and should have quite a few finished pieces. You can see if his grandson can help deliver them to your house.”

“Okay.”

Ming Leyao hurried to East Village and asked around before finally finding Old Wang’s house.

“Old Wang? Is he home?”

“Who’s asking?”

“I’m from Shangwang Village. I just finished a new house and want to buy some furniture.”

“Come in.”

Ming Leyao entered and saw Old Wang sitting in the yard, carving wood. He sat upright and looked serious. Next to him was a tall, thin young man—probably the grandson the brigade leader mentioned.

“A Qiang, show this young lady the warehouse.”

“Okay, grandpa.”

A Qiang came over to Ming Leyao without looking up and said, “Follow me,” then turned and walked off.

Ming Leyao followed him as he opened the warehouse door and coldly threw out, “Pick what you want yourself.”

The warehouse was filled with all kinds of furniture—some more complex with carvings, others simple wooden pieces in their natural color. Almost everything Ming Leyao needed was there, except for a desk.

“Can you make a desk?”

A Qiang, who had been looking down, subconsciously looked up when he heard the word “desk.” When he met Ming Leyao’s bright, clear eyes and her somewhat fair face, his ears turned red. Ming Leyao understood—his coldness was just a front; this young man was rather innocent.

“It can be made… but it’ll take some time.”

“Great, I want all these plus a desk.”

“Thirty-five yuan.”

“Here you go.”

She took out some bills, counted out thirty-five yuan, handed it to A Qiang, and gave him her address before leaving.

The next morning, A Qiang pushed her furniture over on a handcart, making four trips. He helped carry and arrange everything exactly where she wanted.

Seeing him sweating heavily, Ming Leyao pulled up a basket of cold sweet water from the well, poured a bowl, and handed it to him.

“Cool down, this is cold boiled water I made early this morning, with sugar added. It’s very tasty.”

“No, no, don’t… this sugar water is… too expensive.”

“Come on, if I give it to you, you drink it.”

Since she gave it, it was sincere—she hated all the pushing and shoving games.

“Thanks.”

Just then, Fu Wencheng came into Ming Leyao’s courtyard carrying a basket and saw this scene: a shy, blushing youth looking awkwardly at the girl who was laughing openly.

It was so dazzling… he inexplicably felt like causing some mischief.

Of course, Fu Wencheng acted on that impulse.

“Leyao.” Ming Leyao turned around and looked at Fu Wencheng, surprised, and walked up to him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Shouldn’t I be here?” Fu Wencheng wanted to say this, but the words changed to, “I heard you moved into a new house, so I came to bring you something. This is…”
“Oh, this is A Qiang, the grandson of Old Wang from East Village. He helped me deliver the furniture.”
“So it’s Comrade A Qiang, thank you for your hard work. Why don’t you come inside for a bit?”
“N-no, there’s still the desk to deliver tomorrow,” A Qiang said, then hurriedly left.

After A Qiang left, Ming Leyao crossed her arms and looked up at Fu Wencheng, who was much taller than her.
Actually, Ming Leyao was about 1.67 meters tall, which was considered quite tall for this era, but compared to Fu Wencheng’s 1.9 meters, she looked very small.
“This isn’t your home, yet you act like the host, entertaining guests for me.”
“Hmm, I think your house is pretty nice. When you have time, you can demolish my little dark room and rebuild it.”
“Aren’t you planning to go back to the army?”
“Can I still go back?”
“Why not? Don’t you trust me?”
“I…” Thinking about leaving the work she loved, even though Fu Wencheng had tried to prepare himself mentally, he still felt heartache talking about it.
“Don’t worry. I said I can get you back to normal, and I definitely will.”
“Mm…”
“By the way, how much was the glass? Should I pay you?”
“Money’s no big deal. How about you do me a favor instead, as payment for the glass?”
“What favor? Don’t tell me you want me to do something bad.” Ming Leyao looked at him warily.
“Not bad at all. You know I don’t even have a kitchen in my room. Since I got sick, Meng Zhaoqing has been bringing me meals. He studies Western medicine and probably doesn’t understand much about nutrition. To recover quickly and get back to the army, I need proper nutrition. Since you know medicine, you must understand this, right? Could you take care of my three meals a day?”

Before coming, Fu Wencheng had thought Ming Leyao might mention money, so he pondered how to gently refuse. Then suddenly he had this idea, which wasn’t hard to accept, and he actually looked forward to it. It was a good chance to figure out what was really wrong with him through his contact with Ming Leyao.

