With Lu Xiao’s words, Su Tang’s face broke into a faint smile, and she softly said, “Thank you.”  

Early the next morning, by the time Su Tang woke up, Lu Xiao was already gone.  

The spot where he had slept had been neatly tidied up by him.  

Su Tang sat up, stretched lazily, and prepared to go with Zhang Cui to the canteen to get breakfast.  

She also planned to ask Zhang Cui if there was anywhere nearby to buy groceries.  

She had no intention of going to the canteen again to endure those disdainful looks—she wanted to be self-sufficient.  

On the training field, Lu Xiao had just finished drills and was about to head back to wash up when Chang Jia stopped him.  

“Still got so much energy? How was it, the wedding night? Not bad, huh?”  

Hearing Chang Jia’s teasing and seeing his exaggerated wink, Lu Xiao directly kicked at him.  

Luckily, Chang Jia dodged quickly.  

“So irritable—seems like last night wasn’t all that great.”  

“That capitalist’s daughter is all show, can’t even compare to my country wife.”  

Lu Xiao had been celibate for so many years, finally got himself a wife, and still wasn’t satisfied—life was truly bitter.  

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”  

Chang Jia felt a chill under Lu Xiao’s icy stare but kept grinning.  

“Not free, not free. Just saw you looking rough and wanted to check in on my old comrade.”  

He leaned in and lowered his voice. “I heard Su Tang’s been asking around the logistics department about the market? That delicate miss isn’t actually planning to cook, is she?”  

Lu Xiao paused while wiping his military canteen, Su Tang’s stubborn gaze from yesterday flashing in his mind.  

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he slung the canteen over his shoulder. “She can do whatever she wants.”  

He had no say in what Su Tang chose to do.  

Hadn’t he already told her to behave? He’d handle these things for her.  

“Tsk tsk, not the words of a newlywed husband.”  

Chang Jia suddenly dropped his voice further. “Old Lu, aren’t you worried about Su Tang…? If she keeps this up, I’m afraid it’ll affect you.”  

Before he could finish, Lu Xiao had already turned and strode away, his tall, straight figure cutting a sharp silhouette in the morning light.  

In the canteen, Su Tang was poking at the bland cabbage in her bowl with a spoon.  

Zhang Cui set her lunchbox down across from her and said mysteriously,  

“Girl, I found out—there’s a supply station right here where we can buy things with ration coupons.”  

Su Tang’s eyes lit up, and she quickly said, “We’ve got nothing to do today. Want to go check it out together?”  

“Sure, my place is running low on stuff too. Let’s go take a look.”  

“But I’ve got no one to watch the little one at home—we’ll have to bring him along.”  

Hearing this, Su Tang waved it off, unfazed.  

Zhang Cui’s baby was incredibly well-behaved—once asleep, nothing could wake him, and when hungry, he’d just cry a little before going right back to sleep after eating.  

Su Tang had never seen a baby as easygoing as Zhang Cui’s.  

The two chatted and laughed as they ate, but out of the corner of her eye, Su Tang noticed a group of women huddled in a corner, whispering and occasionally casting appraising glances her way.  

Her grip on her chopsticks tightened, nails digging half-moons into her palms.  

From the moment she’d stepped into the family compound, these kinds of looks had never stopped.  

Who knew how many times they’d called her “young miss” behind her back.  

“Ignore them.”  

Zhang Cui patted the back of her hand reassuringly. “By the way, Brother Lu was out leading drills at 5 a.m. today. Heard he even added weighted runs.”  

She winked meaningfully. “Was last night…?”  

“Sis!”  

Su Tang’s ears turned red, and she hurriedly changed the subject—people in this era really didn’t hold back with their words.

Their unrestrained talk—whether crude or refined—made even her, a modern woman, blush.  

After finishing their meal, Su Tang packed another portion for Lu Xiao.  

When she returned, Lu Xiao still hadn’t come back, so she left him a note in a notebook:  

– Gone to the supply station for shopping. Back by noon.

Using the era-appropriate phrasing, Su Tang gathered the ration coupons, slung an inconspicuous bag over her shoulder, and went to find Zhang Cui.  

When Lu Xiao returned and saw the note, he stared at it, baffled.  

The writing looked vaguely familiar, but something was off.  

Su Tang had forgotten—this era still used traditional Chinese characters. The simplified characters she wrote were completely incomprehensible to Lu Xiao.  

If he hadn’t asked a neighbor, he wouldn’t have known where they’d gone.  

Looking at the note, Lu Xiao sighed in exasperation.  

This capitalist’s daughter had beautiful handwriting—but what language was this even supposed to be?  

The neighbor scratched the back of his head and explained, “Brother Lu, these are simplified characters. Heard some folks in the big cities secretly use ’em.”  

Lu Xiao rubbed the edge of the paper. Su Tang’s strokes were forceful, piercing through the page—just like her own stubborn, unyielding nature.  

She knew full well her background was problematic, yet she still dared to be so brazen. Did she have no fear of death?  

Though he thought this, Lu Xiao tore the note into pieces and tossed it into the trash.  

…

The wooden door of the supply station creaked open, a bell jingling crisply overhead.  

Clutching her ration coupons, Su Tang scanned the shelves lined with enamel mugs and coarse cloth socks.  

In the corner were stacked bags of coarse grain. Just as she reached out, a mocking sneer sounded behind her.  

“Well, if it isn’t the capitalist’s precious daughter?”  

Three women with bamboo baskets surrounded them. The leader, her hair tightly coiled, had a face so dark it was hard to make out her features.  

Zhang Cui immediately stepped in front of Su Tang. “Wang Guifang, watch your tone!”  

Wang Guifang wasn’t the least bit intimidated. She scoffed, “Heard Captain Lu doubled the training load today? What, couldn’t take out his frustration on his new vase of a wife, so he took it out on the recruits instead?”  

The murmurs of the onlookers swelled like a rising tide. Su Tang’s nails dug into her palms—until her gaze landed on the canned pears on the shelf.  

“Sis Zhang, didn’t you say your little one’s been coughing?”  

She suddenly turned, her voice bright and clear. “They’ve got pear syrup cans here—perfect for soothing the lungs.”  

Before Wang Guifang could react, Su Tang stood on tiptoe to reach the top shelf, her slender waist peeking out from under her blue blouse.  

More than a few eyes burned with envy. They’d never seen someone as lovely as Su Tang—her gentle voice alone was mesmerizing.  

Wang Guifang snorted and flounced toward the door, scarf swaying. “What a performance!”  

Only after they left did Zhang Cui exhale in relief. “I was afraid you’d start a fight with them.”  

Su Tang tucked the can into her cloth bag, her gaze settling on the brown sugar behind the counter.  

“Arguing with them would be a waste of time. We came here to shop.”  

Yesterday, she’d fought with Hu Jianjun because he’d taken her grain coupons without giving her food. Today, she had nothing to lose—why bother engaging?  

“Sis, let’s get two pounds of brown sugar too.”  

“Goodness, these cans are expensive enough! I can’t afford brown sugar.”  

Zhang Cui’s heart ached at the thought, but her child really had been coughing lately—a can of pear syrup was justifiable.  

But brown sugar? That was a luxury. She couldn’t bring herself to splurge.  

“Fine, I’ll buy it—for Lu Xiao.”  

At that, Zhang Cui blinked. “Brother Lu’s a grown man—why would he need brown sugar?”  

Wasn’t this stuff for women?  

Wait… did Captain Lu actually have some kind of… problem?  

Thinking of Lu Xiao’s icy demeanor and his sturdy frame, Zhang Cui shuddered inexplicably.  

Guess you really couldn’t judge a book by its cover.