Ming Leyao thought about it and decided it wasn’t a bad idea. After all, she had to eat, and she planned to eat some nutritious food these days since her frail body was scary—she was afraid a strong wind might blow her away one day.
“Okay, I can do it, but only for five days. After five days, I have to go back to work in the fields, so I can’t promise to deliver meals on time.”
“Fine, five days is five days.”
“Also, you have to handle your own ration tickets. I don’t have tickets to buy those nutritional supplements.”

Fu Wencheng didn’t hesitate at all, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of ration tickets.
“Here, all for you.”
Ming Leyao was speechless. Talk about extremes—drought or flood. She didn’t expect this guy to have so much money. She rifled through the tickets and saw they were grain tickets, meat tickets, cloth tickets, cotton tickets… all things she needed desperately now. Was this man prepared all along?

She fixed a suspicious look on Fu Wencheng, who was taken aback.
“What… what do you mean? I can’t accept tickets?”
“I’ve got the tickets, got the gift, you can go now.”
“Oh…” Fu Wencheng left, still not understanding what Ming Leyao’s expression really meant.

After he left, Ming Leyao closed the gate and went back inside to wipe the furniture clean. She put her only piece of clothing in the wardrobe and sealed away the clothes her parents left her in a trunk as a keepsake.

Then she entered her space and prepared for a big project in the kitchen.
There were many prepared Chinese medicinal herbs in the warehouse, common and rare, some even aged. She didn’t know where her grandfather had collected them—or maybe the old man had grown them himself in the space? That wasn’t impossible. The flow of time in the space was very different from outside; she had tested it before—it was ten times faster inside. One day outside was ten days inside.

She took several herbs for detoxifying and warming the body, purified them into liquid using special methods, and began simmering chicken soup, pork rib soup, and pig’s trotters soup. She added the purified herbs while cooking to keep the original taste and add nourishing effects.

She found the warehouse had preservation functions, so she planned to store the soups there and send different ones to Fu Wencheng every day.

While simmering the soups, Ming Leyao also prepared several skincare products—whitening, moisturizing, nourishing. She aimed to become pale and fair in five days. Although the task was tough, it wasn’t impossible.

She was busy all night until dawn. But when she left the space, she didn’t feel the usual fatigue from staying up late. Instead, she felt full of energy.

That was because she finally understood the effect of the Golden Lotus Pool water. When she had accidentally cut her hand while cutting vegetables and touched the water, she felt a sudden itch. Checking the wound, she saw that the bleeding had stopped and the cut was already healing, leaving only a faint mark.

Excited and thrilled, she hurried inside to fill a cup with the water and drank it all in one gulp.

Suddenly, she felt refreshed and energized, as if she had endless strength. This good stuff not only pleased the eye but also strengthened the body—thanks to the ancestors…

As dawn broke faintly, Ming Leyao deliberately chose this time to go to Fu Wencheng’s house, to avoid being seen by others.

Fu Wencheng had just gotten up when he heard a knock on the door. Instinctively, he pulled back his foot from the floor.
“Come in.”

When the door opened, Ming Leyao appeared, revealing a pure, cold, and alluring face. Wow, how had he not noticed this man was actually quite attractive before?

“You’re here, come in quickly.” Seeing it was Ming Leyao, Fu Wencheng’s previously stern face immediately softened with a smile. He put on his shoes, got down naturally, and took the basket from her hands.
“Let’s eat.”

Ming Leyao took out two big soup bowls. One was filled with oily, golden, fragrant chicken soup sprinkled with some scallions. She placed the other bowl, filled with cooked noodles, into the chicken soup while explaining,
“I was afraid if I put the noodles in too early, they’d clump together, so I kept them separate.”
“That’s a good idea.”

“This is a little side dish I made myself. You can try it. At noon, I’ll have Comrade Meng bring more to me, so it won’t look strange if people see me coming to your house.”

“Oh…”

Hearing that, Fu Wencheng suddenly felt a bit angry and inexplicably sad. He thought about his time in the army—what kind of people and situations hadn’t he faced? Yet he had never been this unsettled before. He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

“You eat first. I’ll go now.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. After all, you paid for it.”

That remark pierced Fu Wencheng’s heart like an arrow—his good mood for the whole morning vanished!!!!!

Ming Leyao sneaked back to her home, ate her porridge and the side dish she made, finishing her breakfast.